Pergamos — Where Satan Dwelleth

Satan is the master of disguise. He is the master and god (little g-o-d) of all carnaldom, yet much of the world’s "enlightened" deny his existence. Satan’s first exposure to man is found in Genesis 3:1:

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Subtle, in Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, is defined as, "sly; artful; cunning; crafty; insinuating; deceitful; treacherous." Satan is a deceiver. What he portrays to the world as freedom and life is actually 180 degrees out. What Satan portrays as life, is in reality, bondage and finally, death. An excellent example would be the issue of pornography. Satan’s "erudite" social machine portrays many forms of pornography as artistic expression, and as the expanded, uninhibited and sophisticated modern mind. But what he portrays as good invariably results in bondage and death.

Today’s world is bound by sexual addictions in a variety of sorts. The door of pornography has been opened and it has led to immeasurable damage. A short list of situations augmented by pornography follows:

∙ Abortion;

∙ Adultery;

∙ Bestiality;

∙ Broken homes ;

∙ Child abuse;

∙ Depression;

∙ Divorce;

∙ Fornication;

∙ Homosexuality;

∙ Murder;

∙ Pedophilia;

∙ Psychological disorders;

∙ Rape;

∙ Serial killing;

∙ Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs);

∙ Spousal abuse; and more.

Satan is real, and he is a deceiver. On the surface, the flesh is gratified, experiencing pleasure for a season, but the end result is bondage, death, and a cognizant eternity in a place called the lake of fire. Turn away from this uncleanness while there is still time! Jesus Christ will break the yoke. Click on to "Further With Jesus," on this website for deliverance and life. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Revelation 2:12-13:

12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

13 I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

MAN SAID:  According to Harvard geneticist Richard Lewontin, "The problem is to get [people] to reject irrational and supernatural explanations of the world, the demons that exist only in their imaginations, and to accept a social and intellectual apparatus, science, as the only begetter of truth."

Now THE RECORD. Could Jesus Christ actually be accurate? Can the Bible’s record of Satan’s headquarters being the city of Pergamos, located in Asia Minor, be accepted as truth? The answer is absolutely!

As an aside to the message of Pergamos, which will be just another certification of the inerrant Word of God, Jesus refers to His faithful martyr Antipas, who was slain in Pergamos. According to church tradition, our brother was roasted in a brazen pot because of his unwavering commitment to the Cross of Christ.

It is important when considering the persona of Lucifer, or Satan, to note his true nature. Isaiah 14:12-14:

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Satan’s desire? "...I will be like the most High." Satan wants to be like God. The spirit of Pergamos will fully display Satan’s rebellious mindset.

Satan’s first geographical stronghold after Noah’s flood was a city called Babel. Its founder was rebellious Nimrod. This is the city where God changes the people’s language from one to many, and thus causes their disbursement to the four corners of the earth. Babel becomes Babylon, the city of rebellion and confusion—the city of the great whore. Revelation 17:5:

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The following excerpt is from The Bible and Archaeology:

How did serpent worship begin in Pergamos? Some historians trace it to the collapse of the Babylonian Empire, when some Chaldean priests established their religious center in Pergamos. "The defeated Chaldeans fled to Asia Minor, and fixed their central college at Pergamos," notes historian William Barker in his book "Lares and Penates of Cilicia." Certainly the Old Testament identifies Satan’s chief seat of activity as being in ancient Babylon, where the doctrines of its mystery religion "made all the earth drunk" (Jeremiah 51:7). This would make its religious successor, Pergamos, the temporary new ‘Satan’s seat’ of the Babylonian mystery religion." That seat," comments Alexander Hislop, "after the death of Belshazzar (the last Babylonian king), and the expulsion of the Chaldean priesthood from Babylon by the Medo- Persian kings, was at Pergamos, where afterwards was one of the seven churches of Asia. There, in consequence, for many centuries was ‘Satan’s seat.’ There, under favor of the deified kings of Pergamos, was his favorite abode and was the worship of Asklepios, under the form of the serpent . . . Pergamos itself became part and parcel of the Roman Empire, when Attalus III, the last of its kings, at his death, left by will all his dominions to the Roman people in 133 BC." In this way, the Roman emperors had become the heirs of "Satan’s seat" during John’s day. Later, when the Roman Empire collapsed, its successor, the Holy Roman Empire, would inherit the role. It is noteworthy that Revelation 17:4-5, 18 reveals that in the end time a powerful religious system from the ancient past will again reign over the nations and be identified as "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth." [End of quote]

The central, false deity of Pergamos was the sun-divinity worshipped under the form of Asklepios Soter, which means "the man-instructing serpent and savior."

