SIMILARITIES APPLIED TO CHRISTIANITY
Before?entering this exegesis of scripture, this author wishes to express to?the reader, his earnest sadness concerning what the Jewish People have?gone through.? I am glad they have a Nation status at this time, but?scripture says they will lose it again via a major invasion of troops?lead by the Antichrist.? What is said in these pages is a rendering of?the facts of scripture, most of which is found in the Old Testament.?This paper exists to educate Christians as to the Jewish people, and?their place in the world, as God has determined it.? What can be taken?from this scriptural presentation is that Christians are not immune to?the horror or machinations that have plagued the Hebrews and?contemporary Jews.? My examination of scripture and my direct experience?demonstrates that whatever happens to the Jews eventually happens to?the Christians, and as well, its reverse.? Hitler?s purges of Roman?Catholic Poles, and as well Eastern and Russian Orthodox Slavs and?Hungarians, evinces this truth.??? I hope that those who read this,?understand that as a teacher of the Bible I must not cover over what God?has said, and what has occurred.? My heart is with the Jewish people?and their desire for peace in the world and their rightful place as?ambassadors for the King of Kings.? But we must not coddle or scrub out?the truth of God?s word, just because it may be embarrassing or open a?wound that only the Messiah of mankind can heal.
The Author
We have heard the cries against?anti-Semitism, yet properly, anti-Semitism includes Arabs, as well as?the Jewish people.? The word Semitism comes from the root ?Semitic,? and?is derived from Shem, the son of Noah. [Gen.9:18-19; 10:21-31].? The?Semite tribes include: the Akkadians, near Babylon, the Arameans near?present Syria, the Canaanites near present Gaza strip, the Arabs of?Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and UAE etc., and the Ethiopians. [see my?article: Hebrew and Jewish People, Who Are They?]? The chart below?demonstrates the Semitic language groups.
[Source: Wikipedia]
The renaissance saw a great many Jewish?immigrants coming into Eastern and Middle Europe, while the Balkans had?remnants of the Semitic, who swept across Greece, from neighboring?Turkey.? The customs and dress of Middle Easterners [Semitics] were a?cultural shock and exclusionary for socializing.?? Europeans thought in?terms of the rights and privileges of a Christian society and Semitics?accumulated in enclaves, so as to keep their customs from being melded?with the Christian culture.
On this note, one can get an?understanding of the feelings and rationale within the German states of?the 1800?s.? Karl Marx, a Jew, wrote to the Prussian philosopher Bruno?Bauer, 1843 desiring Jewish equality of citizenship with the German?people. Dr. Bauer replies to Marx with his logic for separation ??differing cultural and religious views that neither culture will?separate from.
An excerpt on ?The Jewish Question,? from the Encyclopedia of Marxism, first published 1844.
Bruno Bauer
The Jewish Question?
Braunschweig, 1843 ?
?The German Jews desire emancipation. What kind of emancipation do they desire? ? Civic, political emancipation.
Bruno Bauer?replies to them: No one in Germany is politically emancipated. We?ourselves are not free. How are we to free you? You Jews are egoists if?you demand a special emancipation for yourselves as Jews. As Germans,?you ought to work for the political emancipation of Germany, and as?human beings, for the emancipation of mankind, and you should feel the?particular kind of your oppression and your shame not as an exception to?the rule, but on the contrary as a confirmation of the rule.
Or do the Jews?demand the same status as Christian subjects of the state? In that case,?they recognize that the Christian state is justified and they?recognize, too, the regime of general oppression. Why should they?disapprove of their special yoke if they approve of the general yoke??Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the?Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German??
The Christian?state knows only privileges. In this state, the Jew has the privilege of?being a Jew. As a Jew, he has rights which the Christians do not have.?Why should he want rights which he does not have, but which the?Christians enjoy?
In wanting to be?emancipated from the Christian state, the Jew is demanding that the?Christian state should give up its religious prejudice. Does he, the?Jew, give up his religious prejudice? Has he, then, the right to demand?that someone else should renounce his religion?
By its very?nature, the Christian state is incapable of emancipating the Jew; but,?adds Bauer, by his very nature the Jew cannot be emancipated. So long as?the state is Christian and the Jew is Jewish, the one is as incapable?of granting emancipation as the other is of receiving it.
The Christian?state can behave towards the Jew only in the way characteristic of the?Christian state ? that is, by granting privileges, by permitting the?separation of the Jew from the other subjects, but making him feel the?pressure of all the other separate spheres of society, and feel it all?the more intensely because he is in religious opposition to the dominant?religion. But the Jew, too, can behave towards the state only in a?Jewish way ? that is, by treating it as something alien to him, by?counter posing his imaginary nationality to the real nationality, by?counterposing his illusory law to the real law, by deeming himself?justified in separating himself from mankind, by abstaining on principle?from taking part in the historical movement, by putting his trust in a?future which has nothing in common with the future of mankind in?general, and by seeing himself as a member of the Jewish people, and the?Jewish people as the chosen people.
On what grounds,?then, do you Jews want emancipation? On account of your religion? It is?the mortal enemy of the state religion. As citizens? In Germany, there?are no citizens. As human beings? But you are no more human beings than?those to whom you appeal.?
Written: Autumn 1843;
First Published: February, 1844 in Deutsch-Franz?sische Jahrb?cher;
Proofed and Corrected: by Andy Blunden, Matthew Grant and Matthew Carmody, 2008/9, Mark Harris 2010.
