Yeshua

September 5, 2019 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Is There Such a Thing as Christian Anti-Semitism?

There is a recurring accusation, especially within Jewish circles, that the New Testament is antisemitic. The justification for such an accusation is found in 2,000 years of Jewish history that have been punctuated by a myriad of antisemitic acts–many of them apparently rooted in Christianity and its teachings. So the question bears asking, how Christian is Christian antisemitism? Furthermore, is the New Testament antisemitic?

It is really unfortunate that our Bible (Old and New Testaments) would be divided into two parts. Things would be a lot simpler if we looked at the whole counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation but separated by what is known as “the 400 silent years”, we have the Jewish Scriptures (written in Hebrew) and the Greek Scriptures (written in Greek and Aramaic), thus started the chasm between the two. Words and concepts are not completely transferable from Hebrew to Greek, and the two different cultures added further challenges to God’s message through the ages.

Nobody can deny that the coming of Yeshua onto the scene changed everything. The Jewish leadership of His days felt threatened, intimidated and at times humiliated. The guardians of the Mosaic Law were being challenged by one who came to fulfill that Law, and yet never broke one of its commandments. Additionally, even though He first came for His own according to the flesh, He included Gentiles. It wasn’t long before the very Gentiles who had been excluded but were now grafted in started to take over and slowly forced the erosion of Jewish traditions within Christianity. By AD 325 at the council of Nicaea, much of the Jewishness of Christianity had disappeared or was being further diluted into a faith that couldn’t relate to its own roots any longer.

Early Church Fathers had started to deviate from a literal, historical/grammatical approach to the Bible. Their allegorical interpretations slowly led them to see Israel as a demonized people who had been replaced by the Church. The uneducated masses gladly followed suit and the Jews started to become a burden and a deadweight wherever they could be found. It would take until the Holocaust to have a people group attempt to radically and systematically eradicate European Jewry. Jews had become vermin or a sub-human race, and as such, total annihilation was the only solution. It was “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question” as Nazi Germany expressed euphemistically. All or most of it, when you ask Jewish people, was done by Christians. But was it? An honest approach to the issue would prove otherwise:

• The New Testament is a very Jewish Book:
From the very first words of the first book in the New Testament, everything is Jewish as it records the genealogy of the Jewish Messiah, ” The record of the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.” (Matthew 1:1-2). The audience is Jewish, the writers are Jewish (Luke being the exception.) The context is Jewish, and much of the geography is Jewish. As a matter of fact, it is nearly impossible to fully understand the richness of the New Testament without reading it in its Jewish context. Most believers spend their whole life reading the Bible in “Black and White” until they look at the Jewish perspective and all of a sudden the same story appears in “color and HD.”

• The New Testament Uses Strong Language:
How do we reconcile words like “the synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 2:9, 3:9) or “your father the devil” (John 8:44)? They are indeed very strong words directed at Jewish people. Those accusatory words were definitely used in the New Testament to describe the hypocrisy and sin of some of the Jewish leaders contemporary of Yeshua. They were accurate words to be used, but what has been missed and has led to so much damage is the fact that they were used to denounce people who happened to be disobedient sinners first and Jewish second. Their ethnicity didn’t really play a role in their guilt. This is what we could call the “Great Christian Departure.” The Church started to attach the non-related Jewishness to the sins of the early [Jewish] believers and before long, being Jewish was a crime.

• The Old Testament Also Uses Strong Language:
Why is it that when similar language is used to describe the disobedience of Israel in the Jewish Law and the Prophets, that nobody–especially in the Jewish community–has a problem with it? In Deuteronomy 9:7, Moses calls the Jewish people “rebellious”. Is he antisemitic? In Deuteronomy 9:13, God calls them “stubborn” and wants to kill them all. Is God antisemitic? Nonsense! Ezekiel calls Israel “stubborn and obstinate” (Ezekiel 3:7). The descriptions are perfectly in line with the actions of the children of Israel described all throughout the Tenach, and they are no different than those of the New Testament, except that they come from the Jewish Scriptures, prior to Yeshua’s first coming, and somehow, that makes them acceptable. Is there a double-standard here?

