#3 Patterns of Prophecy-Jewish Persecution

Patterns of Prophecy The Supernatural History of Israel Session 3 Jewish Persecution Predictions of Persecution Lev. 26:33 includes an announcement of the exile, a pronouncement of what will occur to Israel outside the land, and what will occur to the land itself… Deut. 28:65-67 includes an overall description of the quality of Jewish life while in exile outside the land… Amos 9:1-10 elaborates on the extent of the persecution the Jews will undergo, and explains the purpose for their persecution. Theological Antisemitism Byzantine Christianity took a very similar stance toward the Jews that the Romans did before them. The rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire is its own fascinating story. It begins with the conversion of Emperor Constantine (AD 312), the Edict of Toleration (AD 313), the shifting of power from the city of Rome to Constantinople (AD 330), and the ascendency of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. While the Roman prejudice against the Jews was largely cultural, the rise of Christianity added theological prejudice against the Jews. Theological Antisemitism Many of the early church fathers (circa AD 300-600) from Jerome, to Ambrose, Chrysostom, Cyril, and Augustine all showed tremendous prejudice against the Jews. This “Christian antisemitism” may have had a couple root causes… 1. A retaliation to the Jewish persecution of early Christians as recorded in the N.T. 2. The miss-application of several N.T. passages based upon the belief that God had forsaken his people Israel. This led to an unhealthy labeling of the Jews as “Christ-killers.” Augustine Theological Antisemitism This attitude often expressed itself in legislation against the Jews during the Byzantine period such as the prohibition on building new synagogues, prohibition of Jews to own land, or to proselytize. The Council of Nicea (325) banned the celebration of Passover earlier than Easter, and even banned reading the O.T. out loud in Aramaic, Greek, or the vernacular because it was a Jewish practice. One of the ironies of history is how Islam has been traditionally more tolerant of Jews than Christians have been. That has changed of course in the last century. Augustine Theological Antisemitism The same attitudes and policies sown in the Roman & Byzantine eras continued throughout the Middle Ages because of the common denominator of the Catholic church. Antisemitism became enshrined in the dogma of Catholicism, and led to some extreme abuses like slaughtering Jews during the Crusades, or the conducting of the Spanish Inquisition. The Council of Vienna (1311) forbade all intercourse between Christians and Jews. The Council of Zamora (1313) ruled that Jews must be kept in strict subjection and servitude. Pope Eugenius IV (1431-47) added that Jews should be ineligible for any public office, could not inherit property from Christians, and could build no more synagogues. Main Reference for Information Slaughter During Crusades “The Slaughter on the Rhine,” a.k.a. “the Rhineland Massacres” occurred as a result of the 1st Crusade (1096). The 1st Crusade was inspired by a desire to free the Holy Land from muslim invaders. However, in the words of Abigail Archer in her book on the Crusades, “preparations for Urban’s crusade could not be made quickly. Arms and armor had to be gathered, money had to be collected, leaders had to be chosen, and plans for the journey had to be made. So while the nobles mustered their forces, the common people moved first. Thus began ‘the People’s Crusade.’” Main Reference for Information Slaughter During Crusades The People’s Crusade was a fanatical religious reaction to the preaching of Pope Urban II, which led to nothing good. Ill equipped, and ill led, this group of people, some 40,000 strong, made their way to the Land of Israel. However, with little to no disciplined leadership, they plundered the countryside along the way. Centerpiece to their journey was the slaughter on the Rhine, which was a targeted attack against Jewish communities in their path. (Recall from our earlier studies, that a huge percentage of world Jewry had settled in the Rhineland valley) They justified these attacks because of the firm Catholic dogma of antisemitism. Several thousand Jews lost their lives, and thousands more lost their property during this time. Main Reference for Information Slaughter During Crusades Unfortunately the slaughter of Jews during the People’s Crusade, was not merely the result of low discipline, but it seemed to start a trend, which became somewhat normative for the rest of the Crusades. Godfrey of Bouillon, widely recognized as one of the heroes of the 1st Crusade, raised money for his Crusade by a forced tribute collected from Jews. He would have most likely participated in pogroms against the Jews to confiscate all of their property if Henry IV had not ordered against it. Slaughter During Crusades One of the first acts of the Crusaders who