From this segment of the discourse, several major ideas come to the forefront:
1. ?The Jewish?Question,? was not the original idea of Adolf Hitler, and had nothing to?do with extermination.? The ?question? is an underlying Christian?dilemma, and contemplates how Christians should respond to the Jewish?people.
2. Karl Marx?s original intent was NOT Communism, but equality for the Jews and with the German people, in all areas of society.
3. Bauer argues?realistically that in order for Jewish people to fully integrate into?the society of Christian Germans, they must give up their religion, and?follow the aspirations of the German society ? otherwise the Jewish?people are free to stay in their religion and within their enclaves and?peaceably move toward their own aspiration, as an independent ethnic?nation.
4. Bauer, a Hegelian?and Rationalist, nevertheless recognized Christianity as the motivating?culture of the German people. His response to Marx is of similar logic?to that of Saint Paul?s, from the book of Galatians, chapter 2, verses?11-21.? In a scathing rebuke to the Apostle Peter, who tried to act?Orthodox in his Judaism, but only for show, Paul offers the following?question:
?You are?a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.? How then that?you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? We who are Jews by birth?and not ?Gentile sinners? know that a man is not justified by observing?the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.?
Here in is the problem that present day?Christians hate to face, and the continuing trouble that the Jewish?people bring upon themselves, by choice.?? God called the Jews as a?nation ? to represent God.? He sent them a Messiah and they openly?rejected him, and continue to reject him.? They desire Christians to?accept them as redeemed [saved] people of God without their accepting?the very answer to their needs, Jesus Christ ? as Lord and Savior.?Because they continue in this vanity the Jewish people continue to?suffer the rejection of parity with Christians, as the redeemed; they?continually have the chastisement of God upon them, making themselves?open to demonic retaliation via worldly, sinful and degenerate people.
Judgment of Desolations for Jewish People:?
Many ?desolations? [Heb. shamen] were prophesied by Daniel concerning Israel right up to the time of the Antichrist and the Lords coming.
?After sixty-two sevens the Anointed One [Jesus the Messiah] will be cut off and will have nothing [for himself]. The?people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the?sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: war will continue until the?end, and DESOLATIONS have been decreed.?? [Dan.9:26]
The book of Zechariah written, after the?Babylonian exile [520BC], is essentially a book that expresses the?history and future of Israel, from the exile on into the Coming of?Messiah [Christ Jesus]. The book prophesies coming battles such as the?Maccabean kingdom [165-63BC] beating back the Syrian Dynasty of?Antiochus Epiphanies, whose name meant ?God Manifest? [Zech.9:12-13].?The book proclaims that Israel is an, ?object of cursing among the nations? [Zech8:13], which is a very good description from the Middle Ages through today.
But the book contains one future event?that boggles the mind, yet continues the chastening of Israel as a?people.? The issue is eschatological, during the final battle between?the Antichrist forces and the ?Parousia? or visual presence of the?Messiah [Christ Jesus].? Right up to the end, before God sets up his?Earthly Kingdom, Israel will go through another Holocaust.? It is found?in Chapter 13 and 14 of Zechariah ? for it prophesies:
??strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered?? [Zech.13: 7, a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ] but then the prophesy looks forward to the end.
??and I will turn my hand against the little ones? ?[the?remnant, the oppressed, the ones left over ? see C.F. Keil, Commentary?on the Old Testament, Zech. pg. 398 and Kenneth L. Barker, Expositors?Bible Commentary, Zech, pg. 687]
?In the?whole land,? declares the Lord, ?two thirds will be struck down and?perish, yet one third will be left in it.? This third I will bring into?the fire; I will refined them like silver and test them like gold.? They?will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ?They are my?people,? and they will say, ?The Lord is our God.?? [Zech.13:8-9]
What the scripture says is that the?Antichrist will attack Israel and Jerusalem proper, killing two-thirds?of the population.? Consider that in Israel today, few know of this?prophesy and they do not understand what will be coming.
?A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided among you.? ?Zech.14:1, [or, ?thy spoil is divided in the midst of thee.??Ibid – Keil ]
On the day that Christ comes the Antichrist forces will?be inside Jerusalem dividing plunder, with a third of Israel left ? but?worse yet is prophesied.?
?I will?gather the all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city?will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped.? Half the?city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken?from the city.? Then the Lord will go out and fight against those?nations, as he fights in the day of battle.??
Blood carnage, pillaging and raping,?will occur as the invading Islamic antichrist army enters Israel and?Jerusalem.? After the debauched melee, the sated forces will extract?half the populous for prison camps and most probable death.
Why will God allow this?? ? because his?people do not want him. ?However, on that day, those who remember what a?Christian evangelist said, or those who read the Old Testament?scriptures about Messiah, will call out to him in distress and call upon?the name of the Lord.? This time they will say, ?Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest? [Mt.21:9] ? and God will refine the remnant, the residue that is left. ??
If you believe that?what is written here is just good theater, let me tell you what happened?during an exorcism at Christian Life Church, Springfield,?Massachusetts, about the year 1984.? A young man had attended a Satanist?Mass and asked some entity to enter him, thinking it a joke. ?After?realizing he made a grave error, he asked via his own volition for help,?because he was desperate.? During the exorcism the demon swore he would?kill the young man.? Those praying, and those in leadership, were?beside themselves in an effort to get the young man to call on Jesus?Christ.? The event reached fevers pitch, when the young man who was?certain the demon would and could kill him, in desperation, he cried out?to Christ, and was immediately made clean and in his right mind.? This?writer testifies that he was there and observed the events first hand,?while being a part of the prayer team.
