The worldwide rise of antisemitism

Think about this, we are just a few generations removed from the holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany. And yet, it seems there is a growing spirit of delusion concerning the truth of it. Thirty years ago, if someone were a holocaust denier, they would have been carted off by guys in white suits.

Fast forward to 2020, and the factories of academia are currently churning out a finished product of indoctrinated anti-Semites. Academia is helping spawn movements such as B.D.S. (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions), calling for the economic destruction of the Jewish State. They indoctrinate young minds with lies about how evil the Jews are, and how evil Israel is. Does it surprise you that this results in violence against Jews? Last year, there was a record amount of Jewish people attacked in New York city. More recently in Los Angeles, “mostly peaceful violent protesters” looted and vandalized synagogues and other Jewish centers with antisemitic slogans. Now it is nearly to the point that, if you defend the fact that there was a holocaust, they’ll want to call the guys in white suits on you.

In 1945, the world was crying “Never Again! Never Again!” Today, the word is starting to cry “Again! Again!” Brethren, I clearly see this foul spirit arising. Even in the United States, antisemitism is rampantly increasing. The lion’s share of my ministerial commitment is serving a Messianic (Jewish Believers in Jesus) congregation located in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. Does that neighborhood sound familiar? Yes, correct, the Tree of Life Synagogue massacre. It was the largest mass killing of Jewish people in the history of the United States. Brethren, I fear this will not be the last mass attack upon Jews in the United States.

I have dear Jewish friends, born-again believers, leaving the United States for Israel. As one that has been to Israel and off the tourist trap, and among Israeli people, I can attest to you. It is not an easy life there. Nevertheless, they passionately and correctly believe persecution is coming for them (Jews); and despite the hardships, they feel called to move to Israel. I get a sense that God is starting to call the American Jews back to their land. Just as the prophet Isaiah wrote:

“Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 43:5-6).

Brethren, in the span of many of our lives, this prophecy has been and is being fulfilled, the pinnacle of which was the birth of the modern nation of Israel in 1948:

“Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?’ says the LORD. ‘Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?’ says your God” (Isaiah 66:7-9).

Starting in 70 A.D with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and later culminating with the Bar Kokhba revolt circa 135 A.D., the Jewish people were dispersed in every direction out of their land. The Emperor Hadrian thus gave a final insult to the people and renamed the land after the mortal enemies of Israel, the Philistines. Hence the name Syria Palaestina, known today as Palestine. Do you not see this spirit of Haman (Esther 3) still at large in the world?

From the first Babylonian diaspora circa 587 B.C. to the holocaust during the Second World War. The call always starts off as “The Jews cannot live among us. Let us be rid of them.” And NOW that they have their own self-governed Jewish homeland again, much of the world says, “They cannot live at all; let us utterly destroy them.” All this despite the land being given to them by Almighty God Himself. “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:7-8).

Why are the Jews hated?

Whatever God Holds dear, Satan wishes to shake, sift, and destroy. Before Jesus came in the flesh, Satan, knowing God’s word, sought to destroy the people who would deliver the world this Messiah. The One that would bless all the nations of the earth with Salvation, Mercy and Grace. Just as the LORD promised Abraham:

“Indeed, I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:17-18).

I would reckon, if I had advanced knowledge of a people group that would bring forth a Son of Man that would destroy me, I suppose I would want to destroy them. Thus, Satan tried to and still endeavors to accomplish even to this day. Some might say. “Well, Jesus already came. Why would the devil want to destroy the Jews now? After All, they rejected Him.” Right then, Let’s go there.

Firstly, Jesus IS the King of the Jews. He IS the King of Israel, the Son of David that shall reign on David’s throne forever…. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:32-33).

Secondly, Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. His second advent is to save His People, Israel. The final fury of Satan will be the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people. A time called “Jacobs Trouble” (The Great Tribulation). I suppose if you kill all the Jews off, there is no need for Jesus to return, at least as the devil might figure. However, even Satan knows his fate is sealed, and he knows time is running out. “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Revelation 12:12b).

Careful study of scripture will make it plain as the nose on your face that the adversary wishes to destroy the Jewish people from existence. The Holocaust was not unique in that the Jews were to be exterminated. From Pharaoh tossing the Israelites to the crocodiles:

“Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile'” (Exodus 1:22a) to Haman having the Pur (random lot) cast: “Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day” (Esther 3:13-14). Not to mention Inquisitions, countless pogroms, and blood libels. I challenge you to read about these histories.

