Bible Gem 2325 – The Connection Between Martyrdom, The Place and Revelation

This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!”

Revelation 14:12-13

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to care for her for 1,260 days.

Revelation 12:6

But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness. There she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, times, and half a time.

Revelation 12:14

And he came on a place and stayed the night there, for the sun had gone. And he took stones of the place and placed them at his head; and he lay down in that place. [LITV]

Genesis 28:11

I have received two interesting questions after the previous Gem:

• What is the connection between the experience of these two women, martyrdom and the Book of Revelation? I don’t get it. Anonymous

Actually, I know the name of the person who asked this question but I am deliberately not using his name to avoid embarrassing him. I think this one question represents the question many of you want to ask since I have been on this martyrdom track, spread across a number of Gems. I also addressed the same issue in the Gems related to “the Others” found in Hebrews 11:35 ff. (Gem 2156 and Gem 2157)

The second question comes from John:

• Ian, I want to take you back to the earlier martyr stories you told us. Why did some die while others were protected? If God can raise the dead, why wouldn’t he do it for all?

See Gem 2298 and the martyrs’ God Stories. What intrigues me the most about this dilemma is the fact that so often those who are martyred or about to die have a premonition or an inkling in some way before they face that final moment. Betsie, Dominggus, Perpetua and so many others demonstrate this principle. Let me take you back to a quote from Corrie Ten Boom which I shared in Gem 2323. Only this time I will share the wider view of the quote in order to answer John’s question.

I stepped close to the stretcher to form a shield for Betsie. We walked past the waiting line of sick people, through the door, and into a large ward. They placed the stretcher on the floor and I leaned down to make out Betsie’s words, “We must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here.” I stared at her wasted form. “But when will all this happen, Betsie!” “Now. Right away. Oh, very soon! By the first of the year, Corrie, we will be out of prison!”

Corrie Ten Boom The Hiding Place p. 227

Betsie made this comment in Ravensbruck when she had contracted a disease that was spreading rapidly through the barracks. She was on a stretcher to be taken to hospital. Hospital in German terms for these prisoners was either a bullet, the gas chamber or left without help of any sort to die. Betsie’s statement: “By the first of the year, we will be out of prison.” Oh how true that was! The reality of that statement was poignant to say the least.

Within the hour, Corrie saw Betsie again through a window after she was taken away, where two nurses were picking up a body in a sheet. As Corrie looked she realised it was her sister Betsie. Her eyes were closed as if in sleep and her face was full and young. The care lines, the grief lines, the deep hollows of hunger and disease were simply gone. In front of her was the Betsie of Haarlem, happy and at peace. Stronger! Freer! This was the Betsie of heaven, bursting with joy and health. Even her hair was in place as if an angel had ministered to her. Corrie stooped to pick up her sister Nollie’s blue sweater that Betsie had been wearing and she was told, “Don’t touch those things! Black lice! They’ll all be burned.”

Two mornings after Betsie’s death, Corrie was called over the loudspeaker, “Ten Boom, Cornelia!” Strange! All the time she had been a prisoner of the Reich she had been referred to as Prisoner 66730. It had been so long since her actual name had been used that she kept walking forward, not realising her name had been called. A guard told her to, “Stand aside!” What had happened? Why was she being called out? Had someone found or reported her hidden Bible portion? Corrie hobbled after the guard to the Administration building at the opposite end to the hospital. There were several prisoners standing in a line. Those before her were given papers and told “Entlassen”, which is German for “Released”. Finally the administrator called “Ten Boom, Cornelia” while signing her paperwork and handing it to her. Across the top in large black letters: Certificate of Discharge.

What is remarkable is the depth behind Betsie’s comment to Corrie’s question, “But when will this all happen, Betsie?” “Right away. Very soon! By the first of the year, Corrie, we will be out of prison!”

As Corrie stood holding her release papers she realised it was New Year’s Day, 1945. Corrie was released to go home to Haarlem; and so too was Betsie, into the arms of her Saviour.

