HOLOCAUST AND ANTI-SEMITISM, by Raphael ben Levi
Today, in our 4-part study of the Holocaust we shall continue to explore in greater depth the interplay between the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and biblical prophecy.
It is very important for believers who love the Jewish people and Israel to understand the Holocaust for a variety of reasons not least because it represents the substance of anti-Semitism which has filled the Church under the banner of Christianity for nearly 2 millennia. The church was complicit in the Holocaust for the death of 6-million Jews. To pretend otherwise is worse than burying one’s head in the ground, it is criminal and by so doing one chooses 6-million times to kill one Jew.
In view of this, it is no surprise that most Jews consider it unthinkable to give any serious consideration to convert, and this is indeed a big hurdle for true believers to grapple with. Whenever a Jewish person becomes a believer in Yeshua he is generally marked as persona non grata by the community and ostracised for embracing a faith that represents the worst in persecution over 2 millennia under the banner of the Cross. It is indeed a great problem.
Many believers claim that no true born-again believer would persecute the Jew, but this sadly belies the facts. Others, insist that instead of pointing fingers at the hypocrisy and shortcomings of the Church, the Jewish people should let bygones be bygones and focus more on the validity of biblical claims in Scripture. If they took the trouble to do so, they would discover the Jewish Jesus, the promised Messiah, instead of the Jesus represented by the Crusades, pogroms, expulsions and other demonic anti-Semitic expressions focused against them. This type of lopsided argument is very prevalent within the evangelical churches and almost as inexcusable as those who choose blunt ignorance over facing the inconvenient truth about anti-Semitism which the Holocaust did nothing but nurture. Today, anti-Semitism is alive and well and more rampant than ever before.
Hitler regularly quoted from the Protestant reformer Martin Luther in his public speeches, and the vast majority of German Christians and conservative evangelicals followed his path of theological thinking which only served to fuel their hatred of the Jewish people; Luther’s revelation of justification by faith became a creed which was overshadowed by a distorted ‘justification’ to slaughter Jews, ignoring the fact that Yeshua, His disciples and the entire early church were Jewish!
When one considers the Holocaust, a question that always surfaces is why a loving God could have allowed the Holocaust to occur, yet a better question would be, “Why did the denominational churches turn a blind eye to the Holocaust?” Again, the root is exposed through the ugly spectre of anti-Semitism promoted and expressed throughout the Church age through erroneous and anti-Semitic teachings such as Replacement Theology introduced by the Church Fathers from as early as the 2nd century A.D. Contained within this false creed festers all the ingredients which nurtures hatred against the Jewish people.
Replacement Theology (supersessionism) is the teaching that the Christian Church has replaced the Jewish people regarding the plan, purpose, and promises of God and that the homeland of Israel is irrelevant and has no bearing concerning God’s eternal purposes. Supersessionists claim that God’s promises to Israel must be spiritualised to be understood correctly. When the Bible makes reference to Israel’s restoration, they interpret it as a reference to the Church not the Jew and all biblical covenants made with Israel have now been transferred.
‘Replacement Theology,’ (or ‘Supersessionism’) was introduced by various influential figures who included the Church Fathers. from the 2nd onwards. Its roots were firmly embedded in violent anti-Semitic statements. It did not take long for it to become embedded as an official doctrine adapted by the Roman Catholic Church around the period of the Emperor Constantine in 325AD.
You will have seen in Chapter 8a of the book “Bagels and Cream Cheese” several examples of statements made by the Church Fathers who were supposedly godly representatives of the Church, whose influence has continued throughout the centuries to the present time. People such as Justin Martyr (100-165AD) claimed that God’s covenant with Israel was no longer valid and the Gentiles now replaced the Jews, and Irenaeus (130-202AD) declared that the Jews are disinherited from the grace of God. Quickly, the hate speech and rhetoric increased exponentially. Tertullian (155-230AD) accused the Jews of the death of Yeshua and were, therefore, consequently irrevocably rejected by God. Origen (185-254AD) preached that the Jews were responsible for killing Yeshua. By the time of the Council of Nicaea (325AD in Turkey) a statement was made claiming that “… it is unbecoming beyond measure that on this holiest of festivals we should follow the customs of the Jews. Henceforth let us have nothing in common with this odious people . . .” By the 5th century, during the Middle Ages, the Christian leader, John Chrysostom, paved the way to legitimise the Crusades and other forms of active persecution against the Jewish people: In one of his sermons he stated that “…the synagogue is not only a brothel and a theatre, it is also a den of robbers and lodging place for wild beasts . . . Jews are inveterate murderers possessed by the Devil. Their debauchery and drunkenness give the manners of a pig. This is why I hate the Jews.”
