Martyrs or Morons?
Kristopher S. Shoemaker
R. Yehudah “Tochukwu” ben Shomeyr
Let me first
start out by saying I am a big supporter of Voice of the Martyr ministries that
help persecuted Believers worldwide. I wholeheartedly believe we should pray on
a regular basis for our persecuted brothers and sisters worldwide for someday
soon we may be coveting their prayers as they now do ours. I have also read
Foxes Book of Martyrs, the Anabaptist Mirror of the Martyrs, Jesus Freaks and
many other works regarding the testimonies of martyrdom; so I am in no wise
attempting to be smug or disrespectful regarding this subject and the people
whom these works are about. However, I feel there is a great imbalance
regarding this subject of martyrdom. The impression is that Believers in Messiah
Yeshua should submit to martyrdom and have no right to fight back because Jesus
said to turn the other cheek and when Yeshua Himself was martyred He prayed to
the Father on the cross to forgive those who were murdering Him because they
were truly ignorant of what they were actually doing, thus setting a president
for us to lay down and roll over when enemies of Messiah come for us to take
our lives. I beg to differ. Such verses and the views based on them are grossly
taken out of context.
They so conveniently
forget passages in the gospels where Yeshua purposely avoided a place because
He knew His life was in danger and His time had not yet come; passages where He
was bold but slipped through the crowed and got away.
Hey, I’m all
for loving my enemy and leading them to faith in Messiah Yeshua but I will not willingly
allow them to abuse or kill me, my family or my believing community if I can do
anything to help it. Deuteronomy 8:1 is used in Judaism as a verse saying that it
is our duty to preserve our lives if it is within our power to do so, so that
we may continue to live out the Commandments of Torah for the Glory of God. We
are not to foolishly throw our life away or purposely put ourselves in mortal
danger. Ecclesiastes 3:3, 7 and 8 even tells us there is a time to kill and
fight back as well as a time to be peaceful.
I can
already tell I am likely ruffling some feathers, but allow me to elaborate.
I heard a
story about an Indonesian believer in late 2001 who was shot on the steps of
his church in the middle of the night. This is how it went down. A Jihadist
Islamic group had been harassing the Christian community there and only three
families of that church remained. This particular believer, a deacon in his
church, was told by his children’s school head master to convert to Islam, and
the Jihadist group actually came to the church and ordered him to take Christian
pictures from the wall. He refused and said, “I will not do it even if you
behead me!” I love the guys bold fearlessness, but I felt it was foolish to
stay and put himself and his family further at risk. Well, one night shortly
after he and his wife awoke to their house on fire, set by the Jihadist group.
The man ran to attempt to save the church which was also in flames and the
terrorist group stopped him and told him he was dead. The man asked if he could
pray first, and as he quoted Jesus’ words form the cross, “Father forgive them
for they know not what they do” they shot him in the chest protecting a
building. A BUILDING! Well, it was the church, you may say. NO! A building is
NOT The Church! It’s a building, a meeting place. The Believers, the Body of
Messiah is the Church! A building can be rebuilt, once you’re dead, your dead
until the final resurrection! In my mind, this was not a true martyrdom, it was
a man (though well intended) throwing his life away for a building, lifeless
wood and stone. In my mind his first priority and responsibility would be to
move himself and his family to an area of safety and seeing as he was the only
leader left in his congregation, it was up to him to plan to keep the community
together so the true church would not die, be lost or scattered. Just because
this man forgave his murderers right before they killed him does not mean
Christ got the Glory or the victory, all that was accomplished was a
congregational leader was killed, his wife was left a widow and his children
fatherless and the congregation shattered. I see no redeeming quality or
triumph in this testimony. Score one for radical Islam.
There are
even stories of the ancient persecuted believers who turned themselves in and
asked to be martyred! Who does that!? Now that’s being a moron! God gets no
glory that way.
Consider
another story where a believer that is taken unaware of anything amiss or any
danger present, nor any forewarning, such as a raid or kidnapping or an arrest and
is captured and martyred or is taken and brought before authorities and is
sentenced to death for not backing down. Let’s say he’s given a final word and forgives
them and witnesses to them before they execute him. To me that’s a totally
different story. Score one for Messiah Yeshua!
