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July 5, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

6 Signs Reveal That We Are Back in the 1930s!

When I started the research in 2000 for my first book on antisemitism, I identified some troubling trends in the new antisemitism that were slowly becoming a reality. Most people looked at me funny when I claimed that what I was observing, appeared to be an ominous return to the 1930s and 1940s in Europe for the Jews. I was even called a conspiracy theorist, but it is only a conspiracy theory if it is not true, and as it turns out, my fears are now confirmed. We are in the 1930s and we haven’t seen the worst yet.

I have identified 6 signs revealing that we are in a 21st-century version of the 1930s. When we remember how that previous era ended for six million Jews, it should bring chills down our spine and it should really motivate people of goodwill in general and Bible-believing Christians in particular, to expose the lies and fight for the truth. The sad reality is that this time, not just the Jews are the target, but Christians as well. This being said, and as history has shown, the Jews are the first to be targeted and they are persecuted the most. There is a reason why antisemitism is often called the longest hatred.

1 – Demonization
Often, the first step in separating a people group from the rest of society is to make people believe that they are different in a negative and even dangerous way. This has been the stigma attached to my people for much of our history, from the Biblical record to the early Church Fathers to the medieval lords to the reformation to the Holocaust. Yet, it didn’t really stop because antisemitism never stops. Antisemitism is on a continuum that constantly reinvents itself to better attract more people towards hating the Jews. The demonization of the Jews is nothing new. We have been accused of crucifying Messiah from the day of the crucifixion to this day, a false accusation that can easily be debunked starting with the Bible in John 10:14-18, where Yeshua speaks of His death as a necessary part of God’s plan, and how He gave His own life for all and was able to take it back at His resurrection. Additionally, we have been called so many things from criminals to wild beasts to poisoners of wells to usurers to little devils to vermin and sub-human. The last two names were part of Nazi propaganda to dehumanize the Jews and facilitate their demonization. Vermin need to be exterminated for the safety of people, thus the Holocaust was thought of, justified, organized and six million times successful.
What about today? Are Jews still being demonized? You tell me. We are called the new Nazis of the Middle East, colonizers, occupiers, guilty of ethnic cleansing. The old antisemitism was going after the Jews in the Diaspora and the new antisemitism is going after them as well as Israelis and the Land of Israel as well. At the 2018 Convention of the Islamic Society of North America, American/Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour said, “if you’re on the side of the oppressor, or you’re defending the oppressor or you’re actually trying to humanize the oppressor, then that’s a problem sisters and brothers and we got to be able to say: that is not the position of the Muslim American community.” I don’t know about you, but when someone tells me that I am trying to humanize someone else, it must mean that they believe that someone else not to be human. If the Jews are not human, they become irrelevant to our society and demonization is ever so easier to commit. Linda Sarsour is closely connected to every member of “the Squad.”

2 – Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
The BDS movement has officially been going for 16 years now. It was started by two men, one of whom we all know well, Mahmoud Abbas (current leader of the Palestinian Authority), and Omar Barghouti from Qatar, who incidentally received the Gandhi Peace Award in 2017 for his efforts towards peace in the Middle East. Boycott, in and of itself, isn’t bad; it all depends on who or what one is boycotting, the reasons they do so and of course the integrity of the boycott. Abbas and Barghouti didn’t invent the boycott of Jewish people, products or inventions; they simply revived an age-old practice that was used in the 1930s. Not long after coming into power, the Nazi leadership started to boycott Jewish businesses and Jewish professionals. On April 1, 1933, they decided to station stormtroopers in front of Jewish stores and paint yellow stars of David on storefront windows. The boycott officially lasted only one day, and many Germans ignored it. Nevertheless, it was the start of a campaign of ostracization that would lead to more boycotts and confiscation of Jewish property.
The modern BDS movement relies on the ignorance of those it targets as recruits. Being in the entertainment industry, on the political scene, in academia or even in various Christian denominations, BDS influences people who have blindly bought the Palestinian victimhood narrative. The very fact that Omar Barghouti received the Gandhi Peace Award in 2017 for peace efforts, shows the hypocrisy and lack of understanding of the facts in the Middle East. It is so sad to see so many people infatuated with a false narrative cloaked in the attractive garment of social justice. The BDS movement continues to tighten its grip on Israel and Jewish products, inventions and people (with much hypocrisy as they only boycott what is convenient to them), and financed by liberals like George Soros.

