In the same way, Stephen’s death might seem sort of meaningless at first glance. But God did an amazing work through those five men, even in their deaths, and the blessing still reverberates through people like Elisabeth Elliot – one of the five women whose husband was murdered. Many could only see five young missionaries who had their careers cut short or the five widows and fatherless children. To many, this death seemed like a senseless tragedy. On Sunday, January 8, 1956, on the shores of a lonely river deep in the jungles of Ecuador, natives murdered five missionaries who came to tell about Jesus. Before, the apostles had been arrested and beaten and persecuted here, every believer was threatened with violence and perhaps death. This was the first persecution of the Christians as a whole. Saul was only one of many persecutors of Christians. The floodgates of persecution were now open against the Christians. A great persecution arose against the church: Stephen’s death was only the beginning. Paul may have suffered many sleepless nights thinking about those whom he compelled…to blaspheme.ī. Acts 26:11 described what perhaps Paul regretted most: And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. He later wrote, For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God (1 Corinthians 15:9). Saul of Tarsus – whom most of us know by his Roman name, Paul – later came to deeply regret this persecution of the church. The idea behind the ancient Greek word suneudokeo is “to approve, to be pleased with.” Some people are reluctant persecutors, but Saul wasn’t one of these he took pleasure in attacking Christians. Consenting describes Saul’s attitude, but the English translation probably isn’t strong enough. Saul’s supervision of the execution of Stephen was just one example of this persecution. Now Saul was consenting to his death: In Philippians 3:6, Paul said of his life before Jesus that he was so zealous in his religious faith that he persecuted the church. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.Ī. (1) The church is persecuted and scatters.
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