ANTI-SEMITISM: GOD VS SATAN
By Harold M. Lind
Have you ever wondered where anti-Semitism came from? Or why it is so prevalent around the world? We have seen prejudice among different races, bigotry, discrimination, etc. But these evils don’t usually result in the wish and need to completely eliminate a race from off the face of the earth. Yet this is exactly the goal of those who live and breathe anti-Semitism. To push Israel into the Mediterranean Sea, and wipe out any evidence that Jews ever existed. There is even an attempt to rewrite history and archeology. The anti-Semites want people to believe there was no holocaust in World War II, or any Jewish artifacts below the dome of the rock on the temple mount in Israel.
Anti-Semitism is unique in its form and results. It is not just prejudice against another race; it is driven by Satan himself; and no less than the total genocide of every Jew on the earth will appease him. The Jews were chosen by God to be His people, which makes Satan’s plan for Israel diametrically opposed to God. So this is really about God’s plan versus Satan’s. This document will show the Biblical reasons behind it, and why in the future, it will get progressively worse, culminating with an attempt to destroy Israel, that will kill 2/3’s of the Jews. But lets start from the beginning, because some background is needed to discover the real reason behind anti-Semitism…
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Genesis 1:26
The opening verse in the Bible explains that God created the heaven and the earth. Between this verse and Genesis 1:26, God populated the earth with all living things. God then created man and gave him dominion over the entire earth. God basically created the world, and then gave control of it over to the first man: Adam. At this point, the earth was the perfect creation of God. This is evidenced by all of the times God said that His creation was “good.” Adam and Eve lived in a perfect paradise, and in perfect communion with God, who would visit them in the cool of the day. There was only one rule they had to follow:
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17
Man had only to refrain from eating the fruit of one tree among the many trees that were good for food in the garden. A couple of things that are interesting to note here are the penalty for disobedience to God would be death, and that at this point, woman was not created yet. It may be that man was responsible for conveying God’s one law to Eve. Some scoffers have called the Bible in error, because on the “day” that Adam ate the fruit and disobeyed God, he didn’t die. The Bible says that Adam lived to be 930 years before he died. Is this a contradiction in the Bible?
Let’s look at the detailed creation of Adam to see if there is a clue to better understand this apparent paradox:
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7
If we
look at the Hebrew word for life that was breathed into Adam, we find chay,
which is pronounced khah'ee. It
is interesting to note that the masculine form of this word is plural. It could be translated that God “breathed
into his nostrils the breath of lives.”
We are described as being of body, soul, and spirit. When God created us, he created these as
separate lives, yet present in us as one.
Man himself, made in the image of God, forms a trinity. When Adam disobeyed God, something did die
that day: his Spirit. We are to worship
God in spirit and truth. When
Adam’s spirit died, his relationship with God was broken, and when he heard God
coming, he hid because of his shame.
In addition to
Adam’s spirit dying that day, death entered the world. We are told in 1 Corinthians 15:22 that in
Adam, all die. There was no death
before Adam sinned against God. So
spiritual death was immediate; physical death was inevitable as well. There is no contradiction in the Bible. But how did Adam sin against God? We read of this in Genesis 3:1-24, and
although it is too long to put here, and has many important lessons that go way
beyond the scope of the topic we are discussing, I will try to list only the
facts pertinent to the subject of anti-Semitism. Here are the main points of one of the most important chapters in
Genesis:
There is so much
truth here it is amazing. Books could
be written from what is contained in this one chapter (and have been). You are probably wondering what this has to
do with anti-Semitism, but this background is crucial to understanding why it
is different than just racial bigotry.
Here are some observations on the above chronology. Each numbered item will correspond to the number
above:
The key to anti-Semitism is in this struggle between God and Satan. It cannot be stated more strongly that this “struggle” is not like God and Satan are equally matched, God could wipe Satan out of existence if He wanted to. But God’s plan for the redemption of mankind involves mankind making a choice on whom to follow: God or Satan. Without Satan, that choice would not be possible, and God does not want a bunch of robots worshipping Him. Man is sovereign in whom he will choose to serve, that way if he makes the wrong choice and is standing before God to explain the decision, we will not have an excuse.
This is the answer to the age-old questions: “If God is so good, why does he allow so much evil in the world?” The answer is that God is Good, but man is evil. Man is sovereign and has the ability to choose right or wrong, but he usually chooses wrong. The Bible says that man’s heart is utterly wicked, who can know it? It says that when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you get a new heart. You don’t have the old one repaired because it is irreparable because of the evil in it. So the evil in the world is there because man has chosen to let it stay. People don’t realize the significance of this. There are a lot of countries with tyrants dictating every aspect of their lives. People have allowed this to happen, and are now paying the consequences of these actions. Countries based on socialism, comunism, evolution, and humanism, are terrible places where their Creator does not endow the people with inalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
So God is not the author of evil, it is man. But there will come a time when time will run out for man’s humanistic government, and God will step in and fix things. Unfortunately, it will not be until things have gotten much worse than they are today. It will not be until after the 7 year tribulation period described in Revelation chapters 6 thru 19, a time of history so terrible that it has never happened before, nor will it every happen again.
