Revelation Revealed Pt 6

Text: Revelation 2:12-17
God is doing something fresh and new: Forrest Franks new song, “Your Way Is Better” and American Idol last Sunday night. 
Pergamum, located about two miles inland from the Aegean Sea. 
One of the early city leaders received a large sum of money to build many of the temples
It had a 200,000-volume library. This is interesting because there was no print press so wealthy people would by the books and have them copied by hand and then give it back to the owner. 
Egypt eventually cut off the export of papyrus to Pergamum because it began to rival Egypt in regard to the size of the library. 
Pergamum began to use animal-skin-based writing material. 
Pergamum had aligned itself with The Roman Empire for a number of years. 
About 133 B.C. That last king of Pergamum who didn’t have an heir, eventually signed the city over the Roman Empire. It quickly became a center for Roman control. 
Over a period of time, there were three temples build for emperor worship. 
All of the emperors during that time were worshipped as gods.
 These emperors were also call the pontifex maximus.
Even today in Rome there still sits upon his throne a direct successor to the Roman Emperor — the Pope.
Only Pergamum would understand the reference in verse 12 to “sharp two-edged sword:” because the emperor also had a two edged sword. 
Pergamum was also notable for another fact: It is where Satan had his throne - bishop of Rome at St. Peter’s basilica. 

Antipas - held true to Christ name.  
Those who hold the doctrine of Balaam - you are compromising. 
You can be the church of God, but have different ways that people live their lives. 
In Berlin there is a Pergamum Museum - replica of the Pergamum altar at the temple of Zeus. 
There is a statue there that shows bad gods overpowering good gods.
In more recent times, Hilter had his courtyard where he gathered the Nazis designed to look just like this temple. 
Obedience in one area does not cover for or excuse disobedience in other areas.
healing cult of Asclepius - medicine 
- Rod of Asclepius - BCBS logo
Caduceus - commerce 
THESE TWO SHOULD NOT BE MIXED 
the altar of Zeus
Temple of Augustus 
The imperial cult greatly increased the pressure on Christians.

Greek philosophers argued that intercourse with prostitutes to relieve one’s appetite for sex was acceptable, so long as one was not “controlled” by it. 
At the other extreme, many philosophers reasoned that one should have intercourse only for procreation, not pleasure. 
Greek abandonment of more female than male infants led to a shortage of women; Greek men thus often married at about age 30 to women some 12 years their junior. 

Until marriage, their primary access to intercourse was with prostitutes, slaves or other males. 
Free Roman men could have intercourse with social inferiors, though not with other respectable free persons (other than free prostitutes). 
By contrast, Scripture treated intercourse with another person’s future spouse as seriously as adultery while married (Deut. 22:13-29).
All ancient peoples agreed that adultery (sometimes called “wife-stealing”) was immoral, although it was apparently widespread among the Roman elite. 
Roman law punished adultery, and it affected divorce settlements, though a wronged husband could kill the adulterous pair only if he caught them in the act. 
Roman law required that a man divorce his wife if he learned that she was committing adultery; one who failed to comply could be charged with “pimping” her, i.e., financially profiting from her behavior. 
Adultery involved sex with a married woman who was not a prostitute; Gentiles did not punish married men’s affairs with unmarried women. 
By contrast, Paul would have rejected such double standards (cf. 1 Cor. 7:2-5).