View on the 3 crosses from the opened grave.
Biblical archaeology, part 3
1. The prophecies about the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament
In the previous 2 parts about the Biblical archeology many excavations have already been discussed, which confirm the Bible. But we must not forget, that all found Bible manuscripts, whether on parchment or on papyrus, can in fact also be counted among these archaeological finds. And the number of these manuscripts is enormous.
It is curious that many people doubt about the content of the historiography in these manuscripts, which largely consent to each other, while they immediately believe all kinds of manuscripts that deal with other histories, such as about the Greek culture or all kinds of world religions and sects . Even if only 1 or very few manuscripts have been found about such matters, they have no problem in accepting their contents as true. But a huge number of manuscripts have been found about the biblical history, and yet many call their contents into question or even claim that they are about fairy tales.
It is true that there are also manuscripts, seeming to be related to the Bible, which however clearly have a different content. But they are most likely the work of sects. Sects have always had already the tendency to let their imagination run wild. Often they betray themselves by claiming contradictory things.
And what they claim is often very absurd. Take the Gnosticism. Followers of this movement believed, that we humans are in our deepest essence divine. But unfortunately that divine is, according to them, still imprisoned in a deficient and mortal body. But what is divine from a human being? The whole world is full of hatred and envy, war and strife, violence and annoyance. And when the time of a man has come, he dies, just like the beasts.
Jews, who reject the New Testament of the Bible, but believe in the Old Testament, which is their Bible, have numerous prophecies in their Bible that do confirm the New Testament. Here a complete enumeration of these is not given, for this would probably make this article too extensive, but some examples will nevertheless be mentioned:
1. At the end of Isaiah 52 (from verse 13) and in Isaiah 53 it is told how the Servant of God must suffer and die because of the sins and crimes of others. This was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, who suffered and died for those, who would believe in Him.
2. In Daniel 9:26 it is said that after a certain time the Messiah would die for others. There is written: "And after those sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off, but it will not be for Himself." This too has been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. The weeks mentioned are annual weeks, so weeks of 7 years each. This is explained further in the article about 'Fulfilled prophesies'.
3. Micah 5:2 states that the ruler (or prince or king, so the Messiah) would come from (that is: would be born in) the place of Bethlehem. For there it says: “But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, although you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall He come forth unto Me, who is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
For the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And He is indeed from eternity. This is written so beautiful in Psalm 90:2: " Before the mountains were brought forth, or You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." And the Lord Jesus is essentially one with God the Father.
4. The Deity of the Lord Jesus is also confirmed by the prophecy in Isaiah 9: 6 and 7: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."
5. Reference is already made to the Son of God in Psalm 2: 6 and 7. For it is said there: "Yet have I set My king upon My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD has said unto Me: You are my Son; this day have I begotten You."
6. Zechariah 9: 9 says, " Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion; shout, o daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King comes unto you. He is just, and having salvation; poor, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a foal of a donkey."
This too has been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. In Matthew 21: 2 the Lord Jesus said to His disciples: “Go into the village over against you, and straightway you shall find a donkey tied, and a foal with her; loose them, and bring them unto Me." The Lord Jesus then rode upon it into Jerusalem. All in all there were 2 donkeys: The mother donkey and her young one. We can assume that the Lord Jesus sat on the young one and that the mother donkey walked along to stay with her young one.
The entry into Jerusalem
Furthermore, there are many other prophecies in the Old Testament that concern the Lord Jesus.
2. Sources outside the Bible from the first and second centuries
But outside the Bible also other sources have also been found, that say something about the Lord Jesus. There are not that many, but that is understandable. Those who did not want to believe in Him did not know what to do with the stories about Him and usually preferred to remain silent about them.
a. Firstly the Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus can be mentioned here. He lived from the year 37 to about the year 100, and therefore did not personally experience the Lord Jesus, but he lived very shortly after Him. Josephus wrote in his work 'The Antiquities of the Jews' (in the Greek language):
“At that time lived Jesus, a wise man, as far as it is lawful to call him a man. For he performed deeds that were thought impossible, and he was a teacher of people who joyfully accepted the truth. And many Jews as well as many of the Greeks he brought to himself. He was the Christ. Even after Pilate, on the instructions of the first men with us, imposed the punishment of the cross on him, those who first started living in love did not give up. He namely appeared to them on the third day, living again. The divine prophets had said these things and countless other wonderful things about him. To this day the group of the Christians, named after him, has not disappeared.”
