Eschatology

November 13, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

The One End Times Prophecy You Can Take to the Bank Today!

The words “end times”, “prophecy” or “prophetic” usually get people’s attention when uttered, and they should! Unfortunately, a lot of false teaching is being done under the heading of “end times prophecies” and it can be very damaging. There is a proper, healthy way to look at the prophetic word, biblically. But let’s start by defining what we mean by prophecy. The word “prophecy” comes from two Greek words meaning, “to speak for or before”. Thus, prophecy means to be speaking or writing about events for someone or before they occurred. All prophecies of the Bible are from God only, and none of them were from the prophet’s origin (2 Peter 1:20.) The prophet of God can either be used for forth-telling (inspired telling) or foretelling (predicting). In both cases, they are directed by God Himself for the benefit of mankind. From that perspective, almost 30% of the Tenach (Old Testament) is prophetic, and almost 22% of the B’rit Hadashah (New Testament) is prophetic.

More and more people are wondering why we should even study prophecy. Intimidated by apparent biblical difficulties, inconsistencies or contradictions, people give up on prophecy and miss out on about one third of the counsel of God. We should study prophecy for several reasons:

• It comforts and calms: God has always been in control of all events of history. We are comforted (John 14:1-4) with the fact that He gave us His unchanging word, especially messianic prophecies that were all literally fulfilled in ONE person, the future unfulfilled prophecies will likewise be literally fulfilled.
• It cleanses and changes: In light of the fact that Yeshua of Nazareth could return at any moment, we should strive to lead lives that are pleasing to Him. (Titus 2:14; 2 Peter 3:13-14). In the effort to lead better lives for Him, we cannot avoid growing closer to God.
• It helps us understand who Messiah is and who God is: By studying messianic prophecies in the Tenach (Old Testament), we discover that through progressive revelation, God has granted us with increasing knowledge about the person, character, timeline and redemptive career of Messiah. Eventually, as the prophecies are studied within the grammatical/historical context, they all point to the same person: Yeshua of Nazareth.

But we must be careful to properly approach the prophetic word. Many approaches to the study of prophecy have been introduced over the ages. It is important to use a consistent approach when studying prophecy, as switching between approaches might satisfy our desire for an interpretation that fits our needs or understanding, but would do a disservice to God’s word. The proper study of prophecy helps us understand the whole Bible and it motivates us to live godly lives.

Towards that goal, we must remember the David L. Cooper’s “Golden Rule of Interpretation”: “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.” The bottom line is this; a text apart from its context is a pretext!

Regardless of all the warnings about taking Scripture out of context to fit the news or one’s opinion (eisegesis), people thrive on speculating on end times events. Newspaper eisegesis is running rampant today. Especially in the era of the Internet and social networks, it is easy for someone to become a self-proclaimed prophecy teacher, throwing a bible verse here and there to impress their online audiences.

Trying to identify the Antichrist or pinpoint the exact date of the Rapture of the believers are two favorite topics for a lot of people. There have been more potential candidates for the office of antichrist over the ages, than we can count or list here. Some say that he will be a Muslim, others say that he will be a Jew or a Gentile. People are divided on that topic, but it preaches well, and it sells books even better. A thorough study of the prophet Daniel and the book of Revelation will equip us to understand that the Antichrist will be a Gentile leader (read “totalitarian dictator”) who will appear on the world scene after the Rapture of the believers, as soon as the Great Tribulation starts (Daniel 9:27.)

As to the Rapture, people have been speculating on the exact date when it will occur, when in fact nobody knows the day or the hour. These, as Ed Hindson and Mark Hitchcock state, are “calculated guesses based upon interpretive assumptions” at best. We can learn from a study of God’s word that the Rapture will happen, and that it will be before the Tribulation, although not everybody agrees on the timing, but nobody should set a firm date. I often imagine Yeshua, currently at the right hand of God, looking down on us and each time someone sets a new date, He shrugs and says: “They set a new date for the Rapture, I got to postpone again!” I say this tongue-in-cheek of course, but there is some truth in that statement.

Now, I promised you at least one end times bible prophecy that you can take to the bank, I will actually give you two. This doesn’t mean that the rest of the prophetic word cannot be trusted or is with error. It simply means that we should tread the prophetic landscape carefully, lest we have to back pedal on some unfounded dogmatic statement we made. As to the currents events that we can know for sure are part of the prophetic future, they are the apostasy of the Church and the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.

