Steps to the Altar of the Temple of Zeus, Pergamum, Turkey on which Bishop Antipas was martyred The Pergamum Museum, Berlin Photo: Smart History.org
Satan's Use of Persecution in the Roman Empire (60-313AD)
In 2 Timothy 3:13-13 Paul warned " everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." That is because Jesus himself had said: " If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also." (John 15:18-20)
The early church experienced the full fury of satanic rage through the persecution unleashed against Christians by the Emperor Nero, when Peter and Paul were executed, and continued by others like Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian until the Emperor Constantine's Edict of Toleration was issued in 313AD, giving Christianity official recognition.
Famous among the early martyrs mentioned in Revelation 2:8-13 were Bishop Antipas, who was martyred on the altar of the Temple of Zeus in Pergamum (in the photo above) by being roasted alive in a bronze bull, and Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, who was martyred at the age of eighty-six in the arena at Smyrna in front of a crowd baying for his blood. After several attempts to burn him alive at the stake failed, he was finally despatched with a dagger thrust. His prayer before he was martyred can be read at Persecution Spreads The Gospel
Persecution Over Subsequent Centuries
The centuries since have seen the truth of Jesus' and Paul's warnings as Christians of all ages, both men and women, have faced death for owning Jesus as LORD and Saviour and being willing to share in Christ's sufferings, as Paul said in Philippians 3:10.
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