This same spirit that directed Hitler and Haman has always been among us. I suggest to you this evil enemy is waking up and will soon be beating that old canard, “The Jews Must die.” Even now I hear the usual fools pontificating that COVID 19 is a Jewish Conspiracy. Regrettably, there are multitudes of people that believe such lies.

That same spirit also presides in and over the U.N. Look at 2018 for example. The United Nations issued 27 condemnations, and 21 of them were against Israel. Only one against nations such as North Korea, Iran, and Syria. A big FAT ZERO against Venezuela, China, and Somalia. Right, let’s have a reality check here. In what alternate reality is this even remotely possible? I am not saying Israel is above any criticism. Quite the opposite, as any nation state governed by men, it will make its share of mistakes and blunders; and where truth dictates, criticism is warranted. However, the U.N. is a parrot organization of lies. The U.N. is the number one violator of the T.C. (Ten Commandments) resolution Number 8 which states…”Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Exodus 20:16).

“At least Christians are friends to the Jews”

Sadly, and regrettably, no. Not all Christians (so called) are. Have you ever heard of “Replacement Theology (supersessionism)“? That is that, somehow, the church replaced Israel for all the promises and blessings of the Old Testament. ~BUT~ Somehow, they do not get any of the curses of the Old Testament. Or course, they will tell you, “Those curses are reserved for the Jews.” Brethren, I am here to tell you, point blank, replacement theology is not only unscriptural; it is also a deep root of antisemitism. The rebuttal, by scripture of replacement theology, is a topic for a dedicated future article. However, in the confines of this article, it was necessary to give mention to it as a source of antisemitism.

How many of you heard this one? “Well, ok, but the Jews did kill Christ, it says it in the Bible, somewhere….” These people are speaking in ignorance and have a need of serious Bible study and correction. As infuriating as that statement is, I find it an opportunity to present that person with the Gospel message. The Simple Gospel message that says you and I put Christ on that tree at Calvary. It was for our sins He died. No one killed Christ. He laid His life down willingly:

“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father” (John 10:18)

Statements like that need to be checked immediately. Just think of the bad testimony you give the Jewish people, saying such things. We are commanded to share the gospel with all people, and especially to the Jew first. Just as Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

Then there are Christians who genuinely love the Jewish people, support Israel, and have a heart for the gospel. ~BUT~ they have come under the influence of false teachers, advocating Dual Covenant Theology; that is, Christian (Gentiles) are saved by the New Covenant, and Jews are saved by following the law of Moses which remains in effect.

Uh… Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). Admittedly, my Greek is a little rusty. Let us look at this passage. “No one” in the Greek is (οὐδείς) oudeis. I’m looking at my Stephanus 1550; so, yes, that’s the word used there. It is an adjective-nominal-masculine-singular, literally meaning NO ONE, Not a One, or None. Therefore, if Jesus said, “No One Comes to the Father but through me,” how could there be another way to salvation? Oh, by the way, Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience here in John 14:6.

Brethren, I believe that Dual Covenant Theology is brutally antisemitic and satanic at its rotten core. “Oh, they’re Jews. They don’t need the Gospel because they have the law of Moses to save them.” Do not fall for such lies. Bring the Gospel to the Jew!!!

The King is Coming!

Brethren, let each of us love what God loves. “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6).

Jesus is the King of the Jews. If we claim to Love Jesus, how can we not love His people? How can we withhold the gospel from them? Not just sharing the words, but living them as an example. We are to provoke them to jealousy: “If somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:14-15).

God partially hardened His people so that their rejection became our salvation. “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25).

Brethren, I believe we are nearing the days of the fullness of the Gentiles. The King will soon return for His people. The Jews are “The least of these” that Matthew refers to. “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:45-46).

We as believers must stand to oppose antisemitism every place its head pops up. I know it is an endless match of “whack a mole,” but do not tire in doing good. Do not fear the masses and the popular world view of antisemitism. Be brave like a Corrie Ten Boom or give your last measure as an Oskar Schindler. When and if it becomes a popular fad to kill Jews again, stand up for them! If necessary, give your life up to oppose another holocaust. God will bless you for it. “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” (Genesis 12:3).

Let us as believers have the spirit of Ruth: “But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God'” (Ruth 1:16).

Soon the world will lose the last of the holocaust survivors. Let us never forget them, nor what happened to them for the crime of “being loved by God.”

