The World’s Oldest Hatred
The Bible reveals the spiritual war behind it. Hatred towards the Jewish people is a recurring theme throughout the holy scriptures, manifesting in various forms and through numerous adversaries. The different books provide numerous accounts of nations and individuals who harbored animosity towards the Jews, often resulting in conflict, persecution, and attempts to thwart God’s plans for His people. In modern times it is called anti-Semitism. The term antisemitism was coined by Wilhelm Marr, who was looking for a scientific sounding term to replace the word “Judenhass”, or Jew hatred in German. The word describes hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.
In the Bible, Semites refer to the descendants of Shem, one of Noah’s sons, included in the genealogies outlined in the book of Genesis. It narrates that everyone on earth drowned except for Noah and his family and that all mankind descended from his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The idea widely adopted by Christians, and to a lesser extent by Muslims and Jews is, that the three sons of Noah represented the ancestors of three major racial or linguistic groups. According to this interpretation, Ham was the ancestor of the dark-skinned peoples of Africa, Shem of the Hebrews and people with similar languages, and Japheth the ancestor of the Medes, Persians, Greeks, and other peoples who, many centuries later, came to be known as Aryans.
A Semite refers to a member of any group speaking a Semitic language, mainly Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. These form a linguistic family that connects their cultures. When taking the linguistic approach, Arabs can’t be anti-Semites.
However, the Oxford English Dictionary defines anti-Semitism more narrowly as “prejudice, hostility, or discrimination towards Jewish people on religious, cultural, or ethnic grounds.” That is what is understood today, in simple terms – it is Jew-hatred.
But it was already there in ancient times. One of the earliest and most significant examples of hatred towards the Jews is found in the account of the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt. The Pharaoh, fearing the growing number of Israelites, subjected them to harsh labor and attempted to suppress their population.
The Amalekites are another notable enemy of the Jews, known for their unprovoked attack on the Israelites shortly after the Exodus.
In the Book of Esther, Haman, an official in the Persian Empire, epitomizes the deep-seated hatred towards the Jews.
In medieval times, the Romans destroyed the Jewish Temple.
Arab leaders have repeatedly made clear their animosity toward Jews and Judaism. When Hitler introduced the Nuremberg racial laws in 1935, he received telegrams of congratulation from all corners of the Arab world. Later, during the war, one of his most ardent supporters was the Mufti of Jerusalem. During the Holocaust six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others were killed by Nazi Germany.
Ever since God brought the Jewish people into the world to fulfill His purposes, the devil tries to destroy God’s purposes.
America is still the greatest friend of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel in modern times. But that seems to be changing. When crowds chanted, “Death to Israel”, and “from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free”, the demonstrations were not limited to Islamic lands or even to Europe. They could be found all over the United States. For the first time, hatred for Israel was being mainstreamed in American culture.
This has been illustrated in the Democratic Party. In 2017, Democrats constituted a pro-Israel party. But now, just 8 years later, the Democrats constitute a pro-Palestinian party.
Yet it’s not only on the left, but on the right as well. The far extreme has become increasingly brazen in its anti-Israel, anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic rhetoric. Even conservative circles are joining in. Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens are blaming the Jews and Zionism for the world’s evils. The world’s oldest hatred continues even today.
Though it is a stunning development, it should not shock us – as the Bible foretells that in the last days all nations will come against Israel.
No
Standing with Israel 