My point: When?Israel is at the point of being all together massacred, they will?experience a great earth quake, as will the invading armies?[Zech.14:4].? The ground will literally split apart and a giant rift?will lay open the earth.? Yet those that call upon their God,?Messiah-Jesus will know instinctively, or by knowledge of the Zechariah?that they are to run at, and into, the open crust of the earth ? with?great faith placed upon the saving ability of God.? With a choice of?death by the antichrist, or death by the open earth, they will choose?wisely! ?Desperation has a way of cleansing a person of valueless?things.
Christ Jesus said concerning the Jewish people:
?O?Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to?you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen?gathers her chicks under her wings.? Look you house is left to you?desolate.? For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,??Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.? ?[Mt.23:37-39]
This statement of Jesus comes at the end?of a diatribe of ?Seven Woes? that Jesus pronounces on the leaders, the?populous of Jerusalem that extends to the entire people of Israel.? In?it, Jesus judges the nation of Israel as wicked ? without natural?affection ? overbearing sons of hell ? blind guides, hypocrites,?murderers, snakes and a brood of vipers. ?Christ comes to his ruling, ??How will you escape being condemned to hell?? [Mt.23:33] The question is rhetorical, and patently means that they will not escape the fires of Hell.
The double statement of, ?Jerusalem, Jerusalem? is a double expression, as one commentator put it, ??an unfathomable pathos?? which is similar to declaring, ?verily, verily!? ?It is a mechanism of language that expresses a dire certainty of coming doom, even as King David cried, ?O Absolom, my son, my son??
The term, ?your house is left to you desolate??is an equivalent interpretive translation, meaning that in the original?text, the word ?desolate? is not there. The received text reads in the?literal Greek: Behold is left to you the house of you,? where the key words are ?is left ? to you? (Grk: aphiemi -????????, humin?? ????? ).?? However, in terms of equivalency it is understood.? Jesus?was saying to the Jews of that generation who rejected him, ?because you?reject your messiah your house therefore is left to you.? ?The house?was the Temple.? The Temple was made for Yehovah [YHVH].? If they reject?Yehovah?s Son, then Yehovah rejects them, and so the Temple is?worthless, it is like a ?desert? hence there is desolation.
Another way of interpreting the??desolate? passage is by evaluating Jesus? oratory in the preceding?chapters, specifically Matthew chapter 21 where Jesus arrives at the?Temple.?? His disciples laid down palm leaves and adored him as Messiah,?but when he enters the city, the average person doesn?t even understand?what the commotion is all about ? and this, after three years of?miracles and preaching. ?So, Jesus goes directly to the Court of?Gentiles and throws the money changers out and proclaims, ?My house will be a house of prayer?? [Mt.21:13]
This event is similar in effect as if a?president-elect went into Washington DC, telling the Federal Reserve to?close up and ordering Treasury to start making US gold reserve notes. You and I would love it, but the Congress and bureaucrats would hate him?and ask, ?by what authority?? followed by going about their business ??unaffected.? ?
Now the Pharisees rebuked Jesus for?accepting praise and worship, and pointedly ask him, ?by what authority?does he do these things??? Jesus shows them no deference and instead?talks in parables to the listening public with elocutions of the wedding?banquet, paying taxes, greatest commandment, and ends with ? ?The Messiah, whose son is he???[Mt.22:41-42] When they couldn?t answer this profound question Jesus?gives his diatribe concerning the leaders and the nation ? to be found?in Mt.23, because they should have been able to answer the question.? If?their hearts really desired God, and God?s way, they would have?responded to Jesus positively, even if they thought him no more than the?true Prophet of God ? as Nicodemus did.
Jesus entered the Court of the Gentiles and proclaimed, ??my house is a house of prayer..,??but the leaders refused his directives and thought nothing of Christ?s?displeasure. Therefore, in a paraphrased way Jesus was expressing to?them, ?This Temple was a Temple of prayer.? As the house of God it must?be run properly.? But you refuse, so I give this Temple and this Nation?to you ? see if you can defend it and get from God what you need.?Therefore, my Father and I will leave this house that was made for us,?and give it to you. Therefore your house is left to you desolate ??absent of God?s presence.?
Further, the desolation is not only upon the house, but upon the country, and upon their children, until they say, ?Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD [YHVH].? [Mt.23:39]
The word desolate is used in the Greek,?as when a husband deserts his wife.? She can bear no more children of?him.? She has no natural protection.? She becomes unloved.? Since Israel?was married to the Yehovah, his rejection of his people brings danger?from predators ? she is want for purpose, not able to love her husband?and lives alone without being loved.
The word ?desolate? [Gk. ERAMOS, adj] is used in terms of describing a desert, and its noun [EREMOSIS] is used in the term, ??the abomination that causes desolation?? [Mt.24:15] and so describes what the Antichrist will bring to the future Jerusalem.
The word ?desolate? is further modified?by the parable found in Mt.22:1-14, were the King set a time for a?wedding banquet.? Those that were invited refused so the King sent an?army to destroy the ungrateful guests, and burned their city.
A complete description of the destruction of Jerusalem was recorded by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in his, The Wars of the Jews, or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem, as predicted in Lk.21:20-24.
This is how Israel was removed from the?land, a second time, and continues to this day with its people spread?abroad upon the earth.? However, the Jewish people have found some?refuge and understanding among Christian communities and their?constituent countries.
The Jewish people up to 1948 had no?country of their own. However, they still suffer bloodshed and trouble?at the hands of the same persecutors and nations that drove them from?the land originally.? Why?