The apostasy of the Church is promised in the Bible. Paul said that the Antichrist will not be revealed to the world until “the apostasy comes first” (2 Thessalonians 2:3.) Additionally, Yeshua prophesied that “many will fall away” and “most people’s love will grow cold” (Matthew 24:10, 12.) It is not difficult to see that much of the Church today is increasingly shifting towards that toxic behavior. Revelation 2 and 3 also give us some examples of the great falling away. Are we in the midst of the great apostasy? Will it get worse before it gets better? Are we not there yet? I think that we have started as a Church to see the falling away but it will get worse, and I am not even talking about the Great Tribulation, but what must take place before it.

Now, let’s look at the one world event that we are living through today that is a guarantee that we are in the last days. I am speaking of the regathering of the Jewish people to the land of Eretz Yisrael. God promised to restore the land of Israel and He did when He allowed for the birth of the modern state of Israel on May 14, 1948. Beyond the restoration of the land, He also promised in Ezekiel that the Jewish people would return to it in the end times. Ezekiel 36:24 is clear, “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.” This speaks of the physical restoration of Israel and it has literally been happening in front of our very eyes for the last few decades. Additionally, In Ezekiel 37, the prophet is given a vision known as “the vision of the valley of dry bones”, in which he is told that Jewish people will return to Israel. This is about Israel’s national restoration, which is controlled by the God of Israel.

Jews have been coming to Israel under “the Law of Return” since 1948, but even more so in the last few decades. God is directing His chosen people back to His land for the final days before the return of the Mashiach. France has lost 50,000 Jews in the last 30 years, most of them in the last 15, due to the increased antisemitism that we have been witnessing lately. Is God behind this surge in antisemitism? He is not, but He can easily allow it as part of His divine plan. After all, He allowed for Satan to mess with Job at a level that most of us cannot even comprehend, but God did not hurt Job Himself. Can God allow for antisemitism to increase so that His chosen people will return home to Israel? Can God allow us to get into difficult and dangerous situations to draw us closer to Him, the answer is yes to both.

But, the national physical restoration is only part of this world event, because we will also see the spiritual rebirth of Israel as we read in Ezekiel 36:25-27, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

Frankly, the national regathering of Israel is nothing short of a miracle. We, the Jews should not exist, if it was not for God’s grace and the fact that He made promises to Israel that He ratified in His covenants. The fact that Jewish people are moving to Israel in droves from the four corners of the world should encourage us about God’s promises. It is the one current end times prophecy that we can claim is happening in front of our very eyes. What it does, is that it confirms that the word of God is true, tested and guaranteed.

We do not need to know the exact identity of the Antichrist (if you do know his identity, it actually means that you were left behind and are suffering through the Great Tribulation, and you don’t really want that to happen to you!) We also do not need to know the exact date for the Rapture, we just need to know that it will happen for sure (it is actually the next prophetic event on God’s timetable and could happen anytime now.) What we need to know, is that as we see the Jewish people repopulating their ancestral biblical land, we are living in the end times for sure and this should encourage us and motivate us to share the Gospel with people.

October 9, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Choose Your Messiah But Choose Wisely…Time is Running Out!

It can be argued that the search for the Mashiach (Messiah) is as old as the Jewish people are and his identity as debated as Jewish people are opinionated. It is not debated though, that the Hebrew word mashiach carries the meaning of “anointed.” But it doesn’t exclusively describe the Mashiach with a capital M. The Tenach speaks of several people as “mashiach” as they were anointed by G-d for a specific purpose, and it doesn’t even stop with people. King David, while he was no Mashiach–after all, he was a murderer and an adulterer–was also called “a man after my own heart” by G-d Himself. But King David was a mashiach, in the sense of being anointed by G-d for a purpose. Samuel was led by G-d to select David over all of Jesse’s sons and anointed him for kingship in 1 Samuel 16:13. It carries the meaning of being “set-apart” and “empowered” for service. Jehu was anointed for kingship in 2 kings 9:6 , a stone was anointed with oil by Jacob in Genesis 28:18 and even Aaron’s priestly garments were anointed for his son’s service in Exodus 29:29. So it is clear that the word “anointed” has the same meaning, but can be used for people, things and places.

Moving forward, we need to consider the office and identity of the Mashiach with a capital M only. As I have already mentioned, the search for the Mashiach has been going for centuries. The hope that this person is supposed to bring to the world is something that has been desired by many generations and that has even brought some people to the forefront, claiming that they were the Mashiach. I certainly do not want to go over all the false messiahs that history brought us, but I would like to consider three important figures in Judaism. We can learn more about the Mashiach by looking at these three people who, one way or another, ended up–if even for a short while–with the title of Mashiach.