This passage has been heavily attacked. Many could not believe that Josephus would have said such things about the Lord Jesus, and they claimed that this passage was the later work of Christians. These Christians would have added their own views to Josephus' work. But how can one change the work of a famous writer without noticing? The Jews, Greeks and Romans would not have accepted this, and would have maintained the true version of Josephus' work.
Other scholars just came to the conclusion, that the language and grammar of this passage fits very well with the language and grammar of the other work of Flavius Josephus. Opponents of this in turn noted that there is a word in this passage (poiètès) that is not used anywhere else in his work. But of course that is a completely worthless argument. A language can easily have tens of thousands of words. Therefore virtually no book will contain all the words of a language. Furthermore the word 'poiètès' is a very normal Greek word and primarily means 'perpetrator' or 'performer'. For the Lord Jesus performed miracles!
Further discussion of this passage in Josephus’ work will be skipped here. Opponents of God's truth try to attack all of it. This is endless. It would take an endless amount of time to debunk all the nonsense arguments. So it's best to follow the main issues.
Flavius Josephus
The Lord Jesus lived until about the year 30. In the period between the year 50 and the year 180 there were already at least 17 writers, who were not Christian, who mentioned the Lord Jesus and wrote many things about Him, that correspond exactly with the things that the 4 evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and the other writers of the New Testament wrote about!
What things were those?
1. Jesus was the son of Mary.
2. He had a brother named James.
3. He came from a place called Nazareth.
4. He said that he was divine.
5. He was a wise man and a teacher with high principles.
6. He was called Messiah and king.
7. He and his disciples performed miracles and healed the sick.
8. He was accused of slander by the Jewish leaders and sentenced to death on the cross.
9. This happened at the feast of Easter, by order of Pontius Pilate, during the reign of Emperor Tiberius.
10. During his crucifixion a darkness arose during full moon.
11. He was worshiped as God by his followers.
12. They called themselves Christians according to his name.
13. They regarded themselves as brothers of each other.
14. They held meetings where they were singing together, worshipped him, and had meals together.
15. They believed in life after death and in the immortality of the soul.
16. They followed the rules of Jesus, who was called Christ.
17. They avoided crimes and were against adultery and breach of word.
18. They rejected other gods.
19. Jesus' teaching also convinced many non-Jews.
The Lord Jesus teaches the people
We may ask: “How could Josephus and so many others write all these things about the Lord Jesus, when they were not really followers of Him or even hostile to Him?” The answer is: Because they simply couldn't deny the abundance of evidence. The Scribes and Pharisees were also hostile to the Lord Jesus. Yet they said concerning the apostles (who were first called the disciples of the Lord Jesus):
"What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle has been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it." (Acts 4: 16).
When the Lord Jesus was in the tomb, they had the tomb guarded by soldiers of the governor Pontius Pilate. But then an angel came like lightning of God from heaven, and the soldiers fled from the tomb. The Jewish leaders could not deny that then either. So they gave a lot of money to those soldiers to bribe them. Those soldiers had to go on to tell that the followers of the Lord Jesus had stolen the body at night, while they were sleeping.
Historians from the first centuries and also later could also not deny all kinds of truths about the Lord Jesus. And many of them had enough principles to have the habit to tell the things, that were confirmed by many witnesses, unchanged further in their writings.
Besides it cannot be excluded that Josephus was also a follower of the Lord Jesus in his heart.
We will take a closer look at some testimonies from this period (Flavius Josephus got the letter a, so we continue with letter b):
b. The historian Phlegon, who was born in the year 80, declared that there was, about the time of the death of the Lord Jesus, a darkness lasting 3 hours took place. This completely agrees with the Biblical testimony of Luke in chapter 23 verse 44, where it says in the crucifixion story: "And it was about the sixth hour, and there came a darkness over all the earth, until the ninth hour."
