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, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. – Revelation 2:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 16, 2015): Revelation 2

Pergamum was a city with a troubled history. Originally Pergamum was a Greek city that existed on the West Coast of what we know of as Turkey. But following the death of Lysimachus, the successor of the Macedonian ruler and conqueror Alexander the Great, Pergamum seems to get lost in the shuffle. At this point it becomes a rump state (a smaller portion of a once bigger empire) under the control of the Attalid’s until 133 B.C.E. In that year, Attalus III died without an heir. To be honest, Attalus III had never really wanted to govern Pergamum in the first place. His interests were in other pursuits than the mundane details of running an empire. And so in his will, he gives Pergamum to the Romans.

Unfortunately, there were those inside of Pergamum that were not amused and who had no intention of allowing the Romans to take control of the city. For the next four years, war reigned in Pergamum until the revolt was finally put down in 129 B.C.E. It is likely that Pergamum had always been an eclectic religious city with temples and altars dedicated to a diverse of group of gods. But it was in the decades after the end of the revolt against Rome that Pergamum became something else – it became the center for the Roman Emperor Worship cult. By the time Revelation was written, Temples to Augustus and Tiberius had already been built, as well as a temple dedicated to the worship of the Attalid Emperors. The problem seemed to be that this was more about pacification of Pergamum then it was about a pursuing after the things of God. And this was most likely the Altar to Satan of which John was speaking. Christianity, even though we believe in one God, has never been offended by the genuine pursuit of any gods. But the emperor cult was not a genuine pursuit, it was about control, and that was a problem partially because it would prohibit the pursuit of Jesus, because Jesus’ followers were not easily pacified by political directives.

So enters Antipas. We know absolutely nothing of this man. We suspect that he was a Bishop of the Christian Church in Pergamum. And according to this passage he was put to death for his pursuit of Jesus. John uses the word martyr or witness. In ancient times that was all a martyr was, someone who saw and could testify to what they had witnessed. But here we see the beginning of a change in the meaning of the word – it begins to mean not just a faithful witness, but rather someone who dies for being a faithful witness. Antipas refused to settle for the pagan emperor cult. How could he when he had witnessed the difference that Jesus could make.

And so Antipas becomes a Christian martyr rather than give in to the false pursuit of dead emperors; he dies in this mixed up city where Satan dwelled.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 3