Bible

April 11, 2022 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

The Arab Christian who saved Jews!

Anyone following what happens in Israel is aware that several terrorist attacks took place all over the country in the last couple of weeks: four to be exact. Asa result, thirteen Israelis have died, which is the most death by terrorism in several years, and many have been wounded. What you might not hear on the mainstream news is how many attacks were averted by the Israeli authorities. This is all happening in conjunction with the start of the month of Ramadan for Muslims. Some might say that the timing was carefully planned, but that is hard to prove.

Israel has pretty much been at war with its Arab neighbors since May 14, 1948. Terrorism is almost an expectation in the Israeli psyche, but that never prevents Israelis from conducting business as usual, day in, day out. Nothing will really stop Israel from its daily routine, not BDS, not terrorism, or even antisemitism. The accusations flow daily, “Israel is an apartheid state”, “The Jews are stealing Palestinian land”, “Israel is committing ethnic cleansing”, or even” the Jews are the new Nazis of the Middle East.” In reality, Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East.

It is only in Israel that you can find Arabs members of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) or even Arab triage nurses in Jewish hospitals. Israel is probably the country with the most freedoms given to Arabs in all of the Arab world. Israel truly is a melting pot where several world religions converge, especially in Jerusalem. The old city of Jerusalem is divided into four quarters: The Jewish Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Muslim Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. For the most part, different faiths coexist peacefully within the walls of the old city and even beyond its borders. Once in a while, an incident is reported, but soon after, life resumes.

Arabs, Christians and Jews coexist, but this doesn’t mean that they share the same values or practice the same customs and traditions. Most of the time, Arabs, Christians and Jews simply tolerate each other and respectfully stay away from each other, unless something out of the ordinary occurs like what happened on March 29 in Bnei Brak.

The area known as Bnei Brak is found east of Tel Aviv and is the home of the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.) Bnei Brak has a population of over 200,000 and is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The reality is that there are never that many Arabs in Bnei Brak. Not because it is unsafe, but simply because this is not where their community resides.

On March 29, 2022, the Bnei Brak community was attacked by a terrorist. The Arab gunman killed five Israelis before he was shot. The victims were 4 civilians and 1 officer. Since then, a fourth attack took place in central Tel Aviv, taking the lives of four more people and wounding a dozen more. This resurgence of apparently random terrorist attacks all over Israel could be the start of a third Intifada (uprising). There will probably be more, and most of the “civilized” world will either ignore, downplay or flip the narrative to paint the Palestinians as victims defending themselves.

In the midst of all this terror in Israel, is a story that also got very little coverage on mainstream media. The Bnei Brak terrorist could have claimed a lot more lives, but the terrorist was shot to prevent that. One police officer, Amir Khoury, an Arab Christian, rushed to the scene with another police officer on their motorcycles. They caught up with the terrorist and shot him. Unfortunately, before the terrorist was stopped, he shot and killed Amir Khoury. Mr. Khoury gave his life up as a hero, to protect others. It was a selfless act that cost him his life, but it prevented the loss of other lives. CBN reported, “Khoury, 32, was called to the scene of a terror attack on Tuesday in the Orthodox Israeli city of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv. He and another cop directly engaged with the Palestinian gunman and he was mortally wounded, making him one of the five victims who were killed in Tuesday’s attack. Israeli officials say his action prevented more deaths.”

It is ironic that an Arab Christian saved Jewish people, but that is exactly what he did, and as a result, myriads of Orthodox Jews came to his funeral. They truly saw him as a hero.

It is not often that we witness Arabs and Jews getting along, although–and this is sad to say– there are always better opportunities for them to coexist, get along and even have respect for each other, in Israel, more than in the disputed territories. But Mr. Khouri was different. He was an Arab Christian. He was an Arab who might have been indoctrinated by family and/or schoolteachers against Israel and the Jewish people, but he was different. He was different because he had placed his trust by faith in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). Only when we are reborn in Yeshua as it was advised to Rabbi Nicodemus in John 3:1-15 by Yeshua, can we see people from a different perspective.