We need one more piece of background information before we look at the ways that Satan has tried to thwart God’s plan, and this is found in Revelation 5:1-6:
“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the
throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a
loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals
thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in
earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look
thereon. And I wept much, because no
man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look
thereon. And one of the elders saith
unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,
hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the
throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as
it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.”
Revelation 5:1-6
John, one of Jesus’
disciples, wrote the book of Revelation, and in this passage, he is in Heaven. He sees a scroll that has writing on both
sides. This is an important fact that
tells us what it is. It also has 7
seals that seal it. In those days, a
scroll that was written on both sides and sealed with a number of seals was a
title deed to property. This was used
when someone could not afford to keep his property anymore. Because the land of Israel actually belongs
to God, the Jews didn’t really own it, and couldn’t sell it. There were rules in the Bible that gave
provisions where the land could be returned to the rightful “owners.” When the person “lost” the land, the title
deed was taken and sealed. Each seal
came with it a provision or stipulation on what was required to get the
property back. Depending on the reasons
why the land was lost, there would be one or more seals or provisions on how to
retrieve the land. Once these
provisions are satisfied, the land is given back to the “rightful” owner.
The title deed in this
passage in Revelation is actually the deed to the earth. This deed was rolled up and sealed with Adam
disobeyed God and gave dominion of the earth to Satan. Although Satan didn’t actually own the
earth, he is currently the “prince of this world”, which Jesus Himself
acknowledges when He is in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. John is sad when there does not appear to be
anyone who is worthy to open the seals (meaning that they are unable to fulfill
the stipulations on the seals).
But there is someone that
is worthy, and He is described as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” and “a Lamb
as it had been slain.” This is Jesus
who is able to fulfill the requirements.
He is a descendent of King David of the tribe of Judah, and He is the
Passover Lamb whose blood was shed to cover our sins once and forever. We are getting a little ahead of ourselves
with this, but basically, Satan has control of the world, and is trying to mess
up God’s plan to get it back.
One last thing to note is
that Satan cannot hurt God, and instead attempts to hurt His creation. He also sees us humans as made in God’s
image, so he hates us as well. Satan
knows that God will win in the end, especially since he has read Revelation,
and knows the outcome: God wins. He is
trying to take as many people with him as he can. So a secondary strategy in his war with God is to deceive people
into choosing him instead of Jesus, and taking as many people as possible to
hell with him. God does not want this,
but once again, man is left to choose who he wants to follow. Although everlasting punishment in hell
await those who do not follow God, hell was made for the devil and his angels,
not man.
So the war is on… Now we
will look at the various historical events portrayed in the Bible that show how
Satan is trying to derail God’s plan to save the world, and retain control of
the earth. I will not even try to
document all the attempts that have been made, only the major ones:
“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?” Genesis 4:3-9
This may be the first
shot fired since Satan got Adam and Eve kicked out of the garden. Two sons, Cain and Abel have been born to
Adam and Eve (we assume these were the first children of Adam and Eve, they may
not have been. Obviously they had many
children, being the first two people on the earth tasked with starting the
human race. The Bible only lists the
most important of these children). They
bring sacrifices to God, and God accepts Abel’s but not Cain’s. Cain is not happy about this. God talks to Cain, and tells him that he
needs to do well to be accepted.
Something was wrong with his sacrifice, probably that he brought things
that represented the works of his hands when a blood sacrifice was required, or
his heart was not in it, so it was not accepted. God cautions Cain that sin is at the door. But Cain does not listen to God and kills
his brother. God asks him where Able
is, and the famous phrase “I’m not my brothers keeper” is born.
At this point, there is
probably little information as to how God’s plans are going to play out. The only hint Satan may have is that it is a
descendent of Adam and Eve that is going to defeat him. He may have seen Able as a righteous man,
and the probably heir and seed, so he got Cain to kill him. This assumption was wrong, as Seth was the
designated lineage that his adversary would come from.
“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. “ Genesis 6:1-7
After the killing of one
of the “seeds of the women”, Satan may have recognized that with all the
children being born of Adam and Eve, he really didn’t know if he really got the
right one. He may have decided that it
would be better to corrupt the bloodlines.
In this passage, “sons of God” which appear to be angels have somehow
mixed with the female descendants of Adam in an attempt to mess up the seed of
the woman. We get this idea by the
description of Noah in Genesis 6:9, whose “generations” or descendants are said
to be perfect or pure. It looks like
Satan was unable to corrupt all bloodlines, and Noah’s was left intact. God tells Noah that he is going to destroy
all life on the earth, probably because of the corruption of man, which seems
to have also caused so much evil, that perhaps God is going to put them out of
their misery, which is a concept that is described in other parts of the Bible
dealing with evil nations.
By preserving only Noah,
his wife, and their three sons and wives, this attempt at genetic engineering
failed. This will not be the last time
Satan will try this particular time of genetic attack. After man is wiped off the earth except for the
8 people on the ark, Noah’s 3 sons have children. There are 70 nations that come from Shem, Ham, and Japheth. This is known as the table of nations. One of the descendants of Shem would be
Abraham, who would be the father of the Nation of Israel. When we get to Abraham, and God tells him
that he will be the father of a great nation, and that all nations would be
blessed through him, Satan now knows whom the bloodline goes through. God also tells Abraham that his descendants
will be in bondage for 400 years (from the birth of Isaac to their deliverance
from Egypt). Satan also knows that God
is giving the Promised Land to Abraham’s seed.
