BearTrax Fellowship
What is Anti-semitism?
Yahshua (Jesus) was born into a Jewish family. Yahshua was raised as a Jew, He was circumcised on the 8th day, He celebrated His Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13, He lived and taught the Torah, and He died on the cross as a Jew. All of His apostles, with the exception of possibly Luke, were Jewish. After His resurrection, He told His apostles:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim (disciples), immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you..." Matthew 28:18-20 CJB
Yeshua will return to this earth as a Jew.
--SO--
How did the Church get so far from its Jewish roots?
Unfortunately, it has its basis in anti-Semitism - the hatred of God's chosen people, the Jews. Satan hates the Jews because they are Yahweh's chosen people. Satan knows the scriptures better than anyone. He knows his ultimate fate. Satan will do all possible to turn humanity against the Jewish people and deny to YHWH those gentiles who accept His son Yahshua our Messiah.
The term 'anti-Semitism' was coined in 1879 by a German journalist Wilhelm Marr to designate anti-Jewish campaigns then appearing throughout Europe. Since that time, the term has been universally applied to any form of behavior or literature which evidences hostility toward the Jews.
Yassar Arafat said "Kill the Christians on Sunday, kill the Jews on Saturday," as well as "Kill a Jew and save your soul".
Anti-Semitism and the early false church fathers:
More Jews have been killed in the name of this false Christianity than anything else. There is so much documentation that it is absolutely appalling to any lover of the Scriptures. Volumes could be written, but this will only highlight a few. Not only did our False Christian forefathers hate the Jews and disengage themselves from them, they persecuted them throughout history, beginning as early as 69 A.D.
Indeed, from the day that Stephen was stoned to death, there arose intense persecution against the Messianic community in Jerusalem.
The early False Church lodged two big accusations against the Jews:
The first false accusation was "Deicide" that the Jews killed the son of God and that the Jews are ritual murders.
The second false accusation was supersession, now called "Replacement Theology". This false teaching says that since the Jews had rejected Yahshua as YHWH's Son, their special bond with the Father was no longer valid, and the Christians were now "the new Israel". The triumph of the elect (Christians) over the rejected (Jews) justified the inferior status of the latter and showed them up as the "living witness" and the One and True Faith (Christianity).
The following are just a few examples of how the False Church fathers spoke against the Jews:
• The Epistle of Barnabus shows the Church exalted at the expense of the synagogue and the deadly word "Deicide" (the killing of God) appeared in Christian writings.
• Justin Martyr charged that the Jews crucified Christ in the highest pitch of their wickedness. It was during this time (150 A.D.) that the first encounter with Replacement Theology was embraced where the church replaced the Jews as God's chosen people.
• Tertullian argued that divine judgment is upon Israel, and Jews are destined to suffer for the crucifixion.
• New ideas opposing "law" sprang up as early as 160-320 A.D. Marcion, 2nd century, adopted Matthew 5:17 as key theme to ending God's law and taught that the grace of God superseded it, rejecting the Old Testament.
• Several Roman Catholic Church Councils from 341 A.D. to 626 A.D. prohibited Christians from celebrating the Sabbath, festivals, and even eating with the Jews. It seemed that the greatest concern with Judaism on the part of Christian leaders was the attraction that it held for Christians. These rules do not come out of bad relations between Jews and Christians (what would now be called, erroneously, anti-Semitism), but rather were enacted because relations were good and the authorities wanted to separate the two peoples.
• John Chrysostom, 344-407 A.D., preached: "The Jews ... are worse than wild beasts ... lower than the vilest animals. Debauchery and drunkenness had brought them to the level of the lusty goat and the pig. They know only ... to satisfy their stomachs, to get drunk, to kill and beat each other up ... I hate the Jews ... I hate the Synagogue ... it is the duty of all Christians to hate the Jews.
• Origen, 185-254 A.D., was most responsible for changing the way the Church interpreted prophecy, creating the atmosphere in which Christian anti-Semitism took root and spread. He developed a new teaching on "legalism" setting the stage throughout history for the term "legalism" becoming synonymous with Judaism and both being condemned. (Legalism is not the following of the Old Testament Torah as is currently defined by some present-day teachings.) Webster's Dictionary defines legalism as "the doctrine of salvation by good works." Using this method the Roman Church began to develop the idea that the Israelites had permanently forfeited all their covenants by rejecting Yahshua as the Messiah, that these covenants now belong to the church, and that the church is the only true Israel now and forever. In order to alleviate himself of his sin nature, he castrated himself. Considered to be a heretic, he was excommunicated by two Roman Catholic Church councils. His later disciples consisted of Gregory, Dionysus, Hieracas, Pamphilus, and Eusebius of the Nicene Age). If the early Church considered Origen a heretic, why are we still embracing his teachings on legalism today?
