Synagogue of Satan

Andiamo

"Let's go!"
Who were/are the Synagogue of Satan—people who say they are Jews, but are not?
Why did God address this to the churches then, and does it still apply now?
And why would the church of Philadelphia be concerned with "Jews" that aren't even Jews—especially since we are raptured before the tribulation?
 
Who were/are the Synagogue of Satan—people who say they are Jews, but are not?
Why did God address this to the churches then, and does it still apply now?
And why would the church of Philadelphia be concerned with "Jews" that aren't even Jews—especially since we are raptured before the tribulation?

probably those tryng to claim Judaism is the "only way" and that Christianty is false, even though thy arent even keeping judaism properly would br my guess.
 

Andy C

Well-Known Member
Who were/are the Synagogue of Satan—people who say they are Jews, but are not?
Why did God address this to the churches then, and does it still apply now?
And why would the church of Philadelphia be concerned with "Jews" that aren't even Jews—especially since we are raptured before the tribulation?
I think the below from the late Jack is good information

Question: Who is this synagogue of Satan that is spoken of in Rev 3:9? “I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars–I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.”

Answer: For about the first 20 years after the cross, the Church was made up almost exclusively of Jews. Many of these were Pharisees who had been around the Temple when the veil was rent on the day of the Lord’s death.

Some of them were convinced that the Old Covenant Laws were still in effect, and that Gentiles who wanted to follow the Lord had to enter Christianity through Judaism. More and more Gentiles began accepting Jesus as their Savior and so the Apostles held a meeting in Jerusalem to settle the issue. (Acts 15:1-21) Did a Gentile have to become a Jew, subject to the Law, before he could become a Christian? James, the brother of the Lord and head of the Church in Jerusalem said, “No” and from that time forward Gentiles could come straight into Christianity.

But there were false teachers who followed Paul around, and after he left a place they would try to undo his work by telling the Gentiles they had to become Jews first and that Paul had left out this requirement to trick them. This happened in many of the Gentile communities, including Philadelphia. These false teachers were called “Judaizers” and are the synagogue of Satan to which the Lord referred.

There are still those who teach that the Lord’s death and resurrection are not sufficient to guarantee a believer’s place in heaven. They teach that believers must also maintain a certain standard of behavior after becoming saved, and if they don’t then the Lord will revoke their gift of salvation, leaving them lost and without hope. We don’t call them Judaizers anymore, but their intent is the same, to try and make expensive that which the Lord gave His life to make free.

Others teach that the Church has inherited the promises to Israel and that the references in the Bible referring to Israel’s future are really intended for the Church. By claiming the promises to Israel, they’re in effect claiming to be Jews though they’re not. Since the seven letters have a prophetic application as well as an historical one, I believe the Lord was also including these groups in His letter to Philadelphia.

https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/the-synagogue-of-satan/
 

athenasius

Well-Known Member
Who were/are the Synagogue of Satan—people who say they are Jews, but are not?
Why did God address this to the churches then, and does it still apply now?
And why would the church of Philadelphia be concerned with "Jews" that aren't even Jews—especially since we are raptured before the tribulation?
There was a historical situation happening at that time. I don't have time to go into that but look at something today.( I posted at the same time as Andy above. He has answered that.)

Replacement Theology-- those who say the church is Israel, and has taken her place. That is one type of people who say they are Jews but are not.

Another is the Hebrew Roots movement, not the Messianic congregations but the extremes of the Hebrew Roots movement that wants everyone to come back under the law.

Then there are the Black Israelites-- who think blacks are actually the Jews, the Jews are not the Jews and they use that cockeyed thinking to attack Jews -- many of the attacks in New York on Jews and synagogues came from this group until Black Lives Matter began to torch synagogues and attack Jews during the recent riots.

All of these groups fit the characteristic of saying they are Jews or forcing people to become Jews in order to be Christians.
 

Andy C

Well-Known Member
There was a historical situation happening at that time. I don't have time to go into that but look at something today.( I posted at the same time as Andy above. He has answered that.)

Replacement Theology-- those who say the church is Israel, and has taken her place. That is one type of people who say they are Jews but are not.

Another is the Hebrew Roots movement, not the Messianic congregations but the extremes of the Hebrew Roots movement that wants everyone to come back under the law.

Then there are the Black Israelites-- who think blacks are actually the Jews, the Jews are not the Jews and they use that cockeyed thinking to attack Jews -- many of the attacks in New York on Jews and synagogues came from this group until Black Lives Matter began to torch synagogues and attack Jews during the recent riots.