3 – Pogroms
The first pogroms occurred in Eastern Europe in the mid to late 1800s. They mostly occurred within what was known as the Pale of Settlement. The Pale (1791-1913) included about 20 percent of European Russia and much of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Moldova, Ukraine and parts of western Russia, for a total of about 1,000,000 square miles. About 90 percent of Russian Jews lived inside the Pale, growing from 1.6 million in 1820 to 5.6 million in 1910. Life was very difficult, and additionally, the pogroms (Russian for “devastation”) of the 1870s through the 1910s created a very hostile environment that exacerbated the miserable conditions in which the Jews lived. The first pogrom might have been as early as 1821 in Odessa, Ukraine. The official reason given for the hundreds of subsequent pogroms was the assassination of Alexander II in 1880, for which some blamed the Jews. Pogroms became government-sponsored riots against the Jews, and they claimed the lives of many in the little Jewish shtetls (hamlets) of the Pale. They included looting, rape and murder.
While today’s pogroms might not be government-sponsored, they are mostly ignored by the authorities. To be sure, we are not seeing major destruction of Jewish property and lives like in the 19th-century pogroms, but today’s new antisemitism is expressed in ways that come very close. Consider the destructive attack on Jewish neighborhoods in conjunction with the murder of George Floyd. Jewish businesses were attacked and looted in the Fairfax area of Los Angeles where many Jews live. Graffiti such as “Free Palestine” and “F…Jews” were spray-painted on walls. What this has to do with George Floyd still escapes me.

4 – Blood libels and other accusations
While the world is still trying to recover from the pandemic that changed everything, to some people, the Jews are to blame for the virus. This is nothing new for the Jewish people, but more of a repeat of what took place in the 14th century. By the mid-1300s, with the advent of the “Black Death” or “Black Plague”, the legend of the poisoning of the wells of Europe had found fertile ground. It was the most devastating pandemic in the history of mankind, responsible for the death of about 75 million people worldwide (25 million in Europe alone) from 1347 to 1350. It was four years of horror for the Jewish communities of Europe. As the rest of the continent appeared to be on its way to total extinction, people started to look for a cause and it was not long before the Jews were once again used as the convenient “scapegoats of humanity”. Jewish people also died during the “Black Death”, but generally in lesser numbers. The Kosher laws Jewish people followed forced them to maintain stricter hygiene and thus resulted in fewer infections and fewer deaths than the communities around them. The Jews also lived in separate communities and the liturgical washing of hands before meals also kept them from being as sick or dying from the Black Death. However, even with these known facts and traditions, it didn’t stop the masses from destroying – slaughtering – over 200 Jewish communities.
So, today, and around the world, some are blaming the Jews for creating the virus to benefit from the sales of a vaccine; which is a combination of the poisoning of the wells of Europe and the myth of the greedy Jew. They come from the left, the right and religious groups worldwide. Some even claim that the Jews are more dangerous than Covid-19 and should be eliminated. Social media is the big culprit in allowing antisemitic rhetoric to go unchallenged and unpunished. More than 17,000 occurrences of the phrase “Hitler was right” have been found on various platforms and very little has been done to stop it. Recently, a Twitter post by ex-congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) resurfaced where she claimed that Jews were behind 9-11

5 – Killings
Tragically, Jew-hatred rarely stops at the defacing of property or online threats. We have now entered a phase where Jews are being killed again. The Holocaust was the most devastating, organized genocide in the history of mankind. It was also the only of its kind where Jews were brought back to their death after they fled, making it incredibly unique. While the new antisemitism is not claiming the lives of Jews in the same manner and comparable numbers, just the idea that Jews would be massacred again should send chills down our spine. Perhaps France, more than any other civilized country, has seen the death of Jewish people in the last decade, and it is very alarming. This is why I believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that antisemitism has once again morphed into a more voracious beast: End-Times antisemitism.
The 2017 killing of Sarah Halimi in Paris, when she was thrown out the window of her apartment was one of the worst acts of antisemitic killing in recent years, and it is only one of several in 2012, 2015 and 2018. To add insult to injury, her killer was allowed to walk free without a trial because he had been found high on cannabis. This sets a precedent for the killing of Jews in France, and this should also be a wake-up call for French Jews. France is no longer a safe place for Jews. Let’s also not forget the Pittsburg Synagogue massacre and the one in San Diego. Jews worldwide now live in constant fear for their lives. It is not safe to walk outside with a yarmulke on your head or a star of David around your neck. They used to be potential targets for verbal abuse, but the abuse is now turning physical. It is not only on the streets that Jews are at risk. Just days ago, a bullet was fired at the window of a Brooklyn synagogue.