Correi Ten Boom The Hiding Place p. 227-232

What astounds me in all of this is that somehow and in some way, God makes it clear to both the martyrs and those who will survive what is in store for them. Whether the release is to life in this world, the place of the living or whether the release is through death into the Life of the Age to Come, the result is the same for those who are Children of God. As a result of Christ’s resurrection the destination is ultimately the same.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do YOU believe this?”

John 11:25-26

If you do then you have absolutely nothing to fear.

Now let’s return to the “anonymous question” that perhaps many of you are asking and why I have titled this Gem – The Connection Between Martyrdom, The Place and Revelation.

It is scary isn’t it? We live, in a fallen world, ripe for the harvest, filled with countless false ideologies and fake truth which has the potential to turn ordinary people into crazed killers. On the flip side, there are those willing to stand for the Truth of Christ, in the midst of those diametrically opposed to them. I remember when David Wilkerson shared a vision he was given in 1973, a prophecy that there was a time coming when people would rip Bibles from the hands of believers and persecute them. I thought, as a new Christian, hearing that prophetic word, “that surely couldn’t happen”. I no longer think that. I can see the way society is going, even here in New Zealand, that it is perfectly possible.

Do you see now the connection between Martyrdom and Revelation? You ought to! John was writing at a time in history when Christians were living under the persecution of the Roman Empire. Freedom of Religion for almost any religion able to worship their God as long as they also could proclaim the Roman Emperor a god as well. The exclusiveness of Christ’s claim to be the Way, the Truth and the Life pitted the Christians against the Empire. Corrie Ten Boom and Immaculee Ilibagiza are two women who exemplify people who will stand for what they believe in despite the threats of the world system. John was warning God’s people of the day that they were on a collision course with the World System.

In God’s wisdom, John was also writing for all God’s people across the ages. If you take the name of Christ as I do proudly, Christian = Ian, a Christ follower, then I need to be prepared to follow Him unreservedly, whole-heartedly; no turning back whatever the cost. That is why I felt at God’s prompting to re-read The Hiding Place and Left to Tell.

That’s why John wrote the words he did in my oft repeated quote from Revelation 14:

This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!”

Revelation 14:12-13

In order to endure persecution patiently we need to find The {Hiding} Place. That is why Corrie and Immaculee were ‘Left to Tell‘ us the ‘How To‘. Don’t just search the Scriptures daily, on-goingly, thinking that they testify about Jesus Christ. They do indeed as John wrote in his Gospel. But don’t forget the Scriptures show you how to practise the Presence of Christ to the point where you come to KNOW Him.

Paul echoed the same challenge as John with the words of his prayer for the Ephesians:

. . . that you – having been rooted and grounded in love, may be given the ability to grasp, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and depth and height (of that love) , and to (come to) know the surpassing knowledge and love of Christ, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19

You dear reader are rooted and grounded in the love of God, because He loved you first when you were still sinning. The purpose of following Christ is so that you may come to understand the dimensions of His love for you to the point where you KNOW the love of God deep within you.

At that point you will follow Him even through the fire of persecution and martyrdom like many of those I have told you about in this series in Revelation. To do that you will need to find the Ha Makom. I would also suggest you take a look at the Nugget I wrote on The Marks of Jesus – Love. You can test the level of your ability to love on this continuum. God leaves some to tell their testimony of being saved by the power of God. God allows others to experience martyrdom, another powerful way to testify. It is the combination of the two which makes for telling testimony.

Now I believe I can move on to deal with the next segment of Revelation 14 – verses 14 to 20. To handle that you need to know the depth of God’s secret name – Ha Makom.

Jesus isn’t a past memory but a permanent personal presence.

Ian

You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.

Dr. Seuss

The human race crave the experience of awe & wonder. And there is no reality more breathtaking than Jesus Christ.

John Piper

“Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it! . . . What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”

Jacob (Genesis 28:16-17)