“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword: “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.” Revelation 2:12-13 NLT
Satan has a city? Well, not exactly. Where is Pergamum? Today it’s in Turkey, and it’s just tourist ruins now. But back in the first century it was the height of Rome’s idol worship with massive statues and temples. The “seat of Satan” was a reference to the center of idolatry, as Pergamos practiced sun worship, which originated from Babylonian idolatry. It is a symbolic way of describing the city’s spiritual atmosphere and the strong influence of paganism and emperor worship, which made it a place where Satan’s power was particularly evident.
Who would want to be known as Satan’s city? It’s not exactly what you’d put on the city’s welcome brochure. We think of our own cities and wonder what idols, what kind of worship takes place there. Cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York or New Jersey, maybe even Portlandia remind us of pockets of power, money, lawlessness or even anarchy! It seems as if Satan has plenty of thrones scattered around the Divided States of America. There are plenty of religious statues in the U.S., and some of them are touch points back to ancient idols – the Hindu goddess, Kali, Baal, Athena, and Saraswati.
There are far more human behaviors that are unashamedly displayed proudly in parades and festivals all across the county – most of which are sexual, occult, or just pure demonic. There are plenty of Americans that are quite proud of their wayward “sinful” ways. John records that the evil IN the city wasn’t God’s only concern. There were assistant deceivers like Balaam – using women (daughters of Moab) to entice the Israelite men to knowingly eat meat sacrificed to idols combined with some manner of sexual infidelity. These men had proactively corrupted others, encouraging them to sin, relishing in the fact that they were destroying human souls, their families and their relationship with God!
People tend to make light of playing with evil, experimenting and exploiting others. It is no laughing matter when one opens a door to sin, only later finding out it can never be closed! The very real Satan, the liar, deceiver and accuser will continue to take advantage of that small, maybe even innocent opening to our soul. His aim is to drag all of us away from the Father and down to the pit of despair where he will exist forever. Jesus, in the final book – the end of all things says, ”Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” Revelation 2:16. Repent before God cuts us off and out of his presence for good!
So, it’s not so much LIVING in Satan’s city, which many of us probably do. It’s deciding that we will not be conned or enticed to join in the revelry of self-serving sin or play on the fences of evil. We should however run, like Joseph did or repent like King David did.
Prayer
Dad,
It seems that so many cities come with so many opportunities to seduce our soul! I know now that temptations are customized for each individual. There are commonalities, but each lure, each decoy, is nuanced, fitting to our own desires. Each offer comes with its own impatience, its own unique promise to fulfill what only you can satisfy perfectly. You give us grace, but you have also given us the power to resist, and the strength to run. With each temptation you will show us the way of escape – if we would only take it. Help us O Lord. Forgive us for our willingness to be ensnared and fulfill our desires with sin.