By David Faust
Westminster Abbey in London houses a high-backed armchair carved from oak known as the Coronation Chair. Built by a carpenter named Walter of Durham around A.D. 1300, the throne has been used by British monarchs for more than seven centuries, including King Charles III who sat on it during his coronation in 2023. The Coronation Chair is one of the most famous pieces of furniture in the world, representing the office, dignity, and authority of the royal family. Not everyone has treated the chair with respect, though. In the 18th and 19th centuries, children and visitors wrote their names and other graffiti on the back of it, and one tourist carved “P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800” on the seat.
King Solomon had a throne “covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold” so exquisitely crafted the Bible says, “Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom” (1 Kings 10:18, 20, New International Version). But no earthly throne compares to the great white throne occupied by the Lord, the judge of all mankind (Revelation 20:11-12).
It’s disturbing but true: Satan has a throne, too.
Overshadowed by Evil
In the opening chapters of the book of Revelation, the risen Christ sent letters to seven churches, tailoring each letter to specific circumstances the churches faced. The Lord told his followers in Pergamum, “I know where you live—where Satan has his throne” (Revelation 2:13).
I visited Turkey in 2023. At Pergamum, our tour group took a cable car to the top of an 1,100-foot-high hill covered with the ruins of pagan temples, theatres, and Roman military installations. On a rocky ledge overlooking the city was a horseshoe-shaped altar that looked like a devilish throne where worshipers offered sacrifices to the Greek god Zeus. Another popular deity in ancient Pergamum was Asklepios, the god of medicine and healing represented by the image of a serpent. Intimidating symbols of secular and spiritual power over-shadowed first-century Christians who lived in the valley below, threatening their safety every time they looked up. No wonder the Lord said they lived “where Satan has his throne.”
The Lord knows where we live, too. We face intimidating threats from the Prince of Darkness, “the father of lies” (John 8:44), “the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Ephesians 2:2). The devil is a bully. He throws his weight around, trying to usurp God’s rightful authority and confuse, distract, and discourage God’s children.
In the Garden of Eden, Satan lied to Adam and Eve. Behind the scenes, he tried to make Job lose faith when disaster struck. During 40 days in the desert, the tempter tried to detour Jesus from his mission by offering alternative pathways to power. When the first-century church began to grow, the devil stirred up persecution from without and division from within.
Satan is doomed, but he still works through rulers, authorities, and spiritual forces of evil, trying to establish his phony throne on earth (Ephesians 6:11-12). He stirs up evil in the finest office buildings and the dirtiest gutters, in million-dollar mansions and rat-infested apartments, in crowded cities and small towns, in the hearts of violent terrorists and self-righteous religionists. Some members of the church in Pergamum gave Satan a foothold by lowering their moral standards and listening to false teachers (Revelation 2:14-15).
Dethroning the Devil
“We are not unaware” of the devil’s schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). We know what he’s up to, and we know “the Son of God appeared . . . to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8). Through repentance, faith, and prayer we can resist the devil and draw near to God (see James 4:7-8).
Sin is bipartisan. It afflicts Democrats and Republicans, Progressives and Conservatives. And sin is deadly. One of the believers in Pergamum, a faithful witness named Antipas, was martyred in their city (Revelation 2:13). Antipas and other Christians in Pergamum remained true to the Lord and refused to renounce their faith despite severe persecution.
To his faithful followers, the Lord extends an amazingly gracious invitation. “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21).
This is the third in a series of weekly articles based on Christ’s letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation. Next week: “When Tolerance Goes Too Far.”
David Faust serves as contributing editor of Christian Standard and senior associate minister with East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the author of Not Too Old: Turning Your Later Years into Greater Years.
Unfortunately Satan has thrones in many local churches and is always trying to get into the few that don’t.
The throne may not be obvious in church’s but it shows itself in the weekly weak messages. The fluff that sounds good but fails to cause conviction of sin and repentance.
There also is the message that baptism is the “next step.” I have yet to find that message in scripture.