Revelation & Persecution

I don’t like to suffer. I dislike pain. I have no desire to even watch a movie that’s filled with suffering, especially if there’s nothing redemptive coming out of the hardship. I wish that life were easier, but the truth is that life is hard and that the more I think it should be easier, the harder it gets. 

Knowing that life is hard, in a strange way helps me appreciate it more. If I expect life to be hard, I can still enjoy what is good and even enjoy the good fruits of labors resulting from endured hardship. I’ve learned to understand that sometimes we know we’re on the right path by the resistance we feel along the way. I still don’t enjoy suffering, but I can be emboldened by it. Paul understood a deep truth that he very matter-of-factly wrote to the Romans: 

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God—those whom he has called according to his plan.” (Romans 8:28)

Likewise James wrote: 

My brothers and sisters, be very happy when you are tested in different ways. You know that such testing of your faith produces endurance. Endure until your testing is over. Then you will be mature and complete, and you won’t need anything.

James 1:2-4

Peter, Matthew, John, and the 1st century Christians all understood that suffering is part of our Christian journey. It is a journey through a world that hates Jesus and often hates us because of our relationship to Jesus. 

The world can embrace a generic “god” easily enough, but have you seen how some people can immediately become angry at the mention of Jesus or the idea that He is the only way to heaven? What is so offensive about the gospel of grace? How is it so maddening that Jesus paid the punishment we so rightly deserve? It’s all in the last part of that statement: we deserve punishment, meaning we have done something wrong. People don't like to admit that inconvenient truth. In pride, Lucifer rebelled, desiring to be his own god. Adam and Eve also wanted to be gods, able to judge good from evil. 

Likewise, the idea that other religions are inadequate offends people. It insults cultural and family traditions and points out that we can’t somehow earn our way to heaven. Christianity is different from all other religions in this: you can't earn your way to salvation. It’s a humbling perspective that we are incapable of saving ourselves and that in fact we are wholly dependent upon God’s loving grace. The angelic proclamation of peace to shepherds when Jesus was born is offensive to anyone unable to acknowledge their own depraved nature or their past (and future) wrong-doings. 

The Rebellion

The 70th week of Daniel, understood to be the Tribulation period, will bring an end to "the rebellion". The rebellion against God’s reigning authority, His Kingdom, began long ago, and the rebellious hate those who remind them of their rebellion and imperfections. God’s ambassadors of grace are ridiculed as self-righteous do-gooders and religious zealots. Sadly, we sometimes act that way instead of humbly acknowledging our own continuing need for God’s wonderful grace. Since the beginning of man’s rebellion, the world has beaten God’s prophets and even killed His only begotten Son. Persecution of God’s people has been going on since before the foundation of Christianity. This persecution is not God’s wrath against man,  but it is rebellious men persecuting the people of God, and although we are told to suffer as good soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3), we all weary of the suffering and at some point ask God to intervene on our behalf. 

Imagine a world where the spirit of the Antichrist has been given victory, essentially conquered the earth, a time where war, famine and pestilence are everywhere (See Revelation on Four Horsemen). Imagine that bible-believing Christians continue to hold out against a global government, claiming that it was foretold in to be an evil authority within the Bible. How much will persecution increase? What if Christians refuse to accept a digital ID that is required to fight a new pestilence or to use a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)... something that is being rolled out even as I type!

Revelation 6 tells us what happens when Jesus opens the fifth seal to the scroll. The opening of each seal brings us closer to King Jesus taking ownership of the earth, and in the context of the first four seals, the fifth seal makes complete sense: 

When the lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had given about him. They cried out in a loud voice, “Holy and true Master, how long before you judge and take revenge on those living on earth who shed our blood?” Each of the souls was given a white robe. They were told to rest a little longer until all their coworkers, the other Christians, would be killed as they had been killed.

Revelation 6:9-11

We can expect persecution to increase as Christ’s return approaches. If Pre-Trib folks are correct in their understanding of Scripture (see Revelation Perspectives), then the Rapture is imminent. But if those of us that believe in a Mid-Trib perspective are correct, we will remain here a bit longer. Either way, I believe the persecution of Christians across the world will increase. Are we prepared spiritually and emotionally for this kind of persecution? 

What is the line we cannot cross and still remain true to Jesus? 

We cannot accept a bodily mark, an etching or piercing of the skin. Since the Mark of the Beast is not introduced until Revelation 13, Pre-Trib teachers believe it won’t materialize until after the Church has been Raptured. That would be nice, but that is not how I understand Scripture. As I plan to explain at a later date, I don't believe that Revelation should be read as a single timeline of sequential events. Rather, it contains overlapping sequences that allow us to see the same events from different perspectives. 


So remember: Life is hard, but God is good and His good will prevail. Every hardship will be used for our benefit, used for our good. No matter how unpleasant our temporary burdens may be, God will give us the strength to persevere. How do we prepare? We draw close to God, close to other believers, and all the more as we see the day approaching. 

We must also consider how to encourage each other to show love and to do good things. We should not stop gathering together with other believers, as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming.

Hebrews 10:24-25

See also:

copyright ©2023 Mitchell Malloy (http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/) 


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