I will bless those who bless you, Curse those who curse you… …Where we stand, 2014…

…I will bless those who bless you, Curse those who curse you…

…Where we stand, 2014…

Genesis 12:3 (KJV)
³ And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. ^[1]

Politics. Politicians. If there ever were two words appropriate to use as curse words, these two words describe all the evils in our world today. Men and women of God, hear me. In 2008 I first penned the epistle “I will bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you”. For regular readers of my blog, if there are such, this has been the most popular blog post of all those I have written. Why? I think it was because it resonated with those who have a love of Israel and the Jewish people, and those that want to see Israel survive. Unfortunately, there are many that do not: below is a list of churches affiliated with the World Council of Churches. The WCC has as one of its goals to encourage “believers” to unite in the “fight” against what they deem the “apartheid” state of Israel. One website states this:   “…The  WCC and the Presbyterian Church USA, have joined Stephen Sizer and the group called, Sabeel[2], ( an anti-Israel, “Christian” movement).   Sabeel,   (with a North American Chapter) encourages;  “boycott, divestment,  and sanctions” against Israel hoping to force them to make peace with the Palestinians…” [3]

Here is the list of congregations associated with WCC; please see if you or any one you know is associated with one of these churches, or if yours is not listed, see if your denomination is affiliated in anyway with the WCC:

Africa Inland Church Sudan; African Christian Church & Schools; African Church of the Holy Spirit; African Israel Nineveh Church; African Methodist Episcopal Church; African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; African Protestant Church; American Baptist Churches in the USA; Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia; Anglican Church in Japan; Anglican Church of Australia; Anglican Church of Burundi; Anglican Church of Canada; Anglican Church of Kenya; Anglican Church of Korea; Anglican Church of Southern Africa; Anglican Church of Tanzania; Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America; Armenian Apostolic Church (Holy See of Cilicia); Armenian Apostolic Church (Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin); Association of Baptist Churches in Rwanda; Association of Evangelical Reformed Churches of Burkina Faso; Association The Church of God; Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha; Baptist Association of El Salvador; Baptist Convention of Haiti; Baptist Convention of Nicaragua; Baptist Union of Denmark; Baptist Union of Great Britain; Baptist Union of Hungary; Baptist Union of New Zealand; Batak Christian Community Church; Bengal-Orissa-Bihar Baptist Convention; Bolivian Evangelical Lutheran Church; Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers); Catholic Diocese of the Old-Catholics in Germany; China Christian Council; Christian Biblical Church; Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Canada; Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States; Christian Church of Central Sulawesi; Christian Church of Sumba; Christian Churches New Zealand; Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa; Christian Evangelical Church of Sangihe Talaud; Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; Christian Protestant Angkola Church; Christian Protestant Church in Indonesia;

Church in the Province of the West Indies; Church in Wales; Church of Bangladesh; Church of Ceylon; Church of Christ - Harris Mission (Harrist Church); Church of Christ in Congo - Anglican Community of Congo; Church of Christ in Congo - Baptist Community of Congo; Church of Christ in Congo - Community of Disciples of Christ in Congo; Church of Christ in Congo - Evangelical Community of Congo; Church of Christ in Congo - Mennonite Community in Congo; Church of Christ in Congo - Presbyterian Community of Congo; Church of Christ in Congo - Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa;

Church of Christ in Congo - Protestant Baptist Church in Africa / Episcopal Baptist Community in Africa; Church of Christ in Thailand; Church of Christ Light of the Holy Spirit; Church of Cyprus; Church of England; Church of Greece; Church of Ireland; Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM); Church of Jesus Christ on Earth by His Special Envoy Simon Kimbangu; Church of Melanesia; Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion); Church of North India; Church of Norway; Church of Pakistan; Church of Scotland; Church of South India; Church of Sweden; Church of the Brethren; Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN); Church of the Lord (Aladura) Worldwide; Church of the Province of Central Africa; Church of the Province of Myanmar; Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean; Church of the Province of West Africa; Church of Uganda; Churches of Christ in Australia; Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa; Congregational Christian Church in Samoa; Congregational Christian Church of Niue; Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu; Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches; Cook Islands Christian Church; Coptic Orthodox Church; Council of African Instituted Churches; Czechoslovak Hussite Church; East Java Christian Church; Ecumenical Patriarchate; EKD - Bremen Evangelical Church; EKD - Church of Lippe; EKD - Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Oberlausitz; EKD - Evangelical Church in Baden; EKD - Evangelical Church in Central Germany; EKD - Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau; EKD - Evangelical Church in Rhineland; EKD - Evangelical Church in Württemberg; EKD - Evangelical Church of Anhalt; EKD - Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck; EKD - Evangelical Church of the Palatinate; EKD - Evangelical Church of Westphalia; EKD - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria; EKD - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick; EKD - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany; EKD - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg; EKD - Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover; EKD - Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony; EKD - Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe; EKD - Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and North-Western Germany; Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil; Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East; Episcopal Church in the Philippines; Episcopal Church of the Sudan; Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church; Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church; Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY); Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church; Evangelical Baptist Church in Angola; Evangelical Baptist Union of Italy; Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera; Evangelical Christian Church in Tanah Papua; Evangelical Church in Germany; Evangelical Church in New Caledonia and the Loyalty Isles; Evangelical Church of Cameroon; Evangelical Church of Congo; Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren; Evangelical Church of Gabon; Evangelical Church of the Augsburg and Helvetic Confessions in Austria; Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland; Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania; Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia; Evangelical Church of the Disciples of Christ in Argentina; Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil; Evangelical Church of the River Plate; Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Congo (ELCCo); Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan & the Holy Land; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT); Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe; Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland; Evangelical Lutheran Church of France; Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana; Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland; Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia; Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea; Evangelical Methodist Church in Bolivia; Evangelical Methodist Church in Italy; Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippines; Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina; Evangelical Pentecostal Mission of Angola; Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa; Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt Synod of the Nile; Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Iran; Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Portugal; Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Togo; Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana; Evangelical Reformed Church of Angola; Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Romania; Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches; Free Pentecostal Missions Church of Chile; Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga (Methodist Church in Tonga); Greek Evangelical Church; Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa; Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East; Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem; Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East; Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China; Hungarian Reformed Church in America; Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil; Indonesian Christian Church (GKI); Indonesian Christian Church (HKI); International Council of Community Churches; International Evangelical Church; Jamaica Baptist Union; Javanese Christian Churches; Kalimantan Evangelical Church; Karo Batak Protestant Church; Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church; Kiribati Protestant Church; Korean Christian Church in Japan; Korean Methodist Church; Lao Evangelical Church; Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad; Lesotho Evangelical Church; Lusitanian Church of Portugal; Lutheran Church in Hungary; Lutheran Church in Liberia; Malagasy Lutheran Church (FLM); Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church; Maohi Protestant Church; Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar; Mara Evangelical Church; Mennonite Church in Germany; Mennonite Church in the Netherlands; Methodist Church; Methodist Church Ghana; Methodist Church in Brazil; Methodist Church in Cuba; Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma; Methodist Church in India; Methodist Church in Indonesia; Methodist Church in Ireland; Methodist Church in Kenya; Methodist Church in Malaysia; Methodist Church in Singapore; Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas; Methodist Church in Zimbabwe; Methodist Church Nigeria; Methodist Church of Chile; Methodist Church of Mexico; Methodist Church of New Zealand; Methodist Church of Peru; Methodist Church of Puerto Rico; Methodist Church of Samoa; Methodist Church of Southern Africa; Methodist Church of Togo; Methodist Church of Uruguay; Methodist Church Sierra Leone; Methodist Church, Sri Lanka; Methodist Church, Upper Myanmar; Moravian Church in America; Moravian Church in Jamaica; Moravian Church in Nicaragua; Moravian Church in South Africa; Moravian Church in Suriname; Moravian Church in Tanzania; Moravian Church in Western Europe; Moravian Church, Eastern West Indies Province; Myanmar Baptist Convention; National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.; National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.; National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon; Native Baptist Church of Cameroon; Nias Christian Protestant Church; Nigerian Baptist Convention; Old-Catholic Church in Austria; Old-Catholic Church in the Netherlands; Old-Catholic Church of Switzerland; Old-Catholic Mariavite Church in Poland; Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania; Orthodox Church in America; Orthodox Church in Japan; Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia; Orthodox Church of Finland; Pasundan Christian Church; Pentecostal Church of Chile; Pentecostal Mission Church; Philippine Independent Church; Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church; Polish Catholic Church in Poland; Polish National Catholic Church; Presbyterian Church (USA); Presbyterian Church in Cameroon; Presbyterian Church in Canada; Presbyterian Church in Rwanda; Presbyterian Church in Taiwan; Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea; Presbyterian Church of Africa; Presbyterian Church of Aoteroa New Zealand; Presbyterian Church of Cameroon; Presbyterian Church of Colombia; Presbyterian Church of East Africa; Presbyterian Church of Ghana; Presbyterian Church of Korea; Presbyterian Church of Liberia; Presbyterian Church of Mozambique; Presbyterian Church of Nigeria; Presbyterian Church of Pakistan; Presbyterian Church of the Sudan; Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago; Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu; Presbyterian Church of Wales; Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba; Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.; Protestant Christian Batak Church; Protestant Christian Church in Bali; Protestant Church in Indonesia; Protestant Church in Sabah; Protestant Church in South-East Sulawesi; Protestant Church in the Moluccas; Protestant Church in the Netherlands; Protestant Church in Timor Lorosa'e; Protestant Church in Western Indonesia; Protestant Church of Algeria; Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine; Protestant Evangelical Church in Timor; Protestant Methodist Church of Benin; Province of the Episcopal Church in Rwanda; Reformed Christian Church in Serbia & Montenegro; Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia; Reformed Church in America; Reformed Church in Hungary; Reformed Church in Romania; Reformed Church in Zambia; Reformed Church in Zimbabwe; Reformed Church of Christ in Nigeria; Reformed Presbyterian Church of Equatorial Guinea; Reformed Protestant Church of Alsace and Lorraine; Religious Society of Friends: Friends General Conference; Religious Society of Friends: Friends United Meeting; Remonstrant Brotherhood; Romanian Orthodox Church; Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate); Salvadorean Lutheran Synod; Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches; Scottish Episcopal Church; Serbian Orthodox Church; Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession; Simalungun Protestant Christian Church; Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia & Montenegro; Spanish Evangelical Church; Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church; Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East; The African Church; The Episcopal Church; Toraja Church; Union of Baptist Churches in Cameroon; Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East; Union of Welsh Independents; United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands; United Church in Papua New Guinea; United Church in the Solomon Islands; United Church of Canada; United Church of Christ; United Church of Christ - Congregational in the Marshall Islands; United Church of Christ in Japan; United Church of Christ in the Philippines; United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe; United Church of Zambia; United Congregational Church of Southern Africa; United Evangelical Lutheran Church; United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India; United Free Church of Scotland; United Methodist Church; United Methodist Church of Ivory Coast; United Presbyterian Church of Brazil; United Protestant Church; United Protestant Church of Belgium; United Protestant Church of France; United Reformed Church; Uniting Church in Australia; Uniting Church in Sweden; Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa; Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa; Waldensian Church [4]