When we commit our life to the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world, we truly understand and are able to apply in our own life the difficult verse spoken by Yeshua in Matthew 5:43-44, You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Yeshua understood what it meant to sacrifice oneself for others. He was the epitome of self-sacrifice unto death. He gave us the model for Christian living, a model that Mr. Khoury understood and was willing to accept all the way as his actions showed us recently. 1 John 3:16 is clear, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

Mr. Khoury wasn’t just a hero to his community, but he was a reborn creature who set aside any differences he might have had in the flesh, to serve God as one of his children. I look forward to seeing my brother Amir Khoury in heaven and in the meantime, I express my gratitude to his mourning family.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! – Psalm 133:1

March 14, 2022 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Purim: Don’t Mess with the God of Israel!

Wednesday, March 16, 2022, marks the celebration of Purim, also known as the feast of Esther. At this joyous feast, Jewish people gather to recall God’s protection in days of old. special foods are consumed, people dress up and read the Megillat Ester or scroll of Esther in the synagogue, where a lot of noise is made at the calling of the names of the three main protagonists: Mordechai, Esther and Haman. Additionally, gifts are exchanged, as well as donations made to charity.

• PURIM IN THE BIBLE: The only time we read about Purim, is at the end of the book of Esther–a book about God’s miraculous preservation of the Jewish people–even though this is the only book of the Bible where God is never mentioned by name. This didn’t prevent God from orchestrating an incredible story of survival, redemption and blessing, albeit behind the scenes.

The story of Purim is also a very strong post-Genesis example of God’s promise to Abraham to bless those who bless him and curse him who curses Abraham (Genesis 12:3). Haman, the archenemy of the Jews built gallows to hang Mordechai, and at the end, he and all of his sons were hanging on these very gallows…A curse for a curse! People ought to take the promise made by God to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 very seriously. In a sense, it is God’s foreign policy when it comes to Israel, and it has proven true all throughout history (biblical and post-biblical).

Haman’s approach to the “Jewish problem” is worth looking at from the perspective of Satan, the ultimate enemy of the Jews. Early in the scriptures, in Genesis 3, Satan came up with a master plan: Use people – even Eve – to destroy the Jews on a global scale – and antisemitism was born! The reason? Satan is very familiar with the message of the Bible and with God’s master plan for the world in general and for Israel and the Jewish people in particular.

Satan knows that the day that the Jewish people recognize Yeshua as their long-awaited Messiah as told in Zechariah 12:10, will usher in His return, but that will also mark the beginning of the end of Satan’s career of hatred and destruction. In an attempt at postponing it all–since he cannot prevent it, Satan is the mastermind behind the longest hatred. He is the creator of antisemitism and he continually subcontracts his hatred against the Jews to various groups through the ages, making the most irrational thoughts, words and deeds appear very rational to those who listen to him. The book of Esther tells us the story of how Satan used Haman to go after the Jews. He could have succeeded, but he did not, because God is greater, even behind-the-scenes.

In Esther chapter 3, Haman puts his curse against the Jews in motion, and because of one Jew, namely Mordecai, Haman seeks to destroy all of them. We start seeing the irrational behaviors promoted by an antisemitic heart. Haman seeks to destroy ALL THE JEWS of the Persian Empire where many of them lived at the time.

In a sense, Haman tried to make antisemitism a government-sanctioned policy, something that will be picked up again much later in history by Nazi Germany. We read in Esther 3:1-2, 5-6 “After these events, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage…. When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Furthermore, in verse 8, Haman proceeds to give the reason why the Jews are not wanted in Ahasuerus’ kingdom, and that is simply because THEY ARE DIFFERENT. “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain.

Because of his hatred for one man who happened to be Jewish, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews of the kingdom. This was a very extreme decision, driven by an irrational desire to hold all people of the same ethnic group responsible because of one of theirs who actually wasn’t guilty of anything but faithfulness to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Haman was on a mission to destroy all the Jews.

However, he also realized that his endeavor would require some logistical finesse, so in Esther 3:9-13, we read that he asked the king to issue a decree for the destruction of the Jewish people, knowing that a royal decree cannot be canceled or ignored. Not only did he ask for the decree, but he also committed to financing the whole project out of his own wealth. “If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business,…And letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.