Shalom,

Brian Lazewski

All of humanity was born to worship. We have an instinctive need to reverence our Creator. This is just how God made us. In the beginning, mankind had a close relationship with Him. But in Genesis Chapter 3, we read of how the king of demons, Satan, tempted Eve and caused her to doubt what God said. And the rest, as they say, is history. Adam followed Eve in her quest for forbidden knowledge and power, and together they traded perfect communion with God for a life of pain and toil, of blood, sweat and tears… of thorns and thistles, culminating in death and then the judgment.

But that need to worship never subsided. It’s woven into the very fabric of our souls; that innate need to revere the One who created us — to worship Him, and to somehow return to Him and re-establish that bond that was broken so long ago. It’s the one and only thing that will ever satisfy our souls, and the one thing that we will never find apart from Him.

The problems we encounter in this life begin the minute we depart from our Lord and try to do life on our own. The consequences of this are immediate and devastating. This is what happened to our first parents. This rebellion is the “sin nature” that we are now all born with, so that even today there exists within us a great turmoil, a constant tug-of-war between our desire to know God and worship Him and our desire to stray away from Him and worship something else.

Now, God created us with minds to think and reason. He doesn’t hide from us and then expect us to have blind faith in a Creator we can never know anything about. On the contrary, He makes Himself abundantly visible to all who have eyes to see. We are without excuse. The Bible makes it clear that we are able to know God by the things that He made. In other words, by observing His awesome Creation all around us, we know that God exists. What’s more, He provided us with a book, The Bible, the very words of God Himself, so that we can know Him more; and He did not spare even His own Son for our sakes, so that we may RETURN to Him and restore that perfect relationship, as He welcomes us back and draws us close to Himself with loving arms of compassion.

Let’s summarize these points:  We are born with the knowledge of God and with a desire and PURPOSE to worship and glorify Him. This knowledge of God and desire to worship Him is reinforced as we observe His Creation all around us. We also have His written Word to teach us all we will ever need to know. Yet, many of us still prefer to deny Him, to run and try to hide from Him, because His light exposes the darkness of our sinful hearts.

Now, what happens when we do this — when we deliberately choose to deny God?

Romans 1, starting at verse 28: “Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents, they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”

The heart of man, apart from the renewing and regeneration of Christ, is hopelessly lost. The Bible says it is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Surely it is obvious that this is true. Even little babies, as precious and as “innocent” as they are, do not need to be taught to sin. We are all born with a self-centered, sinful nature.

Depraved minds. But you see, even depraved minds STILL have that in-born desire to worship that we are all created with. And so, apart from Christ, we begin to invent things to worship that will fit conveniently into our lives without requiring anything of significance on our part. As if we can fulfill our need to “worship” but still live as WE choose, accountable to no one. Deep thinkers with depraved minds will expand on these thoughts to create entire religions and theologies. In other words, we use our IMAGINATIONS to invent things to worship, instead of God.

What is the root word of “imagination?” It is “IMAGE.” We create an image to worship, — one that is to our liking. In modern times, this “image” is usually an unseen thing — an invisible “god,” theology, idea or concept. But in ancient times, man built idols and graven IMAGES to bow down to as a substitute for the real thing…. Rather than worshiping the Creator, they worshiped and served created THINGS.

In Exodus, Chapter 20, God gave His eternal laws to mankind, written with His own finger on tablets of stone. The Ten Commandments. And first on the list was: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”  Why do you think this was the first, and most basic law God gave to us? Because He knows the heart of man, and our need to worship. He also knows how susceptible we are to demonic deceptions.

Let’s read more of this Scripture. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them….”  But yet, what has mankind done?

Turn again to Romans, chapter 1:  “…although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for IMAGES made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”

Then in verse 25: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”

There is nothing new under the sun. Mankind has been worshiping idols in vain ever since Satan deceived Eve in the garden. It’s our eternal struggle to worship, but yet to worship without submitting ourselves to God’s authority. So we use our imaginations to create a god to suit ourselves… ultimately, one that WE, ourselves, control. Most of us no longer carve and mold a golden calf or a totem pole. But we invent gods in our minds that suit us better than the one TRUE God of heaven.