We see Satan taking on the form of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. This man-instructing serpent converses with our great-grandmother in Genesis 3:1-6:

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Satan’s instruction concerning the deadly forbidden tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, was to go ahead and eat, and that they would not die, but would be as gods, knowing good and evil. Note that he promises them that they would be like gods, which is Satan’s desire: "...I will be like the most High."

Revelation 12:9 reads:

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Again from The Bible & Archaeology:

The remains of the shrine to Asklepios have been uncovered by archaeologists. "A 450-foot segment of the widest section was excavated and reconstructed so visitors to the site can experience a beautiful approach to the Asklepieion," notes John McRay. "Dedicated to Asklepios Soter, the god of healing, the Asklepieion was a kind of Mayo Clinic of the ancient world . . . Numerous treatment rooms, sleeping rooms (for incubation and autosuggestion in psychiatric treatment), meeting rooms, and temples were located here . . . Patients coming to the shrine believed that Asklepios would heal them. There was no perceived dissonance between science and religion in the ancient world." "From all over the world, added William Barclay, "people flocked to Pergamos for relief of their sicknesses. R.H. Charles has called Pergamos ’the Lourdes of the ancient world’ . . . Thus, pagan religion had its center in Pergamos. There was the worship of Athene and Zeus, with its magnificent altar dominating the city (now partially reconstructed in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin). There was the worship of Asklepios, bringing sick people from far and near, and above all there were the demands of Caesar worship, hanging forever like a poised sword above the heads of the Christians."  [End of quote]

Asklepios Soter not only means "the man-instructing serpent and savior," but was also known as the god of healing.

Again, note Satan’s desire to be like the most-high God as we read the following passages. Psalm 103:2-3:

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

Psalm 107:20:

He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

I Peter 2:24:

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Jesus healed the sick and sent forth His servants to do the same in His name. He prescribes the supernatural healing formula in James 5:14-16:

14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Jesus says in Mark 16:17-18:

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

The Bible does not stand in harsh opposition to the true healing sciences. Jesus said in Matthew 9:12, "...They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." But on the other hand, the Word of God does seriously promote supernatural healing through faith in Christ Jesus.

People who believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ for healing are ridiculed, and in some cases, even persecuted for their faith. Every couple of years or so, someone rejects medical treatment as a result of purported faith in God, and when something adverse happens such as death, for instance, he or she is paraded by the media before the world for all to see the "foolishness" of their "misplaced" confidence. Now consider that credible numbers exist that 300,000 Americans die each year as a result of nosocomial infections (infections originating in the hospital), adverse effects of medications, misdiagnosis, mistakes, etc. That’s about six times the number of American soldiers who lost their lives in the entire Vietnam crisis. If you add up the numbers of people around the world who died at the hands of the medical industry, the total must be into the millions each year. When and if you feel you need a physician, be sure to find one who endorses the principles of the Word of God.

Originating from the wicked spirit of Pergamos where Satan’s seat was located, where he ruled as "the man-instructing serpent and savior" and healer, came many startling things. Two things in particular are the caduceus and the staff of Aesculapius, both of which are the dominant symbols of modern medicine.