This long list and probably many that are not listed, including many (but to be fair, not all congregations associated with the following):

Anglicans; Baptists; Assemblies of God; Catholics; Episcopal; Church of Scotland; the Greek Orthodox; Lutheran (especially those associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, ELCA); Methodists (United Methodists, USA); Pentecostal (though there are exceptions like the Pentecostal Church of God); Presbyterian Church (USA); Quakers; United Church of Christ; United Reformed Church; and Evangelicals – those whose congregations and leadership support BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). [5]

                If you are a part of any of these organizations, I have one word of advice: leave. You are a part of an organization that is on the wrong side of history, you are in Babylon. I do not say this lightly, nor do I say it without knowledge.

…And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee…

                To be a part of these organizations is to partake in their sin, their sin against the chosen people of God. This is lawlessness, this is rebellion against the Most High; this is an abomination against the One Who sits on the throne of grace, on the throne of Heaven. All of these groups take their cue from the original divestment campaign of the 20^th century – the Jewish boycott of the Nazi Party in 1933 which culminated in Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in 1938 and the Holocaust of World War II.  The seeds of this were planted much, much earlier though.

                While there is ample material available for us to see and read, and from all these different sources I could compile my argument, there is one voice that has put it together so well, I fear my attempts to explain the beginnings of this hatred for the chosen people of God fall short… Thus allow me to give you the perspective of Clarence H. Wagner Jr. and I will take it from there…

“…Let us look at a brief history of the first four centuries of Christianity, which established a "legacy of hatred" towards the Jewish people, which was against the clear teaching of the New Testament.
In the first century AD, the church was well-connected to its Jewish roots, and Jesus did not intend for it to be any other way. After all, Jesus is Jewish and the basis of His teaching is consistent with the Hebrew Scriptures. In Matthew 5:17-18 He states: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." Before the First Jewish Revolt in AD 66, Christianity was basically a sect of Judaism, as were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes.

Separation between Judaism and Christianity began as a result of religious and social differences. According to David Rausch in his book, A Legacy of Hatred, there were several contributing factors:

1) the Roman intrusion into Judea, and the widespread acceptance of Christianity by the Gentiles, complicated the history of Jewish Christianity;

2) the Roman wars against the Jews not only destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem, but also resulted in Jerusalem's relinquishing her position as a center of Christian faith in the Roman world; and,

3) the rapid acceptance of Christianity among the Gentiles led to an early conflict between the Church and Synagogue. 

Paul's missionary journeys brought the Christian faith to the Gentile world, and as their numbers grew, so did their influence, which ultimately disconnected Christianity from its Jewish roots.

Many Gentile Christians interpreted the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem as a sign that God had abandoned Judaism, and that He had provided the Gentiles freedom to develop their own Christian theology in a setting free from Jerusalem's influence. Could it be He was showing us that Temple worship was no longer necessary as His Holy Spirit now resides in us (I Cor. 6:19), not in the Holy of Holies?

After the Second Jewish Revolt (AD 133-135) put down by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, theological and political power moved from Jewish Christian leaders to centers of Gentile Christian leadership such as Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch. It is important to understand this change, because it influenced the early Church Fathers to make anti-Jewish statements as Christianity began to disconnect itself from its Jewish roots.

As the Church spread far and wide within the Roman Empire, and its membership grew increasingly non-Jewish, Greek and Roman thought began to creep in and completely change the orientation of Biblical interpretation through a Greek mindset, rather than a Jewish or Hebraic mindset. This would later result in many heresies, some of which the Church is still practicing today.

Once Christianity and Judaism began to take separate paths, the chasm became wider and wider. Judaism was considered a legal religion under Roman law, while Christianity, a new religion, was illegal. As Christianity grew, the Romans tried to suppress it. In an attempt to alleviate this persecution, Christian apologists tried in vain to convince Rome that Christianity was an extension of Judaism. However, Rome was not convinced. The resulting persecutions and frustration of the Christians bred an animosity towards the Jewish community, which was free to worship without persecution. Later, when the Church became the religion of the state, it would pass laws against the Jews in retribution.

The antagonism of the early Christians towards the Jews was reflected in the writings of the early Church Fathers. For example, Justin Martyr (c. AD 160) in speaking to a Jew said: "The Scriptures are not yours, but ours." Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon (c. AD 177) declared: "Jews are disinherited from the grace of God." Tertullian (AD 160-230), in his treatise, "Against the Jews," announced that God had rejected the Jews in favor of the 
Christians.

In the early 4th century, Eusebius wrote that the promises of the Hebrew Scriptures were for Christians and not the Jews, and the curses were for the Jews. He argued that the Church was the continuation of the Old Testament and thus superseded Judaism. The young Church declared itself to be the true Israel, or "Israel according to the Spirit," heir to the divine promises. They found it essential to discredit the "Israel according to the flesh" to prove that God had cast away His people and transferred His love to the Christians.
At the beginning of the 4th century, a monumental event occurred for the Church, which placed "the Church Triumphant" over "Vanquished Israel." In AD 306, Constantine became the first Christian Roman Emperor. At first, he had a rather pluralistic view and accorded Jews the same religious rights as Christians. However, in AD 321, he made Christianity the official religion of the Empire to the exclusion of all other religions. This signaled the end of the persecution of Christians, but the beginning of discrimination and persecution of the Jewish people.

Already at the Church Council in Elvira (Spain) in AD 305, declarations were made to keep Jews and Christians apart, including ordering Christians not to share meals with Jews, not to marry Jews, not to use Jews to bless their fields, and not to observe the Jewish Sabbath.

Imperial Rome, in AD 313, issued the Edict of Milan, which granted favor to Christianity, while outlawing synagogues. Then, in AD 315, another edict allowed the burning of Jews if they were convicted of breaking the laws. As Christianity was becoming the religion of the state, further laws were passed against the Jews:

* The ancient privileges granted to the Jews were withdrawn.

* Rabbinical jurisdiction was abolished or severely curtailed.

* Proselytism to Judaism was prohibited and made punishable by death.

* Jews were excluded from holding high office or a military career.
These and other restrictions were confirmed over and over again by various Church Councils for the next 1,000 years.

In AD 321, Constantine decreed all business should cease on "the honored day of the sun." By substituting Sunday for Saturday as the day for Christian worship, he further advanced the split. This Jewish Shabbat/Christian Sunday controversy also came up at the first real ecumenical Council of Nicea (AD 325), which concluded Sunday to be the Christian day of rest, although it was debated for long after that.
Overnight, Christianity was given the power of the Imperial State, and the emperors began to translate the concepts and claims of the Christian theologians against the Jews and Judaism into practice. Instead of the Church taking this opportunity to spread its Gospel message in love, it truly became the Church Triumphant, ready to vanquish its foes.

After 321, the writings of the Church Fathers changed in character. No longer was it on the defensive and apologetic, but aggressive, directing its venom at everyone "outside of the flock," in particular the Jewish people who could be found in almost every community and nation. During this period, we find more examples of anti-Jewish bias in Church literature written by church leaders:

* Hilary of Poitiers (AD 291-371) wrote: "Jews are a perverse people accursed by God forever."

* Gregory of Nyssa (died AD 394), Bishop of Cappadocia: "the Jews are a brood of vipers, haters of goodness..."

* St. Jerome (AD 347-407) describes the Jews as "... serpents, wearing the image of Judas, their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys."

At the end of the 4th century, the Bishop of Antioch, John Chrysostom (Golden Tongued), the great orator, wrote a series of eight sermons against the Jews. He had seen Christians talking with Jewish people, taking oaths in front of the Ark, and some were keeping the Jewish feasts. He wanted this to stop. In an effort to bring his people back to what he called, "the true faith," the Jews became the whipping boy for his sermon series. To quote him, "the synagogue is not only a brothel and a theater; it is also a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts. No Jew adores God... Jews are inveterate murderers, possessed by the devil, their debauchery and drunkenness gives them the manners of the pig. They kill and maim one another..."