This Phlegon called this darkness a full moon solar eclipse. But that's the world upside down! A solar eclipse always takes place at the new moon. This immediately shows the supernatural character of this darkness. It was a complete miracle!
c. The Samaritan historian Thallus, who lived from about the year 50 to the year 75, also mentioned this darkness and called it also a solar eclipse. In this way these people tried to explain away the miracle. But they actually confirmed the miracle!
d. Mara BarSerapion, a philosopher from Syria, also testified that the Jews put their wise king to death. And he connected this with the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. According to him that was God's revenge. However it was clear that this philosopher was not a Christian. He placed the Lord Jesus on the same level with Greek philosophers, such as Socrates and Pythagoras.
The siege of a city in ancient times
e. Cornelius Tacitus (who lived approximately from the year 55 to the year 117) was the great historian of ancient Rome. He despised Christ and His followers. Yet this Tacitus testified that Christ suffered and died under the governor Pontius Pilate. If even this enemy of Christendom had to admit this, how do some modern "scholars" say that Jesus Christ never existed? This proves even more how much these so-called scientists are off track!
f. Also the Greek philosopher Lucian of Samosata, who lived at the same time (that is in the first 2 centuries), saw the Christians as misguided beings. Yet he also testified of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.
g. The Roman historian Suetonius (born in the year 70) wrote: "Throughout the whole East there was an ancient and firmly established belief, that someone would arise from Judea and rule over mankind." This sheds illuminating insight on Matthew's story about the wise men from the East! Apparently they had that belief too. In Greek is written 'magoi' for wise men. These people were magicians or fortune-tellers. They were concerned with dream interpretations and future predictions through astronomy and astrology. Babylon was an important center of this.
And this corresponds again to the fact that many Jews were transported as exiles to Babylon during the time of Nebuchadnezzar. They then took their holy writings with them and so also Balaam's Biblical prophecy regarding Christ became known to the Babylonians. In Numbers 24:17 Balaam says:
"I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh. There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth."
About this Star has already been told in the article on this website about fulfilled prophecies. To repeat:
From general history we know, that in the year five before our era a special "star" was visible in the constellation Capricorn. Since it was described by historians as a "sweeping star", it was probably a comet, popularly called a "tail star". No wonder that this "star" impressed the Wise men from the East!
The fact that this comet appeared in the constellation Capricorn (rock-goat) had also significance. Because the rock-goat is a powerful animal. In the vision of Daniel 8 he storms over the earth and overcomes the mighty ram. According to Chinese observations this comet was visible for more than 70 days. That was enough for the journey of the wise men to Bethlehem.
More information about the time of the appearance of this "star" can be found in the aforementioned article about fulfilled prophecies.
Impression of the Wise men from the East
This list of testimonies from the first and second centuries of our era is far from complete, but it is nevertheless intended to clearly show, that the Lord Jesus really existed, and that the Biblical testimony about Him has been confirmed again and again, even by His enemies. Besides some ancient writers sometimes wrote also very falsely and viciously about the Lord Jesus, claiming, for example, that He was born of the fornication of His mother Mary. The virgin birth was completely unacceptable to them, and therefore they began to blaspheme.
Jews did that too. But their own Old Testament of the Bible testifies (Isaiah 7:14): "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and His name shall be called IMMANUEL." This name means: 'God with us'. The Lord Jesus has many names, because His glorious Deity cannot be fully captured in one name.
In every case: When Jews blaspheme the Lord Jesus, they blaspheme their own Messiah, of whom their own Bible abundantly testifies.
3. Other archaeological confirmations of the New Testament
So-called scientists and non-believing archaeologists are beforehand always again inclined to see the Biblical stories as fairy tales. And they do their best to make the world believe that. This also applied to the British archaeologist Sir William M. Ramsey (1851 - 1939). He even considered all the travels of the apostle Paul as imaginations. Therefore he decided to show that the description of these stories by the evangelist Luke was not correct, by going to do excavations in Asia Minor. That is modern-day Turkey.
But the more he investigated, the more he discovered that those stories were true! After 15 years of digging (in 1896) he was so convinced that he wrote a thick book entitled 'Saint Paul, the Traveler and the Roman Citizen', in which he explained how much the archaeological finds confirmed the Biblical stories! Lucas' descriptions are correct down to the smallest details!