It is no easy thing for one to grapple with the spectre of anti-Semitism throughout church history especially if you are Jewish. From the 2nd Century with the Church Fathers to the 4th Century with the Roman Catholic Church; from the period of the Reformation marked by Martin Luther and many other leaders in the forefront of spiritual renewal unto the present day; the Church world-wide has been saturated with anti-Semitism revealed in many forms and guises. It raises questions that most believers would prefer to leave unchallenged, yet the reality is there and let’s not forget that it only takes a small spark to awaken the smouldering monster.
Is it not biblically impossible for a true believer in Yeshua to be anti-Semitic? Does not the Bible declare clearly that to curse Israel will invoke a curse upon those who do so? Yet, tragically the majority of the Church today, including significant numbers of evangelical believers are anti-Jewish and anti-Israel.
When Christianity became the religion of the State in the 4th century, laws were passed against the Jews, reminiscent of those implemented by the Nazis following their rise to power in 1933. Very quickly in Nazi Germany, all privileges that had been granted to the Jews were systematically withdrawn over the following few years leading to the Holocaust.
Dr David R. Reagan made this statement: “… the terrible truth that Christians do not like to face, and which many are unaware of, is that the Holocaust was the product of 1,900 years of virulent Christian anti-Semitism.”
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and alarmingly we are seeing these same things manifesting in even greater measure post-Holocaust with a new wave of anti-Semitism spreading like wild fire throughout the world. Social media promotes fake news with a strongly anti-Semitic bias that essentially calls everything evil good, and good evil, for example in blaming Israel for the displacement of the Palestinian people who they claim are “victims of Israeli aggression.”
If we had time, it would would have been good to consider the arguments used in support of Replacement Theology and we would clearly see how they are riddled with distortions and contradictions. We must remember that we are dealing here with 2000 years of Church dogma entrenched in anti-Semitic doctrines. This fascinating issue can be explored more deeply in ch. 8b of ‘Bagels and Cream Cheese’ for anyone who may be interested. But, at this point I would like to switch for a moment to briefly consider things concerning the Holocaust prophetically.
The prophets viewed the end times as a broad period that would begin with the restoration of Israel to the Jewish people and end with the triumphant reign of Messiah in the Millennium. The initial phase commenced historically with the first wave of ‘Aliya’ from Eastern Europe in the late 1800s encouraged by great leaders such as Theodore Herzl and Chaim Weismann. Next, came the destruction of the Ottoman Empire in 1917 when Britain liberated Palestine from centuries of Muslim rule which led to the Balfour declaration in 1917. The next 30 years were characterised by broken agreements made by the British where the original land promised to them was carved up where eventually only a fraction of what had been promised remained. This culminated in the infamous White Paper of 1939 around the outset of WW2 where the British Mandate limited Jewish emigration for Europe’s Jews fleeing from the Nazis to only a few thousand refugees a year! Despite everything, out of the Holocaust was birthed the State of Israel in 1948, and in 1967 the unification of Jerusalem following the 6-Day War. This is what Yeshua referred to when He declared how Jerusalem would be trodden down until the times of the Gentiles would be complete in Luke 21:24 a process that began with the destruction of the 1st Temple in 586BC and ended its first phase in 1967. The Greek word translated “fulfilled” in the phrase, “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” is “pleeroo”, and relates to the fulfilment of prophecy. However, this will only be a partial fulfilment.
The phrase the “Times of the Gentiles,” in Luke 21 is found only here in the Bible. When Jerusalem was captured by Israel in the 1967 War, many Bible students thought the times of the Gentiles were over. However, Israel’s secular government returned control of the Temple Mount to the Muslims. Rev 11:1-2 explains when the times of the Gentiles will finally come to a permanent end:
“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”
Remember, Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. This passage tells us that the Gentiles will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months. Forty-two months here refers to the three and a half year period known as the Great Tribulation, preceding the battle of Armageddon. In Rev 13:5, we are told that power was given to the beast (the Antichrist) to continue forty-two months. This is the same forty-two months that will conclude the Times of the Gentiles.
There is a related phrase used by Paul in Rom.11:25 where he refers to the “Fullness of the Gentiles” again mentioned in this one place only. In what way do these two terms differ? Simply, the Times of the Gentiles marks the time when Israel initially established political control over Jerusalem, in 1967 after nearly 200 years, but the Fullness of the Gentiles will only occur when the full number of Jew and Gentile believers is complete at the return of Yeshua at the end of the Great Tribulation after Jerusalem has been trodden down for 42 months.
