Rise of Antisemitism in the Church

I see a trend in evangelical American Christianity, even in some denominations, that concerns me. It is a rise in antisemitism. We’re watching a toxic lie race across the globe, infecting hearts and minds with astonishing speed. It claims that humanity’s problems trace back to the Jews.

Definition of Antisemitism: Antisemitism is prejudice, hatred, or discrimination directed against Jewish people, either individually or collectively, based on their religion or ethnicity.

I like what Charlie Kirk said, “There is a corner of the internet of people who want to point and blame the Jews for all their problems… Everybody, this is demonic, and it’s from the pit of Hell, and it should not be tolerated, period.”

The Church Doesn’t Need to Fall for This Lie Again

The church has fallen for this lie several times. People spoke this lie even in the Reformation, with the latest instance occurring in the 1930s. This was when the Third Reich grew in Germany and the Weimar Republic collapsed. 60% of the churches rid themselves of everything Jewish. This helped the persecution of Jews because it took away the opposition. Why do we keep falling for this lie? Let’s look at what the Bible says about the place of Jews.

Jesus is a Jew – Now not just Historically

Do we forget Jesus is a Jew? He will redeem and save his own bloodline. Also Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul were Jews too. The whole New Testament, except for Luke & Acts was written by Jews. So it’s difficult to remove the Jew from the Judeo-Christian world, but the Nazis tried during their time. When He comes back, He is coming back as a Jew. You attack Jews, then you are attacking Jesus.

We are Abraham’s Descendants Spiritually but we are not Ethnic Jews

In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. Galatians 3:6-9 (NLT)

Abraham’s prophecy was that his descendants would be as many as the stars. Those stars included Gentiles too. We define Gentiles as everyone who is not of Jewish bloodline.

A Gentile is not a Jew ethically. We are spiritually grafted, as Gentile branches, onto the Jewish tree. My physical blood is Gentile, but by God’s grace, I’m grafted into the spiritual Jewish family.

I have two adopted children. They’re grafted into the Cooper family, but their name was not originally Cooper. My adopted children are legally a Cooper but they do not have an ethnic English and Scottish bloodline. They were born of a different ethnicity, but they are a Cooper. That’s the same way Gentiles are treated by God in the Jewish family.

We Need to Separate the Country Israel From Jewish People

I’m not justifying what Jews do in Hollywood, banking, or Israel. Talking about the country of Israel and its policy positions is a different subject. Just like us, they are a country that has its own issues. They are not infallible. They are people like the rest of humanity. Are they doing everything in this world right? No. But, do you think Americans have done everything right in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Colombia, etc. We’ve done atrocities as a nation. We have overthrown other nations. Gentiles have committed more atrocities than Jews have ever done. Look at Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Idi Amin, and Pol Pot, to just name a few.

Salvation Was First Offered to the Jews and Revival Will End with the Jews

The Jewish family of God started with Abraham. God said I’m pulling a nation out to show how close I want to be to people. We were all Gentiles before Abraham. He created a special family out of Abraham, and through him the ancestry and the birth of Jesus Christ came through. Gentiles have what salvation because of God’s grace, as He did not choose us at first. He could have just kept salvation for the Jews, but he said in John 3:16 that He loved the entire world. Are we Jews ethnically? No, but at salvation we’re grafted into the Jewish family and He loves us the same as Jews. Grace that we did not deserve!

But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root. “Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for me.” Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either. Romans 11:17-21 (NLT)

If we attack the Jews, we’re attacking our roots. A large part of the Jewish people will find salvation through Jesus Christ. After the time of Gentiles there will be a revival among the Jews. God will do that. He started with them. He is going to come full circle. He has not forgotten his ethnicity and will save many of them.

Do they have to get shaved the same way as Gentiles do? Yes. There is only 1 way to salvation. There’s a lot of different teaching on how Jews get saved. But Jesus told his 12 disciples, who were Jews, “I am the way, the truth and the life. There is no way to come to the Father except through me.” Are they saved? Yes, if they’ve accepted Jesus Christ. There are not 2 paths to salvation – 1 for Gentiles and one for Jews.

I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, “The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.” Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead. Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share in God’s mercy. For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone. Romans 11:25-32 (NLT)

The Jews Did Not Kill Jesus

Often people are antisemitic because they say, “The Jews killed Jesus.” This is not true. This lie has smeared an entire people for centuries with a crime they didn’t have the power to commit. Hitler used Martin Luther’s teachings about the Jews to justify killing the Jews. We can’t spread this lie.

The Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, sentenced Jesus to crucifixion. Only Rome had the power to crucify, and crucifixion was a Roman execution. Yes, the High Priest Caiaphas was involved in Jesus’ arrest and in sending him to Pilate — and yes, Caiaphas was a Jew. But his sin was his own. And one corrupt leader does not indict an entire nation, much less an entire people, for thousands of years.

Prophecy foretold ahead of time that the Jews would reject him. This would cause the gospel to go to the entire world. This was God’s plan from the beginning. He hardened their hearts because he said, it’s time for the other nations to hear how good of a God I am. Even though some Jews cried out, “Crucify him,” that does not mean they killed him. Jesus laid down his life. He chose to die. The Jews did not kill him. He allowed himself to die.

“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” John 10:17-18 (NLT)

Closing

Be aware of the trap of antisemetism. Christians, denominations, left wing liberals, even right wing conservatives are going this way. We can’t blame our problems on another group of people. Wouldn’t that be easy if we could?