The church located in the city of Pergamos
God’s Scripture:
Revelation [2:7] “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”
Genesis [3:22] “And the Lord God said, “Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:”
[ed: The “Tree of Life” is none other than Jesus Christ, and like it was also in the days of Eden’s Garden, mankind was there along with the presence of Jesus Christ. There was also that other tree – the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (who was and is satan) and he did tempt and Adam and his wife did fall in sin
by satan’s deception and not staying aligned with God’s command to not touch that evil tree.
Being reminded now, make sure you do not fall for the upcoming deception that satan will present to the world being a “flood of lies”.]
[ed: This study is to focus on the particular church at Pergamos, and to document the history that occurred to make this type of church, the “seat of satan”.]
Revelation [2:11] “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”
Revelation [2:17] “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knowth saving he that receiveth it.”
[ed: We all should try to overcome satan’s deceptions.]
Revelation [2:12] “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;”
Revelation [2:13] “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 [my witness, my faithful one], who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth.”
[ed: There was a particular church in this city’s area, which will be detailed further in the “History” section below.]
Revelation [2:14] “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balic to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”
Revelation [2:15] “So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate [in like manner].”
Revelation [2:16] “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”
History:
To realize the significance of the Permagos church and the “seat of satan”, it is necessary to review what was going on in ancient Babylon, for there came forth the priest of the church that would worship the serpent.
In ancient Babylon, the god Ninus (Babylon’s king/priest Nimrod deified) and his goddess consort, Semiramis, were worshipped soon after the death of Nimrod. Also, there were elements of creation that were brought into this
growing false religion. The chief god aside from Ninus was the sun god Baal. Often the sun was depicted as a circle of flames and around the flame the image of an encircling serpent, with the head of the serpent consuming its very own tail.
The worshippers of the sun god Baal would then become to revere the serpent, the associated conjunction of Baal gave the serpent adoration and respect as it ascended into the importance of becoming the chief god. The serpent assumed being the image of Baal.
In those ancient days, the worhsippers and priests alike belived that the earth was flat, and that the sun went down, encircled around the earth underneath the flat earth terrain, then raise up in the morning.
In the religious belief of Baalism, Baal/Ninus/serpent was the defied version of the actual sun in the sky, and it would “die” at sunset. With the earth considered as flat land, the dead setting sun would begin the journey of encircling under the earth, passing around the bottom side which was considered to be the “underworld”.
The path of the sun encircling the flat earth would be represented by that very image of the circled serpent.
The path of the sun would continue from the West where it disappeared at sunset (dying) until it would once again reach the Eastern side of earth. The sun would then arise again (resurrect) in the morning.
The sun god Baal, was the false morning star, the sun/star that was of the serpent. Upon having a serpent worshipped, satan must of been thrilled to be a god, to spite the true God YHVH, and claim he has the appreciation and reverence from mankind, the making of his quest to become a great god. It is what his rebellion was about, deceiving people and moving them away from the true Creator Father and making himself above all.
This is his conquest to supplant and remove God from his own people, his own created children.
How did Pergamos become the “seat of satan” if Babylon was the place where this religion originated?
In 539 BC, Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians. Darious was the leader of the Medes and Cyrus was the leader of the Persians. Cyrus was a nephew to Darious and they jointly conquered Babylon.
Babylon’s priest-king Attalus along with his priests and sacred mysteries, fled Babylon and went to Lydia and established the ancient Greek city of Pergamon (modern Greek name of Pergamos). Today, the land area belongs to Turkey, and the closest existing city is today called Bergama, Turkey.
The word “Pergamos” means “Married to the tower”, keeping in mind that Nimrod (Ninus) was the builder of the tower of Babel.
The temple built by Attalus (aka Attalus I) was referred by the Greek name for serpent, “Serapis”. The altar of this temple is now housed in a museum in Berlin.
In the year 92 Antipas, the first bishop of Pergamos was ordained by John the Apostle, was murdered during a clash between Serapis worshippers and Christians. An angry mob is said to have burned Antipas alive in front of the Temple.
see more info here –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon#Serapis_Temple
A succession of priest-kings followed Attalus until the end of the reign of Attalus III, for Attalus III died without an heir in 133 BC, and he bequeathed the whole of Pergamos to Rome. Julius Caesar then took both the Pergamos
kingdom. Caesar was elected to be the Pontiff Maximus of the Babylonish religion and was therefore priest-king.
Julius Caesar started his political career as Rome’s high priest to which he did purchase that position.
Octavian, Caesar’s successor, took the crown Julius Caesar would have worn had he not been killed by his “friends” Octavian became the Maximus Pontiff.
This title passed on to the succeeding Roman emperors until the time of Maximus III who refused it. According to Stevens’ History it was then that the pope took the headship the emperor rejected and today there is still a pontiff in the world, and he is truly Pontiff Maximus.
In 367 AD, Gratian, to be named as “Augustus”, became the ruler of Rome. However, he refused the title of Maximus Pontifex for religious reasons. In 369 AD, the man called Damascus who was the Bishop of Rome, proclaimed he wanted to wear the crown. Damascus would go on to lead the upcoming Council of Nicaea.
Egypt was also in practice of the Serapis/serpent religion and there were many altars created for that purpose.
The Egyptian god “Serapis” was a combination of the sacred bull, the Apis, and the god of the dead Osiris. Pluto became the god for the dead under the Romans.
Per Encylopedia Britannica:
"Gradually Serapis became revered not only as a Sun god (“Zeus Serapis”)
but also as a lord of healing and of fertility. His worship was
established in Rome and throughout the Mediterranean, following
the trade routes and being particularly prominent in the great
commercial cities.
Among the Gnostics (early Christian heretics who believed that matter
is evil and the spirit is good) he was a symbol of the universal
godhead."[ed: “Satan’s seat” (throne) was established by the Babylonian/Pergamian religious practices. His worshippers bowed to him. The tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, had not only seduced Eve but many of the people of these places.]
[ed: Below, these scripture verses document that satan wishes to become “the” god over all the stars (God’s children – mankind) and even above God himself. Here is God’s version of what satan had said unto Him, how satan wishes to be greater, to rule above all .]
[ed: The Greek word “ouroboros” means “tail eating”. You can find much more information about the ancient culture and adaptations of this symbolic image revered as a sacred representation for various religions around the world.]
[ed: Interesting information here, but I cannot verify all of the points brought forth at this site, so please use your most capable discernment.]
Link for general explanation of the ouroboros serpent –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros
Isaiah [14:13] “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:”
Isaiah [14:14[ “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
[ed: Here, satan being referred to as the serpent.]
Revelation [12:9] “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.”
[ed: Satan and his angels being thrown to the earth in the future sense out from the pit of degradation and restraint.]
Here in verse [12:9] we have a set of satan’s named roles,
satan [Srong’s #4567, “satanas”] is also named as
the “dragon” [#G1404, “drakon”],
the “old serpent” [#G744, #3789 “archaios”, “ophis”],
the “devil” [#G1228, “diabolos”],
and as such will deceive the whole world.
Deception is all satan provides and it is only to make himself great in front of others, so he can be a god.
How small he is to make himself look so relevant and most important by only misleading people away from the very Truth of the real God.
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