3 P's of our Profession - Pergamos

PERGAMOS (Rev 2 :12-17) Background on Pergamos

Pergamos was not on any of the great roads, as Ephesus and Smyrna were, but its geographical position made Pergamos even more impressive. It was built on a tall hill, which dominated the valley of the River Caicus, from the top of which the Mediterranean could be seen, 15 miles away. Sir William Ramsay described it this way: "Beyond all other cities in Asia Minor, it gives the traveler the impression of a royal city, the home of authority."

Historically it was the greatest city in Asia. The reason was that, by the time John was writing, Pergamos had been a capital city for almost 400 hundred years. In 282 b.c. it was made the capital of the Seleucid kingdom, one of the sections into which the empire of Alexander the Great was broken up. It remained the capital until 133 b.c. In that year Attalus the III died, and before he died he willed his dominions into the possession of Rome. Out of the dominions of Attalus, Rome formed the province of Asia, and Pergamos still remained its capital.

Pergamos was the administrative center of Asia, which meant that it was the center of Caesar worship for the province. Undoubtedly that is why Pergamos was where Satan's seat was; it was the place where men were required on pain of death by the sword to take the name of Lord and give it to Caesar instead of to Christ; and to a Christian there could be nothing more Satanic than that.

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