Revelation 6:9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 

Revelation 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God…

…had been slain…This is an example where our translators have provided a sanitized translation. The original Greek is blunt and graphic. The word is σπηαζο/sphazo. Per Strong’s Concordance it means: to slay, slaughter, butcher; to put to death by violence; mortally wounded.

Sphazo is used nine times in the New Testament. Eight of these occur in the book of Revelation.

Three times in Revelation 5, sphazo is used to describe Christ’s death. One example is noted below.

Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

Sphazo also describes how Cain killed Abel. The text makes a point to mention the type of death twice.

1 John 3:12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

This word is used in Revelation 6:4. Sphazo is used to describe the type of violence of people towards each other at the outset of the seal judgments. This nature of bloodshed continues throughout Revelation until its conclusion.

…had been beheaded…The original Greek here is straightforward. The word is πελεκιζο/pelekizo. It means: to cut off with an axe, to behead. This is the only time the word is used in the New Testament.

July 16, 2017: The following is from Ari Murad. He describes himself as a PhD student and Political Activist: Ordinary man with an extraordinary dream, an independent Kurdistan and Balochistan. http://www.facebook.com/arimurad 

Ari Murad has tweeted the following statement: Like ISIS, Erdogan threatens to ‘chop off heads’ and parade their prisoners. Is this the type of ‘ally’ any nations wants or needs. Erdogan threatens to ‘chop off traitors’ heads’ and parade prisoners. It is important to note that there have been many images circulated by Turkish police showing Kurdish heads severed and paraded.

See the attached video for Erdogan’s spoken words.

Caution, warning: These tweets and comments are brutally honest about what is taking place in this part of the world. If you are squeemish, this is not for you. There are examples of the verses provided in the content of these tweets.

Erdogan states he will sign a bill “immediately” to reinstate the death penalty.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/erdogan-vows-cutoff-heads-traitors/

A special thanks to https://twitter.com/rapturewatchers for the heads up on the tweet and news story.

Currently in 2017, the spirit of these verses is alive and well. There are people who articulate their intent to do so. They are backing their words with action in other parts of the world. At some point in the future tribulation, this will become a common practice by those who are opposed to the word of Jesus Christ.

We are at a crossroad in history. Think about it.

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