• The Jews Didn’t Kill the Messiah:
The most common accusation against the Jewish people that continues to this day, is that of deicide (the killing of God.) Jews the world around continue to be called “Christ Killers” by Christians and non-Christians alike. There are two problems with that accusation. First, even if some Jewish people were guilty of the crucifixion of Yeshua (and they are not), it would never make sense to paint with broad strokes and render all Jews of all times guilty of the same crime. By the same logic, all Germans would be Nazis and all Muslims would-be terrorists. This is ludicrous! But more importantly, Yeshua gave His own life in obedience to the Father as we read in John 10:17-18, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” So, in reality, we are all sharing the guilt without exception.

• Context is Everything
The very fact that many early Christians took the Scriptures out of context and allegorized much of them doesn’t make the New Testament antisemitic, it simply makes it misinterpreted and misapplied. Can Christians be antisemitic? I think that history speaks clearly on that matter, yes, they can! But are they antisemitic because they follow the teachings of Yeshua of Nazareth? absolutely not! 2,000 years of Scripture twisting to accommodate and justify human behavior against the Jews have left a bloody stain of mankind in general and the Church in particular. But it is not based on anything taught in the Bible.

So, it is fair to say that Christian antisemitism is not Christian at all. If one takes the Bible literally, all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23.) “All” means Jews and non-Jews alike with no exceptions. Christian antisemitism is simply antisemitism committed by Christians who read their Bible improperly and use it as an excuse to ostracize and demonize the Jewish people. The Christians who paint–with broad strokes– the Jewish people as a sub-human group are mistaken as the Jewish people who paint–with broad strokes– that all Christians are antisemitic. The New Testament is not antisemitic, but it does expose human nature and universal sin for all people Gentiles and Jews alike. It is time to keep things in context and approach God’s word with humility and sincerity.

August 8, 2019 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Can We Really Co-Exist Today?

Many people have been exposed to the bumper sticker that says COEXIST using symbols of various world religions and worldviews to spell out the word. The letter “c” is a crescent moon representing Islam. The letter “o” is the peace symbol. The letter “e” is a male/female symbol. The letter “x” is the Star of David representing Judaism. The letter “i” is a pagan/Wiccan symbol. The letter “s” is a Chinese yin-yang symbol, and the letter “t” is a cross representing Christianity. The implied message is that no matter what or who we believe in or even if we don’t believe in anything, we should be able to co-exist. Philosophically, it has merit and as humans, we ought to be able to co-exist on our shared planet. In a sense, we are co-existing by virtue of existing and sharing the real estate that earth provides for us. But maybe our co-existing stops at that level, and maybe, just maybe, this is not such a bad idea!

Co-existence requires tolerance, respect and compassion from all parties. These virtues are very biblical, even when people failed to make that connection. Outside of defending ourselves from our enemies, the Bible teaches us to respect our fellow men. The very fact that over the centuries people have twisted the Scriptures to justify their actions doesn’t make the biblical record into a manifesto justifying a destructive agenda.

Scripture tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second one is to love one another, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Yeshua even took it one step higher, saying that we are even to love our enemies. In Yeshua, we see the example of obeying the authorities, overcoming evil with good and standing for justice and healing for the helpless. These strong ethics have long been a strong foundation for Western civilization, even though the freedoms they have rested on have more recently been eroding.

Now, it seems that the group that is targeted the most is the Jewish people. To a degree, we are targeted by all the letters of the Coexist acronym; radical Islamists, liberals, LGBTQ, atheists and even some Christians. While each of these groups can and have displayed anti-Jewish sentiment, the most lethal is from Islam. People continue to be scared of saying it like it is, but the vast majority of the recent deaths in the Jewish communities of the world are from people who at the very least call themselves Muslims.

