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The Synagogue of Satan is symbolic of the embodiment of the beast, which is made up of many members, just as the body of Christ (Lamb) is also made up of many members. And just as the Lamb has a bride, so too the beast has a bride which is the Harlot. Here is a post I made awhile back that helps one see this symbolism by comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
What I want to show in this thread is that the Beast and the Harlot in the book of Revelation is united, and not only united by one spirit, but they both speak of many people, not just a single geographic location, or city, or even individual man yet to come in the future. The best way to show this is by looking at the opposite reflection of the True, which is the Church (Bride of the Lamb), and the Lamb, or Christ.
It is written in 1 Corinthians 12:27 “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” Here we see Paul refers to the Church as the Body of Christ, and there is a reason for this. We read in Ephesians 5:30-32[SUP] “[/SUP]For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.[SUP]31 [/SUP]For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.[SUP]32 [/SUP]This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
And again in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.[SUP]13 [/SUP]For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.[SUP]14 [/SUP]For the body is not one member, but many.”
So if can grasp this, how One Spirit unites both the Church and the Lamb into one body, and is made up of many members gathered over the ages, then so also is the scarlet Beast and the Harlot united by one spirit, and also made up of many members.
1 Corinthians 6:16 “What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.”
And if the Bride of the Lamb is shown as the New heavenly Jerusalem and holy city, which is made up of many living stones, then you will also understand that the earthly Jerusalem (Harlot/ false tabernacle) is also made up of many dead stones, or many spiritually dead people; not some a brick and mortar city with a zip code.
Remember, the Holy Ghost teaches us to compare spiritual things with spiritual.
Daniel 7:11“I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”
What I want to show in this thread is that the Beast and the Harlot in the book of Revelation is united, and not only united by one spirit, but they both speak of many people, not just a single geographic location, or city, or even individual man yet to come in the future. The best way to show this is by looking at the opposite reflection of the True, which is the Church (Bride of the Lamb), and the Lamb, or Christ.
It is written in 1 Corinthians 12:27 “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” Here we see Paul refers to the Church as the Body of Christ, and there is a reason for this. We read in Ephesians 5:30-32[SUP] “[/SUP]For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.[SUP]31 [/SUP]For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.[SUP]32 [/SUP]This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
And again in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.[SUP]13 [/SUP]For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.[SUP]14 [/SUP]For the body is not one member, but many.”
So if can grasp this, how One Spirit unites both the Church and the Lamb into one body, and is made up of many members gathered over the ages, then so also is the scarlet Beast and the Harlot united by one spirit, and also made up of many members.
1 Corinthians 6:16 “What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.”
And if the Bride of the Lamb is shown as the New heavenly Jerusalem and holy city, which is made up of many living stones, then you will also understand that the earthly Jerusalem (Harlot/ false tabernacle) is also made up of many dead stones, or many spiritually dead people; not some a brick and mortar city with a zip code.
Remember, the Holy Ghost teaches us to compare spiritual things with spiritual.
Daniel 7:11“I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”
I
I think it may have more to do with what they found in some synagogues
Jewish Worship, Pagan Symbols – Biblical Archaeology Society
Jewish Worship, Pagan Symbols – Biblical Archaeology Society
Compare wording...
Revelation 2:9
I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Revelation 2:9
I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
I
The link I gave that shows the mosaics shows that there were people that worshipped in synagogues that mixed Jewish themes with pagan ones. From the second to the sixth century there was animosity between the Jews and Christians, yet there cannot be found anything in Christian writings defaming the mainline practicing Jews and accusing them of mixing the worship of pagan gods with themes of the Bible. That's not say that there could have been renegade Jews that had escaped the notice of people, but it seems that the majority of Jews were orthodox in their art.
I
When the Northern kingdom was taken into captivity it was re-peopled. Unger's Bible Dic. pg.1117 says-The repeopleing was not done all at once in settling the affairs of the unquiet region more than one band of colonists was brought in.
2Kings 17:24-And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
2Kings 17:33-They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
verse 34-Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.
verse 41-So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
2Kings 17:24-And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
2Kings 17:33-They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
verse 34-Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.
verse 41-So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
F
No..................it is simply how Judaism responded to the New Testament assembly, the church.
Just like they did to Christ-----------persecuting and killing him.
You can see Paul express the same (non-anti-Semitic) thought in Thessalonians.
Judaism, like all religion (witness church history re the 'Christian religion,'
becomes a house and tool of Satan
Just like they did to Christ-----------persecuting and killing him.
You can see Paul express the same (non-anti-Semitic) thought in Thessalonians.
Judaism, like all religion (witness church history re the 'Christian religion,'
becomes a house and tool of Satan
Jeremiah 31:27
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
1 Corinthians 15:32
If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
1 Corinthians 15:32
If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
(Eze 37:19-24)
(Eze 37:19-24)
I
Galilee along with Dura Europos, Syria have pagan depictions in the ruins of synagogues, and, since Samaria borders Galilee it seems quite evident that John could have been talking about such things. There is a reference to "synagogue of satan" to the Church of Smyrna and Philadelphia. Sardis and Philadelphia were located in Turkey about 30 miles from each other.
There is also the case of the Temple on Elephantine Island, Egypt. It had four or five entrances that were dedicated to different gods. This could very well have fit the scripture about being a Jew inwardly versus outwardly.
There is also the case of the Temple on Elephantine Island, Egypt. It had four or five entrances that were dedicated to different gods. This could very well have fit the scripture about being a Jew inwardly versus outwardly.