The twelve tribes of
Israel descended from Abraham, through Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons, and ended up in Egypt
because of a famine that caused them to go to Egypt so they would not
starve. They lived in Egypt because one
son, Joseph, was ultimately sent to Egypt as a slave, who was elevated to the
most important man in Egypt next to Pharaoh because of God’s blessings. After Joseph and the Pharaoh died, and with
the Jews increasing in numbers, the new Pharaoh enslaved them. God was going to bring forth a deliverer,
who would deliver the people out of bondage.
The 400 years were almost up.
Satan’s next attack was to get the Pharaoh to kill all the male children
that were born to the Jews. A woman
from the tribe of Levi put a baby in a basket and floated it down the Nile
River. The Pharaoh’s daughter, who
raised him as her son, found him. This
baby was called Moses and was to deliver the people from their 400 years of
bondage.
Because Satan knew that
the Jews would be enslaved for 400 years, then released to go to the Promised Land,
he spent that time populating the land with lots of bad people; nations that
the Jews would need to drive out of the land.
These nations probably had the same corruption in their genes as in
Noah’s day. We are even given a hint of
this in Genesis 6:4 where the Bible says that there were giants (Nephilim) in
those days “and after.” This produced
giants that would later scare 10 out of the 12 spies sent into the Promised
Land by Moses to do some reconnaissance.
Satan was increasing his
odds of upsetting God’s plan by launching multiple attacks. If he can get rid of the deliverer, then the
Jews would stay in Egypt. If they were
released from Egypt, then maybe he could kill them with the people he placed in
the Promised Land; squatters that were living on land that was not theirs (just
as Satan continues to try to control the earth, which us not his).
When God gets the Pharaoh
to let the people go, and Moses leads them out of Egypt, Satan convinces
Pharaoh to send his army out to kill the Jews.
God prevents this from happening by parting the Red Sea so that the Jews
can cross it. When the Egyptian army
attempts to pursue them, the waters close in and drown all the Egyptians (I
like the statement Yul Brenner makes in the movie “The Ten Commandments,” after
he hears that his army has been destroyed: “His God, Is God!”).
The next problem they run
into is when they reach the Promised Land, and they send 12 spies into the land
to see how the people they are going to have to fight size up. 10 spies come back and are frightened
because there are giants in the land (more genetic engineering by Satan like
before the flood). Two spies, Joshua
and Caleb know that God is in control, and say that the land is full of milk
and honey, lets go!
“After the number of the days in
which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear
your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I the LORD have said, I will surely do it
unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this
wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men, which Moses sent to search the
land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by
bringing up a slander upon the land, Even those men that did bring up the evil
report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son
of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived
still.” Numbers 14:34-38
Because of the reports of
the 10, and the murmuring of the people not wanting to enter the land, God will
cause the Jews to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. This will be so that all those 20 years of
age and older will die of old age.
Joshua and Caleb will survive because of their faith and good
report. Satan has delayed their
entrance into the Promised Land by another 40 years.
When the 40 years were up
and everyone 20 and older was dead (except Moses, Joshua, and Caleb), they were
finally ready to take back the Promised Land.
Joshua led the Jews into the land, with a mission to wipe out the 10
nations that Satan had placed there.
Unfortunately, he only subdued 7 of the nations, leaving remnants of 3
around. This brings up an important
point that is worth noting here, because it applies to us as much as it applied
to the people who lived in biblical times:
When God tells you to do
something, it is for a good reason.
Also, it should be done the way God wants it done. There are many examples in the Bible of
people who either did not do what God told them to do, or tried to “help” God
make good on a promise. Another aspect
of this includes the 10 Commandments.
Moses gave the Jews the 10 Commandments, which was passed onto the rest
of humanity by Jesus Christ (See Matthew chapter 5, “The Sermon on the
Mount”). These commandments were given
to us so we would know what God expected of us. God will hold all of us accountable. There may also be a consequence in this life when they are
disobeyed. Here are some examples of
consequences to either not doing what God said, or breaking the 10 Commandments
that befell people in this time period:
1. Joshua was supposed to wipe out the 10 nations of
the Promised Land. In not doing that,
he left them around and they became some of the Arab nations that are a thorn
in the side of Israel today. One
interesting thing to note is the name “Palestinians.” They are supposedly named after the Philistines, which lived in 5
cities in the Promised Land. The only
problem with this is that the Philistines were one of the nations that were
actually wiped out by Israel. So this
is a bogus name meant to fool people into thinking that they have a right to
the land because they lived there before the Jews. This is a lie. The name
“Palestine” was actually given to the land of Israel during the occupation of
the Romans as a slur against the Jews.
Most “Palestinians” are actually from Jordan or Syria.
2. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, who escaped the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah with his two daughters, broke a few of God’s
commandments (See Genesis chapter 19 for details). Lot had fled Sodom with his wife and two daughters (who were
married, but their husbands were too caught up with Sodom to leave, so they
died in judgment). Lot’s wife looked
back at Sodom, which may have been interpreted as longing to return, and was
turned into a pillar of salt as a result.
Lot’s daughters, losing their husbands, and not having any kids, hatched
a plan: they would have children from
their father by getting him drunk. As a
result of this incestuous relationship, two children were born; one called Moab
and the other Ammon. They became the
nations of the Moabites and the Ammonites, who caused the Jews a lot of trouble
back then as well as today, because they are known as the country of Jordan
now. They will yet play a part in
protecting the Jews during the tribulation period when the 1/3 of Israel not
killed will flee to the city of Petra in Jordan, where they will be out of the
reach of the Antichrist.
3. God promised Abraham and his wife Sarah that they
would have a son that would become the nation of Israel, whose numbers would be
as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sand on the beach. The problem was that Sarah was unable to
have children and they were also getting quite old. After not having a child for many years, Sarah decided to help
the Lord by having Abraham impregnate here Egyptian slave girl Hagar (which
Abraham acquired by a deception of the king of Egypt instead of trusting in the
Lord – Genesis chapter 12). The child
they had was named Ishmael. Abraham
loved Ishmael and asked God to bless him and make him a great nation. As a result, most of the modern Arabs are
descended from Ishmael, and are also a thorn in the side of Israel. Abraham finally had a son by Sarah called
Isaac, which the Jews descended from.
This was God’s true plan.
There are many other
examples, but suffice it to say that since God knows the future, if He tells
you to do/not do something, you ought to listen. It just might save your life, or at least keep you from having
more trouble than you would have had if you had obeyed Him.
After the Jews entered
the Promised Land and started the conquest of it, Satan had a hand every now
and then in causing trouble. There was
a time when he got King David to count his people. According to the law, you were not supposed to do that unless God
told you to. In addition, a ransom
needed to be paid for the people when you did this. Because David did not adhere to this, many people died because of
God’s judgment. Another time was when
Balak, the supposed prophet of God was asked to curse Israel by a nearby
king. He tried, but only blessings
would come out of his mouth. He finally
told the king to send over all his unmarried women, and get the Israeli boys to
commit fornication and idolatry, and God would punish them. The king did that, and that is what
happened.
When Israel became split
into two kingdoms after David’s son Solomon died, they both eventually slipped
into idolatry. The northern kingdom was
far worse than the southern kingdom, and were finally conquered by the
Assyrians and taken into captivity. The
southern kingdom was able to avoid this for about 100 years, but finally were
overrun by the Babylonians, where they would spend 70 years for there
idolatrous ways. This was for violating
the first of the 10 Commandments which says “I am the Lord your God who brought
you out of Egypt. You shall not have
strange gods before Me.” This would
basically end the kingdom age of the history of Israel. Satan and his minions are always at the
heart of idolatry, as the Bible states that demons inhabit statues that are
used for worship.
The biggest thing to happen
in the “kingdom” stage of Israel was when a blood curse was pronounced on king
Jehoiakim (he was the son of Josias, and was also known as Jechonias):
“Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.” Jeremiah 36:30
God had sent Jeremiah a
message to give to Israel about repenting before God judged them. It foretold what was going to happen to them,
but gave them a change to repent. When
the king heard the message, he threw it in the fire and burned it up. Because of this, God cursed Jehoiakim,
saying that none of his offspring would sit on the Throne of David. The Babylonians invading and taking over
Israel fulfilled this.
Now although it doesn’t
appear that Satan had anything to do with this (unless you count him tempting
Israel to do evil in the sight of the Lord), he was probably pleased that God
had basically cursed the bloodline where Christ was supposed to come from. The Messiah was supposed to be descended
from the thrown of David. In addition,
one of the ways you would know the Messiah was that he would be able to trace
his bloodline through the kings of Israel back to David. How could this be fulfilled now that no
offspring of the king of Israel would be on the thrown of David? The answer is very interesting…
If we look at the
genealogies of Jesus, we get the answer.
I said genealogies, because it is necessary to compare the ancestral
line of both His parents, Joseph and Mary:
And Jesse begat David the king;
and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat
Abia; and Abia begat Asa; And Asa begat
Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat
Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; And
Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren,
about the time they were carried away to Babylon: And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat
Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat
Azor; And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc
begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; And
Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary,
of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”
Matthew 1:6-16
If you look carefully at
this, you will notice that Jechonias, son of Josias is in the bloodline of
Joseph. Here is the problem. Jesus is supposed to be the “son” of David,
and heir to the thrown of Israel.