How do we co-exist when one party worships death and the other party values and respects life? It is literally impossible unless the meaning of co-existence becomes redefined, which is exactly what radical Islam is trying to do. If tolerance becomes a one-way street, we are then forced into tolerating an ideology that is foreign to western values. In essence, we are tolerating the intolerant, and that leads nowhere but down the spiral of civilizational demise. So, no, I don’t believe we can co-exist unless we share similar values.

When I moved to the United States from France in the mid-1980s, I was looking forward to integrating into the American way of life and American culture and customs. I eventually became an American citizen, even though in the privacy of my own home, I enjoy French food, music, movies, literature, customs and language. I can c0-exist in America as a French expat, even though I am legally American now. My co-existence is based on the respect of others and the price I place on human life and dignity (all of them biblical values by the way.)

When I say that we cannot co-exist, some will quickly succumb to the temptation of labeling me a racist. That’s inevitable, but that is also inaccurate. The only group that I believe we can not co-exist with is radical Islam, and they have proved over and over that they don’t play well with others. But, please don’t call an Islamophobe a racist, because ISLAM IS NOT A RACE! Islam is an ideology that includes a religion among other things. There are Muslims all over the world, and their ethnic origins have nothing to do with their indoctrination or lack of. I also do not want my statement to be seen as an invitation to exclude, expel or exterminate. This was done to my people in the 1930s and 1940s, and we know it didn’t end well. We just need to be more careful about what we allow people to get away with.

I am greatly concerned about the lack of discernment that our world is showing. I am not even speaking of biblical discernment here, but simply of the ability to detect if people mean what they say and say what they mean. If Islam is indeed the religion of peace, where are the millions of “moderate’ Muslims when a voice needs to be heard to fight anti-Semitism? Radical Islam has given other Muslims a bad rep, but that could easily be rectified if the “other Muslims” would speak up against the abusers. I just don’t see it happening except in a very few cases, and I mean a handful!

To quote a Russian proverb that was made famous in English by Ronald Reagan, “Trust, but verify!” I want to play well with others and I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Forgive me for checking their intentions. I want to co-exist, but I am not sure we really can anymore, at least not in the pure sense of the term.

May 27, 2019 By Olivier Melnick 2 Comments

The Time to be a “Righteous Gentile” is Today!

After the Second World War, as Europe was coming to grips with the horrors of the Holocaust, it became evident that while most of the world turned its back on the Jewish people, some people found it in their hearts to help. While it was expected that Jewish people would help their own–and they did–help also came from Gentiles. By 1953, only six years after the war, Israel, then a modern nation since 1948, decided to start gathering information about those Gentiles who helped Jews during the Holocaust years. Gentiles became recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations” based on three criteria as they helped Jews during the war years. First, they were not Jewish. Secondly, they acted risking their own lives and finally, they received no money in exchange for their deeds. In 2019, there are less than 27,000 Righteous Gentiles whose names Yad Vashem recognizes worldwide. In the scope of the six million innocent Jewish victims of the Nazi Death Camps, this is a drop in the ocean. But what about modern-day Righteous Gentiles? Do they exist? Who are they, and where are they?

In light of antisemitism’s global rebirth, we need modern-day Righteous Gentiles more than ever before. I am convinced that at the rate Jewish hatred is growing, it won’t be long before the global Jewish community will need help from outside once again. In some ways, we are already there when we consider the attacks in Pittsburg, San Diego, New York and the numerous–almost daily– incidents in Europe. How can we identify The Righteous Gentiles of today?

They read their Bible and they believe God’s plan for Israel
Anytime one reads their Bible, not trying to allegorize the stories that God gave us, they cannot help but discover a theme throughout its pages: Israel and the Jewish people–from early in Genesis all the way to Revelation, and almost on every page of the Bible. This is not to say that one must read their Bible to love the Jewish people. There were and still are many people who might not be religious or have any spiritual connection, and yet, have nothing against the Jewish people. People of good will have always existed. Yet, I do believe that modern Righteous Gentiles will have a greater propensity to help Jewish people if they read their Bible. Taken literally, the story of Israel and the Jewish people is based on promises and covenants made between the God of Israel and various leaders of Israel. Except for the Mosaic Covenant (parallel to all the others AND conditional), these covenants are all connected, unconditional and based on God’s unchanging character.