During the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-136 CE), famous rabbi Akiva Ben Yosef (Rabbi Akiva), who possibly was a contemporary of rabbi Gamaliel (Saul of Tarsus’ teacher) got involved in the revolt. It is difficult to say with certainty how involved he was, but within Judaism, it is agreed that rabbi Akiva declared that Bar Kochba was the promised Messiah of Israel. It was eventually proven that he had placed his messianic expectations on the wrong candidate. Bar Kochba was no Mashiach! Rabbi Akiva was a Tanna, one of the 120 known sages (Tannaim) whose thoughts are recorded in the Talmud. He was also a great student and teacher of Scripture and is credited for having greatly helped to systematize Judaism. The fact that he was wrong about Bar Kochba never warranted his dismissal as a bona fide rabbi or stripped him of his Jewishness. To this day, he is still considered as one of the most influential figures in Jewish history. This begs the question, “If rabbi Akiva was wrong about false messiah Bar Kochba, and is still respected as a rabbi AND as a Jew, why can’t a Jew who believes in Yeshua (Jesus) retain his/her Jewish identity and simply be declared wrong about their messianic choice?” Is there a double standard being applied here?

Then there was Sabattai Zvi (1626-1676), a Sephardic rabbi from Smyrna (modern day Turkey.) Sabattai Zvi was a follower of Kabballah (Jewish mysticism) and declared that he was the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. In the Zohar which is one of the main books used by kabbalistic Jews, the year 1648 was supposed to usher in the messianic age, and this might have encouraged Zvi to come forward as the Messiah. Jews have always ached for the coming of the Messiah and conditions during Sabattai Zvi’s life were very bad, especially with the Khmelnitsky pogroms responsible for the death of about 100,000 Jews in Eastern Europe. It would have been a great time for Messiah to arrive and settle things. But isn’t it always a great time for Messiah to come and settle His kingdom? Eventually, Zvi was imprisoned by the Grand Vizier and given the choice to either be killed or convert to Islam. To save his life, Sabattai Zvi converted to Islam, taking with him a section of his devout followers. Even though he has been rejected by Judaism as a false messiah, he continues to have followers in Turkey who have somewhat syncretized parts of Islam and Judaism and have become known as the Sabbateans. Sabbatai Zvi was no Mashiach!

What about the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menahem Schneerson? Rabbi Schneerson (1902-1994) was the leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement for four decades. Although he never claimed to be the Messiah, there are different views within the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish sect, regarding his right to the title. Some still believe that he was the Messiah, based on a Jewish belief that in every generation there is one person who is worthy of that title, while others don’t believe that he had the right to any messianic claims. Rebbe Schneerson contributed to modern Judaism in many ways. He was recognized as a key Jewish figure by many leaders in America and abroad. He was a very pious Jew, but the Rebbe was no Mashiach!

Although not all Jews believe in a messianic age or even the coming of a Mashiach, for those of us who believe in the coming of a messianic era with a ruling Mashiach, there is one more option. Once we understand that Mashiach will bring peace on earth and redeem His people, it helps us to search for that person in the Tenach (old Testament.) First of all, we must recognize the importance and need for a Mashiach. Pious Jews would tend to agree with Maimonides “13 principles of faith”, foundational to Judaism, of which #12 states unequivocally,” I believe with perfect faith in the coming of Mashiach. Though he tarry, nonetheless, I will await him everyday, that he will come.”

In Daniel 7:13-14, we learn about one like “a Son of Man”, “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed. Rabbi Rashi believed that the passage spoke of King Mashiach, so did Ramban (Rabbi Nachmanides.)

In Zechariah 9:9-10, we learn about the humility of the coming Mashiach, who will ride on a donkey and bring peace to the whole world, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. Again, most prominent rabbi, Rashi agreed with the humble demeanor of the Mashiach, as he referred to Him as a poor man who will ride on the same donkey used by Abraham for the binding of Isaac. That view was also shared by rabbi Saadia Gaon. Additionally, Rashi, in his commentary on Micah 5:2, claims that Mashiach will originate from Bethlehem, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” So do Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer and the Jerusalem Talmud.

