what will we do with the jews?
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The fate of the world literally turns right now on the
battle between those who passionately hate the Jews,
and those who should be just as fiercely loving them.
Why has Martin Luther been called the “theologian
of the holocaust?”
How did the Christian church become a hideout
for those who spew hatred, prejudice, and
persecution into the world?
Imagine the whole history of the human race as a giant tapestry, woven together by millions of multi-colored threads, creating thousands of complex patterns and scenes that tell the stories of nations, families, and individual lives. Then stand back—as far back as you can— and try to see the big picture, see how it all comes together to form a surprisingly blended picture of life and humanity—with one exception.
Woven throughout this tapestry is an extraordinary, unusual thread. It stands out even in a color scheme as varied and complex as the human race, disappearing once in a while in the tangle of other threads frantically weaving together patches of history—only to turn up again, more bold, even defiant. A tenacious little segment of humanity, a tiny bright thread that changes the whole picture, upsets the whole pattern, and constantly rearranges the course of human events.
This little thread is the Jewish race, and I see them like that scene in the movie SchindlerÂ’s List; that scene is shot entirely in black and white, with one exception: a little girl in a red dress. In the bigness of the whole scene, you almost arenÂ’t sure what you are seeing, but you canÂ’t really miss her. She changed the whole scene and the meaning of the story.
Sometimes we, mankind, and more specifically those who share a spiritual heritage with the Jews, don’t seem to quite know what to do with this wild thread of humanity. Many have tried to make these people go away completely, through persecution, pogroms and holocausts. Many have tried to ignore them, dismissing them as an ancient people that should’ve disappeared long ago. I believe there are some cultures that have literally been driven to a demonic hatred of the Jews, willing to commit horrible atrocities and even suicide just to exterminate what they view as mere “vermin.”
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What is it that makes this tiny little thread of humanity so important? Why have they been the subject of so much persecution and hatred? Why does the fate of the human race once again appear to hinge on the nation of Israel and its surrounding enemies? And why, of all people, has the Church of Jesus Christ so often forsaken these literal brothers and sisters of Jesus?
I’ve actually been pretty shocked to discover how deeply the roots of anti-Semitism invaded the formation of the early church – insidious tendrils that grew into evils like the Inquisition, Nazism, and other manifestations of prejudice and hatred specifically directed toward the children of Israel.
The first century church, a very Jewish group of people, wrestled with the question, “What will we do with the Gentiles?” You can see it in the accounts of Acts 14 and 15. After reporting how God “had opened the doors of faith to the Gentiles,” the questions began, and these very Jewish first Christians agonized over whether to enforce circumcision, dietary laws and a host of other religious formalities. The church leaders ruled that they would not have to observe the entire Jewish law. That decision, plus the continued missionary efforts of Paul to the Gentiles, caused the ethnic composition of the first century church to change dramatically from a Jewish majority to a Gentile majority. 1
The Gentiles were now not only accepted and grafted into the faith, they began to change the face of the church. The politics of the day, especially after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, created an atmosphere of distrust and alienation between the early church and the Jews who had not converted. Eventually, the Gentile believers began looking at their Jewish brothers and sisters with suspicious eyes, and questions began to form in their hearts and minds. Can the Jews really be saved just by grace, in defiance of their own laws? Do their laws and rituals need to be respected? Did the Jews reject Jesus? Did the Jews kill Jesus? Has God rejected the Jews? Can we trust them? Do we need to protect the world from...them?
And so the spiritual battle began. No wonder Paul wrote “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6: 12 NIV). The fledgling faith of the church was tested right from the beginning. The question changed, as the tide turned, and the church began to ask, ”What will we do with the Jews?
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And what the Church did, in many respects, is not a pleasant history to behold.
I’ve often wondered, how did the Christian church, whose message has always been one of love, of the saving grace of Jesus, of the Messiah who became the Savior of the world—how did this body of believers become a hideout for those who spew hatred, prejudice, and persecution into the world? How do people use God’s Word to justify...the Inquisition...slavery...racial prejudice...Nazism...anti-Semitism?
I think I have a glimmer of understanding now. It all began when the early Church began to deny its Jewish heritage. When that denial turned into persecution, the soul of the Church began to darken and the door was opened for further atrocities.
