Our Dwelling PlacePage 1
Christian Churches of God
No. 94
Our Dwelling Place
(Edition 2.0 19950403-20000617)
This paper deals with the fall of humanity from the garden of Eden. The implications for the church are examined and the basis of our struggle with Satan is outlined. The dwelling place of Satan in Revelation 2:12-13 is contrasted with the dwelling place of the elect. The division of the creation caused by the fallen Host is shown to be the central problem facing the restoration and the Church. The original representation of God on the earth was not through the Gentile Church but was of and through Scripture.
Christian Churches of God
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(Copyright 1995, 2000 Storm Cox)
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Our Dwelling Place
Our Dwelling PlacePage 1
This paper investigates the concept of where we actually live, what we see as being our home and where our home might really be.
We will start at the very beginning in the Garden of Eden, where we first meet our adversary; where our understanding of evil enters our minds.
Our first Home and subsequent rejection
Genesis 2:15-25 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
This was the first recorded command of God to man. This command He gave to Adam before Eve existed, thus the Adam became responsible to God for the sins of his wife, as he was the person to whom the command was given.
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
For a fleeting moment in time Adam and Eve existed without sin in harmony with God and His ways. This was a short-lived moment.
Genesis 3:1-19 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
From this point on man is aware of sin. Sin has entered into his life; however, the law has not departed. The tree was the knowledge of good and evil, whereas before they only had knowledge of good.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Here we see how Satan is banished to the earth. His power is limited and the Church, of which Eve was symbolic, was allowed to be persecuted and attacked by Satan. The protection of the Church was limited and is now based purely on the levels of our action for God and against Satan. We are the controlling influence on Satan at this point. Our actions and commitment to God determine the capacity through which Satan can operate on this planet. If we are idle then Satan’s power is greater. When we are powerful on this earth, because we are working closer with God, Satan is made weaker and the population of the world is made more rational. Here the enmity factor operates. The Church exists to fight evil and it is our calling.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Here we see the extent to which the church will endure hardship. Christ is given as judge over us on this planet now.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (KJV)
While Adam and Eve were dwelling in the Garden of Eden they were in the home that God set aside for them on earth. By eating the forbidden fruit they rejected the house that was built for them and chose a different home. That home was on the earth, which is the home of Satan, for it is he who dwells on this planet as god of this world (2Cor. 4:4) and prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2).
So this first sin is a rejection of God. God did not kill Adam for his sin. He gave him his wish and that was to know good and evil and cohabit with Satan. God merely lets us choose and allows us to act upon that choice. What Adam did not realise was the extent of the negative aspect of a choice that is in opposition to the will of God.
If we understand where it is that Satan dwells, we had better understand where we are not to dwell. We must not desire to dwell there, as Adam and Eve did.
Revelation 2:12-13 12And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 13I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. (KJV)
Where is this place in which Satan dwells? Firstly we will look at the meaning of the word dwell in this passage. The Strongs reference number for this word is 2730 which translates to house permanently. Now where is this place? Let us consider the city of Pergamos or Pergamum as it is otherwise known.
In the commentary contained within the Companion Bible, it is stated that:
Pergamos. A city of Mysia famous for the worship of Esculapius, to whom the title of soter (saviour) was given and whose emblem was the serpent, Identified with Apollo; cp. Acts 16.16 Some trace the Babylonian pagan priesthood as removing to Pergamos.
Who these people are we cannot say. William Barclay however in his commentary on Revelation, sheds a more interesting and less cryptic light on the subject. Let us examine his work, beginning in page 88:
Pergamum regarded it self as the custodian of the Greek way of life and of the Greek worship. About 240 b.c. it had won a great victory against the savage invading Galatae or Gauls. In memory of that victory a great alter to Zeus was built in front of the temple of Athene which stood 800 feet up on the Pergamum’s conical hill. 40ft high, it stood on a projecting ledge of rock and looked exactly like a great throne on a hillside. All day it smoked with the smoke of sacrifices offered to Zeus. Around its base was carved one of the greatest achievements in the world of sculpture, the frieze which showed the battle of the Giants, in which the gods of Greece were victorious over the giants of the barbarians....
