Posts Tagged ‘Israel’

By Bill Randles
Pastor of Believers in Grace

Why has Israel been so universally hated? What is it about her that consumes so much frenetic activity in world forums such as the United Nations? Why so many censures of the only free and democratic nation in the middle east? How could there even be a suggested ‘moral equivalence ‘ in discussions of Israel and her enemies?

How is it that there can be a Red Cross, and a Red Crescent but there can never be a Red Star of David?

Israel, even in it’s current temporary state of unbelief, is an ongoing testimony to the reality of the God of the Bible. The world seeks to “will away” the existence of God, therefore it hates Israel.

Many centuries earlier a pagan prophet, Balaam, was used by the Holy God to prophesy to the King of Moab, who had paid him to curse Israel. Instead God inspired Balaam to bless and extol Israel, predicting that Israel would triumph over all of her enemies in the last days. Click here to read this entire article.

Related Articles:

Letter to the Editor: What Does Lighthouse Trails Believe About Israel?

Interesting Times? . . . Actually it is the End Times

The Anti-Israel Revelation

by Anita Dittman and Jan Markell
(authors of Trapped in Hitler’s Hell)

Adolf Hitler came to power because the confused and senile President Hindenburg permitted it. In the early 1930s, Germany was in the throes of the economic depression that had begun on Wall Street in October 1929. The depression’s effects had been felt in Germany almost immediately; by 1933 nearly one third of the country was unemployed.

During the 1930 elections, the Nazis made the most noise because they were violently anti-communist and had the backing of wealthy German industrialists. Scoring giant gains in the Reichstag, Germany’s legislative assembly, their representation jumped from twelve to one hundred and seven.

By 1932, the Nazis had become even stronger as they rallied around the leadership of Adolf Hitler. With his staff, Hitler traveled to every village and hamlet to gain votes, his unemployment bandwagon gaining so much support that the Nazis more than doubled their parliament seats.

Then Hitler was offered the German vice-chancellorship peacefully and legally. He refused. He wanted nothing short of the chancellorship, which would give him power almost equal to Hindenburg-s. Later in 1932, he was offered the full chancellorship, with limited conditions. Again he held out, protesting the conditions.

By then Germany’s streets were loud with riots and political fights. Brown-shirted Nazis fought all opponents–particularly left-wing ones–openly in the streets as well as in dark alleys.

Finally in January of 1933 Hitler was made the chancellor of a coalition government; Hindenburg, nearly eighty-five and no longer able to read, remained president. A torchlight parade was held on January 30th. A new era of history had opened–the era of the Third Reich. German democracy was dead. But with nearly six million unemployed, Germany had only a lukewarm devotion to democracy anyway.

The Nazi appeal contained a lot of idealism. The idea of living in a strong, virile country appealed to everyone, particularly the young. Everyone was wide open to the propaganda that assured relief from depression, inflation, and other tremendous hardships, and Nazism promised a near-welfare state.

Hitler was totally underrated by his opponents. The Communist and Social Democratic parties felt sure his incompetence would quickly be revealed and that the Nazis would topple with little impact. Hardly anyone expected the Third Reich to burn its swastika across Europe’s landscape…. (From Trapped in Hitler’s Hell)

Related:

Deception, Lies and Disinformation by Berit Kjos

• September 3 – Iran could strike US bases if Israel attacks: Hezbollah
• September 8 – FBI begins installation of $1 billion face recognition system across America
• September 4 – Benedict XVI Calls Focolare Youth to Bridge Gap Among All People
• September 7 – Israel facing most fateful days since 1973, says PM confidant
• September 5 – Medicine in a microchip: Company testing an implantable, wireless drug delivery system
• September 10 – Christians, Muslims to hold vigil as Lebanon papal visit approaches
• September 7 – Faith in Mary Seen as Channel for Pope to Bring Peace in Lebanon
• September 8 – Iran threatens to bring war to U.S. shores
• September 12 – Pope Benedict urges Christians to be ‘builders of peace’ in Middle East
• September 11 – Mammoth fragments from Siberia raise cloning hopes
• September 12 – Top EU official: greater political union is needed

LTRP Note: The following article by Mike Oppenheimer is a follow up to our recent article: “Letter to the Editor: What Does Lighthouse Trails Believe About Israel?.”