While it might not be obvious at first glance, the process by which Haman sought to annihilate all the Jews within his reach and the one used by Hitler and the Nazi regime have many similarities. There is nothing new under the sun. Consider the parallels between Haman and Hitler in these five points:
• One Man’s jealousy led to uncontrolled hatred (3:5)
• Targeted hatred became global hatred (3:6, 13)
• Hatred was apparently caused because of non-conformity (3:8)
• Attempted annihilation of the Jews was structured and organized (3:9-13)
• Funds were spent and financial wealth was provided for the perpetrators (3:9, 4:7)

Fast forward to the 1930s and 1940s, and we see how Hitler developed his well-organized “factory of death” against the Jewish people.

• PURIM in the 1940s: Soon after coming to power, Hitler quickly banned the celebration of Jewish festivals including Purim. In a speech delivered the day after Kristallnacht, in November 1938, Julius Streicher (1885-1946), Hitler’s “Director of the Central Committee for the Defense against Jewish Atrocity and Boycott Propaganda” declared that since the Jews killed 75,000 Persians in the days of Esther, the same fate could befall the German people and so the Jews had to be stopped. Streicher was also the publisher of the virulently antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer. After the war, he was never accused of any actions or orders against the Jews but for thoughts and words published in his newspaper and as a result, he was convicted of “crimes against humanity” and sentenced to death. The Nuremberg military tribunal declared, “Streicher’s incitement of murder and extermination at the time when Jews in the East were being killed under the most horrible conditions clearly constitutes persecution on political and racial grounds in connection with war crimes as defined by the Charter, and constitutes a crime against humanity.”

Again, the “curse-for-a-curse” biblical principle was applied to Streicher, who, on October 16, 1946, was executed on the gallows at the end of the Nuremberg Trials. Streicher’s final words before he was let down into the gallows trap door was “Purim Fest 1946”, as his final claim that the Jews were out to get him. It would have required a certain knowledge of the Jewish lifestyle and festivals for Streicher to even make that parallel.

• PURIM IN 2022: Satan knows that he cannot succeed, but he tries without ceasing. He has indoctrinated much of the world against the Jewish people, creating antisemitism and making it the oldest and most enduring form of hatred against an ethnic group. While he keeps sub-contracting his hatred to different groups of people, the danger remains the same and the Jewish people continue to be the “scapegoats of humanity”. The same approach used in biblical days and during Hitler’s reign is used today by historical revisionists, BDS promoters, Christian Palestinianism proponents and all other enemies of Israel and the Jewish people. Unfortunately, Satan has even been able to infiltrate and indoctrinate the church. If all these groups had their way, Israel would be erased from the map and the Jewish people completely eradicated from existence and from history. But in a very “Purimesque” ending, the Jewish people will continue to flourish as promised by God Himself in Jeremiah 31:35-37 and Israel will prevail because of God.

Jeremiah 31:35-37 35 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: 36 “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” 37 Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.”

Be it during biblical times, during the 1930s and 1940s, or even today, through thick and thin, God has always had Israel in the palm of His hand. Even though He was absent by name in the book of Esther, and it felt more like “the eclipse of God” during the Holocaust, He never reneged on His promises. So, we can celebrate Purim with confidence and with joy because the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Who was behind the scenes in the days of Esther, has our back and He never changes His mind or the recipients of His promises.

Chag Purim Sameach! Happy Purim!

March 10, 2022 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Is Replacement Theology a Form of Antisemitism?

There is a theological approach to the Bible that has become increasingly popular within Christendom in general and evangelical circles in particular, that is known as Supersessionism or Replacement Theology. Simply put, Replacement Theology teaches that Israel and the Jewish people have been replaced by the Church in God’s prophetic plan. Some will say that the Christian Church has now become “Spiritual Israel” and is currently the recipient of God’s blessings originally intended for the Jewish people.

Based on that theological approach, Jewish people can still put their trust in Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah and become part of the Church or “Body of Messiah”, but God doesn’t have a special plan for them and Israel is no longer part of God’s prophetic program today and in the future.

But Is this what the Bible teaches? How literal do we have to be?

Genesis 12:1-3 tells us, “the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

We learn that God made a Covenant with Abraham and the Jewish people (the first of five covenants actually). That covenant is eternal and unconditional. It is eternal because it cannot be broken since only God went through the split animals used to seal the covenant as we read in Genesis 15:9-17 and other passages,

Genesis 15:9-17 “He said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the LORD said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward, they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.’ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.”

