Let’s begin with a definition of “antisemitism” — “Antisemitism is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews.” It is, plain and simple, racism!

Interestingly enough, antisemitism finds its roots in the Bible. In this blog, I want to look at three sources of antisemitism, all found in the Bible.

1) THE CHOSEN PEOPLE

From the beginning, we find that Abraham, the “Father of our Faith,” was called by God out of Haran to go to “a land that I will show you.” Here is the promise given by God to Abraham:

“Go forth from your country, And from your relatives; And from your father’s house to the land which I will show you. And I will make you a great nation; And I will bless you; And make your name great; And so, you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you; And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).

And then approximately 500 years later following their escape from Egypt, God reminded Moses and the Israelites:

“You are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6).

And so, one of the sources of animosity from all of the Gentile nations is that they were not chosen by God as His Old Covenant people, through whom would come the Messiah. They were excluded, outcasts, or as we might say in today’s language, “not good enough.” And, of course, with that, hatred and animosity are born toward the Jewish people.

2) THE EXILED SON

Let’s return to the story of Abraham. You probably remember the time when Abraham and Sarah had no children, and Abraham thought that all of their land, and the promises, would come through Abraham’s “property” manager, Eliazar. It was then that God said “NO” to this plan because a child would be born through Abraham himself. But Sarah remained childless, and so she proposed a plan (with Abraham’s consent) that Abraham should have intimate relations with Hagar (Sarah’s Egyptian maid) so that a child would come from Abraham’s own body. Hagar received the following promise from an angel of God:

The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count…Behold, you are with child; And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers” (Genesis 16:7-12).

After the birth of Ishmael, all seemed to be on track until thirteen years later, two men (angels) visited Abraham to let him know that Sarah would become pregnant and bear a son the following year. And so, when Ishmael was fourteen years old, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, the “child of promise,” a child born through Abraham and Sarah. Animosity had already developed between Sarah and Hagar, and eventually, Hagar and her son Ishmael, were asked to leave the family and move to the east.

Interestingly, when Abraham died at the age of 175, both Isaac and Ishmael went to his grave to honor him. After all, these are the two sons of Abraham, Isaac being the “child of promise” and Ishmael, the child of a slave woman. Later, Ishmael died, and the Book of Genesis records these words:

These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people. They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt, and settled in defiance of all his relatives (Genesis 25:17-18).

Ishmael settled in the northern part of Arabia “in defiance of all his relatives,” and Mohammed was born over two thousand years later in Mecca, also in Arabia. A genealogy recorded in AD 770 (two hundred years after the birth of Mohammed) lists him as a descendant of Ishmael, and this is what most Muslims believe today. And so, we have Ishmael, the first-born exiled son of Abraham who failed to receive any of the promises given to Abraham were instead given to Isaac (the second-born son, but the child of promise), and through him would eventually come the “Chosen People” and then from the Tribe of Judah would come Jesus, the Messiah. Because most Arabs today trace their lineage to Ishmael, there is certainly a sense of animosity toward the Jews, God’s “Chosen People,” who are descendants of Isaac instead of Ishamel.

3) THE CRUCIFIED MESSIAH

Several weeks ago, in our current series of “The First 40 Years,” we focused upon Peter’s  second sermon following the events of Pentecost. In that sermon, Peter addressed the crowd of religious leaders and other Jews who had rejected the Messiah saying:

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the One whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the One whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses (Acts 3:13-15)

Notice how Peter directly addressed the Jewish leaders and other non-believing Jews saying that they were the ones who had “delivered” and “disowned” the “Holy and Righteous One,” and put to death the “Prince of Life.” Although the Romans drove the spikes into Jesus’ hands and feet, it was the Jews who called for His execution. Peter did not mince words, placing the guilt for Jesus death directly on the leaders of the nation, with the support of the rest of the crowd gathered on that Good Friday. And then, years later, here is what Stephen said:

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did…Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him (Acts 7:51, 54).

And so, not only did the Jewish establishment crucify Jesus, they also proceeded to stone Stephen to death, and he became the first Christian martyr. And now, for those living in so- called “Christian” nations in the west, you can see how the Jews would be targeted for animosity and hatred for having a direct hand in killing Jesus, the One who is recognized throughout the west as the Savior of mankind.  

SUMMARY

Now we can understand the biblical roots for antisemitism:

From God’s Chosen People — We find all of the Gentile nations excluded from the “Covenants of Promise” given to Abraham and his descendants;

From the Exiled son of Abraham — We find many Arab Muslims, descendants of Ishmael, who are antagonistic toward the Jews for being excluded from the “Covenants of Promise” given to Abraham and his descendants;

And from the Crucified Messiah – We find those living in so-called “Christian” nations who find the Jews guilty of crucifying their Messiah, and are therefore worthy of animosity and persecution.

A BETTER WAY

With all of the sources of potential animosity toward Jewish people, genuine followers of Christ find a much better way outlined in Paul’s letter to the Church in Ephesus:

Therefore, remember that formerly you, Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” … Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So, then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,…(Ephesians 2:11-19).

But that’s not all, because Paul also wrote to the Churches of Galatia saying:

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:26-29).

I pray that each one of us would put away all hatred and animosity toward anyone or any people group, and become a part of the “Better Way,” the way of Jesus, who calls all of us to acknowledge and receive Him as Savior, and to be a part of His church, where we are all one in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. This is God’s design. It’s a better way, and he calls each of us to be a part of it!

Blessings to all.