6- Apathy
As if all these signs weren’t enough to sound the alarm, there is one more aspect that must be brought up, and that is the apathy of the general public. For the most part, people don’t care about Jewish people being the victims of antisemitism. If they are not affected, they move on. This tragically is reminiscent of the Holocaust era when many looked the other way when trains overfilled with Jews passed through their towns. Even worse, as Erwin Lutzer documents in his book, When a Nation Forgets God, the story he heard from an eyewitness telling him how people would sing louder in church when they heard trains go through, packed with Jews in cattle cars: “I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it because what could we do to stop it. A railroad track ran behind our small church and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance, and then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars. Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews en route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us. We knew the time the train was coming, and when we heard the whistle blow, we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church, we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.”

The apathy of yesteryear is still contagious today. I am not surprised when people who do not believe in God act selfishly, but I am disgusted when people who call themselves Christians either denigrate the Jewish people or reenact the Holocaust era scenario and ignore the tragedy befalling my people today. The bystanders of the 1930s and 1940s are part of history, and please don’t go trying to cancel that! My disgust is with the bystanders of today; the apathy within and without the church is a clear sign that the Jews have very few friends who will come to their rescue in time of need. Incidentally, American Jews being oblivious to these signs is another mystery to me. How much do my people need to go through to accept the fact that we are back in the 1930s and 1940s?

June 12, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Survivalists, Escapists and the Rapture in the Prophetic Future!

There are not that many topics in the Bible that cause so much controversy as the Rapture does. Some people believe in it, some don’t. From those who believe that the Rapture is a real event that will be fulfilled literally–and I belong to that group–many positions exist. The Rapture might happen before the Tribulation, during or after. I personally believe that the Rapture will occur before the Great Tribulation, leaving behind all those who have not placed their trust in the atoning death of Yeshua the Messiah for their sins. So, on the spectrum of end-times events, we find many markers representing doctrinal positions. At each end of that spectrum, we find groups that I will identify as the survivalists and the escapists.

The survivalists, that we can also call preppers, are a group of people convinced that mankind will go through the Great Tribulation and suffer greatly. They are right that the Tribulation will be a horrible, bloody carnage. They believe that it will include unbelievers and believers together for seven years of unprecedented turmoil and persecution resulting in the greatest death toll of all human history. Preppers prepare. They buy food, supplies, weapons, ammo and some even build remote bunkers hoping to put all the odds in their favor for surviving the Tribulation. Preppers also have a tendency to succumb to the latest conspiracy theory. On the mind of most preppers is the inevitable end of the world that must be avoided at all costs

Am I saying that believers should trust the Lord in all things and not prepare for difficult times? Absolutely not! In fact, the Bible advises us to prepare and be ready in many ways:

• Be ready for Messiah – Matthew 24:44
• Be watchful and strong – 1 Corinthians 16:13
• Prepare supplies of food – Proverbs 28:19-20, 20:4
• Prepare with faith – Hebrews 11:7

Now, what I am saying is that our preparedness should not consume us to the point that we are ignoring other aspects of life. Preparing is good and necessary. We need to prepare for the future and, to an extent, we also need to prepare for the unknown and the unexpected, but I find many preppers being so obsessed with stocking up supplies in anticipation of doomsday, that they completely miss their many opportunities to be witnesses of the love and compassion of Messiah to the lost. God provides and protects His children. He does it directly through circumstances and indirectly through people. So, we need to be wise about preparing for the future, using common sense mixed with wisdom and discernment. We must not succumb to the temptation of overstocking and over-preparing. Satan loves to keep people busy with whatever people deem necessary, and in the meantime, nobody is sharing the Good News. Some even think that they are smack in the center of God’s will by over-prepping for the end. A balance must be achieved.

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Now, on the other side of the same spectrum, we find the escapists. Who are these people? Escapists are people who believe in a pre-tribulational Rapture as I do, but they are fixated on their imminent departure more than anything else. They believe that the Rapture will occur prior to the Great Tribulation and that they hold their ticket and reservation for the ultimate ride upward. Escapists look forward to the Rapture and are often heard pleading for Yeshua to come now and snatch away the believers immediately. Escapists are not only “Rapture-ready”, but they also are “Rapture anxious”. They are chomping at the bit for the Rapture to take place.

This reminds me of a pet peeve of mine. It really rubs me the wrong way when I hear people use the word Maranatha all the time. I have nothing against this beautiful Aramaic word meaning “The Lord is coming” or “Come, O Lord”! We shouldn’t dismiss or ignore the beautiful hope that we have in Yeshua and His return. He will return as the Lion of Judah to rule the world from Jerusalem. What a glorious day this will be! What troubles me, is the many believers who constantly say Maranatha as they express their strong desire for Yeshua to return NOW! The question that usually comes to my mind is: “Are all the people you care about saved for you to be so anxious about Yeshua’s return?” When could such a question be answered in the affirmative without any doubt by anyone? Never!