1 Samuel 15:29 “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”
Malachi 3:6 For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Hebrews 13:8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Additionally, it is unconditional because God simply said “I will” with no preconditions (Gen 12:2-3, 15:18), except maybe for Abraham to start walking towards the Land of Canaan, which of course he did.

Genesis 12:2-3 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The Abrahamic Covenant contains several provisions. Some were fulfilled in the days of Abraham, some later and some are still unfulfilled!

So when did God change His mind? Or did He?

Well, that’s the point, He never did! Only a very creative approach to God’s Word can substantiate such a view. Any literal approach will not allow for Replacement Theology. The problem is that within 200 years after the closing of the Biblical canon, theologians and early Church fathers had a very allegorical approach to the Bible. A passage could have more than one meaning and it could just be symbolic. They established the foundation for Replacement Theology even though the name for it came much later.

Additionally, to substantiate Replacement Theology, God would have to be a liar and a covenant breaker.

The idea that God was done with ethnic Israel and that Christians were now “spiritual Jews” was very appealing. That, joined with human nature and anti-Semitism, grew into the monster that is Replacement Theology today. Yes, I do believe that Replacement Theology is a form of what I call soft anti-Semitism

Along with Replacement Theology, we also need to define Preterism. The word Preterism comes from the latin praeter which means “past”. Preterists believe that all prophecies of the Bible were fulfilled in A.D. 70, at the time the Temple was destroyed. Thus, they teach that Yeshua’s prophecies in Matthew 24-25, Mark 13 and Luke 21) were fulfilled in A.D. 70.

This view, among other things, also requires that the book of Revelation would have been written by 70 A.D, about 20 years or so before the date accepted by most Bible scholars. This is a view was that was not seriously considered until the mid-1600 when it was popularized by Dutch Protestant Hugo Grotius (1583-1645).

Preterists are proponents of Replacement Theology simply because they see absolutely no prophetic future for Israel; yet they cannot dismiss the promises made by God to Israel in the Tenach. Thus the logical step of “replacing” Israel as recipients of God’s promise. Note that they are always willing to receive God’s blessings promised to ethnic Israel…as to the curses, well…not so much (another inconsistency).

But didn’t Israel’s constant disobedience disqualify her from God’s blessings?

That is exactly what Preterists and Replacement Theology proponents would have you believe. Again, they present their views in total ignorance of God’s immutability.

They are the ones who decided that God must have changed His mind. A passage often quoted is Leviticus 26:40-43, trying to prove that God’s blessings to Israel are contingent on their confession and repentance.

Leviticus 26:40-43 But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes.

But they totally ignore the rest of the passage in Leviticus 26:44-45, where God clearly says that he will never renegue on the Covenant made with their forefather.

Leviticus 26:44-45 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.”

A text without a context is a pretext!

As a matter of fact, if one tries to replace all the occurrences of the word “Israel” in the New Testament with the word “Church” and see if the text remains coherent and contextual, it really doesn’t work. If you indeed try that exercise, you will find out that it requires quite a bit of exegetical gymnastics to arrive at that faulty conclusion.

Replacement Theology or even “Fulfillment Theology” as it is also called, is nothing but a faulty approach to God’s Word based on a human agenda blurred by anti-Semitism. I actually believe that Replacement Theology can both stem from and breeds anti-Semitism

God is far from being finished with Israel and He is not done with the Church either as we can read,

1 Corinthians 10:32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,

If He had really changed His mind about His promise to Israel, what makes you so sure that He won’t change His mind about the promises He made to you…..like let’s say…..salvation by faith alone in the shed blood of Yeshua?

February 23, 2022 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Joseph Goebbels Would be so Proud!

I like to remember Joseph Goebbels as the short-lived Chancellor of Germany in 1945. He inherited the title the day that Hitler committed suicide, on April 30, 1945. He held that title for one day until he poisoned his six children and committed suicide with his wife on May 1, 1945. So, he was Chancellor for a day, but the real damage that he inflicted on European Jews was in the years leading up to that day.

Joseph Goebbels was Hitler’s Reich Minister of public enlightenment and propaganda from 1933 to 1945. He had belonged to the Nazi party since 1924. As Minister of propaganda, Goebbels was responsible for the brainwashing of German citizens through the dissemination of antisemitic literature, painting the Jewish people as subhuman and vermin needing destruction. His role for the Third Reich was to convince the German people that the Jews had to be eradicated. He was rather successful. He was also an accomplished orator who practiced his speeches ahead of time with precision and attention to body language. He wanted to convey authority. Not long after his 1933 official appointment, he organized a Nazi book burning. Books considered subversive or promoting any ideology contrary to Nazism were destroyed. It was “Cancel Culture” before its time.