Because Joseph’s bloodline has Jechonias (Jehoiakim) in it, he would be
cursed and unable to be on the thrown, yet he would still be a “legal” heir to
the thrown. Now look at Mary’s
genealogy as told by Dr. Luke:
And Jesus himself began to be
about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was
the son of Heli, Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which
was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,
Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son
of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge, Which was the
son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei,
which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda, Which was the son of
Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was
the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri, Which was the son of Melchi,
which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of
Elmodam, which was the son of Er, Which was the son of Jose, which was the son
of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was
the son of Levi, Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which
was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of
Eliakim, Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the
son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed,
which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of
Naasson.” Luke 3:23-32
When we examine the genealogy of Mary (in looking at the
above passage, you may have noticed that it says that Joseph was the “son” of
Heli. This is a cultural thing where
women were not named in the genealogy, their spouse was, which is why it
appears that Joseph has two different lists of ancestors between Matthew and
Luke.), we find that Jehoiakim does not appear. The genealogies diverge at King David, having the bloodline go
from Solomon to Joseph and from Nathan to Mary. This also makes Joseph and Mary distant cousins. This wouldn’t normally make a difference
since Jesus would have the bloodlines of both parents, but because Mary
conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit, Joseph’s bloodline is not in Jesus.
Because of this, He is not subject to the blood curse,
which would prevent Him from eventually assuming the Throne of David at His
second coming. The other detail in this
is that although Mary was a descendant of King David, she isn’t directly in
line on the thrown, where Joseph was.
Because Joseph adopted Jesus, this entitled Jesus to be considered of
the direct line of the Kings of Israel, because Jewish law considered the
adopted male as an actual son. So it
would be as if Jesus was the actual blood son of Joseph, so he is the legal
heir of the Throne of David, without inheriting the blood curse. This was the reason that Jesus had to be
born of a virgin.
With the birth of Jesus, we finally have the “seed of the
woman” prophesied from Genesis 3:15.
Satan must somehow prevent Jesus from redeeming the world from his
control and ownership. He attempts to
do this in many ways, some more direct than others. In Luke chapter 4, the Holy Spirit leads him into the wilderness
where Satan tries to temp Him. It is
here that we learn that Satan really does own and control the earth because he
offers to give all that Jesus sees to Him if He will just worship Satan. If Satan didn’t really own the earth it
would be like trying to sell the Brooklyn Bridge. Since Jesus didn’t dispute Satan’s claim of ownership, it is
clear that he really possessed the earth (since Adam gave up control by
disobeying God originally).
On thing worth noting here is that Satan tempted Jesus
three times, and each time Jesus countered the temptation by quoting scripture. This is a good hint that we should be well
versed on the Word of God and ready to give an answer to not only help us
conquer temptation but to tell others about the hope that is within us.
Other less obvious ways that Satan opposed Jesus was in the
Jewish religious authorities: the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. These religious leaders, although trying to
obey God’s Law, had interpreted it to the point where it had no affect and was
a burden on everyone that attempted to obey it. They had become corrupted in their positions, and instead of
being the Shepherds of God’s flock, were fleecing them. Jesus did not mince words with them, but
instead used words and phrases that infuriated them to the point where they
would try to kill Him. Here are some of
the more colorful expressions he used (this must have been before political
correctness was invented):
Many more examples can be listed, but you can see that they
were very angry with Jesus and feared that His gaining popularity would take
the people away from the scam that they had going. Jesus had to go. They
couldn’t outright kill Him because they didn’t have the power to sentence
anyone to death. The Romans took that
power, which was known as the “Scepter of Judah,” away from Israel in about 4
A.D. They had to find a way to accuse
Jesus of some kind of crime, which Rome would agree, was punishable by death.
A pivotal moment in Israel’s history came in 32 A.D. when
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. We find this in Luke chapter 19:29 where Jesus arranges for two
of His disciples to get a donkey for Him to ride on:
“And it came to pass, when he was
come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he
sent two of his disciples, Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in
the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man
sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him,
Because the Lord hath need of him. And
they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto
them. And as they were loosing the
colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? And they said, The Lord hath need of
him. And they brought him to Jesus: and
they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. And as he went, they spread their clothes in
the way. When he was come nigh, even
now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples
began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that
they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord:
peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him,
Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto
them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would
immediately cry out. And when he was
come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known,
even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!
but now they are hid from thine eyes.
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a
trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And
shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they
shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the
time of thy visitation.” (Luke
19:29-44).
What is significant here is what the Pharisees say to Jesus
when they hear the disciples saying “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord:
peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.”
This is from Psalms 118:25 which was known to the Pharisees as a
Messianic Psalm: A psalm that foretold
about the coming of the Messiah. The
fact that they told Jesus to rebuke his disciples for reciting that prophecy
shows that they understood that they were declaring Jesus as the Messiah. That Jesus’ reply to them was that if the
disciples were to be quieted, the rocks would have started crying out, shows He
realized this and was in fact proclaiming Himself as the Messiah. This fulfilled prophecy was proclaimed in
the 9th chapter of Daniel, which says:
“Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” (Daniel 9:21-27)
There is a lot here and some background is needed. Daniel was taken captive when the
Babylonians invaded the southern kingdom of Israel (a.k.a Judah) in about 606
B.C. He knows scripture and that the
prophecies tell that the captivity will only last 70 years. It has been almost that long and although
Daniel knows that God’s word will always come to pass, he is praying for it
anyway. This shows that although God is
in control of all things, He likes us to be involved in His plans. Daniel prays and fasts for about three weeks
before the angel Gabriel arrives. He
says that the Prince of Persia, who appears to be some kind of demonic force,
detained him.
