Posted on 06/11/2019 8:45:31 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
For several decades, I have drawn attention to the Church’s historic persecution of the Jews in Jesus’ name. It is one of the ugliest and longest chapters in Church history, and it cannot be downplayed, forgotten, or ignored. With God’s help, I will continue to call out “Christian” antisemitism wherever I see it today. But I will not ignore Jewish persecution of Christians. It too must be called out.
In the Gospels, Jesus and His followers, all of them Jews, were persecuted by hypocritical Jewish leaders, ultimately leading to the Lord’s death on the cross. And that pattern continued in the Book of Acts, where the Jewish leadership stood in opposition to the message of Jesus the Messiah, sometimes persecuting His Jewish followers to the death (see Acts 7).
Some even stirred up trouble wherever these Messianic Jewish emissaries went to share the good news (see Acts 17), and this continued in the centuries that followed, with some documented cases of Jewish leaders siding with local efforts to persecute Christians.
Of course, no amount of Jewish persecution of Christians can justify the horrors inflicted on the Jewish people by professing Christians, including torture, exile, being forced into ghettos, being burned at the stake, being offered baptism or death, and much more.
And it is an open secret that the Nazis drew on Martin Luther’s antisemitic writings to help enflame German hatred against the Jews.
None of this can be denied, nor should it be denied. To the contrary, we must be ever mindful of this tragic history lest we repeat it in our day.
But, to say it again, when there is Jewish persecution of followers of Jesus, that must be called out as well, especially when it takes place in Israel.
It was a radical Jew who delivered a bomb, disguised as a holiday gift, to the house of Ami Ortiz, the son of Jewish Christian parents. He miraculously survived the bomb blast, which took place in 2008.
But this act, extreme as it was, was not in isolation.
As reported by Time Magazine in 2008, “Messianic Jews, as these Jews who believe in Jesus are called, number just a few in Israel — anywhere between 6,000 and 15,000 — but they provoke hatred all out of proportion to their meager numbers. Many orthodox Jews view them as traitors for joining the Christian faith, which for centuries has persecuted Jews. One Messianic Jew, Tzvi Sadan, a teacher and editor, recalls telling his father, a Holocaust survivor, that he had accepted Jesus as his savior. ‘My dad flipped out. He said that the SS guards in the camp had 'God Is With Us' written on their belts. He told me, “You've joined the enemy.” But he calmed down a bit when he saw my prayer shawl.’” (What Sadan means is that he didn’t stop being a Jew by following Jesus.)
Over the years, Messianic Jews have suffered different levels of persecution within Israel, although none so violent as the bomb attack on Ami Ortiz.
But there have been protests and even vandalism at Messianic Jewish meeting places, attempts to get some believers deported, and various threats and harassments.
Virtually all these acts are carried out by ultra-Orthodox Jews, who view “missionary” activity as diabolical, destructive, and dishonest. As some of these protestors once chanted outside of a large Messianic Jewish gathering I was attending in Israel, “Hitler wanted our bodies. You want our souls!”
Today, as the number of Messianic Jews in Israel has risen to about 30,000 and as the society at large is much more open to these Jewish believers in Jesus, opposition from ultra-Orthodox Jews continues to rise. (For my little run-in with some ultra-Orthodox protesters last year, see here and here.)
As my friend and colleague Ron Cantor reports from Israel (with a video link worth watching), “Believers attending a Messianic concert last week in Jerusalem were accosted by dozens of Orthodox Jewish protestors, who held a violent and chaotic riot for hours, calling the people ‘missionaries’ and ‘Nazis,’ and telling them to get out of Israel. They held up several signs saying, ‘Beware, Missionaries!’ in Hebrew. In Hebrew the world Missionary is a slur. Of course, we are not missionaries, but citizens of Israel.”
Again, I understand how these protesters view us. As a rabbi said to me decades ago, “Our ancestors died rather than believe what you believe. Yet, without coercion or pressure, you not only believe in Jesus, but you try to proselytize as well.”
But, to say this yet again, none of this justifies the actions of these protesters, who were held back by police.
Ron writes that, “Jenya Lempert and his teenage daughter were accosted by swarms of young men blowing whistles at excruciating pitches and linking arms to block the entrance into the concert hall.”
As Lampert told KNI News, “It was a pure act of hatred. They hate us, they were standing against us, they brought their minors as human shields.”
Indeed, Ron explains, “Orthodox protesters have been known to bring teens, who have more liberties than adults to break the law.”