One can easily see that a Judeo-Christian who wanted to hold on to his heritage, or a Gentile Christian who wanted to learn more about the parent faith of Christianity, would have found it extremely difficult under this pressure. Chrysostom further sought to separate Christianity totally from Judaism. He wrote in his 4th Discourse, "I have said enough against those who say they are on our side, but are eager to follow the Jewish rites... it is against the Jews that I wish to draw up my battle... Jews are abandoned by God and for the crime of deicide, there is no expiation possible."

Chrysostom was known for his fiery preaching against what he saw as threats to his flock, including wealth, entertainment, privilege and outward adornment. However, his preaching against the Jewish community, which he believed had a negative influence on Christians, is inexcusable and blatantly anti-Semitic in its content. Another unfortunate contribution Chrysostom made to Christian anti-Semitism was to hold the whole Jewish people culpable for the killing of Christ.

In the fifth century, the burning question was: If the Jews and Judaism were cursed by God, then how can you explain their existence?

Augustine tackled this issue in his "Sermon Against the Jews." He asserted that even though the Jews deserved the most severe punishment for having put Jesus to death, they have been kept alive by Divine Providence to serve, together with their Scriptures, as witnesses to the truth of Christianity. Their existence was further justified by the service they rendered to the Christian truth, in attesting through their humiliation, the triumph of the Church over the Synagogue. They were to be a "Witness people" - slaves and servants who should be humbled.

The monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire thus regarded the Jews as serfs of the chamber (servi camerae), and utilized them as slave librarians to maintain Hebrew writings. They also utilized the services of Jews in another enterprise - usury, or money-lending. The loaning of money was necessary to a growing economy. However, usury was considered to endanger the eternal salvation of the Christian, and was thus forbidden. So, the church endorsed the practice of lending by Jews, for according to their reasoning, their Jewish souls were lost in any case. Much later, the Jewish people were utilized by the Western countries as trade agents in commerce, and thus we see how the Jewish people found their way into the fields of banking and commerce.

So, by the Middle Ages, the ideological arsenal of Christian anti-Semitism was completely established. This was further manifested in a variety of precedent-setting events within the Church, such as Patriarch Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, expelling the Jews and giving their property to a Christian mob. From a social standpoint, the deterioration of the Jewish position in society was only beginning its decline. During this early period, the virulent judeo- phobia was primarily limited to the clergy who were always trying to keep their flocks away from the Jews. However, later, the rank and file, growing middle class would be the main source of anti-Semitic activity.

The result of these anti-Jewish teachings continued onwards throughout Church history, manifesting itself in such events and actions as the Crusades, the accusation of communion host desecration and blood libel by the Jews, the forced wearing of distinguishing marks to ostracize them, the Inquisition, the displacement of whole Jewish communities by exile or separate ghettoes, the destruction of synagogues and Jewish books, physical persecution and execution, the Pogroms. Ultimately, the seeds of destruction grew to epic proportions, culminating in the Holocaust, which occurred in "Christian" Europe.


Had the Church understood the clear message of being grafted into the Olive Tree from the beginning, then the sad legacy of anti-Semitic hatred from the Church may have been avoided. The error of Replacement Theology is like a cancer in the Church that has not only caused it to violate God's Word concerning the Jewish people and Israel, but it made us into instruments of hate, not love in God's Name…” [6]

This article has been posted and re-posted numerous times on the web, thus testifying to its timeless message. I have but included only a portion here, and I encourage you to read it in its entirety.

We have to understand that the roots of this hatred run deep – but that it is not human inspired, just human initiated. The root of this hatred is demonic, spawned by the father of lies, ha-satan. This is the reason I say flee from her, this whore of Babylon that speaks lies with a murderous tongue against the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

Just think for one minute: the greatest tool and weapon ha-satan has used against God’s covenant people has been and still is the church that bears His Son’s name. Just look at the forces arrayed against Israel today. Israel is being squeezed not only by the homicidal and brutal regimes of the various Arab states that surround her, but also by the governments of the European confederation and the United States. World opinion is largely shaped by the media war and propaganda that is constantly broadcast by the willing enemies of God; and sadly, churchmen who should know better are leading the charge. Little Israel finds herself isolated and alone more and more – all for the crime of just trying to survive in a hostile world.  Look again at what the “fathers of the church” had to say:

• ·         Justin Martyr (c. AD 160), in speaking to a Jew, said: “The Scriptures are not yours, but ours.”
• ·         Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon (c. AD 177) declared: “Jews are disinherited from the grace of God.”
• ·         Tertullian (AD 160-230), in his treatise, “Against the Jews,” announced that God had rejected the Jews in favor of the Christians.
• ·         St Jerome (AD 347-407) describes the Jews as “…serpents, wearing the image of Judas, their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys.”
• ·         John Chrysostom (Golden Tongued), the great orator, wrote a series of eight sermons against the Jews. To quote him: “the synagogue is not only a brothel and a theater; it is also a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts. No Jew adores God… Jews are inveterate murderers, possessed by the devil, their debauchery and drunkenness gives them the manners of the pig.”
• ·         Martin Luther: The Jews and Their Lies (excerpts) 1483-1546:  “…What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews? Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct, now that we are aware of their lying and reviling and blaspheming. If we do, we become sharers in their lies, cursing and blasphemy. Thus we cannot extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak, nor can we convert the Jews. With prayer and the fear of God we must practice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames. We dare not avenge ourselves. Vengeance a thousand times worse than we could wish them already has them by the throat…”

He advised:

• ·         “…To set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them…”
• ·         “…I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. For they pursue in them the same aims as in their synagogues…”
• ·         “…I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings; in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them…”
• ·         “…I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach hencefore on pain of loss of life and limb… They wantonly employ the poor people’s obedience contrary to the law of the Lord and infuse them with this poison, cursing and blasphemy…”
• ·         “…I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews…”
• ·         “…I advise that usury by prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping…”
• ·         “…I commend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in sweat of their brow, as was imposed on the children of Adam. For it is not fitting that they should let us accursed Goyim toil in the sweat of our faces while they, the holy people, idle away their time behind the stove, feasting and farting, and on top of all, Boasting blasphemously of their lordship over the Christians by means of our sweat. Burn down their synagogues, forbid all that I enumerated earlier, force them to work, and deal harshly with them; as Moses did in the wilderness, slaying three thousand lest the whole people perish. They surely do not know what they are doing; moreover, as people possessed, they do not wish to know it, hear it, or learn it. There it would be wrong to be merciful and confirm them in their conduct. If this does not help we must drive them out like mad dogs, so that we do not become partakers of their abominable blasphemy and all their other vices and thus merit God’s wrath and be damned with them. I have done my duty. Now let everyone see to his. I am exonerated…”

So the seeds were planted by churchmen that came into full bloom in the 1930’s through 1945 as Adolf Hitler used Martin Luther’s own words as the blueprint for his “final solution” to the Jewish problem – and the Holocaust was born.

Where was love and mercy? How did these men, the pillars of the Christian faith find no grace, no mercy and no end to their hatred of God’s chosen people? What does the word say?

(Pro 26:24-28)

He who hates pretends with his lips and stores up deceit within him. When he makes his voice gracious, do not believe him; for seven hateful things are in his heart. He whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shown before the congregation. Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it; and he who rolls a stone, it will turn back to him. A lying tongue hates those afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin.[7]

Leviticus 19:17 (NASB95)

17     ‘You ^ashall not hate your ¹fellow countryman in your heart; you ^bmay surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. ^[8]

1 John 2:9-11 (HCSB)
⁹ The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother ^o is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰ The one who loves his brother ^p remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ^{q 11} But the one who hates his brother ^r is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, ^s and doesn’t know where he’s going, ^t because the darkness has blinded his eyes. ^[9]

1 John 3:9-16 (ISV)
⁹No one who has been born from God practices sin, because God’s^d seed abides in him. Indeed, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born from God.^{9 10}This is how God’s children and the devil’s children are distinguished.^e No person who fails to practice righteousness and to love his brother is from God.^{10 11}This is the message that you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.^{11 12}Do not be like Cain,^f who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^{12 13}So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.^{13  14}We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love one another. The person who does not love^g remains in death.^{14 15}Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.^{15 16}This is how we have come to know love: Christ^h gave his life for us. We, too, ought to give our lives for our brothers.^{16 [10]}

(Mat 5:21-22)

You have heard that it was said to the ancients: "Do not commit murder!" And, Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the Judgment. (Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:1) But I say to you, Everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to the Judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the sanhedrin; but whoever says, Fool! shall be liable to be thrown into the fire of Hell. [11]

Brethren, here me. I have stated this in other epistles, but how, how can we as believers continue to follow the teachings of men who by their own words and actions had demonstrated that they walked in darkness and that the love of Messiah was not in them? So what if they got some things right? Even a broken clock is right twice a day….

                Now some will say the same about following the tenets of Judaism, for hasn’t it also rejected our Savior Yeshua and breathed hateful words against Christians? Isn’t there a problem also with the “Messianic Judaism” movement?

One Messianic teacher thinks so:

“…One of the problems with the Messianic Jewish movement is the attaching of ‘Judaism’ unto ‘Messianic’. In this, Messianic Judaism is true to its title as having incorporated the perversion of Rabbinic Judaism into itself. Why some Jewish believers in the 1960’s took on the term, Messianic Judaism, is easy to see, but so extremely unfortunate. It seems to have doomed the movement to failure from its inception. In Hebraic thinking, one grows into the meaning of their name. That’s why God changed Jacob’s name (deceiver), to Israel (one who wrestles with God and finds favor with God and man; a prince).

