Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism means to be against Semitism or the Jewish people who are descendants of Shem. Anti-Semitism is hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious or racial group. Anti-Semitic clauses occur throughout the Bible. The first is found in Genesis 12:3 which is part of the Abrahamic Covenant. The study of the Word of God teaches to never allow yourself to fall into the trap of anti-Semitism. This mental attitude has uniformly caused the downfall of nations. Gen. 12:1-3.

“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”“ (Genesis 12:1-3, NASB)

Any nation or individual that maltreats by unjustified persecution the Jews will be punished for it. Human history has many illustrations such as Assyria, Spain, Germany, and the Dreyfus case. The U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence protect the Jews. The principle of God's protection of Israel is found in Zechariah 2:8. Hating Israel incurs the wrath of God.

"For thus says the LORD of hosts, "After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye." (Zechariah 2:8, NASB)

Categories of Jews

There are three categories of an Israelite or Jew. A racial Jew is any member of homo sapiens who possesses even one gene of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It has to be all three, not just Abraham or the Arabs would be Jewish as well.

A religious Jew is a racial Jew that has not accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and lives within the framework of Judaism. They are described in Matthew 23. They are self-righteous, perhaps clean-living people, but lost. Christianity is based on grace where God does the work, man receives the benefit, and God gets the credit. Legalism is where man does the work, God is supposed to receive that work, and man gets the credit. Legalism and religion are the same.

A regenerate Jew is a racial Jew that has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and is described in Romans 9:6-14. Israel is the only nation founded on regeneration. Abraham started life as a Chaldean. Through acceptance of the saving work of the Messiah to come, Abraham believed. Gen. 15:6.

"But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED."" (Romans 9:6-7, NASB)

"Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:6, NASB)

Abraham believed. In Genesis 15:6, “he believed” is the hiphil perfect of אמן ('âman) and means he becomes the father of the Jewish race. He had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was not saved and remained a Gentile. Isaac was saved and continued the line of Israel, which comes through him.

Isaac had twin sons. Esau remained an unbeliever and a Gentile. Jacob became a believer the night he wrestled with the angel who was actually the Lord Jesus Christ. Gen. 32:24.

"Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak." (Genesis 32:24, NASB)

The line of Israel follows through the regenerated Jacob. Thus, Israel was also responsible for the Word of God and was made custodians in the Old Testament of the Scriptures and their outreach.

The History of Anti-Semitism

History indicates that anti-Semitism is largely why Gentile nations have fallen. Zechariah records the hatred of Babylon (Chaldea) for the Jews. Babylon was destroyed. In Isaiah 37:36, the Assyrian Empire was violating the Semitic clause and in one day 185,000 soldiers were killed. One of the mysteries of history is the quick fall (3 months) of Assyria in 612 BC. However Nahum 3 and Isaiah give us the details.

"Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead." (Isaiah 37:36, NASB)

Persia had a good attitude toward the Jews and rose to become a worldwide power. Cyrus was a believer, as well as the two different rulers named Darius and Artaxerxes. Alexander the Great was favorable to the Jews and used them extensively as administrators in the cities he founded. Alexander the Great’s General Seleucus, who inherited part of the Grecian empire was very anti-Jew. He quickly went down the tubes. Study the history of the Seleucids.

Antiochus III and especially Antiochus IV were hostile toward the Jews. The latter sacrificed 10,000 Jewish boys on the temple altar in one day and then 10,000 pigs the next. This caused the famous Maccabean war to begin and in three years he was defeated. The victory was celebrated on the 25th of December, 163 BC, the Hannukah, or Feast of Lights. No one really knows the exact day when Christ was born, but in 445 AD, the Holy Roman Empire made the 25th of December an official holy day after the heathen winter god Soltis.

However, don’t be anti-Christmas. The believer can worship the living resurrected Christ without any pagan overtones. Just remember, our Savior isn’t a baby now. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father.

The Roman Empire under Julius Caesar had a favorable attitude toward the Jews, as such the Roman Empire prospered.

Spain almost became a great empire and controlled Holland, France, Italy, and Eastern Europe. In 1492, Columbus was sent out from Spain. However, Thomas Torquemada, a very cruel man, formed the Spanish Inquisition which was directed toward the Jews. The Jews had become the prosperous middle class and had made Spain prosper. But as a result of hatred for the Jews, Spain quickly became a third rate nation.

The Jews in fleeing went to England to seek refuge. Way back in 1215, the Magna Charta, among other things, was written to protect the Jews in Britain. So, in 1665, Cromwell made England a refuge for the Jews and gave them privileges of citizenship and equality with the other English people. Thus the great rise of England. In the 19th century, the sun never went down on the Union Jack. However, Britain has been going down since the denunciation of the Balfour Declaration.

The fall of France, the terrible things that happened in France in World War I as well as World War II are often attributed to the Dreyfus Affair and other types of anti-Semitism.

The rise and fall of the Third Reich is a fantastic study in defeat. Six million Jews meeting death resulted in the defeat of Germany.

A statement from the Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th edition, volume 13, page 5l (a set not necessarily favorable to the Bible), “It is a noteworthy fact of history that the great conquerors; Alexander the Great, Caesar, Napoleon, have always treated the Jews well. On the other hand, lesser men, endowed with narrower outlooks have failed to recognize the Jew and have sought to crush him. But such methods are contrary to nature and tyranny whether toward the Jew or any other and has never secured any permanent results. The same policy of religious unification has characterized subsequent dynasties from the Assyrians to the Romanoffs, and the same fate has overtaken them. The Jew has survived their disappearance.”

