295 Anti-Semitism – What the Bible says.
My Sermon today is about the tragedy of human hatred.
Anti-Semitism is far too ancient, too persistent, too well organized to have its origins in the mind of man. Indeed, the scholarly Edward Flannery calls it “…the longest and deepest hatred of human history.” We have to ask ourselves, – why do the nations always plot against the Jews? Why do the nations hate Israel? The Jewish people ask this same question… year after year!
There is a very simple explanation to this question. The nations hate God. Because they hate God, they also hate His Word, the Bible, and His people, the Jews. After all, there is nothing quite so upsetting to the modern ear, (including some well meaning Christians) as to hear of a universal standard of truth or a “chosen people.” But perhaps the real focus of this great and ancient hatred is God’s Messiah. The term “Messiah” is simply the Hebrew word for “Christ.” The Psalmist asked: “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?” Psalm 2:1,
and hints of an otherworldly source for the ancient hatred that has always plagued the Jewish people.
This hatred comes out clearly as we continue to read the rest of Psalm 2: verses 2&3 say: “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One [Messiah]. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters.’ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”
Yes, the nations hate God… and they hate Israel. But primarily, they hate the Messiah, Yeshua Jesus. This is the problem with the restored Israel. It reminds godless nations that there is a God and that His Prophetic Word has come true. It reminds them that God has installed his Messiah on Zion’s holy hill (Psalm 2:6). In this Psalm, God even calls him “my Son”.(v7) Israel reminds the sinful world of God’s rule, and of His Laws. People today hate these ideas. Thus we must conclude that anti-Semitism, at its heart, is anti-God, anti-Bible, and anti-Christ. How truly sad that the Christian church has also become entangled in it over the centuries.
The world, apart from the church, Israel and Israel’s gospel is lost and doomed. To compound this problem, the world has been misled by scores of godless philosophers, beginning with the Greeks and continuing to modern times. Yet, there is no room in all their thoughts for God. Israel would never have come into existence were it not for a very strong Biblical and Zionist sentiment remaining in England and other parts of Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There were the great Christian leaders like Lord Shaftsbury, who had ” Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” engraved on his ring. There were many other deeply Christian political leaders like Benjamin Disraeli, David Lloyd George, and Rev. William Heckler who encouraged Theodore Hetzl to pursue the founding of the State of Israel… and Lord Balfour, England’s Prime Minister, who was responsible for the Balfour Declaration virtually creating the State of Israel.
Whatever Israel does, the media seem to always focus more on the Arabs and the Palestinian suffering… and down-play the sufferings of the Israeli’s. One thing seems certain. The hatred of Israel will grow. As nations, one after another, lose their Christian roots, there will be no reason left to support Israel.
It is never advantageous to support Israel from the natural viewpoint anyway. It is only in the spiritual realm that Israel support makes any sense!
Today throughout Europe, and in Britain and Ireland as well, the Zionist sentiment has turned sour. Europe has lost its biblical basis and has become a haven for howling anti-Semites. Not only is this growing anti-Semitism seen in Europe, but it is rapidly rising throughout the world today. It is truly amazing and even perplexing those nations like Japan, with virtually no Jews, is still quite anti-Semitic.
In the Middle East, 870,000 Jews were expelled from all the Arab Moslem nations when Israel became a state. Most were forced out, minus their property, possessions and wealth. These nations have few Jews left, yet their continuing hatred of the Jews burns hotter every year. Egypt has only a handful of Jews left, but is one of the most anti-Semitic nations on earth. Her papers are filled weekly with gross anti-Semitic articles and cartoons. All of this is in spite of a so-called peace treaty with Israel.
The rapid growth of anti-Semitism is seen clearly in the United Nations. The tiny nation of Israel has much less than one-half of one percent of the world’s population, yet she takes up about a third of the UN’s time and energies, mostly resulting in condemnations. The UN still passes about thirty anti-Israel resolutions every year. The UN, who should be the paragon of fairness, has often openly supported Israel’s enemies. When Israel pushed into Lebanon in 1982 to root out the PLO, she was amazed to find the UN facility there being used as a terrorist training base. Such a thing has happened on more than one occasion. It was UN vehicles that were used in the Hezbollah kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers on the Lebanon border.
The event was even filmed by a UN member.
Israel distrusts the United Nations and why?
Although it was the United Nations vote that made Israel possible in 1947, since that time the organization has become extremely anti-Israel. UN resolutions over the years have been heavily weighted against Israel. From 1947 until 1989, there were 321 General Assembly resolutions in condemnation of Israel. During this same period there were no resolutions condemning any Arab state or the PLO. Although Israel is one of the older members of the UN, she has remained as the only member state excluded from serving on the Security Council?
