THE HISTORICAL CHURCH VIEW OF THE JEWS [ISRAEL]

Just three years before he died in 1546, Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer, wrote an anti-Jewish treatise titled On the Jews and their lies. For more than a thousand years, Christians throughout Europe had debated among themselves about how they should treat the Jews living in their midst. By Luther’s day, some argued that the “problem” of the Jews called for a definitive solution. Luther’s treatise offered his solution in no unclear terms.

LUTHER’S WORDS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews?

First, their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honor of God and of Christianity, so that God may know that we are Christians.

Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues. For this reason, they ought to be put under one roof or in a stable, like gypsies, so that they may realize that they are not masters in our land, as they boast, but miserable captives.

Third, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught.

Fourth, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more.

To sum up, dear princes and nobles who have Jews in your domains, if this advice of mine does not suit you, then find a better one so that you and we may all be free of this insufferable devilish burden - the Jews. Next to the devil, a Christian has no more bitter and galling foe than the Jew.

Most Christians who read Luther’s words for the first time are shocked. Tragically, Luther was far from alone among notable Christian leaders in his hatred and abuse of the Jews. As we will see, his attitude was actually quite common among Christians throughout an overwhelming majority of Church history.

Even more tragically, roughly five hundred years after Luther wrote his hateful treatise, Adolf Hitler would rely heavily on Luther’s proposals as the basis of his own “final solution,” resulting in the death of two-thirds of the roughly nine million Jews who were living in Europe at the time.

How did it all come to this? How did Christianity, whose adherents claim to follow a Jewish Messiah, become a Gentile-dominated religion that persecuted the Jews no matter where they were found? How did those Christians who claimed to worship the God of Israel come to hate the children of Israel so deeply, so passionately, and so relentlessly?

To answer that question, we must begin with the words of the apostle Paul in Romans chapter 11. It is there that Paul issued a most solemn warning - one specifically intended for Gentile Christians.

First, Paul warned them against being arrogant toward the Jews, reminding his readers of the ongoing calling and election of Israel - including unbelieving Israel - as the people of God.

Second, he also warned Gentile believers not to become conceited about their own standing before God. Instead, they were exhorted to “fear.”

Let us read Paul’s warning:

Do not be arrogant toward the natural branches, but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise, you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:18–22; emphasis added)

This is an absolutely profound statement. Put another way, a failure to be both informed and humble concerning unbelieving Israel could very well result in believing Gentile Christians being “cut off” from God. The word Paul used here is the Greek ekkoptō. It is the same word John the Baptist used as he warned those coming to him to be baptized: “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10).

Paul and John, the Baptist, were not alone in issuing such stern warnings. Jesus also used precisely the same term as John in his exhortation: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19).

Today, as we look back two thousand years to Paul’s warning, a terrifying reality grips us. When we take an honest look at the Gentile-dominated Christian Church throughout its history, up to this present day, most believers have utterly failed to heed Paul’s warnings. The vast majority of the Church, from early on, from the top down, has fallen headlong into wrong ideas and arrogance toward unbelieving Israel. How quickly they forgot the promises of God and Israel’s ongoing role in His plan! The results have been horrific.

One of the results of the Church’s ignorance of Israel’s role in the plan of God is the profound blindness concerning unfolding prophecy. Many Christians have heard of “the sons of Issachar,” mentioned in 1 Chronicles 12:32. We are told that they were “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.” Today, the Church is in desperate need of understanding the times and the ability to properly respond. The Jewish prophets, apostles, and Jesus Himself have given us such a profound gift in their words that contain a tremendous amount of information concerning what we will witness in the days ahead.

Throughout the pages of Scripture, the future, like the past, is laid out in great detail on a divinely revealed timeline. Understanding the times and recognizing where we are on this timeline is of tremendous strategic benefit to the Church if it properly responds. The Jewish prophets, apostles, and Jesus himself have given us such a profound gift in that their words contain a tremendous amount of information concerning what we will witness in the days ahead. Throughout the pages of Scripture, the future, like the past, is laid out in great detail on a divinely revealed timeline. Understanding the times and recognizing where we are on this timeline is of tremendous strategic benefit to the Church as it seeks to fulfill its divine mandate. But when the Church fails to acknowledge and recognize the consistent thread of the people and the land of Israel that runs through the entire timeline, it quickly becomes distorted beyond understanding, resulting in a thick fog of confusion settling over the vision of the Church. Such is the state of the Church today. This timeline, the great strategic blueprint that Yehovah has given to His people, has essentially been scribbled over, defaced with the errant doctrines of a Gentile-dominated Church. Not only are vast segments of the Church fundamentally unaware of where they presently sit on God’s prophetic timeline, but many reject the idea that such a clear timeline even exists. The end of this age is fast approaching. Are you ready?