Any entity that believes in Yeshua, that uses the term, ‘Judaism’ will grow into a Judaism of sorts. And that’s exactly what we have seen in the last 50 years of Messianic Judaism. It’s one part Orthodox Judaism, one part Kabbalah, one part Talmud, one part Church, and four parts polluted.

Judaism today, with its Rabbis, is nothing more and nothing less than the spiritual descendants of the Pharisees of Yeshua and Paul’s day. Yeshua said in Matt. 16:6, ‘Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ Why would anyone want to use a name that is associated with those who hated Messiah?

In the days of Moses and King David, there was no religion called Judaism as we know it today. The Hebrews were known as the people of Yahveh (2nd Chron. 7:14), just as the Moabites were known as ‘the people of Chemosh’ (Num. 21:29; Jer. 12:14-16; 48:46), and all other peoples were known by their gods (Jer. 49:1). Judaism doesn’t even allow the use of even saying the Name, Yahveh. This is an indication of how far away from God’s Truth they are.

The way of life (Torah), that Yahveh gave to Israel from Mt. Sinai is vastly different from Judaism. Yahveh gave Israel the Tabernacle, Priesthood and sacrifice (for the forgiveness of sins, etc.), along with prophet and king. Judaism doesn’t have any of these. Judaism is a pale and perverse reflection of what God gave to Moses.

Israel worshiped Yahveh with sacrifice which was the core of the Mosaic Covenant and shows us how Yahveh could dwell among sinful Israel. Sacrifice, priesthood and the Temple were put on hold in 70 CE (AD), when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Roman Army, and Judaism, the religion of the Pharisees and Rabbis, took over.

In the days of Yeshua there was no religion called Judaism, for even the Pharisees and Rabbis went to the Temple and sacrificed. The High Priest was the leader of the people, not the Rabbis. There were many sects within the Jewish people that vied for the attention of the people as ‘the right way’ to walk out the faith and Law of Moses. There were the Essenes, the Zealots, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and approximately twenty other smaller sects. And those Jews who believed in Yeshua, after His resurrection, became one sect among the other Jewish sects. But we don’t find any ‘Judaism’, or Messianic Judaism at that time…” [12]

He also describes what a true understanding of the Hebraic Perspective is and what the movement could have been:

“…Dr. Howard Ervin, the first Baptist pastor in New Jersey to be filled with the Holy Spirit in the 1960’s, told his Hebrew class on Psalms at Oral Roberts University in 1981 that, ‘The only thing Greek about the New Testament are the words.’ I didn’t fully understand it then but over the years the Holy Spirit has shown me what he meant. Even though most of the original writings were in the Greek language⁽³⁾ [13]the reality that the words sought to convey were of a Hebraic nature.

The Creator God did not come to the Greeks, or to the Romans, or to the Chinese. He chose the Seed of Abraham, to not only save from Egyptian slavery, something that he did for no other people, but He also chose to wrap Himself around them with His divine words and manifestations. Consequently, the Reality of the God of the Universe is interwoven with His people Israel. Their holy Book, unlike any other ‘holy book’, is the only true reflection of the Nature and Will of the Creator. All other ‘holy books’, no matter how much they imitate the true one, always have deception in it. A glass with 90% water but 10% arsenic, will still kill you. This is the spiritual problem with other so called holy books (even Jewish ones; more on that in a moment).

The Hebrew Scriptures reflect the Living God and His understanding of Reality. All the other cultures had words for god, salvation and sin but only one, the Hebrews, knew the One True God, His salvation, and His Words of Life, the Torah. To fully understand the New Covenant, one has to understand that it too is Hebraic in nature.

To understand the New Covenant from the Hebraic Perspective is to see it as an extension of the Old, not a completely new and separate reality as the Church has taught for 1,900 years. To fully understand the New Covenant is to see it as a rose on the stem of the Old Covenant, both thriving and alive.

You’ve heard it said that things translated from one language to another, lose something in the meaning. This is true for two reasons.

·         One, the other language may not have the exact meaning for the actual words being used.

·         And two, which is the greater reason, is that what is reality for one people, may not be for another.

An example of this is to relate baseball, an American reality, to a person from say, Finland. They might understand a part of it because the Finns do have words for ‘ball’ or a piece of wood that we call a ‘bat’. But baseball is not a sport of national proportions in Finland and because of that, they don’t have a conceptual tree to hang ‘baseball’ on. It therefore holds no value to them other than that they recognize ‘ball and bat’ in Finnish. And there’s no emotional excitement at the mention of say, the Yankees and the Red Sox in game seven of the American League Championship Series.

This is a problem with scholars of the Greek language and Western mindset who come to the New Covenant with a theological bias against the Law of Moses. Yes, they can translate the words, ‘ball and bat’ but they fail to properly interpret how the game is played. After all, isn’t that what a translation is all about? It’s supposed to tell us what the Greek words mean in relation to Jesus and to us.

Each culture sees reality through their own eyes. Their experiences as a people are unique to them. Just think in European terms and you’ll see this. What does it mean to be a German or a Frenchman or an Englishman? Or in terms of the States, what does it mean to come from Brooklyn or Alabama or California? This is one reason why it’s important, but not essential, to know Hebrew. What we really want to know is the Hebraic (biblical) reality to the Word. And this can come through in English, if properly interpreted. What was the ancient Hebraic mindset? There are many (Western) Hebrew scholars but most of the time they fail to understand the Reality and Hebraic mindset behind the Greek New Testament. Therefore, they present us with what they think, which, in terms of the Law, is diametrically opposed to what the Holy Spirit has written in those passages.

The foundation is Yahveh and His Torah (Law), for Yahveh is one with His Torah. The Law is literally, His very Words which were written down, which is also a synonym for Messiah Himself as The Word of God (Rev. 19:13). To artificially separate Jesus from say, the dietary laws, Sabbath or Passover, is like trying to separate Yahveh from what He said on Mt. Sinai to Israel (Ex. 20:2-17; commonly called the Ten Commandments). God’s Word is ‘one’ with Him. It’s by His Word that we know Him and by His Word that we can know what is good and evil (sin), in His eyes (Dt. 12:8; 21:9). Today, even without knowledge in the Hebrew language, one can grasp the concept that Torah is for them to walk out in their lives. But this only comes through the Holy Spirit as the Church has demonized Torah. To not know and walk in His Torah is to be open to deception and a sinful lifestyle. Millions of believers have accepted counterfeit hundred dollar bills from Satan, through the Church, thinking they were from God.

Only when one is intimately aware of what a biblical ‘hundred dollar bill’ feels like, will he be able to discern God’s Truth from Satan’s counterfeit. For instance, bank tellers who handle real bills many hours every day are able to immediately know the counterfeit when it comes across their hands. That’s because they already ‘have a feeling’ for the Real Thing and so instantly they notice when something is not like it. Only by intimate knowledge of Torah can one know what is real and what is false. The Church is a perfect picture of this, in reverse.

Too many of God’s people have been deceived by the master Counterfeiter into believing that things like Sunday, Easter, Christmas and the eating of pig are of Jesus. That’s because they were told that the Law was done away with, believed it, and didn’t have the foggiest notion of the divine Gift that Satan took away from them. So Satan replaced it with his imitations, and false interpretations of the New Covenant at the point of the Law. And ‘biblical’ exegetes and commentators for the last 1,900 years, like the Pharisees before them, have given the Church ‘Scripture’ to validate worshipping Jesus on pagan holy days and in pagan ways. Please realize that the Pharisees could ‘back up with Scripture’, their traditions that nullified the Word of God. As King Solomon once said, ‘there’s nothing new under the sun’ (Eccl. 1:9).

If the believer had known Torah, it would have been impossible for Satan to have deceived him with the counterfeit. Without touching upon how God could allow the Church to be blind to Torah for almost 2,000 years (isn’t that what everyone says when something goes wrong?), we see that Daniel prophesied that such would happen!

‘And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times (Feasts) and in Law. And the saints will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time’ (Dan. 7:25).

Understanding the Scriptures from a Hebraic perspective reveals to us how the Messiah calls us to walk with Him, both Jew and Gentile. There is more to the Word than initially meets our eye. And there is more to the Word that does and would effect us, to walk in His Way, if we only understood what the Church intentionally buried 1,900 years ago, and continually demonizes. For it’s by our understanding that we follow the Lord and obey His Will, the Scriptures. But if our understanding is faulty on a grand scale, involving not just us but everyone around us, we all fail to do His Will at those points of ignorance and satanic deception.

Too many times I've heard people use the expression, ‘Oh, that’s Jewish’ as though it being Jewish was something ugly, and couldn’t possibly be that it was meant for them too. They don’t realize that the very reason why the Sabbath and Passover are ‘Jewish’ is because God gave it to His people Israel. The biblical things that the Jewish people have are from God. It wasn’t as though the Jews came up with the Law themselves. When we understand this Reality, of what God has called Israel to be, we understand who our God is, for His Words reflect Who He is. Now this doesn’t mean that everything Jewish is of God, no more than everything Christian is of Christ. There is sin in the Camp of the Jews because they have perverted much of the Word, but that just seeks to contrast God’s Word for those who know it. And there is sin in the Camp of the Church because they have thrown out much of God’s Law and replaced it with Satan’s ways. We cannot know what sin is, and consequently what pleases Him, if we don’t know His Words, the Law (Rom. 7:7).