This is especially odd since Syria, a widely known “rogue state,” served on that council. One European diplomat quipped that Israel is “the only permanent non-member of the council.”
The current peace plan and all previous plans’ objective was, is and will always be, to get Israel out of her land. That should not be surprising since these plans were formulated some years back by “The Quartet” (the US, the UN, the European Union and Russia). Three out of four of these members are sworn enemies of Israel.
Let us do a quick recap of this latest plan…
Some of the main points are as follows… Israel must dismantle all outposts and freeze all settlement activity, even including natural growth for the hundreds of thousands of Jewish residents living in the disputed territories and in East Jerusalem? Israel must withdraw from all areas it entered after the intifada (Arab uprising)? It must also end all “occupation” that began in 1967…?
There is one thing for sure and certain. Before this evil age plays out, all the nations of the world will come together in one “final solution” to solve the Israel “problem.”
After all, how can we doubt that the nations, who have persecuted Israel for four thousand years, will not follow her home? We could say that the devil will draw them, and in one sense that is true, for the Bible tells us that deceiving spirits will come out of the Middle East and lure all nations into this dreadful war against Israel (Revelations 16:14).
The actual truth is that God will do the drawing…!
God says: “I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat”. Joel 3.
WHY…? He tells us! …There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land” Joel 3:2. This great battle is the last one for this age, and will in fact end the age. The battle will largely be fought in the beautiful Jezreel Valley near an ancient hill called Har Meggido (Mount Megiddo). We know it as Armageddon (Revelations 16:16). It is such a strategic spot for the nations to gather and attempt to cut Israel in two.
Precisely at that moment, just when it looks like all is lost, something truly incredible will happen… The Messiah of Israel, Yeshua (Jesus) will suddenly appear on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). He will be accompanied by the shining armies of heaven… saints and angels. Immediately, He will destroy the Antichrist and all his massed forces. And YES, He will do so with the brightness of His coming and with the Word of His mouth (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
YES, that is the way it will end, and it sounds rather strange to our Christian ears. We always thought He was coming just for us Gentiles. Yet, our blessed Saviour is coming back to earth also to rescue Israel from the rage of the nations!
We read …”And I will turn you back, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed most perfectly, a great assembly with buckler and shield, all of them swordsmen; Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his bands; the house of Togarmah from the recesses of the north, and all his bands; and many peoples with you. Be prepared; yea, prepare for yourself, you and all your assembly that are assembled to you, and be a guard to them. Ezekiel 38: 4 – 7
The prophecy in Ezekiel 38:12 claims that Russia will invade the land “to take a spoil, and to take a prey.”
Ezekiel describes the confederated forces under Gog as being drawn out like a huge whale… with hooks in its jaws in the midst of the seas. God is represented as saying; “I will put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth . . .” (v. 4). There are some well baited hooks in the Middle East, well calculated to draw the Northern Gogian forces to their doom. Part of the bait is the lure of oil which is a key element in modern conditions.
At the present time, Russia has become an importer of oil. And the rich oil of the Middle East will seem most attractive bait to Russia. Further “bait”… is the strategic position of Israel and Egypt; for the Middle East is the bridgehead to three main continents: Europe, Asia and Africa, and its domination are necessary to a nation bent on world conquest. Third attractive “bait” is the fact that Jerusalem is a holy city to the three great religions of the world; Christianity, Judaism and Islam, (however only promised by God to one, Judaism). Russia together with its Muslim allies on the other hand, could make that consideration of prime importance to an invading force.
So here is part of the bait that will cause Russia, with the confederated forces of Europe, to turn covetous eyes towards the Middle East and Israel in particular?
And, after all, Israel has no OIL… correct? Incorrect!
In case anyone missed it just recently, oil has been discovered
in Northern Israel. Israel is not waiting for an oil discovery – it’s already happened! The oil has and is being produced and sold. What’s more, the exploration company, Givot Olam, based its search for oil in Israel on the Scriptures. That’s right! Oil has been discovered in Israel, based on Bible passages predicting the discovery and its location.
Jacob’s Blessing, recorded in Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33, is the prophecy of a last day’s oil discovery. Jacob’s descendants will be blessed from the “deep that crouches beneath”; “for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth.” Issachar and Zebulun “shall suck of the abundance of
the seas and of treasures hid in the sand.” Asher will “dip his foot in oil.”
And, after all, Israel has no GAS… correct? Incorrect!
The largest reserve of natural gas, over 16 trillion cubic feet, has been discovered off the coast of Israel, and is estimated to be worth more than $95 billion, U.S. company Noble Energy Inc. announced this in December 2010.