By Mike Oppenheimer
Let Us Reason Ministries
Used with permission.

At a time when Bible prophecy is most important, we find the church having less knowledge of it, especially when it relates to Israel. Most evangelical Christians have supported the Jews and the modern state of Israel, but things are changing. The church from its infancy believed that God had a future plan for Israel based on Scripture (Acts 3:19), this included a national restoration of Israel in the same land they were eventually dispersed from. As time went on and the church moved further away from her Jewish beginnings and roots, many began to believe the church replaced Israel. But in the day and age when we see biblical prophecy being fulfilled, with God’s continual protection and restoration of the Jews to the land, there should be none that hold unbelief of his promises; BUT THERE ARE.

There are some within the Church that take the position that Israel as a people and a nation have no further place with God and that Israel is eternally cast off for their rejection of the Messiah. They believe that National Israel no longer has a future in the plan of God and that all the promises given to Israel are forfeited and are now transferred to the church – the church is now the true Israel. Some go so far as to say disparaging remarks like the Jewish people are now no longer a “chosen people of God” and are cursed because of their unbelief or that the Jews have inherited all the curses of the law found in Deuteronomy chapters 28-33. They believe that ALL the blessings to Israel are now transferred to the church. What they neglect is the curses included in Deuteronomy 28. If one is going to claim the blessings of Deuteronomy 28, they cannot exclude the curses. One cannot live under the old Covenant and new covenant at the same time. In fact, we will find the very opposite – God curses those who are against Israel. Deuteronomy 28 accompanies the conditional covenant of Moses, not the unconditional covenant of grace of the New Testament.

The adherents to this Replacement teaching claim the Church was in the Old Testament and was an assembly of believers, so the Church becomes the continuation of Israel. Since Pentecost of Acts 2, the term “Israel” now refers to the Church, they say. One only needs to look at how the words in the Book of Acts are used to see this is not so. If this is true, then why are there distinctions of Israel and the Church throughout the Book of Acts and why are distinguishing statements made through the epistles? This is a man-made doctrine built on a false presupposition.

The first occurrence of the Greek word ekkleesia in the New Testament is found in Matthew 16:18. The word Church (ekkleesia –assembly) is often referred to mean Israel by replacement theologians as a generic meaning for an assembly of worshipers. Thus, they assume the word Church (Ekkleesia) is a Greek word for Israel. They believe this is what Jesus Messiah meant in Matthew 16:18 for the word Church (it is used only twice in the New Testament Gospels – Matthew 18). This would mean there always was the Church (i.e., “the Church” is Israel continued in the New Testament). However, in Matthew 16:13-20, the word “church” literally means “those called out,” but it also refers to those, like Peter, who confess Jesus is the Son of the Living God, something that was not revealed in the Old Testament (this will be further explained as we look at Romans 11). These called-out ones are not in reference to the Mosaic Law that was given the nation Israel but to a whole new Covenant.

In the New Testament, the term is used also in the narrower sense of a single church, or a church confined to a particular place. There is the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (Romans 16:5); the church at Corinth; the churches in Judea; the church at Jerusalem, etc.

If one were to use the word Israel for Church throughout the New Testament, they would begin to see the problems it would create.

In Acts 8:3, Saul persecuted the Christians from house to house. He certainly was not persecuting Israel.

Acts 2:47: “And the Lord added to the church [Israel] daily those who were being saved.” Acts 8:1: Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church [Israel] which was at Jerusalem.”

Acts 11:26: “So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church [Israel] and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

And this: Acts 15:4: “And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church [Israel] and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.”

The fact that Jews were called out of unbelieving Israel to be part of the Church does, in all sense, go against the Church being Israel.

In the same way, if one switches the word church for Israel even more problems occur.

Matt 2:20 says, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel [church].”

Matt. 8:10: To those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! [the church].

Matt. 10:6: “But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel [the church].”

Matt. 15:24: “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel [the church].”

Matt. 19:28: “[Y]ou who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [the church]

Luke 24:21: “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel [the church].

Would it not be prudent to let the word Israel mean what it is meant in its consistent context and church be applied to what it is meant also in context? Acts 1:6: They asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (See Also Acts 3:12; 4:10; 13:24). Was he restoring the Church? Of course not.

