Signs of the Times: The Great Persecution

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Signs of THE Times:

The Great Persecution

Joe IrizaRry

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Signs of the Times: The Great Persecution

Copyright © 2022 by Joe Irizarry

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher or author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

eBook: 978-1-63945-534-8

The views expressed in this book are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the countless Christians who have given their lives for Jesus and those who have suffered because of their faith in Him.

- J.I.

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PREFACE

Then you will be delivered to persecution and death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. Matthew 24:9

What is the definition of persecution? Persecutory behavior is defined as the act of harassing or oppressing a person or a group of people because of their race, ethnicity, political or religious convictions. In addition, persecution includes animosity, mistreatment, and may even include murder, of those who are targeted.

Open Doors, an international organization that campaigns on behalf of oppressed or persecuted Christians, published its annual World Watch List in January 2022. The World Alliance List assesses the fifty nations in which Christians are subject to the most serious types of persecution.

Several factors can contribute to the persecution of Christians, including: the connection between religion and ethnic or cultural identity at times. For example, in power-hungry countries that consider Christianity a threat, of which their governments regard Jesus as a competitor, and the people who follow him as a danger to their ability to maintain control over their citizens. Some countries attach great importance to their majority religion and any other faith is seen as something that must be uprooted and forcibly restricted by the majority religion.

Christianity is persecuted in several nations, especially those ruled by authoritarian governments. Authoritarian regimes, such as North Korea and China, attempt to maintain strict control over all religious beliefs and expressions as part of a global plan to strictly regulate all elements of politics and daily life in their respective countries. These governments regard some religious organizations as enemies of the state because they adhere to religious ideas, which are incompatible with the authorities’ desire for total loyalty.

In some places, there is considerable hatred towards non-Orthodox and minority religious organizations, which are perceived as alien or non-native to the local culture. For example; in Niger, where more than 98% of the population is Muslim, animosity comes mainly from the general public and not from the authorities. Hindu nationalists in India often claim that to be Indian is to be Hindu. Therefore, non-Hindus (religious minorities such as Christians and Muslims) are subject to persecution. In these areas, to be a Christian is to affirm an identity different from that affirmed by the prevailing culture, and that identity is often fiercely rejected.

In various parts of the world there are radicalized extremist groups that wage war on all those who do not adhere to their particular interpretation of religious teachings. Islamic extremist organizations such as Boko Haram, the Taliban or ISIS, for example, harass villages and churches in places in the Middle East and Nigeria and regularly murder people they consider infidels (often in coordinated attacks). They have been known to rape and kidnap women and destroy homes and churches. Their main target is Christians, because of their hostility towards people of other religions. In some cases, its victims are co-religionists of the Muslim religion (for example, Boko Haram is known to attack other Muslims in Nigeria).

Religious freedom, like all other freedoms of thought and expression, is inherent in America. American values have helped define who we are as individuals and have served as the basis for our contributions to the societies we have influenced. Although the United States is a free society, many people around the world currently live under regimes that impede or restrict their right to practice religion freely. Christians in these areas are subjected to severe suffering and are denied the fundamental freedoms to which all human beings should be entitled.

There are many areas in the world where official laws have been enacted that strictly limit or even prevent Christians from freely expressing their faith or proselytizing, all under the pretext of serving the interests of a dominant religion.

Suppose you live in a Muslim-majority country, such as the Maldives or Saudi Arabia. In that case, it is almost unheard of to attempt to worship Jesus, especially outside of openly approved (and limited) scenarios. Laws in areas like Pakistan are dictated by Islamic law, implying that a Christian accused of blasphemy could be sentenced to death. Christians in Iran are only allowed to attend services in churches that do not speak Persian, the language of the Iranian people at large. In addition, there are strict rules on conversion from Islam for certain ethnic groups, in places like Malaysia.

In the first book in this series, Signs of the Times in 2020; the persecution was dealt with in one chapter, but requires further examination because of the current state of the world.

Although Christian persecution takes various forms, it is characterized as any hostility encountered due to affiliation with Jesus Christ. Followers of Christianity are targeted for persecution for their religion in all parts of the world: they are attacked at work and school, discriminated against, at risk of being sexually assaulted, tortured, detained and much more.

The prophets of the Bible predicted the end-time persecution, and this is what we will focus on. We will focus on the current oppression that Christians face, so that prophecy becomes a reality before our eyes. Much of the media around the world has turned a blind eye to these current developments. It is claimed that many will be amazed at the news of the current persecution facing the church around the world. In fact, we are in the biblical end time that the prophets wrote about.

This book will expose fourteen countries where Christians are persecuted for their faith. Countries are classified according to the severity of Christian persecution and are calculated by analyzing the level of violent persecution in five spheres of life (private, family, community, national and ecclesiastical) plus the pressure experienced.

Hebreos 11:35-40 (NVI)

The women received their dead, resurrected. Others were tortured, refusing to be released to obtain an even better resurrection. Some faced ridicule and whipping, and even chains and imprisonment. They died stoned, cut in two, killed by the sword. They went back and forth in sheep and goat skins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated: the world was not worthy of them. They roamed deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the earth. All of them were praised for their faith, but none of them received what was promised, since God had planned something better for us, so that only together with us would they be perfected.

We see many examples of persecution throughout the Bible, showing that hardship is nothing new for God’s children. There are numerous accounts of people who were tortured and executed in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, for the sake of the gospel. Some were thrown into a fiery furnace, while others were thrown into the lions. Some were killed by the sword, while others were stoned to death by a mob. They died with the peace of knowing that they had resisted because of their faith.

And the clock keeps ticking, ticking, ticking...

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CHAPTER 1

China

Do not be afraid of what you are going to suffer. I tell you that the devil will put some of you in jail to prove you, and that you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you life as a crown of overcomers. Revelation 2:10

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In today’s world, we hear almost daily reports through Chinese Communist Party watchdog groups threatening churches, pastors, or groups of believers. Unfortunately, the world’s mainstream media has been silent about the religious persecutions and crimes against humanity perpetrated in China, including internment camps for people of faith.

On December 10, 2018, the U.S. State Department listed China among the "Countries of Special Concern for serious violations of religious rights. Flagrant violations include torture, degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charge, kidnapping or clandestine detention, as well as other flagrant violations of the right to life, liberty, or security of persons," according to the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. China ranked 27th in 2019, 23rd in 2020 and 17th in 2021 on the Open Door World Watch List of the fifty countries where being a Christian is most difficult. According to data compiled by Open Doors USA, the persecution of Christians has increased considerablyin the previous three years and the growing trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Digital surveillance in churches.

China’s churches are being monitored more closely than at any time since Mao’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). In 1976, when Chairman Mao Zedong passed away, he left a legacy of millions of corpses sacrificed on the altar