You have surely seen the caduceus, for it is one of the medical industry’s prominent emblems. It is the symbol of the winged rod wrapped about by two snakes. The following excerpt is from an article titled "The Symbols of Medicine," by D. Nichols, on the web at www.in-ta.net:

The caduceus began as the magical rod of the Greek messenger-god Hermes (or the Roman god, Mercury). More than a messenger, though, Hermes was a diplomat and an ambassador and was often believed to be a bringer of peace. In fact, the Romans used the caduceus as a symbol of peace, and described a myth in which Hermes (Mercury) threw his rod between two fighting snakes and stopped their battle, at which point they wrapped themselves around the wand. This ability to bring harmony out of hostility is one of the admirable traits of Hermes and it aided the god’s reputation as a persuasive orator and bringer of good fortune. Hermes, however, was also known as the deity of wealth and commerce, two areas which were recognized as involving a certain degree of dishonesty. In fact, many of Hermes’ deeds earned him a reputation as a crafty and promiscuous trickster and it was because of this that he was honored as the patron of thieves. The association of physicians with thievery through the adoption of Hermes’ caduceus as a medical symbol is undoubtedly undesirable and only those cynics who accuse physicians of an excessive interest in making money may find it appropriate. Unfortunately, there is one final significance of the caduceus that should appeal to no one and is horrifying when connected to the medical profession, for it was the duty of Hermes, caduceus in hand, to lead the souls of the dead to the underworld.  [End of quote]

Of course, the underworld is hell.

A second and similar issue out of Satan’s seat is the most prominent of medicine’s emblems, which is the staff of Aesculapius which you have seen as the serpent entwined staff. Again from "The Symbols of Medicine:"

It is Aesculapius who then became the god of medicine and it is his staff which properly represents the physician. . . .Despite the mythical story of his birth, Aesculapius was mentioned in the writings of Homer as a mortal physician-hero who performed miraculous acts of healing on the battlefield. Later, although the application and selection process was not clearly defined, Aesculapius was awarded a divine rank as the god of medicine. His descendants and other followers of his teachings worshipped their new god and formed the cult of Asklepios. The cult spread throughout the Mediterranean and by the fourth century B.C., over three hundred Aesculapian temples served as medical centers equally devoted to healing as to the worship of their god. Hippocrates himself, the embodiment of the ideal physician, was educated as a member of the 20th generation of the cult of Aesculapius.  [End of quote]

Consider Pergamos and Asklepios Soter, "the man-instructing serpent and savior" and healer.

Is the picture beginning to form? When it comes to faith in God concerning the well-being of their flesh, multitudes have traded in their Jesus for the doctors. If Jesus said that by His stripes you were healed, and then the doctor says you have 60 days to live, the weak in faith are calling the undertaker. It reminds me of the Gospel song that says, "Whose report will you believe?" The retort is supposed to be, "I will believe the report of the Lord!" Many are able to quote their medical stats such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, but can’t quote Romans 10:17. For many, without exaggeration, the doctor has become their god. When you do find yourself shopping for a doctor, find one who rejects the spirit of Pergamos and who embraces the spirit of Christ. I personally am not opposed to the good doctors, and applaud their services to humanity, but I find the miracle of the prayer of faith much more appealing.

The effects of the evils of Pergamos permeate the world. Pergamos, now known as Pergamum, located in Turkey, has proved through time to be one of the opium and heroin centers of the world—a historical doorway to the bondage and destructions of drug addiction.

The Bible says of Pergamos, "...where Satan dwelleth." The Bible declares the truth. Trust the Word of God and it will be a lamp unto your feet.

GOD SAID, Revelation 2:12-13:

12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

13 I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

MAN SAID:  According to Harvard geneticist Richard Lewontin, "The problem is to get [people] to reject irrational and supernatural explanations of the world, the demons that exist only in their imaginations, and to accept a social and intellectual apparatus, science, as the only begetter of truth."

Now you have THE RECORD.




References:

King James Bible

Barker, W., Lares and Penates of Cilicia, 1853, p232

Hislop, A., The Two Babylons, Chick Publications, p240

McRay, J., Archaeology & the New Testament, 1997, pp271-272

Nichols, D., "Walk Among Gods, The Symbols of Medicine," 1999, www.in-ta.net

Review of Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, (New York: Ballantine, 1997) in the New York Review of Books, January 9, 1997

Strobel, L., The Case For a Creator, Zondervan, 2004, p17

The Bible and Archaeology, The Book of Revelation, www.ucgstp.org

"The Daily Study Bible, Notes on Revelation 2:12-17," Bible Explorer Software

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