Despite a history of prophetic dreams during my youth, the return of dreams after more than a 25-year hiatus was startling to say the least. After my dreams led me to people who each in turn told me in some manner that I should attend a specific seminary, they abruptly ended once I took the step to comply. For 25 years I was not only without prophetic dreams, but without any dreams during sleep at all. I could not recall even one occasion during that span during which I woke up with a dream. However, they returned abruptly during November of 2014, less than two weeks prior to Thanksgiving. It was only the second occasion in my life where I experienced a dream during which I believed myself to be awake, and that I was escorted somewhere else (i.e., I had a week of dreams during childhood during which I believed I had been transported to the presence of God and shown a vision of my world being destroyed by fire until God put a cessation to the judgment and instituted the restoration of all things to Himself). Both of these episodes were lucid and vivid, and I recalled as I awoke, the sights, aromas, and sounds of the place where I had just been. In fact, the memory of these events remains palpable and real to me down through the current day. In the 2014 dream, an angelic creature plucked me out of my room all the while referring to me as a “son of man.” I was given three words and a vision and told to listen carefully and recall, as the “fate of the world” depended upon it. I must say that while taking the dream seriously upon awakening, which also awoke my family, I was very much shook up by the experience. I also wondered about the cryptic nature of the message I received, and wondered why God would not have just delivered some very specific instructions. As covered elsewhere in my writings, I believe that God is working mysteriously through these events to bolster my awareness of the supernatural and to provide my doubting heart with steady, reliable confirmations of His miraculous will.
Over the course of the next few days, odd and quirky events and unpredictable “coincidences” started to occur. Again, these events were witnessed by family and friends, and drove me deeper into my exploration of the initial dream (click to see a detailed list of events that unfolded).
I rapidly discovered that Pergamos was not only a city in Turkey, but contained one of the churches that the risen Lord, Jesus Christ addressed in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 2:12-17) [add link to passage]. In the Pergamos letter, He referred to Pergamos as “the city where Satan dwells” and “where Satan’s throne is.” This hit me like a ton of bricks, as I could not recall if I had ever read these words before. I knew that I was suddenly looking at these passages with fresh eyes, and, contemplating them in a literal rather than metaphorical manner. And, I knew in my spirit, that this was the correct interpretation, as God provided a quickening and impartation of knowledge that I did not previously possess. I quickly learned that scholars believed the Pergamon altar of Satan to be the historical “Altar of Zeus,” built during the zenith of the Greek empire after a young Alexander the Great conquered the known world of his day. Interestingly, I would soon learn that Alexander had been told by his mother that his true father had been Zeus, who had relations with her after taking the form of a serpent. He would also be claimed by the Egyptians that he would go on to conquer as the incarnation of one of their deities as well. As a modern scientist, all of these ideas seem far-fetched, but God was telling me to dig deeper and to suspend my knowledge of the science of the day. He reminded me that the wisdom of the age is often folly, and can keep men from the truth of Scripture.
It was believed that the Altar of Zeus (throne of Satan) was built by King Eumenes the 2nd. It was actually a large structure that served as the entrance to the even larger Temple of Zeus (see details of the historical construction of the Altar and Temple and the significance of the many carvings on it – e.g., the gigantamochy – which is the battle between the Greek gods and the Titans, which parallels the Genesis 6:4 account of the fallen angels who left their natural estate to have sexual relations with human women. According to II Peter 2:4 and the extra-biblical, 2nd temple period, Book of Enoch, these rebels were put in a pit by God the Father.
There is one side-note worth mentioning here, in that King Eumenes is believed to have mentored a young Greek leader by the name of Antiochus. This individual is said to have studied with Eumenes, and learned the worship of Zeus from him. He would go on to be a leading commander, who would inherit the territories of the Greek empire that included Israel, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern Regions. After a rumor of his death reached Israel, the Maccabees attempted to take control of the Temple from the proxy leadership that was in charge. It turned out that Antiochus had not been killed in Egypt and he returned with his armies to quell any rebellion. It is said that he put many among the Jewish people to death. He also desecrated the Jewish temple and its altar by slaughtering a pig upon it. Of note, for the first time I noticed something new to me in this story that I had previously overlooked. Antiochus instructed the artisans among his armies to construct a statue of himself in the image of Zeus. He placed this on the altar of the Holy Temple of the Jews and declared “today I am Epiphanes.” That is, he declared himself to be God in the Holy Temple of the most-high God. This was the ultimate blasphemy, and also suggested to me that he may well have believed himself to be a god. Had he encountered some fallen spirit – like Alexander the Great before him? It also established a link between someone with a direct historical lineage from the Throne of Satan and an event that attempted to desecrate the Temple of God and to destroy His people. And, this would not be the last time that such a connection would occur.
This is the modern day site in Pergamon, Turkey where the Temple of Zeus and the Pergamon altar once stood.
