This is the third article in a series of articles demonstrating that the church is distinct from Israel, Israel still holds an important place in God’s program, and they have the right to exist in the land God gave them.
Article 1: Distinctives Between Israel and the Church
Article 2: Israel is Israel’s By Covenant
There is a hatred against Israel that is inexplicable. There is a preservation of them that is equally inexplicable.
When the history of Israel over the last 3000 years is considered, and their current presence in the land of their ancestors is observed, it is nothing short of a miracle.
I’ll make few comments in this article, but simply share what is listed in many other resources:
722 B.C. – Assyria conquer and deport Northern Israel
701 B.C. – Assyria conquer and deport many in Southern Israel
586 B.C. – Babylon
473 B.C. – Haman schemes to commit genocide
169 B.C. – Antiochus Epiphanes persecutes and kills many
A.D. 70 – Rome destroy Jerusalem, the temple, and kill many
A.D. 135 – Romans crush a third Jewish revolt
A.D. 339 – Constantius II made it illegal for Jews to marry Christians
438 – Theodosius prohibits Jews from any high office in Roman world
531 – Prohibitions reinforced and the addition of Jews not being able to testify against Christians
722 – Leo III ordered all Jews to become Christians
1066 – Moslem rulers of Granada in Spain massacred 4000 Jews in a day
1096 – Pope Urban II proclaimed first Crusade As the crusaders passed through cities and found Jews there they killed them. They reasoned “Why fight the enemies of the Cross in Palestine, and leave these enemies untouched?” Thousands were killed and tortured. As the Crusades continued for many years the Jews of Europe came to know what to expect. Many adopted what they called Kiddush ha-Shem (the tradition of sacrifice). It was mass suicide, to choose their own time and manner of death.
1149 – The Berbers in Spain
1215 – Fourth Lateran Council of the Roman Catholic Church Formalised the Dogma of Transubstantiation
o Ordered all Jews to wear a badge to identify them as Jewish (to segregate and degrade them)
1290 – All Jews ordered out of England by Edward I
1306 – All Jews ordered out of France by Philip IV
1475 – All Jews in Italian city of Trent were killed
1371 – Jews massacred in Castile under rule of Henry II
1391 – Massacred in Seville
1479 – Ferdinand and Isabella unite Spain and drive out the Moors Roman Catholicism reinstated. The Inquisition targeted non-Catholic Christians and Jews
1492 – The Edict of Expulsion drives out 300,000 Jews
1506 – Those who had sought refuge in Portugal were massacred and tortured
1648 – Cossacks massacre hundreds of thousands of Jews in Poland
1660 – Jews blamed for the Black Death and slaughtered in many countries
A clear pattern is seen, so let’s skip ahead to the 20th century.
The Nazis, led by Hitler, committed genocide and murdered 6 million men, women, and children. Yet, from this indescribable tragedy Israel was reborn as a nation and established themselves in the land.
The miracles only continue when you consider the fight for their survival from the very first day against the united forces of the Muslim nations. Israel has 1/800th the land mass, and yet survives and even thrives.
A Rabbi told Ferdinand and Isabella, “You cannot curse us for there is a blessing on us, and you cannot bless us for there is a curse on us.”
There is something inexplicable about their persecution as well as their survival.
A final thought. Israel have not been allowed to freely live anywhere in the world. So, they returned to their historic homeland. They have nowhere else to go. They will fight to their last man to remain in their own land.
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