Antisemitism is hatred for Jewish people. It is emotional and irrational. It has persisted throughout history for thousands of years, which makes it unique. Satan hates Jesus Christ who is Jewish and the entire Jewish nation because they preserved the words and Laws of God.
Romans 3:1-2, “What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.”
Actually, God gave His truths to all thirteen tribes, but the northern ten were lost to apostasy, thanks to Jeroboam, Jezebel and others. Only the southern three tribes, known collectively as the house of Judah, maintained the oracles of God. They preserved the Bible. Almost all the books of the New and Old Testament were written by Jewish authors and one by a Jewish proselyte.
Replacement theology is the doctrine that says the nation of Israel has been replaced by the New Covenant church and God has no further present or future dealings with Israel. Like most things, there are variations in the doctrine but that is the basic idea. They twist a few words of the Apostle Paul to support this doctrine. But what does Paul actually say about this doctrine?
Romans 10:21, “But to Israel he says: ‘All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people.’”
Romans 11:1-2, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.”
Paul bluntly poses the question of whether God had forsaken Israel and answers it with a “Certainly not!” We know the replacement doctrine is wrong, but why is it so attractive to clerics?
The Negativity Behind Replacement Theology
While anti-Judaism usually refers to opposition to the religious ideas and customs of Jews, antisemitism is a prejudice and hatred against Jews. It seems reasonable to assume that hatred led to and preceded the replacement theology doctrine. Suppose church leaders in the second and third centuries turned violently anti-Semitic. Truly converted leaders did not engage in this behavior. The false cleric Marcion even went so far as to sponsor an anti-Hebrew bible. Some have even tried to make the New Testament a party to this kind of misguided theology. These people were motivated by hatred and used replacement theology as a vehicle to eliminate the Old Testament and some of God’s Laws.
1 Timothy 4:1-3, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”
The author of most of the New Testament predicted that this would happen. It will grow even stronger as we get closer to the second coming of the Messiah. All the replacement clerics and scholars accentuate some form of discontinuity with Israel and the Old Testament, but Paul did the opposite; he worked to unite Jews and Gentiles.
Ephesians 4:13, “Till we all come to the unity of the faith…”
1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body –– whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free –– and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”
Galatians 3:28-29, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Both true Christianity and the apostle Paul taught love and unity, not hatred. Note that Paul mentions the Old Testament Patriarch Abraham as the spiritual father for all believers –– a direct repudiation of the replacement doctrine. Misguided church leaders in the first few centuries spewed hatred which led them to embrace replacement theology. However many who now believe in it do not hate anyone and are probably unaware of the motives behind this doctrine. Sixty percent of churches believe in replacement doctrines!
Followers of Christ Can be Jew or Gentile
Paul believed that true worshipers of God exist in both groups. He promoted love and unity and stated that sometimes we cannot fully know of many of the good believers.
Romans 11:3-5, “‘LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life’?
“But what does the divine response say to him? ‘I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’
“Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
Though the Jewish leadership had rejected Jesus, a large number of Jews believed. Note the large numbers converted during the first Pentecost period. Many Messianic Jews exist today in Israel. Over time, the shift of converts focused on the gentile, pagan world, but it would not be reason to hate Jews as Paul makes clear.
Paul says a remnant of Israel now believes and possibly a larger percentage of gentiles were converted. For example, the book to the Romans has over forty direct quotes from the Old Testament as support for Paul’s teachings. Furthermore, much of the New Testament cannot be truly understood without knowledge of the Old Testament writings. Gentiles were grafted into Israel as the spiritual children of Abraham. The idea of anyone replacing Israel is wrong!
Romans 11:17-18, “And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.” (NKJV)
God Has Not, Nor Will He, Forsake Israel
A TEMPORARY divorce of Israel existed for many centuries, but God would never renege on His promises to Abraham, Jacob and others.
Jeremiah 31:34, “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
The day is coming when all Israel will know the truth and have an opportunity for conversion.
Jeremiah 31:35-36, “Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar –– the LORD of hosts is His name:
“‘If this fixed order departs from before Me, says the LORD, then shall the descendants of Israel cease from being a nation before Me forever.’”
That is about as clear a statement as one can get of God’s intentions. As long as the sun shines, Israel is still an important nation in the eyes of God. Further, those who bless Israel, which includes the Jews, will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. The prophet Balaam was paid to curse Israel and God inspired the profound message found in Numbers 24:5-9.
Pray for Love and The Peace of Jerusalem
A propaganda battle is being waged for the hearts of the world. Most media outlets are useful idiots for those who are full of hate, but we should all love and pray for the historic people of God. Pray for peace for the Jewish people and we will be blessed! And pray that the hearts of most Americans will do the same, in spite of the media and academia.
Psalms 122:6 says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.”
