Recently I've been reading alot about the *rapture*. I don't particularily like that word, the Bible calls it resurrection, nowhere in the Bible is the word rapture found, so aside from mentioning it here I will refer to that coming time in it's proper wording of resurrection. What does martyrdom have to do with the resurrection? PLENTY, read on. First, let's get some good dictionary definitions of the word martyr, then we will find some martyrs in the Bible, then we will tie the whole thing together with the resurrection to come.
| Miriam-Webster Online defines martyr as: martys witness 1 : a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion 2 : a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle Dictionary.com defines martyr as: mar·tyr –noun 1. a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion. 2. a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause: a martyr to the cause of social justice. –verb (used with object) 5. to make a martyr of, esp. by putting to death. 6. to torment or torture. I only quoted a few things that apply to this article, there is much more, click their links to read it all. |
| Thesaurus.com
has the following synonyms (similar words): Main Entry: afflict Part of Speech: verb Definition: hurt Synonyms: agonize, annoy, beset, bother, burden, crucify, distress, grieve, harass, harrow, harry, irk, lacerate, martyr, oppress, pain, pester, plague, press, rack, smite, strike, torment, torture, trouble, try, vex, worry, wound Notes: 1. afflict is generally used with living beings; inflict is generally used with inanimate objects 2. inflict takes 'on,' afflict takes 'with' And that is just the first one of 13 other listings, click their link to read them all. |
I'm sure by now you get the idea. Let's move on to some documented martyrs in the Holy Word of God, the Bible. As we see from the Easton Bible Dictionary below, professing one's faith ... including the fact that Jesus IS the living Son of God; born of a virgin who conceived Him by the Holy Spirit and not a man; He lived His life holy and pure, there was NO SIN found in Him; He willingly died in the flesh to pay the price of death (eternal) once and for all, for all of us that choose to believe on His sacrifice ... often gets you killed. From Dictionary.com we get the full Easton Bible Dictionary definition, with supporting biblical verses, on the subject of who was martyr'd and why.
| Easton Bible Dictionary (quoted from Dictionary.com),
which says: Martyr one who bears witness of the truth, and suffers death in the cause of Christ (Acts 22:20; Rev. 2:13; 17:6). In this sense Stephen was the first martyr. The Greek word so rendered in all other cases is translated "witness." (1.) In a court of justice (Matt. 18:16; 26:65; Acts 6:13; 7:58; Heb. 10:28; 1 Tim. 5:19). (2.) As of one bearing testimony to the truth of what he has seen or known (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8, 22; Rom. 1:9; 1 Thess. 2:5, 10; 1 John 1:2). |
It may surprise you to know that Jesus was not the first martyr. Neither was Stephen in the historical sense, he was in the New Testament, but there were others before him in the Old Testament! Many of the prophets were martyred also.In the Old Testament you may also recall Daniel and the lion's den, yes Daniel survived that but many other believers did not. The Bible is full of martyrs, beginning with Abel (Adam & Eve's second son) way back in Genesis! I'll leave it to you to research this fact on your own, as space is somewhat limited here. A verse supporting that the New Testament saints were not the first martyrs is here: Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not!", this is also seen in Luke 13:34.
Now, don't get your feathers ruffled and go anti-semitic on me. Jerusalem, and indeed God's chosen people Israel, did exactly as the Lord knew they would and there is plenty of scripture to back this statement up! One such scripture is here in Hosea 3:5 "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days." Their time of redemption is coming so let's not make a case for hatred against them ... after all, had they of flocked to their Lord back then, what chance would we Gentiles have had? All things are going along the path as they should my friends, fear not! God IS in control, as He always has been! Events are unfolding right on schedule! God will see His plan through ... remember, He is GOD, He can do ALL THINGS. Jesus could have called legions of angels to Himself, He didn't, all went according to God's divine plan, remember that! The Lamb submitted Himself, of His own free will, to the sacrifice!
