Joshua 16-24; Judges 1-8; Psalms 39-41; Romans 14-16; Mark 1-2
Today, in Joshua 16, you’ll run across the name of an ancient city that you probably haven’t ever heard of. It’s name is “Gezer.” The name may not mean much to you, but it brings back vivid memories for me.

I had a wonderful opportunity to spend my junior year in college at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria in 1964-65. That’s its own (great) story for me, of course. At the end of the school year, I flew to the Middle East and had a chance to travel in a number of countries, ending in Israel. I expected to stay there for 10 days or so, and then fly on to Europe. However…I bumped into a student who was participating in an archaeological dig. He told me that they needed some more volunteers. So for the next two weeks, I stayed on a kibbutz and spent the days digging in the dirt at – you guessed it – Gezer.

Gezer was a significant city in ancient Israel. You’ll run across the name again when you
read I Kings later this year, which reports that King Solomon, along with building the Temple in Jerusalem, also built up the walls at three other cities: Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer (16:15-17). Gezer was important because it overlooked both the north-south trade route along the Mediterranean and one of the east-west access routes into the mountains, to Jerusalem and on to the Jordan valley. Gezer’s position put it on the border with Israel’s traditional enemies, the Philistines. Because of the city’s location, it was in the eye of the storm for a lot of political conflicts. In fact, I Kings also tells us that Egypt’s Pharoah had captured the city and presented it to King Solomon. That was a wedding present when Pharoah’s daughter joined Solomon’s family as one of his many wives!

There have been a lot of interesting archaeological discoveries at Gezer over the years. The year I was there, we were digging at the layer of the walls Solomon had built, and I dug up a sling stone that had clearly been used in battle. It’s about the size of a baseball, but much heavier. There’s a flat spot on it, where a piece obviously sheared off when it struck the wall. Since I dug it up myself, and since sling stones were a dime-a-dozen in digs, I was allowed to bring it home with me. Now it sits on my desk and serves as a very solid paper weight!

Now and then I look at this stone, and it reminds me of a number of things – my opportunity to study and travel that year, of course, but also of Gezer and these biblical passages. In addition, I think now and then about the soldier in an army who hurled that stone at the wall. Who was he? Did he survive to fight another day? Did he have children? And so on.

In other words, you can look at each of these names of towns in the Bible as shorthand for countless men, women, and children who lived in those cities. The many nameless folks in those cultures had hopes and dreams, just like us. They were each created in the image of God, just like us. And they often fought and killed one another, just like….

Deuteronomy 33-34; Joshua 1-15; Psalms 37-38; Romans 9-13
Happy Easter! That sounds awfully flat for a greeting today, doesn’t it? It should be more like the greeting the Eastern Orthodox would use: “Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!” After all, these words are the most important message the world has ever heard.

They were important to the apostle Paul too. In our readings this week, you’ll come across a difficult section in his letter to the Romans, chapters 9-11. Paul was proud of his Jewish heritage, but he had been called to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Thus, he lived between two – very different – worlds. As he preached across the eastern Roman Empire, he found that Gentiles, not Jews, were most likely to accept his message of faith in Jesus Christ. Not only that, but often some of his very zealous compatriots followed in his footsteps, trying to undercut his message and, occasionally, to get him killed.

So Paul had to ask himself why it was that his countrymen, who were, after all, God’s chosen people, had turned against God’s own Son. That questions must have eaten at him, especially since he knew that there had been a time when he, too, had done the same. In Romans 9-11, he raises the question, and then proceeds to wander through a long set of complicated and complex ideas and possibilities. As one of my teachers suggested, it’s as though he is trying out different answers, none of which is entirely satisfactory to him.

Eventually, Paul concludes that he won’t figure it out…it’s a “mystery” (11:25). And with that thought, he goes on to wrap up the discussion with an exclamation of praise, “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (11:33).

Now what does this have to do with Easter? Well, along the way in his discussions on Romans 9-11, Paul makes statements now and then about something he is certain about. One of those is in 10:9: “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” There it is – the greatest mystery of all – the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus died on Good Friday, yes, but he rose from the tomb on Easter morning.

