A Few Thoughts on the Jews and Anti-Semitism
Posted on September 14, 2012 by Brother of Sorrow
You would think that it goes without saying we should be respectful to all races of people, yet I have recently noticed a distinct sense of antagonism that many people harbor towards the Jewish race. Just the other day, I was talking to some people about the corrupt, powerful and entrenched international banking cartel, commonly represented by the Rothschild family, and there were quite a few times in which the conversation was casually steered towards the “Jewish nature” of this criminal conspiracy.
People usually won’t hesitate to make remarks such as, “that is just what the Jews are good at”, or, “that is what those people have been doing for centuries”. Given the historical level of persecution suffered by the Jews over millenia, and the increasingly divisive social and political situations in the world, this type of attitude really concerns me. It may not be strictly anti-semitic, but it most definitely comes way too close to anti-Semitism for comfort.
As a Christian, I would like to quickly address this attitude from a Biblical perspective first. Many Christians over the years have been convinced that “the Jews killed Jesus Christ”, and therefore they are deserving of the most severe punishments carried out by the hands of men (in God’s name). The fact is, though, that the above is a total myth. Jesus was born into a Jewish family in the land of Israel, and He was raised with Jewish religion and tradition. Most of Jesus’ followers and disciples during His ministry were Jewish men and women, who truly believed in His message of salvation through faith.
When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and hauled off by Roman authorities to stand “trial” before a few Jewish elites in the Sanhedrin (an assembly of judges), namely the High Priest – Caiaphas (Matthew 26). These elites represented less than 1% of the Jewish people living in that area, sort of like the elite bankers and corporate executives representing less than 1% of the global population now. Even when Jesus was brought before the crowd of people by Pilate, who called for His blood, we are still talking about a very small percentage of the Jewish people, who were “persuaded” by the chief priests and elders (Matthew 27:20-22).
The Biblical history given to us by the Gospels clearly does not warrant any reckless claims such as “the Jews killed Jesus”. Yet, even it if it did, we all understand that one of the core principles of Jesus’ moral teachings was to forgive those who have sinned against us or our those close to us. Forgiveness does not equal going on persecuting rampages against an entire race of people. And, finally, only God has the authority and wisdom to judge those who are deserving of punishment, such as the Jewish elites who rejected Jesus and aided in His brutal crucifixion.
Now let’s take this anti-Semitic attitude from a more atheistic or agnostic perspective. Many people are justifiably outraged at the actions of the Israeli nation and government over the last 60 years, which often bordered on outright terrorism against its neighboring peoples. They are so outraged that they impute the evil deeds of high-level Israeli officials to the entire Jewish peoples living in Israel (or perhaps even the world). Yet, once again, we are seeing the flawed logic of the Sanhedrin discussed above – imputing the wicked actions of a few Jewish elite onto the entire race.
Finally, a lot of people will simply hold a grudge against the Jewish race because they believe the Bible has declared them to be a special race of people, above all other peoples of the world. They read isolated portions of the Old Testament and can’t help but feel that the Jewish people have gained a limitless sense of pride and importance, and it makes these people cringe at the thought of such “inequality”. Perhaps some Jews do feel that way, but this reading is truly a complete misunderstanding and misleading interpretation of the Old Testament accounts.
The nation of Israel is often referred to as the “corporate” child of God, and I think that is a very helpful analogy to use. Think about a company that is in the business of marketing holiness to its “customers”, in the form of moral teachings (commandments) and ritual practices, with an end goal of leading its customers to a lifestyle of pure faith. The true owner of this company (God) decides that it must maintain a “corporate culture” that is unique and distinct from the selfish culture of most other businesses.
He appoints CEOs, high-level managers and employees to head up a department (the nation of Israel) in charge of implementing and sustaining this holy corporate culture. There is even a set of liaisons that act as the bridge between this department and the company’s owner, i.e. the High Priests of Israel. In this analogy, God is simply structuring His company of righteousness in the most efficient way possible, using the nation of Israel as his official delegates for maintaining the ever-important holy culture.
Yet, that doesn’t mean there weren’t many times when those in charge of this department strayed from their mission and worked at cross purposes to the Owner of the company – we see examples of this in the nation of Israel all throughout the Old Testament. Sometimes this deviation deserved strict admonishment, and other times it required full-fledged condemnation, judgment and restructuring of the entire corporate structure. The only difference between the owner/manager of an actual company and God’s holy purposes is that God remains in control of the entire situation throughout the ups and downs of the “markets”.
And since this blog has a heavy theme of picturing Christ, I would feel remiss not to mention that the entire establishment and history of the Israeli “department” served as invaluable messages and pictures for what we know now as the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. It is a message of love, forgiveness, faith and salvation – all things that were pictured very clearly in the laws, adventures, trials and tribulations of God’s “chosen people”. Obviously, they were chosen for a specific purpose…
It is through the corporate structures of Israel, and the seed of Abraham, Isaac and David, in which we are fortunate enough, by the grace of God, to discover blessings given to all the nations of the world – to all the Jews and gentiles alike. We are all God’s children in the most fundamental sense, and we all have the potential to become the “brides of Christ”. This is accomplished through faith in Christ and through love for all of our fellow neighbors, regardless of what perceived transgressions or biases we may harbor.
It is essential for people of all secular and religious stripes to understand this basic truth, and to refrain from indulging others in hateful attitudes towards entire groups of people. Such an attitude is not only very hurtful to others, but it is also very hurtful to ourselves, because we do ultimately reap what we sow. We would all do well to remember God’s promise to Abraham when he called him to walk in faith towards the ultimate goal of Christ’s atonement and offering of salvation to all the human peoples on the face of this Earth.
