Israel is the key to all end-time prophecy.

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April 7

Why Does Antisemitism Exist?

By Jim Fletcher

I heard the most fascinating exchange the other day between conservative commentator Sean Hannity and a rabbi.

Hannity was discussing the racist rant from Barak Obama’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Wright and some others in the black community have long uttered anti-Semitic venom. Hannity asked the rabbi where anti-Semitism comes from.

“Why does it exist?’ he queried. The question is so simple.

Unfortunately, the rabbi gave a rambling answer that really wasn’t an answer. Actually, that’s not totally fair. He answered. But he did not explain why anti-Semitism exists. I suspect Sean Hannity is discovering the answer, though, because he made the interesting observation that he has been studying the Old Testament for the first time in his life.

How fascinating this exchange was! The rabbi struggled to answer, yet Hannity was leading the conversation in a specific direction. He in fact was demonstrating discernment.

Hannity is smart enough to realize that the secular, psychological reasons given for the existence of anti-Semitism really miss the mark. One cannot explain this kind of hatred apart from the supernatural. And supernatural is what we find in the Bible.

This little radio exchange is another indication that we can’t explain reality apart from the Bible. Anti-semitism doesn’t make sense apart from biblical history, and the accounts of Jew-hating despots from the beginning.

We can say that people don’t like Jews because of cultural differences, or the weird theories that the Jews control the media and finance. We can say they are disliked because of alleged treatment of Palestinians (and the world, the international community, loves every leftist underdog ideology it can find).

Some even contend that the Jews are disliked because their presence — especially as the State of Israel — reminds the world of indifference to Jewish plight during the Holocaust. This is an especially good one, since it depends on a scenario in which the victim is to blame.

No, the curious and hideous reality of anti-semitism cannot be explained apart from the Bible.

For if Bible prophecy and the great covenant promises are true, we know that personal evil hates the idea that God can keep His promises. Unfortunately, even today’s churches ridicule the idea of the Devil, a malevolent being at permanent enmity with God.

It seems reasonable to think that most people, even if they don’t say it out loud, understand that we can’t explain murder, rape, mental cruelty, and all sorts of other injustice by invoking evolutionary processes or secular psychology.

There must be a Cause. We know from Bible history that Pharaoh hated the Jews, first enslaving them and finally plotting genocide. The Assyrians practiced their ghoulish barbarism in Judea. Haman the Persian had the same designs. Antiochus hated so much that he wanted to even blot out the Jewish religion. The Romans determined to crush the resistance of the only people in their empire that wouldn’t bow to Cesaer.

And, of course, if one thinks the Nazis can be explained apart from satanic influence, please try to sell us ocean front property in the Sahara.

Jew-hatred is so ingrained, it will take Divine intervention to finally eradicate anti-semitism.

A fascinating article appeared last week in the Jerusalem Post.

 Calling Britain “the epicenter for anti-Semitic trends in Europe,” Israeli professor Robert Wistrich listed several reasons for this terrible reality, including a fascinating observation that as the U.K. has left its biblical roots, it has become more hostile to Jews and Israel. According to the Post article:

 “The historian noted that the straying of the British from their Christian roots has also created a changed reality in the Anglo-Israeli relationship with no Bible-based reasons or raison d'etre for a Jewish presence in the Holy Land.”

 Wistrich has nailed it. The farther one moves away from believing the Bible, the farther one is from discernment and truth. Perhaps the greatest underreported social change of the last few hundred years — since the Enlightenment — is the relentless attack on the validity of the Bible. It is both diabolical and deadly effective. Wistrich is one of the few who has presented the root of the problem. Again, the Post:

"The loss of Christian identity in what was the most Bible-believing culture in its day is one of the deeper layers of what has happened here," he said.

“He noted some of the biblical remarks of prominent British leaders such as Lord Balfour and Lloyd George would be viewed as anathema today.

"You cannot speak or act that way today, or you would be considered the 'biggest threat to civilization' as American evangelicals are."

 Having spent years in Christian book publisher, I am still astonished at the one weakness of many Christians: a dislike of Jews.

 There is a dividing line that has already been set down; some aren’t aware of it, yet. The dividing line is one’s stance on the Jews and Israel.

 There are many ministries and Christian leaders today who do wonderful things. They perform wonderful work. But if you are unfortunate enough to broach the subject with them, or discover it accidentally, you will feel a chill blow through the room.

 “Well, Jews are so consumed with money.”

 “Israel is a very secular state! They don’t seem to have any regard for God!”

 “The Palestinian Christians have a very hard time living in Israel.”

 Some of this is subtle. Some of it is a sledgehammer. But the demonization of the Jews is a sickness that will bring ruin to the entire world. It is not a sickness I intend to carry.

 I am aware of elementary facts about the Bible: It was recorded by Jews. It is about Jews. It reveals the Jewish Messiah. The events took place in Jewish culture. And, finally, it is the Jews who are going to be rescued by their God.

 All this seems lost on the Church today. It explains why Britain is sinking under the waves of history.

 It is almost beyond belief that in 1864, the great British preacher Charles Spurgeon delivered a sermon in which he predicted that the Bible’s predictions concerning the Jews — specifically the Dry Bones of Ezekiel 37 — would be fulfilled precisely. Thank God for men like Spurgeon! Would that his words had remained with the British people.

 For Spurgeon was living proof that if one reads the Bible, he will then look at his surroundings and be able to discern life itself. How many stupid Christians have over the centuries contemptuously spat that God was finished with the Jews! He clearly wasn’t and isn’t and will never be finished with them.

So if you wonder about America’s role in Bible prophecy, check her spiritual barometer by paying attention to how she treats the Jews. Methinks Sean Hannity is slowly, chillingly, discovering the answer to his question to the rabbi.

 Well, Wistrich is right. The fact is both scary and exhilarating. We are going into the future. We are going into glory.