One reason
for such an imbalanced view is not only taking Yeshua’s words out of context
but also is the exclusion by the Protestants of the historical book of the Maccabees
in which the first century read and held in high esteem and were regarded as
Historical books of the writings of the Tanak (Old Testament) along with the
books of Kings and Chronicles. The book of the Maccabees gives examples of
Believers fighting back as well as being captured and martyred.
I come from
the tribe of Gad, which is a warrior tribe and it is not in me to submit when I
have an option to fight. That’s the way God made Gadites, it’s in our DNA! The
Levites, they were not these peaceful meek priests Christianity makes them out
to be, but they too were warriors! So much so that Jacob when giving a final
blessing to his sons prophesied that Levi and Simeon would be scattered among
Israel because together they were unstoppable and formidable warriors (Ge.
49:5-7). You see, their sister Dinah was raped and those two slaughtered a
whole city because of it (Gen. 34)!
The book of
the Maccabees I believe gives us a balanced view of when to fight and when to
be martyred.
2nd
Maccabees chapter 7 tells of a woman and her seven sons who were arrested for refusing
to compromise the tenants of their faith and as a result each son was killed
before the woman’s eyes. Each one encouraged their mother not to give in until
finally she was killed. They couldn’t and had no means in which to fight back
or defend themselves, they had no choice but to stand up for the Faith and be martyred.
As a result their testimony of great perseverance and faith has been recorded
and preserved for our benefit, and encouragement.
In 1st
Maccabees Chapter 2 the Greco-Syrian authorities who were just as cruel as any
Communist or Islamic regime attempted to force the High Priest Mattathias to
sacrifice an unclean pig on the altar in the Temple. This was the height of
disrespect and blasphemy! Mattathias and his sons would have nothing of it.
They refused and revolted and became a guerrilla band of rebel fighters against
the Greco-Syrian army and as a result defeated the Greco-Syrian regime and took
back the Temple which they attempted to destroy. The very same Temple we find Yeshua walking
around in in the Gospels. If it were not for the Maccabees who fought instead
of laid down and became martyrs how would have Messianic prophecy played out!?
Also in the
2nd Chapter of 1st Maccabees is the ordeal of suspending
the command to rest on the Sabbath in order to survive. The Greco-Syrians
attacked a community of Jews on the Sabbath. We all know it is forbidden to
work on the Sabbath so why would fighting be any different. The people refused
to break the Sabbath and were slaughtered. Judah Maccabee who led the band of
renegade priestly warriors came upon the slaughter and said, “If we all do as
our brothers have done, and refuse to fight the pagans for our lives and
institutions, they will only destroy us sooner from the earth (1st
Mac. 2:40).” Judah was saying that if we don’t fight back they will end up
killing us all!
There is an
unwritten rule in Judaism which I believe even Christianity can appreciate and
agree with and that is, “Life over Law.” In other words, if one’s life is in
danger one may suspend or break a Torah command in order to survive, such as
fighting on the Sabbath or even eating an unkosher thing if it is a literal
matter of life and death.
Defending
oneself or ones family against those who wish to kill us is not hate, it’s our
duty! I guarantee if the Islamic Jihadi Terrorist or Communist make it to our
shores for a takeover I’m not going down quietly, I will do my best to get all
Red Dawn on their tuchas’. I have no hatred or take no pleasure if I had to
kill someone in defence of my family or community. If in the fighting I am
captured and am executed because of my faith that’s another story. I will do my
best to give glory and honor to God with my last breath as we read so many of
our spiritual forbearers did.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon
them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls
of them that were beheaded for the witness of
Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither
his image, neither had received his mark upon
their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Rev. 20:4
One day we
may be in this very position. We have already seen that our Egyptian brothers
in Messiah have by ISIS. But if there is an opportunity to fight back, I will
be like the Maccabees or the Bielski brothers of WWII who did not go to the
Nazi death camps but created a community in the forests and fought back until
the end of the war and survived.