Under our constitution, the United States of America has made religion or the lack of it entirely up to the concern of the individual. It has presented a true picture of freedom based on the Divine Institutions and the Laws of Divine Establishment. This freedom has led to many great waves of evangelism. Three great Ivy League colleges were founded for the sole purpose of training ministers to go out as missionaries to the Indians (Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale). Our educational system was founded by Christian groups to train them in the Bible and also Greek and Hebrew.

Today, our education system has become decadent. The philosophy taught today is to cater to two groups of people: those with high IQ which are only 1 or 2% of students or to those with low IQ which is also a lower percentage of students. Everyone else – the significant majority are left out. On the college level, the college professor is the dullest person in the world. There are a few exceptions. Why? The Ph.D.’s are trained to emphasize the ability to write papers and to publish them. Most large universities hire their faculty on their ability to publish information or to do research and gain research funding. They are not hired to be interesting or engaging public speakers.

The best educational facility in the United States of America is the Military Academy at West Point. The worst problems exist in the liberal art fields, the philosophies, or those who major in the areas of psychology and psychiatry to solve their own problems.

Decadent educational emphasis has historically always resulted in anti-Semitism. However, the reason the United States has kept going in spite of our educational system has been freedom to accept or reject the Gospel, a maximum missionary effort on the part of believers, and the fact that the liberals have had a favorable attitude toward the Jews. However, this shifts when U.S. presidents ignore the arms commitments to Israel, the country’s commitment to protect Israel while the Russians continue to back the Islamic countries that are avowed enemies of the Jew.

How to Evaluate the Jew

Here are some principles to be used in you evaluation of the Jew. Evaluate a Jew as you would any member of the human race. Just because they are a Jew, you are not to show prejudice. You should evaluate all Jews as individuals. The Jews have been under the Fifth Cycle of Discipline since 70 AD. They have been dispersed among the Gentile nations of the world. Israel is a legitimate nation today that fought for their freedom. Rom. 9:6-14.

Jewish American citizen are citizens who also have freedom to take whatever political position they wish. Their social standards should be respected just as your social position should be respected by others. Some Jews are internationalists, but most are not. As born-again believers, Jews are believers for whom Jesus Christ died and provided eternal life. Matt. 7:1-2.

""Do not judge so that you will not be judged. "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1-2, NASB)

Evaluate them as a nation. The Zionism movement is Satanic in nature. Even though Zionism started Israel, Israel has become a relatively conservative nation. They have an agricultural economy and this always makes for conservatism. They realize the value of land and personal property. Most conservative organizations are based on land and private ownership concepts.

The liberal is usually a “have not” who wants what the “haves” have. College kids are notorious for having nothing on the whole. Where do you find these kids spouting liberalism? In colleges and universities when they have nothing. When they get wealthy, then they get concerned and become conservative. This is the basic concept of the Republican party versus the Democratic party.

Evaluate the nation of Israel as you would any other nation. You can admire them in the way they punched Nassar in the nose in the Six Day War. Our Department of Defense could learn from them. Evaluate the Jew as an American. Some of the great American patriots have been Jewish. A Jew even died at the Alamo. Evaluate them according to patriotism, political beliefs, and attitudes. Some Jews are international in thinking. Then, if you know the Word, you would take a dim view toward their ideology. The armed forces have had many Jews of excellent note.

Evaluate a Jew in relation to internationalism. Marx and Engel were Jews, but this does not mean the Communist party is a Jewish organization. The Bible, of course, condemns internationalism. In Genesis 11 the principle is first stated.

Then you must evaluate a Jew after he becomes a believer. You use the same criterion you would to evaluate any believer - the Word of God. Some religious cults have grown up around anti-Semitism. Avoid them like the plague. They are unscriptural and full of mental attitude sins. They may say they love the “true Israelites” and hate the “Jews.” They are confused. Give them a wide berth. Rom. 16:17-18.

"Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting." (Romans 16:17-18, NASB)

Anti-Semitism in the Tribulation

The Tribulation will be the greatest period of anti-Semitism the world has ever known. Rev. 12. Anti-Semitism is Satanic in nature. A warning against anti-Semitism is given in Genesis 12:1-3.

"Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."" (Genesis 12:1-3, NASB)

Anti-Semitism before the Cross involved the lineage of the true humanity of Jesus Christ. The line of Messiah was Jewish and Jews have always been under attack. Mary was a descendant of the family of David who was in the tribe of Judah for example. Anti-Semitism before the Cross attempted to destroy Jesus Christ at birth and up to the Cross. Anti-Semitism before the Cross opposed Israel as a race and was directed, as always, by Satan. Anti-Semitism after the Cross also seeks to destroy all Jews so that God’s four unconditional covenants to Israel cannot be fulfilled at the Second Advent. Rev. 12:3-4.

"Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child." (Revelation 12:3-4, NASB)

Anti-Semitism comes from some strange sources. There is a breed of conservative that is anti-Jew. He blames all the world’s troubles on a Jewish conspiracy. Conspiracies do exist, but they always involve more than the Jews. Anti-Jew thinking can bring discipline on your church. Avoid this mental attitude sin like the plague.

In spite of Satanic attempts, Israel will continue to exist in the world. Israel existed in the Land and still exists out of the Land currently still under the Fifth Cycle of Discipline or the Diaspora. In the middle of the Tribulation, Satan and all fallen angels will be cast out of heaven and confined to the earth. This will be Satan’s second fall. He will increase his persecution of Israel using military strength causing Jewish believers to flee to the mountains. Rev. 12:15.

"And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood." (Revelation 12:15, NASB)

God’s protection for Israel in the Tribulation will be in the form of disturbances on earth, which prevent the armies from following the fleeing regenerate Israel. Probably the 4th and 6th Vial judgments. Satan’s hatred for Israel is the background for the Armageddon Campaign. Rev. 12:17.

"So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." (Revelation 12:17, NASB)