That event means that our human frailties aren’t the end; our sins and hurts aren’t the final word; this world and its trials aren’t the whole story. Rather, Paul tells us, Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection are! They assure us of forgiveness and a new life (already in this world and continuing into eternity). So Paul concludes Romans 11 with more praise: “For from [God] and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Deuteronomy 19-32; Psalms 35-36; Romans 4-8

This week, in Deuteronomy 21, we’ll read some words that are especially relevant for Holy Week. Verses 22 and 23 read: “If a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by the Lord.”

Not a very pleasant verse, is it? Well, let’s jump ahead to Good Friday this week. In the Gospel of John, we read that the Jewish leaders go to the Roman governor, Pilate, asking that he speed up the executions of Jesus and the two other crucified criminals. The easy way to do that, of course, would be for the Roman soldiers to simply put a spear in the sides of the poor wretches on the crosses. This would kill them immediately, but it would also end their suffering quickly. The Romans didn’t particularly want to do that, though, because executions were intended to frighten the populace and keep them submissive.

And the Romans, of course, had a solution: they simply used an iron bar to break the legs of the victims. As they were forced to hang only from their arms, they would feel their lungs getting more and more restricted, and they would be unable to get sufficient breathes. Thus, gasping ever more weakly for air, they would gradually suffocate. The result would be extreme torment as their lives ebbed away.

That sounds horrible and it would be terribly painful, but that’s not why the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have their legs broken. They just wanted the bodies taken down before nightfall, especially because a high holy day was approaching. As the Jewish scholars, the rabbis, interpreted the Scriptures, they concluded that this curse in Deuteronomy 21 would apply to anyone who was strung up in the air. By that interpretation, crucified persons were not only as criminals, but also people suffering under a special curse from God.

The Apostle Paul quotes this passage in his letter to the Galatians. In his discussion about salvation coming through faith rather than works of the law, he plays on this idea of “curse.” He suggests that trying to live by the law curses a person, because Deuteronomy 27:26 (which we’ll also read this week!) says, “cursed by every one who does not abide by all things written in the law, to do them.” Since we all fail to keep God’s commandments completely, Paul argues, we’re all cursed. But, he says, Jesus Christ redeemed us from this curse by “becoming a curse for us” (3:13). They he quotes this passage from Deuteronomy 21.

As we approach Good Friday, I suggest that we recall this verse. Hanging on that cross, Jesus not only suffered physical torments, but he also suffered emotional pain, as those looking up at him considered him “accursed.” And, throughout the ordeal, they probably shouted out curses out at him too!

Deuteronomy 4-18; Psalms 33-34; Acts 27-28; Romans 1-3

We reach the end of Acts in our readings this week. The story is pretty dramatic, as Luke tells us how Paul is taken to Rome aboard ship. Exciting adventures take place along the way: a shipwreck, a snake bite, a healing, and finally an arrival in Rome, where Paul is put under house arrest, but is able to greet visitors and preach the gospel freely.

What drew my attention was the last part of the journey, when Paul’s ship lands in Puteoli, near Naples today; From three, he proceeds by land north to Rome. Two places are mentioned along the way: the Forum Appius, just over 40 miles south of Rome, and Three Taverns, about 10 miles further along the road. Those locations are mentioned, because Luke tells us that believers in Rome, hearing that Paul was on his way to the city, were so excited (we can surmise) that they traveled that far to meet him.

So, Paul must have arrived in Rome with quite a little entourage. Apparently, Paul already knew quite a few people in the church at Rome. At the end of his letter to the Romans, you will read a long list of names of people he greets, who he has known from earlier in his travels. The church must have included a fairly large group of people, compared to the churches in other cities. That would be natural, given that Rome was the center of the ancient (European!) world.

Still, the church would have been a miniscule portion of the total population of the city – hardly noticeable amidst the din of so many religions and philosophies, all clamoring for attention. Maybe that’s why Paul was allowed so much freedom to share the gospel. Luke ends Acts stressing that point, namely, Paul’s freedom and civility as he “welcomes all who came to him” (28:30).

Luke is writing, after all, to make it clear to the Romans that Christianity is not a threat, nor an immoral religion. It is really a civil, just, compassionate faith that is made up of people who are good, law-abiding citizens. For the Romans, that would make Christianity less suspect, and they would assume that this little band of people who believed in a strange savior would eventually just die out.

