Persecution for Jesus' sake - not the End yet.?
Mat 24:9 then they shall deliver you up to tribulation (persecution), and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated by all the nations because of my name;
According to the prophecy of Jesus in Mat 24:9, the disciples will be hated, persecuted, killed because they align themselves to Jesus Christ.
As usual, to understand the bible, you need to look at the text, the context, and the historical writings of old.
Here, Jesus was speaking to the disciples, and not to Christians in the 21st Century. Yes, it is true that the persecution faced by many believers today, especially in those countries that are intolerant to Christians, is very great. In fact, the number of believers that have been martyred for their belief could be more than those recorded by ancient historical texts. But yet, Jesus was saying these words in their lifetime and not ours.
Q: How did the persecutions of believers begin?
A: It all started when the Jews began to persecute those who follow Jesus. Then the Romans picked up the persecution and persecuted the believers before the fall of Jerusalem in AD70, and even continued for many many years through the reigns of several Roman emperors including Emperor Nero, who was recorded as the worst Christian persecutor from Rome.
Nero, who reigned from AD37 - AD68, massacred believers in his coliseums for entertainment. Nero used Christians as scrap-goats for the burning of Rome and burnt them alive, thrown them to the beasts and crucified them. This persecution did not stopped after AD70, but continued until AD313, when Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity and the persecution stopped.
During Nero's reign, the apostle Paul was beheaded, and Peter was crucified upside down. Some of the early church leaders thought that Nero was the Antichrist.
When Jesus told the disciples about the persecution to come, He was referring to the period of time before AD70, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Jesus was NOT telling the disciples about the persecution and killings in the 21st Century or far future. The present day persecutions has nothing to do with them.
Let's look at a similar account in Mark 13:9
Mar 13:9 "You yourselves must be on your guard. They will deliver you up to Sanhedrins (Jewish councils); you will be brought into synagogues and cruelly beaten; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to be witnesses to them for me. "
Jesus told the disciples that they will be before councils and synagogues. These are the Jewish places that deal with Jewish laws and regulations. The councils comprised of high priests, scribes and elders and they pass judgement and make important decisions regarding their customs and regulations. The synagogues were the Jewish temples where religious duties of Judaism were practiced.
Note: Jesus is not telling believers today that they are going to stand before councils and synagogues. This is not possible.
Persecution is one of the signs that the disciples were asking for as to the End of the Age. This was a direct answer to their 3 questions in Mat 24:3.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, persecutions begin to take place just as Jesus said it would.
Let's look at WHEN did the persecutions start?
Persecutions began in Acts 4, where you read of the apostles being threatened, arrested and imprisoned for speaking of Jesus. This was the beginning of fulfillment of Mat 24:7.
Persecutions continued until Acts 7, and in verse 59, we read of the 1st martyr called Stephen, who was killed for his beliefs. He was stoned to death by the JEWS, who were defending their religious Judaism. Saul (later called Paul) who was a Jewish leader oversaw the killing of Stephen. Acts 8 continue on with the persecution of the believers.
Persecution continued until we read in Acts 11:19, when the persecution was so great that they had to scatter to Phoenicia, Cyprus, Antioch and other regions.
Act 11:19 Those, however, who had been driven in various directions by the persecution which broke out on account of Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, delivering the Message to none but Jews.
In Mat 24:9, the English word "persecution" comes from the Greek word "thlipsis".
In Acts 11:19, the bible uses the same word "thlipsis" to translate "persecution".
Similarly, Look at Rev 7:14:
Rev 7:14 And I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation (Greek: "thlipsis") and have washed their robes, and have whitened them in the blood of the Lamb.
This word in Revelations was the exact word used in Mat 24:9, and referred to the believers who were persecuted and escaped the great tribulation of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70.
This puts the book of Revelations as written by John BEFORE AD70. Interesting, and more to come later.
In Mark 13:9, Jesus also spoke to His disciples that they will appear before "rulers and kings" referring to the secular leaders of their time namely Pontius Pilate, King Herod, Felix, King Agrippa, Nero and others.
The scattering of the believers eventually reached Rome, the capital of the Roman empire. It was in Rome, that the believers experienced extreme cruelty and tyranny of Nero Caesar, who was the Roman emperor then.
A theologian and church historian called Philip Schaff (1819 -1893) wrote a book called "History of Christian Church" that describes the persecution of the early church under Nero before the year AD70. This book is free, and the link is below:
See the book at:
https://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/About.htm
See a write-up on Philip Schaff at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Schaff
An excerpt from the book: from pages 381 - 382
[ ..A "vast multitude" of Christians was put to death in the most shocking manner. Some were crucified, probably in mockery of the punishment of Christ, some sewed up in the skins of wild beasts and exposed to the voracity of mad dogs in the arena. The satanic tragedy reached its climax at night in the imperial gardens on the slope of the Vatican (which embraced, it is supposed, the present site of the place and church of St. Peter): Christian men and women, covered with pitch or oil or resin, and nailed to posts of pine, were lighted and burned as torches for the amusement of the mob; while Nero, in fantastical dress, figured in a horse race, and displayed his art as charioteer. Burning alive was the ordinary punishment of incendiaries; but only the cruel ingenuity of this imperial monster, under the inspiration of the devil, could invent such a horrible system of illumination...]
It was during this time, when John was in prison on the island of Patmos, that he wrote the book of Revelations, where he described the Temple of Jerusalem was still standing (before AD70). John was in persecution and tribulation, and experienced that which Jesus prophesied to them in Mat 24:9.
Side note: There was only 1 historical writing from a 2nd Century believer that wrote that the apostle John came to them in AD97, and so he put it as that Revelations must have been written in AD97, and after AD70 (destruction of Jerusalem). However, it does not mean that the apostle wrote Revelations in AD97, which was wrongly assumed.
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