Holocaust Archives - The New Antisemitism

January 25, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 4 Comments

The Silenced Six Million Are Crying Out!

When someone cannot defend themselves, they count on others to come to the rescue, and when it comes to the Holocaust, the others are you and me. As it turns out, the silenced six million are counting on us never to be forgotten. International Holocaust Remembrance Day It is different from Yom HaShoah (Day of the Catastrophe), which falls annually, a week after Passover in Israel (started in 1953). Since 2005, each year, on January 27, the international community remembers the Holocaust in various ways, from synagogue services to vigils to educational events that include Holocaust survivors or scholars. Yet, survivors are dwindling to a few thousand globally. Considering that anybody born at the onset of the war in 1939 would be eighty-four years old today, most survivors of the Holocaust are in their nineties. Soon, they will all be in our memories. Or will they?

Some clueless teenagers were recently spotted on TikTok pretending to be in the Holocaust. These teenagers put makeup on their faces to look emaciated and write pretend captions such as”I died in the Holocaust” and receive comments such as “I myself have been gassed over 6,000,000 times!!!” These young people are belittling the worst carnage against the Jewish people in the history of mankind; they think it is funny and their followers do too. That is not even considering all the other social networks getting away with posts about the Holocaust, going from ridiculing it to denying it.

The danger is threefold. First, we have a disappearing group of first-hand witnesses of the horrors of the Holocaust. In another five years, they might all be gone since the survivors are almost all in their nineties. Second, an uneducated and offensive younger generation is mocking the Holocaust and its victims online or in person. Finally, we have a growing number of people who minimize, alter or deny the catastrophe. As the survivors disappear and the new generation mocks the tragedy, it will only encourage those who choose to deny the Holocaust ever happened, and this breaks my heart.

As the international community commemorates the Holocaust on January 27, I am glad to see that some efforts are still being made, never to forget. Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem is inaugurating its book of names at an exhibit at the UN headquarters in NY. The Book of Names contains 4,800,000 of the 6,00o,000 names of the Holocaust victims. One of them is my grandfather Maurice Weinzveig. What else can we do?

Listen to a Holocaust survivor: This is a very effective way to learn about the event from a first-hand witness. The challenge is that in 2023, their number is exponentially reducing by virtue of their age. If you know one or are invited to hear one, I think you should take advantage of the opportunity. Additionally, the staff at Shadows of Shoah brings many testimonies from survivors on video and, by that medium, renders their unique stories eternal. The Steven Spielberg Shoah Foundation also has over 50,000 video testimonies of survivors, including my dad Georges Melnick.

Visit a Death Camp: In November of 2010, I traveled to Krakow, Poland, to visit the remains of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where my maternal Grandfather Maurice Weinzveig was taken by the Gestapo from Paris in the Summer of 1942. I am set to visit again in the summer of 2023. The Death Camps are some eerie monuments left over from one of the darkest periods of mankind’s history. If possible, everybody, and most definitely every Christian, should walk through one of them once in their lifetime.

Visit a Holocaust Memorial Museum: The most extensive and most elaborate of them–Yad Vashem–is located in Jerusalem. I make a point of taking the people there each time I lead a tour to Israel. It is a must! It is a difficult visit punctuated by visual and audio markers that will undoubtedly leave an impression on you for many years. There are other Holocaust Memorials, several in the United States. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. and the Simon Wiesenthal Center/Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles are just two of them. The list is much longer and warrants several different visits if possible.

Read an account of the Holocaust: There is a tremendous collection of Holocaust literature in many languages. From survivors’ accounts to biographies, historical accounts, and even poems. Every human being should read the short but life-altering account of Elie Wiesel’s time at Auschwitz-Birkenau with his father when he was only 15. As told in his autobiography Night, his story of resilience and survival against all odds is very dark. A detailed and accurate account of the Holocaust can be found in Lucy Dawidowicz The War Against the Jews or in The destruction of the European Jews by Raul Hilberg.

The silent six million are indeed crying out. It is heart-wrenching even to think their memory could disappear from history. To bring a little perspective to the 6,000.000 and to understand that they are much more than just a number–even though the tattooed forearm was an attempt at dehumanizing the victims–if we were to recite all the names of the 6,000,000 innocent victims of the Holocaust, it would take us 11.5 years nonstop day and night.