The Desolations Continue:
Some may construe that the effects of?divine chastisement upon the first century Jewish population ended and?with that generation.? This is not so.? Israel is a nation set apart by?God for his purposes.?? Every generation that picks up a Torah and reads?from the Law, goes to yeshiva (school), claims to be a follower of Yehovah [ Gk. = YHVH or Heb. =? ? ? ? ‘?], and works to keep Holy days of the Law are cursed.? Unbelievers are?also under a curse as stated in Rom.1:18-20.? However, Israel is?different, in that God revealed himself to no other nation but the Jews.
?He has?revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel.? He has done?this for no other nation; they do not know his laws?? [Ps.147:19-20]
Paul said, as a Jew,
??a man is not justified by observing the law?? [Gal.2:16], and ?All?who rely on the law are under a curse, for it is written: ?Cursed is?everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of?Law.?? ?[Duet.27:26 and Gal.3:10]
What is the Curse??
Deuteronomy means the ?second law? with the Jewish common reference to the book as, ?Words? ? taken from Deut.1:1, ?These are the WORDS Moses spoke to Israel in the desert east of the Jordan ? that is in the Arabia?? ? At Horeb (Mount Sinai)? [See. Gal.4:24-25]? [Modern Jabal al Lawz in North West Saudi Arabia within ancient Midian]
The book is a contract, written in the?style of its day, with Blessings and Cursing?s. If Israel does what God?directs them to do, they will get blessed.? If they fail to do what God?directs them to do they will be cursed.? The curses are found in Chapter?27:9-26, and the Blessing are found in Chapter 28:1-14 of Deuteronomy.
The Blessing vernacular is:
?You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country?you will be blessed coming in and blessed going out?? [Deut.28:3, 6]
The general categories? of blessings:?wives will bear children; land will produce crops; livestock will?multiply; food will be plentiful.
The cursing vernacular is:
?You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country?you will be cursed when you go out and cursed when you come in.? [Deut.28:16, 19]
The general categories? of curses: lack of food; baron wombs and baron soil, and livestock will not increase.
The specific curses are found in?Duet.28:20-67 and are: confusion and rebuke upon everything they work?at; sudden ruin; plagued with diseases; lack of rain until the country?turns to powder; defeat of the armies; excessive fallen dead with no one?to bury them; mental diseases, cancer; rapes, murders, theft, stupidity?toward worshiping gods of stone and wood, locust, loss of country to?foreigners, there will be wars and population decrease ? to name a few.
It is obvious that mishaps, malfeasance,?and mayhem happen all the time in undeveloped nations, because they are?devoid of the knowledge of God and his moral code ? the human sin?nature is left to wreak havoc unabated.? But it should not be the?testimony to those that carry the knowledge of the Divine.
The effect of the curse, works as a?sign, not only to the sinners, but to their descendants [Deut.28:46] and?as a warning to Christians, so that we do not find ourselves in an?equivalent predicament of divine judgment. [1Cor.10:6, 11;?Rom.11:20b-21].
Examples of the Curses:
Many of the curses were fulfilled at the?sieges of Jerusalem, before and after two major Israeli Diasporas?[600BC and 70AD].? The first captivity was when Israel went into Egypt?and were slaves 450 years. [Ex.12:40-41? The purpose was to develop the?twelve tribes from a band of nomads and sheep herders to a major nation -?complete with all the fields of endeavors: government, medicine,?engineering, military, agriculture, and religion.
The second: the whole Israeli nation?went into captivity because of lack of faith ? specifically in two?areas: idolatry [1Kg.14:15] and for want of trust and avarice concerning?the use of the land [Lev.25:4-5; 26:33-35].? Since its last expulsion?by the Romans, the Jewish population have wandered about predominantly?in Europe were Christian communities better received than the Islamic?communities of the Middle East.? However over time there were multiple?military and civil purges of the Jews.
Three major purges of Jews happened because of Jewish insurrections and insurgencies?
Kitos War, 115-117AD
Bar Kochba Revolt and persecution, 132 -135AD
Emperor Severous forbids conversions to Judaism, 200AD
Western and Eastern purges under Christian governments -?during this time the Jewish people were forbid to build synagogues,?marry Christians, own land, convert to or from Judaism, thrown out of?Spain and Italy, and refused citizenship and civil offices
Nine persecutions during the 300?s AD
Four persecutions during the 400?s AD
Four persecutions during the 500?s AD
Four persecutions during the 600?s AD
722AD
855AD
Eleven persecutions,?between 1000 and 1200.? Some consider the Crusades as persecutions?against Jews, because even though the Crusaders were fighting Islamic?Warlords, they did as much damage to the Jewish populations, and as?well, the Maronite Christians who were killed for simply having the dark?skinned appearance, and a language of Middle Eastern origin.
After the 1300?s, persecutions were less?in Europe and greater in the Ottoman Empire, however deep?discrimination continued unabated.
With the Age of Reason Spreading?throughout Europe, attitudes became better, as Jewish intellects found?favor among the royal and the rich, and as well with, scientists and?engineers.
The discrimination reached a peak under?Hitler?s Germany with an estimated 6 million Jews having been?exterminated, along with 10 million Russians, Poles, Slavs, and?Hungarians.
After WWI the British who assumed?control of the Middle East, sponsored the 1917 Balfour Declaration which?stated that the Jews have a historical presence in Palestine, and they?have the right to make it their home. ?In 1947, the UN set up a state?for the Jewish people along with the indigenous Arabs.? No sooner had?the Jews had a country, war broke out.? They prevailed but have had wars?in 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982.? With the help of Western Democracies,?Israel has been able to survive, albeit under continual threat and?animosity from its neighbors.? The recent demise of Middle Eastern?dictators, oldest political Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood?together with Hamas, and Hezbollah, are gaining control of many Middle?Eastern states.? With the Iranian Shia Muslims encouraging the Death of?Israel, war appears inevitable.
