There have been pockets of hate directed at differing people groups throughout history. Campaigns of fear, ruthless purging, and wholesale slaughter have been the weapon of choice for tyrants, dictators, and hate-filled people. So many brutal periods of evil directed at certain people groups have marked the centuries. One thing is certain: No other group has been the target of sustained hatred over the millennia as the Jews. From Pharaoh’s plans at the Red Sea to Haman’s gallows, to the calls for Israel’s destruction throughout the Islamic world, the Jews always seem to be the target of demonically fueled hatred.
The Jewish people and the nation of Israel are a source of much deliberation even in Christian circles these days. Some folks would like to relegate God’s dealings with Israel and the Jews to antiquity. Some would have us believe that the Jews were only on God’s radar from the Abrahamic covenant until the second temple’s destruction in 70 A.D. It is true, we are in the times of the gentiles, and many from every nation are coming to faith in Jesus. In Romans 11, Paul speaks of eyes that would not see, speaking of his people, the Jews. He also highlights gentiles being grafted in, and a future re-grafting or inclusion. We believe sometime during the great tribulation, many Jewish people will turn to Jesus as their Messiah. At the time of her greatest trouble, some in the nation of Israel will turn back to God. Concerning the Times opposes the ill-informed replacement theology plaguing much of the evangelical church. We believe the Lord has great plans for both the church and Israel in the last days.
What we want to focus on today is the scourge of antisemitism. I could fill volumes regarding this matter, but I will highlight some ugly truths from a 10,000 ft. view. The Balkans’ ethnic cleansing, the Rwandan genocide, the history of slavery in the Americas, and other tragic sections of history are things we’d rather forget. As wrong as these things were and no less evil, they generally last for a few years to perhaps a decade, save the slave trade, which lasted approximately 245 years. As terrible as that was and a hurtful chapter in history, it is now history.
While all hatred of other people is wrong and downright sickening, there is something different about the hatred of the Jews.
I believe it is demonically driven. The jealousy, anger, venom, and sustained hate directed at these people are unprecedented. I believe many in the Islamic world look at the success of the Jews and the tiny nation of Israel in particular with such a jealous rage because of Israel’s prosperity. Look at the majority of nations surrounding Israel. zero infrastructure, no progress, dismal human rights records, a crumbling society run by power-hungry thugs, and a culture of death via state-sponsored terrorism. On the other side of the border is Israel with its thriving cities, robust economy, and the value it places on human life. The brilliance of the Jewish mind and ingenuity is not by accident, and I believe that God has endowed the Jewish people with many gifts and resources. His love towards His ancient people has not diminished. The Jewish contributions to medicine, science, industry, the arts, and education are staggering. Look what Mark Twain wrote about the Jews:
”…If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other person, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages, and had done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself and be excused for it.
The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
– Mark Twain
Look at Isaiah 66:8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children.
The rebirth of the modern nation of Israel is a flashing super sign pointing to last days and the soon return of Jesus. The May 14, 1948 events are unmistakable on God’s time clock. What makes the hatred of Jews different is that it has been prolonged and always been justified by evil people.
From Pharaoh’s Red Sea plan to Haman’s gallows, the Spanish Inquisition, dark age pogroms, Hitler’s camps, Stalin’s gulags, and now Iran’s desire to wipe her off the map….history shows the Jews are always the target of evil men.
Satanic hatred has fueled many a madman to inflict a final solution. What’s more, the regime that denies the holocaust is planning another one via a rogue nuclear weapons program endorsed by ill-informed political types in the West. This goes on before the “watchful eye” of the UN, EU, and the US. When will we learn that appeasement, hollow one-sided agreements, and “peace deals” brokered by former KGB agents aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.
What should an informed Christian do? We are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Anyone who understands Bible prophecy knows that when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we are praying for Jesus’ soon return. The coming antichrist will bring a short-lived false peace to the holy land, but there will be true everlasting peace when the Prince of Peace reigns on Earth. We Christians are to love, pray for, and reach out with the gospel to all who would hear, both Jew and gentile.
There is also an ill-informed, ecumenical, so-called ‘peace’ movement creeping into Christian circles.
Any call to condemn Israel, encourage divestment and paint Israel as an apartheid state is not supported in scripture. Movements such as Christ at the Checkpoint, the rose-colored musings of former President Carter, and some mainline denominations like the PCUSA’s decision to economically sanction Israel are unbiblical. Yes, we should reach out to our Arab friends with the love of Jesus. Yes, we are to care for the least of these.
But to blame tiny Israel for the myriad of problems plaguing Islamic countries for centuries, broken economies, and broken governments, is like blaming the United States for Antarctica for being cold. It’s totally unrelated and a completely unfounded accusation.
Along the lines of unfounded accusations, Jimmy Carter was interviewed on MSNBC recently and stated that he opposed any Israeli military operation against Iran. Furthermore, Carter stated that Israel has over 300 nuclear weapons. The Jimmy Carter’s of the world pander to rogue nations, are apologists for the UN, and are bent on dragging Israel and the US. through the mud under the guise of peaceful dialog, wherever they go. Mr. Carter is no friend to Israel and the so-called “peace plans” he supports are the ones that are one-sided and leave Israel in a very dangerous predicament.
If folks are concerned with the well-being of Arab people living in the West Bank or Gaza, then plead with their leaders and government to quit hoarding and stealing the money they are taking from their people. The US. and EU. allocates millions of dollars to rebuild impoverished areas, schools, and utilities.
The so-called “Palestinian People” elected Hamas as their governing body in 2005 and the leadership spends the money meant for its people on their pleasure and to purchase arms for the next fight against Israel. If the liberal brand of Christianity wants to advocate for the so-called Palestinian people…. a few Arab nations are enjoying relative success. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc. have plenty of land to house, employ, and help the so-called Palestinians, not to mention oil revenue.
The world seems bent on parceling the small amount of land Israel exists on. Israel’s borders are almost indefensible as it stands. Any more land for “peace” would have the opposite effect, encouraging more rockets from Israel’s neighbors and perhaps encouraging all-out war. There has never been a Palestinian people, as a distinct people group, only Arabs from surrounding nations living in the land.
The shadow of antisemitism is always lurking. There is the horrible act of hatred displayed by one evil man at a Kansas City Jewish Center recently. Every day we can read of another Jewish cemetery being desecrated, another entertainer in Europe reinventing the nazi salute, or elected officials in Hungary blaming the world’s problems on the Jews, again.
Sometimes antisemitism is veiled behind pseudo-peace movements and mainline churches who only find Israel as the one to blame, yet again. So-called human rights organizations zero in on Israel as the one to blame for Arab blight and impoverishment again. Land for peace, divestment, labeling Israel as an apartheid state, and blaming Israel for the absence of peace in the Middle East, let’s call it what it is: antisemitism. That land belongs to Israel, and there is a strong warning to nations who attempt to part that land in Joel 3:1
I’ve been to the Middle East several times, and I will tell you that Israel is a bright spot in a sea of darkness, despotism, and evil-induced hatred.
As Christians and sensible people, let’s do the biblical thing and stand with the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.
Jeremiah 31:35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.”
All for Him,
Howard