It may be that Michael was needed to free Gabriel who will
have to deal with this prince again on the return trip as well as other
“principalities”. We see here that
Satan and his demons are behind some if not most/all of the governments on the
earth. He is probably intimately
involved in all of the evil ones. He
also found it important to try to prevent Gabriel from completing his mission,
which was to give information to Daniel from the Lord. The information is basically the entire
history of the Jews in which they are to be “in play” for 70 weeks (of years,
which is described in other passages in the Bible). Israel is to go through 490 years of hardship, which is required
for them to realize that Jesus was the messiah.
In reading this
passage, we find that 69 weeks of years or 483 years will happen between the
command to rebuild Jerusalem and the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah will also be cut off, Jerusalem
will then be destroyed and the last week will not start until a 7-year covenant
is created. We will get to these things
later. There is one more section of
scripture to look at:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is
just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the
foal of an ass. “ (Zechariah 9:9)
This passage foretells that the Messiah (King) will come into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, which is what Jesus was doing. Now we have to put these three passages together. What is not apparent from the text is from the command to rebuild Jerusalem to the very day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of the donkey was EXACTLY 483 years. Coupled with Zechariah 9:9 that the King would ride into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and Psalm 118:25 being a Messianic Psalm, shows that Jesus was the Messiah, and the Pharisees knew it but rejected Him.
Because of this rejection of the religious leaders of Israel, Jesus weeps and gives the following prophecy which is from the last 4 verses of Luke 19:29-44 above:
“And when he was come near, he beheld
the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in
this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from
thine eyes. For the days shall come
upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee
round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground,
and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon
another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)
What Jesus is saying here is that Israel is going to be put in the “penalty box” because they did not recognize what day it was. This was the exact day that the King/Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. The Pharisees knew it, but rejected Jesus as the Messiah and as a result, they are headed for destruction. Not only will Jerusalem be ultimately destroyed (in 70 A.D. along with the scattering of the Jews throughout the world), but also they are now blinded to the fact that Jesus was the Messiah. Most Jews are unable to see that Jesus was clearly the Messiah. The entire Old Testament points to Jesus, as well as all of the Jewish customs, Feast Days, etc. To anyone else, it is a no-brainer, but they are tragically blinded to the obviousness of it.
Another thing should be noted here. If you want to reject God and His laws bad enough, He will finally let you do it. This is most evident in the 1st chapter of Romans, which is basically the path of sin. If you want to do wicked things, and do them enough, God will give you over to evil. It is as if He was actually preventing you from really getting into trouble. Some may call it “divine providence”, where they have done things that should have killed them, but somehow they made it through and saw the error of their ways. For others, whose hearts are continually wicked, God will give them over to the dark side and they will then become truly evil. At that point, their hearts may be so hard that they will never find their way back to God and be consigned to all eternity in Hell, forever apart from God. Some people might blame God for this, but it was man’s continual rejection of God that gets him in that mess. Remember that the Bible says, “Hell was created for the devil and his angels.” It was not created for man.
This kind of thing has happened to the Jews at this point. Since they refused to acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah, they will have that fact taken away from them and they will not be able to see it even if they wanted to. While the Jews are in the “penalty box”, their clock of 490 years is stopped. It has actually been on hold for about 2000 years, which are known as the “times of the Gentiles”. Where the secular world is in control. This is also known as the “Church age”. Because the Jews rejected Jesus as Messiah, the gentiles (non Jews) were given a chance to accept Him. In the book of Acts, the “Christian” church is born, with millions of believers around the world. The Jews will eventually get out of the penalty box, to go through 7 years known as the tribulation which promises to be the worse time in history, with billions of people dying. It is necessary for the Jews to go through this in order for them to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. It is God’s “end game”.
Less than a week after Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey fulfilling the prophecy of the Messiah and King of Israel, He is hanging on a cross. Satan has caused the Jewish religious leaders to get the people rioting and demanding for His crucifixion. The Romans are the only ones that can give out a death sentence, and although they found no fault in Jesus, reluctantly ordered His execution because they were afraid of a rebellion of the Jews. The same people that were declaring that he was the Messiah a few weeks earlier were calling for His crucifixion.
This was the saddest time in human history. The God of the universe nailed to a tree, dying for our sins. It is also a glorious time for those who understand the magnitude of what He did for us (if it is actually possible to truly understand what He went through, which it probably isn’t). Someone once said, “He was crucified on a cross of wood… But He made the hill on which it stood!” Such truth is incomprehensible to me. That God could look upon all of the sins that I have committed, willingly, and still go to a horribly painful death, for me. I don’t deserve, nor could I ever possibly repay what He has done. I can only accept Him as my Savior, have my sins forgiven, and one day be in His presence. What a glorious day that will be!
There have been many people throughout history who have blamed the Jews for killing Jesus. They have referred to them as “Christ killers”, and many Jews have been persecuted and killed for this. It is easy to see why people might think this way, seeing that the Bible clearly shows that the religious leaders in Israel were corrupt and wanted Jesus killed. Even if Satan manipulated them, they could have resisted. With all the knowledge they had from the Sacred Scriptures, they refused to believe what they knew to be true. They rejected their Messiah. But you know what, I killed Jesus, and you who are reading this did, along with every human being how had ever set foot on the planet earth. We all killed Him.