Please, tell your loved ones, especially the younger generation about the Holocaust. Don’t wait for schools or museums to do our jobs. We owe it to the silenced six million, so let us not be indifferent!

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”
(Elie Wiesel)

January 13, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 3 Comments

Could This Man Have Saved My Jewish Mother?

In the summer of 1942 in Paris, Evelyn Weinzveig saw her dad for the very last time as two officers from the Gestapo escorted him outside of his home in front of the teenager’s very eyes. He would die in Auschwitz shortly after. It was clearly no longer safe for Evelyn and her mother to remain in Paris. They had to move south toward the Zone Libre (free zone). Unfortunately, safe movement within France had become nearly impossible for Jews. Evelyn had to wear the infamous yellow star she hated so much. Evelyn’s mother got organized and did what many had to do during the war–she acquired false papers. Evelyn was soon put on a train at the Paris Gare de Lyon en route for the Southwest of France with her two cousins, Richard and Nicole. All three had been given false papers to help their escape. All three were hidden on a farm and survived the war and the Holocaust. Evelyn was my mother!

Many factors must be considered in my mother’s survival, not the least being the courage of the family who hid her and her two cousins for the last two years of the war. This couple of French peasants were added to the “Yad Vashem Righteous Among the Nations” wall of remembrance in Jerusalem in 2013. Yet, we cannot ignore the fact that the three teenagers would have probably never made it to that farm without their false papers. As the three cousins and my grandmother are now gone, I might never know how they obtained their false papers, but there is a strong possibility that it might have been through the network and talent of one man: Adolpho Kaminsky.

Adolpho Kaminsky passed away in his Paris home on Monday, January 9, 2023, at the age of 97. This Jewish man has become one of my heroes. He was born in Argentina in 1925 to Russian immigrants who soon moved to Paris, France. His parents had escaped the Russian pogroms, moved to South America, and then to Paris in 1930, unaware of the ominous future awaiting the Jews of Europe. Adolpho started working for a clothes dyer and learned about colors and mixing. Eventually, at the beginning of the war, he and his family were sent to the Greater Paris train station in Drancy, awaiting deportation to one of the many concentration camps. Because they had Argentine papers, they were released and went into hiding through the Resistance and the creation of his own false papers.

He wanted to work to help his saviors and told them that he had worked for a clothes dyer and could erase just about all ink stains. His career as a forger had just begun. It is believed that Adolpho’s work during World War Two saved the lives of 14,000 Jews, the vast majority of them knowing nothing about the man who produced the forged documents to help them at a critical time. When asked why he did all this, Adolpho responded, “I saved lives because I can’t deal with unnecessary deaths — I just can’t,” all humans are equal, whatever their origins, their beliefs, their skin color. There are no superiors, no inferiors. That is not acceptable for me.” Adolpho continued to forge papers for various causes and many countries for years to come until he became too old, and his hand and eyes no longer allowed him to create the documents.

So, could this man have saved my Jewish mother and her two cousins? Were they three of the 14,000 Jews he helped? We will never know, but his story of courage and determination against all odds remains an example for us today. It warrants the question for Bible believers, “Is it acceptable to lie to save a life?” This question might not have been at the forefront of people’s minds for a while. Still, considering the recent terrifying rise in antisemitism, it might become an issue sooner than later.

In the Tanach, in Joshua 2, Rahab, the prostitute, hid Jewish spies and lied about their location to protect them from their enemies. The spies are spared, Rahab and her family live to tell the story and she even ends up in the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah (Matthew 1:5), her status also earning her a place in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:31. Was it OK for Rahab to lie? This is a debated issue. It would seem that God saved Rahab because of her unwavering faith in the God of Israel in spite of being a prostitute, but God never condones lying. Yet, some will argue that deception is allowable in times of war. I do not pretend to have an answer to that controversial question. Still, I exist today because my mother got false papers and benefitted from a family of farmers who lied to Nazis in their village. God doesn’t condone lying, but is it possible that He would allow people to act a certain way for a greater purpose that only He understands?

