How blessed you are whenever people hate you and ostracize you and insult you and denounce you as a criminal on account of the Son of Man. Be glad when that happens; yes, dance for joy! Because in heaven your reward is great. For this is just how their fathers treated the prophets. Luke 6:22-23
One of the elders asked me, “These people dressed in white robes – who are they, and where are they from?” “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” Then he told me, “These are they people who have come out of the Great Persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb. That is why they are before God’s throne. “Day and night they serve him in his Temple; and the One who sits on the throne will put his Sh’khinah upon them.” Revelation 7:13-15
The idea that once we accept Yeshua as Messiah, as our Savior that our life is going to be easy is completely inaccurate. The enemy is not going to stand by and be okay with you being blessed by God. He will attack you and try to destroy you by any means possible. He will use sickness, financial problems, discouragement, depression, and persecution. When you read through the Bible you will see that the people that were walking with God, sold out to Him alone, following His ways, proclaiming His Word, standing for His righteousness didn’t have a life that was a walk in the park. They faced trials, tribulation, and were severely persecuted. Joseph was sold into slavery and hated by his brothers, would be falsely accused of attempted rape, and thrown into prison. After defeating Goliath, David was hated by the king and lived on the run as Saul wanted him dead. The prophet Zechariah was murdered between the altar and the Holy place for proclaiming God’s Word. The eleven that were the closest to Yeshua were persecuted, jailed, tortured unto death, John being the only one to live through the physical horrors inflicted upon him. Yeshua Himself not only endured the physical tortures of the flesh, but also the spiritual when His Father turned His face away from His only Son as He took the sins of the entire world upon Himself. Jeremiah was no exception, and like those who faced such persecution has great reward in heaven.
Jeremiah had been foretelling of the Babylonian invasion and Jerusalem’s destruction if the people did not turn from their wickedness for years. During the reign of Zedekiah, while the siege was lifted, Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin to receive his share of an inheritance. As he reached the gate, a guard commander accused of him of trying to desert to the Babylonians, and while Jeremiah protested, saying this was not true, he was arrested, beaten, and jailed, cast into a cistern that had been made into a dungeon, and was held there for a long time. (Jeremiah 37:11-16) He would later be moved from the cistern to the guard’s quarters at the order of the king and given a daily loaf of bread until all the bread in the city was gone. (v 21).
Although Zedekiah was king, he appeared to be more of a puppet to the city officials who were calling for Jeremiah’s death saying, “Please let this man be put to death because by speaking such words to the soldiers in this city and to all the people, he is demoralizing them. This man is seeking not to benefit this people, but to harm them.” (Jeremiah 38:4) One would think that the king of the land would be the ultimate authority, however Zedekiah’s response reflects the complete opposite as his reply was, “All right, he is in your hands; for the king can’t prevent you from doing as you please.” (v 5) Their method of attempting to kill him was one that was cold and heartless as they put him back into one of the cistern prison cells that was full of mud, which he sank down into. They were going to leave him there to die of starvation as there was no food left in the city. However, God had a way out for him in an Ethiopian officer in the king’s house who went to the king and pleaded in Jeremiah’s defense. The king then sent him to remove Jeremiah from the cistern and had him once again housed in the guard’s quarters where he remained until Jerusalem was captured. (Jeremiah 38:6-13)
What was Jeremiah’s crime? Declaring the Word of the Lord. He wasn’t a thief or a murderer, not a criminal of any kind. He was a man who preached the Word of God and was arrested, beaten, imprisoned, and treated inhumanely. He would have been killed had God Himself not intervened. This is not a practice that we see in the United States, however it is one that does happen currently throughout the world. There are countries that you cannot openly profess to be a Christian without true consequence and to own a Bible is a crime. There are countries you will be put to death simply for believing in Yeshua. If we think that it will not or cannot happen here, then we are mistaken as we are already seeing cancel culture coming after Christians, as well as shadow banning on social media. We are closing in on a day that no matter where you are in the world, carrying the banner of Yeshua will be an automatic death sentence.
Myself, I have not faced severe persecution for following my Savior. I have been called a Jesus Freak, a Bible Thumper, and so on, but I do not personally count such name calling as persecution, especially after reading Richard Wurmbrand’s testimony, Tortured for Christ. This is a man who started out professing to be an atheist, but ultimately not only found Jesus, but would be a powerful minister to Nazi’s and communists. He would spend fourteen years in prison, undergo and witness unspeakable horrors and torture. Not only was he imprisoned and tortured, but his wife was as well. After being released from prison, they surprised everyone by showing no hatred towards their torturers and captors, but forgiveness and the unconditional love of Yeshua. His wife, Sabina’s entire family, who were Jewish, died in Nazi concentration camps. According to a caption in Tortured for Christ, it says they “had the privilege of inviting a Nazi who had been at this camp to their home. They fed him, loved him, and brought him to Christ.” Wurmbrand would continue to be a voice for the underground church after his release from prison and coming to the United States. He published the first issue of The Voice of the Martyrs in October 1967, which started as a newsletter that was sent to 500 people. The work he started continues to this day as VOM works to get Bibles and the message of Yeshua to those who are in countries that cannot openly worship our Creator. Members of their organization have been imprisoned, tortured, and killed for doing so, yet the love of Yeshua outweighs this fear, and they are willing to give their lives for the One who gave His life for them. I encourage you to sign up for the VOM publication, as well as read the book Hearts of Fire, which tells the stories of some amazing women who have faced extreme persecution, yet always rejoiced in Yeshua their Savior.
While I normally look at Hebrew words, and will shortly, I believe that looking at the Greek for the word martyr is essential. In the Greek, we find that martyr means witness or testimony, as well as one who witnessed unto death. In Hebrew, the word witness is ‘ed and is spelled Ayin (ע) and Dalet (ד) Ayin symbolizes they eye or spiritual insight and discernment, and Dalet is symbolized by a door, house or shelter. Its numeric value is 74. According to billheidrick.com another word that has a value of 74 is hus (חוס) which means compassion. Richard Wurmbrand was a witness that suffered horribly yet showed compassion to those inflicting that torture.
We are called to be witnesses of the Good News and to be compassionate to others. Love God, love others. Although Jeremiah never compromised the Word, he always shared it with a burning compassion for those around him. He wept over his people, he loved them, he pleaded with them to listen to Adonai, regardless of how they treated him. While in prison, he continued to proclaim the Word, his circumstance did not matter, his obedience to God did. We must be the same. No matter our circumstance, we are to be proclaiming the Word of the Lord. There is no higher calling than to share the Word and the love of Yeshua. Paul said in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, life is the Messiah, and death is gain.” He wrote these words while imprisoned in Rome, and throughout this book repeatedly spoke of joy or rejoicing. It was in Philippi that he was beaten by a mob and jailed, then later freed in an earthquake and saw the salvation and conversion of the jailer and his family. When our life is Messiah, Yeshua, it doesn’t matter what happens to this earthly body, because when this life is done, no matter how we are called home, death is gain. For we will be freed from the chains of mortality to live eternally with Him.
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