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| The New Anti-Semitism |
Nearly 2,500 years ago, the Lord spoke these words to the prophet Zechariah: "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves." (Zechariah 12:2-3)
While the prophecy describes the future event called Armageddon when the armies of the world will gather together and attempt to annihilate Israel, it also reveals the world's increasing hostility toward the Jewish nation in the last days preceding the return of Jesus Christ.
The world has indeed grown so hostile toward Israel these days that "Never Again", the promise the world made to the Jews at the end of World War II that it would never again remain silent and allow them to be persecuted by evil tyrants such as Adolf Hitler, is indeed happening again.
Why have the Jews been maligned and persecuted throughout the world for centuries? Because they're under a powerful curse that traces back to the time of the prophet Jeremiah who lived during the 6th century B.C.
These are the words the Lord spoke to Jeremiah: "I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them. I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors." (Jeremiah 24:9-10)
But why? What did the ancient Jews do that so angered the Lord that He pronounced judgment upon them? They continually broke His laws and violated His covenant He established with them through Moses. And the Lord sent numerous prophets to warn the Jews to repent or face the consequences. Those warnings occurred over a span of several centuries, so it wasn't as though the curse came as a surprise.
Some folks claim that the Jews came under a curse after they rejected Christ as their Messiah. But the Jews had already rejected God centuries before Christ came into the world.
During the time of the ancient prophet Samuel, the Jews asked for a human king to rule over them, prompting the Lord to tell Samuel this: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights." (1 Samuel 8:7-9)
Thus, the Jews have lived in rebellion against God for over 3,000 years. And yet, despite their chronic rebellion, the Lord has preserved a remnant of them throughout history. Just as the world's ageless persecution of the Jews defies logic, so does the fact that the Jews continue to exist today despite the numerous attempts to destroy them throughout the ages.
In fact, the Jews are currently celebrating Purim, a festival dedicated to their triumph over the evil Haman the Agagite who sought to annihilate them about 2,500 years ago while they were living in captivity under the Persians.
Concerning the remnant of the Jews, the apostle Paul wrote this: "I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 'Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me.' And what was God’s answer to him? 'I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace." (Romans 11:1-5)
That remnant has been preserved by God throughout the centuries. The existence of the Jews today isn't a coincidence, despite the incredible hostility they've endured wherever they've gone in the world throughout history. They've been preserved by the hand of God.
And the return of Israel as a sovereign world nation in 1948 after 1,800 years also fulfilled God's promises He made to His ancient prophets. However, the world--including a significant portion of the Christian church--refuses to believe that Israel's reestablishment 67 years ago had anything to do with God.
To the contrary, much of the world and part of the church are determined to eliminate Israel. They'll fail, but they'll keep trying. In Part II, why the Islamic world is determined to destroy Israel and eliminate the Jews.
Why have the Jews been maligned and persecuted throughout the world for centuries? Because they're under a powerful curse that traces back to the time of the prophet Jeremiah who lived during the 6th century B.C.
These are the words the Lord spoke to Jeremiah: "I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them. I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors." (Jeremiah 24:9-10)
But why? What did the ancient Jews do that so angered the Lord that He pronounced judgment upon them? They continually broke His laws and violated His covenant He established with them through Moses. And the Lord sent numerous prophets to warn the Jews to repent or face the consequences. Those warnings occurred over a span of several centuries, so it wasn't as though the curse came as a surprise.
Some folks claim that the Jews came under a curse after they rejected Christ as their Messiah. But the Jews had already rejected God centuries before Christ came into the world.
During the time of the ancient prophet Samuel, the Jews asked for a human king to rule over them, prompting the Lord to tell Samuel this: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights." (1 Samuel 8:7-9)
Thus, the Jews have lived in rebellion against God for over 3,000 years. And yet, despite their chronic rebellion, the Lord has preserved a remnant of them throughout history. Just as the world's ageless persecution of the Jews defies logic, so does the fact that the Jews continue to exist today despite the numerous attempts to destroy them throughout the ages.
In fact, the Jews are currently celebrating Purim, a festival dedicated to their triumph over the evil Haman the Agagite who sought to annihilate them about 2,500 years ago while they were living in captivity under the Persians.
Concerning the remnant of the Jews, the apostle Paul wrote this: "I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 'Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me.' And what was God’s answer to him? 'I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace." (Romans 11:1-5)
That remnant has been preserved by God throughout the centuries. The existence of the Jews today isn't a coincidence, despite the incredible hostility they've endured wherever they've gone in the world throughout history. They've been preserved by the hand of God.
And the return of Israel as a sovereign world nation in 1948 after 1,800 years also fulfilled God's promises He made to His ancient prophets. However, the world--including a significant portion of the Christian church--refuses to believe that Israel's reestablishment 67 years ago had anything to do with God.
To the contrary, much of the world and part of the church are determined to eliminate Israel. They'll fail, but they'll keep trying. In Part II, why the Islamic world is determined to destroy Israel and eliminate the Jews.
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