But there is so much more that we can learn about the Mashiach of Yisrael, redeemer of mankind. The predictions about the Mashiach are also known as messianic prophecies and start as early as the 3rd chapter of Bereshit (Genesis.) Some of the most compelling ones are as follows:
• Genesis 49:10 – Mashiach will be from the seed of Judah and will come before 70 CE.
• Deuteronomy 18:15-19 – Mashiach will be a prophet like Moses.
• Isaiah 52:13-53-12 – Mashiach will be a suffering servant.
• Jeremiah 23:5-6 – Mashiach will be a king.
• Micah 5:2 – Mashiach will be born in Bethlehem.
• Zechariah 9:9-10 – Mashiach will arrive riding on a donkey.
• Psalm 16:1-11 – Mashiach must die for His people.
• Psalm 22:1-31 – Mashiach will both suffer and be exalted.
• Psalm 110:1-7 – Mashiach will be a priest after the order of Melchizedek
• Daniel 9:1-27 – Mashiach will follow a precise timetable for his First and Second Coming.

This is a lot to process and yet these are just a handful of the predictions about the Mashiach. There are so many more to be listed. We must also remember that a popular view according to Judaism is that there can be two Mashiach figures over the ages. Mashiach ben Yosef, who will come to suffer and die for his people and Mashiach ben David who will come to conquer the world and rule in peace from Jerusalem. This view has a lot of merit and fits very well with my Mashiach of choice, Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus.) While those within my people who await the coming of the Mashiach are comfortable with the dual ben Yosef/ben David view, they are not seeing Yeshua as a fulfillment. But it really isn’t that complicated to see that Yeshua was Mashiach ben Yosef when He first came, over 2000 years ago to die for Israel and the whole world as the Lamb of G-d and the ultimate atonement for all of our sins. The story didn’t end there, because on the third day, He rose from the dead and shortly after he ascended to heaven to be at the right hand of G-d, awaiting to return. Eventually, there will be a second coming, or return of Mashiach, this time as “Mashiach ben David” to defeat Ha Satan His archenemy and to establish His messianic kingdom on earth as the Davidic King whose reign is forever (2 Sam. 7:12-16.)

Most of mankind would agree with the concept of a redeeming and ruling Mashiach. These are big shoes to fill, and many have tried unsuccessfully. There is only one true Mashiach and He is coming back soon, so choose wisely as if your eternal destiny depended on it, because guess what…it does, and the clock is ticking!

September 17, 2020 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

There is Peace, and then there is PEACE!

Don’t quote me wrong, I have no intention of minimizing the event that took place at the White House on September 15, 2020. It was truly historic! Considering the geopolitical crisis that has punctuated the Middle East since Israel’s birth as a modern nation on May 14, 1948, any Israeli/Arab peace treaty is a monumental achievement. There had only been two in 72 years. Egypt was the first in 1978 at Camp David under Jimmy Carter and between Anwar El Sadat and Menahem Begin. It was followed by Jordan in 1994, at the White House under Bill Clinton and between King Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin. Then came the 2020 negotiations in the Middle East under Donald Trump and his team, and the impossible took place; the United Arab Emirates declared that they would normalize relations with Israel and soon after them, Bahrain followed suit.

While nobody knows the details of what is to happen next, President Trump hinted at the fact that 5-6 other Arab nations are lined up to normalize relations with Israel. This is truly changing the entire dynamics of the Middle East. The Abraham Accords (Abraham being the father of both Jewish and Arab nations), as they are being called, are truly history being written in front of our very eyes. The positive aspect of such an event is most definitely welcome in 2020, a year that until now, could have been renamed “The year of all tragedies.”

In an exclusive interview with Vice President Mike Pence, Joel Rosenberg confirmed that the current administration desires to go the extra mile to strengthen US/Israel relations after they had been strained by the previous administration. Pence called Israel,“our most cherished ally” and said that “the president had decided from the very beginning of his administration that he was going to do everything he could to strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance and try to advance peace.” What a departure from the shaky relations that the US had under Barack Obama! Incidentally, Pence also mentioned that it was Democrat President Harry Truman who recognized Israel literally moments after Ben Gurion had declared independence in Tel Aviv.