But his response to all this is right on: “It is important to not get angry but pray. At the same time, understand that this is pure fanaticism and brainwashing of children. However, it only represents a tiny minority of Israelis.”
And how should Christians around the world respond to these harassing acts?
First, they should pray for the believers being persecuted, sending them a message that they are not alone.
Second, they should pray for the repentance of the persecutors, believing that there are many Sauls of Tarsus among them.
Third, as friends of Israel who appreciate the liberties that the nation affords its citizens, they should encourage the government to stand with those who are being persecuted to send a message the government will not tolerate this kind of behavior.
All that being said, my personal expectation is that the final generation – whenever that will be – will look a lot like the Gospels and Acts, except that in the end, there will be mass acceptance of Jesus by His own people, rather than mass rejection.
May the Lord turn the hearts of His people Israel!
So what about Hasidic Jews?
In any case, I am wary of Talmudic Jews thanks to their tendency from that book to practice their equivalent of Taqqiya, and aside from that, I have a lot of disgust towards the Talmud after they depicted God the Father in Bava Metzia 59b where they, I don’t know, depicted him, despite his being an omnipotent and omniscient being, as being so dumb and weak that he not only lost a debate to a rabbi, but that an entire group of them had restrained him after Mt. Sinai to such an extent that he’s not allowed to do ANYTHING without a majority vote, make him weaker and dumber than a bunch of mortals in other words. I’d argue that was even more of a blasphemous teaching than even the tasteless depictions of Mary and Jesus.
Thanks for the answer about Hasidic Jews, so they’re fully Jewish by your standards. Got it.
“So do not convert to Judaism. Are there are enough issues among Christians to keep warily occupied ?”
Oh believe me, even without the issues I have with the Talmud, I have zero intention of converting to Judaism. Catholicism to the grave. But the teachings in the Talmud do nonetheless leave me extremely wary about those who practice the religion, especially with their having their equivalent of Taqqiya via using deception to manipulate non-Jews. Very unlikely for me to make friends unless they’ve proven themselves extremely trustworthy, and even the few I do have I keep arms length at (and just as an FYI, I’m also distant towards Muslims for the exact same reason, so don’t think I’m just singling out Jews on this. Any religion that condones and advocates for lying specifically to take down their enemies, and not by self-defense if I must add, is untrustworthy in my book.). Let me put it another way: If you encountered a person who not only lies to you a lot because you’re not of their group, but the religion they hold to encourages said lying, would you have any reason to trust them?
And honestly, I think Bava Metzia 59b’s treatment of God the Father’s more than enough for me to just want to see the Talmud gone. That passage, if I must be blunt, was far more blasphemous towards God than even the mockery they did with Mary and Jesus.
My experience with chrstians on this forum is that they simply assume that chrstianity is true. They don't really have a reason, or even need a reason. It's simply true because it must be true; it's not being true is simply unthinkable.
I can't believe I used to think like this myself.
Nope, just being a realist. And I’m not anti-Semitic. Just because I have reasons to distrust the Talmud doesn’t mean I’m anti-Semitic. I don’t wish death upon Jews, that’s what anti-Semitism would require.
And yes, I know Taqqiyah is an Arabic word, but I’m not sure of how else to describe it. And there’s a big difference between lying to protect someone from people trying to kill that someone, and lying specifically to take down an enemy group of people, something that God NEVER condoned, period. The latter is what the Talmud promoted. If you have any other terms that specifically describe the aspect that Taqqiyah embodies, I’m all ears.
Yes, except most religious texts, even the pagan ones, do NOT make a deity out to be weaker or dumber than mortals. In fact, most if not all religions generally make gods to be superior to mortals in EVERY manner. The Talmud actually DID do that by having God lose a debate to a mortal, and even be restrained by mortals to such an extent that he can’t do anything without a majority vote. That’s not a sin of commission or omission, that’s literally what’s shown.
Actually, I have befriended Jews. Some autistic people I know who are friends are in fact Jewish, at least in ethnicity (one of them’s non-Kosher, though).
And as a bit of a clarifying point, even the instances in the pagan myths regarding mortals somehow outwitting or even harming gods, they generally only end up living to regret it... if they are even left alive at all.
RE: Orthodox Jews must oppose “followers of J*sus.” The “followers of J*sus” believe the Torah has been superseded and replaced with something else
Not necessarily true. many Christians believe that Jesus IS the fulfillment of the Torah and the Prophecies. If as you said, the Torah has been superceded, why would followers of Jesus still consider the Torah the word of God today, study it, meditate on it and take it seriously?