As Israel rejected the chief Cornerstone, Peter remarks that the believers are: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).

“You are built a spiritual house” – oikodomeisthe. These have become a congregation of faith among those who disbelieve.

The Nation Israel

Israel was always referred to as the nation made up of Jews who are physical descendants of not just Abraham (as are the Gentiles) but Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 73 times in the New Testament the term “Israel” is used. The majority of the times it refers to national ethnic Israel. (There are three main passages used to try to prove the Church is Israel. Romans 9:6; 11:26, and Galatians 6:16. 1 Corinthians 10:18, “Israel after the flesh,” as the true, believing Israel among the unbelieving, just as in Romans 9:6 the apostle distinguishes two Israel’s, one that believes, the other unbelieving; both are ethnic Israelites, but only one has faith that keeps them in the covenant.

Galatians 6:16 is often used to prove the Church is Israel. This view believes that the Book of Galatians is concerned with Gentiles who were attempting to attain salvation through the law. The ones deceiving them were Judaizers, Jews who were demanding adherence to the Law of Moses. The “Israel of God” clearly is those Jewish believers who, in contrast with the Judaizers, followed the rule of salvation by faith alone. Paul is here speaking only of a division within ethnic Israel. Some of them are believers and thus truly Israel, whereas others, though ethnically Israelites, are not truly Israel, since they are not believing . . . No Gentiles are found in the statement at all.

This replacement view is often held within groups such as Reconstructionists, Dominionists, and Kingdom Now adherents who are mainly not Premillennial (those who hold to Postmillenialism, Amillennialism and Preterism).

God has an unconditional commitment to the people of Israel; He has made a covenant and cannot break His Word. There are those in the “church” who take the position that the first covenant promises to the Jews are nullified and void. Paul makes it clear to the church in Rome, “Has God cast away His people (the Jews), CERTAINLY NOT? Or God forbid” (Romans 11:1). On this alone, we have evidence that replacement teaching is wrong. In Ezekiel 36, God makes it very clear that He will never abandon Israel. Not for their sakes, but because His Name and His reputation are on the line. Jeremiah writes right after the promise of a new covenant: “Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name)” and “If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever” (Jeremiah 31:31, 35-36). For Israel to no longer be a nation would mean the sun, moon, and stars would also not exist.

God cut a blood covenant (unconditional) with Abraham: “I will make you a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great. I will make you a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. I will curse those who curse you. In you all the families of the world will be blessed!” (Gen. 12:1-3). This has not been revoked. To this nation, God will give a land; the land of Canaan (Genesis12:1, 7; 13:14-15, 17; 15:17-21; 17:8). God will bless those who bless this nation and curse those who curse it (12:3) God laid down a divine principle that has been seen and proven throughout history.

When you go against Israel (curse the people like Balak tried to get Balaam to do), you are going against the Messiah who created Israel to be a blessing to all nations.

Another point to take into account is Joel 3:2: “I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.”

Genesis 12:7: And Yahweh appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto your seed will I give this land and there built an altar unto Yahweh, who appeared unto him.” He promised a Land; specifically, the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1, 7; 13:14-15, 17; 15:17-21; 17:8).

The emphasis of Genesis 17 (Genesis 17:9-14) is on the token of the covenant: physical circumcision on the eighth day of a boy’s life. Circumcision was to be a sign of one’s Jewishness, the seal of the covenant.

God chose to confirm the covenant with Jacob, as seen in Genesis 28:13-15. Then it was confirmed through all of Jacob’s twelve sons, who fathered the twelve tribes that made up the nation of Israel (Genesis 49).

Israel was given laws and ways to be distinguished and separate from the Gentiles; now we have teachers saying the Gentile church is now Israel. For those who are Gentile who claim they are the true Jews because of their belief in the Messiah and now replace Israel, Jesus has this to say: Those who say they are Jews but are not, Jesus calls them liars; they are of the synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:9 and 3:9)

The promises made to both Abraham and his seed show that blessings have not yet received complete fulfillment but await the Messianic Kingdom. The Abrahamic Covenant contains both physical and spiritual promises. The physical blessings were limited to the Jews (such as the land), the spiritual blessings were to extend to the Gentiles through the Messiah only (being grafted into the Olive tree). In the Old covenant, the Gentiles had to convert to the religion of Judaism (but this still did not make them Jewish).