This reserve is the largest amount of natural gas discovered in the world in the last decade and is located offshore of Haifa and 29 miles southwest of the Tamar discovery. The prophecy of oil and gas in Israel isn’t going to be fulfilled someday ~
it is being fulfilled as I speak!
So, God has a people (the Jews) and He has a land (Israel). He has never changed his mind about either! He has a plan for His people IN the land. If we had lived a century or so ago, we would have sounded like crazy people had we talked about Israel returning to her land. Yet, it has now happened, and much of it in the lifetime of people living today!
For centuries the devil, that unseen spiritual enemy, has lied about the people of Israel. It therefore shouldn’t surprise us that he has lied about the land of Israel as well. It is probably the most lied about piece of real estate on the face of the earth today. Let us carefully look at the land and try to separate fact from fiction. We need to be prepared however, because peeling off the lies and fiction will be much like peeling an onion.
Today we hear much about Palestine, Palestinians, Palestinian rights, and even a Palestinian state… It might surprise us to learn that far into the 20th century, Arabs vehemently denied being called Palestinians, while strangely, it was the Jews who were referred to by this title. In the early 20th century, the Jewish English newspaper, The Jerusalem Post was called The Palestine Post, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was then called the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra. The esteemed Arab historian, Philip Hitti, stated before the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry in 1946, “There is no such thing as Palestine in World or Arab history, absolutely not.” This strange statement was corroborated by several other Arab leaders at that time.
There was no Palestine in the time of David, or in New Testament times. In the New Testament the land was referred to as Israel, not as Palestine (Matthew 2:20). Yeshua (Jesus) was not a Palestinian! Contrary to what the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has claimed. In fact, no one had ever heard of Palestine in His day? He was Jewish, he wore a Prayer Shawl and quoted from the Torah (the Books of Moses) and attended the appointed Jewish Feasts. Palestine was a name given to the land of Judea after the unsuccessful ending of the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome in AD 135.
It was a name given in derision by the Romans. The land was re-named after the ancient Philistines, those proverbial enemies of Israel, in an attempt to sever its Jewish connection. At that time, Rome also killed or expelled many of the Jews.
The Romans were NOT the first people in history to try and steal the heritage of Israel; they just did the most thorough job of it. Prior to them many other ancient enemies of Israel also tried to take the land. Most of them tried by force and failed. Some of these were the Edomites, Ishmaelites and Moabites, ancient ancestors of the modern Arabs. The attacks of surrounding enemies in biblical times are carefully recorded for us in Psalm 83 and are still the enemies of Israel today.
With the rise of Islam in the seventh century AD, we begin to see the true dimensions to this ancient contest. The land of Israel was the first major target of the conquering Islamic armies. Somehow after their conquest… they were strangely compelled to build their Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount. By doing this, they drove their claim deep into the very heart of Judaism. For the next 1300 years, with the exception of the brief Crusader episode, Islam controlled the land of Israel.
The PLO leaders, in their many attempts to revise history and the Bible, would have us believe that Palestine was a virtual Arab paradise prior to the coming of the ‘evil’ Jews.
The stark truth today is that there NEVER was a Palestinian nation in all the annals of human history. There never were a distinct Arab-Palestinian people. The Arab-Palestinian identity is a complete fabrication, an absolute fiction, a lie and a fraud.
A political plan to steal away Israel’s heritage!
Syria too, sits right in the middle of stolen property. God promised that the land of Israel would run “from the river of Egypt, the Nile, to the great river, the Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18). It is the oldest recorded and universally published title deed in the world, made by the Creator Himself. Syria is centred on that very track of land. Much of that land was given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (the Jewish people) as an eternal inheritance (Genesis 17:8). It was specifically not given to Ishmael or Arab ancestors (Genesis 17:20-21).
With the present pressuring of Israel to withdrawal to 1967 borders; touching holy Jerusalem, not even the beautiful Galilee is safe. After all, the Galilee now has as many Arabs as Jews. So, what is going on? We can be certain that biblical prophecies will all be fulfilled and certain that Israel will someday possess her mountains and live peacefully upon them (Ezekiel 36:1-15). Yet looking closely at Biblical Prophecy we see that there is much more deadly warfare still ahead for the mountain areas of Israel.
NOW THIS FINAL WORD.
God has not forgotten Ishmael nor the Arab world, and it is Gods intention to include the Arab, the Christian and the Jew in his “one new man” plan. Let me end today by reading from Isaiah 19 and verses 20 -25
Isaiah 19:20-25
(20) And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.
(21) And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.
(22) And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.
(23) In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.
(24) In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
(25) Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
Thank God that “our ways” are not “His ways”
God Bless you.
Amen