All of these groups fit the characteristic of saying they are Jews or forcing people to become Jews in order to be Christians.
I would say great minds think alike......but.........me:dilbertlittle brain ....You:tunez - big brain.
 

Spartan Sprinter 1

Formerly known as Shaun
I can't remember the teacher that said but he was hypothesizing that Germany was where the synagogue of Satan was situated at the moment because the seatof Perganum is situated there at the moment.

One of the many interesting out there theories on this topic that i've heard.
 

Andiamo

"Let's go!"
My brain still can't figure out why God would say this to Philadelphia, since we are raptured before the tribulation. And also, why we would be concerned with the fake Jews....it's the one world religion I'm concerned about, no matter what "religion" they are.
 

Andiamo

"Let's go!"
Maybe there is only a historical application here with this mention of this synagogue which probably wasn't even literal and this doesn't concern us. Yet the rest of the letter does, And this literal synagogue is being built. I don't get it.
And I never thought of a literal synagogue until now.
 

glc11

Well-Known Member
I am now jumping on this thread from the other one about the "historic peace deal".
Beautiful Feet shared that you all were discussing the synagogue of Satan and could it be the "Abrahamic Family House"?

Beautiful feet said it very well could be if the Catholic Church is involved and if the UN eventually moves to that area. ...

Pope Francis is very involved
https://www.forhumanfraternity.org/document-on-human-fraternity-detail

So please help me understand...this is all eerily fascinating..... how does the Catholic Church being involved make it a little more of a shoe-in that this "house" could be the synagogue of Satan?
 

Andiamo

"Let's go!"
So please help me understand...this is all eerily fascinating..... how does the Catholic Church being involved make it a little more of a shoe-in that this "house" could be the synagogue of Satan?
Well I'm convinced that Frankie is the false prophet.
And I agree....this is all just eerie, isn't it?
 

athenasius

Well-Known Member
Who were/are the Synagogue of Satan—people who say they are Jews, but are not?
Why did God address this to the churches then, and does it still apply now?
And why would the church of Philadelphia be concerned with "Jews" that aren't even Jews—especially since we are raptured before the tribulation?
Ok More time to go over these questions.

Andy and I both went over who are the Synagogue of Satan in the past, and as we approach the Rapture who these might be today.

It's interesting that most of the modern groups have been really harsh in their opposition to Pre Tribulation Rapture believers.

REALLY HARSH! But lets look at the beliefs.

For example most of the churches that use Replacement Theology are either old line denominations that were born in the Reformation, but took the Catholic position that God was done with the Jews and all the blessings in the book were for the Christians while the Jews still kept the curses. Some believe the prophecy of Revelation was fulfilled in the first century (Preterists-- often a Reform position or a hardline Calvinist) while others believe that it's all allegorical.

Out of the Protestant Charismatic groups the NAR are a good example. They hold a belief (we've gone over in the Apostasy section so for more detail look there) that the church will eventually conquer the world's systems (7 mountains of culture) and bring them under their form of righteousness-- keeping the laws even if they aren't saved, at which point Jesus comes back and they all enter the Millennium or the alternate, that WAS the millennium and we are now ready for the eternal state. Some are preterist and others are more allegory in their approach to Revelation. again, most of these groups believe they inherit at least some of Israel's position and promises

Out of the Protestant non Charismatics there are a number who deny the Pre Trib Rapture but the ones who hold to Replacement Theology the most are the Emergent groups and the Purpose Driven Seeker Friendly who want to avoid talking about the Rapture or prophecy at all no matter where it is in the Bible. These ones are particularly harsh towards Israel, and sympathetic to the Palestinians -- they will use arguments based in Replacement Theology to make their points that God is done with Israel, and that Christians replaced them. Lynn Hybels is one. She and her husband are the Willow Creek group, and very influential.

Then there are the cults that teach we need to get back under the Mosaic Laws in order to be saved and that would be the Hyper Hebrew Roots

(not to be confused with Messianic Synagogues of Jewish and Gentile believers who simply worship in a Jewish manner but don't force people to keep the laws as a necessary part of salvation)

If you don't think they are persecuting the church today, listen to Jan Markell a while-- a Jewish Christian with a heart for prophecy and Pre Trib teaching.