God revealed that it was to be through Sarah’s son Isaac that the Abrahamic Covenant would be confirmed (Gen. 26:2-5, 24). Some examples of this include: Exodus 2:23-25; 4:24-26; 6:2-8; 32:11-14; Leviticus 26:46; Deuteronomy 34:4; II Kings 13:22-23; I Chronicles 16:15-19; II Chronicles 20:7-8; Nehemiah 9:7-8; Psalm 105:7-12; Luke 1:54-55, 68-73; and Hebrews 6:13-20. These verses explain that the Abrahamic Covenant is the basis for Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, for giving them the Land, for Jewish survival throughout the centuries in spite of disobedience, for the coming of the Messiah, the resurrection of the dead, and for Israel’s final redemption and restoration.

Israel has become the focus for the world, and unfortunately, much of the Church no longer believes in the nation’s relevance today. It is Satan who has instigated hatred towards the Jewish people throughout the centuries; in the end, he will be furious and will do everything possible to annihilate them (far worse than what Hitler had in mind and accomplished).

Any doctrine or interpretation must be from the context of Scripture and its complete teaching on the subject (both Old and New Testament passages) and not based upon a single verse. We must take the whole counsel of God’s Word. When we study Israel, there is a major amount in the Bible concerning the people, the nation, and its future. Replacement theology and its antagonistic view of Israel are perpetuating an anti-Semitic stance in the Church.

What one believes about Israel is of utmost importance to understanding the Bible and the end times. It should be apparent when we study the Word; Old Testament promises made to national Israel will literally be fulfilled in the future just as they were literally fulfilled in the past. The details needed are found in the Old Testament, and we find Paul and John in the book of Revelation often draw on a number of passages to prove their points.

If Israel is no longer God’s “chosen people,” we find numerous problems springing from this position that cannot be reconciled with God’s character or His promises.

Romans 11 contains Scripture passages important to understand. To get the complete picture, Chapters 1-10 of Romans needs to be thoroughly read. Romans 1, and going into Romans 2, points out that no one has an excuse because the evidence of the truth of God has been with us from the beginning, even found in nature.

Romans 2 discusses the Jew and the law. It points out the futility of trying to obtain salvation through the law, that Jews do not have any advantage over the Gentiles for salvation. That all have sinned. The law shows us how short we fall of God’s holiness. In fact, the Jews who have more knowledge of God will have more to answer for. The chapter closes with the statement that it is not enough to be circumcised externally to be a Jew, but rather God’s concern is for the heart to be changed, not change in the flesh but in the inner man.

In Romans 3-8, we are told that the Jews had an advantage over the Gentiles in that they were given the truth of God’s Word (the oracles of God) and were entrusted to keep it. However, both the Jew and Gentile have sinned, and the law did not justify them, neither one is justified outside of faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul raises the question regarding the place of Israel in Romans 9, 10, 11. In Chapter 9:3, he said: “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” If the Church replaced Israel, this could not be stated. However, we need to pay attention to how Paul defines Israel throughout the book of Romans and his other epistles.

It’s obvious that the Covenant is still in effect to Israel because of what Paul states earlier in the same letter to the Romans. He goes on to identify his people, distinguishing them from the Gentiles and the Church. Romans 9:4-5: “who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” Certainly, these are not Gentiles – not the Church – of which he is speaking.

Let Us Reason Ministries
Used with permission.

Basically, we believe God made an everlasting covenant with Israel. We do not believe the church replaces Israel (replacement theology). We believe there is biblical prophetic significance with Israel today. We believe that individual Jews need to hear and accept the Gospel just like every human being does, but the Bible is clear that Israel is the apple of His eye, and as believers, we have been grafted in. We have published two books by living Holocaust survivors and carry numerous other materials about the Holocaust, finding it to be one of the most atrocious acts every committed against humanity and particularly against the Jews. We believe Satan hates the Jews and Christians with a special vengeance.

We have posted numerous articles in the past several years that illustrate our concern for and interest in Israel and the Jewish people. In 2011, we began carrying Tony Pearce’s book, The Messiah Factor, which we find to be one of the best books we have read regarding Israel and the Jews. Below are a couple extracts from that book. We have also posted some articles by Pastor Bill Randles, who has written extensively about Israel. Below are some of those articles as well as others we have posted. Hopefully, these articles will clearly show our views regarding Israel and the Jewish people.