I
Christianity eventually suffered the same fate with the acceptance of images of Jesus and the apostles, which the church father's found repugnant. Jesus was portrayed as Orpheus, Zeus and Askelepios the pagan god of healing with long hair.
In his "Letter to Constantia" (the sister of Constantine the Great) Eusebius shows his disgust for what was considered an idolatrous thing.
Professor W.H.C. Frend an ecclesiastical historian comments on the universal abhorrence of any type of idolatrous themes in what he calls the orthodox churches in the second, third and up to the mid-fourth centuries.
"The origins of Christian art remain a mystery. Ostensibly, both Judaism and Christianity rejected pictorial art on religious subjects. The second commandment had forbidden Israel to make any graven image, and Chrisitan leaders in the East and West alike, including Tertullian, accepted this. Clement and Eusebius, showing rare unanimity, considered this prohibition absolute and binding on Christians. The principal crime said Tertullian of the human race, the highest guilt charged upon the world, the whole procuring cause of judgement, is idolatry, and for once Tertullian commanded universal assent. The Syriac Didascalia laid down that no offerings were to be recieved from those who painted with colors, nor from those who made idols or worked in silver and bronze. At the other end of the Mediterranean world, canon 36 of the Council of Elvira stated without qualification that there should be no paintings in church lest what was painted on the walls should be worshiped and venerated." (The Rise of Christianity, p.415)
In his "Letter to Constantia" (the sister of Constantine the Great) Eusebius shows his disgust for what was considered an idolatrous thing.
Professor W.H.C. Frend an ecclesiastical historian comments on the universal abhorrence of any type of idolatrous themes in what he calls the orthodox churches in the second, third and up to the mid-fourth centuries.
"The origins of Christian art remain a mystery. Ostensibly, both Judaism and Christianity rejected pictorial art on religious subjects. The second commandment had forbidden Israel to make any graven image, and Chrisitan leaders in the East and West alike, including Tertullian, accepted this. Clement and Eusebius, showing rare unanimity, considered this prohibition absolute and binding on Christians. The principal crime said Tertullian of the human race, the highest guilt charged upon the world, the whole procuring cause of judgement, is idolatry, and for once Tertullian commanded universal assent. The Syriac Didascalia laid down that no offerings were to be recieved from those who painted with colors, nor from those who made idols or worked in silver and bronze. At the other end of the Mediterranean world, canon 36 of the Council of Elvira stated without qualification that there should be no paintings in church lest what was painted on the walls should be worshiped and venerated." (The Rise of Christianity, p.415)
I
if it's the images of Jesus that make a group the synagogue of satan, then most our Sunday Schools are in deep trouble shoving images at the little ones 
What would be your criteria in keeping as close as we can to what the NT church did?
I
But there was a certain man called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: Acts 8:9
verse 18-And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money.
verse 19-Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
Simon
"The Samaritan magician living in the age of the apotles and usually designated in later history as Simon Magus. According to Justin Martyr (Apol. 1.26) he was born at Gitton, a village of Samaria, identified with modern Kuryet Jit, near Nablus. He probably was educated at Alexandria and there became acquainted with the various tenets of the Gnostic school. Either then or subsequently he was a pupil of Dositheus, who preceded him as a teacher of Gnosticism in Samaria and whom he supplanted with the aid of Cleobius. He was first introduced in the Bible as practicing magical arts in a city of Samaria (perhaps Sychar; Acts 8:5; cf. John 4:5), with such success that he was pronounced to be "the Great Power of God" (Acts 8:10). The preaching and miracles of Philip excited him, and he became one of his disciples and was baptized. Subsequently he witnessed the effect produced by the laying on of hands, practiced by the apostles Peter and John, and, desiring to acquire a similar power, he offered money for it. His object evidently was to apply the power to pursuing magical arts. The motive and the means were equally to be condemned, and his proposition met with a severe denunciation from Peter. It was followed by a petition on the part of Simon, the tenor of which revealed terror but not penitence (v.24).
The word simony is derived from his endeavor to obtain functions by bribe.
(Unger's Bible Dic., pg.1197)
verse 18-And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money.
verse 19-Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
Simon
"The Samaritan magician living in the age of the apotles and usually designated in later history as Simon Magus. According to Justin Martyr (Apol. 1.26) he was born at Gitton, a village of Samaria, identified with modern Kuryet Jit, near Nablus. He probably was educated at Alexandria and there became acquainted with the various tenets of the Gnostic school. Either then or subsequently he was a pupil of Dositheus, who preceded him as a teacher of Gnosticism in Samaria and whom he supplanted with the aid of Cleobius. He was first introduced in the Bible as practicing magical arts in a city of Samaria (perhaps Sychar; Acts 8:5; cf. John 4:5), with such success that he was pronounced to be "the Great Power of God" (Acts 8:10). The preaching and miracles of Philip excited him, and he became one of his disciples and was baptized. Subsequently he witnessed the effect produced by the laying on of hands, practiced by the apostles Peter and John, and, desiring to acquire a similar power, he offered money for it. His object evidently was to apply the power to pursuing magical arts. The motive and the means were equally to be condemned, and his proposition met with a severe denunciation from Peter. It was followed by a petition on the part of Simon, the tenor of which revealed terror but not penitence (v.24).
The word simony is derived from his endeavor to obtain functions by bribe.
(Unger's Bible Dic., pg.1197)