By: Dale Weckbacher
John 15:19
If you were of the
world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but
I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
NKJV
Christianity and Judaism are genuinely peaceful
religions. With few exceptions, most
Christians and Jews are upstanding citizens of their communities. Many of them also make many positive
contributions to their societies.
In the recent earthquake in Nepal, one of the first
organizations to respond was Samaritans Purse, an evangelical Christian
organization run by Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham. (1) This past Sunday my pastor told us of
someone that had come into the church office.
It was a particularly hot day with the man looking hot and a bit
dehydrated so they asked him if he needed some water. After talking with the man, they determined
that he was going to be starting a new job the next day and had not eaten for
two days. The church runs a food pantry
and gave the man some food so he would be strong upon starting his new
job. Jews are equally as generous and
willing to respond when there is a need also ranking high in their response to
the victims of the Nepal earthquake. (2)
In light of this showing of generosity from Christians and
Jews towards those in need, any hatred towards them would appear unfounded and
illogical. However, if we look at
scripture we soon discover that this hatred by the secular world towards
Christians and Jews is actually spiritually logical and something we should
actually expect. Let me explain.
In the second chapter of his book “A Rabbi Looks at the LastDays,” Rabbi Jonathan Bernis cites the seed covenant in Genesis 3:15 which
says,
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity
Between you and the
woman,
And between your seed
and her Seed;
He shall bruise your
head,
And you shall bruise
His heel."
NKJV
This is the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible and only
one person, Jesus Christ, qualifies as the seed of a woman. This is because in normal conception, the man
carries the seed. However, Jesus was not
conceived by a man’s seed since he was born of a virgin, Mary. Therefore, Jesus, a Jew, is Messiah as
foretold in Isaiah 7:14.
This is the beginning of Satan’s hatred of the Jews for he
knew that if this seed of the woman were allowed to be born, it would be his
end. As we read further in scripture, we
see many instances where Satan attempted to annihilate the Jews. He tried to eliminate them by killing all
boys born of Israelite women in Egypt.
He tried to kill them all off in the time of Esther. He even tried to kill Jesus when Herod had
all boys two years of age and younger killed in Bethlehem and had it not been
for the angel telling Joseph in a dream to take his family to Egypt, might have
succeeded.
Even though Messiah has been born and died for the sins of
humanity, Satan’s hatred of the Jews continues for God is not done with his
people yet. The Jews rejected Jesus the
first time he came but scripture tells us they will come to accept the one they
pierced in the last days and welcome Him when he comes again to establish his
earthly kingdom (Revelation 1:7).
Satan’s hatred now is an attempt to prevent the Jews from accepting
their Messiah, an effort destined to fail.
Likewise, Satan also hates Christians for it is they who are
the instruments of spreading the Gospel to the nations or peoples of the world,
Jews and Gentiles alike. Satan’s hatred
of Christianity is an attempt to prevent people from hearing the gospel and
accepting Jesus as their savior. Satan
knows he is destined to eternity in Hell (Revelation 20:10) and wants to take
as many Jews and Gentiles he can with him by denying them the opportunity to
hear the Gospel.
As Christians and Jews, we must face the fact that we live
in a world presently ruled by Satan. As Christians,
we are ambassadors for Christ living in a foreign land where many hate us. However, we can read the end of the book and
know that the leadership of this world is going to change. The time is coming when Satan will no longer rule
this world and his Jew and Christian hating regime will be replaced with a world
ruled by God in the New Jerusalem. It
will be a world where Satan is relegated to eternity in Hell where he can no
longer torment us.
In the meantime, before that day comes, we who are the
ambassadors of Christ have the duty to spread the Gospel to all people,
including Jews and Gentiles so they can escape eternity in Hell with Satan and
enjoy eternity with Christ. We understand
there is hatred of our efforts to spread the Gospel but we must press on and
follow the advice the Apostle Paul gave to Timothy
1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight
of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have
confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
NKJV
1. Samaritan's Purse. Deadly Earthquake in
Nepal. www.samaritanspurse.org. [Online] Samaritan's Purse. [Cited: May
17, 2015.] http://www.samaritanspurse.org/disaster/nepal-earthquake/.
2. Israel Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. Israel ranks high in humanitarian aid to Nepal after
earthquake. mfa.gov.il. [Online] Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[Cited: May 17, 2015.]
http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Aid/Pages/Israel-ranks-high-in-humanitarian-aid-to-Nepal-after-earthquake.aspx.
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