The Peace Treaties that were signed are very special because they open the door to more countries in the region, and that is a good thing. Additionally, they put Iran and the Palestinian Authority on notice. When more countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Sudan and others decide to normalize relations with Israel, the Middle East as we have known it for the last several decades will be a thing of the past. Iran, already weakened by major US sanctions, is seeing its hegemony of the region erode by the day. As to the Palestinians, their response to the peace deals was still typical of their ideology and agenda; they sent missiles onto Israel from Gaza. The consensus from the Palestinians is that “there will be no peace until Palestine is free.” For now, the Palestinian Authority has decided to dig its heels in the sand, but with a weakened Iran increasingly unable to finance Hamas and Hezbollah, the tide might turn soon. The Palestinian narrative might become irrelevant. Wow, I never thought I would say that in my lifetime! We are truly living as critical history is being written. It is about peace. But there is peace and there is PEACE!

Again, I do not wish to brush aside the momentous event that took place days ago, but I also want to bring some biblical perspective if I may. From a human perspective, nobody can argue that peace is good. The Bible tells us to get along with our fellow men whenever and however possible in Romans 12:18, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” We are also told not to seek revenge or hold a grudge in Leviticus 19:18, “ You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” So, there is definitely a biblical precedent for seeking peace with our neighbors. What about Israel? Does the Bible give us clues as to peace in the Middle East Region and the safety of Israel? I believe it does.

The first thing we must understand is that, from our limited human perspective, peace is simply the absence of war. This doesn’t make peace not worth seeking, but that is not the whole story. The peace we should be seeking is the one that comes from the Prince of Peace, Messiah Yeshua as He is called by that name in Isaiah 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Yeshua the Prince of Peace will return in the future to establish His messianic kingdom on earth as He promised. Isaiah goes further in describing what life will be in the messianic kingdom, under the just rule of Messiah, the Prince of Peace, in Isaiah 11:6-10 we read, “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also, the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.

We are told that the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord and that the wild will fellowship with the tame as never seen before. The prophet Ezekiel (Chapters 40-48) also tells us with great details about that future time in history when a beautiful Jewish Temple will be rebuilt in a New Jerusalem. That is what real PEACE will be all about, and anything but that is a thin veneer of “pretend peace” painted over a lost world in need of a Savior. The Bible also tells us that a false peace will exist, and while I recognize the incredible events of the last few days, biblically speaking, I still see the region undergoing turmoil. The door has been open for more peace in the Middle East and for Israel to start feeling more secure. Israel will have to feel more secure in order to let her guard down and agree to sign a seven-year treaty with a charismatic new world leader that the Bible knows as the Antichrist.

At first, the world will become mesmerized by this new figure. He is known by many names like “the little horn” (Daniel 7:8), “the prince who is to come” (Daniel 8:23), “the one who makes desolate” (Daniel 9:27) and “the man of destruction” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) to name just a few. He will rise to power very quickly (Revelation 17:13.) Possibly his biggest achievement in the eyes of men will be the covenant he will sign with Israel to bring complete peace to the region. This will allow the resumption of Jewish sovereignty on the Jerusalem Temple Mount (Daniel 9:27.) Needless to say, that this area of Israel is currently sitting on a powder keg with a very short fuse, so when he brings “false” peace, it will be received by many as real peace. That is not the end of the story, but soon after–three and a half years to be exact–this will be the end of peace on earth, as he will claim to be god and will require to be worshipped (Revelation 13:4-8.)

The antichrist will also gather all the nations against Jerusalem as seen in Zechariah 14:1-3, “Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.” and also in Revelation 16:16, “And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.” and yet, this is still not the end of the story.

The false peace that the antichrist will bring to the world will come to an end, but so will the antichrist’s career of lies, abuse and rebellion against God. Finally, he will fight against Messiah when He returns to earth and he will be completely defeated (Revelation 19:19-20.) Additionally, he will be thrown in the Lake of fire and brimstone forever (Daniel 7:11; Revelation 19:20.)

So, truly, there is peace and there is PEACE! What we are seeing right now in the Middle East should be exciting from a human perspective, but even more so from a prophetic perspective since it opens the door for the rest of God’s program to unravel and for the return of the Messiah to rule the earth.

I recommend that we all keep one eye in the Word of God and one eye in the sky because Yeshua is coming soon to rapture the believers before the antichrist steps onto the world stage. Will you be coming with us or will you be left behind? Don’t wait too long to decide.

In the meantime, L’Shanah Tovah for a prosperous New Year!

September 11, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

The Danger of Antisemitism by Omission!

Too often, people have a propensity to ignore issues if they feel that they are not directly concerned or if the issues are far enough from them geographically or otherwise. People might think, ” the riots and protests are not my neighborhood, so I am ok!” or ” the fires are not putting my house in danger, they are too far, we are safe.” Unfortunately, apathy can be part of human nature to the point where we ignore the obvious if the obvious doesn’t affect us at a critical level. At least critical to us.