The ?Byword? Curse:?
In Deut.28:36-37, Yehovah warned Israel?that if they rebelled he would send them into exile and be among people?who worship idols of stone and wood, and he would make them a ?byword.?
?You will become a thing of horror, a byword, and an object of ridicule among the peoples where the Lord will drive you. [Deut.28:37]
The following scriptures mention this curse: 1Kg.9:7, 2Ch.7:20, Ps.44:14, Jer.24:9, Ezek.14:8, 23:10, and Joel 2:17.
The ?byword? is used by Job in chapters 17 and 30.? ??a man in whose face people spit.? [Job17:6] and ??young men mock me in song.? [Job 30:9]
A byword is a proverb of derision, much?as someone would say, concerning a drunk or a loud fool, or perhaps the?well-known circus conmen.?? This pretty much sums up the derogatory?attitudes one hears about Jewish people and especially their doctors or?Lawyers.? This is a painful and sad thing for a people to go through.?Just about every ethnic group at one time or another has been made a?byword ? indigenous Americans, Italians, Irish, or Chinese.
But these things happen when the ethnic?groups move to a different country up until people accept them. ?Part of?that acceptance is the fact that these immigrants do have a place which?they call a homeland.? Not so the Jewish people until 1948.? They have?been forced to move everywhere without being able to say, ?My homeland?is the Country of Israel.? This ridicule has been attached to them for?2,000 years.? As Christian, we should recognize the reason this?happened, yet, be kind to the Jewish people and encourage their?acceptance of their Messiah.
The Seven Times Curse:
There is a little known condition of?Divine Law that the Israelites agreed to at Mount Horeb, and is?documented in Leviticus 25 and 26 and as well in Ezekiel 4.? I will?refer to it as the seven times judgment.?? But in order to prime the?reader to this curse, we need to examine what goes on in criminal law. Though somewhat simplified it gives a good understanding of the mercy?and judgment of God, and as well the bad situation that Israel put?itself in.
A man is convicted of not paying his?taxes.? He is sentence to 7 years in jail.? Because he was a model?prisoner, the parole board let him out after one year with the remainder?to be served at home as a parolee.?? So the man leaves the prison, and?instead of going home he stays in the prison town, doesn?t report to his?parole officer, and while working he again pays no taxes.? The parole?officer brings him back to court, where the judge tells him that he will?not only serve the remaining time but he will have receive an?additional 42 years for second crime of not paying taxes again. This?time however the full weight of the sentencing guidelines is thrown at?him ? a total of 48 years.? That is, he has 6 years to finish and 42 for?the new infraction.? This happened to Israel.
Israel promised God to obey the Sabbath?law of not working on Saturdays and every seventh year they would not?till the soil [Lev.25:4-5].? Well, the Northern Kingdom is given a?sentence of 390 years for their sin, and the Southern Kingdom is given a?sentence of 40 years. [Prophesied in Lev.26:33-35] Together the?sentence is 430 years.
Jeremiah is told, ?This whole country?will become a DESOLATE wasteland, and these nations [Northern Israel and?Judah] will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years? [Jer.25:11].
Leviticus law and Jeremiah?s judgment is?verified with Ezekiel 4:4-6, where the prophet is told to lay on his?left side 390 days, and then turn over and lay on his right side for 40?days.
God sys to him,
?I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin? [Ezek.4:5].
But God had told them in the beginning,
?But if?you will not listen to me?then I will bring upon you sudden terror,?wasting diseases, and fever that will destroy your sight?your enemies,?those who hate you, will rule over you?If you still don?t listen to me, I?will punish your sins SEVEN TIMES OVER?I will multiply your afflictions?SEVEN TIMES OVER? rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and?make you few in number?I myself will be hostile to you and will afflict?you for your sins SEVEN TIMES OVER?bring the sword upon you?send a?plague among you?given in to enemy hands?if you still don?t listen? I?myself will punish you for your sins SEVEN TIMES OVER?? [Lev.26:14-39].
God gave a way out for the seven times?law ? if they humble themselves and confess their sin, the sins of their?fathers, and their hostility toward their God [Lev.26:40-42, 2Chron?7:13-14].
Why where the Israelites, after 70 years?of captivity, considered hostile to God?? ? because they refused to?come back into the Land with Nehemiah and Ezra. ?They like the life?style in and around Babylon.
Knowing this we can calculate the sentence and the dates.
Days to years: 390 + 40 = 430 years
Days to years: 430 ? 70 paid = 360 years
Days to years: 360 x 7 curse = 2520 years
BUT, one must use a 360 day calendar for years? 2520y x 360d = 907,200 DAYS
Recalculate by Astronomical Science: 907,200 / 365.25d = ?2483.78 years
Round off to 2484 days or add one year for the BC to AD change: 2483 +1 = 2484yrs
Israel was incarcerated in 606BC ? 70 years of jail = 536BC
*2484 years left ? 536BC = 1948,?the year Israel became a nation ? and you can calculate it down to the?month and the day if you please.? It all works out to God?s judgment.?So now that Israel has paid for its original sins, while they had been?in the land, they now get their land back!
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The point of this historical?presentation is that the Israeli peoples have suffered exactly what God?had said they would suffer, as disclosed in the book of Deuteronomy, and?other books of the Bible.