And he was not the only one who came to that conclusion. The British expert of the classical ancient times Sherwin-White concluded, that Luke mentions 32 areas, 54 cities, and 9 islands, and makes not a single error in that! He wrote: “The historical authenticity of the book of Acts has been overwhelmingly confirmed.”
It is also beautiful to read how clearly Luke places his stories in the historical context. He mentions the emperors Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius, and furthermore vassal kings, governors, and leaders of the Jewish priestly class. Luke's contemporaries could check everything, so anyone who states things incorrectly is asking for trouble.
The missionary journeys of the apostle Paul
The archaeological evidence for the reliability of the Bible is so numerous, that only a small portion of it can be mentioned on this website. More extended information one can find in the reference books and on some other websites. See the bibliography of this website.
This website only has the purpose to sufficiently demonstrate this reliability, and to give an impression of God's infinite power and glorious splendour. Think for example also of the beauty of nature and the distances in the universe. But also our impressions will remain limited in this earthly life. We cannot fully comprehend God's greatness with our limited human understanding. But what God shows us already now can fill us with the deepest awe and the greatest amazement.
Here are some archaeological finds that confirm the Bible:
a.Governor Festus from the book of Acts was initially unknown to non-religious archaeologists. But in the Bible, in Acts 24, 25 and 26, this person is mentioned, before whom Paul had to give account. His existence in the past however turned out later to correspond with the ancient testimonies. In Nero's fifth year 58/59 a new coin came into circulation in Judea with the name of this Festus on it. This coin has also been found back by the archaeologists.
b. In Acts 19 it is told that a great gathering of people took place in Ephesus. The crowd shouted in the great theatre for 2 hours: "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." This theatre can still be seen in Ephesus and has 25,000 seats.
The theater of the city of Ephesus
c. Even the details in the Bible story are correct. In Acts 19:35 the city clerk of Ephesus says: "You men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keeper of the temple of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from heaven?" Indeed, according to an inscription, Ephesus had the 'honorary title': "Temple keeper of Artemis." (By the way: Artemis is the Greek name of this idol, and Diana is the Latin name.)
d. Luke writes in the second chapter of his Gospel:
1. And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be registrated.
2. This first registration happened when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.
3. And all went to be registrated, every one to his own city.
4. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, to Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.
Scholars, who labeled the Bible as unreliable, pointed out that king Herod was the ruler of Judea at that time. They also pointed out that a census (registration) was not taken until the year 6. That is 10 years after Herod's death. But if a particular historical source does not mention something, that does not mean that it did not happen at all.
Again and again new discoveries came to the light, and it turned out to be much more complicated than one had suspected. First it appeared from other historical sources, that during the time of Emperor Augustus a census (registration) was held approximately every 14 years. But such censuses could take years, because they had no modern means yet. The census that Luke speaks about is mentioned by the Roman historian Dio Cassius. But this census had yielded too little money. That is why other historians do not mention this census.
And as for Herod: He was only king over a part of Judea. And Josephus tells us, that in Herod's last years a tense relationship had developed between him and the emperor Augustus. Therefore Augustus wrote to him, that he would no longer treat him as a friend, but as a subject. Cyrenius, on the other hand, was a favorite of the emperor and obtained both military and political power. Moreover Judea was at that time under the rule of Syria. Thus Luke was proven to be right again and again by all kinds of new finds and discoveries.
Impressions of Joseph and Mary on their way to the census in Bethlehem
e. From the Bible we know that the Lord Jesus grew up in the town of Nazareth. But critics claimed that Nazareth did not exist at all around the year 30 of our era, because they only came across the name Nazareth in ancient writings from the year 400. What a worthless argument that is! In the first century Nazareth was only a very small town with only a few hundred inhabitants. It is therefore no wonder that this place name was not mentioned much in general history about that time.
But in 2009 archaeologists in Nazareth uncovered a house, that dates back to the time of the Lord Jesus! On top of that spot is the church of the Annunciation, that is, the announcement. This means: The announcement by an angel to Mary, that she would give birth to Jesus. Under the altar of this church are the words in Latin: "Verbum caro hic factum est". That means: The Word (Christ) became flesh here.
This church of the Annunciation dates from the 20th century. But already in the fourth, sixth, eleventh, twelfth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there were many different churches on that site! The people, who lived in those times, had no doubt that Mary and her son Jesus and also Joseph had lived in that house!
