The world watched in horror at the widely publicised video of Islamic militants executing twenty-one Christians on a beach in Libya. All but one of the men were Coptic Christians from Egypt. The militants, who had pledged loyalty to the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS), wore black clothing and covered their faces for the video.
They marched the Christians dressed in orange jumpsuits out onto the beach, ordered them to kneel, placed them face-down in the sand, and beheaded them. When the video was released to the world, the jihadists made it clear their victims were “people of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian church.”
The twenty-one Christians, most of whom were from the same village in Upper Egypt and had been working in Libya, were taken captive in a series of raids along the Libyan coast in the months prior to the beheadings. When their families learned they had been abducted by ISIS, they hoped and prayed they might see their loved ones again, but most of all, they prayed they would remain faithful.
While ISIS claimed the massacre as a victory for Islam, the Christians’ families understood that Christ could use even this tragic event for His eternal glory. “When we heard they died in the name of Christ, we were very happy,” said Bebawy Alham, whose brother, Samuel, was among those killed. “We were very comforted, because these were God’s children.”
In the end, the video did not have the effect ISIS had intended. Many Muslims in Egypt spoke out against it. A prominent Sunni university in Cairo, Al-Azhar, called the beheadings “barbaric”, and others noted that the Christian men were saying “Lord Jesus Christ” in Arabic as they knelt in the sand. They died with the name of Jesus on their lips.
Several of the men’s family members later said they were praying for the militants who had killed their husbands, sons, and brothers. “We forgive them, and we hope that they can come to know Jesus,” Bebawy Alham said. And Mariam, the widow of Malak Ibrahim Sinyout, had a similar reaction upon seeing the video. “I was very proud that he stood firm in his faith and that he didn’t deny Jesus,” she said.
“Indeed the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.” John 16:2-3
Submit a Prayer