While it may be suggested that Hitler?was the worst.? How could God have allowed that? Consider the Assyrian?invasion, and the later work of Antiochus Epiphanies of Syria. The?Assyrians were brutal.? They would flail the skin off their enemies and?skewer their captives on upright poles ? sometimes they would bury their?captives in pits, up to their heads.? Then play a form of polo over the?alive, but protruding heads. ?Then there was Antiochus Epiphanies who?loved the god Saturn.? He absolutely polluted the Temple with pigs?blood, set up an image of Jupiter in the Holy of Holies, murdered?pregnant women and children in his effort to force the Jews to renounce?their religion.? In both of these invasions God later states that he?would punish the Nation that he called to do his chastisement, because?they went beyond what he had allowed for chastisement.
?When?the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he?will say, I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his?heart and the haughty look in his eyes, for he says, ?By the strength?of my hand I have done this??? [Is.10:12-13]
A similar judgment awaited Babylon as foretold in Isaiah chapter 13.
This author does not have any support?for the people that did the persecutions. Many modern persecutions were?engaged, using the name of Christ ? out of ignorance.?? Fakers and the?vial are found in every organization, and God knows those that belong to?him.? However, what is important to note, is that the Jewish people?still claim Yehovah as their God, but do not practice what God had said?to practice ? Temple Worship with its ritual sacrifices.?? They have?built their own religion, and cultus in place of what the Bible clearly?demands.? They have a religion of works that is far from what God had?dictated.? Further, after Christ came, who is the fulfillment of the?Law, the Jewish People rejected him.
An argument may be made that Buddhists,?Muslims, and Hindus have religions of works and they are not persecuted ??but these man-made religions do not claim the salvation of Yehovah, and?God did not call these people as His own possession.
Though many Jewish people are prosperous?in the USA and in Europe, this is because they are under Christianized?governments, and surrounded by many Biblically literate people. However,?many American Jews are secular in their beliefs and have never studied?the Bible.? The argument use is that the Bible Jews were Hebrews, they?are not.? ?But this age is coming to a close, and with the decline of?Christianity, there will be a natural tendency to resume the previous?pagan exploits of persecutions, war, and exterminations.
Many of the very same curses are?visiting upon the USA. Why?? The United Sates has received many blessing?from God through because of the Church.? The USA was renowned for its?Christian Churches and moral piety.? But the piety and love of God that?made our nation strong, is changing with the creep of Humanism.? The?fundamental wisdom of the Bible is rejected on a regular basis and many?institutions sue in court in an effort to prevent scriptural concepts of?morality from guiding the leaders and citizens of this country.? Even?God has been thrust from the halls of justice, our legislature and?schools.
With every rejection of the standards of?God, our nation falls into an abyss of lechery, pandemonium, and death,?yet the only answer that government has to the devolving of our culture?is to pass another restrictive law.? Jesus said,
?If you hold to my teaching then you are really my disciples.? Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free? [Jn.8:31-32].
Americans lose freedoms every day to the?humanist expressions that are used to keep our country safe, such as?the Patriot Act.? Since our leaders have chosen their own wisdom, God?s?providence and protection has been repealed.
Little do Christians understand that?while there were many devout Christians who started this country, there?were also counterfeit believers [Gnostic Theosophists] who developed?secret societies that were advantageous, to their seeking of power and?wealth.? The predominant group was the Freemasons.?? These individuals?fought alongside other patriots, but their faith was and still is, in?another Jesus, other Gospel and another spirit [2Cor.11:4].? They use?the Bible and the History of Israel, but it is mingled with the ancient?pagan Mysteries of the Middle East.
George Washington made a pact, a?contract with God, utilizing God?s word and Masonic ritual on the very?ground that held the Twin Towers.? Our first President, asked God to?make our nation strong and prosperous.? And as a Freemason he could not?resist asking without vowing.? While standing in the field, as leader of?the USA, he promised God that if America ever forgot the Lord that he?should curse the nation, and remove his protective covering and?financial blessings.? So here we are 240 years later and the very spot?that Washington held his prayer and promise, the Twin Towers, the?symbols of our financial strength have been reduced to rubble, and our?future has become fragmented, dissolute, buried in debt, with?totalitarian decrees going out from the centers of government, on a?daily basis.
Pastor Jonathan Cahn, leader of Hope of?the World Ministries, and the Jerusalem Center/Beth Israel, has written a?book, ?The Harbinger? [ISBN 978-1-61638-610-8] that Biblically and?historically documents the blessings of God ? his warnings and curses ??concerning our nation.? It is suggested that the reader consult ?The?Harbinger? [http://www.theharbingerbook.com] or [http://www.isaiahjudgment.com] to understand how the USA has been chastened by God and will be cursed if we do not repent, as a nation.
What has happened to Israel and is still?occurring, has happened to other nations that called upon Christ and?then turned their back on the Living God.
Christian Response to Persecuted Jews:
What is the Christian response to the Jewish people? ? in two words, the Gospel.
There have been proclamations from the?Roman Catholic Church and Protestant denominations that teach, Jews have?a special relationship to God, therefore they need not conform to the?Gospel.? This teaching is an apostasy ? a lie from the Pit-of-Hell!
All of us grasp the events of the Jewish?troubles, especially the Holocaust of WWII.? As desperately as we feel?for what has occurred ? events precipitated by demonically inspired and?unregenerate men, Christians cannot fall victim to sympathies that?coddle men?s ego ? leaving men in a state of enmity with God ? whether a?Jew or a Gentile.