However, right now, I do have wariness especially regarding the Talmud, so while I do have friends who are Jewish, I’m keeping them at arms length after I learned about their doctrine on lying to gentiles.
RE: My experience with chrstians on this forum is that they simply assume that chrstianity is true. They don’t really have a reason, or even need a reason
Maybe in this forum (questionable statement as well), but the reason why Christians believe that Christianity is true is not based on an assumption. It is based on historical EVIDENCE that Jesus ROSE FROM THE DEAD as written in the gospels.
If Jesus was merely crucified and died, then Christians are all delusional and believing a lie perpetrated on them a thousand years ago. Which means that roughly one third of the world’s population are being deceived.
Yeah, agreed. If anyone superceded and replaced the Old Testament with something else, it was the Talmudic Jews and the Talmud. Even some books within the Talmud made very clear that one should observe the Talmud’s tenants over that of the Torah.
And use common sense, if Jesus superceded the Old Testament, wouldn’t he have called a bonfire to burn up all copies of the Old Testament? That he didn’t do so indicates he STILL viewed it as relevant to his teaching.
Jesus believed that the Old Testament was divinely inspired, the veritable Word of God.
He said, ‘The Scripture cannot be broken’ (John 10:35). He referred to Scripture as ‘the commandment of God’ (Matthew 15:3) and as the ‘Word of God’ (Mark 7:13).
He also indicated that it was indestructible: ‘Until Heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the law, until all is accomplished’ (Matthew 5:18).
When dealing with the people of his day, whether it was with the disciples or religious rulers, Jesus constantly referred to the Old Testament:
‘Have you not read that which was spoken to you by God?’ (Matthew 22:31);
‘Yea; and have you never read, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes thou has prepared praise for thyself”?’ (Matthew 21:16, citing Psalm 8:2); and
‘Have you not read what David did?’ (Matthew 12:3).
Examples could be multiplied to demonstrate that Jesus was conversant with the Torah, the prophets, the Psalms and their contents. He quoted from it often and he trusted it totally.
Throughout the Gospels, we find Jesus confirming many of the accounts in the Torah, such as the destruction of Sodom and the death of Lot’s wife (Luke 17:29, 32) the murder of Abel by his brother Cain (Luke 11:51), the calling of Moses (Mark 12:26), and the manna given in the wilderness (John 6:31–51).
The list of examples goes on, and the evidence is clear: Jesus saw the Torah as being God’s Word, and his attitude toward it was nothing less than total trust.
Many people want to accept Jesus, yet they reject a large portion of the Laws and the Prophets.
Either Jesus knew what he was talking about, or he didn’t. If a person believes in Jesus Christ, he should be consistent and believe that the Torah, the prophets and their accounts are correct.
Jesus said he came to FULFILL the law, not abolish it.
I know, I if anything was backing you up.
If by "reject a large portion of the law" do you mean the following:
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 5:45
"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law (of Moses), but by the faith of Jesus Christ, ....that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." - Gal. 2:16
Let me give you an example -— I have spoken to many people who call themselves Christians who claim that Jesus’ new commandment is all about “loving” others.
How does that apply in practice, one might ask? Well, take homosexuals for example, it is unloving to condemn their lifestyle because Jesus never mentioned homosexuality even once in the gospels.
What about the law of Moses, one might ask? Well, they tell me that it has been superseded by His command to love one another.
In other words, the moral law of Moses has been replaced by one law — DO THE MOST LOVING THING.
If you love everyone ( gays included ), you have to bless their desire to express their love for people of the same sex as Jesus commanded.
THAT IS WHAT I MEAN when I said : “Many people want to accept Jesus, yet they reject a large portion of the Laws and the Prophets.”
Thanks for the clear explanation! I agree that many in the church are being deceived because they equate agape love with license. For those who say only the words/teaching of Jesus apply, they negate all the writers of the NT who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to teach and preach among other things -- what we read in the NT. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote Romans 1 where it is clear that homosexual behavior is a vile sin.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to reply.
This time and age will soon end. Maranatha!
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Messianics are not “Jews,” but they definitely are Israel.
Jews are followers of Rabbis and the Talmud, but not followers of Tanakh.
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Christianity and Judaism are both far afield of the Gospel taught by Yeshua.
They’re both completely man made religion.
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