The history is long and complicated, but here are a few highlights to give you an idea:
• One of the earliest (mid-second century, about 160 AD) documented sources for anti-Semitism within the church comes from church father Justin Martyr and his dialogue with Trypho, the Jew. Justin, a Samaritan, expressed his belief that the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering that followed was a judgment of God for their failure to believe in Jesus as their Messiah. 2
Justin’s exact words were: "And therefore all this has happened to you rightly and well. For ye slew the Just One and His prophets before Him, and now ye reject, and, as far as in you lies, dishonour those that set their hope on Him...” 3
Justin believed that the Church was the true Israel, but he still acknowledged the Jewish roots of the church, believing that the Gentiles had been grafted in.
•Then there was Eusebius, whose Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus is the acknowledged history of the Church from the end of the book of Acts to the Council of Nicea. Eusebius firmly believed, in the fourth century, that the Church was the "new Israel," replacing the Jews. He firmly believed that there was no distinct future for the Jews in the plan of God. 4 His views became accepted into Church thinking, and the continually turning tide swelled into anti-semitism of tsunami proportions.
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hail fuhrer!
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• Fast forward hundreds of years to Martin Luther, who Sherwood Wirt calls “the most important European of the past thousand years.”5 In spite of the hero he is to believers around the world, in spite of his numerous accomplishments, the trail he blazed for freedom and the stand he made for grace, to some he carries another unfortunate title: Theologian of the Holocaust.6
While Luther held some sympathy for the Jewish people in his early years, after his fiery stand against the Catholic Church, he believed the Jews of his day would easily convert to Christianity. When they didnÂ’t he grew resentful and bitter and began a campaign against the Jews, writing things that were later used by Hitler and his followers to justify the holocaust.
LutherÂ’s Commentary on Romans is considered one of the most influential books of all time. It formed a major part of the foundation on which the Reformation was built. Yet, in it and other portions of LutherÂ’s works, are some very disturbing comments.
In his anger over their failure to convert, Luther commented: "The Jews arrogantly assumed that they were God's people, simply because the heathen were not His people."7
Though Jesus, all the apostles, and all the early believers were Jewish, Luther had his own analysis: "A Jewish heart is so stock stone devil ironhard, that in no wise can it be moved; they are young devils; damned to hell; to convert these devil's brats is impossible." 8 Luther adamantly maintained that, "The promises made to Abraham do not refer literally to AbrahamÂ’s blood and seed, nor is the biblical prophecy of salvation addressed to the Jews as Jews: Christians may 'despair of the Jews with a clear conscience.' "9
Luther very mistakenly tried to justify his own venomous attacks by claiming to speak for the Lord: "Everything concurs with Christ's judgment that the Jews are venomous, bitter, vengeful, slimy snakes, assassins and devilÂ’s children, who steal and wreak havoc on the sly because they cannot afford to do in the open. A Christian has, next to the devil, no more venomous, bitter enemy than the Jew...(The Jews ought to convert,) but if they refuse, we should neither tolerate nor suffer their presence in our midst" 10
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I found all this pretty amazing and shocking, and it is not my intent to be sensational, but rather to attempt to cause believers in Jesus the Messiah to examine our own attitudes toward Jews – what they really are and what they ought to be. I encourage you to research the issue on your own. An excellent book is Daniel Gruber’s The Church and the Jews, and the other references cited below in the footnotes.
I bring all this up, because I feel like I’ve had somewhat of a revelation. God chose a particular race to be His chosen people. He never wavered from that choice; He has not changed His mind. In Romans 2:10 Paul wrote, “glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Salvation came to the Jews first, God honored them first – and I don’t believe that order has changed. It’s like a domino affect – and the first domino is the Jewish race.
To my mind, the Jews represent humanity at its best and worst. They have been a faithful people, a rebellious people. They are the prodigal son of history, falling into every sin humanly possible, setting an example for all the rest of us of the battle between the flesh and the spirit, of GodÂ’s faithfulness in spite of their unfaithfulness, and of GodÂ’s grace in bringing through the Jewish people, the salvation of the world in the person of Jesus the Messiah.
The treatment by the church – and mankind—toward God’s chosen people– is what opened the doors for the centuries of hatred, prejudice and persecution. When the Church began to turn its heart away from the very people who gave it birth, it’s as if the demons from hell were given a crack into the universe to seed more and more hatred and prejudice.