When German diplomat Ernst Vom Rath was assassinated in Paris in November 1938, Goebbels orchestrated the production and distribution of antisemitic materials to be released by the press. The German people had been indoctrinated for a few years already against the Jews and Goebbels gave an inflammatory speech on November 8, 1938, at a meeting of the Nazi Party, and incited the people, something he was very good at. It didn’t take long for the situation to grow into a full-blown pogrom and boycott of Jewish businesses. It became known as Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) and it is recognized by historians as the starting date for the Holocaust. According to the dictionary, propaganda is “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” The German people would not have bought the Nazi agenda if it was not for Goebbels’ well-oiled propaganda machine.

Goebbels knew that in order to indoctrinate a large number of people into believing in the validity of a cause he had to work tirelessly at spreading lies and rumors. He did it through speeches, rallies, book burnings and literature distribution. He also helped to write the now-famous Reichtag’s speech of 1939 when Hitler announced that if a war would take place, all Jews would be annihilated. Eventually, the propaganda ministry took over the radio industry and the film industry, leaving the German people very little chance of hearing and viewing anything other than Nazi propaganda. Goebbels didn’t come in one day and decide to take over communication and change it all to antisemitic propaganda. He moved slowly and strategically, and so are the anti-Semites of today.

In the last few weeks, there has been a seemingly well-orchestrated distribution of antisemitic flyers in the United States in North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, California and Texas. Some of these awful flyers were just found in neighborhoods of Colleyville, Texas, where a synagogue was attacked, and a rabbi and congregants were taken hostage a month prior. What are we to make of these flyers?

Some people are trying to brush off the incidents as stupidity while others are simply picking up the flyers and throwing them away, not giving them any attention. In some cases, this would be the appropriate response; but considering the increased hatred for Jewish people recently demonstrated all over the world, these flyers cannot be ignored. They are definitely a symptom of something much more sinister. I believe that they are part of a greater propaganda campaign to demonize the Jews. Even if many people shared their outrage at the flyers, many more will accept their lies as truth and further denigrate the Jewish people. Propaganda usually holds just enough – albeit twisted – truth to be believable.

As to the current flyers, several things need to be brought up. They either list all the people involved in handling Covid as Jews, or they show a list of Biden’s administration staff who are Jewish. The goal is to make people believe that the Jews control everything for their own benefit. This takes us back to the 1903 hoax written by Sergei Nilus “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” claiming to be the minutes of a Jewish cabal meeting organized to take over the whole world.

Also on the flyer, is a quote from Revelation 2:9, “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” It seems to indicate that the Jews are from the synagogue of Satan, in other words, demon-possessed. It certainly doesn’t help when early theologians like John Chrysostom used those words with authority to denigrate the Jews. Contextually, the Synagogue of Satan is most likely describing gentiles acting like Jews and corrupting Jewish customs. When kept in the proper context, these accusations cannot be antisemitic as they were not directed towards Jews. It does give a very negative reputation to Christians, as well as, give fuel to the Jewish community for claiming that the New Testament is antisemitic. The quote of Revelation 2:9 gives the creators of the flyer some false cred, painting them as Christians, while they are most certainly not.

Possibly the most ironic statement made on the flyer is, “These flyers were distributed randomly without malicious intent.” Seriously? The flyer claims that the Jews control everything and that they are from the synagogue of Satan, not to mention the link to the virulently antisemitic site www.goyimtv.tv, and there is no malice? What about the fact that they were all distributed in states that have large Jewish demographics?

The flyers are a sign of the times. They tell us that it continues to be very dangerous for Jewish people around the world. They are part of the propaganda to turn the world against the Jews. We do know that the whole world will eventually turn against the Jews from Zechariah 12:3, “On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.” This is not an invitation to do nothing. On the contrary, it is a call to action. The bullies against Israel and the Jews will always exist and will even increase in numbers, but they must be fought, exposed and punished by law. We also know that at the end of the story, Satan is defeated, and Yeshua prevails. Israel will never be forsaken by God no matter how hard bullies and anti-Semites come at her (Jeremiah 31:35-37).