Israel in comparison to Arab countries: Israel – Red; Arab Countries: Green

SOME OF OUR COVERAGE OF ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE:

Hitler was NOT a Christian: A Christian Response to a False Accusation by Lighthouse Trails

Who Really Killed Jesus? (A word to those who hate the Jews)  by Tony Pearce

Israel/Flotilla Coverage You May Not Hear in the Mass Media – “Israel Should Go Home to Germany!”

Balaam, On Being Paid to Curse Israel  by Bill Randles

New York Times: America’s Policy Towards Israel Officially Shifts from The Berean Call

The Anti-Israel Revelation

Holocaust Remembrance Day 2012 – Resistance in the Midst of Travesty

Why the Heathen Rage in a World Gone Amiss  by Bill Randles

Obama and the Mourning of Israel Video with Bill Randles

Media misleading on Jews evicting Arabs from Jerusalem  by WND

Interesting Times? . . . Actually it is the End Times  by Bill Randles

Israel and Prophetic Proof  by The Berean Call

A Right and Left Hook to the Bible  by Mike Oppenheimer

“Former senior White House correspondent renews venom [against Israel and the Jews] at Arab conference” by WND

Vatican synod calls for end to Israel’s ‘occupation’ – “no longer a chosen people.” by Jerusalem Post

LT Statement on Luther and His Later Views Toward the Jews by Lighthouse Trails

U.N. Human Rights Council Retaining Its Bias Against Israel

Obama Defends “Robust Support” For Israel – Administrative Record Proves Differently  by CSN News

UN Textbooks for Palestinian Children ‘Explosively Anti-Semitic, Anti-American and Anti-Israeli’  by CSN News

It’s Official: Obama Administration Promotes Islamist Regimes; Insists They are Moderate

LTRP NOTE: Another compelling video from Shazooloo from the UK and a good reminder of what true Christianity is and what can happen to a society that rejects true Christianity. Also below the video see a related article by Tony Pearce (also from the UK) called “The Nazis and God.”  CAUTION: There are some disturbing historical images in this video and children should not watch this.

by Tony Pearce
Light for the Last Days Ministries
(excerpt from The Messiah Factor)

Those who blame God for the Nazi Holocaust should note that the roots of the Nazi ideology lay in a definite rejection, indeed a bitter hatred of not just Judaism, but the God of the Bible and authentic Christianity. In this connection it is interesting to note the following thoughts written by Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher who first proclaimed that “God is dead.”

That the strong races of Northern Europe have not repudiated the Christian God certainly reflects no credit on their talent for religion. (1)

[Speaking of the Christian concept of God] The God of the great majority, the democrat among gods (NB Nietzsche loathed democracy), has nonetheless not become a proud pagan god; he has remained the god of the nook, the god of all dark corners and places, of all the unhealthy quarters throughout the world. (2)

What is good? – All that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man. What is bad? All that proceeds from weakness. What is happiness? The feeling that power increases, that resistance is overcome. Not contentment, but more power; not peace at all, but war; not virtue, but proficiency. The weak and ill constituted shall perish; the first principle of our philanthropy. And one shall help them to do so. What is more harmful than any vice? Active sympathy for the weak and ill constituted: Christianity. (3)

Christianity is called the religion of pity. Pity stands in the antithesis to the tonic emotions which enhance the energy of the feeling of life: it has a depressive effect. Pity on the whole thwarts the law of evolution, which is the law of selection. It preserves what is ripe for destruction: it defends life’s disinherited and condemned. (4)

This philosophy of 19th century German atheism clearly has a spiritual link to Nazi ideology. One wonders what Nietzsche would have thought of the strong, powerful, pitiless ones, the SS, “selecting” the fittest specimens as they ran past them naked – the strong to be worked to death in concentration camps, the weak and “ill-constituted” to be taken away to the gas chambers. What does the modern world need, hard, pitiless anti-Christian men and women, or those who will follow the one Nietzsche despises so much? He said:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God (Jesus speaking in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5.3-9).

