Travelling Pioneers

Pergamon (or Pergamum as many spell it) is the last congregation of the book of Revelation on our road trip. The people of this city were once the “ Temple-keepers of Asia .” Hence the city has 5 major temples for different purposes. So we wondered, ‘Which of these was considered the infamous “throne of Satan?”‘ Most people think it was the temple of Zeus. I want to put forth reasons why this is likely NOT the case. It is actually a different temple that Jesus refers to in Revelation. But before I get into this, I must admit that there is much controversy as to exactly which temple there corresponds to this throne. On our tour we noticed that of the 5 large temples erected here, there is no clearcut answer. After all, Jesus did not specify. But there is a key clue to determine which one it likely was, and it’s in a Bible verse. Here is the text from the New World Translation. 12 “To the angel of the congregation in Pergamum write: These are the things that he says who has the sharp, l

Sardis is our next stop on our road trip through Turkey to see the seven congregations of Revelation. Just like on our visit to Philadelphia , we again see some really interesting connections between what we see in Sardis and what Jesus writes to the congregation in the book of Revelation. When addressing the seven congregations in Revelation, Jesus used language and metaphors that the residents could relate to. So in this post I want to share three things that will make more sense to you when reading Jesus’ words to this congregation. You can connect them with things that you see in or around the city. But first, let’s see the text from the New World Translation. In bold are the connections we will make:  1. “To the angel of the congregation in Sarʹdis write: These are the things that he says who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your deeds, that you have the name that you are alive, but you are dead.   3. Therefore, continue mindful of how you have received