Messianic Judaism could have been the vehicle that lit the Way for the Church to walk on God’s pristine Path of Holiness. But she is blind to Torah and has failed to walk on that Path herself…” [14]

So what does this all mean? It seems that the people of Israel, the Jews, whether they are orthodox or secular are squeezed by all camps. The Christian camp squeezes because it has lost its way by reason of following flawed doctrine pronounced by flawed men. The camp of Judaism squeezes because it has been persecuted and bloodied by the camp of Christianity and the Gentile world for some 2000 years; the Messianic community squeezes because it doesn't understand its true role… And the hatred and the Antisemitism continues.

                If Messianic Jews such as Avram speak against Judaism, then what is to stop anyone else from doing so? I am not saying his criticism is unfounded; his point is that we must get back to a biblical and strictly biblical understanding of the relationship between the Torah of God and the grace we walk in as believers. Yet, if you don’t follow his (Avram’s) understanding of the Hebraic Perspective in the proper context that he writes in, a person could come away with an anti-Semitic point of view. The same can be said of the “Church Fathers” – but in their case, it was and is an anti-Semitic perspective that they taught from and that they formulated doctrine because of.  And we as believers have followed suit ever since they put quill to paper and passed it down to us.

                So where are we today? How do the Sons of Abraham (the Jewish/Hebrew people) and the Seed of Abraham (the rest of us) reasonably expect to co-exist today? Unfortunately it seems that there is a growing body of “believers” and non-believers today that feel we can’t.

                For the majority of Church history, Replacement Theology drove the Church in its dealings with the Jewish people. As long as Israel didn’t exist, it was easy to say that God had abandoned the Jews and that the Church was then in the “right” to persecute them. The blood of the Chosen of God flowed in the streets and fields and finally in the concentration camps freely and unabated by actions of the Church leadership. Harsh? No. be a student, an honest student of history and you will see. We, the Gentile Church, have blood on our hands. The so called “fathers of the faith” were bloody men, for example:

• ·         John Calvin: in 1531 John Calvin had thousands of religious nonconformists killed and witches burned after he Calvin, (1509-1564) turned Geneva into religious police state. He was also guilty of: murder -  (1553) That John Calvin, the "Protestant Pope" of Geneva ordered Michael Servetus, the Spanish physician, burned at the stake for heresy (Servetus had opposed Trinitarianism and infant baptism); Of the murder of Jacques Gruet in 1531: Calvin ordered the beheading of Jacques Gruet for blasphemy; again in 1531 Calvin urged burning of witches. Calvin displayed an obsession about witchcraft and ensuring women remained as enslaved property to men. Calvin also showed a relish for cruel torture, especially for those he believed were disloyal such as Sebastian Castello.
• 
  
• ·         Martin Luther: In 1524, after years of fighting with the Roman Catholic Church, Luther helped plan and financed  a revolt against the Church. By 1525 at the height of the revolt, Luther had amassed an army in the field of over 300,000 armed and trained peasants along with mercenary leaders who had slaughtered, raped and tortured over 250,000 men, women and children in their rampage of terror across Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The revolt ultimately failed, principally because Luther and his supporters had not established any command and control structure nor any process to convert lands gained into a permanent state. By its end, almost a million people had died on account of the direct orders of Martin Luther. He was also guilty of the inciting the murder of Jews by his treatise “On the Jews and their Lies” in 1543.

Their writings and the those of others sparked some of the bloodiest periods in church history, mainly aimed at what was considered the “Jewish problem”:

• ·         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. These campaigns were both done "in the name of Jesus and for the glory of God."
• ·         In 1924 at a Christian gathering in Berlin, Adolf Hitler, a 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 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". [15]
•          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.).

The Jewish people have been hunted and slaughtered in the “name of Jesus”. This is the end result of the world’s longest hatred. One article puts it this way:

“…Prejudice, it seems, is a standard fare of life. In his folksong entitled "National Brotherhood Week," Tom Lehrer sings:

Oh the Protestants hate the Catholics,
and the Catholics hate the Protestants,
and the Hindus hate the Muslims
and everybody hates the Jews.

In this song, Lehrer expresses the truism that hatred for the Jew is uniquely commonplace. The Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, blood libels, pogroms, countless expulsions and the systematic murder of 6 million.
The question is: Why?..” [16]

It seems that there is a pre-existent hatred of the Jews; there are many who list the “causes”, the “excuses”, the “reasons” to hate the Jewish people – yet there truly is only one underlying factor that can possibly explain this world-wide hatred of the Jewish people and it was born in the Garden of Eden:

Genesis 3:1-15 (NET) [17]

^3:1 Now¹ the serpent² was more shrewd³ than any of the wild animals⁴ that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, 
“Is it really true that⁵ God⁶ said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?”^{7 3:2} The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat⁸ of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; ^3:3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it,⁹ or else you will die.’”^{10 3:4} The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die,^{11 3:5} for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open¹² and you will be like divine beings who know¹³ good and evil.”¹⁴

^3:6 When¹⁵ the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food,¹⁶ was attractive¹⁷ to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise,¹⁸ she took some of its fruit and ate it.¹⁹ She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.^{20 3:7} Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
^3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about²¹ in the orchard at the breezy time²² of the day, and they hid²³ from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. ^3:9 But the Lord God called to²⁴ the man and said to him, “Where are you?”^{25 3:10} The man replied,²⁶ “I heard you moving about²⁷ in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” ^3:11 And the Lord God²⁸ said, “Who told you that you were naked?²⁹ Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”^{30 3:12} The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave³¹ me some fruit³² from the tree and I ate it.” ^3:13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this³³ you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent³⁴ tricked³⁵ me, and I ate.”
^3:14 The Lord God said to the serpent,³⁶

“Because you have done this,

cursed³⁷ are you above all the wild beasts

and all the living creatures of the field!

On your belly you will crawl³⁸

and dust you will eat³⁹ all the days of your life.

^3:15 And I will put hostility⁴⁰ between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring;⁴¹

her offspring will attack⁴² your head,

and⁴³ you⁴⁴ will attack her offspring’s heel.”^{45 [18]}

It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word for heel is:

“…- Original: עקּבה עקב

- Transliteration: `aqeb

- Phonetic: aw-kabe'

- Definition:

1. heel, rear, footprint, hinder part, hoof, rear of a troop, footstep

a. heel

b. mark of heel, footprint

c. hinder part, rear

- Origin: from H6117

- TWOT entry: 1676a

- Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine

- Strong's: From H6117; a heel (as protuberant); hence a track; figuratively the rear (of an army). (lier in wait is by mistake for H6120.): - heel [horse-] hoof last lier in wait [by mistake for H6120] (foot-) step…”  [19]

It is from this root word that the name of the father of the twelve tribes of Israel comes from. Ya’akov (Jacob) means “supplanter” or “heel-grabber”, for his act of grabbing Esau’s heel in the womb. The TDOT[20] puts it this way:

“…יַעֲקֹב (ya˓ăqōb). Jacob. Abraham’s grandson through Isaac. Used collectively, it refers to the tribes of Israel, as descended from the twelve sons of Jacob.

Jacob, the second of Isaac’s twin sons, received the preeminence before birth (Gen 25:23; an example of divine election in general, Rom 9:11–13). But he acquired his name when he was born “with his hand [symbolically] holding on to Esau’s heel” (Gen 25:26 NASB; Hos 12:3 [H 4]). When he had later gained the birthright (Gen 25:29–34) and stolen Isaac’s blessing (27:1–29), Esau thus exclaimed, “Is he not rightly named Jacob (ya˓ăqōb), for he has supplanted me these two times?” (v, 36). See also his devices against Laban (30:29–31:12; cf. Isa 43:27–28).

Yet at Bethel, as Jacob was fleeing from Esau, God assured him that he was with him (28:12, 15) and renewed the covenant which he had previously revealed to Abraham and Isaac (vv. 13–14; cf. 17:7–8; 26:3–4; Lev 26:42). Jacob thereupon vowed that Yahweh would be his God and receive his tithes (Gen 28:20–22). Then at Peniel, enriched by the Lord but dreading to meet Esau, he uttered a model prayer (32:9–12).

God, in the person of the Angel of Yahweh presumably Christ pre-incarnate (vv. 24, 30; Hos 12:4), next encountered Jacob, with whom the patriarch wrestled, literally, but also in prayer (Hos 12:4). Broken by God (Gen 32:25 [H 26]), Jacob thereby achieved his final spiritual victory and blessing (v. 29 [H 30]), for the Angel said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob (ya˓ăqōb “supplanter”), but Israel (yiśrā˓ēl), for you have striven (śārâ) with God and with men and have prevailed” (v. 28 [H 29]; cf. his subsequent devotion, Heb 11:21).

Both names, Israel and Jacob, became designations of honor for the patriarch’s descendants (from Num 23 onward; cf. 24:5, or 17 [Messianic]; Ps 47:4 [H 5]). God “loves Jacob” (Mal 1:2; cf. Rom 11:26). Yet finally the blessing reaches out to all the people of God, “the generation of those who seek Thy face—even Jacob” (Ps 24:6 «ass; cf. Gal 3:29)…” ^[21]

The battle lines were drawn: the enmity began. It continues to this day.

Those who oppose Israel and the Jewish people are satan’s tools. Church – wake up. It is the fact that the Jews are Jews that the world hates them – for from them came God’s message of morality; of humanity; of the divine knowledge that there is a God. From them came the Messiah, the Savior of all mankind. From them was the Torah, God given instruction on how to live. From them comes salvation. From them comes the end of satan. And this is why the world hates the Jew, for satan rules the world and he hates the Jew.