captured the city of Jerusalem in 1099, was to burn a Jewish synagogue while the Jews were still inside. This was then followed by a total annihilation of the population of Jerusalem, which included both muslims and Jews. Spanish Inquisition The Spanish Inquisition serves as a powerful example of violent action taken against non-conformists, including Jews. During the latter days of Roman rule, most of the population of Spain became Christian. Many of the Jews in Spain (Toledo for instance) were forced to convert to Christianity. When the muslims invaded Spain in the early 700’s, most Jews sided with the muslims, because they ironically allowed greater tolerance for Judaism. Jews vacillated between persecution and prosperity during the centuries of the Reconquista of Spain by Christians from 800-1400’s. At times Jews were tolerated, at other times they were forced to convert. Spanish Inquisition The Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834) was a judicial institution ostensibly established by the Catholic church, at the request of King Ferdinand & Isabella of Spain, to combat heresy. In practice it served to consolidate the power of the monarchy of the newly unified Spanish kingdom. One of Europe’s largest Jewish populations was in Spain, and it soon became a target for the Inquisition. The awful methods employed during this time to force conversion are infamous. An edict on March 31, 1492 gave Spanish Jews the choice of exile or conversion. 160,000 Jews were expelled from Spain. This edict was not lifted till Spain became a republic in 1848. Protestant Antisemitism Martin Luther, like so many before him, believed that the new emphasis on the Gospel by the Protestant Reformation would be irresistible to the Jews. He began early in his ministry to lovingly reach out to the Jews, and attempt to evangelize them. Yet when he saw little to no success, his attitude toward the Jews soured. In 1538 he wrote two pamphlets against the Jews, “Letter against the Sabbathists,” & “The Jews and their Lies.” These led to a new wave of Jewish persecution even in Protestant controlled lands. Unfortunately, these Lutheran pamphlets were reprinted and widely circulated later in Nazi Germany. European Expulsions The laws against Jewish ownership of land, their exclusion from most trade guilds throughout the late Roman era on into the Middle Ages, and the prohibition of Catholics from charging interest forced the Jews into the areas of trade and finance in order to make a living. This led to a general unpopularity of the Jews, because most people owed them money. This was not only true on the local level, but also on the national level. Many French & English kings, throughout the Middle Ages, became indebted to Jews. This later became a motive to target and eradicate the Jews. European Expulsions When Jews would not convert or conform, they often experienced expulsion. The process went something like this: the Jewish merchant class became the primary lenders in medieval Europe. Both kings and commoners became regularly indebted to Jews. This made Jews largely unpopular, and often targets of violence. Peasant revolts and riots against Jews in England throughout the early 1200’s ended up killing multiple Jews while mobs often sought to destroy debt records. This evidences the real motive behind the riots. European Expulsions This targeting of Jews grew to royal proportions when Edward I imprisoned & executed nearly 300 Jews in London, then issued an order for all Jews to leave the country by November 1, 1290, whereupon Edward confiscated all Jewish property for the crown. The edict was later overturned, but not until 1656. Edward was the first king to expel Jews from a country, yet he was merely immolating his predecessor, King PhilippeAuguste of France (1165-1223). Jews had been living in France for over 1,000 years, having arrived with the Romans. But when Philippe-Auguste came to the throne he immediately enriched himself by confiscating all Jewish property imprisoning them on a charge of ritual murder, and only released them when they paid a ransom. European Expulsions Similar expulsions under similar circumstances occurred in France in 1182, 1306, 1321, 1394, in Germany in 1348, 1510, 1551, in Austria in 1421, in Spain in 1492, Portugal in 1497, in Papal States of Italy in 1569 & 1593, and in other places in Europe leading up and to the modern era including WW2 & then most muslim countries after 1948. Truly Deuteronomy 28:64-67 has come to pass! Russian Pogroms We find another episode of antisemitic violence in the Russian Pogroms. Russia, due north of the old Byzantine Empire, had long been a place for Jews to migrate as they fled Byzantine oppression. In 1791 Catherine the Great of Russia ordered all the Jews in the vast Russian empire to be contained to a narrow strip of land within Imperial Russia. The “Pale of Settlement” included most of the territory of present-day Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, & Ukraine. More