Jer.30:7, speaks of Israel experiencing a time of unprecedented suffering during the Great Tribulation, out of which God will ultimately deliver them, but at a terrible price: “How dreadful that day will be! — there has never been one like it: a time of Jacobs Trouble, (i.e., the descendants of Jacob represented by the 12 tribe of Israel) but out of it he (the Jewish people) will be saved.”
Verse 8 states that: “On that day (at the end of that period) I the Lord will break his yoke from off your neck, I will snap your chains. Foreigners will no longer enslave him.”
At the end of Jacob’s Trouble, when God will liberate Israel and destroy those responsible for their suffering, the Fullness of the Gentiles (Rom. 11:25) will come to an end. The influence of all the nations of the earth, who have contributed directly or indirectly to the time of Jacob’s Trouble will now come to a close.
God has judged Israel for her spiritual infidelity (e.g. currently through permitting constant acts of terrorism and violence from her enemies) yet combined it with miraculous Sovereign acts of intervention. Every war of Israel since 1948 bears testimony to this. This is because His covenants are differentiated from His judgments. However, even this protection will be temporarily suspended in the Tribulation where in Zech 14 two-thirds of Israel will perish during this period.
Over the past two millennia the Jewish people have experienced a constant flow of unrelenting suffering characterised by expulsions, crusades, inquisitions, pogroms and, most recently, the Holocaust: all these things have been a precursor to the future time of Jacob’s Trouble. Nothing, not even the Holocaust is compared to it.
Although some people interpret Jacob’s Trouble as a one-time event restricted to the Tribulation, we can also see how the seeds were sown earlier in the Holocaust leading to the reestablishment of the Jewish homeland. God’s set time to favour Zion was fulfilled as prophesied in Ps.102:13: ”You will arise and take pity on Tzion, for the time has come to have mercy on her; the time determined has come.”
During the period when God pours out His judgments on the earth, He will woo, console, restore, forgive, and ultimately vindicate Israel. It will be the time when God turns Israel’s heart back to Him, having finally brought them to their knees with their pride broken so that finally, “…they will look upon Him whom they have pierced and return to Him with great mourning and weeping.” (Zech. 12:10) This will usher in a time of unprecedented blessing as they acknowledge and understand who their Messiah and Saviour is and Yeshua will rule and reign in the glorious 1000 year period known as the Millennium.
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Here are some other prophetic Scriptures regarding the future of Israel and God’s judgement upon the nations.
(Isai.51:22-23) “this is what your Lord Adonai says, your God, who defends his people: “Here, I have removed from your hand the cup of drunkenness, the goblet of my fury. You will never drink it again. 23 I will put it in the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, ‘Bend down, so we can trample you,’ and you flattened your back on the ground like a street for them to walk on.”
(Isai.34:1-2,8) “Come close, you nations, and listen! Pay close attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and everything in it; the world, with all it produces. For Adonai is angry at every nation, furious with all their armies; he has completely destroyed them, handed them over to slaughter….. For Adonai has a day of vengeance, a year of requital for fighting with Tzion.”
(Zech.1:14-21) “ The angel speaking with me then said to me, “Here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot says: ‘I am extremely jealous on behalf of Yerushalayim and Tziyon; 15 and [to the same degree] I am extremely angry with the nations that are so self-satisfied; because I was only a little angry [at Yerushalayim and Tziyon], but they made the suffering worse.’ 16 Therefore Adonai says, ‘I will return to Yerushalayim with merciful deeds. My house will be rebuilt there,’ says Adonai-Tzva’ot; ‘yes, a measuring line will be stretched out over Yerushalayim.’ 17 In addition, proclaim that Adonai-Tzva’ot says, ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity.’ Adonai will again comfort Tziyon, and he will again make Yerushalayim the city of his choice.”
REFLECTIONS
- Given the shabby history of the Church regarding the Jewish people, what things can we do to readdress this issue?
- Is anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism the same thing? Explain.
- What is ‘spiritual Israel’ as interpreted by Replacement Theology and what problems does it present biblically?
- Following the destruction of the Second Temple in AD70, Church leaders faced a problem. What was it and how did it affect their interpretation of Scripture regarding the Jewish people?
- How can Holocaust victims best deal with anti-Semitism?
- What are the ways in which believers can provoke the Jews to jealousy?
