Studies in Revelation: Persecution

Persecution of believers is a prominent theme in Revelation. There is persecution of the church during the time John is writing, and there will be persecution of the church during the Great Tribulation, the three and a half years at the end of the age.

Persecution in John’s Day

John himself was suffering persecution:

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 1:9)

John was apparently exiled to the island of Patmos off the coast of Asian Minor (modern day Turkey) because of his testifying to who Jesus is. He is writing to churches that are also experiencing persecution and so is their companion in the suffering there is in Jesus and the need for patient endurance (13:10; 14:12) as followers of Jesus. “All who live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

In chapters 2 and 3 we see the persecution of most of the churches John writes to. Ephesus has “endured hardships” for Jesus’ name, Smyrna has “afflictions” and Jesus tells them they will “suffer persecution” and imprisonment to “test” them, Pergamum has not renounced their faith despite persecution in which Antipas was put to death, Thyatira has no specific mention of persecution but Jesus has seen their “perseverance”, Philadelphia has been persecuted by those who “claim to be Jews but are not”, whereas Sardis and Laodicea, the two dead or dying churches have no persecution. “All who live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Persecution in the Great Tribulation

⁹ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. ¹⁰ They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” ¹¹ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. (Revelation 6:9-11, NIV)

As God begins pouring out the first round of judgments on the earth, the fifth seal chronicles the martyrdom of believers that is occurring and will occur. The martyrs’ cry for vengeance is going to be answered with the vengeance God takes on earth’s inhabitants in that last three and a half years. There is a “full number” of “fellow servants” who are going to be killed for their faith.

If our identification of the 144,000 Jews in Revelation 7 is correct, that they are saved to be evangelists and sealed, they are sealed (protected) because there will be attempts made to kill them for their preaching.

³ Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. ⁴ The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. (Revelation 8:3-5, NIV)

God keeps a golden censer near his throne with the prayers of “all God’s people” that motivates Him to continue hurling fire upon the earth, judgment. This is because their prayers are prayers for revenge against their persecutors.

The two witnesses in Revelation 11 are severely persecuted, though God has given them the ability to take direct vengeance upon their persecutors in the form of breathing fire, stopping the rain, turning water to blood, and sending plagues. But when they are “finished” giving testimony, that is, have completed God’s job assignment for them, God allows the beast, the Antichrist, to kill them, for which he is greatly celebrated. Their resurrection is anticipatory of the resurrection of chapter 20, where all who are killed during the Tribulation are raised. The lesson here is that God is in sovereign control of the persecution of believers.

Chapter 12 makes clear that our persecution is Jesus’ persecution:

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. (Revelation 12:4-6, NIV)

Satan’s enmity with the woman and her seed (Genesis 3:15) is longstanding. He has been seeking to destroy the seed of the woman from the beginning (Abel, children of Israel in Egypt, etc.). It’s all about killing the Messiah, and failing that, “her offspring” or those who follow Jesus (12:17). Christians triumph over persecution by “the blood of the Lamb” (his salvation guarantees our eternal life), “the word of their testimony” (by getting the message out no matter what), and by not loving our lives “so much as to shrink from death” (12:11). Interestingly, God again protects some from persecution and not others:

¹³ When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. ¹⁵ Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. (Revelation 12:13-17, NIV)

The passion of the Antichrist is the killing of Christians. We’re told that he “was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them” (13:7). Who gave him this power? Well certainly Satan is empowering him, but ultimately it is God who gives him this power.

The persecution of believers demands justice:

⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. ⁵ Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were; ⁶ for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” (Revelation 16:4-6, NIV)

The Antichrist is not the only one thirsty for Christian blood:

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. (Revelation 17:6, NIV)

The evil city Babylon also hates believers, and God tells her that He “has judged her with the judgment she imposed” on believers (18:20).

When Jesus comes and establishes his kingdom by defeating the Antichrist, he resurrects those believers who died during the Tribulation:

⁴ I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6, NIV)

Believers are commended for not worshiping the deceptive Antichrist nor taking his mark upon them, even though it caused many to be beheaded. This is the first time we are specifically told how many believers are killed. For them there is the honor of the first resurrection, the resurrection of believers to imperishable life and reward, rather than the second resurrection of unbelievers to judgment. The victorious persecuted will inherit the millennial kingdom and the eternal kingdom, heaven come to earth.