73. PERSECUTION
Revelation 2:10. "Fear none of those things which thou shalt
suffer: behold, the devil shall cast [some] of you into prison, that ye may be
tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee a crown of life.”
The first mention of tribulation was in chapter one verse nine where the
writer, John, identified himself as their "brother and companion in tribulation...." The endtime of any
nation that has forgotten God is marked by the rise of anti-Christian powers
and persecution of the saints as in 1John 2:18: "Little children it is the last time and as ye have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists, whereby we know
that it is the last time."
It was the last days of
the fleshly nation of Judea and there were many anti-Christs. The original
persecution of Christians as described in the New Testament was from the
unbelieving Jews. We should here be reminded that the devil, Satan, had his
seat, (Greek: thronos), his throne, in the synagogue, Revelation 2:9, 13; 3:9.
It was the Jews of
Judea, not the Roman Empire, that came into direct conflict with Christ as
recorded in the Gospels, and were the instruments of His arrest, condemnation
and crucifixion. True, it was Pilate the Roman that gave Him back to the Jews
to be crucified, John 18:16, but Jesus said: "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given
thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin."
The greater sin was that of the Jews.
Persecution from the
Roman Empire, as such, came later. The Empire did not distinguish between
Christians and Jews until after the time of the writing of the New Testament,
that is, at or near the time of Nero, (54-68 AD), or perhaps even later under
Hadrian, (117-138 AD). Even then the persecution under the Roman government was
often at the instigation of the unbelieving Jews, as was also the case in the
New Testament as well as secular Roman history.
The tribulation under
Nero may have been instigated by his wife, Poppea, who was a Jewish proselyte
and a probable source of accusations against Christians, (Josephus' Antiquities
20.2, also footnote at that site. See also Eusebius, History of the Church,
104-5). Poppea had requested and received favors for the Jews and had retained
the High Priest, Ismael and Helcias, the treasurer.
At the time of the
writing of the Book of Revelation, [68 AD], Christians were suffering severely
under the persecution of the Jews who were using their influence with the Roman
Empire to try to destroy them. They were judged by the Sanhedrin to be
excommunicated from the synagogues, meaning they were despoiled of all their
goods and estates, and that they could not buy nor sell. They were sentenced to
be scourged or slain at the hands of the zealots, or assassins.
“[Roman] Persecution of
the early Christians was sometimes because they would not bear arms and because
they would not worship the emperor.... The persecution under Diocletian,
[281-305 AD], lasted for 8 years and about 1500 Christians died. Some denied the faith and the Church seemed
weakened for a time but the example and testimony of the martyrs became the
source of many-fold converts. 'The blood
of martyrs,' said Tertullian,* 'is seed'.
There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few
Christians, scorned or oppressed by a succession of emperors, bearing all
trials with a fierce tenacity, multiplying quietly, building order while their
enemies generated chaos, fighting the sword with the word, brutality with hope,
and at last defeating the strongest state that history has known. Caesar and Christ had met in the arena, and
Christ had won," (Will Durant, in The Story of Civilization, Part III, Simon and Schuster, 1944, p. 652.)
The message of
Revelation 2:10 has strengthened every persecuted saint since that time with
the command: "Fear not!" A
fearless people are unconquerable. Let us be heartened by their testimony for
the persecution coming upon the Church today, as our nation has entered into
its endtime wherein are many anti-Christs.
*Text in square brackets are my own
insertion. *Tertullian was a Roman historian.
This lesson is an
edited excerpt from my book Revelation In Context. My Book is available at the
Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and is also available online at
www.amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com.
Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.
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