Daily Archives: June 8, 2015

Jewish Persecution of the Church Part 2

Witness of The Books Of I Peter and II Peter

Peter addresses these Jewish Christians in the Dispersion as those who are living among Gentiles. The reproach they bore was “for the name of Christ,” 4:14. At this time it was only the Jews who distinguished between Jews who bore the Name of Christ and those who did not; to the Romans this was an internal Jewish argument. These people were suffering “as a Christian,” therefore, from the hands of the Jews. Indeed, the Jews had enjoyed a certain degree of immunity for the practice of their religion.* Claudius granted freedom of worship to the Jews. This applied to Christians who were born in the Jewish faith. It was only when they denied the Jewish faith and took the Name of Christ that they lost that immunity to Roman prosecution, (ibid., 357).[iii]Indeed, the Romans did not distinguish between Jews and Christians until the time of Nero. It is clear that they who bore reproach for the name of Christ were those redeemed from the Jewish traditions, the doctrine of the Pharisees:

 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, I Peter 1:18.

They need no longer glory in their natural birth as Jews, for they had been “born again,” (1:23). Since Jesus, that Living Stone, had been rejected by men, namely Jews, the Christians were now Living Stones making up the Spiritual House and the Holy Priesthood, the Chosen People, (2:4-10). As alien residents in the Dispersion, they were therefore to walk blameless before the Gentiles also, I Peter 2:11-12.

The New Testament as the Primary Historical Source

Indeed, if we take the New Testament as the primary historical document, we must all agree that the source of persecution of Christianity was “the Jews.” In the Book of Revelation, we see that there were “synagogue(s) of satan” in Smyrna. These so-called Jews blasphemed when they called themselves by that name, “Jew.” Since satan = “the devil,” we know that these so-called “Jews” were the ones who would cast Christians into prison, where they would have tribulation, 2:10. This “synagogue of satan” was also in Philadelphia, 3:9. And it seems that in Pergamos also satan had a “seat” and dwelt there, 2:13.

The word thronos, translated “seat” in KJV, and “throne” in RSV means “the place of the residence of power.” In these three cities, we see that the synagogue was a place from which satan ruled. In chapter 12 we see the great red dragon, who is definitely identified as the devil and satan, 12:9. Then we see that this dragon gave power and a “seat,” (thronos), and great authority to the beast out of the sea, 13:2. This seems clearly to indicate that this sea-beast was driven by the satan of the synagogue. Then there was a beast out of the earth, 13:11, which caused people to worship the first beast. This close alliance of purpose between the earth-beast and the dragon indicate that he, too, was driven by the satan who was enthroned in the synagogue, that is, the religion of Judaism.

If the sea-beast can be identified with Rome, then it should be clear that the Roman persecution of Christians is motivated, instigated and driven by the wrath of satan as revealed in the Jewish religion. The earth-beast is out of the land, (equally translatable as “earth” or “land”), representing the Roman appointed Jewish rulers of Judea whose military power resided in Rome and whose religious power resided in the synagogues of Judaism. They were beasts, Gentiles not Jews, but they appeared to be lambs, i.e., Jews.

Thus the source of the tribulation that Christians of the first century endured was ultimately satan himself, but he worked through his henchmen, the Roman Empire and its stooges, the appointed kings and priests of Judea, operating in the power of the doctrine of the Pharisees, Judaism.

*This was a limited immunity as Claudius, in 41 AD, denied the Jews in Rome the right to hold meetings and ordered them to stop proselytizing.  In 49 he expelled some of the Jews from Rome for creating a disturbance, possibly a conflict with Christianity.  There was a real, hot war between Christians and Jews.

**For more thorough examination of Jewish persecution see pages 154-160 of my book Revelation In Context.

Revelation in Context is available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, or www.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.