GOD'S WORD CONDEMNS ANY FORM OF HATRED AND VIOLENT VENGEANCE
A baseline in any analysis of the causes of Antisemitism is the wishes of God. He does not support any form of hatred, no matter the political slights, great or small.
Leviticus 19:16-19, “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD. 17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart… 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” (NKJV)
Note that from the very beginning God outlawed evil propaganda against those you hate. Much of Jewish hatred is spread by word of mouth. God not only condemns all this but further says you are to love them regardless of your feelings. What about our enemies that are not of the nation?
Matthew 5:43-47 NKJV 43 “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you,love your enemies,bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father…for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good…46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?”
Even if one thought a particular ethnic group was your enemy, Christ says do not hate them. This is so spiritual –– what a wonderful world will be created when such laws will be enforced in the millennium. It will be a paradise of love and graciousness and kindness. Wow! What is God's goal?
Romans 12:19-21, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to God's wrath if, your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
SPIRITUALLY DRIVEN EVIL OFTEN TRIES TO END THE JEWS BUT ALWAYS FAILS
THEY ALWAYS FAIL –– FIRST EXAMPLE: HAMAN OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. The first serious threat to the Jewish people was in the Persian Empire. Haman the prime minister of the empire was offended that a lower ranking official name Mordecai would not bow before him. He not only wanted to punish Mordecai but wished to exterminate all the people of God. It seems like weird, outrageous, over response to a slight, but fits a devilish historic pattern. All the Jews were in this Empire. Note Esther 3:6 in which his vile planning is revealed.
Esther 3:5-6, “When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was filled with wrath. 6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai.Instead, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus –– the people of Mordecai.”
His intent was to kill all the Jews, which is genocide. Queen Esther, who was Jewish, asked all the Jews of the capital to fast and pray for her as she tried to save God's people. They were the only known people of God at the time. She and Mordecai turned the potential genocide into a Jewish victory over their enemies. See Esther 4:15-16 and 9:2, 25.
Esther 9:25, “…but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.”
What about the holocaust of the 1940's? This is such a horrible event in world history it is hard to fully understand. Not until Jesus returns will we really understand such horror fully. However, what we can now see clearly is the following: Germany had the greatest proportional loss of soldiers than any other combatant in WWII. Further, every city in Germany was bombed into rubble and that nation lost a lot of territory. This event ripped and tore out of Europe millions of Jews who then built the nation of Israel again in the Holy lands. One should always remember this promise:
Genesis 12:2-3, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Even though the allies were unprepared, God would not allow the Fascists to win; they were doomed and cursed. In the early years, God told Abraham that those who blessed his descendants would be blessed. See Gen. 12:3. Balaam tried, for filthy cash, to curse Israel and was instead forced to say that God would bless those who bless them and curse those that cursed the Jews. See Num. 24:9. Israel is the “apple of God’s eye.” See Zach 2:7-8:
Zechariah 2:7-8, “Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”
The Eternal God will curse those that actively hate His people Israel.
Numbers 24:2-7, “And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel … 5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! 6 … cedar trees beside the waters. 7 He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.” (KJV)
IS THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF ANTISEMITISM DEMONIC OR HUMAN?
Many would look at the long history of this virulent hatred –– 539 BC Persian Empire to Hitler's Empire in 1945 AD –– to be only explainable as spiritual. People pass away but evil spirits continue through the centuries. The period of reoccurring pogroms is just too long for simple human animosities to explain. Evil demons who hate God must also hate those who are openly known as the People of the Book, the people who have preserved God's Laws and written witness to the world, the Bible. Many secular people try to explain this long history of hatred by human terms. The Israelites are to blame for their own trials and hatred, they claim. We will clearly cover these claims in part two, given at Pentecost LBL 2024.
