WE BELIEVE: CONCERNING ISRAEL
ADDENDA:
ARTICLE 4:
THE TRUE ROOTS OF ANTI-SEMITISM
Part 1: The Divine Aspect by Norman Manzon
Come,
let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us,
but He will heal us; He has wounded us,
but He will bandage us.
~ Hosea 6:1 ~ |
To review once again, the burden of these
studies is to provide scriptural support for the claims in our doctrinal
statement and respond to contrary claims. In that regard, our series on
Israel was brought to completion several Shofars ago. However, a few items
are being added in order to present a fuller picture. "The True Roots of
Anti-Semitism," presented in this Shofar and the next, will be the last
study in our Israel series.
I.
INTRODUCTION
A. "WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE
HATE THE JEWS?"
This
question was asked of me by a Polynesian man. Indeed, it has been asked
across the world for centuries by
multitudes of Jews and Gentiles alike, and presupposes a
recognition that the hatred of Jews is unusual among the legion of
international and interracial hatreds in the world.
Answers to the question have been posited by psychologists, sociologists and
historians from a secular frame of reference, but no secular answer has proven thoroughly satisfactory. This study seeks
to answer the question from a biblical perspective in an effort to get to
the roots of the matter.
B. WHAT IS ANTI-SEMITISM?
1. Definition
If a person feels or acts negatively toward a Jew, even to the point of
violence, it does not mean that he is anti-Semitic. His feelings or actions
may have their basis in any of the perceived offenses common to the human
race.
What, then, is anti-Semitism? It is a visceral animosity towards Jews simply
because they are Jews. Yet, it is more than that. It is unique among racial
hatreds.
2. A Peculiar Racial Hatred
From noted historian, Paul Johnson:
But if anti-Semitism is a variety of racism, it
is a most peculiar variety, with many unique characteristics. In my
view as a historian, it is so peculiar that it deserves to be placed
in a quite different category. I would call it an intellectual
disease, a disease of the mind, extremely infectious and massively
destructive. It is a disease to which both human individuals and
entire human societies are prone. . . .
By contrast [with other historical interracial hatreds], anti-Semitism
is very ancient, has never been associated with frontiers, and,
although it has had its ups and downs, seems impervious to change.1 |
3. Characterized by
Unusual Irrationality
From Yaakov Katz, a current member of Israel's Knesset (Parliament):
No one, not even today, has a rational
explanation for the continued existence of anti-Semitism. We only know
that it is there, kicking and screaming. It began with our becoming a
nation, in Egypt, and continued all through the years of exile during
which period most of our nation was systematically murdered. That is
how we find ourselves, after 1900 years and after the Holocaust,
approximately the same population size as we were when the long exile
began.2 |
Paul Johnson:
What strikes the historian surveying
anti-Semitism worldwide over more than two millennia is its
fundamental irrationality. It seems to make no sense. . . . In the
whole of history, it is hard to point to a single occasion when a wave
of anti-Semitism was provoked by a real Jewish threat (as opposed to
an imaginary one). In Japan, anti-Semitism was and remains common even
though there has never been a Jewish community there of any size.
Asked to explain why they hate Jews, anti-Semites contradict
themselves. Jews are always showing off; they are hermetic and
secretive. They will not assimilate; they assimilate only too well.
They are too religious; they are too materialistic, and a threat to
religion. They are uncultured; they have too much culture. They avoid
manual work; they work too hard. They are miserly; they are
ostentatious spenders. They are inveterate capitalists; they are born
Communists. And so on. In all its myriad manifestations, the language
of anti-Semitism through the ages is a dictionary of non-sequiturs3
and antonyms, a thesaurus of illogic and inconsistency. . . .
In the meantime, by allowing their diseased
obsession to dominate all their aspirations, the Arabs have wasted
trillions in oil royalties on weapons of war and propaganda. . . .
