This week’s research turned up a good bit of solid historical relevance, but with a little bit of connect-the-dots, some interesting side correlations begin to take shape.  The bit of historical value focuses on what is meant by “Satan’s Throne”.

I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

The obvious connection that most scholars will immediately make is the great Altar of Zeus, located prominently on the Upper Acropolis.  But the entire acropolis area is filled with pagan and cultish buildings.

For the Hellenists, there was certainly the Altar of Zeus, but also within walking distance was the Sanctuary of Athena (for wisdom), the Temple of Dionysus (for merriment), the Temple of Demeter (for the harvest), and the Sanctuary of Hera (for fertility).  And then, at the foot of the acropolis, sat the Asclepieion (Sanctuary of Asclepius), where those in need of healing would come and sleep in the dormitories amongst non-venomous snakes for an evening in hopes of receiving a dream.  In that dream, they were supposedly told what the physicians needed to do in order to heal their malady.

The people of Pergamum also had shrines dedicated to the worship of past kings of the city.  And it was also one of the main centers of the Roman Imperial Cult, which demanded the worship of the past (and some present) Caesars as gods.

And, to top it all off, Pergamum was home to the second largest library of all of ancient Greece.  This center of “wisdom and learning” would prove quite troublesome to the young believers in the city, for it offered many different alternative “truths”.

With any one of those examples, it could be said that Satan had a foothold in the city.  But I believe what made the city of Pergamum so oppressive and so hard to remain faithful was the constant barrage of “relative truths”.  You could be anyone you wanted to be in the city- there was a place for you.  You could worship anyone or anything you wanted to in the city- in fact it was welcomed.  You could believe anything you wanted to in the city- the library housed over 200,000 books, so there was plenty of philosophy to go around.  All of these combined made Pergamum the perfect home for the father of lies.  Which is where the connect-the-dots factor comes into play. 

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.

Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

I found it very interesting that both the greeting and salutation emphasized this sword.  And the New Testament is pretty clear and consistent when referring to what this sword might represent.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)

So we can be fairly certain that this sword Is a reference to the word of God.  Jesus even further clarifies for us in John 17:17 that “Your word is truth”.  I love the fact that these Christians, when living in a world of no absolutes, they’re presented front and back with a reminder of this one thing- there is an eternal truth and there can be no compromise or backing down from it.  If they wanted to survive, they had to cling to the word of God and accept no substitutes.