They love the Jewish people
Today’s Righteous Gentiles, biblically motivated or not, simply love the Jewish people. They recognize Israel’s existence against all odds and often contrary to human logic. There are a lot of Bible believers that could be called Christian Zionists. They believe in God’s plan for Israel and in the restoration of the Jewish people in the land of Israel in the End-Times (Ezekiel 36-37). To an extent, that return to Eretz Yisrael has already begun and Bible believers live with a great expectation of God’s fulfillment of His promises. When one believes in the God of the Bible, it is hard not to love the Jewish people.

They live their Bible
One important aspect of the Righteous Gentiles is that they not only believe the Bible, but they also live it daily. While no Bible believer is made instantaneously perfect by following the teachings of Yeshua of Nazareth, they are encouraged to live for Him and through Him. As a result, Righteous Gentiles strive to apply biblical principles to their own lives, just like the people of the French village of Le Chambon did during World War Two. Somebody once said, “Preach the Good News every day, if necessary, use words!” Our actions ought to be enough to demonstrate what we believe and why we believe it. Words are good but actions are better!

They will take risks to protect the Jewish people
To that extent, Righteous Gentiles will not hesitate to, again, help the Jewish people when the time comes, and the time is coming! There is no doubt in my mind that even though the Bible is replete with God’s promises for Israel and the Jewish people, things are going to get worse before they get better. Righteous Gentiles took great risks eighty years ago to hide, protect and save Jews. Today’s Righteous Gentiles are ready to do the same, but most Jewish people are not aware of it. Jewish people today need to be made aware that there are Gentiles who are their friends. Not every Gentile is an antisemite! Yet it is becoming increasingly difficult for Jewish people today to know where to turn for help and who to trust.

If you are a Gentile today, ask yourself these few questions, and if your answer is YES, then you might be a Righteous Gentile awaiting his/her call to reach out to God’s chosen people.
• Do you believe the Bible’s promises for Israel and the Jewish people will be fulfilled literally?
• Do you believe the Jewish people are at risk again?
• Are you willing to take risks to help your Jewish friends?

While I do not believe that Bible believers will go through the horrors of the Great Tribulation, in Matthew 25:40, we see how serious Yeshua is about the way Gentiles should treat Jews. At the end of that seven-year period of perilous times, Gentiles who would have survived the Tribulation and helped Jews in the process, will be recognized by King Yeshua, “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'” These Righteous Gentiles will not earn their entrance into God’s Kingdom because they protected Jews during the Tribulation, but their actions will simply demonstrate that they had become believers during that time, leading them to make the right choices.

The time to be a Righteous Gentile is today. Unbeknownst to them, the Jewish people are counting on you!

May 8, 2019 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Six Reasons to Celebrate Israel’s Independence Day!

While last year was the memorable 70th anniversary of the birth of the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948, every new anniversary is a reason to celebrate. This year is no different!

We celebrate because of Israel’s survival

In her entire history, Israel has been the epitome of survival. From the moment That God created a people, gave them a land and a law, Israel became a prime target in the world. From Pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph to Haman to the Amalekites, the Bible is already replete with Israel’s foes. Post-biblical history continues to trace the lineage of the Jewish people as it is punctuated by acts of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism, going from verbal to violent to lethal, peaking with the Holocaust. In spite of all the anti-Semitic hatred, Israel has survived. In spite of all the wars against her from 1948 to today, and miraculously, Israel has survived. In spite of the current waves of terrorism, Israel will survive because Israel’s complete annihilation would make God a liar and covenant breaker (Jeremiah 31:35-37.)

