Zechariah 12:3

On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.

The hatred and prejudice against the Jewish people is one of the oldest evils in the world. In our generation it is manifesting as a political hatred for the State of Israel. With the latest sparring between the Palestinian peoples and the nation of Israel, our media and society, to ever greater degrees, are devouring the tragic lie of the “poor Palestinian.” I am not saying that the last seventy years haven’t been a series of oppressive tragedies for the Palestinian people, or that we shouldn’t care for the Palestinian. I am saying, don’t follow the mob and don’t pound the gavel, and incriminate Israel as the source for all Palestinian oppressions.

The Church has been stained by it’s own long and grueling history of anti-Semitism. This blaming of the Jews infected some of the greatest minds of our own spiritual fathers; from Origin (2nd century) on down through Martin Luther (16th century). Hitler infamously relied upon, and preyed upon the resident animosities festered by Luther’s teachings toward the Jews. From the Church’s own terrifying history of partnership with this evil prejudice we should be a bit more prepared to smell that rotten parasite in others now that it has migrated into modern political partnerships with Islam's own anti-Jewish theology.  

Don’t Be Infected

My goal in this particular article is not to marshal the historical evidence that exonerates the State of Israel and proves the worth of their cause. That is a worthy discussion for another time. My goal is rather to say to you—the local congregant who may not know much about the situation in the Middle East—don’t get caught in the frenzy of heightened bigotry towards Jews even if it is justified under the sheep’s clothing of political justice. The last thing I want for my family and community is to become an appendage of evil by the calculating deceit of enemies to subvert the truth about our friends.

Zechariah foresaw the day when all nations would surround and attack Israel. God promised to defend her on that day. The same spirit that animated Hitler is still at work trying to destroy the glory God has promised he will reveal through that unique people. We are closer than ever to witnessing Hitler’s final fury. Don’t be swept up in the emotional outrages of mobs armed with the pitch forks of rigid self-rightness. That is not justice, it is the worse perversion of justice; it is the enshrining of personal prejudice instead of a careful humbling before God’s universal standards of truth.

The regathering strength of anti-Semitism is finding new soil in our nation. Everything from the public beating of a Jewish bystander by a mob in New York City to the desecration of Jewish tombstones and synagogues in our communities; the targeting of one person with the guilt-by-association is nothing more than a perversion of justice.

So be careful what lies you entertain about the State of Israel or the Jewish people. Don’t be complicit with these slanders. History has proven that verbal accusations fill cultures with the combustible gas ready for the ignition of justified physical violence. John Adams observed that the wolf always finds a judicial excuse to devour the lamb. To watch this degradation of our own spiritual and moral discernment in our streets should turn the stomachs of every person who understands the evil falling upon us. God warned Cain to master evil, or it will devour you.

Pursue Truth

Proverbs 26:17 says that entering into a quarrel that’s not yours is like grabbing the dog by the ears—in other words, it’s going to turn around and bite you. Doesn’t prudence warn us to do serious research before intervening into an issue of this scope and complexity? And how much more cautious should we be when the Almighty God has promised that he will curse those who unjustly fight against his people (Genesis 12:4). The Christian is called to build God’s kingdom in the earth, not inadvertently fight against it with our misguided piety. If God has plans to glorify himself and bless the nations through his peculiar people (the Jewish people), then we had better investigate whether the accusations leveled against Israel (the State of the Jews) are truthful facts of justice demanding reform or whether they are the calumnies of enemies intent on destroying it. I’m aware of very few people who have done the tedious research to decipher between the two.

As Christians we should know, more than anyone, that we are building a kingdom of redemption. God calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. In a state of hostility we bear arms to protect our families against our enemies, but always with the hope that their minds and hearts will be transformed to the way of truth and peace that is found in Messiah. Never are we taught to seek their destruction or their humiliation.

In God’s vision for the earth, both the Jew and the Palestinian will be reconciled in Jesus Christ and live in a new unity of mutual kinship and compassion for one another, not competition and enmity. Each are called to fulfill a different purpose. Each are given their own unique inheritance and blessing and will not strive to steal the other’s out of personal insecurity or religious avarice.

Any long term vision for the future that doesn’t involve uniting under the standards of the true Prince of Peace—whether by his Spirit now, or when he physically returns to earth in the future—will not attain true peace. In the meantime, I’m reminding you—my friend and congregant—not to partner with the evil spirit of this age that seeks to destroy God’s holy people. But “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” Psalms 122. Pray for the salvation of Jew and Gentile. Protect your own heart against the emotional craze for punishment or misguided “justice” and pursue the tedious road to redemption and relationship through mutual sacrifice and respect.

Tags: truth, justice, peace, unity, anti-semitism; jew hatred; messiah; last days; god of this age