It’s often helpful to return to the Book of Revelation, because what it does is to give us not only the spiritual perspective on what’s going on when persecution happens—there behind the scenes—look at the demonic spiritual elements of persecution—but it also puts it in pictorial language, which helps us understand what’s going on. The way that the vision that John sees in Revelation is portrayed begins with a dragon pursuing the woman who had given birth to the male child. This is what happened to Mary and Joseph: Herod pursued them, sought to destroy them, and that was under the influence of the devil. But what John shows us is that as they fled from him, they were protected from his power.
But then we’re told that the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring. So, this is what we’re to expect; it’s what happens to Stephen as the offspring of the child of the woman—that one trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the same way as the dragon pursued his mother, then he will also pursue the rest of her offspring. We, the church, continue to be pursued by the great dragon Satan himself, which manifests itself in persecution, and it scatters the church just like it led Mary and Joseph down to Egypt to escape her. We are scattered when persecution takes place; this is what we see happening again and again, and it’s right to move on. Jesus says, when you are persecuted, don’t feel the need to stay—but the church also is free to stay if they so desire, and that’s what the church leaders often decide to do, it’s what they did in Acts 8.