1The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
2“I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
(Genesis 12)
Posted on September 14, 2012 by Brother of Sorrow
You would think that it goes without saying we should be respectful to all races of people, yet I have recently noticed a distinct sense of antagonism that many people harbor towards the Jewish race. Just the other day, I was talking to some people about the corrupt, powerful and entrenched international banking cartel, commonly represented by the Rothschild family, and there were quite a few times in which the conversation was casually steered towards the “Jewish nature” of this criminal conspiracy.
People usually won’t hesitate to make remarks such as, “that is just what the Jews are good at”, or, “that is what those people have been doing for centuries”. Given the historical level of persecution suffered by the Jews over millenia, and the increasingly divisive social and political situations in the world, this type of attitude really concerns me. It may not be strictly anti-semitic, but it most definitely comes way too close to anti-Semitism for comfort.
As a Christian, I would like to quickly address this attitude from a Biblical perspective first. Many Christians over the years have been convinced that “the Jews killed Jesus Christ”, and therefore they are deserving of the most severe punishments carried out by the hands of men (in God’s name). The fact is, though, that the above is a total myth. Jesus was born into a Jewish family in the land of Israel, and He was raised with Jewish religion and tradition. Most of Jesus’ followers and disciples during His ministry were Jewish men and women, who truly believed in His message of salvation through faith.
When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and hauled off by Roman authorities to stand “trial” before a few Jewish elites in the Sanhedrin (an assembly of judges), namely the High Priest – Caiaphas (Matthew 26). These elites represented less than 1% of the Jewish people living in that area, sort of like the elite bankers and corporate executives representing less than 1% of the global population now. Even when Jesus was brought before the crowd of people by Pilate, who called for His blood, we are still talking about a very small percentage of the Jewish people, who were “persuaded” by the chief priests and elders (Matthew 27:20-22).
The Biblical history given to us by the Gospels clearly does not warrant any reckless claims such as “the Jews killed Jesus”. Yet, even it if it did, we all understand that one of the core principles of Jesus’ moral teachings was to forgive those who have sinned against us or our those close to us. Forgiveness does not equal going on persecuting rampages against an entire race of people. And, finally, only God has the authority and wisdom to judge those who are deserving of punishment, such as the Jewish elites who rejected Jesus and aided in His brutal crucifixion.
Now let’s take this anti-Semitic attitude from a more atheistic or agnostic perspective. Many people are justifiably outraged at the actions of the Israeli nation and government over the last 60 years, which often bordered on outright terrorism against its neighboring peoples. They are so outraged that they impute the evil deeds of high-level Israeli officials to the entire Jewish peoples living in Israel (or perhaps even the world). Yet, once again, we are seeing the flawed logic of the Sanhedrin discussed above – imputing the wicked actions of a few Jewish elite onto the entire race.
Finally, a lot of people will simply hold a grudge against the Jewish race because they believe the Bible has declared them to be a special race of people, above all other peoples of the world. They read isolated portions of the Old Testament and can’t help but feel that the Jewish people have gained a limitless sense of pride and importance, and it makes these people cringe at the thought of such “inequality”. Perhaps some Jews do feel that way, but this reading is truly a complete misunderstanding and misleading interpretation of the Old Testament accounts.
The nation of Israel is often referred to as the “corporate” child of God, and I think that is a very helpful analogy to use. Think about a company that is in the business of marketing holiness to its “customers”, in the form of moral teachings (commandments) and ritual practices, with an end goal of leading its customers to a lifestyle of pure faith. The true owner of this company (God) decides that it must maintain a “corporate culture” that is unique and distinct from the selfish culture of most other businesses.
He appoints CEOs, high-level managers and employees to head up a department (the nation of Israel) in charge of implementing and sustaining this holy corporate culture. There is even a set of liaisons that act as the bridge between this department and the company’s owner, i.e. the High Priests of Israel. In this analogy, God is simply structuring His company of righteousness in the most efficient way possible, using the nation of Israel as his official delegates for maintaining the ever-important holy culture.
Yet, that doesn’t mean there weren’t many times when those in charge of this department strayed from their mission and worked at cross purposes to the Owner of the company – we see examples of this in the nation of Israel all throughout the Old Testament. Sometimes this deviation deserved strict admonishment, and other times it required full-fledged condemnation, judgment and restructuring of the entire corporate structure. The only difference between the owner/manager of an actual company and God’s holy purposes is that God remains in control of the entire situation throughout the ups and downs of the “markets”.
And since this blog has a heavy theme of picturing Christ, I would feel remiss not to mention that the entire establishment and history of the Israeli “department” served as invaluable messages and pictures for what we know now as the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. It is a message of love, forgiveness, faith and salvation – all things that were pictured very clearly in the laws, adventures, trials and tribulations of God’s “chosen people”. Obviously, they were chosen for a specific purpose…
It is through the corporate structures of Israel, and the seed of Abraham, Isaac and David, in which we are fortunate enough, by the grace of God, to discover blessings given to all the nations of the world – to all the Jews and gentiles alike. We are all God’s children in the most fundamental sense, and we all have the potential to become the “brides of Christ”. This is accomplished through faith in Christ and through love for all of our fellow neighbors, regardless of what perceived transgressions or biases we may harbor.
It is essential for people of all secular and religious stripes to understand this basic truth, and to refrain from indulging others in hateful attitudes towards entire groups of people. Such an attitude is not only very hurtful to others, but it is also very hurtful to ourselves, because we do ultimately reap what we sow. We would all do well to remember God’s promise to Abraham when he called him to walk in faith towards the ultimate goal of Christ’s atonement and offering of salvation to all the human peoples on the face of this Earth.
1The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
2“I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
(Genesis 12)