I find the escapist approach to be selfish. It is as if people are thinking, “I’m saved, I’m in and who cares about others”? Again, and as always, I do not wish to paint with broad strokes, but I am greatly concerned with the escapist mentality found across the Body of Messiah. So where is the healthy balance between the escapists and the survivalists? I believe it is found in the person who trusts the Lord day-by-day, moment-by-moment, as they also prepare with common sense for possible financial, physical, political and spiritual difficulties. Planning is necessary, prepping is over-reacting. Trusting the Lord is critical to our spiritual health and growth, but blindly trusting God for all things without any planning is irresponsible.

We need to expect His return at any moment because it can happen at any moment, but we also need to wisely prepare as if He will not return and/or rapture us immediately. Nowhere in the Bible does it mention that believers will not suffer prior to the Rapture. So, prepare, trust, obey and anticipate His return. If we combine all that wisely, we will find plenty of time and opportunities to witness the good news to those who have no hope, so that when He indeed calls the believers to be raptured, more people will join in this glorious departure. Until then, let us all gather in the center of that spectrum and get busy sharing with the lost.

May 29, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Time For Faith In Action: I Am Not A Bystander!

Only eighty years ago, the world was taken by surprise by the evil agenda of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. The intensity and frequency of the horrors inflicted upon European Jews was a shock to many and it was even hard to believe that such a country as Germany could descend so low in committing evil against fellow humans. The players in WWII can be identified as the perpetrators/collaborators (Nazis, French Vichy government, Fascist Italy), the victims (many minorities, handicapped, religious sects and of course, the Jews), the rescuers (many of whom became “Righteous Among the Nations”) and the bystanders (the many who looked the other way, and did NOTHING).

With resilience and by the grace of God, the Jewish people regrouped and grew again out of the ashes of Auschwitz, crying out to the world “NEVER AGAIN” as a testimony to the innocent victims and a commitment to never let it happen again. For a brief period of respite, the world believed that it would never happen again, but unfortunately, the global events of the last few decades have proven us wrong. Not only have we been proven wrong, but the morphing of racial antisemitism into anti-Zionism turned out to be the biggest lie that people are willing to buy. By renaming themselves anti-Israel or anti-Zionist, they believe that they are switching from anti-Semitism to social justice warriors or human rights advocates; thus, eliminating any sense of guilt they may have had in the past. The new narrative has grown very deep roots in the Western culture from the seed planted by Yasir Arafat and the PLO and watered by all the foes of Israel – including some within the evangelical world. The weed keeps growing as it continues being watered and even fertilized by the many. The victims are still the Jewish people and the perpetrators are all those who hate them in thoughts, words, or deeds.

There are still two groups left: the rescuers and the bystanders. As to the rescuers, I strongly believe that they will be what I call the “New Righteous Among the Nations”. Additionally, I believe that they should look at the prophecy of the goats and the sheep in Matthew 25:31-46 when Yeshua explains that during the Tribulation, those who will become believers will turn out to be rescuers of persecuted Jews. I do believe, however, that at the time of the Rapture, all believers will be taken prior to the Great Tribulation (also known as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble), there will be those who turn to Yeshua during the tribulation. Out of these believers, hearts will turn toward the Jewish people and they will aid in their rescue and protection. This is a very powerful model of love and service that we should ALL pay attention to today – Yesterday, for that matter!

You have always had those who turn in the innocent for their own benefit or what they are convinced is for their own good – all for selfish reasons. However, the bystanders scare me the most. Eighty years ago, Europe was plagued by Nazi antisemitism and collaborators like the French Vichy government. Those were the perpetrators that were transparent about their agenda; they were after the Jews at any cost. What about those who stayed in their apartments and peeked behind the blinders when the Gestapo came to take my grandfather away from his wife and daughter (my mother)? Were they scared? Did they feel powerless? Did they feel unconcerned because they were not Jewish – or they simply could not have cared less? Maybe it was a combination of some of these reasons or even all of them. However, the end result was a very large group of colleagues, neighbors and even friends who could have helped the Jewish people. Instead, they chose to look the other way and became co-perpetrators. I have said this for a long time: a bystander who does nothing only facilitates the crime of a perpetrator. In other words, doing nothing is still doing something.

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Fast forward to 2021, Israel was at war with Hamas for 11 days and much of the world watched in horror how the IDF was going after “innocent” Palestinians. The Palestinian narrative (read: propaganda) has been pushed through the media and various government agencies around the world with the advent of Arafat, it is now believed as truth. No fact-checking necessary. Those in media and government want Israel to feel alone and isolated. However, the Jewish people have the undeniable right to exist and to do it in their own ancestral, Biblical land that predates the Palestinian narrative by several millennia.