This is, as we understand, symbolic of the battle of the Nephilim.
(b) Pergamum was particularly connected with the worship of Asclepios, so much so that Asclepios was known as the “pergamene God”. When Galen was mentioning favourite oaths, he said that people commonly swore by Artemis of Ephesus, or Apollo of Delphi, or Asclepios of Pergamum. Asclepios was the God of healing and his temples were the nearest approach to hospitals in the ancient world. From all over the world people flocked to Pergamum for relief for their sicknesses. R. H. Charles has called Pergamum “ the Lourdes of the ancient world.” The task of healing was partly the work of the priests; partly the work of the doctors-Galen, second only to Hippocrates in the medical history of the ancient world, was born in Pergamum; and partly the work of Asclepios himself.
Barclay goes on to explain that Asclepios’ title was that of saviour and his emblem was that of the serpent. This is significant but only touches the surface of the real meaning.
....Pergamum was the administrative center of Asia. That meant that it was the centre of Caesar worship for the province. Undoubtedly that is why Pergamum was Satan’s seat; it was place where men were required upon pain of death to take the name of Lord and give it to Caesar instead of Christ; and to a Christian there could be nothing more Satanic than that.
And here is the explanation of the beginning of the letter to Pergamum. The risen Christ is called he who has the sharp two edged sword. Roman governors were divided into two classes -those who had the Ius Gladii, the right of the sword, [Ius meaning justice and Gladii meaning sword or weapon hence the sword of Justice who we understand to be Christ] and those who had not. Those who had the right of their word had the power of life and death; on their word a man could be executed on the spot. Humanly speaking the pro-consul, who had his headquarters at Pergamum, had the Ius Gladdi, the right of the sword, and at any moment might use it against any Christian; but the letter bids the Christian not to forget that the last word is still with the risen Christ who has the sharp two edged sword. The power of Rome might be Satanically powerful; the power of the risen Lord is greater yet.
Here we can see that Pergamum was the center of the beast power and it lies in Asia. Satan on his throne assumes the exact role that Christ plays. From this we can understand Genesis 3:24 more clearly.
Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim’s [sic], and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (KJV)
It is Christ who guards the Garden of Eden and only through Christ can we enter into it. Christ is the healer and the instrument of perfect righteousness, which is justice and Christ is he who has the right of the sword. He judges us and delivers us perfect to the Father, a position which Satan clearly tries to mirror, in order to get all people to view him in the way we should be viewing Christ. That is, as our saviour.
This news however, is not the end of the Revelation 2:12 riddle.
Antipas can have two meanings. From Strongs it would mean “because of (or he who is for) the father” being a derivative of 473 and 3962. So Antipas the martyr or witness is literally he who dies for the Father. Pas can also mean all or the whole thus because of all. However, the more general term is rejected by Strong. If we look back on the paper The Role of the Fourth Commandment in the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170), we see that it was from the Pergamum era that the Christians were forced into alliance with Islam, fighting for survival against the persecution of the Trinitarians. That is, fighting for God the Father, the same fight we fight now (cf. also General Distribution of the Sabbath-keeping Churches (No. 122)). So it is correct to state that this reference to Antipas is a prophetic one and also a message to us of where Christ stands. We know that where we stand on an issue depends upon where we sit. For Christ, that is at the right hand of his Father. We should take this message as being one where if we witness, like Antipas, we are favoured in the eyes of God.
Now we have seen where Satan dwells. Let us now examine where our brother and master dwells.
John 1:2-17 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
As we saw earlier the word dwelt when applied to Satan, meant to live permanently. However, this meaning has a different intent. This translation of the word skenoo as dwelt here is the only instance in the New Testament. The Strongs reference number is 4637 and reads;