So, many people will reason with themselves and think, “I am NOT antisemitic, but I am also NOT Jewish!” People will quickly claim that they don’t hate the Jews, that they don’t wish them any harm at all. They will also agree that antisemitism is wrong, and yet they will not hesitate to look the other way when acts of antisemitism are committed. Hurting Jewish people directly, verbally, or physically is antisemitism by commission while ignoring their troubles is antisemitism by omission. They are both wrong!

In the early 1940s, Maurice Weinzveig, my Russian maternal grandfather was hiding in the cellar of our Paris residence. He knew that Paris had become very dangerous for a Jew without naturalization papers. He had to keep quiet and hidden for a while to protect his life and that of his wife and daughter (my mother.) Unbeknownst to Maurice, a gentile neighbor who worked for the French police and who was secretly in love with my grandmother, wanted to get rid of her husband, “the Jew.” He called the Gestapo and let them know that there was a Jew hiding in his building. They came, they took him, they sent him to Auschwitz, and he perished in the smokestacks of the Nazi factory of death.

When the Gestapo showed up at our residence, the guilty neighbor stayed home behind closed doors. Incidentally, he lived long enough so that I would meet him as a young kid. Nobody could prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he had called the Gestapo, but the whole building knew that it was him, so he never paid for his crimes. He even had me sit on his lap a few times as a little boy. I get chills down my spine when I recall those moments. He was guilty of antisemitism by commission.

But what about the numerous neighbors in the same building who witnessed all the raucous movement up and down their building? They chose to remain silent, discreetly observing behind the privacy of their window blinders, as if they couldn’t do one thing to prevent the two Gestapo officers from apprehending my grandfather. Some feared for their lives and that of their own families; others felt powerless against the Nazi regime. How many were thinking, “I am not Jewish; this is none of my business?” Hard to say. The truth is that they became apathetic bystanders, and a bystander who does nothing only facilitates the crimes of the perpetrator. See something and say or do nothing… and that my friend, is antisemitism by omission.

So, how does that concept translate to 2020 and the current multifaceted crisis that we are all in? In other words, what does this have to do with the virus, the riots, the economy, or any other crises we are dealing with as a society? Once again, and very sadly, the thread is Israel and the Jews:

Covid-19: The Jewish people have been accused of creating, causing and even spreading the virus to the world for two reasons: To “take over the world’ and to “monetize” the vaccine/cure that they have developed. This hardly explains how Israel is currently suffering from a huge spike of new cases of Covid-19. One response from antisemites has been to encourage people to infect Jewish people by coughing on them. As early as last Spring, coining the new word “Holocough” made of the two words “Holocaust” and “cough,” antisemites flooded the social networks with the idea. People might say: “But I am not Jewish, so how does that concern me?”

The Protests/Riots: The tragic death of George Floyd precipitated America into regional protests that quickly became uncontrollable riots like those seen in Portland, Oregon for the last three months. Some people found it interesting to spread the rumor that American police officers were being trained by IDF officers in using methods that include the way George Floyd was chocked to death. The group known as US Campaign for Palestinian Rights came up with that unfounded accusation. Additionally, the DOJ is investigating the possibility of ties between the BLM movement and terrorist organizations. Terminology like “intifada” or “from Minneapolis to Palestine, Racism is a crime” are showing up on street signs, graffiti and social networks. Once again, the Jews and Israel are being blamed for the racial unrest, either directly or indirectly. People might say: “Black lives matter, and I am not Jewish, so how does the other stuff concern me?”

QAnon: The strange attraction that people have for the mysterious group known as QAnon is also leading people to blame the Jews. QAnon is some sort of conspiracy theory from an alt-right ideology. It is supposed to ANONymously expose the international Jewish cabal to destroy Donald Trump and take over the world. The fact that it is based on a hoax from 1904–The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion- that has been debunked over and over, doesn’t seem to stop QAnon adherents. They claim that the Rothschilds are behind the whole agenda of controlling the USA behind the scenes. Sadly, they haven’t been denounced more forcefully by the current administration. People might say: “QAnon is just a conspiracy theory and I am not Jewish, so how does that concern me?”

