Poking God’s Eye
“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.” – Zechariah 2:8
Rise of Antisemitism
A rather insidious evil has been prevalent for millennia. It has been believed and acted upon by people who were vigorously anti-God and by those who should have known better. From the days of the Pharaoh who persecuted the children of Israel to Haman, the Persian chief of state under King Ahasuerus, that sought to destroy all the Jews in that empire, to the “convert or die” cries of Islam toward the Jews in the Middle Ages, and on into our present day, its influence has pervaded the entire world. It is called Antisemitism. It is the vigorous hatred, cursing, and, often, physical persecution of the Jew by torture and/or death.
The Blessing and the Cursing of Israel
In Genesis 12:1-3 is recorded the call to Abraham (Abram at that point) to leave Ur of the Chaldees and all of his father’s house and come into what was to be known as the Promised Land. The call included a threefold promise involving the giving of the Promised Land, the making of Abraham into a great nation, though he had no children, and that promise that Abraham would be a universal blessing. It was promised that “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3) and this would be fulfilled when Christ came in the fulness of time as the seed of Abraham. Galatians 3:16 states, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” In addition, God also told Abram that a blessing would be placed on those who blessed him and blessed his descendants. Conversely, a curse would be placed on those who cursed the same.
European AntiSemitism
Though antisemitism is in many places, one particularly predominant place that we can find it is in the Roman Catholic and Protestant-influenced countries of modern Europe. There was a belief in the Middle Ages into the Reformation that the Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus. For instance, Martin Luther, founder of the Lutheran sect, said, “First…set fire to their synagogues or schools … This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians” in section 11 of his book “On the Jews and their Lies” written in 1543. Of course, that sentiment pervaded Germany and the fruition of that belief was witnessed during the Holocaust of World War II. However, antisemitism did not limit itself to just Germany.
For instance, in Britain some of their “leading universities are becoming no-go zones for Jewish students because antisemitism is so rife…Baroness Ruth Deech, a cross-bench peer who formerly held the highest office dealing with student complaints, said that institutions may be failing to combat hatred against Jews as they are ‘afraid of offending’ their potential benefactors from Gulf states. Her comments come after a series of high profile incidents at top universities where Jewish students claim they were verbally abused or physically attacked. The academic community is at the forefront of calls to boycott Israel.
”The Wikipedia article Antisemitism in Europe says that “Antisemitism has increased significantly in Europe since 2000, with increases in verbal attacks and vandalism such as graffiti, fire bombings of Jewish schools and desecration of synagogues and cemeteries. Those incidents took place not only in France and Germany, where antisemitic incidents are the highest in Europe, but also in Belgium, Austria, and the United Kingdom. In those countries, physical assaults against Jews including beatings, stabbings and other violence, increased markedly, in a number of cases resulting in serious injury and even death. Moreover, the Netherlands and Sweden have also had consistently high rates of antisemitic attacks since 2000. A 2015 report by the US State Department on religious freedom declared that ‘European anti-Israel sentiment crossed the line into antisemitism.’”
Recent decades have also seen a rise in the immigration of Muslims into European countries so that they make up about 6% (44 million inhabitants) of the European population. An article in the Jerusalem Post states a few years ago that “Over the years it has become clear that while far from all Muslims are anti-Semites, a large percentage are, and from a young age” and that, even in Islamic children as young as second and third grade, 50% of the students had such beliefs.In recent days, because of the rise of antisemitism in Europe, many German Jewish groups have demanded that all German public funding issued to any civil or religious group be allowed only if those certain groups have renounced antisemitism.
The Need to Bless Israel
May true Christians and those countries that have even a modicum of godly influence continue to bless Israel even in a world that continues to hate “the pupil of God’s eye.” Let us be as protective of God’s eye as we would be of our own eyes to protect them from any damaging foreign object. If we bless Israel we shall indeed be blessed. (Genesis 12:3)
Published July 6th, 2020 – HIBM Editorial by Avram Ezra * Poking the Eye of God * Dr. K. Daniel Fried, Editor in Chief copyright
© 2020 hopeofisrael.net
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Source:
The Telegraph – UK Newspaper – 2016
Jerusalem Post – Muslim Antisemitism in Western Europe
Photos:
Jerusalem Post photo / REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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