Unfortunate Unprotected Persecuted Egyptian Christians

SHOULD  IT BE BOTH WAYS?

As 2011 began, many Christians lost their lives in Egypt when their place of worship was bombed.


The Bible says that  God will protect those who trust in him (Psalms 91), yet Jesus told those who believed in him to be prepared to endure persecution (John 16:1-4).  I know how Christians rationalize this, but it does not seem reasonable to me.  The rationalization is usually that Jesus hadn't lived yet or become the "offense" at the time of the writing of Psalms 91.  But even those who lived back then endured much persecution from conquering empires like Babylon.  For me, it's just like all the rest of the Bible: It conflicts with itself and is a fertile bed for strife, disappointment, and  fanaticism. It seems to me that Psalms 91 is hyperbole and grandiose wishful thinking. Once again, here are the contrasting verses.  You decide.

Psams 91

5. You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
         Or of the arrow that flies by day;

6. O f the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
         Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

7. A thousand may fall at your side
         And ten thousand at your right hand,
         But it shall not approach you.

8. You will only look on with your eyes
         And see the recompense of the wicked.

9. For you have made the LORD, my refuge,
         Even the Most High, your dwelling place. 

Or Jesus in John 16:1-4 

“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues [today it might be from churches]; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them."