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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
Hebrews 11:24-28, 35b-38
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Being a Christian wasn’t ever promised to be easy. Not even close.
Jesus certainly didn’t beat around the bush on the matter when He said this during his earthly ministry and time with his twelve chosen disciples:
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of My name, for they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both Me and my Father.” John 15:18-24
Indeed, after Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of His Father God, persecution started as soon as the Gospel began to be shared by the power of Holy Spirit and those hearing it surrendered their lives to Christ.
The apostles were harassed and imprisoned by the Sanhedrin (Acts 4 and 5).
Stephen, one of the seven elected to assist the apostles with caring for the social needs of the church, was arrested and falsely convicted as well by the Sanhedrin before being stoned to death in Jerusalem (Acts 6 and 7).
Ironically, the fervent, jealous Jewish persecutor Saul, who oversaw and sanctioned Stephen’s stoning, would come to Jesus himself before fully receiving persecution himself while answering Jesus’ call and taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Then, as we see in our passage today, first century Jesus followers faced horrific, deadly consequences for their belief. Some were “tortured” while “refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection”. Others “faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment”. Still others “were put to death by stoning” or “sawed in two” or “killed by the sword”. For those Christians fortunate to avoid the ever looming danger, there was no peace. The scriptures tell is that they were seemingly always fleeing hardship, going “about in sheepskins and goatskins” while “destitute, persecuted and mistreated”. They “wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground”.
Since then, persecution of Christian believers has happened throughout human history and indeed still exists today. Many Jesus followers worship and cherish Him as Savior even under the constant threat of abuse and even death. We need to be in constant prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world and we can stay engaged with their struggles through two wonderful agencies who advocate and seek to assist the persecuted church: Voice of the Martyrs and International Christian Concern. I would encourage you to support their work if you can.
And so given all this, here’s the bottom line.
Being a Christian isn’t for the faint of heart but because of the incredible power of faith, believers can stand firm for the cause of Jesus, no matter the cost, as they take up their respective crosses to journey with Him in life.
Going back to our passage for today, we see where persecution of those who believed and trusted in their Lord wasn’t just a New Testament matter. For going back to the story of the Israelite people, we remember their plight under the oppressive, abusive rule of Egypt’s Pharaoh. God’s people were forced into slave labor and mistreated badly while one of their own, Moses, sat in a position of power, the son of Pharaoh’s daughter who claimed him from the papyrus basket his true mother, Jochebed, set him afloat in so to save him from sure death.
Moses was in a comfortable position but he wasn’t willing to remain there while he watched his fellow Hebrew brothers and sisters fall victim to daily misconduct. And so after receiving the call to leadership from God at the burning bush (Exodus 3), he “refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” and “chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin”. We read where he “regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward”. And so it was “by faith” that “he left Egypt” while “not fearing the king’s anger” and as a result, “he persevered because he saw” God who was “invisible”. Further, Moses “kept the Passover and the application of blood” by faith “so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel”.
Moses personally practiced faith and then inspired the Israelite people to do likewise so to endure Pharaoh’s maltreatment before escaping the angel of death that wiped out all the firstborn of Egypt and then experiencing the deliverance and rescue of God through the miraculous parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 11 and 12) as they set out for the blessing of the Promised Land.
Just because we place our belief in Jesus doesn’t earn us a “get out of persecution” card. Rather, as we share in the goodness and glory of Jesus, Christians will also share in many of the same sufferings and difficulties He experienced. And while these experiences are difficult to go through, it will be our faith in the Lord who holds the power to do all things, including restoring and even resurrecting, that allows us to persevere through hope.
Thanks be to the God who is ever with us and ever for us, in good times and bad.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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