Now a feature in the past-- was this

Answer: For about the first 20 years after the cross, the Church was made up almost exclusively of Jews. Many of these were Pharisees who had been around the Temple when the veil was rent on the day of the Lord’s death.

Some of them were convinced that the Old Covenant Laws were still in effect, and that Gentiles who wanted to follow the Lord had to enter Christianity through Judaism. More and more Gentiles began accepting Jesus as their Savior and so the Apostles held a meeting in Jerusalem to settle the issue. (Acts 15:1-21) Did a Gentile have to become a Jew, subject to the Law, before he could become a Christian? James, the brother of the Lord and head of the Church in Jerusalem said, “No” and from that time forward Gentiles could come straight into Christianity.

But there were false teachers who followed Paul around, and after he left a place they would try to undo his work by telling the Gentiles they had to become Jews first and that Paul had left out this requirement to trick them.

This happened in many of the Gentile communities, including Philadelphia.
These false teachers were called “Judaizers” and are the synagogue of Satan to which the Lord referred.
I'm going to deal with a question that has come up here and on the other thread

NONE of these groups in the past were defined by the building being a synagogue. It was their ACTIONS that made them part of the synagogue of Satan.

Just like the Action of being part of the church wasn't about meeting in a church building, it was being part of the group that met together all believing in Christ for salvation.

For that reason, no synagogue, no matter where it is built or no church no matter where it is built is automatically of Satan. It is the people inside it that make the difference.

Even though it and the church beside it may belong to a Satanic counterfeit religion-- the one world religion in the making, it isn't the building that fulfills what Jesus is talking about here.

Because a building can't come, bow down at the feet of the Philadelphian believers later and acknowledge anything, only the people can.

I'll pause here and start on your second question in my next reply.
 

athenasius

Well-Known Member
One last point, the word for Synagogue is this:
G4864 (Strong)
συναγωγή

sunagōgē

soon-ag-o-gay'

From (the reduplicated form of) G4863; an assemblage of persons; specifically a Jewish “synagogue” (the meeting or the place); by analogy a Christian church: - assembly, congregation, synagogue.

As you can see it is mainly referring to the people who gather together-- like we define church-- the gathering of ourselves together in the Name of Christ. Yes it can also mean the building, but the primary meaning is the people inside the building.

Why did God address this to the churches then, and does it still apply now?
And why would the church of Philadelphia be concerned with "Jews" that aren't even Jews—especially since we are raptured before the tribulation?

Because the outline of Jesus messages to the individual churches was a message to those exact churches, but it ALSO fits the outline of church history.

So there is both a THEN application

and a NOW application.

First thing to note, is that these letters were written to be read far and wide beyond their area and thru the entire remaining age of the church. Since Jesus includes all of them this book means they all have applications for us now. And He specifically says “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” In every message to each church. Since we all still "have an ear" to hear with or the ability to read-- we can "hear" what the Spirit says-- if we are paying attention.

Then-- they were enduring a very nasty persecution. They were being shoved out of the Jewish synagogues (despite still being Jews, just Jews who believed in Jesus as their promised Messiah) and this was subjecting them and the gentile believers with them to SEVERE Roman persecution, even death. As Jews, they were exempt from worship of Caesar. If they were not Jews, they were undergoing the test-- acknowledge Caesar as god and LIVE or die acknowledging Christ.

The persecutions came in waves. You never knew when it would start up nearby.

Plus they had to cope with the same rejection as Jewish believers do today which is becoming dead to their families. Some families hold FUNERALS for their loved ones who become Christian to this day.

And they were being denied as part of the Jewish roots that Christianity sprang from.

NOW-- the Philadelphia church is being persecuted within the church.

by those who have a passionate rage against the doctrine of the Rapture and those who believe it.
by those who detest other Christians who take the Bible more literally than they do.
by those who detest Christians who take Bible prophecy as literal.
by those who hate other Christians who believe in a Genesis creation in 6 days
by those who oppose a global flood of Noah
by those who hate a Pre Trib Rapture

The common theme aimed at Philadelphia then and now is that they aren't real believers-- that they are some kind of cult or needing to be re educated. And Jesus assures them they are His and they've been keeping His Word, that He is pleased.

Then in v 10 is the promise that Christ will take them up and out of the hour of trial (the tribulation) Remember these people were being persecuted, and they weren't denying Christ, nor do they stop keeping His word. So the trials of the Roman era were not the Tribulation. Those continued for some time.