We celebrate because of Israel innovative spirit

When the Jewish people started to organize under the leadership of Theodor Herzl and Chaim Weizmann in the late 1890s, survival was of the essence, but creativity went hand in hand with the spirit of survival. Zionism was the catalyst to a mass migration to the land of our ancestors. From a place of rocks, desert and almost no vegetation, Israel has become one of the world’s foremost providers of fresh produce. Drip irrigation was an Israeli invention out of necessity. Much more has come to our modern world from Israeli ingenuity. It makes the job of the proponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) very complicated if they choose to be ethically consistent, but they seldom do!

We celebrate because Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East

This little sliver of land the size of New Jersey almost becomes a drop of water as one places it within the whole ocean of Arab countries surrounding her. Muslim governments vary from somewhat moderate to fully Sharia compliant. Women, homosexuals and even people of other faiths are often abused verbally AND physically, with their rights taken away from them. The one country in the Middle East where Arabs and Jews can actually coexist (at least from an Israeli perspective), is Israel. There are even Arabs as members of the Knesset (Israel Parliament.)

We celebrate because Israel is a safe haven for the Jewish people.

Jewish people have been in the Diaspora (Dispersion), since the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. We can be found just about anywhere in the world, even though there is only 15 million of us. Yet, it is becoming increasingly evident that the only safe haven for Jewish people worldwide is Eretz Yisrael. Anti-Semitism is on the rise everywhere. Jews are being killed in Europe, the Middle East and even America, simply for being Jewish. Nevertheless, God promised that the Jews would return to the Land of Israel ( Ezekiel 37), and we are seeing it happening in our lifetime.

We celebrate because of God’s promises to Israel

Some people believe in God while others don’t, but that doesn’t prevent God from keeping his promises for Israel, and they are numerous:

• God made a covenant with Abraham: Genesis 12:1-3

• God gave specific boundaries: Genesis 15:18-21

• God’s covenant was reconfirmed through Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and his 12 sons: Genesis 26:2-4

, 28:13

, 50:24

• Israel will never be destroyed because of God’s promise of eternal protection: Jeremiah 31:35-37

We celebrate because of Israel’s glorious future promised by God

As bleak as the present looks, especially from a human perspective, Israel has a guaranteed glorious future, and that is indeed a cause for celebration.

• God promised Israel a New Covenant when He will remember their sins no more: Jeremiah 31:31-34

• Israel’s glorious future includes a final restoration to the land: Ezekiel 39:25-29

• Israel’s glorious future is secure because of God’s character: Ezekiel 36:22-28

Happy Independence Day, Happy 71st Birthday and Am Yisrael Chai!

March 26, 2019 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Zionism: What it is and what it is not!

The word “Zionism” can have either a positive or a negative connotation attached to it depending on who you are asking for a definition. When hard-pressed, most people, from either side of the spectrum have a difficult time clearly defining the word, yet it doesn’t stop them from using it. On one hand, the proponents of Zionism will define it using phrases such as “Right to the Land”, “Law of Return”, “Re-establishment of a Jewish homeland”, “Revival movement” or even “Repatriation to the ancestral homeland.” On the other hand, its foes will not hesitate to equate Zionism with “Colonization”, “Apartheid”, “Ethnic cleansing”, “Racism”, “Imperialism”, “Occupation” and “Human rights violations.”

There are many definitions of Zionism. A succinct and clear one goes like this ” Zionism is the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.” ‘

Anti-Zionists will often accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing. Ethnic cleansing or genocide is the intentional organized mass murder to eradicate a people group. The Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust both 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. Incidentally, there are still less Jewish people in 2019 than there were prior to the Holocaust. Zionism IS NOT ethnic cleansing!

Anti-Zionists will also accuse Israel of being an Apartheid State. Apartheid was South Africa’s way of keeping blacks and whites separated, and as such, it forbade blacks to eat in white restaurants or cafes, attend white schools or universities, be treated in white hospitals, live in white neighborhoods and serve in the white government. Israeli Arabs are full citizens who do not experience any of the restrictions that were known to South Africa, they even serve in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament.). The only difference is with citizens of Gaza and the West Bank, but THEY do not want to be Israeli citizens. Zionism IS NOT Apartheid!