Well, it didn’t quite happen that way, did it? The news out of Rome this past week makes this quite clear: “habemus papam.” A new pope, Francis, has just taken the “chair of Peter.” You don’t have to be a Catholic to appreciate the importance of the inauguration of a new pope. Rome is the center of the Christian world, and the pope is the major figure in the city. The Emperor is long gone. Luke and Paul would have astounded to see what has happened to this city in 2000 years. And I wouldn’t at all be surprised if their response was very simple, “Praise God!”

Numbers 26-36; Deuteronomy 1-3; Psalms 31-32; Acts 22-26

This week, as we continue in Acts, we find Paul in Jerusalem for what turns out to be the last time. Luke tells us about Paul’s arrest and then, over the next few chapters, relates a long series of trials and speeches that the Apostle makes in defense of himself. I noticed a curious detail in chapter 23. Luke mentions it just in passing. Describing a plot that is being hatched to kill Paul, Luke says that “the son of Paul’s sister” informs the Romans, who then take steps to protect him.

So…Paul has a sister! This is the only place where his family is mentioned. He doesn’t talk about his own family anywhere in his letters. He does mention more than once that he was from a town called Tarsus, in what is today Turkey. From there, Paul went to Jerusalem to study with a famous rabbi, Gamaliel. It’s easy to assume that he had other siblings; after all, Jewish men were expected to marry and have children, in order to fulfill what is often called the first command in the Old Testament: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28)!

It’s also easy to assume that Paul left Tarsus and his family in his late teens to travel to Jerusalem. That’s the picture that many portraits of his life paint, but isn’t it possible that at some earlier time his father had moved his family back to Palestine? All that we hear for sure, though, is that Paul’s nephew is in Jerusalem now, too. Maybe Paul’s sister lived there; or maybe the nephew had followed in Paul’s footsteps, moving to Jerusalem later to study too. We just don’t know. And that’s my point.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know more about Paul and the other Apostles? What were their families like? How many children did they have? What happened to all of them? How many of the children followed the family faith, believing in Jesus? How many didn’t? The Bible is very quiet about a lot of details that made up “the days of their lives.”

For example, this nephew somehow found out about the plot against Paul. He must have been connected to the religious leaders in some way that, again, we don’t know anything about. He must have been on good terms with Paul too; in other words, he hadn’t written him and his apostolic faith off as so much religious nonsense. Maybe all of Paul’s family were believers in Christ. Maybe not. Obviously, Paul and Luke, and all the New Testament writers, were only concerned to tell us about how the gospel went forth, not what it’s messengers were like!

I wonder if that’s a point we should ponder in America today, where the cult of famous people is so central. We glorify everybody from rock stars to baseball players, models to reality show contestants. Maybe we should start glorifying ideals rather than people…things like support of widows, orphans, and aliens (to use the Old Testament categories), or justice, or equity, or compassion, or love. Then, to the degree that we must have “heroes,” we could name those people who give themselves for others as the real heroes. (Sounds a lot like Jesus on the cross, doesn’t it?!)

This is getting long, but I want to add a kind-of personal example. Growing up, my favorite baseball player was Roberto Clemente. (I’m from Pittsburgh, after all!) I loved to watch him hit to the opposite field, run the bases, catch fly balls at break-neck speed in right field, or make stupendous throws to home or third base. I consider him a hero…but it’s not because of his exploits on the baseball diamond. For me, he’s a hero because of his actions after an earthquake in Nicaragua in 1972. Clemente organized relief supplies and was carrying them to Managua. The plane he chartered went down after takeoff, and he died in the crash.

Numbers 10-25; Psalms 28-30; Acts 17-21

Since we are in Lent, moving toward Holy Week and Good Friday, I want to focus on a story in Numbers that you’ll read this week. You probably aren’t enjoying Numbers all that much. It’s got lots of wonderful quotes in the book, like the famous “Aaronic Benediction” in 6:24-26 (“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you…”), or the desire in 11:29 (“Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets!”).  But those great quotes, and some other wise insights about God’s nature, are set in the midst of what seems like continuous violence and evil-doing.

