Trials and Persecution of Believers: “We were Destined for Them”
In Acts chapter 17 in the New Testament portion of the Bible, we have the story of Paul and Silas's visit to the Greek city of Thessalonica, where they preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These people in Thessalonica paid a high price for believing that Jesus was the prophesied Jewish Messiah. Some of them were arrested. It was a mixed congregation of both believing Jews, and Gentile believers. They were attacked by the Satanic Jews who rejected Jesus, the equivalent of the "Zionists" in today's culture. As in many of Paul's journeys recorded in the book of Acts, the Satanic Jews probably tried to kill him, which forced the believers to quickly get him out of Thessalonica. Being cut off from these new believers, Paul grew concerned about them, especially because they were being persecuted by the Satanic Jews. So he wrote a letter to them, and this is recorded in the New Testament, in 1 Thessalonians. He reminded them that all believers are "destined" for these kinds of trials and persecutions.





