“…The solution to anti-Semitism is exactly the same as the cause: It is Jewish values and beliefs that cause anti-Semitism, and it will be Jewish values and beliefs that ultimately will eliminate anti-Semitism.

The message that the Jews bear is the recipe for conquering evil. The more effectively Jews transmit their special message, the closer they come to making a holocaust - whether aimed against Jews or against any other group - impossible.

Only when Jews act as Jews - only when the Torah's message of ethics and morality is known throughout the world - can we ever hope to experience a world in which evil has been eradicated.

Therein lies the exquisite irony of Jewish history. Although Jews posed no military, political or economic threat, and were never more than a tiny fraction of the world's population, they were always a major power in the eyes of mankind. Why? Because of the message they carry - the Torah.

Jewish ideas influence the world, but the world cannot absorb the message properly unless the Messengers - the Jews - know it and teach it…” [22]

Though there is truth in these words, the underlying cause of the hatred of the Jews is missed: it is the spiritual dimension of the war in the heavens that is the root of all this evil. It is the root of all the evil in the world in fact. The knowledge of God, of the truth of His word, of the messengers He selected to carry it forth, of the Messiah who bore the sins of all, Jew and Gentile, has tragically even been suppressed by the very ones tasked to reveal Elohi to the world. The Jew himself has sadly failed to reveal God, mostly because of the persecution he has received at the hands of the world, yet even unto our own hurt are we to declare truth and light; Jew or Gentile we must declare Him before the world. Those are easy words though to write or say; much harder to live out under the barrel of a gun.

One thing is certain, like it or not: the Jew IS the center of the world; his existence is our own existence. If he is destroyed, then evil triumphs, and if the Church continues its militant stance against the chosen of God, then it must be said that it is in league with evil, shackled to the dark throne of the devil. Our existence ends if the war against the Jewish people and Israel is not met with the greatest resistance ever. Rise up believers! Raise your voice, be not silent anymore!  For Zion’s sake I won’t be silent!

For the Jewish people, sometimes family is the enemy.

For if we are born out of Messiah as believers, then they are our brethren; so why do we persecute them?

Why do we hate?

When will we learn?

(Rom 10:13-11:36- Hebraic Roots Bible)

For everyone, "whoever may call on the name of YAHWEH will be saved." (Joel 2:32) How then may they call on One into whom they have not believed? And how may they believe One of whom they have not heard? And how may they hear without a preacher? And how may they preach if they are not sent? Even as it has been written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, of those preaching good things." (Isa. 52:7) But not all obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, "YAHWEH, who has believed our report?" (Isa. 53:1) Then faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of YAHWEH. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, rather, "into all the earth their voice went out, and to the ends of the world their words." (Psa. 19:4) But I say, Did not Israel know? First, Moses says, "I will provoke you to jealousy by a non-nation, by an unwise nation I will anger you." (Deut. 32:21) But Isaiah is very bold and says, "I was found by those not seeking Me; I became known to those not inquiring after Me." (Isa. 65:1) But to Israel He says, "All the day I stretched out My hands to a disobeying and contradicting people." (Isa. 65:2) I say then, Did not YAHWEH thrust away His people? Let it not be! For I also am an Israelite, out of Abraham's seed, of the tribe of Benjamin. "YAHWEH did not thrust away His people" whom He foreknew. (Psa. 94:14) Or do you not know what the Scripture said in Elijah, how He pleaded with YAHWEH against Israel, saying, YAHWEH, "they killed Your prophets, and they dug down Your altars, and only I am left, and they seek my life." (1 Kg. 19:10) But what does the Divine answer say to him, "I reserved to Myself seven thousand men who did not bow a knee to Baal." (1 Kg. 19:18) Even so, in this present time a remnant is preserved, elected by grace and has come into being. But if by grace, no longer is it of works; else grace no longer becomes grace. But if of works, it is no longer grace; else work is no longer work. What then? What Israel seeks, this it did not obtain, but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened; even as it has been written, "YAHWEH gave to them a spirit of slumber, eyes not seeing and ears not hearing" until this day. (Isa. 29:10; Deut. 29:4) And David said, "Let their table become for a snare and a trap, and for a stumbling block," and a repayment to them; "let their eyes be darkened, not to see, and their back always bowing." (Psa. 69:22, 23) I say, then, Did not they stumble that they should fall? Let it not be! But by their slipping away came salvation to the nations, to provoke them to jealousy. Now if their slipping away is the riches of the world, and their condemnation the riches of the nations, how much more their restoration? For I speak to you, the nations, since I am an apostle of the nations, (I glorify my ministry), if somehow I may provoke to jealousy my flesh, and may save some of them. For if their casting away is the reconciliation of the world, what will their restoration be, except life from the dead? Now if the first-fruit is holy, so also the lump. And if the root is holy, so also the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them, and became a sharer of the root and the fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, it is not you that bears the root, but the root bears you. You will say then, The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. Well! For unbelief they were broken off. And you stand by faith. Do not be high minded, but fear. For if YAHWEH did not spare the natural branches, fear that it may be He will not spare you either. Behold, then, the kindness and severity of YAHWEH: On those having fallen, severity. But on you kindness, if you continue in the kindness. Otherwise, you will also be cut off. And those also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in. For YAHWEH is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the natural wild olive tree, and against nature were grafted into a good olive tree, how much more these being according to nature will be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be wise within yourselves, that hardness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the nations comes in; (Gen. 48:8-19) and so all the tribes of Israel will be saved, even as it has been written, "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away iniquity from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins." (Isa. 59:20, 21; Jer. 50:3-8) Indeed, according to the good news, they are enemies toward you, but according to election, they are beloved for the sake of the patriarchs. For YAHWEH does not withdraw His free gift and His calling. For as you then also disobeyed YAHWEH, but now have obtained mercy by the disobedience of these, so also these now have disobeyed, so that they also may obtain mercy by your mercy. For YAHWEH has shut up all into unbelief, that He may show mercy to all. O the depth of the riches and of the wisdom and the knowledge of YAHWEH! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! "For who has known the mind of YAHWEH? Or who became His counselor?" (Isa. 40:13) "Or who first gave to Him, and it will be repaid to him?" (Job 41:11) Because of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory forever! Amen. [23]

We are only blessed because they are loved by the Father. The apple of His eye will be restored, whether we stand with them or not. It is as Esther for us today though:

(Esther 4:10-17)

 “…Again Esther spoke to Hathach, and ordered him to go to Mordecai, for all the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that whoever, whether man or woman, shall come to the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his, to die; except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter so that he may live. But I have not been called to come into the king these thirty days. And they told Mordecai Esther's words. And Mordecai said to take back to Esther, Do not imagine within yourself to deliver yourself in the king's house more than all the Jews.

For if you are completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall rise up to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house shall perish. And who knows if you have attained to the kingdom for such a time as this?

And Esther said to take back to Mordecai, Go, gather all the Jews being found in Shushan, and fast for me. And do not eat or drink three days, night or day. My maidens and I will also fast in this way. And so I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law.

And if I have perished, I have perished.

And Mordecai passed over and did according all that Esther had commanded him…”[24]

We have come to the kingdom for such a time as this, to stand with Israel, to perish if necessary, but stand we must.

Come out of Babylon O believer.

Stand with Zion

And the people of our God.

Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, ^echoose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether ^fthe gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of ⁵the River, or ^gthe gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.

^hBut as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” ^[25]

May it be so with you.

May YHVH richly bless you this day my beloved, Amein.

---

[1]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] For further information on Sabeel, see: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Sabeel_Ecumenical_Liberation_Theology_Center?o=2801&qsrc=999

[3] http://pinkapronregiment.com/2012/06/08/world-council-of-churches-american-denominations-anti-israel/

[4] http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/list

[5] See http://www.wildolive.co.uk/denominations%20against.htm for more information.

[6] From the article “The Error of Replacement Theology” by Clarence H. Wagner, original found at http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/publications/teaching/Article-18.html all rights reserved; if original cannot be found on BFP website, search the web for the article. For further insight refer to http://www.therefinersfire.org/christian_antisemitism.htm.

[7] Green, Jay P. (translator). Modern King James Version of the Holy Bible. Sovereign Grace Publishers (January 1993), n.d.

a  1 John 2:9, 11; 3:15

1  Lit brother

b  Matt 18:15; Luke 17:3

[8]  New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

o  2:9 1Jn 2:11; 3:15; 4:20

p  2:10 Rm 12:10; 1Th 4:9; Heb 13:1; 1Pt 1:22; 1Jn 3:10,14–17; 4:20–21

q  2:10 Or in it

r  2:11 Lv 19:17; 1Jn 3:15; 4:20

s  2:11 1Jn 1:6

t  2:11 Jn 14:6

[9]  The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2009. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

d  3:9 Lit. his

9  1Peter 1:23; 1John 5:18

e  3:10 Lit. are revealed

10  1John 2:29; 4:8

11  John 13:34; 15:12; 1John 1:5; 2:7; 23; 4:7; 21; 2John 1:5

f  3:12 Lit. Not like Cain

12  Gen 4:4, 8; Heb 11:4; Jude 1:11

13  John 15:18–19; 17:14; 2Tim 3:12

g  3:14 Other mss. read doesn’t love his brother

14  1John 2:9–11

15  Matt 5:21–22; Gal 5:21; 1John 4:20; Rev 21:8

h  3:16 Lit. he

16  John 3:16; 15:13; Rom 5:8; Eph 5:2, 25; Eph 5:2, 25, 1John 4:9, 11

[10]  International standard version New Testament : Version 1.1. 2000 (Print on Demand ed.). Yorba Linda, CA: The Learning Foundation.

