The Rise in anti-Semitism Aaron Hecht
There is an alarming surge of anti-Semitism all over the world today, and it’s coming from all over the political, ideological, social, cultural and economic map. It is accompanied by a rise in the level of opposition to the State of Israel, and although most of it has its origins in “the usual suspects” among the fringes of the political Left and Right, as well as religious communities with a legacy of anti-Semitic tropes and fairy tales, a large and growing amount of the opposition to Israel is coming from secular Jews in Western countries.
Some of my liberal Israeli Jewish acquaintances, frenemies and such, are baffled by this. They point out (correctly) that Israel is one of the most LGBTQ friendly countries in the world and they wonder why this doesn’t motivate LGBTQ groups in Western countries to desist from their opposition to Israel, if not become supporters of this country.
They also point out (once again, they are correct) to the large number of Arab citizens of Israel, both Christians and Moslems, who are in senior positions in society, including Supreme Court justices, university professors, CEOs of large corporations, etc. and they wonder why Israel still gets labeled as an “apartheid regime” by so many liberals all over the world. They wonder why Israel gets hit with this label by influencers and NGOs when there are so many other countries, including most of Israel’s Arab neighbors, who actually meet the criteria for being an “apartheid” state, yet the voices screaming about Israel’s imperfections completely ignore these other countries.
What can explain all this?
The answer escapes most Jewish people both in Israel and the Diaspora and it is a mystery to many Christians as well, including many who support Israel.
Here’s what I think.
One of the things you always hear from Bible-believing Christians who support Israel is that the existence of Israel reminds them that the Bible can be trusted and that the God the Bible describes keeps His promises. What few of these Bible-Believing Christians ever consider is that there are many people living in this world (actually, it’s the large majority of people in this world) who don’t want to be reminded of these things.
But the mere existence of a country with the name “Israel” that has its capital in a city called “Jerusalem” and also has large cities with names like “Ashkelon” and “Ashdod” and “Beer Sheva” and a “Sea of Galilee” and a “Jordan River” and a “Judean Desert” etc. inevitably bring to mind a book called “the Bible” and the God that book describes who has established rules and boundaries that He expects His creation to live by and within. He has also warned His creation in His Word that there will be these things called “consequences” for willfully disobeying Him.
In fact, for the majority of people in this world, including many secular Jews and liberal Christians, being reminded of the Bible and the God it describes is very disconcerting and uncomfortable. The rage that this prompts, is visceral, not logical. You can’t argue against it using logic or truth, because those who have these feelings are impervious to these things. Or, quoting from the Bible.
Those who would like to live their lives as if this book called “the Bible” and the God it describes with all His rules, boundaries, etc. and the authority/power to impose these “consequences” for disobedience and rebellion don’t exist will NEVER be comfortable in a world with a country named “Israel” on the map, providing a tangible, visible, impossible-to-ignore reminder of all these things they’d like to ignore.
As we approach the end of this Age and day approaches when every single human being who ever lived will stand before the Throne of Christ and give an account for their lives, and the “consequences” for sin and rebellion will become impossible to avoid or ignore, we can expect the rage felt by those who so desperately want to avoid and ignore those things which remind them of God and the Bible to increase.
The question, as always, is ‘what is to be done about this’?
In my humble opinion, this is one area of spiritual warfare the Body of Messiah worldwide, including here in Israel, needs to be devoting a LOT more prayer to. This should be a point that every single Believer who supports Israel should be including in their weekly prayer meetings and personal devotion time. As I said before, this is not an argument that can be won in the flesh, it is a battle which can only be won in prayer.
Comments