Antipas – the Faithful Servant of God and a Martyr’s Death
I next explored the meaning of “Antipas,” who is described as a “faithful servant” of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was “faithful even to the point of death.” The text of Revelation does not explain any more about the story of Antipas. However, I found myself needing to know more about this character from a dream. I would soon discover that the Orthodox and Catholic churches have a traditional story passed down about Antipas, which claims that he had been a pagan who was converted to the Way by the apostles, likely after Paul took the Gospel to the gentiles of Asia Minor during the first century AD. It is held that Antipas was converted and became a leader in his local church. The city of Pergamos had been given to the Romans by the Greeks after the balance of power began to shift between the empires. That is, the Greek empire began fading and the Roman Empire rose in its place. It is reported that Antipas angered a local cultic group, as they complained to the Roman magistrate that the prayers of Antipas were causing the spirits behind their healing temples to flee the region. This appeared very similar to the account in Acts during which Paul angered the locals by casting a demon out of a prophetess who had been used by the locals to turn a profit. Paul was beating and kicked out of town for his actions. In Pergamon, the local group was known as the Cult of Aesclepion, a religious order that grew up around the Greek stories about the demi-God Aesclepius, who was known for his power of healing. His followers created temples or dormitories throughout Turkey and the broader region of Asia Minor, where they would conduct healing rituals. In general, people would come to them from surrounding regions, and would be asked to sleep there for a few days or a week. They would be given various herbs and medicinal compounds and would be asked to tell the priests of Aesclepius their dreams. At times, the priests would make symbols of the affected body parts. The dormitories were filled with non-poisonous snakes, known as aesclepius, and it was considered good luck if they slithered over a person during their sleep. The Roman magistrate reportedly had Antipas brought before him and demanded that he denounce his faith in Jesus Christ and burn incense on the altar of Zeus in the statue of a golden bull in worship of Zeus and the Roman Emperor. If he did not comply, he would be turned over to the priests of Aesclepius. Antipas, in fact, would not comply, and the tradition goes that he was burned alive in the golden bull while continuing to preach to his local congregation. This turned out to be a strong witness for the faith of the Way, and saw more converts to this novel religion.
Is the Throne of Satan and Physical Reality?
Suddenly, with the initial dream and the additional background information, it became clear that Pergamos and the thrown of Satan were actually tangible, historical locations, which could be visited, and the thoughts were growing within me that perhaps there was a time when Satan had a historical base of operations right in the middle of planet earth. It also piqued my curiosity to determine what had become of the ancient altar, and to see if I could actually visit it in Pergamos. After a brief search and study, I realized that this would not be possible, as the Altar of Zeus no longer resided in Pergamos.
The Throne of Satan Gets a New Home – Did the Physical Base of Operations for Satan Shift to a New Locale?
History records that the Altar of Zeus fell into disrepair after the demise of the Roman Empire, and the region of Pergamos fell under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Turk Empire for many years. Most of the Greek temples and statues fell into a state of disrepair and decay. Many of the opulent temples of these former Greek and Roman pantheons were lost to the sands of time, and were built over by new construction, and truly long forgotten. However, in the late 19th century, a German archeologist, Dr. Karl Humann, visited Pergamos, Turkey. He discovered the ruins of the ancient altar and managed to cut a deal with the Ottoman Turks to purchase the rubble and ship it back to Germany. It turned out that the altar had been in Germany since the late 19th century, and had been restored, and turned into a centerpiece of their museum island in Berlin. I soon discovered that the Pergamon Museum is the largest and most visited museum in Germany. Interestingly, a young Adolph Hitler became enamored with it, and had his chief architect, Albert Speer, use the altar as the model for his Nuremburg Field viewing stand. He also held the luncheon for the 1936 Olympic Games at the actual Pergamon Altar. I found myself dumbfounded that the putative Throne of Satan had made its way to Germany and was reconstructed just in time for the rise of the Nazi party and the Fuehrer. The throne of Satan showed up for perhaps the worst atrocity of all time that would befall God’s people, the Jews. Seemingly this symbol of the dark lord happened to reappear just as evil would emerge from the shadows. Ironically, it would be this event which catalyzed the recreation of the nation of Israel and the re-gathering of the people of God back to the Holy Land. The Jewish people were burned in the furnaces of Nazi Germany, with the Throne of Satan prominent in the landscape, once again overshadowing an affront on God and a desecration of His people.
The Throne of Satan Gets A Face-Lift?
I next decided that I should probably pay a visit to the Pergamon altar to see this symbol of darkness in person. I was even more shocked to learn that this “football field” size structure had been put in moth balls as part of a renovation project, and it had been packed up exactly 40 days to the day ahead of my visitation from the angel (dream). The official story had been that the Pergamon museum had some plumbing issues that needed to be fixed. Administrators decided that it would be a good time to install a glass roof to the building and had spent nearly 500 million dollars on the project during the first phase. The Pergamon Altar was supposed to reopen in 2019, but remains closed even still today, with a tentative date of return in late 2024 or early 2025 – perhaps coinciding with the “Great Reset” of the World Economic Forum, which is also slated for 2025 (see associated pages for each of these topics). The project was referred to as the “Master Plan Museumsinsel,” by the Unger architectural firm. This struck me as a poor wording for anything arising out of Germany based upon its heritage.
Overall, it would appear that a symbol of the dark has once again arisen and is being given a makeover at a pivotal time in world history – one during which it appears a global governmental system is on the verge of arising – as predicted by the ancient Holy Scriptures contained in the Bible. We of the Remnant of the Way see this as a portent of a growing evil that is amassing for a last attempt at usurping God’s Divine authority. One that Scripture says is doomed to fail, and one that culminates in the final Day of the Lord. To us, the unveiling of the reconstructed altar may well coincide with a major world change.
Supernatural Encounter Around the Throne of Satan Material
Irenaeus spent the next year after his dream researching the above material, as well as an extensive background related to the rise of antisemitism and the occult in late 19th century Germany, and a study of famous individuals who believed they had encountered a supernatural being (surprisingly, the list of such individuals is quite lengthy, with many going on to amazing accomplishments or to great world harm). He built a large PowerPoint documenting his dream and all of these associated findings. Irenaeus shared this PowerPoint with his pastor one morning almost one year after he started his research. He had not shown this document to anyone previously nor talked about its content.
