"Victory over ISIS found in last words uttered by Christians"

Christian Concern’s Islamic Affairs Adviser, Sam Solomon, himself a convert from Islam to Jesus reflects on the recent beheading of 21 Christians.  

“The blood of the innocents turned the Mediterranean seashore red when ISIS slaughtered 21 Coptic Christians on a lonely Libyan beach on Feb. 15, 2015, but that should never be allowed to stand as the end of their story.” (Judy McLeod, Canada Free Press)

And it has not.

We are encouraged in our almost unbearable grief for our brothers in Christ and their families, as we read from the Apostle John’s vision of the Revelation of Christ, “…And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus (Yasouh) and because of the word of God…” (NIV Revelation 20:4).

So it is clear that this did not catch our Lord off guard, but was foreknown and predicted some 2,000 years ago and given to the Apostle John to record for such a time as this.

Therefore, we are reassured beyond a shadow of a doubt that this roll call of faithful men—who undoubtedly awoke in the morning that fateful day they were taken, thinking they would be going to work to earn a living for their families—but would find themselves instead selected to be among the very first to be publically put to the test for Christ in accordance with the Islamic end-time prophesies and according the letter of the Sunnah of Muhammad--for the whole world to see in every time zone on television and the internet, and to be watched and scrutinized again and again.

Many are saying that this is “not new”, and in a sense, it is not. Similar slaughters throughout history claiming authenticity from the source documents of Islam have been happening with some variations—but not in this particular way or in a form that the whole world could see and experience vicariously.

In the Sudan of the 90’s the fashion was to “crucify” by expert wielding of the sword to quickly cut an “x”, i.e. a “cross” in the abdomen of a Christian. But these and other innovations of modernity were not visible in realtime and therefore didn’t seem enough to convince a watching world that Islam was unchanged from its inception, and unswerving in its goal—even in the 21st century. So ISIS made a point in this execution to dot every “i” and cross every “t” to demonstrate at each step closer to the disfigurement and final slitting of the throats of these brave Christians that they were proceeding in accordance with the letter of the Sunnah of Mohammad and the Islamic eschatological doctrine.

Unbeknownst to the executioners, this apocalyptic moment-by-moment staged filming of the process of torture and beheading of these 20 Christian workers from Egypt and one from Africa accomplished what for ISIS was an unwanted and unforeseen result—as it echoed in living colour the prophecy in Revelation that foretold this event as recorded in the vision by the Apostle John from his captivity on the island of Patmos, “… and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus, and because of the word of God...” (Rev. 20:4).

Thus the intended “victory” proclaimed by their executioners was instantly and permanently nullified by the steadfast voices of the 21 -- putting their trust in Christ to sustain them, not in whispers but in shouts, “Yasouh, Yasouh, Jesus, Jesus”, even as the deed was being done—literally for the world to see and hear!! And we know this was not the end of the story, according to the promise of our Lord in Rev. 2:10, “…Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown.”
 

Latest Additions to The Roll Call of the Saints under the Altar
(Revelation 20:4 & 2:10)

Samuel Ilham Wilson
Izzat Boshry Nassif
Luqa Nagati
Issam Badar Samir
Malak Farag Ibrahim
Sameh Salah Farouq Manqrowis
Gaber Munir Adli, Maged
Slaiman Shihata
Abanub Ayad Attiya
Youssef Shokry Younan
Hany Abdel
Massih Salib
Kerollos Boshry Fawzy
Milad Makin Zaki
Makram Youssef Tawadros
Samuel Estefanos Kamel
Bishoy Estefanos Kamel
Mina Fayez Aziz
Malak Ibrahim Tanyut
Guirguis Milad Tanyut
Bishoy Adel
An African Christian brother