JD: The rise of anti-Semitism that is being reported around the world; I wanted us to have a conversation and discuss this topic. We can start with the term anti-Semitism itself.
DJ: Well it goes back to actually one of the sons of Noah who was named Shem. And after the flood of Noah’s day the descendant of Shem initially populated the region of the Middle East. Ham’s descendant generally went to the east and to the south into Northern Africa. And then Japheth descendant generally went to the north. So the descendant of Shem came to be known as the Semitic peoples which is a term that was coined in the late 1700s. And of course Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were descendant of Shem.
Now the term anti-Semitism came out of a series of social
and political developments in Germany in the late 1800s and was connected with
negative attitudes toward the Jews and the resulting tension between ethnic
Germans and ethnic Jews. And as we all know this reached a horrible climax
under Hitler in the third Reich. So today anti-Semitism refers to any discriminatory
or negative or even hostile attitudes and actions directed against the Jewish
people and of course the nation of Israel as a whole.
JD: Do you believe that this spread of anti-Semitism may come
from a lack of teaching Bible prophecy in the local church?
DJ: It may not be the overt anti-Semitism but it is certainly
anti-Israel because they don’t believe Israel has a future in God’s program. It
just come out of how you handle the Bible and how you interpret it correctly
from Genesis to Revelation including the prophetic passages. And if you hold to
that you will understand and have a proper prospective on Israel, their future
in God’s program and what are stance should be even as individual Christians
toward the Jewish people in general and even our Jewish neighbors.
JD: David James with the details on the history of anti-Semitism
and its rise of this anti-Biblical philosophy even in the church today.
We report this information because it is setting the stage
for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
Anti-Semitism, hatred for God’s chosen people, the Jewish
people is on the increase among non-Jews and even among Christians today as
well. God’s word says he has a plan for his chosen people. That plan is laid out
in his covenants for the Jews and that would be Genesis 15, Deuteronomy 30, II
Samuel 7 and Jeremiah 31:31. If God fails to keep these promises to the Jewish
people he is a liar and he cannot be trusted. However, God is not a liar and he
will keep his promises to his people. You and I must not neglect the study of
the Bible and Bible prophecy.