Historically, we must go back to the Haskalah, or Jewish enlightenment that started in the late 1700s. The Jewish Maskilim “Enlightened Ones” led an intellectual movement promoting liberalism and freedom of thought. The hope was the emancipation of European Jews and equality in the various countries where they lived. It failed! The 1880s saw the beginning of the Russian Pogroms (government-sponsored riots) against Eastern European Jews. Various Aliyot or waves of immigration started to take place from Europe to the Land that was then still called Palestine.

But anti-Semitism didn’t stop at Eastern Europe. In 1894, French Captain Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of treason, stripped of his rank, imprisoned on Devil’s Island, and eventually vindicated. The Austrian journalist, Theodor Herzl covered the trial in Paris and became rapidly convinced that Dreyfus had been framed and that Jews had no future in Europe. Two years later he published “Der Judenstaadt.” In 1897, at the 1st Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, Herzl declared “At Basel, I founded the Jewish State…Perhaps in five years, certainly in fifty, everyone will know it.” Incidentally, 1897 plus 50 takes us to 1947 which is when the United Nations voted for the partition of British Mandate Palestine, leading to the 1948 birth of modern Israel.

The fascinating birth and growth of Zionism couldn’t have happened without contributions by key figures such as Eliezer Ben Yehuda who singlehandedly developed modern Hebrew from the liturgical tongue of the Scriptures. Chaim Weizmann was also instrumental in helping WW1 efforts and became close to British officials which led to the pivotal moment in Jewish history, the 1917 Balfour Declaration, telling the world that Jews had a right to their ancestral homeland. It was followed in 1920 by the San Remo Conference where 53 out of 61 countries of the League of Nations gave the rights to “Palestine” to the Jews and established an international legal precedent. Before long, the modern State of Israel was born on May 14, 1948, and since that day, it has been at war with its neighbors.

Is Zionism biblical or is it a valid thorn in the flesh of Palestinians who lived in and owned the land way before the Jewish people? Not everybody will use the Bible to validate Zionism, but since one of the main themes of God’s word is Israel, it sheds some light for us, as we can see in the Torah:

• The land belongs to God first and foremost: Leviticus 25:23
• God made a covenant with Abraham promising a land, a seed and a blessing: Genesis 12:1-3
• The land has specific boundaries: Genesis 15:18-21
• God’s covenant was reconfirmed through Isaac, Jacob and his 12 sons: Genesis 26:2-4, 28:13, 50:24
• God cares about the land and will bless/discipline Israel for obedience/disobedience: Deuteronomy 11:8-17
• The land is promised based on God’s character and not Israel’s performance: Deuteronomy 7:7-9
• God told Israel to conquer the land: Deuteronomy 9:3
• Israel’s exact boundaries are controlled by God: Deuteronomy 2:3-5, 16:19
• The Babylonian captivity didn’t annul the oath made by God: Leviticus 26:41-45

Additionally, the Prophets tell us of the glorious future of Israel:

• Israel will never be destroyed because of God’s promise of eternal protection: Jeremiah 31:35-37
• God promised Israel a New Covenant when He will remember their sins no more: Jeremiah 31:31-34
• Israel’s glorious future includes a final restoration to the land: Ezekiel 39:25-29
• Israel’s glorious future is secure because of God’s character: Ezekiel 36:22-28

Simply put, anti-Zionism IS anti-Semitism repackaged. From the biblical record, it can easily be argued that God Himself was the first Zionist, but He also doesn’t want for anybody to perish, and He certainly has the same love and compassion for Jews and Arabs, and so should we. Being a Zionist doesn’t mean that one is a racist or a colonizer. Not historically, and certainly not biblically. Being a Zionist doesn’t mean that one is anti-Palestinian but sadly, the opposite is seldom true!

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