I will never know the deepest recesses of Adolpho Kaminsky’s heart, except that he was troubled enough seeing innocent people die that he had to do his part to save some. He did way more by himself than many people combined would ever do in their lifetime. I choose to believe that I exist today by God’s grace and maybe through the providence, penmanship and genius of Adolpho Kaminsky or someone else like him. When we as believers are faced with decisions to make that might not be popular in the world we live in, we must always remember that, ultimately, we answer to the God of the universe. Those who chose to commit civil disobedience will always walk on very thin ice from a human perspective, just like Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego did when they refused to bow down to the statue Nebuchadnezzar erected. Still, from God’s perspective, we know He’s got our back.

Yeshua (Jesus) would have still given His life as ransom were it only to save me from eternal damnation. Of course, His death was for many more people than just me, but to God, one life is enough to save. How much is a life worth to us and how far are we willing to go save it?

Thank you, Mr. Kaminsky, for your bravery, compassion and dedication and may your memory be a blessing to many!

December 29, 2022 By Olivier Melnick 7 Comments

Orthodox Rabbis Confirming End-Times Prophecy?

An article emerged a few days before Christmas claiming that “Rabbis Bring Jesus Home for Christmas.” Naturally, it got my attention. Not to mention the fact that several people sent the article to me and expressed their excitement after reading it. Over two dozen orthodox rabbis from around the world issued a joint statement “calling for a renewed look at Jesus, Christians and the New Testament faith. ” Frankly, I live for moments like these, so my initial reaction was a joyful surprise. Are some orthodox rabbis truly accepting the Messiahship of Yeshua (Jesus)? Have these men become Messianic believers? Could this be the start of a revival within the global Jewish community? The conclusion might surprise you!

The article was written by an Israeli Jewish believer in Yeshua, David Lazarus, who mentioned Yeshua several times. It quotes the rabbis saying, “Jesus brought a double goodness to the world,” further claiming that Yeshua “strengthened the Torah of Moses.” Lazarus quoted other parts of the Rabbis’ statement that clearly indicated the desire for true rapprochement between Christians and Jews. Considering the times we live in, this could be very good news. This will certainly not eradicate antisemitism since the longest hatred–a spiritual battle generated and fueled by Satan–will not come to an end until Yeshua returns at the end of the seven-year Tribulation. Can it help in the healing of Jewish/Christian relations? Absolutely, and this alone is a reason to rejoice!

My intention is not to burst the bubble of hope created by the statement, but before Israel-loving evangelicals rejoice, we might want to take a look at the statement itself. While it offers many positives, they are not necessarily what Christians might think. It was spearheaded by a commendable organization called the “Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding & Cooperation.” In their mission statement, they declare the following, “Now that we as a people and a nation have returned to history, and the Christian world is beginning to recognize the continuing legitimacy of its elder brother’s covenant, grafting itself onto us as a branch is grafted to the roots, we must each complete our return to God, join hands and bring a religion of love, morality, pluralism and peace to a desperate, thirsting world. ” Additionally, the statement dates from 2015. I am not sure why it was quoted as if it was recent, but it raises some very important questions that still need to be addressed.

The goal is to work towards rebuilding Jewish/Christian relations. While they certainly do not speak for all Jewish denominations across the spectrum, being a group of orthodox, pious Torah scholars pushing for a better world through mutual acceptance certainly deserves our attention. The topics discussed in their statement include Judaism, Christianity, God, Jesus and antisemitism. Here are some of the points they make that are worth analyzing to understand their desire further. The statement divides into seven articles, each worth mentioning. The bold part summarizes the main point made in the statement, followed by my analysis.

1. Failure of Jews and Christians to reconcile after the Holocaust created fertile soil for antisemitism to grow: The Holocaust (Shoah) remains a unique defining catastrophe on the timeline of Jewish history. While it is true that 2,000 years of animosity and violence coming from the Church were a major factor leading to the death of six million Jews (among other groups), not all perpetrators were Christians. In fact, it could be argued–maybe in another article–that none of the perpetrators and bystanders of the Holocaust were true Christians. Nevertheless, the abysmal divide between Christians and Jews that resulted from the Holocaust allowed other enemies of the Jews to contribute further to the erosion of Judeo/Christian relations. So, in a sense, it is true that this loss of trust resulted in further damage.

