Letter to the Church of Pergamos: Part 1
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Text: Revelation 2:12-17
Intro: There is a lot to unpack in the letter to the church at Pergamos. From the beginning of our study we stated that we would consider the who, where, and when, but that perhaps the most significant aspects for us to apply today would be to answer these questions how and why. To answer those questions we will journey back to the time before the fall of man and look through history as to how we arrived where we are with this church.
As we consider the Bible chronologically, of course we begin with creation, but very quickly move into a battle over a throne. Isaiah 14:14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”. We have discussed many times the theme of the Bible being Zechariah 14:9 “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: In that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” Through our study of the churches we have seen the work of satan in the form of direct and indirect opposition as well as in the form of counterfeits.
Ecclesiastes 3:14–15 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
The first battle is over a throne, and the last battle is over a throne, and there are many repeat battles throughout history that have been and still will be over a throne. This effort of satan has been and will continue to be until God destroys him. It is why Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness. Matthew 4:9–10 “And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
And it is the very reason that the anti-christ will sit in the temple of God and declare himself as such...
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
In our study on the church in Smyrna we saw for the first time the counterfeit church of Satan, which the Bible calls the synagogue of Satan. We don’t see this sooner because historically speaking the church was a mystery until God revealed it through the New Testament. So, just like the counterfeit we see in the New Testament we see counterfeits in the Old Testament as well which we see are the foundation for what we see at the time of the church in Pergamos.
1. The Origin of Satan’s False Religious System: (Gen. 10-11)
Genesis 10 begins with a geology, and we quickly see that the first 7 verses hold to a specific pattern. But… then we arrive at verse 8 and we a break in the pattern and a declaration about an individual.
The “MAN” connected with the Tower of Babel… ____________________!
We already discussed the theme of the Bible and in Gen. 10 is actually the first mention of a kingdom… Genesis 10:10 “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”
As we consider the time of the great tribulation and the rise of the anti-christ, I’d like us to consider these verses.
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
The first mention of the kingdom is also mentioned with the first representation of a religious tower. This is also the first place we see bricks… It is interesting that bricks Biblically are associated with paganism. God created stone, the alters were built from stone, Jesus is the cornerstone, these men in their man made religion had bricks for stones. We only see bricks in a handful of places Biblically, here in Egypt and the mention in Isaiah 65:2–3 “I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, Which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; That sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;”
I know that we get a very quick view of this kingdom called Babel and its religious system before the Lord scatters it abroad but it is important that we recognize that this is not the end of Satan’s system but in fact history will show that the religious ideology that came out of this city is found in the midst of Revelation 2-3 and won’t be destroyed until Revelation 18.
The “WOMAN” Connected to the Tower of Babel… Semiramis! We see her Biblically Revelation 17:5
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
After the death of Nimrod Semiramis began to claim that Nimrod was the _______ god. ( A counterfeit __________) She claimed that she was virgin, who supernaturally conceived by means of a sun beam. (A counterfeit _______________ birth) She gave birth to a son whose name was Tammuz and he was born on the winter solstice which is on or around the time of Dec. 25th. (A counterfeit god-____________) Her claim was that Tammuz was supposedly Nimrod who came back from the dead. ( A counterfeit __________________________) and ultimately leading to (a counterfeit father manifested in his _______________).
*In the Tower of Babel religion, not only was a _______________ worshiped but the child's mother was also worshiped.
Note: Something that the Catholic, Jesuite priest found remarkable is that when they travelled the world as “missionaries” promoting Catholicism was that they found all over the world a form of the Babel religion which they too followed…
And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Although God scattered the people and confounded their language they carried this “counterfeit religion” with them. Although the name(s) is not always the same the worship of the “holy ____________” and her son spread to the ends of the earth...
In ___________________, the mother goddess was Shingmoo.
In ___________________, she was the “virgin” Hertha.
In ___________________, she was known as Isi and her son Iswara. (Asia)
In ___________________, she was Cybele, and her son Deolus.
In ___________________, she was known as Ishtar.
In ___________________, she was known as Dianna.
In ___________________, she was Isis, and her son Osiris.
In ___________________, she was Aphrodite, and her son Eros. Judges 2:13 “And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.”
In ___________________, she was Ashtar, and her son Baal.
In ___________________, she was Venus, and her son Jupiter (cupid)
Not only did the Jesuit priests find the worship of the “holy mother” and her son being worshiped but that the imagery of it was nearly the same…
The Roman Empire in the first three centuries was nothing more than a Roman expression of the “false” Tower of Babel religion.
In this Babel expressed religion we have this structure.
A pagan Roman ______________.
A pagan Roman ______________.
Pagan Roman Imperial ______________________.
Pagan Provincial _____________________.
Pagan Roman ______________________.
Pagan Roman Vestal (___________________).
2. Satan’s Seat:
Pergamos was the Roman capital in Asia… It represented everything that was Rome and in that it represented everything that was Babel.
God’s blessing on the nation of Israel Satan counters with Babel/Rome.
Once God revealed His plan for His church, Satan counters...
Ephesians 5:32 “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
As we get into the church age, we understand that their is a bride (church) and a bridegroom (Christ). Satan also has a counterfeit marriage.
Pergamos means ________________________________.
At this point in Roman history, we have seen 23 Emperors, and they have all hated God, the Bible, and Christianity. We left off with Smyrna - the church that suffered great persecution all at the hands of Satan (Rome). God’s plan for His church was that they would reach the world! Satan recognized that the more he put to death, the more it grew… He had to change tactics.
On October 28, 312 AD. The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius. The night before the battle Constantine claims he saw a vision of two Greek letters coming together and forming a cross and the two letters coming together meant Christ. He claims he was commanded to use the symbol against all his enemies. The next morning he commanded all his troops to paint the symbol on all their shields. This event marks the “conversion” of Constantine and the beginning of the unholy marriage of the church and state. Constantine won the battle...
At a time where Christians had been killed, they are now welcome through the marriage of the church and state. Their new emperor paid 20 gold pieces and a new robe to anyone who would be baptized (converted).
Now to compare the religious/government structure from before with this new marriage.
A pagan Roman Emperor - ______________.
Pagan Roman Senate - ______________________.
Pagan Imperial Governors - _____________________.
Pagan Roman Provincial Governors - ______________________.
Pagan Roman Civitas - ______________________.
Pagan Roman Vestal (virgins)-___________________.
Same religion - different name...
Mother - Son became Mary and Jesus.
Idol worship became saint worship.
The “Edict of the Emperors Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I” was passed in 380 A.D. saying this, “We order those who follow this doctrine to receive the title of ______________ Christians, but others we judge to be mad and raving…nor are their assemblies to receive the name of churches. They are to be punished not only by Divine retribution but also by our _______ measures…”
Historian Will Durant writes… “Compared with the persecution of heresy [by the Roman Catholic Church]…the persecution of Christians by [pagan] Romans…was a __________ and ______________ procedure.”
Roman Catholic historian Peter de Rosa admits in his book Vicars of Christ, that Catholicism became... “...the most _________________ faith the world has ever seen... [Pope] Innocent III murdered far more Christians in one _________________... Than any Roman emperor did in his entire reign.”
So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.
And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
Acts 19:27 “So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.”
Acts 19:35 “And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?”
Ezekiel 8:14 “Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.”