Jesus made it very clear that the road?to destruction is very wide indeed, and the gate to eternal life is?narrow.? It is this very specific gate [way] that we should enter into?the Kingdom of God and his salvation because, ??few find it.? ?[Mt.7:13-14; 1Jn.5:11]
We need to grasp that thought ? FEW FIND?IT!? What it means is that many will find Hell ? many more than those?that find heaven.? This understanding was presented throughout the Bible?concerning the Jewish people by the term, ?REMNANT? which in the Hebrew?word is, ?sheerith,? and means, ?a residue?.? It is used sixty?times within the Old Testament, in its various forms [verb, noun?adjectives], concerning the number of Jews left at the Coming of?Messiah, in his glory.? Its Greek equivalent is the word ?leimma? as?found in Rom.11:5, where Paul is talking about a few Jewish people who?have been saved, and includes eleven of the original apostles, as well?as Paul ? all of them Jewish.
What needs to be grasped is that of the?eight billion people on the earth today, only a very small fraction, a?residue ? something so unrecognizable that you fail to take note ? will?be saved.
Consider Israel today.? There are six?million Jews resident in Israel today. Oddly it reflects the number?murdered during WWII.? Additionally, there are another eight million in?the rest of the world.? Only a residue will be saved.? Is that number?1%? ? a mere 140, 000?? It may be so ? maybe less.
What Jesus said to them 2,000 years ago is as fresh today:
?You?diligently study the scriptures, because you think that by them you?possess eternal life.? These are the scriptures that testify about me,?yet you refuse to come to me to have that life? [Jn.5:39-40].
The Apostle Paul argued that theirs [the Jewish Nation?s] is the promise of salvation and the ?adoption as sons ?.theirs is the law.? [Rom.9:4-5]
Paul also wrote,
??the?gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a?righteousness that is by faith; but Israel who pursued the law of?righteousness, has not attained it.? Why not? Because they pursued it?not by faith, but as if it were by works.?
?For it?is by grace you have been saved, through faith ? and this not of?yourselves, it is the gift of God ? not by works, so that no one can?boast.? [Eph.2:8-9]
Note ? pursuing the law is not the?problem ? it?s how we pursue it. What the Jewish people so desperately?desire, they cannot have ? except by faith in Jesus Christ.
We need to make Jewish people jealous of our relationship with Yehovah, through Christ. [Rom.11:13]
Though they have suffered persecution?and will continue to suffer, because of their disobedience, they can be?saved from the curse of the law, by repentance and belief in Jesus?Christ, as the Son of God.? Christians are admonished to bring the?Gospel to the whole world, ??first to the Jew, then to the Gentiles?? [Rom.1:16]
Pragmatic Warning to the Church:
Now concerning this boon to the gentiles?? that of salvation, which we did not look to achieve ? do we think?that it is easily kept, as if a common practice or some artifact that?all we need do is store away for some rainy day?? I think not, and?neither did Paul, for he wrote in 1Cor.9:27,
??I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.?
In the King James, the word used is ?castaway.?? It represents a literal translation, instead of using the word, ?disqualified.?? The Greek word is ?adokimos??and can be translated as: rejected as of persons [Heb.6:8], reprobate?as concerning the faith [2Tim.3:8], or will not stand the test?[2Cor.13:5-7].
What Paul is explaining is that there?are protocols to receiving and living for Christ.? Christians aught not?think that service for Jesus is a take-it or leave-it deal ? toady you?feel like working for the kingdom, tomorrow who knows.? This is why MANY?will come to him in that day and say:
?Lord,?Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons?and perform miracles? Then I will say to them plainly, ?I never knew?you.? Away from me you evil doers? [Mt.7:22-23]
Many pastors try to lessen the effect of?this verse by implying that the ?many? who come to Jesus, in that day,?never were Christians ? that is, they never entered a church, never gave?to a collection, never prayed publically, never said the words, ?Jesus?forgive me and come into my heart??etc.? But that is not what scripture?says.? These people did the very acts that Jesus did: preaching,?healings, and exorcisms.? Their activity involved the power of Holy?Spirit, but they never surrendered their all to Christ ? in their?hearts.? They surrendered their minds for a time, but never their?hearts.? Their activity was composed of a reasonable justification to?comply for a time, whenever it suited them, and made excuses later for?their sin that neglected the true spirit of faithfulness and love of?God.
This is further examined by the scripture:
?For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, that our father were all under the Cloud [Protective Grace of God] and that they all passed through the sea [lead by God]. They were all baptized into Moses [symbolizing Christ] into the Cloud [symbolizing the Holy Spirit] and into the sea [symbolic of the New Birth]. They ate the same spiritual food, and drink; [symbolic of communion]; for?they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and the rock?was CHRIST. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their?bodies were scattered in the desert.? Now these things occurred as?examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.??[1Cor.10:1-6]
[A review of my?book, ?Doctrines of Christianity,? will reveal that repentance and?belief in Christ is the beginning of sanctification, it is not the end?of it.? It is a contract. God binds his word by giving us the Holy?Spirit, and unmerited access to him in prayer.? We bind our word to him,?by obedience and faith in his promises.? Faithfulness and obedience are?mandates to complete the race that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians,?Chapter 9.]
Paul gives further understanding of our walk in Christ, in his exposition of Israel, in Rom.11:17-22; and 1 Cor.10:1-13.
The Roman Road of Explanation:
The Apostle Paul, a Jew himself,?explains the position of Israel as a nation, relative to God in chapters?9, 10 and 11 of his epistle to the Romans. Paul uses the Nation of?Israel to teach his Christian disciples some very important distinctions?about election and free will ? and God?s grace and God?s judgment.