We will not be able to completely eradicate antisemitism until Yeshua Ha Mashiach, the Prince of Peace is back on earth, and we enter the Messianic Kingdom in His presence. Until then, we cannot end it, but we certainly can fight it and show the Jewish people who their friends truly are.

The flyers are to be taken very seriously. They are proof that the Jewish people continue to be the victims of propaganda. Propaganda is very pernicious. It patiently infiltrates all levels of society to brainwash people into believing lies as the truth. It worked for Hitler and Goebbels, and if we remain silent, it will work for the new anti-Semites of the twenty-first century. What’s next, the burning of Jewish books again? Goebbels would be so proud!

February 14, 2022 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

The Rapture and the Second Coming: EXPLAINED!

The topic of the Rapture of the Church has been a controversial one for quite a while now. The pendulum swings from the Rapture being an invention or a myth all the way to being an imminent event to take place before the Great Tribulation, with a lot of adjusted theological positions in between. Additionally, many have come to look at the Rapture and the Second Coming as being one and the same event. The Bible does give us plenty of information regarding the timing of both the Rapture and the Second Coming to know how and when they will take place and who will be included. The differences will be looked at from a pre-tribulation/premillennial viewpoint, which means that the sequence of events is as follows: Rapture, Seven Year Great Tribulation (seven actual years), Second Coming of Messiah, Millennial Kingdom (1,000 actual years) and Eternal Order. Let’s look at the timing, purpose and people for both events.

The Timing of the Rapture: As to the Rapture, the timing is clearly unknown to all people, except that most believers hold to what is known as “imminency”. This means that the Rapture is as certain as it is signless Nobody knows when it will happen, but it will happen and there is nothing that needs to happen prior to the Rapture for the event to take place. The Bible is replete with verses telling us that the Rapture could happen at any moment:

1 Corinthians 1:7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Yeshua the Messiah,

Titus 2:13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Yeshua the Messiah,

Hebrews 9:28 so Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

We must also keep in mind that imminency means certainty as it is inevitable, but uncertainty as to when it will take place. Its imminency should motivate us to share the Good News with the lost and give us hope for the future.

The Timing of the Second Coming: Some people see the Second Coming as a separate event from the Rapture while others will see the Second Coming taking place in two steps: The Rapture and the Return. Regardless of how one looks at the Second Coming (one or two events), it takes place at the end of the Great Tribulation, at the climax of the Campaign of Armageddon, so in that sense, it can be timed with a certain degree of precision. From the signing of the covenant between the Antichrist and Israel, there will be seven years, and then the Second Coming. Over three hundred references about the Second Coming can be found in the Bible (Zechariah 14:1-11; Revelation 19:11-19).

An often ignored, but key component of the timing of the Second Coming, is Israel’s involvement. Yeshua promised at the end of Matthew 23 that Israel will not see Him again until they corporately say Baruch Haba Bashem Adonai, meaning “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”. This is based on the prophecy of Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn,” that will take place at the end of the seven-year Tribulation, after two-thirds of all Jewish people living during the Tribulation will have been decimated

Zechariah 13:8-9 In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. 9 And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

If this was to happen today, two-thirds of all Jewish people alive would be 10 million which is almost double the casualties of the Holocaust. God didn’t give us numbers here but a percentage of 2/3 and 1/3. The percentage will never change, and any casualty is a tragedy, but the final number of Jewish people dying during the Great Tribulation can be drastically reduced if Christians share the Gospel with their Jewish friends and more come to the Lord before the Rapture. Truly, today more than ever, time is of the essence.

Honestly, we should boldly proclaim the Gospel to our Jewish friends if we believe that their acceptance would secure them a place during the Rapture and would prevent them from the carnage of the Tribulation.

The reason why this is very important is that by the time Yeshua returns at the Second Coming the clock starts ticking for Satan’s demise and the time is very short. Outside of a short time when he is released at the end of the Millennium (Revelation 20:7-10), Satan’s fate is sealed and he is bound for eternal torment in the Lake of fire without relief. Satan is never the “boss” of Hell, but rather one of the first ones thrown in; and this is because of Israel’s recognition of her Messiah, missed and rejected at His First Coming. The very Jewish people that are the apple of God’s eye according to Zechariah 2:8b, are the people Satan hates the most, and are also the people that will become the catalyst for Yeshua’s Second Coming. If the Jews don’t call on Him, He simply will not return and Satan’s job is secure. Pushing the Jewish people away from Yeshua has been Satan’s entire career. He’s managed to work with antisemitism – by placing that hatred in the hearts of men – and done much damage to the Jewish people over the centuries.

