As hatred of those of the Hebrew faith continues to intensify, especially on American college campuses, Jews realize that the world is dramatically turning against them again, despite calls to “Never Forget!” after the Holocaust.
Pastor Damian Kyle of Calvary Chapel Modesto, CA, asked his congregation a rhetorical question. “Have you ever wondered why the Jews have been persecuted so viciously, more than any other people?” Damian stated emphatically. “No other group of people has been so greatly hated in this world, in human history, even remotely close to the way the Jews have been persecuted in their history.”
Damian continued, “Going all the way back to Haman [in the Book of Esther] in the Old Testament, and then during the last several hundred years, the French endeavored to destroy them; then in the Spanish Inquisition, they were persecuted under the Roman Catholic Church. They were driven out of Geneva, Switzerland, driven out of Poland, driven out of Ukraine, and persecuted in Russia with pogroms, while six million were murdered in Nazi Germany’s ‘final solution.’ Today, there is continued hatred against the Jews by millions of Muslims around the world.”
After Pastor Damian delivered this message, one of the most brutal attacks since the Nazi genocide was leveled against the Jewish nation on October 7, 2023, by the terrorist group Hamas and assisted by Palestinians living in Gaza. American college campuses and protests around the world erupted in support of not those who were attacked—but rather for the attackers. Recently, a couple working at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, was murdered and another Jewish group attacked in Boulder, CO.
Pastor Damian continued: “Large numbers of Jews are leaving Europe now because it is no longer safe for them to be there. Entire cities are being built around Jerusalem and throughout Israel to accommodate the Jews from Europe who see the handwriting on the wall.”
They are now making their way to Israel, knowing Israel is the only place they have any hope of finding relief from this historical hatred that they can never seem to rid themselves of. Why is it always the Jews? Clearly, they are the target of something supernatural and evil. Why are the Jews such objects of Satan’s venom and malevolence throughout the world? The short answer for this fixation is found in the Holy Spirit’s description of the woman [being Israel] in verse 13 of Revelation Chapter 12.
“Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.” — Revelation 12:13
Satan will always have a special hatred for the Jews that is greater than his hatred for all other people, and that hatred will continue to express itself all the way into the Tribulation period as we see in the Book of Revelation. And anywhere you see anti-Semitism in the world, whether you see it in a nation, whether you see it in a city, whether you see it in a religion, whether you see it in an individual heart, or whether we see it in our own hearts, you are witnessing something that is demonic.
“And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.” — Revelation 12:4b-5
In Revelation 12, the woman [Israel] gave birth to the male child, referring to the Messiah, to Jesus, the Savior of the world. And this goes all the way back to Genesis Chapter 3, where following the sin and fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God spoke to Satan of the price that he would pay for his part in that fall.
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.” — Genesis 3:15
God said to Satan, ‘He [Messiah] will bruise your head, and you [Satan] shall bruise his heel.’ And with this prophecy, God began to paint a prophetic portrait of the Messiah who would one day come into human history as the Savior of the world and who would be uniquely qualified to overwhelm every consequence of the fall in the Garden of Eden, including applying a death blow to Satan’s authority in human history.
Satan would one day bruise Messiah’s heel. That is, he would accomplish Messiah’s crucifixion, but that event would then be the very thing that would deal a lethal blow to Satan and his authority. Satan has known from Genesis Chapter 3, that this Messiah—when he is born into human history through the Jewish people—will be his undoing.
Now, later in Genesis Chapter 12, God began to build upon that prophetic picture of the coming Messiah by declaring that Messiah would come through the bloodline of Abraham, who is the father of the Jewish people.
“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 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 12:2-3
Now tragically, in large part because of the Pharisees’ spiritual pride, their self-righteousness, and because, in the words of Jesus Himself, they made the commandments of God of no effect through their man-made traditions, the Jewish people failed to recognize Jesus as their Messiah at His first coming, and thus they fail to partake of the blessings and the salvation that He came to offer.
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.” — Daniel 9:25
The seven-year Tribulation period accomplishes many things—but the most important is that it will humble the Jewish people spiritually and open their eyes to Jesus as their Messiah. But unfortunately, in their stubbornness concerning Jesus, it is going to take the ‘abomination that causes desolation’ at the midpoint of the Tribulation to accomplish this.
The seven-year Tribulation period is supremely about God’s dealing with the Jews in this regard. That is why this time is referred to as ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’ in the Old Testament.
The prophecy given to Daniel by the angel Gabriel, as recorded in Daniel Chapter 9, is spoken about the Jewish people, including the final ‘seven’ of the ‘seventy sevens’ which refers to the seven-year Tribulation period.
No one can understand the Book of Revelation or the Bible’s prophecies about the End Times that will come upon the earth without properly understanding the place of Israel and the Jewish people in the entire sequence of events. The Hebrews, for the most part, failed to recognize Jesus as their Messiah at His first coming, and God knew they would do that, but He loves them enough to not let that stand.
From the time of man’s fall in the Garden of Eden and God’s declaration to Satan, Satan was waiting for that Messiah to be born of a virgin in the city of Bethlehem, with a very specific bloodline going back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—a Jewish bloodline.
God chose that bloodline through which the Messiah would come to save the world and shatter Satan’s authority forever. Because of this, Satan has always borne a special enmity for the Jews throughout the world’s history.
During the Tribulation period, God will help the Jews see the truth that the Messiah that He had provided to them, and through them, is Jesus Himself.
As Christians, what should be our attitude toward the Jewish people? We should exhibit and express unending gratitude toward them. God has provided the world with two incalculable gifts through the Jews. First, the Word of God, the Bible. Second, he has provided the world with our Savior, our Messiah. What the world and Christians owe to God’s use of the Jews is immeasurable.
We should also have compassion upon the Jews as we consider how enduring and terrible their persecution has been as a result of being God’s chosen people. And as Christians, our attitude toward them should be one of humility, knowing that, as the apostle Paul declared, we are to remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you (Romans 11:18b).
And further, we should remember God’s abiding heart of love for the Jewish people, as the apostle Paul also stated in Romans:
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.” — Romans 11:1-2a
Try to remember that all of this ends very well for Jews and Gentiles alike, for if their failure is riches for the world and the Gentiles, how much more their fullness when they one day come to recognize Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
There is a beautiful scene in the old movie Fiddler on the Roof, where Tevye offers a very short but powerful prayer to God from under the weight of being God’s chosen people and the people through whom these blessings have come into human history.
Tevye’s prayer: “God, I know we are your chosen people. But once in a while, can’t you choose someone else?” And to have a Jew say that in the movie was a powerful statement of how hard it has been for them as a people to be chosen by God for their unique place in bringing salvation to mankind.
