Revelation 2:13
I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
Christ knows His people's works and dwelling place even under Satan's direct rule, and commends those who cling to His name and refuse to deny the faith though threatened with death. In Pergamos this faithfulness was proved when Antipas was killed for the truth among them while false accusers helped bring the righteous to death. Satan's seat is where his power and worship are centered, which is this present world that he claims as his own in opposition to God's law. Where that rival throne stands, Christ plants His cross to break the prince of evil, reveal God's love, and draw a redeemed people to Himself. That searching knowledge weighs every heart and life, calling each believer to close self-examination and to press the gospel into the darkest places rather than yield them.
Words and Church Setting
Christ knows the works of His people and where they dwell, even where Satan's seat is. He recognizes those who hold fast His name and do not deny the faith despite persecution. In Pergamos believers held fast amid deadly persecution, even when Antipas, His faithful martyr, was slain among them where Satan dwells. Some would lose their lives for the truth, while false professors claiming to be Jews but lying would bear false witness that could lead to the killing of the righteous. Satan's seat means a place where Satan's influence and worship are centered.
As part of the messages to the churches in Asia, the verse belongs to the last testimony Jesus gave John to write, with message after message to the churches including Ephesus, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. The names of the churches are symbolic of the Christian church in different periods of the Christian era. The number seven indicates completeness and shows the messages extend to the end of time and are in force today. The figures used are symbolic of the state of God's professed people, with wheat developing among tares and truth standing on its own eternal basis in contrast with error.
The verse shows Christ's discrimination in weighing the characters of those who have taken His name. Every individual is under His supervision, and He is acquainted with the thoughts and intents of the heart as well as every word and act. He knows all about religious experience and whom each loves and serves, which calls for close self-examination. The message to Pergamos, in knowing their works, confronts selfishness that leaves destitute places unworked and calls for earnest effort to put workers into those fields.
Satan's Seat and Christ's Cross
Satan's seat is in this world, which he claims as his own territory where the forces of evil hold influence over the lives of men. It is set where people dwell on earth, in a world where sin is increasing and God's law is trampled underfoot. He holds in allegiance to himself all who reject God's commandments and refuse a plain word from God. The conflict is between the obedient who remain loyal to God and the disobedient who exalt human laws above the divine law and lead others into sin, while the Lord's Sabbath is rejected and a rival Sabbath of human establishment is accepted and exalted in its place.
The same image of where Satan's seat is applies to the pope's throne, identifying it as Satan's throne and the pope as antichrist. This connection was made when Luther rejected the papal bull because it condemned Christ. He stood firm in holding fast the name of Christ and refusing to deny the faith, despite the threat of excommunication, prison, torture, and death.
Where Satan's seat stands is where God's throne should have been established, for it is a center of Satan's influence and worship and of his power to deceive and ruin people. Christ establishes His cross there to counter Satan's plans, to cast out the prince of evil, and to become the center of a redeemed world. Through His death at that center God's love and the gospel are revealed, and Christ's righteousness dispels Satan's darkness and draws people to Him. Aided by heavenly beings, Christ's followers advance the spiritual battle into such territory where Satan's seat is.
Working Where Satan Dwells
The phrase about Satan's seat applies to a wicked city where Satan works as a wily, cunning enemy to hinder the church's work through opposing, disorderly influences. Labor in such a place calls for caution and prayer and wise timing in when and how to act. Boston is such a wicked city, where opposing influences make church-building difficult and where disorderly elements even among Sabbath-keepers hinder the cause.
Battle Creek is where Satan's seat is and yet where very important interests are centered, where nerves are worn and burdens must be carried with rest to come by and by. It is a privilege to labor in some other locality, and those who remain there need prayer. Sydney is also described by the phrase where Satan's seat is, a place to be entered with the gospel despite expense and difficulty in obtaining halls, trusting that God could open the way.
Wellington is likened to a place where Satan's seat is and Satan dwells through active opposition. There ministers are active against the work and business men who attend meetings and believe the truth halt without deciding to obey. Without a house of worship to give character to the work the people cannot be warned, yet the place is too important to yield without strong effort and the truth will be vindicated and sustained there. A town with a strong Catholic element can in one sense be the place where Satan has his seat and dwells, as West Maitland is. Working there requires all forces united in one line rather than divided, workers who learn Scripture as well as teach it and know how to impart it in a clear connected manner, close application of mind with no haphazard presentation of truth, and spiritual strength to stand in strong opposition. Where prejudice and priestcraft stand in strong opposition to truth, that marked opposition is a positive sign that God has many souls in that place whom Satan is fearful of losing, and it calls for a charge upon the enemy.