There was no doubt what kind of people Hitler wanted. He said “Antiquity was better than modern times because it did not know Christianity and syphilis.” His main reasons for rejecting Christianity were as follows:

1. It was the religion which sided with everything weak and low.
2. It was purely Jewish and Oriental in origin. “Christians bend their backs to the sound of church bells and crawl to the cross of a foreign God”.
3. The religion began 2000 years ago among sick and despairing men who had lost their faith in life.
4. Christian ideas of forgiveness of sin, resurrection and salvation were just nonsense.
5. The Christian idea of mercy was dangerous. One must never extend mercy to an enemy. “Mercy is an un-German concept.”
6. Christian love was harmful. Love paralyses.
7. The Christian idea of equality of all human beings before God meant that the inferior, the ill, the crippled, the criminal and the weak were protected. (5)

The Nazis may have marched into battle with “Gott mit uns” (God with us) as their motto, but their god was a pagan antichrist god, and they followed a false messiah, Adolf Hitler, and bowed down before idols of power, physical force and the dream of world domination by the Teutonic Master Race. Is it surprising that the fruit of this demonic ideology was the nightmare of destruction and slaughter which followed in their wake?

They may also have professed some sort of Christianity, but their aim was to replace authentic Christianity with a programme for a new German Christianity:

1) Throw out the Old Testament – it is a Jewish book. Also throw out parts of the New Testament.
2) Christ must be regarded not as Jewish, but as a kind of Nordic martyr put to death by the Jews, a kind of warrior who by his death saved the world from Jewish domination.
3) Adolph Hitler is the new Messiah sent to earth to rescue the world from the Jews.
4) The swastika replaces the cross as the symbol of German Christianity.
5) German land, German blood, German soul, German art – these four things must become the most sacred things of all to the German Christian. (6)

In effect the Nazis were replacing Christianity with a new paganism which drew its strength from Wagner’s music and the Nordic myths of pre-Christian times. One of the prime movers in this direction was Alfred Rosenburg to whom Hitler awarded the National Prize, Germany’s version of the Nobel Prize, in 1937. Rosenburg wanted a return to the old Teutonic religion of fire and sword. There was even a hymn for the new German Faith Movement:

The time of the Cross has gone now,
The Sun Wheel shall arise,
And so, with God, we shall be free at last
And give our people their honour back. (7)

(This has been an excerpt from Tony Pearce’s book, The Messiah Factor.)

Notes:
1. Nietzche, The antichrist (Penguin version), p. 2.
2. Ibid., p. 7.
3. Ibid., p. 17.
4. Ibid., p. 19.
5. Louis L. Snyder, Hitler and Nazism, p. 87.
6. Ibid., p. 90.
7. Ibid., p. 91.

Related:

Anders Berhring Breivik (Norway Killer) – Christian Fundamentalist or Religious Tyrannist?

LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails is the publisher to two Holocaust survivors – both alive today and living in the United States. On this Holocaust Remembrance Day 2012, let us rememer a time in history that took place not too long ago and could happen again in our present day because the spirit of antichrist, who hates Christians and Jews particularly (though he really hates all mankind), continues working in the world today and will until Jesus Christ returns.

Our first spotlight today is Diet Eman, who grew up in Holland and was a young woman as Adolph Hitler came into power. Upon Hitler’s invasion of Holland, Diet joined with her fiance and others in the Christian resistance movement in the Netherlands, a movement that helped to save the lives of many Jews.

Diet’s story, Things We Couldn’t Say, is a fascinating and heartbreaking one as she describes life in Holland in the early 1940s, what it was like to be part of the resistance movement, how help was given to the Jews, her imprisonment that included a meeting with Corrie Ten Boom, and the death of many of her young resistance peers.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to learn from someone who was greatly used of God during Nazi occupation; a time of great trial, oppression and persecution. For information about Diet’s book, Things We Couldn’t Say, click here. Below an excerpt:

By Diet Eman

July 1941 Last night we walked past the synagogue. Horrible: on the doors was written with large letters “Jude Suss.” On the pillars a swastika and a large V and horribly drawn Jewish faces. In the street on the boarded-up shop windows, “Jew,” “Pest Jude.” How long still, O Lord?

September 16, 1941 Yesterday the paper had a “short” summary of the places where Jews are not allowed! I can better mention where they are still allowed “in their homes and in the streets!”…

There came a day when my Jewish friend Herman, who worked with me in the bank in The Hague, began to understand that for him, as a Jew, life could not go on in the same way anymore. He thus became the first Jewish person that we helped during the Occupation.