Romans 9:
In Chapter 9, Paul discusses the?adoption to be the sons of God, by virtue of God?s promise to the?patriarchs, the offspring of Abraham.? He discusses how God makes what?appear to be arbitrary decisions of choice, which Paul calls election.?His aim was to secure in the mind of the reader or listener that God is?sovereign in his decisions and no one can call him to account. Essentially, Paul is making it clear that the ways of God are not up for?dispute. He continues in the vain that even though God elected to?choose Abraham, and thereby the Jewish people for son-ship, still not?all of the children of Abraham will be saved, but only a hand full, a?remnant, because of their sin and unbelief.? Their sins are much like?our sins today, and so is their unbelief.? They refused to recognize the?exclusive right of our Creator God [Jesus Christ] to direct and utilize?his creation [mankind] as he chooses. ?So Jesus Christ turned to the?gentiles [those not Jewish], to appropriate willing servants and?disciples.
What is important to retain from this?chapter is that although the Jews were called only the elect received?the grace of God.? And who were the elect Paul was talking about? ? they?were the Israelites?who remained faithful and compliant with God?s wishes.? So this?demonstrates for Christians that although many can be called into?fellowship with God, only those that remain faithful and compliant will?receive the final promise of son-ship or salvation.
?Elect? then means, those who make up?their own minds and hearts to be obedient and compliant to God?s wishes,?daily. [compare with Lk.9:23-24]? It is simply a matter of freewill, or?the suborning of one?s freewill to God?s wishes.? It does not mean ?once saved always saved? or that God saves people who could care less about him or his Son. ?Hence the scripture admonition, ??if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts as they did by the waters of Meribah.??[Ps.95:7-8; Heb.3:15; 4:7] So if you understand that God is encouraging?you to come, and be obedient, don?t play games ? make up your mind and?heart to subordinate your desires to his will.
Romans 10:
In Chapter 10 Paul is explaining the?difference between having zeal for God with proper knowledge within to?demonstrate outward zeal.?? In Israel?s situation they had zeal for God,?but via their own standards and ideas.? To exemplify a similar?situation; do not the Muslims and Hindus have a zeal for deity?
Again Paul is saying belief in God is a?good start, but it has to be underpinned by the proper knowledge of?God.? That knowledge displays the righteousness of God, and that?righteousness is Jesus Christ.? So the righteousness that the Jews work?for is materially based in observable human works of good deeds and?ceremony.? But the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ is an act of the?mind foremost ? a thought that has faith in what God has said about his?Son.? The outward expression of that faith does not follow a set or?prescribed rule of ceremony, but an act that God wishes to occur at that?moment and for God?s purposes.? An act of ceremony is the same all the?time and cannot be translated for some other purpose.
Paul goes on to ask, ?Did Israel hear?what God desired??? The answer to this question is, of course they heard?and their response was to refuse compliance with God?s desire.
Though Paul is using Old Testament?events and scripture, his thoughts are toward what happened concerning?Jesus.? If Jesus was the righteous desire of God, then Jesus should have?been the desire of Israel.? So, did God express something that that?Israel could understand while Jesus walked among them?? Let us consider?
He spoke audibly to Israel ? several times ? publicly, ?This is my Son in whom I am well pleased, listen to him!? ?God?said it through his scripture [OT], and through the Magi to the king?and his courtesans? ?[Mt.2:3-6].? He said it through the angels to?common people [Lk.2:13-14]. ?God said it at the dedication of Jesus via a?prophet and a prophetess, within the temple, before the priests?[Lk.2:21-40].? God said it at the Baptism of Jesus before a host of?people in broad daylight [Mk.1:9-11].? He said it at the Mountain of?Transfiguration to the disciples of Jesus Christ [Mt.17:1-6].
And what was Israel?s response?? After?God had verbally spoke, and honored the Son through the outstanding?miracle of raising Lazarus who had been dead several days, the Pharisees?made plans to kill the Messiah.
So Paul then quotes the Prophet Joel 2:32, ?Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved? [Rom.10:13].? But ends this chapter [thought] with a verse from Isaiah 65:2, ?All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people? [Rom.10:21].
The important idea is that to hear God?is good, to call upon him is better, but to subordinate your will to?him, in obedience, fulfills righteous faith and leads to salvation.
Romans 11:
So how should we deal with the Jewish?Question? ?Son-ship was theirs.? The scripture was theirs ? the?prophets, the law, the promises ? but they have become disobedient, so?we get a chance to receive all that they lost.
Paul soberly reminds us in Romans 11,?through a simile of agriculture, that our grafting as branches to a vine?was accomplished as wild branches.? We ought not boast or feel overly?confident [Rom.11:17-18].? Paul ends this thought with the following:
?Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.? For if God did not spare the natural branches [Israel], he will not spare you either.? Consider, therefore the kindness [grace] and sternness [judgment] of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness toward to you, provided that you continue [Col.1:23] in his kindness.? Otherwise you also will be cut off? [Rom.11:20-22].
In summary, the point of Israel?s?disobedience and its continual chastisement, is that we have access to?receive the grace and promises of God, but they also serve as an example?to us.? So says Paul:
?These things happened to them [Israel] as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages [Christ] has come.? So if you think you are standing firm, be careful, that you do not fall? [1Cor.10:11-12]
Our thankfulness should extend?generously toward the Jewish people, by way of empathy and the Gospel of?Christ ? theirs and our Messiah.