Persecuted the Prophets

The Prophets’ Persecution and Their Blessed Reward

Christ declared, “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 5:11–12). The prophets were persecuted, yet were called blessed. Such temporal suffering cannot naturally cause one to “rejoice, and be exceeding glad” apart from the hope of a future reward in heaven. The pseudepigraphal 2 Baruch 52:6 contains a similar exhortation to joy in suffering: “Enjoy yourselves in the suffering which you suffer now.”¹⁾The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth, Doubleday (New York, NY: 1983), Vol. 1, p. 639.

Scripture records numerous examples of prophets who endured persecution. “Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD” (1 Kings 18:4), sparing only a hundred who were hidden (1 Kings 18:13). Elijah, aware of the slaughter, lamented, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men” (1 Kings 18:22). The pseudepigraphal Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah notes that about this same period Micaiah was killed (Ascension of Isaiah 2:16).²⁾The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 2, p. 159. Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, was likewise stoned to death at the king’s command (2 Chronicles 24:20–21). Despite these repeated acts of violence, God’s mercy continued: “The LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets” (2 Chronicles 36:15–16). Nehemiah likewise reminded the people of their fathers who “slew thy prophets which testified against them” (Nehemiah 9:26).

The Book of Jubilees echoes this tragic pattern: “And I shall send to them witnesses so that I might witness to them, but they will not hear. And they will even kill the witnesses. And they will persecute those who search out the Law…” (Jubilees 1:12).³⁾The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (Ed. James H. Charlesworth) Doubleday (New York, NY: 1985), Vol. 2, p. 53 Jeremiah lamented, “Your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion” (Jeremiah 2:30). He personally experienced persecution for proclaiming God’s word (Jeremiah 20:2). Tradition holds that he was ultimately stoned to death, for they stoned him “with many stones, and his stewardship was fulfilled.”⁴⁾4 Baruch 9.29-32; in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (Ed. James H. Charlesworth) Doubleday (New York, NY: 1985), Vol. 2, pp. 424-425 A rabbinic text preserves Jeremiah’s supposed protest: “I cannot prophesy to them. What prophet ever came forth to them whom they did not wish to slay?”⁵⁾Piska 26.1/2; Pesikta Rabbati (trans. William G. Braude), Yale University Press (Dallas TX: 1968), Vol. 2, p. 526

Urijah, a prophet contemporary with Jeremiah, fled to Egypt when threatened, but was pursued, captured, and slain (Jeremiah 26:20–24). Josephus similarly recounts that King Manasseh “barbarously slew all the righteous men that were among the Hebrews; nor would he spare the prophets, for he every day slew some of them, till Jerusalem was overflown with blood.”⁶⁾Josephus, Antiquity of the Jews, Book 10, chapter 3, paragraph 1; he Complete Works of Flavius Josephus the Jewish Historian (trans. William Whiston), Kregel Publications (Grand Rapids, MI: 1960, 1981), p. 214

Hebrews 11:37 refers to prophets who “were sawn asunder,” a phrase which early Christian writers, including Justin Martyr, associated with Isaiah’s death by the hand of Manasseh who used a “wooden saw”⁷⁾Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, chapt. 120; in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, Hendrickson Pub. (Peabody, MA, 2012) Vol. 1, p. 259 This account likely derives from The Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah, which records:

Because of these visions, therefore, Beliar was angry with Isaiah, and he dwelt in the heart of Manasseh, and he sawed Isaiah in half with a wooden saw. And while Isaiah was being sawn in half, his accuser, Belkira, stood by, and all the false prophets stood by, laughing and (maliciously) joyful because of Isaiah. And Belkira, through Mekembekus, stood before Isaiah, laughing and deriding. And Belkira said to Isaiah, “Say, ‘I have lied in everything I have spoken; the ways of Manasseh are good and right, and also the ways also of Belkira and those who are with him are good.’” And he said this to him when he began to be sawn in half. And Isaiah was in a vision of the Lord, but his eyes were open, he saw them. And Belkira spoke thus to Isaiah, “Say what I say to you, and I will turn their hearts and make Manasseh, and the princes of Judah, and the people, and all Jerusalem worship you. And Isaiah answered and said, “If it is within my power to say, ‘Condemned and cursed be you, and all your hosts, and all thy house! For there is nothing further that you can take except the skin of my body.” And they seized Isaiah the son of Amoz and sawed in half with a wooden saw. And Manasseh, and Belkira, and the false prophets, and the princes, and the people, and all stood by looking on. And to the prophets who (were) with him he said before he had been sawn in half, “Go to the district of Tyre and Sidon; because for me alone the LORD mixed the cup.” And while Isaiah was being sawed in half, he did not cried out, or weep, but his mouth spoke with the Holy Spirit until he was sawn in two. (The Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah 5:1-14)⁸⁾The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (Ed. James H. Charlesworth) Doubleday (New York, NY: 1985), Vol. 2, p. 164

Christ later rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for perpetuating this murderous legacy: “Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:34–35). He then lamented, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee…” (Matthew 23:37). The Sibylline Oracles similarly mentions “those who the Hebrews killed” Sibylline Oracles 2.248).⁹⁾The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (Ed. James H. Charlesworth) Doubleday (New York, NY: 1983), Vol. 1, p. 351

Stephen repeated this accusation just before his martyrdom: “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers” (Acts 7:52). Paul also affirmed this pattern, writing of the Jews, “who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us” (1 Thessalonians 2:15).

Christ Himself was the ultimate example, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Yet He warned that the world would hate those who keep His word: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you… If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:18–21). James exhorted believers to consider “the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience,” adding, “Behold, we count them happy which endure” (James 5:10–11).

James himself became a model of endurance unto death. Josephus provides the earliest record of his martyrdom, stating that the high priest Ananus “delivered them [James and some others] to be stoned” (Josephus, Antiquities 20.200).¹⁰⁾The New Complete Works of Josephus (Revised and Expanded) (Trans. William Whiston, Introduction and Commentary by Paul L. Maier), Kregel Publications (Grand Rapids, MI: 1999), p. 656 Later, Eusebius—drawing from Clement of Alexandria—reported that James was “thrown down from the parapet and beaten to death with a fuller’s club” (Eusebius, Church History, bk. 2, chapt. 1).¹¹⁾Eusebius, The History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine (Trans. G. A. Williamson), Dorset Press (1965, 1983), p. 72

Christ also prophesied that His followers would suffer similar persecution in the last days: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9). He added that “many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:11–12). This indicates that true believers will face opposition not only from the world but also from within Christendom itself—particularly from those deceived by false prophets.

Such words bear relevance today as elements within the charismatic movement, influenced by Dominionism, grow increasingly hostile toward those who uphold sound doctrine. The pattern of persecution that began with the prophets continues: the faithful are maligned by those who have substituted emotionalism and false prophecy for biblical truth. Yet, as Christ affirmed, “Blessed are ye… for great is your reward in heaven.”