The story I’m referring to is in chapter 21. It’s another of these unfortunate events for the people of Israel. The people have been complaining against the Lord again, wishing that they were back in Egypt. We’re told that God’s response is to send “fiery serpents” into the camp. Once the people have been suffering for a while, they repent and beg Moses to help them. As an aside, notice that this is a continual cycle in these stories. It goes like this: (1) sinfulness; (2) judgment; (3) repentance; and (4) restoration. We’ll find the same cycle in the Book of Judges a little later this year.

And so (the last point in the cycle), Moses intercedes with God, who tells him to fashion an image of a fiery serpent and to place it on a pole. When the people look up at the image, they are healed. This is an odd story, unlike most of the other times when this cycle takes place. It almost seems that the people are told to make an idol. But, of course, it’s not a likeness of God, but rather an image of the cause of the judgment that they have brought upon themselves. Thus, it’s a kind of reminder not to do this again!

I probably wouldn’t mention this story in this blog, except for one thing. Later this year, we will read about the meeting of Jesus with Nicodemus in John 3, where we get those famous lines, “You must be born again (or “from above”), and “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son….” When Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus how salvation will take place, he reminds him of this story of the serpent being lifted up in the wilderness, and Jesus says, “I too will be lifted up, that all who believe in me may have eternal life” (vss. 14-15). Then, John 12:32 adds: “And when I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.”

You and I know what “Jesus’ being lifted up” refers to, don’t we? The meaning comes out near the end of John, when Jesus is raised up on a cross. As all people look at him, they too – us too! – will be drawn to Him and to the Father. They and we will have renewed life, just like the Israelites in the wilderness.

Good Friday will be here shortly. It would be good to ponder this passage some more then too! I’m going to try to remember to do that. I hope you will too. Then, and now…and all year, for that matter: blessings to you as you read and ponder!

Leviticus 23-27; Numbers 1-9; Psalms 125-27; Acts 12-16
Well, hello!  If you were reading this blog last year, you probably wonder what happened to me. I went on vacation in later December and wrote that I wouldn’t be able to continue blogging until mid-January. Unfortunately, I came back from vacation to a variety of unexpected projects that took large amounts of time. In addition, I had the opportunity to participate in a mission last week in Haiti along with members of Westminster Presbyterian Church here in Pittsburgh, where I was a minister of education before coming to the Seminary (and where The Year of the Bible originated!). Preparations for the trip added more to the load – for example, needing to prepare to preach on Sunday morning and to present a seminar for 40 pastors and leaders all Monday morning – so for these past weeks there was simply no time to write anything for this blog.

The trip to Haiti was great, by the way, and it makes for a nice jumping-off point to get into the readings this week. I spoke to the pastors and leaders about I Timothy, focusing on Paul’s advice about serving as a leader in a congregation. Timothy came from a town called Lystra, in central Asia Minor (Turkey today). As it happens, this week you’ll read about Paul’s first visit to Lystra in chapter 14 of Acts. It’s a pretty exciting story: Paul heals a cripple; the crowds conclude that Paul and Barnabas are gods (Hermes and Zeus!); and the local priest even wants to honor them with sacrifices (vss. 8-13).

But the crowds are fickle. The excited praise soon turns to anger, when some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrive and speak against Paul and Barnabas. Before long, the crowds are no longer showering them with praise, but hurling stones instead (vss. 19-20). They leave town and continue on their way.

Parenthetically, chapters 13-14 describe what is usually called Paul’s first missionary journey. In chapter 15, he and Barnabas go to Jerusalem, where they meet formally with James, the brother of Jesus, and the other disciples (called the “Jerusalem Council”). Then they head back out on the road again. In the first verse of chapter 16, we find them back in Lystra, where we meet Timothy for the first time. He is the son of a Greek father and Jewish mother. His mother believed in Jesus, as did Timothy. When Paul goes further, he wants to take Timothy along. This is a momentous decision, since Timothy becomes a close co-worker and trusted helper for the rest of Paul’s life.

What struck me here is that, when all those exciting events took place at Lystra in chapter 14, Timothy must have been present. What was it that led him to belief in Jesus? Was it Paul’s words, or Paul’s obvious commitment to Christ in the face of peril to his own life? Or was it conversations with his mother and other disciples after Paul left? We don’t know, of course, but it’s interesting to speculate. It’s also more important to remember that – just like Paul and Barnabas’ faith and actions unknowingly had a major impact on Timothy – we never known what influence the words we say, or a deed we do, may have on someone else.

