In giving the law to the people at Mount Sinai God warns his people that the children will suffer for the iniquity of their forefathers (Ex.20:5), and this is why the Jews are still suffering in the present day. And it is not only the indirect penalty for the sins of the ancestors that the Jews are suffering, but also because the Jewish people of today are similarly unobservant concerning the demands of the covenant. It has been the national character of the people of Israel to be rebellious and sinful in the eyes of God. It is precisely because they reflect human enmity towards God that they are a demonstration to humanity of the folly of departing from God’s ways.
In Ezekiel chapters 4 and 5, in a prophecy concerning the city of Jerusalem, God warns the people of Israel of a dire fate to come upon the whole nation (4:3 "...a sign for the House of Israel").
It is to be the greatest punishment any people has ever suffered:
And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword; use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard; then take balances for weighing, and divide the hair. A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed; and a third part you shall take and strike with the sword round about the city; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. And you shall take from these a small number, and bind them in the skirts of your robe. And of these again you shall take some, and cast them into the fire, and burn them in the fire; from there a fire will come forth into all the house of Israel. Ezek.5:1-4
This prophecy was made in the days of the Babylonian captivity but can there be any doubt it was none other than a reference to the Holocaust of World War 2? The very word "holocaust" means literally a complete destruction by fire. The enduring image of this event is that of the ovens of Auschwitz. Judgment by fire figures prominently in this prophecy.
Another striking symbol of the Holocaust is the picture of mounds of Jewish corpses littering the ground. This calls to mind another passage:
I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars." Ezek.6:5
When Ezekiel says (v.5:8-9):
Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.
... where in Jewish history would we find an event which corresponds with these words? Could anything worse conceivably occur to the Jews at some future time? In the deaths of the six million this prophecy has been fulfilled for the people of Judah.
The absolute uniqueness of the events of the Holocaust stands as bleak testimony to the inexorability of Bible prophecy, and Christians should be more conscious of the intimate link which exists between the events of Jewish history and the will of God on earth.
Few people seem to be aware of the way in which an event such as the Holocaust calls into play the presence of vastly powerful spiritual forces. We routinely look for villains in the form of the Nazis, or the German people as a whole, in assigning blame for this event, but we overlook the very power of God at work in this episode. Jewish people who experienced the Holocaust, and others, ask "Where was God in all of this?" The answer is, right in the midst of what was happening. This was God himself punishing a people who have been given a special consciousness that they are God’s chosen people but have not served him. Over the death camps loomed towering forces of evil! Why do people speak of the Holocaust as if it were an event totally beyond the human mind to grasp and then dismiss explanations which invoke the supernatural powers of the spiritual world?
God has assigned the number "six" to express the idea of non-completion. When we consider that six million Jews died, in six major concentration camps, during a six year period of Nazi rule, it is a sign that this was God’s ultimate punishment, short of the complete destruction of the Jewish people. It is also worth noting that approximately one third of the Jewish population of the world perished in the Holocaust, which calls to mind the above passage from Ezekiel 5 and Zechariah 13:9, in which a third of God’s chosen people are "put through the fire".
If only Jewish people could see that the Holocaust is all but complete proof that the Jews are the chosen people!
There has been much soul-searching among Christians since the Second World War about the destruction of the Jews perpetrated by so-called Christian nations, often times at the urging of anti-Semitic Christian churches. Guilt feelings have forced a reassessment of the place of the Jews in Christian theology. However it is still apparent that people are not fully conscious of the striking way in which the Jews point the way to an understanding of the working out of the divine plan for humanity. God is revealing himself in history, and no more strikingly so than in the national experience of the Jews!
Throughout the history of man certain elements and symbols recur as the revelation of God becomes clear. These centre on acts of cleansing and sanctification by both water and fire in their turn. Just as there is an Old Covenant and a New Covenant, an old revelation and a new one, a fleshly covenant and a spiritual one; so there is an act of purification by water followed by one of fire. These form an unalterable pattern in God’s dealings with the world in fulfilling the divine plan.
On initiation into a church, the believer submits to the outward sign of repentance called "baptism". This is followed by the baptism of the spirit, the "baptism by fire", spoken of by John the Baptist (Luke 3:16).
Israel had its baptism by water when the people passed through the Red Sea when they escaped from Egypt. Its baptism by fire occurred in the Holocaust of World War II. In Ezekiel 5:2-4 (quoted above) the images of the Holocaust and the baptism of the spirit converge as the prophesied punishment of the people of Israel coincides with the coming of the Messiah and the spiritual purification of the nation. The concentration camps have led to the establishment of the Jewish state, and prepare the Jewish people for the coming of Christ. Out of the fire comes the fulfilment of the Messianic promise.