2. The Second Vatican Council (1965) contributed to a reconciliation between Jews and Christians: This was a milestone for the Catholic Church. Finally, after more than 1,900 years, it was officially declared that the Jewish people shouldn’t be held responsible for the death of Christ. This has indeed led to more interfaith dialogue and well-needed healing between Jews and Catholics.

3. The emergence of Christianity is G-d’s way to separate partners, not enemies: 19th-century British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli once said that “Christianity is Biblical Judaism fulfilled.” What a simple but powerful statement! Unfortunately, a theological wedge was placed between Jews and Christians. It progressively grew and separated the two. In their statement, the contemporary rabbis quote respected giants of Judaism, Maimonides (Rambam) and Judah HaLevi as their inspiration to accept Christianity as a valid religion. The signatories further declare, “Now that the Catholic Church has acknowledged the eternal Covenant between G-d and Israel, we Jews can acknowledge the ongoing constructive validity of Christianity as our partner in world redemption, without any fear that this will be exploited for missionary purposes.” The goal is clear from the statement, it is “world redemption,” also known in Judaism as Tikkun Olam. Not to be missed is the last part of that paragraph stating that the signatories do not fear Christian conversion due to this new relationship. Would all Christians truly adhere to a complete cessation of sharing the Gospel for the sake of reconciliation? This might be too broad a statement.

4. It is G-d’s desire for Christians to be loving partners: I couldn’t agree more with that part of the declaration. Bible-believing Christians have no choice but to love and support the Jewish people (Genesis 12:1-3; Psalm 83:1-5). The way Christians express their love may vary, though. It can go from regular prayer for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) to humanitarian help to sharing the Gospel. Yet, it would seem that sharing the Gospel with the Jewish people didn’t make the cut on the list of proof of why Judaism and Christianity should work together. I tend to believe that the acceptance of Yeshua’s free gift of salvation through His death and resurrection for our sins IS the ultimate way to love the Jewish people.

5. Jews and Christians have more in common than what separates them: The rabbis continued by listing what connects Jews and Christians “The ethical monotheism of Abraham; the relationship with the One Creator of Heaven and Earth, Who loves and cares for all of us; Jewish Sacred Scriptures; a belief in a binding tradition; and the values of life, family, compassionate righteousness, justice, inalienable freedom, universal love and ultimate world peace.” The reason we speak of Judeo/Christian ethics is that the same principles are at the foundation of Judaism and biblical Christianity. We truly have much to gain in mutual acceptance. It will lead to cooperation and Christians and Jews are now at a crossroads where working together can only strengthen us against the enemy.

6. A true partnership doesn’t negate differences; it embraces them: The statement continues by clearly speaking of two different religions for two different communities, allowing for God to “employ many messengers to reveal His truth.” This is where I get nervous because this sounds like there is more than one way to get to G-d. Is the G-d of Judaism the same G-d found in Christianity? Well, if we believe that “Christianity is Biblical Judaism fulfilled,” the answer must be yes! But do we get to G-d the same way? It seems that within Judaism, we strive to keep Torah to hopefully be accepted by G-d. In contrast, within Christianity, we strive to serve and obey G-d after He accepted us in His family through Yeshua’s sacrificial death and resurrection. These are theological polar opposites.

7. Christians and Jews can redeem the world: In their concluding paragraph, the signatories boldly declared, “In imitating G-d, Jews and Christians must offer models of service, unconditional love and holiness. We are all created in G-d’s Holy Image, and Jews and Christians will remain dedicated to the Covenant by playing an active role together in redeeming the world.” This, again, is the concept of Tikkun Olam. It speaks of redeeming or repairing the world to make it a better place for all mankind. While the concept is very commendable when one reads the whole counsel of G-d, the narrative leads us toward a universal need for a redeemer for mankind. That redeemer came two thousand years ago in the person of Yeshua, who paid the ultimate price by dying for our sins (Isaiah 52:13-53:12). So, in the spirit of Tikkun Olam, only Yeshua can repair the world, and He will do just that at His Second Coming.

