Yeshua promised us persecution. It is the mark of a true follower of Messiah and He taught us that we are blessed when we experience it. He also taught us that we should be very happy to find ourselves in the same lot as YHWH’s servants who have preceded us:

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12 KJV)

Note the keywords “for righteousness sake” and “falsely.” We are blessed when people revile, persecute and “say all manner of evil against” us falsely. The reason they make up all manner of stories is because they hate our desire to live a righteous life under the New Covenant. And the stories are not true. If we are accused of wrongdoing for wrong we have actually done, that is not persecution.

If we strive to live by the Spirit we can expect (as in “count on it”) those who live by the flesh to become very nasty at times. I feel safe in assuming we all have personal experience to back up the experience of YHWH’s followers in scripture: few can be more vicious to His servants than the religious status quo.

But that is good. It separates the real from the fake. Persecution for our faith is a mark of authenticity. It is a mark that has been shared by Messiah Yeshua and all His servants throughout all the ages.

And we need not be overly concerned about those who undertake to work against YHWH by oppressing His servants. In fact, we need not be concerned about them at all. The matter already concerns YHWH and He is taking note. In fact, He is taking their actions very personally.

How do I know this? Just look between the lines of the parable told by Yeshua as recorded in Matthew 25:32-46.

You’ll recall that in “the end of days” the righteous and the cursed are separated into two groups like goats and sheep. Our Messiah commends the righteous for ministering to Him in the hours of His greatest needs. Astonished, they respond:

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:37-40 KJV)

Obviously Messiah has taken very personally the mercies and ministering extended to the very least among us. Doing good to them was counted as doing good directly to Messiah.

As for the cursed, Messiah orders condemnation to Hell. The goats, like the sheep, are astonished:

Then shall they [the cursed of 25:41] also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. (Matthew 25:44-45 KJV)

Every time the needs of even the least among us are ignored Messiah is personally offended. Presumably these cursed “goats” had the ability to do something for the needs they saw but chose not to do so. Ignoring those needs was counted directly as ignoring the needs of Messiah!

So we have those who served Messiah by serving the needy. And we also have those who ignored the Messiah by ignoring the needy. But missing from the parable is another group that is appears in Scripture and in life: those who outright oppress the needy.

There are some who would be doing a great service to the needy just by ignoring them. Instead, they seek to cause harm out of fear, envy, greed, pride, selfishness and a host of other flesh-inspired motivations. What might Messiah say to them in that day of judgement?

We don’t know but, following the parable’s formula, it might go something like this:

“I was hungry, and you stole my bread by making it impossible for me to find work or to be even mildly profitable in business. I was thirsty and you poisoned my well and then encouraged my neighbor to withhold water from me. I was a stranger, and not only did you leave me out in the cold, you made sure I was shunned by any who might be inclined to take me in by telling all manner of lies to destroy my reputation and to cause people to fear me without cause. I was naked, and you sought to keep me uncovered and vulnerable. I was sick, and you made sure to try to weaken me unto death. I was imprisoned and you sought to add false accusations against me in order to further lock me away out of spite, fear, envy and jealousy.”

There are some who that fall in this unspoken category. Ironically, coming under the oppression of this group is a great opportunity and is therefore, a blessing.

To take advantage of the opportunity, we must not get suckered into joining their wickedness. Yeshua commanded that we repay evil with good. Their evil is our opportunity to be salt and light for Messiah.

And we must also focus on continuing in YHWH’s service without becoming discouraged. We must not allow our faith to be shipwrecked by evil-doers and evil-deeds committed against us as has happened to so many others.

Finally, we need to bear the “beatings” such persecutions bring as a servant of the Lord. We must rejoice because we find ourselves in the way of our Messiah, His apostles, and all His prophets and servants throughout history. Indeed, we find ourselves walking the same path as all who will live godly in Messiah:

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12 KJV)

You may not bear marks upon your body in your own situation, but the marks you bear upon your soul in service to YHWH are not in vain. Our Messiah is taking such actions very personally.

Father, we thank you for your Word that teaches us how to pursue paths of righteousness in a wicked and sin-twisted world. Grant us the grace and mercy to respond to evil with good and to bear up under testing with patience and faith in your protection and deliverance from our oppressors. Have mercy on our oppressors and grant to them the eyes to see their sin and the grace to repent and seek first your Kingdom and righteousness, as you have done for us. We thank you for the promises and hope we have in your Kingdom. We trust you will bring to pass all you have said and wait patiently for your vindication. We ask these things in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen.

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Copyright 2010 Jim Zboran. All rights reserved.
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