These are people who have been killed in the past. Many have been killed in the past as a witness. Incidentally the word "martyr" is the equivalent of our English word "witness." However, through the years by usage the word "martyr" has come to mean, "one who dies in service to a cause." These people died in service to God and to His cause—to His purpose. Can one assume that because God allows someone to die for the faith, then that person has been bad or weak—like we know that the Laodiceans are?