Despite all their advantages, they are now being overtaken decisively
by the Indians and the Chinese, who have few natural resources but are
inspired by reason, not hatred.4 |
Paul Johnson again:
Irrational thinking is common enough in each of
us; when anti-Semitism is added in, irrational thinking becomes not
only instinctual but systemic. An experienced anti-Semite constantly
looks for “evidence” to confirm his idée fixe, and invariably finds it
- just as a Marxist, looking for “proof,” constantly uncovers events
that confirm his diagnosis of how the world works."5 |
Some of the crazy things that Jews have
been accused of, and for which rivers of Jewish blood have been shed, have
been blood libels of many sorts, including the draining of the blood of
Gentile children for use in the baking of Passover matzohs (unleavened
bread); the desecration of the host (communion wafer), usually by piercing or
stabbing it, to recrucify Yeshua; the poisoning of the wells in Europe to
bring about
the bubonic plague; and of being the "Christ-killers." (This last accusation
will be addressed in our next Shofar). They have been accused of plotting to
rule the world. They were victims of the Spanish Inquisition for refusal to accept
Catholicism, and of Luther's venomous instigation to riots and bloodshed for
refusing to receive salvation; and, of course, "the Jews" - all of them,
mind you, and no one else - were responsible for Germany's post World War I poverty. So what
was the sensible solution? The "final solution": kill them all. Indeed,
Scripture prophesies that venom will build against the Jew until
all nations gather against them in a
final attempt to finish the job that Hitler started (Zechariah 14:2;
Matthew 24:22; Revelation 12:1-17).
Certainly, in this fallen world, Jews could expect their "fair share" of
prejudice and violence. Yet, when one considers such incredible accusations
and the sheer volume of violence done to them, one must conclude that
anti-Semitism is truly an unusual specie of hatred.
C. ALIVE AND WELL
As Mr. Katz and Mr. Johnson
noted, anti-Semitism is alive and well in the world today. Its chief
contemporary form is based on Israel's alleged atrocities against
her Palestinian victims, which has led to the legitimacy of the
State of Israel's very existence being challenged in the halls of power.
This, too, is characterized by irrationality. The world knows that
Israel is a tiny nation in the midst of a sea of nations and other
political-military powers that relentlessly seek her annihilation -
the same forces that brought down the Twin Towers, blew up trains in
Spain, a hotel in Mumbai and other such atrocities - the same forces
that are ruled by tyrants, keep women in subjection, and refuse
citizenship and freedom of worship to any Jew. On the other hand,
Israel has hostile Arabs in its Knesset; and the sounds of muezzin
calling the faithful to worship may be heard from the minarets of
hundreds of mosques throughout Israel, even by Jews as they pray at
the Western Wall! This subspecie of anti-Semitism has earned the
title, "the new anti-Semitism."
Dr. Phyllis Chesler:
As I first wrote in 2001-2002, the new
anti-Semitism also consists of a rather frightening, genocidal
anti-Zionism. The global demonization of Israel has gathered
such speed and force that it could, potentially - it is
certainly meant to - delegitimize and destroy the Jewish
state. . . .
The [Western] campuses have become increasingly and
aggressively anti-Israel and pro-Islam. Today, anti-Zionism is
the new anti-Semitism. “Brownshirt” behavior rules the day.
Muslim and ex-Muslim dissidents are met with menace, if they
are invited to speak at all, and pro-Israel truth tellers are
not even invited to speak.
Israel is not an apartheid nation. Muslim countries persecute
non-Muslim minorities, Israel doesn't persecute non-Jews. The
Arab Middle East is “judenrein,”6 Arab
Christians are under siege there. Say this on most campuses,
as I have, and you will be jeered, booed, possibly physically
menaced, certainly demonized afterwards as a “racist” and
“Islamophobe.” You will lose your publishing contacts and your
former feminist political world. You will not be invited to
speak by Women’s Studies programs.
My work on Islamic gender apartheid has been attacked in these
quarters. . . .
The politically correct line is that
Israel, tiny Israel, is the “Nazi, Apartheid state.” Only
Orwell would understand this misuse of language, this reversal
of logic, which is meant to confuse and brainwash people. Such
brainwashing has worked. Sixty years of Soviet and Arab League
activism and Saudi monies have accomplished the unbelievable.
Israel is not only the “bad guy,” it is the “very worst bad
guy” in the entire universe.7 |
The purpose of this lengthy
introduction is twofold: that the reader may grasp the breadth and
depth of anti-Semitic activity with a focus on the last two thousand years, and to lay a foundation for the claim that the true
roots of anti-Semitism are not natural, but spiritual.