So, where does that leave this group of rabbis who are desperately trying to usher in a genuine reconciliation between Christians and Jews? There is nothing wrong with their noble effort. This will help both communities fight bigotry and antisemitism together better. Yet, this is not the same as claiming Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world, which the article never does. By calling for more common ground between the two communities, this group of orthodox rabbis might help soften the hearts of many Jewish people towards Christians and biblical Christianity. Still, they never claim that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Could it be that these honorable Jewish men from all around the world are setting the stage for the coming of the 144,000 Jewish men who will play a key role in sharing the message of salvation during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 7)? Without setting dates but looking at work events through the lens of end-times prophecies, it is entirely possible that some of them might even be part of the 144,000 unbeknownst to them as of yet.

No matter how you look at it, this statement seems to be another piece in the end-times puzzle, and the final picture is becoming so clear!

December 5, 2022 By Olivier Melnick 6 Comments

Christians and Jews Must Fight the Beast of Antisemitism Together!

There are many things that Christians and Jews don’t agree on, the main one being Yeshua (Jesus). While I wholeheartedly agree with 19th-century British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli who said that “Christianity is Biblical Judaism fulfilled,” Judeo/Christian relations have been complicated over the centuries. Many will agree that Christianity started as a Jewish sect. Still, over time, the Jewish heritage eroded, and the Gentile Christians couldn’t or refused to relate to their Jewish brethren. A theological wedge was placed between Jews and Christians. It progressively grew and separated the two, to the point where from a Jewish sect not knowing what to do with Gentiles; we now look at a Gentile faith not being able to relate to Jewish people.

Despite this great divide, Jews and Christians can still find reasons to join forces when a cause is worthy of their partnership. While both sides might feel like they have the right answers to spirituality and never agree, when it comes to fighting antisemitism, the fight belongs to both Jews and Christians individually and corporately. There is no doubt in my mind that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world but let us set aside this argument and look at the elephant, scratch that, the mammoth in the room: Antisemitism.

Antisemitism is the hatred of the Jewish people and Israel characterized by thoughts, words and deeds against them. Fighting antisemitism is a worthy cause, no matter what angle you view it from. Israel has always had and will continue to have friends and foes. there are three reasons why the current state of antisemitism is alarming and very concerning: Frequency, Intensity and, more recently, Normalization.

• Frequency: This is not news to anybody keeping a serious eye on Israel and the Jewish people. I have been monitoring antisemitism globally for almost 23 years. What used to yield a monthly or weekly news article now fills my email inbox on a daily basis. This only takes into consideration what is being reported. Many incidents are not categorized as antisemitic or are just willfully ignored. In many cases, depending on who was initiating the antisemitic acts, no reporting or biased reporting takes place for fear of reprisals. I do not see the frequency slowing but only increasing. From this point forward, there are more reasons why people of goodwill must join forces to fight the same enemy.

• Intensity: As if the frequency wasn’t enough of a problem, we also have to take intensity into consideration. What used to be mostly verbal abuse against Jewish people and those who support Israel has become violent over the last decade. Jews are being killed again. To be sure, not in the gruesome numbers seen during World War II, but even one life is too many. In 2015, a hostage situation resulted in the death of four Jewish shoppers on the east side of Paris, two days after the mass murder at the Charlie Hebdo magazine. In 2017, French Jewish doctor Sarah Halimi was thrown to her death out of her apartment window in Paris. In 2018, 11 congregants were killed during service at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburg. In May 2022, an old Jewish man was thrown from the 17th-floor window of his Paris apartment. These are just a few examples validating the fact that antisemitism is moving from thoughts and words to actions. But we must understand that, almost always, actions are derived from words because words have meaning, and once spoken; they have consequences. I believe that what is leading to an increase in both frequency and intensity is the third criterion, known as normalization.