The easiest scapegoat for humanity has been the Jews for the last 2,000 years. Irrational behavior against the chosen people of God has gone uninterrupted for a very long time. The enemy of God and the Jewish people, Satan himself, is turning the irrational into the rational, acceptable and even the expected. But we do not have to accept the irrational blindly. Rabbi, philosopher and activist Abraham Joshua Heschel who marched with Martin Luther King during the Civil Rights Movement said: “Few are guilty, but all are responsible.” I would like to add to that that we can become guilty because of apathy. Jews and Blacks marching together against racism…Those days are gone!

Antisemitism by omission is still antisemitism. It might be watered down because people do not carry the guilt of being the main players in the longest hatred, but it is still dangerous, nonetheless. We cannot afford to remain silent about any form of injustice, period! For some reason, people will fight for various causes when they can be convinced that their voices and actions count for something. When people don’t feel concerned or in danger for their safety or even just for their comfort, they become apathetic. They feel like it is not their fight. But sitting on the fence of Jew-hatred is not an option. Indifference becomes our guilt.

Everything seems to indicate that the biblical predictions about the world going against Israel and the Jews are coming to fruition in our lifetime and rapidly (Zechariah 12:1-8; Daniel 9:27; Revelation 12.) Soon, we will all answer to a higher authority, and the God of Israel who calls the Jewish people the “Apple of my Eye” will not say to us, “don’t worry, you were not Jewish, so, this didn’t concern you!” While salvation cannot be lost, heavenly rewards can. We have a choice!

“If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity.” Albert Einstein

September 4, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Let’s Set the Record Straight About Zionism – Part II

In Part 1 of this two-part series, we defined Zionism and looked at its early development all the way up to the First World War. Key events occurred in the first two decades of the twentieth century that would further define and help establish Zionism as we know it today. They are worth mentioning. For this, we need to go back to the summer of 1914.

June 28, 1914 saw the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. As a result, WWI was declared, and the face of Europe changed forever. At the beginning of WWI, eighty percent of the ten million Jews of Europe lived in the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. The Jewish communities of Europe had grown accustomed to hardship and had endured many forms of antisemitism. Unfortunately, the advent of WWI worsened their condition as their lives became once again punctuated by lootings, pogroms, and expulsions.

As the war progressed, allied nations ratified various treaties and worked on agreements to share the spoils. It was soon agreed that the Ottoman Empire would have to be divided. One treaty superseded the previous; and by the end of the war, the British had conquered the area known as “Palestine” since the first century. In the midst of all negotiations, Britain officially endorsed the Zionist program; and almost overnight, Zionism started to take root in the Holy Land. This was a major step in the right direction for the Jewish people, yet the surprise of a British endorsement would eventually be overtaken by the shock of a British about-face.

The British government being favorable to a Jewish homeland started to meet with Zionist leaders towards the end of the WWI. One important figure of that time who would also become Israel’s first President, was Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952). Diplomacy continued to play a part in the furtherance of the Zionist agenda, and Weizmann was good at it.

In 1906, Weizmann had just helped the British by sharing his formula to better produce acetone (related to the production of TNT), an invention that helped greatly with the war effort. Consequently, he became pretty close to Lord David Lloyd George, who would later become prime minister of England. But it was not until Weizmann had a meeting with Lord Arthur James Balfour that things began to crystallize. Balfour, who had tried to convince Weizmann that the Uganda proposal as the new Jewish homeland was a good deal, somehow ended up convinced by Weizmann that only the land of “Palestine” would be acceptable. From that point on, Balfour became a Zionist. Weizmann met Balfour again when Lloyd George was prime minister, and Balfour told him: “You know, I was thinking of that conversation of ours in 1906 and I believe that when the guns stop firing, you may get your Jerusalem.”

In 1917, after having become a British citizen, Weizmann became the first President of the British Federation and worked feverishly with Lord Balfour to develop what would be known as the “Balfour Declaration.” This milestone for Zionism vindicated the works of Theodor Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, Nahum Sokolow, and other key Zionist leaders. Things appeared to be looking up for the Jewish people and the establishment of a Jewish homeland in “Palestine.” The Declaration stated: His Majesty’s government view[s] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

In 1919, Balfour reiterated Britain’s favor of the establishment of a Jewish homeland in “Palestine”, and included a commitment from France, Italy, and the United State: “The Four Great Powers [Britain, France, Italy and the United States] are committed to Zionism. And Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long traditions, in present needs, and future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land. In my opinion that is right.”