II. THE
TRUE ROOTS OF ANTI-SEMITISM ARE SPIRITUAL
Jewish history began when God
called Abram to separate himself from his native people to become
the father of the Jewish nation (Genesis 12:1-3). In His concluding
statement, God declared, And I will bless
those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse
(verse 3). With this statement, God intimated what He, in His
foreknowledge, already knew: that there will be those who curse
Abraham and the Jewish nation because of their chosenness to bring
His Word and Messiah into the world. Ultimately, then, anti-Semitism
has its roots in spiritual matters. Catholic scholar Edward H.
Flannery said it well:
It was Judaism that brought the concept
of a God-given universal moral law into the world...the Jew
carries the burden of God in history and for this he has never
been forgiven.8 |
III. SPIRITUAL
ASPECTS OF ANTI-SEMITISM
In this section, we will examine
anti-Semitism from the perspectives of God, Satan and human
persecutors, and the interplay between them. Let it be known that I
write as a Jew, and know how sensitive some of the forthcoming
material will be for some readers. My grandmother, who lived in the
home I was raised in for the first twenty years of my life, lost
thirteen siblings in the Holocaust, and my wife's mother was in
hiding three years from the Nazis. I therefore appeal for
forbearance and a withholding of judgment until the entire section
is considered thoughtfully.
A. THE DIVINE ASPECT
The purpose of this section is to
determine whether or not the anti-Semitism of the last two thousand
years might conceivably be a judgment of God upon Israel; and if so,
what the cause might be.
1. Foundational
Premises about God
Three foundational premises must be laid:
a. God cannot and does not sin.
His work is perfect, For all His ways are
just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and
upright is He (Deuteronomy 32:4. Also Job 8:3; 2 Timothy
2:13; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; James 1:13). It was on this basis
that Abraham appealed to God, Shall not the
Judge of all the earth deal justly? (Genesis 18:25).
b. God hates anti-Semitism.
He told Abram, And I will bless those who
bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse
(Genesis 12:3).
c. God is in control of the nations and of Israel.
Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand,
so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. (Jeremiah 18:6.
Also Job 12:23, Psalm 2:1-6, 108:8-9; Proverbs 21:1 and Daniel
2:21.)
2. God Judges Israel
By "judgment" here is meant the execution of penalty for sin.
Biblically, God has brought judgments upon Israel. In Jeremiah
30:15, He chides both houses of Israel, Why
do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because
your iniquity is great and your sins are numerous, I have done these
things to you.
3. By What
Principles Does God Judge Israel?
All principles listed apply to Israel. 1-10 and probably 11 apply to
Gentile nations, as well.
1) A curse without a cause does not alight
(Proverbs 26:2). God never curses without a cause.
Jeremiah 30:15,
just quoted, is an example.
2) God may judge a nation to inflict punishment for sin.
Amalek:
Thus says the LORD of hosts, "I will
punish Amalek for
what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way
while he was coming up from Egypt" (1 Samuel 15:2).
The northern kingdom of Israel: For on the
day that I punish Israel's transgressions, I will also punish the
altars of Bethel; The horns of the altar will be cut off and they
will fall to the ground (Amos 3:14).
In some cases, as
with Amalek, judgment upon a Gentile nation is a national capital
punishment (1 Samuel 15:3,18). For Israel, it is always for the
purpose of leading her to repentance.
3) God may judge nations that they may turn from ungodliness unto
righteousness.
Nineveh is an example. (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:10)
4) God relents from judgment upon repentance.
Again, Nineveh. (Jonah
1:1-2; 3:10)
5) Accountability is proportional to knowledge:
From everyone who has been given much, much
will be required (Luke 12:48). To whom much is given in
divine revelation, much is required in obedience to God's laws.
(Matthew 10:14-15; John 3:19; 19:11; Romans 2:9; James 4:17; 2 Peter
2:21)
6) Accountability is proportional to nearness in relationship.
(Obadiah 1:10,12. Also Exodus 21:15; Ezekiel 18:18; Micah 7:2;
Malachi 2:10; Matthew 10:14-15; John 19:11; Romans 2:9; 1 Timothy
5:8.)
7) I will bless those who bless you, And
the one who curses you I will curse (Genesis 12:3).
