QUESTION: "According to Revelation 20:4, what I don't understand is... why does God allow this to happen? Why does He let this happen? ... Christians to be tortured, head chopped off, starved, poverty, out side looking in. This is what I want to know." (Anonymous)
ANSWER: "My brother, why did Jesus get persecuted, beaten, flogged, and crucified (see John 19)? Why was each of the apostles killed for their faith in Christ, except the apostle John? Why were the early church fathers persecuted, and some killed, for their faith in Christ? Why are missionaries past and present, and believers in Christ today, tortured, imprisoned, and killed for their faith in Christ? Should we today who follow Christ expect any less treatment from a world that hates Christ? The apostle John says, "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you" (1 John 3:13, KJV). The Lord Jesus said, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you" (John 15:18, KJV). Isn't it interesting that John calls the person who "hates" his brother a "murderer" (see 1 John 3:15). Hate is murder, because like cancer it eventually leads to murder, if not addressed. My brother, we live in a very sinful world, so it shouldn't surprise us if the people of this world persecute, torture, imprison, or even kill us. Our mission is to represent Christ and preach the Gospel (see Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Phil. 1:21). Sure, it doesn't seem fair that God would allow such treatment to happen to his children, but then again, God did not spare His Son either (Rom. 8: 32), nor were the early apostles and Christians spared from such horrible treatment. Consider Moses: "[He] Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season" (Hebrews 11:25, KJV)." (Jerry Sheppard)
"For Your sake we are killed all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
Psalm 44:22