The Purpose for the Rapture: As to the purpose for the Rapture, that should be clear. Messiah is going to come back at some point and call His children to join Him before the start of the Tribulation. Yeshua wants to save His children from the upcoming wrath

1 Thessalonians 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Yeshua who delivers us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah

Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

Now, this is not a view shared by all believers, but for those who agree with the event, we can say that the Rapture is the first phase of the Second Coming of Messiah. This is the phase when He doesn’t land on earth but calls us up. At such a time, two things will happen, as seen in

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

So, the dead in Messiah (deceased believers from the birth of the Church to that time) will rise first, closely followed by all other believers alive at the time. This can also be called the resurrection of the righteous. The book of Revelation does not make any reference to the Church after chapter 3. This seems to indicate that the Church will not be part of the Tribulation, since all the damage inflicted by the Antichrist from the middle of the Tribulation forward never mentions the Church once.

The Tribulation seems to coincide with the 70th week of Daniel 9:27 starting after the Antichrist signs a peace treaty with Israel. Simply put, as the first step of the Second Coming, the Rapture will take place because God wants to protect His people from His wrath on earth.

Daniel 9:27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

The Purpose for the Second Coming: No one knows how much time will transpire between the Rapture and the Start of the Tribulation, but common sense would dictate that the Antichrist will have to show up quickly and establish his hegemony with authority. At least seven years after the Rapture, at the end of the Great Tribulation, Yeshua will return to earth with those He had raptured. This will take place at the end of the Campaign of Armageddon when He comes to defeat the Antichrist

Revelation19:19-21 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Messiah will come to fulfill His promise of return spoken of in the Old and New Testament (Zechariah 14:4; Matthew 25:31; Acts 1:9-11). Probably the most mentioned in the Tanach, is the fact that Messiah also comes to regather and restore the nation of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6; Jeremiah 30:10; Ezekiel 36:24-38). It will be both a physical and spiritual regathering. He is also coming to judge the living Gentiles (Matthew 25:31-46) and Jews (Ezekiel 20:33-38) who survived the Tribulation.

It is also after the Second Coming that Yeshua will resurrect the Old Testament saints Revelation 20:4-6 and

Daniel 12:1-2 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Yeshua will also bind Satan (Revelation 20:1-3) and reign as the Davidic King in Jerusalem for 1,000 years (Revelation 19:6; Daniel 2:44) so, this coming is literal, physical and future.

The People of the Rapture: For those of us who believe in a literal Rapture, it is actually quite simple to understand. Only those “in Messiah” will be included in the event, requiring them to be in Messiah by the baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13.) That includes all believers who died from the birth of the Church at Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) and all who are still alive, as we learned in Acts 2. The dead in Messiah first and then those alive, not long after. Nobody else will be included at that time.

The People of the Second Coming: Yeshua’s Second Coming will deal with a different group of people. First, He will return with the believers (saints) in their glorified bodies that were raptured seven years prior. Our role in His return will simply be to accompany Him and be observers of the final chapters of history. The Campaign of Armageddon is between Yeshua and His enemies led by the Antichrist. We will be there, but uninvolved. It will be a literal, personal, sudden, visible and glorious return. The Second Coming includes a judgment of all people known as the Great White throne judgment (Revelation 20:12-13). It is for all those who died without trusting Yeshua. Many will be surprised as they thought that religion was the answer, but they truly didn’t have a personal relationship with Yeshua, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23). It is different from the Bema Seat Judgment that believers will undergo after the Rapture (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). That judgment of the believers is connected to service to the Lord and rewards for service, but salvation is never in question.

The Rapture is very different from the Second Coming or is at the very least the first part of the Second Coming. The second part is the physical future return of Yeshua on the Mount of Olives to judge the world. Regardless of where one stands on the Rapture, most people will agree that Yeshua is coming back at some point in the future, and when that occurs, a lot of people will not make the cut. The question is: Will you?

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