This
principle is in reference to how individuals as well as nations
relate to Israel. (Compounded with the principles of nearness and
knowledge, woe be to Jewish anti-Semites!).
In Genesis 39:1-5,
Potiphar, an Egyptian, initially treated Joseph well, and
the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house on
account of Joseph; thus the LORD'S blessing was upon all that he
owned, in the house and in the field (verse 5). However,
when Egypt enslaved Israel, God brought upon them devastating and
grievous plagues and the destruction of their army (Exodus 6-14).
8) God may judge by giving what is insisted upon, even if it is
contrary to His will or Law.
The Israelites in the wilderness grumbled
because of the manna that God had given them, desiring meat. He
therefore declared that He would give them
meat [quail (Numbers
11:31-32)] until it comes out of your
nostrils and becomes loathsome to you because you have rejected the
LORD (Numbers 11:4-6,18-20. Also 1 Samuel 8:5-22; Romans 1:28-32;
Luke15:11-17).
9) God may judge Israel directly, without intermediaries.
He judged
them in the wilderness with serpent bites and forty years of
unnecessary wandering (Numbers 21:6; 32:13).
10) God may judge Israel through the intermediary use of Gentile
nations though they may not even recognize that they are being used
as rods of God's judgment.
This is why God called Nebuchadnezzar,
My servant (Jeremiah 25:9),
though he burned Solomon's temple and led Judah captive.
11) When Israel worships the gods of her neighbors or makes ungodly
covenants or alliances with them, He may use those very nations to
judge her.
(Judges 2:2,13-14; 3:7-9; Daniel 9:27 with Isaiah
28:14-22)
12) The presence of a remnant of
believers in Israel who are faithful to God, even a very small remnant,
moves God to prevent the nation's destruction. To put it positively, it
moves Him to preserve its existence against forces that would seek to
destroy it.
(Isaiah 65:8-9; Romans 9:27-29 with 1 Kings 19:1-18)
4. God's Judgments upon Israel in the Tanach (Old Testament)
Four major periods of calamity will be considered: Israel in Egypt,
Israel under the Judges, the Assyrians captivity, the Babylonian
captivity.
a. Israel in Egypt
During Israel's sojourn in Egypt, she suffered the casting of her
newborn sons into the Nile and centuries of slavery. (Exodus 1:22;
12:40-41; Acts 7:6). Was this a judgment of God?
God gave Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the Land that extended from the
Wadi El Arish, a watercourse that empties into the southeast corner
of the Mediterranean9, eastward to the
Euphrates (Genesis 12:1,7; 15:17-18). However, because of famine,
Abraham left the Land for Egypt and got into trouble with Pharaoh
(Genesis 12:10-20). In Genesis 26, also because of famine, Isaac
considered going to Egypt; yet, God told him plainly,
2. Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the
land of which I shall tell you.3. Sojourn in this land and I will be
with you and bless you. Note: God instructed him not to go
to Egypt even to avoid starvation, but to trust Him in the Land.
Likewise because of famine, Jacob sent Joseph's brothers to Egypt to
buy grain (Genesis 41:57 - 42:3). Not only that, but the brothers
had previously sold Joseph to Midianites headed for Egypt, where
Joseph was sold into slavery (Genesis 37:28).The dye had been cast:
Jacob and ten of his sons trusted in the provision of Egypt rather
than the provision of the
Lord in the Land. Therefore, God judged them by giving them what
they wanted. He encouraged Jacob to take his family to Egypt, and
oppression and bondage followed (Genesis 46:2-3).
b. Israel Under the Judges
7. The sons of
Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot
the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8.
Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, so that
He sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of
Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim
eight years. 9. When the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, the
LORD raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver
them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
~ Judges 3:7-9 ~ |
Israel worshiped the gods of the
heathen nations and suffered divine judgment by the hand of those
nations; but when they cried out to the true God, He delivered them.
More than six such cycles appear in Judges, but six times we find
the phrase, the sons of Israel again did
evil in the sight of the LORD to mark the beginning of a
new cycle (3:7; 3:12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1). The Book of Judges is a
catalog of ghastly evils committed within Israel; but the one
mentioned specifically in the book's overview is idolatry (2:11,13).
