Matthew 5:11 reads “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”
We are approaching a time of persecution against the church and the reason we are going to be reviled [ criticize in an abusive or angrily insulting manner.] is because of our association with Jesus Christ. We need to be ready as we are in the 11TH hour and overcome the persecution like Jesus did when He walked on earth.
When you read the story of Naboth in 1 King 21. The Bible says: Ahab wanted the vineyard of Naboth and Naboth refused to give it to him because it was the inheritance of his fathers so Ahab told his wife about it and this is the strategy the wife gave to her husband.
1 Kings 21:7-10 7 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. 9 She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth [a]with high honour among the people; 10 and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.
This strategy of Jezebel was carried out successfully and Naboth was killed in the end. Naboth had no clue about the persecution that was going to befall Him so when the enemy invited him, he quickly accepted the invitation.
In this 11TH Hour, we all have to be discerning about opportunities that come our way because the world is out to get the church and especially the front liners. We should not run to grab honour unless God has permitted it to be so. Let us be led.
The enemy is still employing the same strategy against the saints. They put our religious leaders and elders on high tables whilst they orchestrate their evil agenda on the blind side of them. Let us pray for God to give us light so we do not fall into the trap of the devil.
Jezebel’s letter was sent to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. Let us pray for the church leadership in times like this. The elders in Naboth’s city betrayed him and the bible did not record any of them intervening for Naboth. Let us pray for our church leadership and the very elect in times like this.
Anytime there is major persecution there are always going to be false witnesses. May we be found blameless when false accusations begin against the church.
I found a lot of similarities between the story of Jesus and Naboth. Jesus just like Naboth went through the same ordeal and there is so much the church can learn from Jesus in turbulent times like this. Both Naboth’s and Jesus’ persecution were allowed by the elders and in Naboth’s case the elders of the city and in Jesus’s case the Jewish elders. They both were accused of blaspheming. And finally, they found false witnesses against both of them.
What I realized was that Jesus was never blind to what was coming. He prophesied in Matthew 20:17 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And on the third day, He will rise again.”
He knew the details of the persecution so we need to ask God for details. In John 8: 12 The bible says, then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Let us ask Jesus for details about the persecution.
He knew their devices as well that is why the bible told us not to be ignorant of the devices of the devil. Let us ask God to reveal the devices and strategies of the dark domain against us in these times.
I believe one more thing that made Jesus an overcomer of the persecution and false accusation was the truth. When He was put before the Sanhedrin He spoke the truth and endured till the end. May He give us the grace to stand for the truth till the end so we can become overcomers? When you read the letters Jesus sent to the churches in Revelations 2 and 3 you will notice that there were special rewards given to overcomers of the persecution that was prophesied to each church.