than 90% of Russian Jews were forced to live inside the Pale. Jews in the Pale were taxed twice as heavily as any other Russian, forbidden to lease land, or to receive higher education. Russian Pogroms The English term “pale” comes from a Latin word, which refers to an area enclosed by a fence or boundary. The predominate motive behind confining the Jews to this area was of course religious. Russian Orthodox Christianity was the state religion at the time. Jews were seen as non-conformists. Note how this seems to be an echo from Esther chapter 3. Many historians also believe that economic and nationalistic motivations were also present in this forced relocation. Russian Pogroms The Russian word “pogrom” means “thunder,” and it refers to the sudden attacks, which the Russian government organized against the Russian Jews inside the Pale. These attacks sought to vandalize Jewish businesses & plunder Jewish property. The pretense for the 1881 attacks was the blaming of the Jews for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. Yet even after this the Jews were blamed for anything that caused political unrest in Russia. Three waves of pogroms occurred within the years 1881-1921. Incalculable monetary value was lost, and thousands of Jews were murdered in the violence. Cartoon Published in 1905 Note American President Theodore Roosevelt condemning Emperor Nicholas II of Russia for the pogroms against the Jews, who were being accused of everything from autocracy & robbery, to assassination & murder. Political Antisemitism Antisemitism finds perhaps its most evil expression in the Nazism of 20th century Germany. Yet this was merely the outgrowth of ideas, which were long in the making. Hitler’s Mein Kampf declared his belief that it was “the sacred mission of the German people… to assemble and preserve the most valuable racial elements… and raise them to the dominant position.” He stated further that “all who are not of a good race are chaff.” Hitler identified the Aryan race as the “genius” race, and the Jew as the “parasite” of history. Political Antisemitism Hitler proposed that it was necessary for Germans to “occupy themselves not merely with the breeding of dogs, horses, and cats, but also with care for the purity of their own blood.” He then ascribed international significance to the elimination of the Jews, which “must necessarily be a bloody process” he wrote. Hitler’s “Final Solution” became the ultimate outworking of Hitler’s ideology. Nazi Germany was not the first state to be antisemitic, but it was the first state to make it national policy. War on the Jews When Hitler came to power in 1933, he ruled over 500,000 Jews and 66 million Germans. Just as he had promised in Mein Kampf, Hitler’s war on the Jews began immediately, staring with propaganda & discrimination. All Jewish officials in the government lost their jobs, Jews were forbidden to pursue business in industrial activity, and Jewish businesses everywhere were boycotted by the general public. The German population actually benefited from this at first as non-Jewish professionals profited from Jewish doctors and lawyers being forced out of business. Yet this hurt Germany in the long-run. Main Reference for information, but I have 8th edition. War on the Jews In 1935 the “Nuremburg laws” came into force, which would not allow marriages between Aryans and nonAryans. Jews (defined as any person of one-fourth or more Jewish blood) lost their citizenship, and were ordered to not higher Aryan servants. Anti-semitic signs were posted in all public places refusing service to Jews, or banning Jews from the premises. Life became so difficult for Jews that they had no means of livelihood, and often could not buy simple necessities, because they were not allowed into the stores. For the first time in modern history, antisemitism became governmental policy. Kristallnacht Antisemitic feelings found further expression in the infamous Kristallnacht, or “night of broken glass.” On November 9-10, 1938, the Nazis organized a massive attack on Jewish persons and property. The pretext for the attack was a shooting in Paris on November 7 of a German diplomat by a Polish-Jewish student. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, a telegram sent to all police units by the Gestapo chief read, “in shortest order, actions against Jews and especially their synagogues will take place in all of Germany. These are not to be interfered with.” Rather, the police were to arrest the victims who would try to resist. The Final Solution The so-called “Final Solution” was a Nazi plan for the genocide or extermination of the Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" was the official code name for the murder of all Jews within reach, which was not restricted to the European continent, but anywhere Germany held sway. On July 31, 1941, the high ranking Nazi named Goering commissioned the carrying out of “the final solution.” This policy of deliberate and systematic