When Israel engaged in this root evil, all other evils followed in
its train, and judgment ensued.
c. The Assyrian Captivity
When the northern kingdom of Israel engaged in idolatry and the evil
practices of her neighbors, the Lord judged them by the hand of
Assyria, who destroyed their capital city, Samaria, in 722 B.C.E.10,
and dispersed most of Israel's population to various locations in
the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 15:29; 17:3-12; 18:11-12; 1 Chronicles
5:26; Isaiah 10:5-6).
d. The Babylonian Captivity
The southern kingdom, Judah, also sank into idolatry (Jeremiah
3:6-10). Also, for four hundred and ninety years they ignored the
Mosaic command to give its agricultural lands the required
seventh-year Sabbath rests (Leviticus 25:1-8), which amounted to
seventy neglected years. For these reasons, the Lord raised up the
Babylonians to destroy Solomon's Temple in 587 B.C.E. and led Judah
into captivity for seventy years (Leviticus 26:34-35,43; 2 Kings 25;
II Chronicles 36:20-21; Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10).
4. Considering 70 and
135 C.E.
There were two dispersions of the nation out of the Land before the
Common Era, the Egyptian and Assyrian-Babylonian, and both were
judgments. The Common Era has seen only one: the two-stage
dispersion of 70 and 135 C.E. at the hand of the Romans. Until the
early decades of the twentieth century, that dispersion was virtually
complete. Today, more than half the world's Jews are still in the
Diaspora (Dispersion). Could this dispersion and its ensuing
tragedies have been a judgment as were the first two?
The combined tragedies that have befallen Israel in the last two
thousand years are at least equal in severity to the Egyptian and
Assyrian-Babylonian captivities. Based on this comparison alone, the
only reasonable conclusion is that the present dispersion is
likewise a judgment of God; but let us consider insights from the
Tanach, the New Testament, the Talmud and Josephus.
a. Insights from the Tanach
1)
Consequences for Obedience and Disobedience
Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 promise blessings in the Land when
Israel is obedient to God:
Deuteronomy 28:
1. Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your
God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command
you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the
nations of the earth. . . . 3. Blessed shall you be in the
city, and blessed shall you be in the country. . . . 13. The
LORD will make you the head and not the tail. . . .
Leviticus 26:6: I shall also grant
peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making
you tremble. . . . and no sword will pass through your land.
|
Inversely, when Israel is
disobedient, such ghastly disasters are promised as can easily
describe the lot of the nation since 70 C.E. They can be summed up
thusly:
Leviticus 26:
14. But if you do not obey Me. . . . 17. I will set My face
against you so that you will be struck down before your
enemies; and those who hate you will rule over you, and you
will flee when no one is pursuing you.
Deuteronomy 28: 15. But it shall come
about, if you do not obey the LORD your God. . . 16. Cursed
shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the
country. . . . 20: The LORD will send upon you curses,
confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do. . . because
you have forsaken Me. 43. The alien who is among you . . . .
44. shall be the head, and you will be the tail. |
2) Conclusion and
Consideration
On the basis of the above passages, the general lot of Israel since
70 C.E. can reasonably be seen as judgment for disobedience. Indeed,
God Himself declared that Israel had broken the Law, and that He
would establish a new and different covenant:
31. "Behold, days
are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
32. not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in
the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land
of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a
husband to them," declares the LORD. 33. "But this is the
covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after
those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them
and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people."
~ Jeremiah 31:31-33 ~ |
Israel broke the Mosaic Covenant
on numerous occasions; but was there one event in particular that
brought about the 70 C.E. and 135 C.E. judgment?
In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses told the people,
15. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me
from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.
Not just any prophet, but one like Moses, towering above the rest.
We know that God judged Israel severely in the wilderness when she
rebelled against Moses (Numbers 21:5-6, 32:13, etc.). Surely, if
Israel would rebel against this new prophet, severe judgment could
be expected, as well. Who could this prophet be?
b. Insights from the
New Testament
There are dozens of parallels between the lives of Moses and Yeshua, but one parallel stands above the rest: They each spoke
with God face to face. (Moses: Exodus 33:10-11; Numbers 12:6-8; Deuteronomy 34:10.