Evangelical Christians have had a history of support for Israel. After all, if you read your Bible correctly using a grammatical/historical method and paying attention to the context, it becomes extremely hard to deny the fact that God has a very special plan for Israel and the Jewish people whom He calls the “Apple of my eye” in Zechariah 2:8. Promises and covenants were made between God and Israel, and all of them but one, the Mosaic Covenant, were unconditional and eternal. This means that they are still in effect today and that God unconditionally promised certain things to the Jewish people. They are based on God’s character and not on Israel or the Jewish people’s performance. That history of support and love for Israel, which once was known as “Christian Zionism”, is eroding, especially with the newer generation of young evangelicals, as it drastically declined from 75% to 33% in just three years.

This still leaves us with a large group of Christians who genuinely love Israel and the Jewish people but allow me to be blunt: loving Israel doesn’t mean a trip to the Holy land, eating hummus and falafel and praying for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6.) Don’t quote me wrong, prayer ought to be at the foundation of all we do as modern-day followers of Yeshua, but it cannot stop there, especially today. Israel and Hamas are now experiencing a ceasefire, and I truly do not know how long it will hold. I would say at least until some tunnels in Gaza are rebuilt and the Hamas arsenal is somewhat replenished with rockets and missiles ready to be launched again on Israeli civilians. The ceasefire is in place in Israel, but there hasn’t been a complete ceasefire between Jews and their foes for the last 2000 years. Anti-Semitism is the conflict of all conflicts against the Jews. It is the longest and deadliest pandemic of all mankind, and right now it is picking up momentum like we’ve not seen or experienced since the Holocaust. It is global, it is vicious and it shows no signs of stopping.

I am somewhat encouraged by the various organizations getting involved to expose the lies, teach the truth and voice their outrage. They help educate people and hopefully call them to action. A call to action is exactly what I am praying I can do. I want to reach as many Christians as possible and challenge them to put their faith into action. Let’s see Genesis 12:3 come to life, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

I have designed a logo available on my Facebook page that reads: “I AM NOT A BYSTANDER, Genesis 12:3.” My hope is that people get ahold of it and post it everywhere on the net. Some people have already approached me to make signs, T-Shirts and hats…That’s great! What I really want you all to do beyond flooding the net with this image of support, is to call your Jewish Community Center, Synagogue or any other Jewish organization and tell them RIGHT NOW, when they need it the most: “Hello, my name is ________________ and I am not a bystander.” Let the Jewish community know that you are a Bible-believing Christian and that you have their back. Make yourselves available to help if Jewish property is defaced or destroyed. It is always the right time for prayer, but we all need to kick it up a notch because it is time for our faith to be in action. Some people even believe that the war against antisemitism has been lost. If it is true, and I certainly hope it is not, we have even more reasons to get involved in the lives of our Jewish friends and become the New Righteous Among the Nations. #iamnotabystander

May 8, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

What are the Covenants, and are they really important to us?

When you build a house, you would never think of placing it on any kind of ground without a foundation. Obviously, any edifice that has stood the test of time has been built on a solid and steady foundation. Why should it be any different with the Word of God? If the Bible is true, and it is, it is dangerous to study it without a proper foundation. We can easily let our fingers wander on the pages of God’s counsel, not knowing where to rest or on what to safely stand. The result can be a shaky faith, a wrong faith, or no faith at all. So, how do we establish the firm foundation needed to support the building of our faith that will lead to our serving God and growing closer to Him? The answer starts with a proper understanding of the covenants of God.

A covenant is an agreement between several parties (usually two). It is a contract that obligates the parties signing it to adhere to its various stipulations. In a way, it creates boundaries and specific rules. If one of the parties breaks the covenant, the other party is no longer bound by it. Biblical covenants exist to do just that, they establish a specific relationship between God and those He chooses to ratify the covenants with. They also contain promises usually based on the adherence to the covenant, but not always by all parties. A proper understanding of the Covenants of God will help alleviate false theological positions such as Replacement Theology, Dual Covenant Theology, and Christian Palestinianism. The understanding of the covenants will also help us fight antisemitism.

There are eight covenants in the Bible: The Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Land, Davidic and New covenants. Some are there as a contract between God and mankind in general and others are there as a contract between God and Israel and the Jewish People in particular. The distinction is important to note. Some of the covenants are also connected to one another throughout mankind’s history.

Another critical aspect of these covenants is the fact that they can be conditional or unconditional. A conditional covenant is when God says to the other party, “if you will, then I will”. There is an expectation from God on the other party. God’s fulfilling His part–whatever it might be–depends on the other party fulfilling their part, which usually had something to do with obedience. An unconditional covenant is one where God simply says, “I will”. The contract exists between God and the other party, but its fulfillment depends only on God doing His part. In other words, an unconditional covenant is tightly connected to God’s character. Let’s review them one at a time. They are the necessary building blocks upon which we build our understanding and proper application of God’s Word in our lives. As we understand them, we will discover that they also are a guarantee from God to Israel and the whole world.