• Normalization: By normalization, I mean that antisemitism barely makes a blip in the news cycle in America. It’s being accepted as a piece of the fabric of America, as it is going mainstream, but it is the piece that should be removed. Outside of groups like neo-Nazis or radicalized hyper-religious sects, antisemitism was usually dormant or somewhat suppressed. In fact, it could be argued that one of the biggest challenges that those who fight antisemitism have had in recent years is apathy, not normalization. For various reasons, people simply didn’t care and didn’t react much to anything antisemitic on the news, the social networks or even in their own communities. In principle, people would always agree that antisemitism is wrong, but in practice, people didn’t care much about it, or they looked the other way. Was it fear of retribution? Possibly! Yet, that is not the end of the story. Now, antisemitism is going mainstream, and people are going from apathetic to supportive. This normalization is hitting us from various angles:
• The Hebrew Israelite Movement is promoting the notion that African Americans are the real Jews sidelining the real physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through the twelve tribes. There is no biblical evidence for such a claim which is painting authentic Jewish people in a very precarious light. This is a movement that is supported by several famous and influential celebrities, making it more attractive and believable to the masses.
• Stand-Up Comedians are now using age-old antisemitic tropes about Jews controlling the world, the banks or Hollywood to generate laughter from their audience. When antisemitism goes mainstream, it goes from suppressed to accepted to promoted. We are currently in the “accepted” stage.
• Famous people boldly proclaim that the Holocaust never happened and even that they find that Hitler had redeeming qualities.
• Another arena where antisemitism should never be seen is in the world of sports. Unfortunately, the Qatar 2022 Soccer World Cup seemed to be fertile ground for various enemies of the Jewish state.
• Unexpectedly, possibly the most concerning recent poll, is the one regarding how Jewish people are perceived during a hiring process. Jewish applicants seem to have less of a chance of being hired in 2022, and nobody seems to care. 25% of hiring managers would think twice before hiring a person if they knew that the person is Jewish. Some of their findings are chilling:

26% of hiring managers say they are less likely to move forward with Jewish applicants; the top reason for negative bias is the belief that Jews have too much power and control
26% make assumptions about whether a candidate is Jewish based on their appearance
23% say they want fewer Jews in their industry
17% say leadership has told them not to hire Jews
33% say antisemitism is common in their workplace; 29% say antisemitism is acceptable in their company.

Let me repeat this, almost one-third of people polled responded that antisemitism is acceptable! Not that it is present, not that it is unfortunate, not that it is a problem, but that it is ACCEPTABLE! When a minority of people are against the Jews and another minority of people are fighting their bigotry, there is hope. Still, when it becomes acceptable to be antisemitic, normalization has taken root deeply enough to make it difficult to uproot it, and its growth will be exponential. This will require those who fight antisemitism to move to the front lines, and this is why Jews and Christians have no choice but to put their theological and cultural differences aside and fight the beast together.

To Christians, remember that the Jewish community might not accept and embrace you. Christians have a lot of baggage. You might not feel that the baggage is yours, but as a part of the Body of Messiah, it is part of your unfortunate, dark and bloody heritage. Now is not the time to cancel antisemitic Church history, but to acknowledge that it took place while not condoning it.
To Jews, give your Christian friends and neighbors a chance to tell you how they feel about Israel and the Jewish people. Do not paint Christians with the broad stroke of Jew-hatred without hearing them out. You might be surprised.
The normalization of antisemitism is the abnormal result of a fallen human race misled by Satan. Remember that antisemitism goes through phases. When normalization starts picking up momentum, the last stage will be an organized attempt at destroying the Jews. It’s not like we haven’t been there before!

October 13, 2022 By Olivier Melnick 4 Comments

Could The Psalm 83 War Against the Jews be Happening Now?

Few passages in the Bible are as controversial as Psalm 83. The Psalm speaks of a war against Israel led by a coalition of her worst enemies. People have interpreted this short Psalm as a prophetic plea by Asaph to God for protection in a time of conflict. The war of Psalm 83 has been placed before the Rapture or during the tribulation by various respected Bible teachers. Psalm 83 speaks of a conflict, and it is neither before the Rapture nor during the Tribulation, yet it is raging right now. The Psalm 83 war is here, and it is not what you think!