Yeshua: Matthew 11:27; John 1:18; John 5:19; 6:46; 8:38; 10:15,30;
14:10). Indeed, the scattering of the nation to
the four corners of the earth
(Isaiah 11:12) did not take place until Israel rejected Yeshua
though he proved Himself repeatedly in accordance with detailed
prophecies and Pharisaic benchmarks.
Now consider His words after His rejection:
37. Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are
sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children
together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
and you were unwilling. 38. Behold, your house is being left
to you desolate! 39. For I say to you, from now on you will
not see Me until you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name
of the LORD (quoted from Psalm 118:26)!
"
~ Matthew 23:37-39 ~ |
c. Insights from
the Talmud and Josephus
A number of Jewish legends originate
from this period, all in conjunction with the Temple, and all
dated the same way: forty years before the Temple was
destroyed. The Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and subtracting
forty years gives the date of A.D. 30: the year of the
crucifixion.
Of the many Jewish legends originating in A.D. 30 in
conjunction with the Temple, four things should be mentioned.
First, Josephus mentions that there was a mysterious
extinction of the chief light of the golden lampstand. This
lampstand had seven lamps, with the chief lamp being the
middle one. Suddenly the light of that lamp went out
inexplicably forty years before the Temple was destroyed.
Secondly, another event recorded by both Josephus and the
Talmud is that the very heavy Temple gates suddenly swung open
of their own accord forty years before the Temple was
destroyed, although they had been closed until then.
A third legend says that the lintel of the Temple broke and
fell in the year A.D. 30, forty years before the Temple was
destroyed.The fourth and by far
the most interesting legend is recorded in the Talmud and is
called “The Legend of Azazel.” The Hebrew word Azazel means
“removal.” It is the official name for the scapegoat.
According to Leviticus 16, on the Day of Atonement two goats
were presented before the High Priest. The High Priest would
cast lots to decide which goat would die and which one would
live. The goat chosen to die would be slaughtered and the
blood taken into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled upon the
Mercy Seat. The High Priest would come out, lay his hands upon
the second live goat and confess the sins of Israel. The goat
was then sent out into the wilderness. The point was that
after the shedding of blood there comes the removal of
Israel’s sins into the wilderness.
Because of a statement made in Isaiah 1:18:
though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool, it became a Jewish custom to
tie a red ribbon around the live goat before it was sent out
into the wilderness. As the goat went out, that red ribbon
turned white, symbolizing that God had forgiven the sins of
Israel. The legend of Azazel claims that the red ribbon
stopped turning white forty years before the Temple was
destroyed. As of A.D. 30, God was no longer forgiving the sins
of Israel by means of the two goats of the Day of Atonement.
The reason was that the final sacrifice for sin had been made
that very year by the death of the Messiah.11 |
d. What
Reasonable Conclusion Can We Draw?
Surely, if Yeshua were the heretic of the magnitude He is purported
to be in some Jewish circles, Israel should have been blessed for
rejecting Him. Yet, just forty years after His rejection, His
prophecy came true: Instead of being gathered
to Him as He longed to do, Israel was scattered; and their
house (Temple, בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, Beit HaMikdash,
"House of the Holy") was indeed left to
[them] desolate. The Romans destroyed it in 70 C.E. when
they crushed the First Jewish Revolt, slaughtered or enslaved many
thousands, and scattered multitudes out of the Land. In 135 C.E.
they completed the job when they crushed the Second Jewish Revolt.
Surely Yeshua must have been who He claimed to be: the Messiah of
Israel (Isaiah 61:1-2 with Luke 4:16-21). Is not the rejection of
the long-prophesied Messiah at least as great a sin as idolatry, for which God had
previously judged Israel so severely on multiple occasions?
If Israel had received Yeshua there would be no anti-Semitism today.
He would have gather[ed His] children
together, established His earthly Kingdom, the olam
haba12, and Israel today would be
the head, and not the tail
(Deuteronomy 28:1,13). Now, we must wait for His return to see that
glorious day, which we will see when Israel receives Him as Messiah.
I will
go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and
seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.
~ Hosea 5:15 ~
You will not
see Me until you say, "Blessed is He
who comes in the name of the LORD!"