[11] Green, Jay P. KJ3 - Literal Translation of the Bible. Electronic edition, e-Sword ver. 10.2.1, ©2000-2013 by Rick Myers. Sovereign Grace Publishers, Inc, 2006.

[12] From the article “Goodbye Messianic Judaism!” by Avram Yehoshua, www.SeedofAbraham.net; article can be seen at http://www.seedofabraham.net/gmesjud.html

[13] Footnote from the article “Goodbye Messianic Judaism!” by Avram Yehoshua, www.SeedofAbraham.net; article can be seen at http://www.seedofabraham.net/gmesjud.html “...  ^(3.) I think that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew, and possibly the first half of Acts. But today we have them in Greek. For a good book on Hebrew ‘being in back of the Greek Synoptic Gospels’ see, Bivin and Blizzard’s, Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus, Destiny Image Publishers, revised edition, 2001…”

[14] From the article “Goodbye Messianic Judaism!” by Avram Yehoshua, www.SeedofAbraham.net; article can be seen at http://www.seedofabraham.net/gmesjud.html

[15] http://www.oneinmessiah.net/FCF.htm

[16] http://www.aish.com/sem/wtj/82875402.html from the article “Why the Jews” by Raphael Stone.

[17] [Author’s Note:] Throughout these studies I have used the notes that come along with the passages I cite from the sources that I cite: these need a bit of a disclaimer though. As in all things, not everything that is footnoted is something that I necessarily agree with, especially if it contradicts what I believe pertains to any matters of the Torah or the commandments of God. I give you the notes as they are written by the authors of the material I cite from, so that you can see the information contained within them. It truly is not my place to edit or correct them; if they state anything that is in opposition to what I teach, then so be it. I will address these issues if requested, but for the sake of brevity (as if any of these posts of mine are brief ☺ ) I insert them and let them stand as they are. If I don’t agree with them, why do I include them you might ask? I don’t believe in censuring anyone’s opinions; as I would not want mine censured, so I will not do to that to another. As Rabbi Hillel once stated, “What is hateful to you, do not do to another. That is the whole Torah. Go and learn it.” Torah leads me to respect others, even if I disagree; it leads me to present both sides of the coin, even if it could mean I’d lose part of the argument. That is not to say I should not challenge something I believe contradicts the truth of God’s word; that I will do in the main body of my epistles; that is where my gentle dissent belongs. Most (but not all) of the differences will come when I quote from the NET® Bible; it has a decidedly Western/Greek mindset to it, but as a wise man once said “How do you eat chicken? Swallow the meat and spit out the bones..”

^·          [The following notes are taken from the NET Bible® footnotes, copyright (c) 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press L.L.C. All rights reserved. Used by permission from www.bible.org, n.d. Numbering system is unique to NET® Notes..]

¹ tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.

² sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”

³ tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.

sn There is a wordplay in Hebrew between the words “naked” (עֲרוּמִּים, ’arummim) in 2:25 and “shrewd” (עָרוּם, ’arum) in 3:1. The point seems to be that the integrity of the man and the woman is the focus of the serpent’s craftiness. At the beginning they are naked and he is shrewd; afterward, they will be covered and he will be cursed.

⁴ tn Heb “animals of the field.”

⁵ tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”

⁶ sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [Lord God] because there is no covenant relationship involved between God and the serpent. He only speaks of “God.” In the process the serpent draws the woman into his manner of speech so that she too only speaks of “God.”

⁷ tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.

⁸ tn There is a notable change between what the Lord God had said and what the woman says. God said “you may freely eat” (the imperfect with the infinitive absolute, see 2:16), but the woman omits the emphatic infinitive, saying simply “we may eat.” Her words do not reflect the sense of eating to her heart’s content.

⁹ sn And you must not touch it. The woman adds to God’s prohibition, making it say more than God expressed. G. von Rad observes that it is as though she wanted to set a law for herself by means of this exaggeration (Genesis [OTL], 86).

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew construction is פֶּן (pen) with the imperfect tense, which conveys a negative purpose: “lest you die” = “in order that you not die.” By stating the warning in this way, the woman omits the emphatic infinitive used by God (“you shall surely die,” see 2:17).

¹¹ tn The response of the serpent includes the infinitive absolute with a blatant negation equal to saying: “Not – you will surely die” (לֹא מוֹת תִּמֻתען, lo’ mot témutun). The construction makes this emphatic because normally the negative particle precedes the finite verb. The serpent is a liar, denying that there is a penalty for sin (see John 8:44).

sn Surely you will not die. Here the serpent is more aware of what the Lord God said than the woman was; he simply adds a blatant negation to what God said. In the account of Jesus’ temptation Jesus is victorious because he knows the scripture better than Satan (Matt 4:1–11).

¹² tn Or “you will have understanding.” This obviously refers to the acquisition of the “knowledge of good and evil,” as the next statement makes clear.

¹³ tn Or perhaps “like God, knowing.” It is unclear how the plural participle translated “knowing” is functioning. On the one hand, יֹדְעֵי (yodé’e) could be taken as a substantival participle functioning as a predicative adjective in the sentence. In this case one might translate: “You will be, like God himself, knowers of good and evil.” On the other hand, it could be taken as an attributive adjective modifying אֱלֹהִים (’elohim). In this case אֱלֹהִים has to be taken as a numerical plural referring to “gods,” “divine beings,” for if the one true God were the intended referent, a singular form of the participle would almost certainly appear as a modifier. Following this line of interpretation, one could translate, “You will be like divine beings who know good and evil.” The following context may favor this translation, for in 3:22 God says to an unidentified group, “Look, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.” It is probable that God is addressing his heavenly court (see the note on the word “make” in 1:26), the members of which can be called “gods” or “divine beings” from the ancient Israelite perspective. (We know some of these beings as messengers or “angels.”) An examination of parallel constructions shows that a predicative understanding (“you will be, like God himself, knowers of good and evil,” cf. NIV, NRSV) is possible, but rare (see Gen 27:23, where “hairy” is predicative, complementing the verb “to be”). The statistical evidence strongly suggests that the participle is attributive, modifying “divine beings” (see Ps 31:12; Isa 1:30; 13:14; 16:2; 29:5; 58:11; Jer 14:9; 20:9; 23:9; 31:12; 48:41; 49:22; Hos 7:11; Amos 4:11). In all of these texts, where a comparative clause and accompanying adjective/participle follow a copulative (“to be”) verb, the adjective/participle is attributive after the noun in the comparative clause.

¹⁴ sn You will be like divine beings who know good and evil. The serpent raises doubts about the integrity of God. He implies that the only reason for the prohibition was that God was protecting the divine domain. If the man and woman were to eat, they would enter into that domain. The temptation is to overstep divinely established boundaries. (See D. E. Gowan, When Man Becomes God [PTMS], 25.)

¹⁵ tn Heb “And the woman saw.” The clause can be rendered as a temporal clause subordinate to the following verb in the sequence.

¹⁶ tn Heb “that the tree was good for food.” The words “produced fruit that was” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

¹⁷ tn The Hebrew word תַּאֲוָה (ta’avah, translated “attractive” here) actually means “desirable.” This term and the later term נֶחְמָד (nekhmad, “desirable”) are synonyms.

sn Attractive (Heb “desirable”)…desirable. These are different words in Hebrew. The verbal roots for both of these forms appear in Deut 5:21 in the prohibition against coveting. Strong desires usually lead to taking.

¹⁸ tn Heb “that good was the tree for food, and that desirable it was to the eyes, and desirable was the tree to make one wise.” On the connection between moral wisdom and the “knowledge of good and evil,” see the note on the word “evil” in 2:9.

sn Desirable for making one wise. The quest for wisdom can follow the wrong course, as indeed it does here. No one can become like God by disobeying God. It is that simple. The Book of Proverbs stresses that obtaining wisdom begins with the fear of God that is evidenced through obedience to his word. Here, in seeking wisdom, Eve disobeys God and ends up afraid of God.

¹⁹ tn The pronoun “it” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied (here and also after “ate” at the end of this verse) for stylistic reasons.

sn She took…and ate it. The critical word now discloses the disobedience: “[she] ate.” Since the Lord God had said, “You shall not eat,” the main point of the divine inquisition will be, “Did you eat,” meaning, “did you disobey the command?” The woman ate, being deceived by the serpent (1 Tim 2:14), but then the man ate, apparently willingly when the woman gave him the fruit (see Rom 5:12, 17–19).

²⁰ sn This pericope (3:1–7) is a fine example of Hebrew narrative structure. After an introductory disjunctive clause that introduces a new character and sets the stage (3:1), the narrative tension develops through dialogue, culminating in the action of the story. Once the dialogue is over, the action is told in a rapid sequence of verbs – she took, she ate, she gave, and he ate.

²¹ tn The Hitpael participle of הָלָךְ (halakh, “to walk, to go”) here has an iterative sense, “moving” or “going about.” While a translation of “walking about” is possible, it assumes a theophany, the presence of the Lord God in a human form. This is more than the text asserts.