The Bible has many verses that portray man’s heart as utterly wicked and unknowable. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death… But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD. Jesus had to die for our sins, or we would be on the highway to hell. If Satan had known God’s plan, he wouldn’t have allowed Jesus to die for our sins. Jesus also paid the price to redeem the earth from Satan after Adam gave it up. This is what happened when Jesus died for our sins, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. This brought us into a new age, the age of the Church, which isn’t a building, or a denomination… It is everyone who has asked Jesus to forgive their sins, come into their heart, and be their LORD and Savior.
Satan must have been so angry when he realized what had happened. The redemption of the earth meant that he was now a usurper, a squatter on land he does not own. He knows that his days are numbered, and he must move quickly as he continues to try to thwart God’s plans. There are basically two strategies that he must employ, now that a “pardon” has been issued to forgive the sins of whoever believes in Jesus, and saves them from hell, which was created for Satan and his angels. Here are the two strategies:
1. Take as many people to hell as he can.
2. Wipe out the Jews. There can’t be even one of them left alive.
I won’t say too much about the first strategy since we are talking mainly about the Jews, all I will say is this:
The most important thing anyone in the world can do in their entire life is to accept the pardon for their sins by believing in Jesus. The Bible asks, “What profits a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?” No matter how rich, famous, clever, beautiful, or successful you are, if you spend your 70 or so years distracted from Jesus and die, you will be in hell for all eternity. You will spend the time thinking how foolish you were when you had all that stuff when you were alive. You may have had a bumper sticker on your truck that said, “The one that dies with the most toys wins.” What a major disappointment awaits because you didn’t read the actual game rules (they are in the Bible, see 1 Corinthians chapter 15). And that is what the things in the world are, a distraction, put there by Satan to harden your heart, so you don’t hear God calling you to be saved, until it is too late. God does not want anyone to perish, but that all would come to repentance.
Satan’s 2nd strategy is to destroy the Jews. He must do this because after the Bible was finished being written, he had God’s entire plan for humanity laid out before him. The Bible was complete before 100 A.D. and he knows what’s coming. The next opportunity was to have the Romans destroy the Jews, which happened in 70 A.D. What started with rebellion and the taking of the fortress of Masada became a full-scale war that eventually killed millions of Jews. Untold hundreds of thousands would then die of starvation and disease after that. This was prophesied by Jesus when the Jews rejected Him as their Savior, Messiah, and King when He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. He said that the Temple would be destroyed such that “not one stone would be left upon another”.
As Titus the leader of several legions of Roman soldiers fought to control Jerusalem, some over zealous soldiers set fire to the Temple. Although the outside was made of stone, the inside was wood covered in gold, which readily burned, melting the gold. The gold ran into the cracks in the stone, which caused the Romans to take the stone apart to get at the melted gold. When they were finished, literally “not one stone was left upon another”. This was even after Titus had given explicit orders to guard the Temple and make sure nothing happened to it. He even tried to get the soldiers to put the fire out, not to no avail; God’s prophecies MUST come true.
Since that time, and for the past two thousand years, the Jews have lived in almost every country in the world. They have been persecuted, banished, and blamed for every bad thing that has happened to people, both real and contrived. Hitler tried to exterminate them. It is funny how things work out. It is the pictures of the holocaust that caused the world to allow the Jews to come back to the land of Israel and ultimately establish the Nation of Israel on May 18, 1848. This sympathy didn’t last long, and by the time that Israel declared itself a country, several Arab countries attacked it. The regathering of Israel was part of God’s plan, and prophesied. Although Satan continued (and continues) to try to destroy it, God’s Will, will be done.
After being attacked several times, and defeating her enemies time and time again, Israel is prospering just as God said it wood. It would be good for people and countries that want to do Israel harm to remember what God said to Abraham about his descendants: “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and through you shall all nations be blessed”. Perhaps this is why some of the countries with the richest oil reserves and tons of money are some of the most backward of nations. Because they continue to curse Israel, and with Satan’s prodding, want to see every last Jew destroyed. This causes God to curse them in return.
We are now caught up to present day, and Israel is still here and thriving. But what does the Bible have to say about her future? Satan is still performing his two-phased attack on people in general and Israel in particular. There are almost daily reports of problems between Israel and her enemies. Will there ever be peace? The answer is eventually, but not until after the tribulation period. There will not be peace until Jesus returns again and sets foot on the Mount of Olives. As the bumper sticker says “No Jesus, No Peace… Know Jesus, Know Peace”. This is as true as it is clever. Here are the rest of the events that Satan will use to try to stop God’s plans:
At some point soon, the Rapture of the Church will happen. All of the Christians who have put their faith in Jesus to forgive them for their sins will be taken out of this world. The “restrainer” will be removed from the world. This may refer to a possible duty of the Holy Spirit to hold back evil, or it may be the absence of Christians that allow evil people to finally get their way – or it may be both. But the world will go to hell in a hand basket pretty quickly after that. This will pre-empt the 7-year tribulation period when the Jews will be out of the penalty box and back in play. The Bible isn’t clear if the 7-year tribulation period comes right after the rapture or if there is some time period between. If there is, it probably won’t be long.