In fact the whole world is subject to baptisms of water and fire. The baptism of water occurred at the time of the flood when the world was cleansed of its sinfulness and corruption. The prophet Malachi attests to the fact that the world is destined to suffer destruction by fire in the latter days, at Messiah’s coming (Mal.4:1-3 "behold, the day comes burning like an oven"). Today a holocaust in the form of thermonuclear warfare threatens a world every bit as corrupt and evil as it was in the time of Noah. This baptism by fire corresponds with the spiritual purging undergone by the Christian convert who has truly repented of his law breaking, and precedes the coming kingdom of God. In this way the world is bound by its own covenant relationship with the Creator.
Just as the Holocaust of the Jews was a startling demonstration of the power of God and the reality of Bible prophecy, so also was the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
From the time of the expulsion of the Israelites from the land in the exilic period, the Bible emphatically promised a return, and the restoration of the nation of Israel.
Consider the following quotations:
In that day the LORD will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people... Isa.11:11
The LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land... Isa.14:1
They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Isa.61:4
At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you together; yea, I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says the LORD. Zeph.3:20
Therefore, behold the days are coming, says the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country [particularly the former Soviet Union] and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land which I gave to their fathers. Jer.16:14-15
The people of Israel, crucified by humanity in the Holocaust, rose from the dead three prophetic "days" later in 1948, and like the Messiah fulfilled the prophecy recorded in Hos.6:2:
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
With the restoration of the state of Israel we see an entire nation brought back to life. This is a stunning demonstration of the principle of resurrection from the dead that is promised in the Bible to Christians. Because Israel was raised to life after 2000 years, I know that I too can be resurrected and live again in the kingdom of God. The power of God is responsible in both cases.
How is it possible that students of the Bible could fail to see the meaning behind these seemingly random occurrences, nor discern in the miraculous events surrounding the re-establishment of Zion the working out of Bible prophecy? Who cannot see in the words of the prophets Zechariah and Isaiah a picture of Israel in the Six-Day War?
On that day the LORD will put a shield about the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David... Zech.12:8
And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians... Isa.19:17
In Leviticus 26 God warns Israel that its sins will bring upon it severe punishments culminating in national exile. Note the following words:
Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest which it had not in your sabbaths when you dwelt upon it. Lev.26:34-35
Visitors to Israel in the years since 1948 are always impressed by the tremendous contrast which exists between the parts of Israel which have been settled and developed by the Jews and those parts which have remained relatively unchanged over the centuries (or even millennia!). It is as if time has stood still in the land of Palestine. Much of the country surrounding places like Jerusalem and Nazareth would probably look familiar to Christ himself from his days on earth. The land has indeed enjoyed its sabbaths exactly as the Bible foretold, in the desolation it experienced under gentile occupation.
The fulfilment of these various prophecies should alert Christians to the evident fact that the Jews, descendants of the chosen people of the Old Testament, are still being dealt with by God, and that the Old Covenant relationship is still very much in effect. Yet Christian teaching generally insists that the Jews have outlived their usefulness to God in the working out of his plans; that they have been replaced by the chosen people of the New Testament - the Christians. The assumption seems to be that God made some kind of mistake with the Jews; that he has now learnt his lesson, and is trying a different tack with the Christians. This idea would be laughable if it did not accurately reflect much Christian thinking on this issue.
The view that the Jews have been totally rejected by God is a product of a gentile slanted mis-interpretation of the Bible. This has been strongly influenced by traditional anti-Semitic prejudices translated into theological terms, and was never taught by Jesus or Paul. In the book of Romans Paul declares:
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! Rom.11:1
Do these words support the idea that God has disinherited the Jews?
The same might be said of Jer.31:36-37:
If this fixed order departs from before me, says the Lord, then shall the descendants of Israel cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus says the Lord; If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will also cast off all the descendants of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord
No doubt people will argue the demise of the Old Covenant and the chosen people by citing passages such as Col.3:11 and Gal.3:28
Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
No-one disputes that according to New Testament teaching all may be saved by grace (1 Cor.12:13), but under the New Covenant salvation is available regardless of race or sex. Pharisaical Jews, on the other hand, regarded membership of the chosen race as the crucial factor. Religious orthodoxy always defaults to the most carnal considerations. Modern Christianity is no exception in the way in which it demands identification with a particular church body or religious institution. The Old Covenant relationship had a different basis to the New Covenant. It has to do with the relationship between God and the chosen people. The punishments and blessings are purely temporal in nature and do not involve the personal salvation of the individual. The Old Covenant continues as long as God is in a special relationship with the people of Israel. God still distinguishes between the nations and will continue to do so into the millennium (Isa.19:25 "... the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.") The important thing is that these differences do not affect the personal salvation of the individual. After all gender differences do not cease simply because of the passage in Gal.3:28 - otherwise we would be giving our blessings to homosexual marriages! We still should conduct ourselves as righteous men and women in the sight of God, carrying out our God-given roles according to our sexual differences.
