Verse 13
‘You hold fast my name, and did not deny my faith (your faith in me), even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you where Satan dwells.’
‘You hold fast my name’ - compare Revelation 11:18 and contrast Revelation 13:17. Pergamum has already suffered some persecution in times when fervency for the Emperor and for Rome has raised the passions of the people against Christians. But they had not wavered.
‘Did not deny my faith.’ The aorist tense suggests that this refers to some particular period of persecution which they would all remember, when the church emerged triumphant
‘The faith of me’ contains an objective genitive and means ‘your faith in me’. Antipas is unknown to us but was clearly well known then. The importance of the mention of the name is that it reminds them that God knows us each by name. God will hold fast the names of those who hold fast the name of Jesus. Indeed Antipas mirrors Jesus as a faithful witness (compare Revelation 1:5). So the members of the church at Pergamum have already proved their readiness to suffer for Christ’s sake.
Notice the continual reference to Satan. He is working through Jews, he is working through Romans, he is working through officialdom. Pergamum appears to be especially the target of Satan.
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