The Lord Jesus probably lived in this house
f. In earlier times people often had the habit of building a new building on the ruins of an old building. Perhaps this was done because people considered the old building to be a foundation. Of course irregularities were then removed by adding soil. Because people built on this foundation, the new building sank less quickly. For this we can also think of the parable of the house on the rock. The rock did not necessarily have to be on the surface. There could be a layer of soil above it. But because of the stone subsoil, people had still a foundation, or an extra foundation, if they added a new foundation.
But there was another reason why new buildings were sometimes built on the remains of previous buildings. If the previous buildings were considered sacred, they wanted to remain in the same place when building new buildings, which were also dedicated to God.
We also see this in Capernaum. In this place, the remains of a synagogue are found. The supporting columns are still well preserved. But under that synagogue, the remains of an older synagogue from the time of the Lord Jesus were found. The Lord Jesus probably visited this synagogue regularly! For we read in Matthew 4: 13: "And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim."
About 30 meters south of this place, another place was found where stacked construction had been done, that is to say: one building on top of the remains of another building. The lowest layer is the remains of a house for normal living. This was probably inhabited by the family of Peter. And probably the Lord Jesus also lived there. Later this house was made into a house church. From this a small church emerged. And in the fifth century an small Byzantine church with eight corners was built on the old remains. They found there also Christian symbols and inscriptions with the name of Jesus, which prove that these buildings were used by the first generations of Christians. And of course Peter and his fellow disciples were the first Christians.
Remains of the synagogue of Capernaum (right) and the small octagonal Byzantine church (left). Under that church they found the remains of a house, which probably belonged to Peter.
g. Capernaum was situated along the Sea of Galilee. This lake is 230 meters below sea level. And there are mountains around it. Because of this, sometimes sudden violent fall winds occur. That is why the disciples were suddenly attacked by a violent storm, when they were on this lake with their boat.
The Sea of Galilee
h. The piling up of buildings, that is, the building on top of the remains of older buildings, is in fact applicable to whole Jerusalem. For on the orders of Emperor Hadrian, the revolt of Bar Kochba (132-135) was suppressed, whereupon he had whole Jerusalem leveled down to the ground. On top of that he had a new city built with a pagan temple and with statues and altars of Roman gods.
This shows how difficult it was for archaeologists to find things back from the time of the Lord Jesus, and how easy and false critics could claim that the Biblical history was not correct. However by digging deeply, archaeologists have found a great deal from that time. And then it turned out again that the Biblical testimony is accurate and correct even in details!
We also see this in the Biblical story in John 5 about the healing of someone who had been lying sick for 38 years at a pool called Bethesda. This pool was located at the Sheep Gate and around it were five passages with pillars. Not all Bible translations use the same words for that. But the Greek original text of the New Testament clearly states this. And these five passages with pillars were found by the archaeologists at that pool! They even found wide steps along which the people descended into the water. This corresponds again with John 5:7, where a sick person says to the Lord Jesus:
"Lord, I have no man to throw me into the pool, when the water is moved; and while I am coming, another steps down before me." The moving of the water may have been caused by a spring beneath the pool, although God is also able to cause a moving in the water without a spring. In any case this man was healed immediately by the Lord Jesus, without being immersed into the water.
As with other holy places, Christians in later times soon began to build churches on top of the founded site, as if to confirm the holiness of the place. In this case these were first a Byzantine basilica and a Crusader chapel. And after the destruction of the basilica it was, in the twelfth century, the church of St. Anne. Excavations began there in 1956.
The excavations at Bethesda in Jerusalem with the Church of St. Anne
i. The apostle John speaks in the ninth chapter of his gospel also about another pool of water, where a blind born man received his sight. This pool of water was the pond of Siloam. This has also been found. From this pool there was a stone road of 600 meters, which led straight up to the temple square. Apparently this pool had a ritual function. There one could purify oneself before entering the temple square.