Back to the topic. Sadly, many have died throughout the ages for the sake of the good news of the kingdom of God. Our Lord's martyrdom is probably the greatest and is recorded to be the most severe of all in the tortures He suffered for you and I. He took on what is rightfully our punishment, due to our sinful nature, we're constantly of a mind to sin in word, thought or deed. Jesus paid the ultimate fine so that we could go free ... hidden as it were under His shed blood for us ... the Father will not see our sin because we are under the bloody cloak or our magnificent Savior! This truly brings tears to my eyes, to think of what He suffered so that I could live ... thank you Lord Jesus!
Ok so what does all of this have to do with the coming resurrection? Well if you believe you will be *raptured* (ok I said I wouldn't use it again but I'm making a point LOL) before the Lord's return, as pre- and mid- tribulation theory has most of the populous believing, then it has nothing at all to do with it ... or does it? I am a post-tribulation believer. I have documented in other articles why I believe that the resurrection will not occur until the Day of the Lord's return, which is at the END of the Great Tribulation. If I'm right, and I am, then we have time to prepare our hearts and minds for the great tribulation barreling down on us as we speak! That is the point of this article, many say we post-trib folks have some sort of *martyrdom death wish*. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter of a fact, I was of the pre-trib *hope* until I finally got the smarts to investigate for myself. Then I realized the great deception! I am trying to warn you to do your homework as I did. Don't just believe what you are told but pray, and study the Bible for yourself, it's all in there in black and white. Not doing so will lead to your being unprepared for the times at hand. Why else would Jesus have said in Luke 18:8 "I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Ya, why is that? I've already written an article to that fact, read it.
Your life, at some point future, may depend on you doing some serious homework in this regard ... do it NOW. I know it's not pretty to think you may be a martyr someday. But the question must be asked, are you prepared to do whatever it takes to serve your Lord? Or are you weak and think for some reason you are better than all those before you, even better than your Lord & Savior? All of the apostles, and Jesus Himself, were martyred (except John who apparently died of old age). Many, many other people throughout the ages have been martyred. Even today, YES, even today! There are martyrs in communist and other countries being wrongfully imprisoned, tortured and killed for their faithfulness to God and our Lord Jesus. Look here at Revelation 17:6 "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration." (admiration meaning awe or wonderment) and here Revelation 20:4 "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."
These witnesses of Jesus are the end time saints, those that will be in and die during the great tribulation! As you can see my friends, perilous times are coming, some people ... possibly you and I ... will be here to witness this great and terrible time. All I'm asking of you is to study the word, our Holy Bible, with all honesty seeking the face of the Lord in prayer ... if you do this He will reveal the truth to you ... "seek and ye shall find". Put aside what you *think you know* by hearsay, find out for yourselves of your own efforts. Otherwise you can be blindly led by what will become popular man-made tradition, to your sorry unprepared fate. I pray the Lord reaches you with the truth so that you have time to make yourselves ready! We may have some serious tribulation ahead but we are told that our reward will be to live and reign with our Lord Jesus Christ for a thousand years! What a glorious thing to look forward to ... if you do end up being imprisoned, tortured, and perhaps even killed, keep this most sacred truth close to your heart: Nothing in all the world is worth anything more than serving our Lord to the end, whatever that end may be for each of us! Remember the words of our Lord Jesus ...
| Matthew 10:22 "And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved." |
Above all brethren, remember that we are people of LOVE & PEACE, as is our Lord. The Bible records many martyrs that were wrongfully imprisoned, tortured and even killed because they would NOT renounce their faith. All the torturers want from you is that you renounce your faith, do this and you may live, albeit restricted, and then only in the flesh, you will have forfeited your eternity. If it be deemed that we go to the slaughter as lambs then we are to hold our heads up high, looking to heaven, giving God all the praise and glory, and go forth into eternity in love & peace, just as our Lord did before us.
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© Deb (Sandberg) Murtagh 2006
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