~ Matthew 23:39 ~ |
Then He will establish His Kingdom:
1. Arise, shine; for
your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon
you. 2. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep
darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you and His
glory will appear upon you. 3. Nations will come to your
light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
~ Isaiah 60:1-3 ~
At that time I will
bring you in, even at the time when I gather you together;
Indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the
peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your
eyes, says the LORD.
~ Zephaniah 3:20 ~
Thus says the LORD of
hosts, In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp
the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have
heard that God is with you."
~ Zechariah 8:23 ~ |
AFTERWORD
Viewing anti-Semitism from God's
perspective provides the most important part of the picture, but not
the full picture. As we conclude this study in our next Shofar, we
will attempt to fill in the picture as we examine the Satanic and
human aspects of anti-Semitism. We will also examine the
oft-repeated allegation that the New Testament promotes
anti-Semitism, and address major contemporary accusations and
justifications for anti-Semitic activities. For now, suffice it to
say that although God uses Gentile nations as His rod of correction
against Israel, both the Tanach and the New Testament make it plain
that God seeks no volunteers! He warns against such "volunteering,"
and declares judgment upon them. God uses the wickedness of the
human race as a tool for the accomplishment of holy purposes while
yet holding all men accountable for their freely chosen offenses.
This, too, we will examine.
Please continue to
Anti-Semitism, Part 2: The Satanic and Human Aspects.
Shalom.
Links to previous
articles in our Israel series
may be found in our
Library.
*
ENDNOTES
1. Paul Johnson,
"The Anti-Semitic Disease," Commentary Magazine, June 2005.
2. Yaakov "Ketzele" Katz, "What Will Prime Minister Netanyahu Say to
the US Congress?" Arutz Sheva Israel National News, 5/20/11.
3. Non-sequitur. A conclusion or statement that does not logically
follow from the previous argument or statement.
4. Johnson, op. cit.
5. Ibid.
6. Judenrein. Free of Jews. A German term used by
the Nazis to designate an area free or cleansed of Jewish presence.
7. Phyllis Chesler, Dr., "Interview with Phyllis Chesler: 'Israel
Under Existential Siege'" Arutz Sheva Israel National News,
2/21/11.
8. Flannery, Edward H. Judaism-now Blogspot,
http://judaism-now.blogspot.com/2010/12/pagan-influance-of-christmas.html.
Judaism-now.
9. The river of Egypt (Genesis
15:18). Not the Nile, but the Wadi El Arish, a seasonal watercourse
that empties into the southeast corner of the Mediterranean.
10. Out of respect for Jews who do not recognize Yeshua as Messiah
or Lord, C.E. (Common Era) is used in place of A.D. (Anno Domini,
the year of our Lord), and B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) is used in
place of B.C. (Before Christ) except where B.C. and A.D. appear in
quotes.
11. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Dr., Messianic Bible Study 070: The
Death and Burial of the Messiah, pdf, 18.
12. Olam haba. Hebrew. Literally, the world (or age) to come.
A rabbinic designation for the Messianic Kingdom.
ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED
READING
STUDIES B DR.
FRUCHTENBAUM: *
Book Length
Messianic Christology (type: Messianic Prophecies in Tanach).
Booklet Length, Various Sizes:
Messianic Bible Studies:
005: How to Destroy the Jews.
041: The Dispensations of God
* Dr. Fruchtenbaum's materials are available
for purchase at
Ariel Ministries
in various formats. Many of his Messianic Bible Studies are also available for free online reading at Ariel's
Come and See.
Other select materials and resources are also available at Ariel.
OTHER RESOURCES
Flannery, Edward H. The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three
Centuries of Antisemitism, first published 1965; latest edition:
Mahwah, Paulist Press, 2004.
Leventhal, Barry, Dr. "Can a Christian Be an Anti-Semite?"
Association of Messianic Congregations,
http://www.messianicassociation.org/a-bl-antisem.htm.
Zuckerman, Mortimer B.. "Graffiti On History's Walls," October 29,
2003, Jewish World Review,
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/mort/zuckerman_new_anti_sem.php3.
For general facts on anti-Semitism and daily
news updates from an Israeli point of view, the author recommends sources in
the "Modern Israel and World Jewry" and "News of Israel and World Jewry"
sections of our
Resources page. |