When we remember that this church stands from the missionary sending era (mid 1700's to the Rapture in church history), this is promising US the same. He knows we have but a little strength, but He gives us an open door that nobody can shut.

Back in 1989 Ray Stedman wrote a wonderful essay on the Church of Philadelphia. https://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/revelation/the-little-church-that-tried

Now why would Jesus point to the Rapture to a church in the first century. Unless the message was to all Christians to be ready, waiting (this is the doctrine of Imminence) for the Rapture thru all the ages of the church but especially in the last days.

So yes, the message to Philadelphia is also directed to those in the future-- who love the Lord, share the gospel, and wait for Him believing in His promise to keep us out of the hour of trial. The Early church knew that this wasn't the suffering they endured at that time. They understood it to be the time of Jacob's Trouble, when the time of 7 years of Tribulation comes on the earth.

I'm very tired, and it's bedtime, long day I'll try and tackle part 3 of your question tomorrow.
 

Spartan Sprinter 1

Formerly known as Shaun
One last point, the word for Synagogue is this:
G4864 (Strong)
συναγωγή

sunagōgē

soon-ag-o-gay'

From (the reduplicated form of) G4863; an assemblage of persons; specifically a Jewish “synagogue” (the meeting or the place); by analogy a Christian church: - assembly, congregation, synagogue.

As you can see it is mainly referring to the people who gather together-- like we define church-- the gathering of ourselves together in the Name of Christ. Yes it can also mean the building, but the primary meaning is the people inside the building.



Because the outline of Jesus messages to the individual churches was a message to those exact churches, but it ALSO fits the outline of church history.

So there is both a THEN application

and a NOW application.

First thing to note, is that these letters were written to be read far and wide beyond their area and thru the entire remaining age of the church. Since Jesus includes all of them this book means they all have applications for us now. And He specifically says “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” In every message to each church. Since we all still "have an ear" to hear with or the ability to read-- we can "hear" what the Spirit says-- if we are paying attention.

Then-- they were enduring a very nasty persecution. They were being shoved out of the Jewish synagogues (despite still being Jews, just Jews who believed in Jesus as their promised Messiah) and this was subjecting them and the gentile believers with them to SEVERE Roman persecution, even death. As Jews, they were exempt from worship of Caesar. If they were not Jews, they were undergoing the test-- acknowledge Caesar as god and LIVE or die acknowledging Christ.

The persecutions came in waves. You never knew when it would start up nearby.

Plus they had to cope with the same rejection as Jewish believers do today which is becoming dead to their families. Some families hold FUNERALS for their loved ones who become Christian to this day.

And they were being denied as part of the Jewish roots that Christianity sprang from.

NOW-- the Philadelphia church is being persecuted within the church.

by those who have a passionate rage against the doctrine of the Rapture and those who believe it.
by those who detest other Christians who take the Bible more literally than they do.
by those who detest Christians who take Bible prophecy as literal.
by those who hate other Christians who believe in a Genesis creation in 6 days
by those who oppose a global flood of Noah
by those who hate a Pre Trib Rapture

The common theme aimed at Philadelphia then and now is that they aren't real believers-- that they are some kind of cult or needing to be re educated. And Jesus assures them they are His and they've been keeping His Word, that He is pleased.

Then in v 10 is the promise that Christ will take them up and out of the hour of trial (the tribulation) Remember these people were being persecuted, and they weren't denying Christ, nor do they stop keeping His word. So the trials of the Roman era were not the Tribulation. Those continued for some time.

When we remember that this church stands from the missionary sending era (mid 1700's to the Rapture in church history), this is promising US the same. He knows we have but a little strength, but He gives us an open door that nobody can shut.

Back in 1989 Ray Stedman wrote a wonderful essay on the Church of Philadelphia. https://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/revelation/the-little-church-that-tried

Now why would Jesus point to the Rapture to a church in the first century. Unless the message was to all Christians to be ready, waiting (this is the doctrine of Imminence) for the Rapture thru all the ages of the church but especially in the last days.

So yes, the message to Philadelphia is also directed to those in the future-- who love the Lord, share the gospel, and wait for Him believing in His promise to keep us out of the hour of trial. The Early church knew that this wasn't the suffering they endured at that time. They understood it to be the time of Jacob's Trouble, when the time of 7 years of Tribulation comes on the earth.

I'm very tired, and it's bedtime, long day I'll try and tackle part 3 of your question tomorrow.

Using some Salusisms i like it
 
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