How Jesus Feels About Idolatry (Revelation 2:12-28) Series

How Jesus feels about idolatry (Revelation 2:12-28)

Today, we will tackle two of Jesus' messages, to two of the seven churches. The first one, that I'll use as kind of skeleton and starting point, is to the angel and his church in Pergamum. About half way through, I'll add in the message to Thyatira. I'm going to do this because both churches have the same basic, overlapping problems, and Jesus judges the churches in a similar way. They also make more sense when we read them together. I think I'll be able to pull this off without it being too messy or confusing, but I just wanted to give you a heads up, so you have a feel for how this morning will go. Let's start today by simply reading Revelation 2:12-13:

(12) And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

"These things he says-- the one having the double-edged, sharp sword:

(13) 'I know where you live-- where the throne of satan [is]--

and you hold fast to my name,

and you didn't deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness,

who was killed among you, where satan lives,

The thing that kind of pops off the pages at us in these verses is what Jesus says about "the throne of satan." What exactly is "the throne of satan"?

A clear majority of scholars connect this throne to the religious practices at Pergamum-- specifically, it's idolatry, and worship of Roman gods, and worship of the emperor. I think I've been persuaded that the majority view is wrong, but out of fairness to you, let me just briefly set out the argument:

Throughout the Roman empire, idolatry was a way of life. People worshipped lots of different gods. They did so, as a rule, without being exclusive. Different gods offer differ things, and maybe you'd pick which god you worshipped or prayed to, depending on what you needed. On top of all of that, emperor worship was a big deal in the Roman empire. The emperor was viewed, and treated, as a god. Perhaps some people knew that he was really just a human. But worshipping the emperor was a way to give the emperor respect, and honor. And temples were built to that purpose.

At Pergamum, in particular, there were lots of impressive temples, where you could worship lots of different gods (all of this is rehearsed in the commentaries, but I'm most closely following Craig Koester below). There, you would find what's called "The Great Altar of Zeus." This altar was part of a larger temple complex where you could worship Athena and Zeus. As far as emperor worship goes, Pergamum had the first provincial temple for emperor worship. The city viewed itself as the leading regional center for emperor worship. On top of these things, Pergamum also had a well-known sanctuary for Asclepius, the god of healing.

All of that's verifiably true. But is that why Jesus calls Pergamum "the throne of satan"? Did the city, through its strong pursuit of idolatrous, demonic things, end up creating a special kind of home for satan, or persuade satan to take up a more or less permanent residence there?

It's possible. But I think it's probably better to connect this throne of satan language to the death of Antipas. "What distinguishes Pergamum from the other cities is that Antipas was put to death there," and this is how you can see satan's presence (Koester, Revelation, 287). So like last week, we heard Jesus call a Jewish synagogue a "synagogue of satan," because it attacked the church. And in this passage, we hear a city called "the throne of satan" for the same reason-- because it attacked the church.

So one of the things we learn from these verses, then, is that you can tell where satan is active, and enthroned, based on where he is using people to persecute the church. You can tell which synagogues belong to satan, by how they respond to Jesus and his church. You can tell which cities belong to satan, by how they treat the churches within them. And all of this is basically the same idea as that of Paul, in Ephesians. Our struggle isn't with flesh and blood, but with the demonic forces behind humans who push them, and encourage them, to attack us.

And I should maybe add to this, too, that it's not like satan personally lives in lots of different cities (my youngest was reading my manuscript and asked about this, so I'm putting this in). Satan can only live in one place at one time. But satan has lots of minions underneath him, who can be in lots of different places. And the NT doesn't always clearly explain all of this. So when Jesus says that satan dwells in Pergamum, he probably means that demonic forces dwell there.