This is what is happening still today. Even professing Christians are not immune from idol worship, and many create a god in their own image that bears little resemblance to the God of the Bible. How many liberal Christians will admonish you if you “judge” or speak firmly about sin, repentance and holy living?  How many will declare it is not “Christ-like” if you confront the evils and wickedness of our day, such as abortion or sexual depravity? “You’ll never win them to Jesus if you don’t welcome them and love them,” they say. Or they’ll declare, “MY god would never condemn anyone to hell…MY god is a god of love.” Religious people are great at creating gods in their own image; in their own imaginations.

Those who do not know God, those who are not diligent in studying the Scriptures, are easily led astray and deceived by Satan. Paul warned the Corinthians, “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily….”

To the Galatians he wrote, “I am astonished that you are so quickly… turning to a different gospel…  some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.”

Today we have many who profess to be Christians, but who deny the truths of Scripture or pervert the word of God by compromising it with their own imaginations.  And throughout the history of mankind, Satan has been at war with us, seeking our eternal damnation by luring us away from the pure word of God, with enticing things that appeal to our carnal natures. Paul warned us of angels preaching false religion, tempting us to worship something other than God Almighty. Scripture also tells us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. This is the same angel that appeared to Mohammed, calling himself “Allah.” This is the same angel that called himself “Moroni” as he appeared to Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion. This is the same so-called “angel,” who appeared to Satanist Aleister Crowley, and declared, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”

What it really comes down to is that we, in our sinful, human natures, are still trying to achieve what Satan promised Eve so long ago in the garden: that we can become LIKE God. In fact, many New Age religions will even teach that we can BECOME gods ourselves if we follow the path of “enlightenment.”

But let me clue you in to something that seems, to me, to be elementary, yet so elusive for so many: as human beings we have two choices: we either worship God or we worship Satan, in any number of disguises he will appear to us in, whichever disguise he knows will appeal to us most. There are NO OTHER alternatives. It is one or the other.

I was speaking to a New Ager recently, and she was trying to explain to me how she prays to the Universe and how if she thinks good thoughts and surrounds herself with positive energy, the Universe will reward her with the desires of her heart. Her ultimate hope for eternity is that her body will return to “star dust,” and that her soul will return to the Universe where she will be reincarnated, hopefully to a much higher, developed sentient being on this planet — or perhaps another planet, because as a citizen of the Living Universe, we do not limit ourselves to just the narrow-mindedness of Earth.

Now, this woman reveres the “Universe” or the “Living Universe” as the ultimate “higher power” or “thing” that she worships. She rejects the Bible and the God of the Scripture because she tried Christianity and it didn’t “work” for her. In her mind, she cannot understand why anyone would follow a book so full of rules and laws and things that limit her freedom, words written by MEN thousands of years ago… words of superstition and bigotry and things that are clearly so old fashioned and irrelevant.  Now she is much more enlightened and on a “path” that appeals to her way more than the narrow-mindedness and confining dictates of a religion that limits her freedom to do as she pleases. And, as the Wiccans say, “if it hurts no one, do as you please.”

Not knowing the Bible, the word of the eternal Creator, she does not realize that Scripture describes her to a tee: in short, this woman “worships and serves created things rather than the Creator.” You see, in her mind, the Universe is the biggest, most powerful thing she can imagine. (There’s that word again: “imagine!”) But she neglects to remember that the God of the Bible CREATED the Universe!

Why would you worship and serve a created thing rather than the eternal One who created it? Friends, be warned that those who DO, and deliberately choose to deny God and persist in their rebellion, will eventually be given depraved minds. They will no longer be ABLE to discern the truth, even when it is staring them straight in the face. It will be nonsense to them. Good will be bad, and bad will be good.  That’s what it means. I believe there are many in the world today who have passed this “point of no return” already. Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He has turned them over to depraved, reprobate minds.

We are seeing a lot of this lately. In fact, I believe we are nearing the close of time, the last days, and people are choosing now to seal their fate, and pick their eternal destinies. It is a scary thing, but know this: God has never condemned a single soul to hell who did not have ample opportunity to know Him and return to His loving arms. The spiritual forces of darkness surround us, unseen as they are, but no less real. Satan and his demons are contending for our souls, and many are being led astray and deceived. The most insidious part is that he rarely comes in his true form, but rather, as “enlightenment,” as a more pure, loving “path” to “god.” So now, more than ever, we must remember the words of Paul to the Corinthians:

“Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down IMAGINATIONS, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Study and KNOW God’s word, dear friends, and you will not be deceived by the schemes of the devil.

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Audio versions and transcripts of this message are available when you call me at Wisconsin Christian News, (715) 486-8066. Or email Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com. Ask for message number 153.