The Edenic Covenant: Between God and Adam (Representative of mankind) – Conditional and Temporary
The Edenic Covenant was ratified between God and Adam as a representative of mankind (Genesis 1:28-31). It was conditional, depending upon Adam and Eve’s obedience regarding the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:15-17): “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” As the story tells us in Genesis 3:1-8, Adam and Eve disobeyed as they followed the serpent’s temptation, and the first sin of mankind was committed. The rest is history, or should I say HIS story? Hosea 6:7 tells us, “But like Adam, they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me.” The Edenic Covenant was short-lived and replaced by the Adamic Covenant.
The Adamic Covenant: Between God and Adam (Representative of mankind) – Unconditional and Eternal
The Adamic Covenant was made necessary as a result of the breaking of the Edenic Covenant. It shows how God dealt with the three guilty parties in the Edenic Covenant (Genesis 3:14-19). To the serpent (Satan), “The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat All the days of your life.” It is also in this passage that we read the very first messianic prophecy (Genesis 3:15) telling us of the animosity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Messiah).
God also punished the woman, “To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” and the man as well: Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. The Adamic Covenant is still very much in effect today.
The Noahic Covenant: Between God and Noah (Representative of mankind) – Unconditional and Eternal
The Noahic Covenant was ratified between God and Noah/Mankind (Genesis 9:1-17), “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.” Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. I establish My covenant with you, and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” From Noah forward, meat consumption (without blood) is introduced. The sign of that covenant with mankind is the rainbow. As a result of the flood (which was never to occur again per God’s word to Noah), all humanity descended from Adam through Noah and his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. Capital punishment is also introduced at this time in history. The Noahic Covenant is also very much in effect today.

The next five covenants are all between God and the Jewish people and are all unconditional and eternal except for the Mosaic Covenant, which was conditional and temporary.