So what do we do with the Jews? We love them. And we follow God's command: “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God.” (Isaiah 40:1)
Our fascination with the Jews has been for the most part emotionally detached – unless it is accompanied by hatred. Now, I believe God is holding them up as a mirror into our own hearts. What will we do with the Jews?
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If Christians around the world truly held a heartfelt concern, compassion, and love, and if they are willing to make an emotional investment in these people God has chosen to love unconditionally, then I believe we would see God do a mighty work through His church in the hearts of the Jewish people. I have already seen individual examples of just that.
I described the Jews earlier as an “extraordinary thread” in the tapestry of the world. I see that thread as a beautiful crimson, the color of blood. For it is through this thread that salvation comes to us, through the blood of the Jewish Messiah who we know as Jesus.
It is my passion and my prayer that one day my brothers and sisters in the church will fall in love with the Jewish people as I and many other believers have, knowing that as we look into the faces of the children of Israel, we see the face our own beloved Savior. And, I pray that one day my dear brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith will experience the love of Jesus through His Body here on earth – the Christian church.
The fate of the world literally turns right now on the battle between those who so passionately hate the Jews, and those who I believe should be just as fiercely loving them.
What will we do with the Jews? That is the question of the day.
Maranatha Chapel -
Originally posted by Ito_^:hail fuhrer!
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Jeremiah 31
27 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares the LORD. 29 "In those days people will no longer say,
'The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge.'
30 Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.
31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them, "
declares the LORD.
33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."
35 This is what the LORD says,
he who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name:
36 "Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,"
declares the LORD,
"will the descendants of Israel ever cease
to be a nation before me."
37 This is what the LORD says:
"Only if the heavens above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
because of all they have done,"
declares the LORD.
38 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the LORD. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished." -
find Jeremiah 31:27-40, very interesting, especially when it comes to How God is going to deal with Israel, both physical (the Jews) and Spiritual (which includes the Christians).
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Kill Them All!!!
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Now that is most certainly not nice...Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Kill Them All!!! -
care to share what you find really interesting? Thank you.Originally posted by vince69:find Jeremiah 31:27-40, very interesting, especially when it comes to How God is going to deal with Israel, both physical (the Jews) and Spiritual (which includes the Christians). -
two questions for you:Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Kill Them All!!!
1. Why do you hate the jews so much?
2. Why do you hate the christians that much as well? -
I wasn't done with my statement yet:"And let God sort out His own."Originally posted by breytonhartge:two questions for you:
1. Why do you hate the jews so much?
2. Why do you hate the christians that much as well? -
meaning??Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:I wasn't done with my statement yet:"And let God sort out His own." -
The famous statement made by crusaders who killed orthodox christians, catholics, muslims and agnostics.Originally posted by breytonhartge:meaning?? -
So what do you mean by using this statement??Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:The famous statement made by crusaders who killed orthodox christians, catholics, muslims and agnostics. -
Humans is the root of all problems and should be wiped out as the logical solution.Originally posted by breytonhartge:So what do you mean by using this statement?? -
If i were to think about it, and seeing what happened to the Jews, I would then hate the ChristiansOriginally posted by breytonhartge:two questions for you:
1. Why do you hate the jews so much?
2. Why do you hate the christians that much as well? -
True, true...Originally posted by laurence82:If i were to think about it, and seeing what happened to the Jews, I would then hate the Christians
BTW, what happened to your TYTYTYK thread? Wheres your post?? -
humans without the changing and purifying influence of Yahweh are the root of problems. A renewed mind is what we need, this only through Yeshua and the Ruach Hakodesh.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Humans is the root of all problems and should be wiped out as the logical solution. -
No matter what influence on humans, they are and always will be sinners.Originally posted by breytonhartge:humans without the changing and purifying influence of Yahweh are the root of problems. A renewed mind is what we need, this only through Yeshua and the Ruach Hakodesh. -
so then what is your take on our problem according to your definition??Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:No matter what influence on humans, they are and always will be sinners. -
My take? The exact opposite of the Analects: Humans are evil by nature, destroy all humans, you destroy the root of all evil.Originally posted by breytonhartge:so then what is your take on our problem according to your definition??