The role and destiny of the Jews in history among the community of nations is still instructional whether from the perspective of the Old Covenant or the New Covenant, and this is reflected in New Testament teaching.
In spite of these observations Christians persist in viewing the Jews as a people corporately rejected by God, and their Jewishness as an irrelevance. It is plain from the scriptures that the truth is to the contrary. The Jews are, in a way, a gift by God to mankind; a light to the nations. The Jews are a race of intellect and genius - qualities which suggest a national closeness to God, who is the ultimate repository of intellectual and spiritual power. This is an entire people which has the spirit of God upon it, and those who do not see this are blind to the whole thrust of the Bible. The monumental struggle between Israel and its God through the millennia is the greatest drama in the long and troubled history of humanity. It is a story written in fire and blood. Its origins lie in the Old Testament and its outcome is revealed in the prophecies. It has a Christian dimension as well as an Old Covenant one.
The tribulation and unjust persecution experienced by the Jews parallels the life of hardship and suffering prophesied for the followers of Christ (Mat.10:17-22; Rom.8:36). Yet Israel’s redemption is certain. It is Israel’s destiny to walk as a lion among the nations (Mic.5:8); to rise to a position of pre-eminence as God’s servant people in the world to come; to be an example of how God will deal with a righteous people (Isa.60:21), just as they have been in the past, an example of a rebellious nation. In the world to come people will see in the Jews the benefits of following God’s ways, which they have been especially trained in, down through the centuries - both for good and for evil. In the present age God is working with a small class of chosen people as a demonstration to the rest of humanity. (In the Old Testament context, it is individual people who, considered as a body make up "the Church".) It should be evident to everyone that God is not directly intervening in world affairs at this point in time. When he does people will understand the reality of God.
Christians should recognise the role the Jews have played, and will continue to play, in acting out the purposes of God. As Paul writes, in Romans 11:17-24, it behoves gentiles Christians to view the Jews in the correct perspective and be willing to see themselves as branches grafted in. The true vine of Christianity is the Jewish people.
The place of the Jews in the kingdom of God is expressed in the following passages:
In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage". Isa.19:24-25
Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you". Zech.8:23
It is bad enough that Christians have disbelieved the prophets, but inexcusable that the clear place of the people of Israel in the purposes of God has not been recognised and taught to generations of churchgoers by their religious leaders. In view of this it seems hardly surprising that Christianity has had such a long and deep-seated tradition of anti-Semitism.
What is truly awe-inspiring about Christian theology is its capacity to be wrong. The Christian churches are profoundly mistaken about so many aspects of Bible truth that it is comforting to think that the fundamentals of Christianity are accessible to any person possessing a simple faith in God and obedience to his commandments, together with a willingness to simply believe what the Bible teaches about history and prophecy. The mistaken view of the Jews and their place in the Christian religion provides stark testimony to this great truth. In addition to this error, modern Christianity represents a studied disobedience to God’s law and provides a complete picture of religious apostasy. This book may help to compensate for two thousand years of disinformation concerning the Christian religion and the meaning of the Bible.
There are two great constants evident in world history. One is the perennial fascination Jesus Christ exerts on mankind. The other is the continuing impact of the Jewish people in human affairs. The fate of the world seems to be inextricably interwoven with the events of Jewish history. It is as if the Jewish people are a portent of man’s ultimate destiny, encapsulating within themselves the greatest questions of human existence.
The Jews appear at the dawn of civilisation. The Bible is largely their book. Their God is the father of monotheism. The Jews provide the backdrop for the advent, life, and death of Christ. At all times they are close to the centre of events being acted out by the major powers and world empires. This situation continues in the present day. We wonder if civilisation will meet its end in the continuing struggle going on in the Middle East between the Jews and the Arabs. The Holocaust of the Jews brings us face to face with the most profound issues of evil and suffering.
Individual Jews have shaped our thinking about the world through fantastic feats of intellectual achievement, and have opened up vistas of thought undreamt of by non-Jewish minds. Even in this the Jews force us to ask basic questions of ourselves as we contemplate mankind’s future, for it was, in the main, Jewish scientists who created the atomic bomb!
Finally, there is the miracle of Jewish survival throughout the centuries, despite repeated attempts by their enemies to destroy them. This causes even the most hardened sceptic to wonder if there may not be a divine plan in operation after all. In the Jews we see clear evidence of a guiding hand at work in the destiny of man.
Long ago it was said of a man of God who was to be the progenitor of the Israelites:
I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves. Gen.12:3
This thought applies as much to the nation of Israel as to the patriarch Abraham, and of God’s chosen people everywhere Isaiah says:
... no weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, says the LORD. Isa.54:17
In time to come all Christians will understand the true significance of the Jewish people and the import of these words.