The Abrahamic Covenant: Between God and the Jewish People – Unconditional and Eternal
The Abrahamic Covenant might be the most important Biblical covenant with the New Covenant. Failure to understand the Abrahamic Covenant, its parties and its provisions have led people to adopt faulty views such as Replacement Theology and Dual Covenant Theology. God started with a promise to Abram found in Genesis 12:1-3, “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This is where the well-known promise of blessings for blessing Israel and the Jewish people and curses for cursing them appears. Additionally, in Genesis 15:17-21, where the actual covenant is ratified, we learn that only the Shechinah Glory of God passed through the split animals. It was only God who needed to ratify the covenant. While Abraham symbolically represents the Jewish People in this covenant, only God needed to walk through to ratify it; thus, making it impossible for Abraham or the Jewish people to break the covenant. This also makes the covenant both unconditional AND eternal. Furthermore, in that passage, God gives us the exact boundaries of Israel, “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring, I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
Based on that passage, Biblical Israel should be about twice the size of Texas while it is currently about the size of New Jersey. Never in human history have these exact boundaries been fulfilled, but they will be during the millennial reign of Yeshua on earth from Jerusalem after the seven-year Tribulation. Nowhere in the Bible does God tell us that the land is not for the Jewish people, nowhere does it tell us it is Palestine, and nowhere does it tell us that it has been transferred to another people group. While it would seem this is simply rewriting biblical history, it’s actually rewriting scripture and Israel and the Jewish People’s past, present and future. This kind of “editing” makes God into a liar and covenant breaker. It is nothing short of Biblical history revisionism and it makes God into a liar and a covenant breaker. Notice that it is only the covenant between God and the Jewish people that some want to alter? The other covenants that God has with mankind, in general, are usually not an issue. The Abrahamic Covenant is also the foundation for the development of three other important covenants. The Land (Land), Davidic (Seed) and New (Blessing) Covenants. Additionally, the Abrahamic Covenant is reconfirmed through Isaac in Genesis 26:24, and through Jacob in Genesis 28:13-15; and again, through all of Jacob’s twelve sons in Genesis 49. The Abrahamic Covenant is still in effect today even though some of its provisions will not go into effect until the Millennial Kingdom.
The Mosaic Covenant: Between God and the Jewish People – Conditional and Temporary
The Mosaic Covenant is the only covenant that God made with the Jewish people that is conditional. Blessings hinge around the keeping of the Mosaic Law given to Moses at Sinai, not the 10 commandments written on tablets of stone, but the 613 mitzvot (commandments) of the Torah given to the children of Israel that span from Exodus 20:1 to Deuteronomy 28:68. A clear understanding of the blessings and curses attached to the Mosaic Covenant can be read in Deuteronomy 28, which is probably one of the clearest passages of the Torah where God tells Israel that He means business. One of the key elements of the Mosaic Law is the blood sacrifice as found in Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” Additionally, dietary restrictions (Biblical kosher laws) were introduced for Jewish people that didn’t exist for all making under the Noahic Covenant. The Sabbath was also formally introduced under this covenant. We must not forget that the Mosaic Law’s purpose was to show Israel that God’s idea of holiness cannot be attained by man, and thus the need for a redeemer to forgive our sins. It came to an end with the death of the Messiah (Romans 10:4; Ephesians 2:11-18).
The Land Covenant: Between God and the Jewish People – Unconditional and Eternal
The Land Covenant used to be called the Palestinian Covenant, but since the word “Palestine” has been hijacked for political gain in the Middle East at the expense of Israel, it is better to call it the Land Covenant. We read about it in Deuteronomy 29:1, “These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb.” This describes a Covenant different from the Mosaic Covenant. Some of its provisions are listed in Deuteronomy 30:1-10. The Land Covenant is especially important because it reaffirms that the title deed was given by God to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It also confirms that that deed was given to Israel unconditionally and was promised based on God’s character and never on Israel’s performance. In a sense, it further develops the land aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. The Bible promises a future restoration of Israel and the Jewish people into the Land. Ezekiel spoke of the return of the Jewish people to Israel in the last days and we can certainly say that we are living through that time right now. The Land Covenant is still in effect today.
The Davidic Covenant: Between God and the Jewish People – Unconditional and Eternal
The Davidic Covenant is another development from the Abrahamic Covenant as it pertains to the seed aspect. From that perspective, the Davidic king that the Covenant introduces is really a descendant of King David, namely King Messiah Himself, Yeshua of Nazareth. We read about it in I Chronicles 17:10-14, “Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build you a house. When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.’” The Covenant was made between God and King David who was promised an eternal dynasty (II Samuel 7:11, 16) and his kingdom would be established forever (II Samuel 7:13) and the Messiah would come from the seed of David (I Chronicles 17:11); and that finally, Messiah’s throne, house and kingdom will be established forever (I Chronicles 17:12-15). It is also an unconditional covenant and is still in effect today.
The New Covenant: Between God and the Jewish People – Unconditional and Eternal
The New Covenant is primarily found in Jeremiah 31:31-34, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” It was made between God and both the House of Israel and the House of Judah or all Israel (Jeremiah 31:31). And is clearly distinct from the Mosaic Covenant (Jeremiah 31:32) and it promises that Israel will be regenerated (Jeremiah 31:33) and their sins remembered no more (Jeremiah 31:34). The New Covenant contains the Law of Messiah (Romans 8:2; Galatians 6:2.) with many of the same commandments repeated, some annulled and some amplified by Messiah. The New Covenant develops the blessing aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant, particularly as it pertains to salvation. Many have tried to view the New Covenant allegorically and thus transfer it to the Church, but it was never so, if you take God’s Word literally. This would make the Christians the new recipients of the blessings as the new owners, but Scripture goes as far as describing Gentile Christians as partakers of the blessings, but never new owners. It is made clear in Romans 11:17-18, “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.” The Church is reaping the spiritual blessings of these covenants while Israel alone gets to benefit from the physical blessings such as the land.

Much more could be said about the eight covenants of the Bible. Their proper study and application will help believers find their place in God’s program for the ages. Just like nobody would dare build a house with no foundation or put the third floor up before the second floor, we ought to understand the place of the covenants in God’s program, the proper recipients of the covenants, if they are eternal or temporary, and if they are conditional or unconditional. Anything less cripples our ability to properly understand God’s counsel. In essence, the eight covenants of the Bible form the blueprints for God’s program for mankind.

April 29, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Where Was God During the Holocaust?

One of the most asked questions by Jewish people, when we discuss spiritual matters, is: “Where was God during the Holocaust”? This is a valid question that many have asked and very few if any have attempted to answer. In his seminal autobiographical work titled “Night”, Elie Wiesel addresses that question in his own way. After witnessing the hanging of a young child, he wrote: “I heard someone groan: ‘For God’s sake, where is God?’ And from within me, I heard a voice answer: ‘Where is He? This is where – hanging here from these gallows.'”

Furthermore, Wiesel wrote about his experience: “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never!”