genocide starting across German-occupied Europe was formulated by Nazi leadership in January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference held near Berlin. This conference culminated in the Holocaust, which saw the killing of 90% of Polish Jews, and two thirds of the entire Jewish population of Europe. Villa where Wannsee Conference was held. Death Camps Between 1933 and 1944 the Nazis built over 20,000 camps throughout Europe. These camps were originally established to house alleged political prisoners in Germany, who resisted the Nazi party, however, they were soon transformed into efficient killing centers for Jews, and anyone the Nazis deemed worthy of death. Few people inside or outside Germany really believed that Hitler meant what he had said. However, as history played out, the world would come to realize that wherever Germany occupied, the Jews were being efficiently and brutally eradicated. Death Camps Examples abound of German occupation and eradication of the Jewish populations of a given region. In Keiv, Ukraine for instance the Jews were rounded up and forced to dig a large communal grave, required to undress, and then climb into the grave where they were subsequently shot and buried. During the Nuremberg trials in 1947, when several Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes, Nazi General Otto Ohlendorf admitted that the pragmatically minded Germans allowed Jewish mothers to hold their infants to their chest during execution for two primary reasons. First, it silenced the crying child, and secondly the shooter could kill both mother and infant with one bullet in order to save on ammunition. Resource for Information Holocaust Statistics The Nazis and their allies by the end of WW2 slaughtered an estimated 6 million Jews in addition to about 5 million Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals, and mentally ill persons. Most of what we know about the Nazi death camps comes from eyewitness who survived, sworn testimony of Nazi war criminals on trial, as well as literally thousands of German documents, and photo evidence taken by Benjamin Ferencz, and other soldiers and lawyers commissioned to document the evidence of Nazi war crimes. Holocaust Memorial The opposite treatment of the Holocaust comes of course from the Jews, and others who wish to preserve this history as horrific, but nonetheless true. Over 30 countries worldwide host museums and memorials to the Holocaust. I myself have visited the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem known as Yad Vashem (Hebrew for “monument & name,” taken from Isaiah 56:5). The climax of the museum is the “Hall of Names,” where every known name of Holocaust victims is documented and preserved. The mere size of the room, and the number of shelves upon which the volumes of books rest is in itself sobering. Now that we have overviewed much of the worldwide persecution of the Jews throughout history, let’s note one more detail, which I believe serves as a sign of the providential hand of God. Evidence of Providence? The 9th of Av is also known as the “Jewish day of Tragedy,” because of all the historic tragedies that have occurred on this day… 1. Israel Refused to Enter Promised Land (Num. 14) 2. 1st Destruction of the Temple in 586 BC 3. 2nd Destruction of the Temple in AD 70 4. Last Jewish Stronghold of Bar Kokhba Revolt Fell AD 135 5. Romans Plowed Jerusalem and Renamed it Aelia Capitolina AD 136 6. Jews Expelled from England AD 1290. 7. Jews Expelled from Spain AD 1492. 8. Gas Chambers of Treblink, Poland Began Operation 1942. 9th of Av… What does this observation Teach us? Why do all of these tragedies occur on the same day of the calendar year? These occurrences are not the result of mere chance or coincidence, rather these occurrences have been carefully orchestrated by an allpowerful, all-knowing God in order to evidence to the Jewish people that His hand is behind their history. The purpose of all of this history is so that the Jewish people would come to repent of their sin and unbelief, and turn to Jesus as their Messiah. Purpose of Persecution Is there a point to all of this violence? Why does God allow it to continue? Quickly consider with me several passages of Scripture, which clearly indicate that the worldwide persecution of the Jews does serve an ultimate purpose in the plan of God. Read Leviticus 26:36-46 (compare also Deut. 30:1-5) Read Jeremiah 30:1-24 Read Zechariah 13:8-9 Purpose of Persecution 1. The first purpose served by worldwide persecution of the Jews is to prompt in them a spirit of repentance, and recognition of their sin. 2. Secondly, persecution will also engender within them a desire to return to the Land of Promise for safety and security. As we will see, WW1 prepared the Land for the Jews, while WW2 prepared the Jews for the Land. 3. Third, when in the Land, God will orchestrate more oppression and persecution from the nations of the world in order to ultimately purify His people the Jews.