With that in mind, here’s a paraphrase of some familiar words from the Church’s liturgy that may be useful to us: “May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart…and the actions of my life…be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer”!

Micah 1-7; Nahum 1-3; Habakkuk 1-3; Zephaniah 1-3; Haggai 1-2; Psalms 144-145; Revelation 12-16

As we get close to the end of December, we are reading a lot of minor – as in short – books of the prophets. It’s easy to read through them wondering what they’re about, because the setting for their prophecies isn’t always clear, and they love to speak in images. But don’t skim through them too quickly, certainly not when you get to Habakkuk.

Habakkuk has a wonderful testimony of absolute faith at the end of his three chapters. Listen especially to these words: “Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the Lord!” (3:17-18) In other words, Habakkuk promises to exult in God regardless of whatever circumstances arise.

Earlier in the book, Habakkuk expresses outrage at evil in the world – first at his own people in Jerusalem (1:1-4), and later at the Babylonians, who God says he will use as an instrument to punish his people for their wickedness. (1:5ff). It’s the old story: we get mad at our own people, families, or friends, until some other nation or people come on the scene. Then we close ranks and defend our own…until the threat is gone. The Babylonians are Israel’s historic enemy, so Habakkuk isn’t about to say anything good about them. He is so upset, in fact that he becomes a bit sharp with God, questioning how God can persecute his people like this. (1:12-13)

With another school shooting this last week, Habakkuk’s outrage doesn’t seem misplaced. After all, as many are saying, how can God allow this sort of evil to happen? The answer, of course, is that we can’t explain it. Evil is something awful that’s in human hearts, and it is inexplicable. Years ago, my professor in Amsterdam, G.C. Berkouwer, wrote that we shouldn’t think of sin and evil as a “mystery,” because that’s too rational a term. Eventually, we may come to understand something that is mysterious (and in the specialized biblical use of the term, a mystery is something that is hidden from us now, but will be revealed at some point). So “mystery” is too positive a term for evil. Berkouwer said we should call sin and evil a “puzzle,” in the sense that it simply can’t be understood. It’s irrational; it wells up from the human heart, and it results in actions that just plain don’t make sense.

So, we can’t eliminate a “puzzle,” but we can try to limit the opportunities for it to arise. That means looking for those times and places that are most likely to offer occasions for these senseless acts, and seeking ways to control them. For the rest, we’ll have to live courageously and trustingly, realizing – as this season of the year tells us – that God has chosen to be with us, and to undergo in himself that same puzzle of evil and sin that we experience all too often in this world. And if we’ve got the faith that this prophet has, we’ll also proclaim that, regardless of what may happen, “yet we will rejoice in the Lord.”

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A closing note: I’ll be leaving for an extended vacation this week, so this will be my last blog until a couple weeks into January. I want to thank you for reading this year, and I wish you well as you finish the readings for “The Year of the Bible.” Congratulations! When you finish – whether now, or if you are behind, sometime next year (!) – you will have accomplished a worthwhile goal.

I am planning to keep writing next year, so if you have any suggestions, please do pass them on. And blessings to you for Christmas and the New Year!

Amos 3-9; Obadiah 1; Jonah 1-4; Psalms 140-143; Revelation 7-11

C.S. Lewis made a dangerous lion, Aslan, an image for Jesus Christ. You’ll notice as you read in Amos this week, that this prophet had the same idea. “The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?”(3:8) Amos pronounces these words as a justification for his prophecies of judgment on the Northern Kingdom, Israel. You might not think of lions in connection with Palestine…but they were certainly present in Old Testament times. Think back to David’s confrontation with Goliath. When asked how he could possibly stand against this giant, David pointed out that he had already protected his father’s sheep near Bethlehem by killing marauding lions and bears! (I Samuel 17:34)

Lions were obviously familiar to Amos, who himself was a herdsman. And he knew the results when a lion got hold of a sheep: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued – with the corner of a couch and part of a bed” (3:12) In other words, there isn’t much left after a lion attack. Or God’s exercise of judgment.