At this place was the pond of Siloam
j. In Matthew 21 we read about the entry of the Lord Jesus on a donkey into Jerusalem. After this He went into the temple and drove out those who sold and bought the sacrificial animals. And He overturned the tables of the money changers. Not long after that the Jewish leaders had the people shout: 'Crucify Him'! We can now understand this better through extra-biblical information. The family of the high priest Annas (who is mentioned 4 times in the Bible) had the monopoly of all that trade. So the Lord Jesus hit through His action this family directly in the income! And that income was not small! This family became abundant rich from it! That is why the hatred of the Jewish leaders towards the Lord Jesus reached a peak then!
k. As mentioned whole Jerusalem was thoroughly destroyed by order of Emperor Hadrian around the year 135. In the year 70 Jerusalem was also destroyed under Titus, but less thoroughly. (Titus was the son of Emperor Vespasian and became emperor himself in the year 79). In total Jerusalem has been attacked 52 times and taken 44 times in the course of history, including for example during the time of the Crusaders. So the archaeologists have really made top performances by finding back so many things from the time of the Lord Jesus!
They also found the place where the Lord Jesus stood before Pilate. This place was called in Greek Lithostrotos and in Hebrew Gabbatha. (John 19:13).
The place Lithostrotos where the Lord Jesus stood before Pilate
l. When the Lord Jesus was on his way to the cross, the Romans forced a certain Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus' cross. Mark also tells in his Gospel, that this Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus. (Mark 15: 21). In 1941 archaeologists found a family grave with 11 chests with bones, which dated from this period. Such bone chests (ossuaries) were common at that time. On one of those chests is written on the side: 'Alexander son of Simon'. And on the lid is written: 'The Cyrenean'.
m. The Lord Jesus had to give account to the high priest Caiaphas. This is a surname. His first name was Joseph. We know this from the writer Flavius Josephus. The wealthy Caiaphas family had a very beautiful bone box.
The ossuary (bone box) of the Caiaphas family
n. The archaeologists had much discussion about the location of the hill Golgotha, where the Lord Jesus was crucified. And that is no wonder, because Emperor Hadrian had the landscape changed thoroughly in the year 135. Especially the places, that were considered holy by the Christians, had to be changed into places where the Roman gods were worshipped. Yet many believed that they had found the hill of the crucifixion in a hill that looked like a face.
The hill that was seen as the hill of Golgotha
o. Near this hill there is indeed a space hewn out of a rock, which could serve as a tomb. Many consider this space to be the tomb of the Lord Jesus. Archaeologists have not always been able to locate the things from the first century with certainty. However, the things that are known with certainty are so numerous, that it can be said with certainty, that the Biblical stories are very reliable and truthful.
The supposed tomb of the Lord Jesus
p. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, was written by the apostle John, when he was banished to the island of Patmos by Emperor Domitian. This emperor required of his subjects, that they honored him with the title of 'Lord and God'. John did not want to participate in that of course, and therefore he was deported to this island. Later Domitian died by a plot and then John was able to return to the mainland.
On that island the Lord Jesus appeared to John. John was then given the order to write letters to 7 churches of Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey. These were the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Pergamum was then a government center and had great religious and cultural significance for the people of that time. Because the place was situated on a hill, it was all the more impressive.
Remains of the Biblical site of Pergamos in Asia Minor (Turkey)
But it was also a city full of cruelty, because it was a center of the emperor worship. That is why Revelation 2:13 tells us, that Antipas was killed there. In addition there were in Pergamos temples for the idols Athena, Asclepius, Dionysus, and the altar for the so-called supreme god Zeus. A German archaeological expedition has transferred that altar to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. There it can be viewed. The relief on the altar depicts the battle of the gods against the Titans (giants) and the victory of Zeus.
The Altar of Zeus in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin
But Zeus also did not bring peace to the earth. For Zeus is a human invention and his worshippers were generally deadly enemies of the Christians. That is why the Lord Jesus calls this city the throne of satan, also because of those other pagan temples. At that time much blood of martyrs was shed.
But the evil powers will not win in the end. One day Christ will return and make everything good and perfect. The New Jerusalem, about which Revelation 21 speaks, will then descend from heaven unto earth, and all the suffering will be forgotten then for God's children. They will then have eternal joy and glory!
This is still a dream for the future. But through archaeology, through many miracles, and through fulfilled prophecies, God has confirmed countless times, that His Word is reliable. Therefore we do not need to doubt, that also His statements about the future, which have not yet been fulfilled, will be confirmed in His time!
Impression of the New Jerusalem