²² tn The expression is traditionally rendered “cool of the day,” because the Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruakh) can mean “wind.” U. Cassuto (Genesis: From Adam to Noah, 152–54) concludes after lengthy discussion that the expression refers to afternoon when it became hot and the sun was beginning to decline. J. J. Niehaus (God at Sinai [SOTBT], 155–57) offers a different interpretation of the phrase, relating יוֹם (yom, usually understood as “day”) to an Akkadian cognate umu (“storm”) and translates the phrase “in the wind of the storm.” If Niehaus is correct, then God is not pictured as taking an afternoon stroll through the orchard, but as coming in a powerful windstorm to confront the man and woman with their rebellion. In this case קוֹל יְהוָה (qol yéhvah, “sound of the Lord”) may refer to God’s thunderous roar, which typically accompanies his appearance in the storm to do battle or render judgment (e.g., see Ps 29).

²³ tn The verb used here is the Hitpael, giving the reflexive idea (“they hid themselves”). In v. 10, when Adam answers the Lord, the Niphal form is used with the same sense: “I hid.”

²⁴ tn The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call”) followed by the preposition אֶל־ or לְ (’el- or lé, “to, unto”) often carries the connotation of “summon.”

²⁵ sn Where are you? The question is probably rhetorical (a figure of speech called erotesis) rather than literal, because it was spoken to the man, who answers it with an explanation of why he was hiding rather than a location. The question has more the force of “Why are you hiding?”

²⁶ tn Heb “and he said.”

²⁷ tn Heb “your sound.” If one sees a storm theophany here (see the note on the word “time” in v. 8), then one could translate, “your powerful voice.”

²⁸ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (the Lord God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁹ sn Who told you that you were naked? This is another rhetorical question, asking more than what it appears to ask. The second question in the verse reveals the Lord God’s real concern.

³⁰ sn The Hebrew word order (“Did you from the tree – which I commanded you not to eat from it – eat?”) is arranged to emphasize that the man’s and the woman’s eating of the fruit was an act of disobedience. The relative clause inserted immediately after the reference to the tree brings out this point very well.

³¹ tn The Hebrew construction in this sentence uses an independent nominative absolute (formerly known as a casus pendens). “The woman” is the independent nominative absolute; it is picked up by the formal subject, the pronoun “she” written with the verb (“she gave”). The point of the construction is to throw the emphasis on “the woman.” But what makes this so striking is that a relative clause has been inserted to explain what is meant by the reference to the woman: “whom you gave me.” Ultimately, the man is blaming God for giving him the woman who (from the man’s viewpoint) caused him to sin.

³² tn The words “some fruit” here and the pronoun “it” at the end of the sentence are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.

³³ tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun is enclitic, serving as an undeclined particle for emphasis. It gives the sense of “What in the world have you done?” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

³⁴ sn The Hebrew word order puts the subject (“the serpent”) before the verb here, giving prominence to it.

³⁵ tn This verb (the Hiphil of נָשָׁא, nasha) is used elsewhere of a king or god misleading his people into false confidence (2 Kgs 18:29 = 2 Chr 32:15 = Isa 36:14; 2 Kgs 19:10 = Isa 37:10), of an ally deceiving a partner (Obad 7), of God deceiving his sinful people as a form of judgment (Jer 4:10), of false prophets instilling their audience with false hope (Jer 29:8), and of pride and false confidence producing self-deception (Jer 37:9; 49:16; Obad 3).

³⁶ sn Note that God asks no question of the serpent, does not call for confession, as he did to the man and the woman; there is only the announcement of the curse. The order in this section is chiastic: The man is questioned, the woman is questioned, the serpent is cursed, sentence is passed on the woman, sentence is passed on the man.

³⁷ tn The Hebrew word translated “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (’arar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as comparative, then the idea is “cursed [i.e., punished] are you above [i.e., more than] all the wild beasts.” In this case the comparative preposition reflects the earlier comparison: The serpent was more shrewd than all others, and so more cursed than all others. If the preposition is taken as separative (see the note on the word “ground” in 4:11), then the idea is “cursed and banished from all the wild beasts.” In this case the serpent is condemned to isolation from all the other animals.

³⁸ tn Heb “go”; “walk,” but in English “crawl” or “slither” better describes a serpent’s movement.

³⁹ sn Dust you will eat. Being restricted to crawling on the ground would necessarily involve “eating dust,” although that is not the diet of the serpent. The idea of being brought low, of “eating dust” as it were, is a symbol of humiliation.

⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew word translated “hostility” is derived from the root אֵיב (’ev, “to be hostile, to be an adversary [or enemy]”). The curse announces that there will be continuing hostility between the serpent and the woman. The serpent will now live in a “battle zone,” as it were.

⁴¹ sn The Hebrew word translated “offspring” is a collective singular. The text anticipates the ongoing struggle between human beings (the woman’s offspring) and deadly poisonous snakes (the serpent’s offspring). An ancient Jewish interpretation of the passage states: “He made the serpent, cause of the deceit, press the earth with belly and flank, having bitterly driven him out. He aroused a dire enmity between them. The one guards his head to save it, the other his heel, for death is at hand in the proximity of men and malignant poisonous snakes.” See Sib. Or. 1:59–64. For a similar interpretation see Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.50-51).

⁴² tn Heb “he will attack [or “bruise”] you [on] the head.” The singular pronoun and verb agree grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “head” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A crushing blow to the head would be potentially fatal.

⁴³ tn Or “but you will…”; or “as they attack your head, you will attack their heel.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is understood as contrastive. Both clauses place the subject before the verb, a construction that is sometimes used to indicate synchronic action (see Judg 15:14).

⁴⁴ sn You will attack her offspring’s heel. Though the conflict will actually involve the serpent’s offspring (snakes) and the woman’s offspring (human beings), v. 15b for rhetorical effect depicts the conflict as being between the serpent and the woman’s offspring, as if the serpent will outlive the woman. The statement is personalized for the sake of the addressee (the serpent) and reflects the ancient Semitic concept of corporate solidarity, which emphasizes the close relationship between a progenitor and his offspring. Note Gen 28:14, where the Lord says to Jacob, “Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you [second masculine singular] will spread out in all directions.” Jacob will “spread out” in all directions through his offspring, but the text states the matter as if this will happen to him personally.

⁴⁵ tn Heb “you will attack him [on] the heel.” The verb (translated “attack”) is repeated here, a fact that is obscured by some translations (e.g., NIV “crush…strike”). The singular pronoun agrees grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “heel” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A bite on the heel from a poisonous serpent is potentially fatal.

sn The etiological nature of v. 15 is apparent, though its relevance for modern western man is perhaps lost because we rarely come face to face with poisonous snakes. Ancient Israelites, who often encountered snakes in their daily activities (see, for example, Eccl 10:8; Amos 5:19), would find the statement quite meaningful as an explanation for the hostility between snakes and humans. (In the broader ancient Near Eastern context, compare the Mesopotamian serpent omens. See H. W. F. Saggs, The Greatness That Was Babylon, 309.) This ongoing struggle, when interpreted in light of v. 15, is a tangible reminder of the conflict introduced into the world by the first humans’ rebellion against God. Many Christian theologians (going back to Irenaeus) understand v. 15 as the so-called protevangelium, supposedly prophesying Christ’s victory over Satan (see W. Witfall, “Genesis 3:15 – a Protevangelium?” CBQ 36 [1974]: 361-65; and R. A. Martin, “The Earliest Messianic Interpretation of Genesis 3:15, ” JBL 84 [1965]: 425-27). In this allegorical approach, the woman’s offspring is initially Cain, then the whole human race, and ultimately Jesus Christ, the offspring (Heb “seed”) of the woman (see Gal 4:4). The offspring of the serpent includes the evil powers and demons of the spirit world, as well as those humans who are in the kingdom of darkness (see John 8:44). According to this view, the passage gives the first hint of the gospel. Satan delivers a crippling blow to the Seed of the woman (Jesus), who in turn delivers a fatal blow to the Serpent (first defeating him through the death and resurrection [1 Cor 15:55–57] and then destroying him in the judgment [Rev 12:7–9; 20:7–10]). However, the grammatical structure of Gen 3:15b does not suggest this view. The repetition of the verb “attack,” as well as the word order, suggests mutual hostility is being depicted, not the defeat of the serpent. If the serpent’s defeat were being portrayed, it is odd that the alleged description of his death comes first in the sentence. If he has already been crushed by the woman’s “Seed,” how can he bruise his heel? To sustain the allegorical view, v. 15b must be translated in one of the following ways: “he will crush your head, even though you attack his heel” (in which case the second clause is concessive) or “he will crush your head as you attack his heel” (the clauses, both of which place the subject before the verb, may indicate synchronic action).

·         End “NET®” notes

^[18]  Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.

[19] F. Brown, S. Driver, C. Briggs; J. Strong; J.H. Thayer. Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, and the Strong’s King James Concordance. Electronic Edition, copyright 2000–2013 e-Sword by Rick Meyers, n.d.

[20]Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament

^[21] Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999, c1980). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (692). Chicago: Moody Press.

[22]  From the article “Why the Jews” http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/judaism.php?Itemid=11133

[23] Hebraic Roots Bible. 2nd edition; electronic version, e-Sword v. 10.2.1, © 2000-2013 by Rick Meyers. Word of Truth Publications, 2012.

[24] Hebraic Roots Bible. 2nd edition; electronic version, e-Sword v. 10.2.1, © 2000-2013 by Rick Meyers. Word of Truth Publications, 2012.

e  Ruth 1:15; 1 Kin. 18:21

f  Josh. 24:2; Ezek. 20:39

5  The Euphrates

g  Ex. 23:24, 32

h  Gen. 18:19; Ps. 101:2; [1 Tim. 3:4, 5]

[25]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.