• The Crusaders (11th and 12th century) theological tenets supported the mass murder of Jews and launched what our generation has come to know in Bosnia as "ethnic cleansing operations".
• The Spanish Inquisition still has the country of Spain in bondage to its many curses due to the shedding of innocent blood. Their flags and shields were emblazoned with the "sign of the cross." These campaigns were both done "in the name of Yahshua and for the glory of God."
• Martin Luther, 1483-1546 A.D., was by far the worst proponent of anti-Semitism. During his early years, he stated that the Jews were special. When they did not convert to Christianity after the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church was exposed, he turned on them, writing: "Set Jewish synagogues on fire for the honor of God. God will see we are Christians when we get rid of the Jews. Likewise homes should be destroyed; they should be put in a stable; they are not heirs of promises of God and deserve to die. Deprive them of all prayer shawls, prayer books and communication, revoke all passports, stop them from doing all business, everything they possess we believe they stole and robbed from us. They do not have God's blessings, drive them out of the country ... get rid of them." In 1924 at a Christian gathering in Berlin, Adolf Hitler, a self professed Christian, stood before thousands of Christians, and with a standing ovation said: "I believe that today I am acting in accordance with the will of Almighty God. As I announce the most important work that Christians could undertake and that is to be against the Jews and get rid of them once and for all. We are doing the work of the Lord and let's get on with it." Hitler further stated, "Martin Luther has been the greatest encouragement of my life. Luther was a great man. He was a giant. Within one blow he heralded the coming of the new dawn and the new age. He saw clearly that the Jews need to be destroyed and we're only beginning to see that we need to carry this work on." Hitler followed to the letter, Luther's treatise on how to exterminate the Jews. Martin Luther preached his last sermon avidly against the Jews and died four days later. Indeed, Nazi leader Striker at his Nuremberg trial stated, "I have never said anything that Martin Luther did not say".
• Other Christian leaders that were strong proponents of anti-Semitism include: Constantine the Great (280-337 A.D.); Saint Gregory of Nyssa (335-394 A.D.); Saint Augustine (354-430 A.D.); Saint Jerome (374-419 A.D.); Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (467-533 A.D.); Pope Innocent III (1160-61-1216 A.D.); Pope Pious IV (1499-15654 C.E.).
John Calvin became a proponent of "grace over law" found in his Institutes of Christian Religion, which became the guide for the Reformed Church of Protestantism. Notable anti-Semites of the twentieth century include Joseph Stalin and Henry Ford.
The most destructive pieces of anti-Semitic literature ever produced, especially with its fabrication of the Jews plan to take over the world, is The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, published by Sergyei Nilus of Russia in 1905 .
The Jews have even been blamed for the Black Plague, and as a result were put to death.
Roman Catholic Church law throughout the ages has been extremely anti-Semitic. Jews were not permitted to eat with Christians; nor permitted to hold public office; etc, etc....Other laws included the marking of clothes with a badges; and compulsory ghettos (1267 A.D.). While all these laws were instituted against the Jews, they were still obliged to pay taxes for support of the Church to the same extent as Christians.
This is only a short list of the atrocities instituted against the Jews. Many of the things believed to have been originated with Hitler truly found their source with the False Church fathers. Hitler was just following what he thought to be early False Church doctrine.
Why the Jews? Why not the Egyptians? Why not the Romans? Can you see the pattern? If Yahweh had chosen the Egyptians, the persecution would have happened to them. However, the Jews are Yahweh's chosen people, therefore Satan hates the Jews. He will never let-up turning men away from our Hebraic roots.
Satan provides a convenient, attractive counterfeit for anything that is of Elohim. He is a master of deceit. He is a liar! Belief in his lies keeps one in sin and therefore separated from our righteous and holy Father. Here are just a few examples:
FROM YHWH FROM SATAN
Shabbat (Sabbath) Sunday Worship
Passover Easter
The Torah Torah "nailed to the cross"
Yahshua said, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines." (Mark 7:7 emphasis is mine)
Every believer must ask himself, "do I follow the teachings of men (Satan's lies) or do I follow the example of our Jewish Messiah Yahshua, and the word of God?
The scriptures tell us that when Yahshua returns, He will judge and rule by the standard of the Torah. How will you answer that question when He asks, "Did you honor my Word, or, did you follow the teachings of men?"