Just three years before he died in 1546, Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer, wrote an anti-Jewish treatise titled On the Jews and their lies. For more than a thousand years, Christians throughout Europe had debated among themselves about how they should treat the Jews living in their midst. By Luther’s day, some argued that the “problem” of the Jews called for a definitive solution. Luther’s treatise offered his solution in no unclear terms.

LUTHER’S WORDS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews?

First, their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honor of God and of Christianity, so that God may know that we are Christians.

Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues. For this reason, they ought to be put under one roof or in a stable, like gypsies, so that they may realize that they are not masters in our land, as they boast, but miserable captives.

Third, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught.

Fourth, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more.

To sum up, dear princes and nobles who have Jews in your domains, if this advice of mine does not suit you, then find a better one so that you and we may all be free of this insufferable devilish burden - the Jews. Next to the devil, a Christian has no more bitter and galling foe than the Jew.

Most Christians who read Luther’s words for the first time are shocked. Tragically, Luther was far from alone among notable Christian leaders in his hatred and abuse of the Jews. As we will see, his attitude was actually quite common among Christians throughout an overwhelming majority of Church history.

Even more tragically, roughly five hundred years after Luther wrote his hateful treatise, Adolf Hitler would rely heavily on Luther’s proposals as the basis of his own “final solution,” resulting in the death of two-thirds of the roughly nine million Jews who were living in Europe at the time.

How did it all come to this? How did Christianity, whose adherents claim to follow a Jewish Messiah, become a Gentile-dominated religion that persecuted the Jews no matter where they were found? How did those Christians who claimed to worship the God of Israel come to hate the children of Israel so deeply, so passionately, and so relentlessly?

To answer that question, we must begin with the words of the apostle Paul in Romans chapter 11. It is there that Paul issued a most solemn warning - one specifically intended for Gentile Christians.

First, Paul warned them against being arrogant toward the Jews, reminding his readers of the ongoing calling and election of Israel - including unbelieving Israel - as the people of God.

Second, he also warned Gentile believers not to become conceited about their own standing before God. Instead, they were exhorted to “fear.”

Let us read Paul’s warning:

Do not be arrogant toward the natural branches, but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise, you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:18–22; emphasis added)

This is an absolutely profound statement. Put another way, a failure to be both informed and humble concerning unbelieving Israel could very well result in believing Gentile Christians being “cut off” from God. The word Paul used here is the Greek ekkoptō. It is the same word John the Baptist used as he warned those coming to him to be baptized: “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10).

Paul and John, the Baptist, were not alone in issuing such stern warnings. Jesus also used precisely the same term as John in his exhortation: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19).

Today, as we look back two thousand years to Paul’s warning, a terrifying reality grips us. When we take an honest look at the Gentile-dominated Christian Church throughout its history, up to this present day, most believers have utterly failed to heed Paul’s warnings. The vast majority of the Church, from early on, from the top down, has fallen headlong into wrong ideas and arrogance toward unbelieving Israel. How quickly they forgot the promises of God and Israel’s ongoing role in His plan! The results have been horrific.

One of the results of the Church’s ignorance of Israel’s role in the plan of God is the profound blindness concerning unfolding prophecy. Many Christians have heard of “the sons of Issachar,” mentioned in 1 Chronicles 12:32. We are told that they were “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.” Today, the Church is in desperate need of understanding the times and the ability to properly respond. The Jewish prophets, apostles, and Jesus Himself have given us such a profound gift in their words that contain a tremendous amount of information concerning what we will witness in the days ahead.

Throughout the pages of Scripture, the future, like the past, is laid out in great detail on a divinely revealed timeline. Understanding the times and recognizing where we are on this timeline is of tremendous strategic benefit to the Church if it properly responds. The Jewish prophets, apostles, and Jesus himself have given us such a profound gift in that their words contain a tremendous amount of information concerning what we will witness in the days ahead. Throughout the pages of Scripture, the future, like the past, is laid out in great detail on a divinely revealed timeline. Understanding the times and recognizing where we are on this timeline is of tremendous strategic benefit to the Church as it seeks to fulfill its divine mandate. But when the Church fails to acknowledge and recognize the consistent thread of the people and the land of Israel that runs through the entire timeline, it quickly becomes distorted beyond understanding, resulting in a thick fog of confusion settling over the vision of the Church. Such is the state of the Church today. This timeline, the great strategic blueprint that Yehovah has given to His people, has essentially been scribbled over, defaced with the errant doctrines of a Gentile-dominated Church. Not only are vast segments of the Church fundamentally unaware of where they presently sit on God’s prophetic timeline, but many reject the idea that such a clear timeline even exists. The end of this age is fast approaching. Are you ready?