Back in I Kings, when Elijah escapes the wicked queen Jezebel by fleeing into the desert and trekking all the way to Mt.Sinai, he hides in some rocks. Then God speaks to him in an unexpected way. Older translations say something like “in a still, small voice” (19:12). Other translations prefer something like “with a sound of sheer silence.” Either way, it’s pretty quiet – something unexpected from the Mighty Lord who had spoken through thunder, lightning, a trumpet blast, and an earthquake when Moses and the people of Israel stood before him on that same mountain. (Exodus 19:16-19)

You may have heard plenty of sermons or Bible study classes refer to God’s communication to us today as something intensely quiet, like this passage describes. But how often have you heard someone say that God speaks to us this way: “The Lord roars from Zion!”? Yet that’s exactly how Amos begins his book of prophecy! (1:2) My guess is that we prefer the gentle Lord a lot more. But then maybe we miss the outrage that the Lord of heaven and earth feels towards the miscarriages of justice and the sufferings of the poor, not to mention the tragedies that we humans – created in God’s own image – so often perpetrate against our fellow human beings.

That’s why Amos reports God’s dislike for all the religious ceremonies in Israel (which God has commanded in the first place!) if they aren’t accompanied by justice: “I hate, I despise your feasts…but let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.” (5:21-24)

That’s pretty strong language. But it might be good to listening to this roaring Lion, especially in our individualistic, profit-centered culture.

 

Hosea 7-14; Joel 1-3; Amos 1-2; Psalms 137-139; Revelation 2-6

In Revelation this week, you’ll start reading the famous section in chapters 2 and 3, where John writes seven “letters” to churches in western Asia Minor (Turkey today). Remember that John is imprisoned on a small island called Patmos, just off the coast in the Aegean Sea. Last May, my wife and I led a trip to Greece and Turkey that stopped at Patmos. In ancient times, it was a non-descript, barren island, but John’s association with it has made the island a pilgrimage spot, and as a result Patmos has an interesting history. But that’s another story.

As we traveled through Turkey, we stopped at three of the archaeological sites related to the churches of Revelation: Pergamum, Smyrna, and Ephesus. Ephesus is the most famous and accessible, and it’s wonderful. This was our third visit, and I’d go back any time! But the site that stood out  for me most on this trip was Pergamum, which I hadn’t seen before. It is located around and on top of a high, steep hill. The town could be defended easily, and it became important as the ruling city of western Turkey.

With the conquest of the East by Alexander and the Greeks, Hellenistic culture took hold in Pergamum. That led to huge building projects, including a famous altar to Zeus. You can still see where it stood when you take the funicular up to the top and visit the ruins. If you want to see the altar itself…you have to go to Berlin! The altar, like lots of other ancient structures, survived for centuries but couldn’t avoid western archaeologists, who used to feel that they could cart off what they liked to their museums back home. (Think, the “Elgin Marbles” in the British Museum.) Later, in the first century B.C., the Romans pushed eastward too. They gained possession of Pergamum (also an interesting story!), and added their own monuments to the city, including temples and other structures.

Now, what’s all of this have to do with Revelation? Well, when John was writing at the end of the first century A.D., the early Christians were a small and oftentimes unpopular group. He seems to have been especially worried about the tiny community in Pergamum, which may have been facing hostility from much better known religions at the time. So John tells them to watch out, because “Satan’s throne” is in the city. (2:13). The environment of Pergamum must have been especially threatening for the Christians.

But here’s the big question: what was “Satan’s throne”? It might have been that spectacular altar to Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. Or maybe it was the seat of Roman Imperial authority – one of their temples perhaps. After all, the Caesar demanded worship of himself as a divinity, a son of the gods. Or maybe it was simply the whole religious atmosphere of the city. After all, there were plenty of high-profile worship centers for other imposing gods there too.

One way or the other, the environment was threatening. Enough so that John warned the Christians there to watch out. Whatever the threat was exactly, John warns them not to get trapped in the wiles of their culture, which happened to be very religious. He would probably have the same message for us today, who live in a very different cultural setting. Culture is a human creation, for better and worse. There are good elements in any culture, and bad ones too, and we had better learn to distinguish them, if we wish to avoid Satan’s power. What are the dangers in our own culture? Well, luckily (smile) I’m out of space, so I’ll just leave that as a question for you to ponder: where do you see “Satan’s throne” in our own time?

Here’s a link to a Wikipedia photo of the Altar to Zeus in Berlin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon_Altar