The official start of the 7-year tribulation is when a peace treaty is made between Israel and the Antichrist, who is the leader of the revived Roman Empire, which is simmering in today’s Europe. The peace treaty will allow the Jews to rebuild Solomon’s Temple and start performing the sacrifices that stopped when Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Nobody is sure how this will be accomplished since the Dome of the Rock Mosque is in the same vicinity as where the last two temples stood. The only thing we know is that the Bible prophesied that it would happen, so it is only a question of when. It WILL happen!
At some point after the rapture (probably) and perhaps before the 7-years begin; Russia and several Middle Eastern countries will attack Israel. It will be an unprovoked surprise attack and Israel will be powerless to repel it this time. Everyone will think that Israel is going to be destroyed. At the point of annihilation, an unknown force will miraculously destroy 5/6’s of the armies. Many movies have depicted planes exploding in mid-air for no apparent reason, as well as nuclear weapons launching and then just disappearing. Whatever happens, it will be obvious that it was not Israel, the USA, nor any other earthly force that caused the destruction. It will be clear that this was a Divine Miracle by the God who will protect Israel.
It may be this event that is a precursor to the 7-year peace treaty. With 5/6 of most of the Middle East’s armies (as well as Russia’s) destroyed, the rulers may want to make peace very badly. They don’t want to incur retaliation from Israel’s completely intact army (along with nukes). They would probably even allow the temple to be rebuilt. So this may be how it comes about. We should know soon enough.
Once the 7-year tribulation starts, there will be 3˝ hears of relative peace, but the Bible calls it a false peace. The Bible portrays the peace is false with sudden destruction coming without warning. What happens after 3˝ years is that the Antichrist will enter the newly rebuilt temple and declare himself as god, thereby defiling the temple. The ensuing 3˝ years will see 2/3 of the Jews killed and the remaining ones fleeing to Jordan to the rock city of Petra. This remnant will be preserved there and out of the reach of the Antichrist until the end of the 7 years. Satan has been able to destroy over half of the Jews, but God will not allow him to finish the job no matter how hard he tries; or what hell he puts the world through.
It is at this time that Satan has been regretting, the time of Christ’s return. These 7 years when Israel is being cleansed of its secular population, the remnant that has fled to Petra will realize a great truth. At that time, the blindness that was put over them because they rejected Christ when He rode into Jerusalem on the donkey will be removed. They will realize as a nation that Jesus was in fact the Messiah and will cry out to Him to save them. He will return and first step foot down on the Mount of Olives, which will split in half and create a great valley (it is interesting that a hotel chain wanted to build on that mountain, but seismic and geologic data uncovered a previously unknown fault there, waiting for the weight of the right foot on it…).
Once Jesus returns, he will deal with the enemies of Israel and set up His kingdom, with Jerusalem as its capitol. With Satan bound in chains in hell, there will be 1000 years of peace. At the end of the 1000 years, Satan will be loosed for a period of time to give those that have lived with Jesus for the past 100 years to choose between Him and Satan. You may wonder why this must happen, but God always gives man the chance to accept Him or reject Him. He will never force anyone to believe in Him. But with choice comes responsibility, and everyone will stand before God to give an account of his or her actions. For those who have had their sins erased by the Blood of The Lamb (Jesus Christ), they will not suffer any condemnation. For those who have not, it will be a sad day indeed! After that, Satan, Hell, and Death will be thrown in the lake of fire to be never seen or experienced again. A perpetual Heaven will then continue for all eternity where there will be no time, evil, sun, moon, or darkness. The Glory of God will provide all the light that would ever be needed. Amen!
Hopefully you can see now why anti-Semitism is such an insidious cancer straight out of the pit of hell. It is Satan’s attempt to prevent Jesus from coming back, because that is the only event left. His thinking is this: If he can wipe out the Jews, they can’t flee to Petra, where their eyes will be opened and they will realize that Jesus was the Messiah and they rejected Him. They will then repent and pray for Him to come back to save them, and He will. He cannot stand up to God, so just like with Adam and Eve in the garden, he must mess with God’s creation. He must wipe out every last Jew, and he must do it quickly.
Have you noticed lately the dramatic increase in anti-Semitism in the world? It is growing by leaps and bounds. These are the end times. Are you ready? Is Christ your LORD and Savior? Has he forgiven you of your sins? He will do it; all you have to do is ask. Just pray this simple prayer:
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and that You
died on the cross for my sins. Please
forgive me. I want you to become my
Savior and the LORD of my life. Create
in me a clean heart and cleanse me of all my sins. Help me to read the Bible and follow You all of the days of my
life. Lead me to a Bible believing
Church where I can be with other Christians and learn about You.
In Jesus name, Amen.
If you just prayed this prayer, Praise God! You are now one of God’s children. You have passed from death to life. You have made the right decision because the Bible says, “That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Better to bow willingly now, than unwillingly later… I pray that God will reveal Himself to you and that you will pray that prayer. Time is of the essence, and there will never be a better time. So don’t put it off. Today is the beginning of a new life instead of the usual march toward death. Pray it now!!!