Pope Francis once again is vilifying the Jewish State. According to World Israel News (WIN), in an address last week, the Pope “castigated the Jewish state over what he described as the ‘shameful’ humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing war against Hamas.”
His speech was riddled with false accusations against Israel, reportedly including claims that the Jewish State is “bombing civilians” and “leaving Gazan children to freeze to death.”
“I renew my appeal for a ceasefire and the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, where there is a very serious and shameful humanitarian situation, and I ask that the Palestinian population receive all the aid it needs,” the Pope stated. “My prayerful hope is that Israelis and Palestinians can rebuild the bridges of dialogue and mutual trust, starting with the smallest, so that future generations can live side by side in the two States, in peace and security, and that Jerusalem can be the ‘city of encounter’, where Christians, Jews, and Muslims live together in harmony and respect.”
Last year, Pope Francis repeatedly criticized Israel for its handling of the war in Gaza, suggesting that the Jewish State is guilty of “committing genocide,” rather than Hamas, who massacred 1,200 Israelis in October 2023.
To make matters worse, the Pope is the so-called “Vicor of Christ,” basically claiming to be Jesus’ right-hand man in the churchโwhich, of course, he is not.
In December, the Vatican displayed a nativity scene with the baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh, a Yasser Arafat terrorist neck scarf. That is unimaginable. To suggest that Jesus was a Palestinian is ludicrous. In fact, it’s outright blasphemy!
Jesus was Jewish, as his genealogy records in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. In Luke 1:31-33, an angel of the Lord announced: “behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (emphasis added).
In Matthew 2, Mary and Joseph, who were Jewish, would take the young child Jesus from Egypt, where they fled to escape King Herod into the land of Israel, not Palestine. In Luke 2, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day and presented in the Jewish temple. Throughout the gospels, we read that Jesus partook in the Jewish feast days. In Mark 12:29, he recited the Shema of Deuteronomy chapter 6: “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.”
At his crucifixion, the sign above his head read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37). Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, His disciples asked, “Will thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
The notion that Jesus was Palestinian is ridiculous.
Now the 88-year-old pontiff has the nerve to blast Israel once again, blaming them for the war in Gaza and dreaming of a two-state solution (as if that is going to somehow bring peace to the Middle East).
Instead, he should be slamming Hamas for the horrific and demonic attack of October 7th. He should be slamming Hamas for launching tens of thousands of rockets into Israel over nearly 20 years. He should be slamming Hamas for stealing much of the humanitarian aid. He should be slamming Hamas for using its own civilians as human Shields. He should be slamming the Palestinians for teaching their children to hate and kill Jews. Instead, he is slamming Israel.
It is clear that the Pope has no idea what the Bible says, so let’s read from God’s Word a few verses concerning Israel and the Jewish people.
Genesis 12:3 reads, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” The last portion of this verse is a Messianic promise that would come out of the Jewish people.
Genesis 15:18 states, “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
Zechariah 2:8 says, “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”
Matthew 2:1-2 reads, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
Acts 1: 6-7 states, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.”
Ezekiel 36:23-24 explains, “And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.”
In Ezekiel, we see that God is gathering His chosen people back. Joel 3:2 presents a warning to those who seek to divide the land, as the Pope is suggesting with a two-state solution, stating, “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.”
Then finally, in Isaiah 2:2-3, when Israel’s Messiah returns to set up His kingdom, we read, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
There you have it, right from God’s Holy Word.
We need to be cautious when listening to religious leaders, including the Pope, who claim to speak the truth while saying things that contradict the Scriptures. As Casper Ten Boom wisely observed, “Just because a mouse lives in a cookie jar, doesn’t make him a cookie.”