Just as historian Abba Eban said: “The Balfour Declaration is the decisive victory of the Jewish people in modern history.” In 1922, following the historic concept found in the Balfour Declaration, the League of Nations (an organization charged with using diplomacy to maintain peace, and a precursor of the United Nations) had a say. It approved the British Mandate for “Palestine”, giving Britain jurisdiction over the Holy Land and thereby authority to help with the securing of a Jewish Homeland.

A disagreement arose as a direct result of two conflicting promises being extended during World War I (WWI) by the British government regarding the Holy Land. One promise was made to the Arabs as a reward for help against the Ottoman Empire, and a conflicting one to the Jewish people through the Balfour Declaration. These two conflicting promises would create a serious hindrance to the advancement of Zionism. By the delay in enacting a Jewish homeland, the annihilation of millions of Jewish people during the Holocaust of WWII was facilitated.
While Zionist pioneers continued to settle in “Palestine”, the world was again about to enter into conflict. Once again, the Jewish people would become the scapegoats of humanity, this time in proportions that had never been reached before.

Additionally, the large influx of Jewish people fleeing a pre-WWII Europe for “Palestine” led to the Arab revolt of 1936-39. This nationalistic uprising for independence from the British wasn’t successful for the Arabs, but it led the British forces to pay attention to some of the Jewish groups present in the area such as the pioneer group known as the Haganah which later became the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
After witnessing the failed revolt and very concerned, Britain responded by appointing a Royal Commission, known as the Peel Commission, which recommended that “Palestine” be partitioned into Arab and Jewish lands. The Peel Commission led to the publishing of the “1939 White Paper” by Britain that would change the promises made by Lord Balfour and seriously limit Jewish immigration into “Palestine” at a time when Jewish people were being led in droves to the gas chambers. Closing the door to a safe place for Jews to settle was poor timing, to say the least!

“The war against the Jews” as author Lucy Dawidowicz called WWII, eventually ended in 1945 with the capitulation of Germany. Three years later in 1948, another milestone of prophetic proportions was about to take place. Israel was about to be reborn as a modern nation. Was it the result of the Holocaust or the persistent toiling of the early Zionist fathers? Or both? It is impossible to determine clearly, but it had to happen for future unfulfilled Bible prophecies to eventually take place. The fact remains that much of the groundwork laid out by visionaries such as Herzl, Weizmann, Ha’am, and Ben Yehuda was about to pay off, yet not without a further sacrifice that is still being felt today in the twenty-first century.

Many followers of Yeshua look at the Bible and clearly see that God is NOT done with Israel. They see a glorious future for the people and the Land. They understand that the promises of Genesis 12:3 still stand, and they want to be in the center of God’s will by blessing the people that He calls “the apple of [His] eye” (Zechariah 2:8). Believers in Yeshua who recognize Israel’s biblical and historical right to the Land and the Jewish people’s right to return to the Land are often called Christian Zionists. God Himself declared this plan in His Word; thus, Christian Zionism is a noble cause and is part of what every Bible-believing Christian should promote.

It is a fact that there is a lot of Scriptural evidence validating the claims of Zionism, not to mention the fact that God Himself said that only HE owned the Land in Leviticus 25:23: “The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.”

Zionism continues to weave like an uninterrupted thread through the tapestry of Jewish history. If Zionism has existed for a long time, we also cannot deny that God has used people like Herzl, Ha’am, Ben Yehuda, Weizmann, Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, and many others to further promote the right of the Jewish people to their ancestral Land of Israel. What God established, no man can destroy (Jeremiah 31:35-37). In the words of Abba Eban, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, a diplomat and politician: “Zionism is nothing more – but also nothing less – than the Jewish people’s sense of origin and destination in the land linked eternally with its name.”

By the way, let me finish with this thought, as Israel is often accused of Ethnic Cleansing. Ethnic cleansing or genocide is intentional organized mass murder to eradicate a people group. The Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust qualify as ethnic cleansings. In 1947 there were about 1.2 MM Arabs in British Mandate Palestine. Today, there are about 6 MM Arabs in the whole land, including 1.8 MM in Israel alone. There are more Arabs in Israel today than before 1947. This is the opposite of ethnic cleansing. On the other hand, there are still less Jewish people in 2019 than there were prior to the Holocaust. It does pay to check facts!

The foundation for Zionism was established by the very first Zionist – God Himself – in the book of Genesis. Incidentally, being a Zionist doesn’t require one to be anti-Palestinian, but sadly, and for some irrational reason, being pro-Palestinian seems to require being anti-Zionist and thus antisemitic!

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