Psalm 83 was written by Asaph (Psalm 73-83), a contemporary of King David. It describes in just 18 verses, a desperate plea to the Lord by Asaph to destroy the enemies of Israel who wanted to wipe Israel off the map completely; they have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel is remembered no more.” (v. 4). The list of ten enemy nations is given later in the Psalm. Still, Asaph tells God that they conspire against Your treasured ones (v. 3). These nations correspond to ten modern nations that are peripheral neighbors surrounding the tiny sliver of land that Israel currently is. The modern nations are Jordan (Edom, Moab, and Ammon), Saudi Arabia (Ishmaelites), Egypt (Hagaraenes and Amalek), Lebanon (Gebal and Tyre), The Gaza Strip (Philistia), Iraq (Assyria) and Syria (Assyria).

When reviewing history, several of these countries or people groups have gone after Israel, some more than once and at different levels of intensity. However, as Asaph claims, the ten countries have never formed a confederation to go after Israel. So, this must be a future war as we get closer and closer to the final chapter of recorded biblical history and are inching our way into the Tribulation. I still firmly believe that the Rapture of the Saints–as a fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets–will occur before the Tribulation, but when is the Psalm 83 War supposed to take place?

Let’s assume that these ten modern countries decided to team up against tiny Israel; this poses an immediate problem since Egypt has been officially at peace with Israel since 1979 when Anwar El Sadat and Menachem Begin signed the peace treaty at the White House under President Jimmy Carter. Additionally, Jordan has also been at peace with Israel since 1994, when King Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin met again at the White House under President Bill Clinton. While not every Egyptian and Jordanian might share the peaceful behavior of their leaders, the peace treaties still hold.

Some Bible teachers will look at Zechariah 12:3, describing an attack on Jerusalem when all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. This indicates that, in the end times, the entire world will turn its back on Israel, and we are seeing an increase in international hatred as we speak. The problem here is that Zechariah tells us that the whole world will go against Israel, not just a ten-nation confederacy.

Sticking to the text and only looking at those ten nations, it would seem that the best interpretation of that list would be that Asaph is crying out to the Lord and the list of the ten enemies is a literary device to describe his despair. These people groups pretty much surrounded Israel geographically. It might have been the extent of Asaph’s knowledge of the world around him. It is akin to someone going through a very difficult time, being hit from several different angles simultaneously, and saying “the whole world is against me” as a euphemism to describe that everywhere they look, trouble is coming. Asaph possibly cried out to God about all the countries he knew that were conspiring to destroy Israel. This does not eliminate the real threats against Israel that are currently coming from some of those modern nations.

Yet, there is another aspect of the Psalm 83 war that many people overlook as they are trying to reconcile an attack from the various countries and place it properly on the timeline. I would suggest that the war of Psalm 83 is already happening from verses 3-5: They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel is remembered no more.” For they have conspired together with one mind; Against You they make a covenant.

The Psalm 83 war is simply a war against the Jews. It is a war fought by Satan and his posse. Each battle is an act of antisemitism coming from the enemy, subcontracting his age-old hatred of God’s chosen people. Asaph pleads with God to stop Israel’s enemies, and he also understands that hatred for Israel equates to contempt for the God of Israel. But Asaph trusts God, who defeated antisemitism in the past, to defeat it again and again (vv.9-12). The Psalm 83 war is going on right now, full speed ahead and on a global scale. Jewish people are increasingly feeling in danger for their lives.

The bottom line is that those who hate God want to hurt those He loves. It is often more successful to hurt someone’s loved ones than that very person. In the case of God, it is a bit different because He is God, but He clearly calls the Jewish people “the apple of my eye” (Zechariah 2:8). The war against the Jews has been going on for centuries, led by Satan who wants to prevent Israel from calling Yeshua back as the long-awaited Messiah (Zechariah 12:10). Satan has won many battles, but he will never win the war (Jeremiah 31:35-37).

The war against the Jews is a real war but it is also a spiritual battle, all Christians should be enlisted to fight that battle against the enemy of Israel. Pray, educate yourself and others about my people and speak up whenever you can to expose the enemy’s lies. We are on God’s side, and it is well overdue for all Christians to form a coalition of truth and conspire against Satan.

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