“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  (Matthew 5:10-12, ESV)

When the terrorists in Syria recently charged the ancient Christian village of Maaloula in the Syrian mountainside where the minority Christians lived for almost 2000 years, do you think they felt blessed? According to eyewitnesses, the moslem terrorists told villagers “‘Either you convert to Islam or you will be beheaded,”. The village of Maaloula is one of the last on this earth which still spoke the ancient language of Aramaic. Aramaic was the language spoken by Jesus Himself and can only be found in Syria, in these last days.

What has been happening during the violent Syrian civil war has already been repeated in Iraq, with one million Chaldean Christians being persecuted, killed and displaced and in Iran and other middle eastern countries. Pakistan and India are catching up with their cousins in the middle east and doing the same to God’s people.

These are just some of the latest examples of what has been happening to followers of Jesus Christ since before He was even crucified in 33 AD in Jerusalem. Jesus warned of this and this warning has been fulfilled time after time after time for almost 2000 years now. Persecution is occurring in not just these Arab countries, but in almost every corner of this earth.