Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.
A century ago, Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, was a thriving center of Christianity, earning the nickname “Jerusalem of the East.” The early 1900s saw rapid Christian growth, especially after the 1907 Pyongyang Revival, sparked by a meeting between Western missionaries and local believers. At its peak, about 30% of the population were practicing Christians, and the city was filled with thousands of churches.
Then came the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945, which was a tough time for Christians. The Japanese were openly hostile toward them, imprisoning many and even martyring some. Despite these challenges, the faith held strong. The Japanese occupation tried to wipe out the Korean culture and language and replace it with its own, leading to the tensions between North Korea and Japan till this day.
World War II changed everything, splitting Korea into two occupation zones that were supposed to be temporary but eventually led to the Korean War. Before the war, Pyongyang was still a Christian hub with over 2,000 churches, but the North Korean government soon cracked down hard.
In 1946, the Soviets set up the “United Democratic National Front,” which later merged with other groups to become the Workers’ Party of North Korea, the ruling party we know today. When North Korea officially became the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on September 9, 1948, the government basically declared that Christianity was over.
First, they seized Christian assets with the 1946 Land Reform Act, and then they weakened the church even more by nationalizing key industries in 1948. Kim Il Sung, wanting to keep religion under control, appointed his Christian mother’s relative, Pastor Kang Yang Wook, to lead the Chosun Christianity Federation, a group designed to bring Christian organizations in line with the Communist Party.
By late 1949, as things heated up before the Korean War, the regime stepped up its crackdown on Christians, arresting anyone involved in religious activities and raiding homes for religious books, which they considered an act of rebellion.
By the time the Korean War started in June 1950, the North Korean government was on a mission to arrest and persecute Christian leaders. As North Korean troops retreated during the war, Kim Il Sung ordered the mass killing of Christians, with estimates of those killed reaching into the tens of thousands.
As the war raged on, many Christians fled to South Korea, where they started new churches, some of which grew to become among the largest in the world. This migration played a huge role in making South Korea the most Christian country in Asia, with nearly 29% of the population identifying as Christian today.
If you look at a satellite image of the Korean Peninsula at night, the contrast between North and South Korea is striking. South Korea is brightly lit and full of life, while North Korea is almost entirely dark and lifeless. This striking difference serves as a powerful reminder that embracing God brings light into the darkness.
North Korea is widely regarded as the world’s top country for Christian persecution. The Bible remains banned, and according to Open Doors, an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Christians are currently held in North Korean prison camps.
The Communists didn’t come in openly as Communists; they arrived disguised as champions of Democracy. Learn this history lesson and pass it on to your children: the Christians of North Korea, in their deep hatred for the Japanese, ended up trading one evil for another. This choice plunged the nation into three generations of darkness that still continues till this day. Pray and see how this history lesson could apply to us today!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Thousands are gathering in Washington D.C. today to pray for the inauguration of the new president of the United States. I know a number of people who will be there and I think it’s a good thing, but this reminds me of a story I heard once.
We arrived at the airport late Thursday night with our bags and our kiddos only to find out that our flight was canceled because of a freak accident — a tractor ran into the plane, of all things! So we repacked our ourselves tightly into a small rental car to make the two hour drive to get back home to Arad in the middle of the night. Our flight was postponed till Sunday.
There was a man who had four sons, and he wanted them to understand the importance of not rushing to judgment. So, he sent each one on a journey to view a pear tree that was far away. He sent the first son in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the youngest in the fall. After they all returned, he gathered them together to hear what they had seen.
The Hebrew letter mem, equivalent to our English letter “M,” has a fascinating characteristic: it has two forms. The “open mem” appears at the beginning or middle of a word, with a small opening in its design. The “closed mem,” however, is used exclusively as the final letter in a word, fully sealed in its appearance. This distinction is consistent throughout the Hebrew language—except for one extraordinary exception found in the Bible.
Yeshua (Jesus) gave a remarkable parenthetic instruction in the middle of His Olivet discourse on the time of His coming and the end of the age. While it is unlikely that He himself said this, He certainly inspired Matthew to insert, “..let the reader understand”, concerning this critical event prophesied by Daniel, the Abomination of Desolation. His exhortation intended us (the readers of Matthew’s gospel) to learn what this means.
In John Bunyan’s best-selling book, Pilgrim’s Progress, the central character, Christian, begins his journey leaving the city of Destruction and ventures on his way toward the Celestial City. Early on his journey, Christian decides to depart from the narrow path onto an easier one which leads him to the territory of Despair and its stronghold, Doubting Castle.
The United States is currently experiencing a polar vortex—a surge of frigid air from the Arctic circle that blankets the country, bringing massive winter storms in its wake. As of now, over 350,000 people are without power. This sudden and unexpected cold snap brought to mind a story I’d like to share.