Lactantius was a Christian and an eyewitness to the Great Persecution of Diocletian and Galerius just prior to Constantine and the Edict of Milan in 313 which ended the persecution. His graphic description of the persecution of Christians is sobering, as well as his detailed account of the horrific end of the Roman emperors who orchestrated the persecution. Lactantius is not easy reading. The more corrupt an empire becomes, the greater the cruelty. But when God’s patience is exhausted, He acts with terrifying ferocity and finality. All of this brought to mind the warning in Scripture of the resurgence of the final empire at the end, an apparent figurative reincarnation of Rome (Daniel 2:31-45; Rev 17:9). I think I now better understand the final Antichrist’s drive to destroy the church. The contemporary part of the church which now suffers persecution (i.e., in North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, etc.) is better prepared than the church in the west for what is ultimately coming one day.

The early church was unanimous in their affirmation that the global church is destined to suffer persecution under the Antichrist. If correct, we can look back at the Great Persecution of Diocletian and Galerius for a preview of what is to come. But God will be with us just as He was with the Christians who suffered under the Great Persecution. And God will bring a terrifying final judgment to His enemies.

Lactantius concludes his account with this,

“I relate all those things on the authority of well-informed persons, and I thought it proper to commit them to writing exactly as they happened lest the memory of events so important should perish and lest any future historian of the persecutors should corrupt the truth, either by suppressing their offenses against God or the judgment of God against them.”