In his foreword to the 1958 1st Edition of NIGHT, French novelist FRANÇOIS MAURIAC wrote: “And I, who believe that God is love, what answer was there to give my young interlocutor whose dark eyes still held the reflection of the angelic sadness that had appeared one day on the face of a hanged child? What did I say to him? Did I speak to him of that other Jew, this crucified brother who perhaps resembled him and whose cross conquered the world? Did I explain to him that what had been a stumbling block to his faith had become a cornerstone for mine? And that the connection between the cross and human suffering remains, in my view, the key to the unfathomable mystery in which the faith of his childhood was lost? And yet, Zion has risen up again out of the crematoria and the slaughterhouses. The Jewish nation has been resurrected from among its thousands of dead. It is they who have given it new life. We do not know the worth of one single drop of blood, one single tear. All is grace. If the Almighty is the Almighty, the last word for each of us belongs to Him. THAT IS WHAT I SHOULD HAVE SAID TO THE JEWISH CHILD BUT ALL I COULD DO WAS EMBRACE HIM AND WEEP.”

Again, as far as Wiesel and Mauriac went in their understanding and explanation of the Holocaust–they as we all do-fell short of grasping the depth of that tragedy. It is not uncommon to speak of Jewish history before and after Auschwitz, as the Holocaust left a scar on the Jewish people and guilt on mankind that could never be eradicated or understood, and yet, God if He didn’t cause it–and He certainly didn’t–allowed it to take place. Some of the possible reasons men have developed for the Holocaust revolve around God’s character and are worth investigating. This is based on an acceptance of the Tanach as God’s inspired, inerrant Word.

• God’s Omnipotence
Does the Tanach teach that God is omnipotent (all-powerful)? If He is not, maybe He wanted to stop the Holocaust, but the forces of evil were greater and more powerful, and as a result, the Holocaust went on. Scripture helps us to understand the omnipotence of God:
Deuteronomy 10:17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.
Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.
Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,
Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.

As it would appear, God is indeed omnipotent. So, the Holocaust was not beyond His reach. As a matter of fact, it did come to an end and it is believed that had Hitler not committed suicide, Nazi Germany would have acquired the atomic bomb within six months. Just imagine the carnage that would have followed. God could and did stop it, but that still doesn’t bring solace to the families of the six million innocent victims.

• God’s Omniscience
Maybe God is all-powerful, but He is not all-knowing. So, there is nothing that He cannot do, as long as He is aware of the issue. If He is indeed not all-knowing, maybe the Holocaust caught Him by surprise and only after a few years of the most horrific carnage, He decided to put an end to it. What kind of God would we worship if He didn’t have all the knowledge of the universe since we believe that He created the universe? Again, the Tanach sheds some light on that topic:
1 Chronicles 28:9a As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts.
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 23:24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.
Psalm 147:4 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.
Job 28:24 “For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

As it would appear, God is also omniscient. So, the Holocaust didn’t catch Him by surprise. He knew about it from before the beginning of time, but that still doesn’t bring solace to the families of the six million innocent victims.

• God’s Lovingkindness
Our loving God might not be so loving after all. Maybe He decided to punish Israel for rebellion and disobedience based on Deuteronomy 28. If God was to destroy all Israel for disobedience, He had numerous opportunities before the 1930s and 40s. Is His love unconditional? Let’s look at His Word for answers.
Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.
Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
Isaiah 54:10 “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the Lord who has compassion on you.
Jeremiah 31:35-37 “Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD, “If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the LORD.

Again, God’s Word confirms to us that He is all-loving and compassionate, and this, based on His promises and covenants with Israel, but that still doesn’t bring solace to the families of the six million innocent victims.

• God’s Perfection
Maybe God is flawed. Maybe He is not perfect. Who would want a relationship with a God who is not perfect? What does His Word tell us about His perfection and holiness?
Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.
Psalm 18:30 As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

God is perfect and holy in every way possible, but that still doesn’t bring solace to the families of the six million innocent victims.

So, to the unanswered question “Where was God during the Holocaust?”. We who hold His Word to be inspired and without error, might not have a solid answer. Nevertheless, we proclaim that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving and perfect. God might have not been a reality to those who suffered the horrors of the Holocaust, but he was not dead. We could call it an “eclipse of God”, like a real presence without any visibility or tangible proof. His Word tells of His suffering on behalf of His chosen people in Isaiah. This is a very encouraging verse that I often revisit:

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.

God suffered along with His people during the pogroms, in the ghettos and through the death camps’ ordeals. This is not the only time we witness God’s presence with the Jewish people during their suffering. We can also read about how jealous God was for Jerusalem in Zechariah 1:7-17.

Upon reflection on the topic of the Holocaust, should we ask the question “Where was God?” or “Where was man?” Our unchangeable, almighty creator was always there, but man somehow was allowed to make choices that led to the systematic death of the six million. We should never hold God responsible for what men did to other men! In the meantime, maybe all we can do to show the love of Messiah is follow the advice of François Mauriac and embrace those who have suffered a loss in the Holocaust.

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