First the Jews weren’t allowed on the trams anymore, or on the buses, in parks, or in shops. Rules like that were printed in the newspapers, and they were displayed on the trams and in shop windows. It was an enforced limitation of freedom for Jews in all kinds of ways. Next, Jews weren’t allowed to visit most places in the city anymore; they had to stick to their own Jewish areas and shops. And though Herman and his family did not live in the Jewish area of the city, they, like all Jews, were no longer allowed to visit non-Jewish people.

[from Diet's diary] May 6, 1942 Seventy-two Dutch men have been executed. From last Saturday till Tuesday, six-thousand people have been arrested. Ex-military, pastors, all people of the first and second chamber [the Dutch parliament], etc., etc.

The worst is, I remain so stone cold. Does this war make you an “alive-dead person”? Is it not possible to remain yourself in this chaos? How long still?…

The next law the Germans made was that non-Jews could have nothing at all to do with Jews. Even after that, my mother and father wouldn’t have minded Herman’s coming over, but at that point he did not want to endanger them. Actually, the Germans might have punished my family a little bit for breaking the rules; but Herman would have gotten into major trouble. My parents loved him, but suddenly he couldn’t come anymore.

Much of what had preceded the Jewish persecution had seemed an annoyance to most of us–no display of the royal colors, prohibitions against listening to the BBC–and for the most part we simply put up with it for a while. No one liked the restrictive laws, but in many people’s eyes these relatively trifling laws were something we could tolerate. But when signs and notices suddenly appeared saying that the Jews had to leave their homes and could not live near us because, as the signs said, they were “infectious” (the Germans called them lice and rats and all kinds of names), when they were told they had to leave their homes in the Netherlands completely, then we stopped putting up with the injustices.

The Germans explained to us that the Jews were to be transported to East Germany from all the other European countries. There they would live only with each other, and that way they could harm only each other. When it started to go into effect, we knew we could simply not tolerate this horrible plan. We knew we had to do something.

According to Hitler, we were the great ones–the people with blond hair and blue eyes, the Aryan race. The “Jewish scum,” as the Germans put it, had to be quarantined, rounded up, and separated from the decent, blue-eyed people of what he thought was the super race…. And they were beginning to implement this kind of policy.

At first, the Jews would get notices at their homes that they had to report to such and such an address on a particular night, say, after curfew. They were to report to schools, for instance, where the Germans gathered all of them and took them away in trucks. Or the Jews were told they had to go to the railroad stations, and they would show up, very scared. The Germans always did it after the curfew hours so the rest of us wouldn’t see what was going on….

[A]t one point, my friend Herman’s family got their notice to report. Like everyone else, Herman was instructed to take only one suitcase, small enough to carry…. The Jews had to leave behind almost everything of sentimental value to them personally, not to mention goods of dollars-and-cents value. And they had no choice but to report; they couldn’t just throw away the summons.

July 21, 1942 A lot has happened again: the Jews are walking with their yellow stars on, are not allowed outside after 8 p.m., are not allowed to visit non-Jews, some streets are forbidden to them, etc., etc.

From Amsterdam many were sent to–??? Many are committing suicide! O God, don’t You see that they are touching the apple of Your eye? Is it still not enough? O let us, in the midst of all these things which drive us crazy, still remember that You are the ruler of everything and that the punishment You will give them for these things will be more just than all things we think of to punish them….

Please teach us Christians now to be true Christians and to put into practice what we confess, especially to these Jews. O Lord, make an end to all this, only You can do it. We know that You give strength according to our cross, but it is getting to be so very heavy, Lord.

Herman wasn’t working at the bank anymore at that time because he was not allowed to take the tram, the bus, or anything, and he was not allowed to enter that area of the city. So he asked me to come to meet him when he got his summons, because Jews were not allowed to visit non-Jews.

“If you were me, would you go?” Herman asked.

“I don’t think so,” I told him…

Herman’s parents were middle class; his father was a decent man with a good government job. His parents really believed that this whole thing would only last a year. They figured the Germans would place them somewhere in Eastern Europe for a little while, a place where they might have to live a little more simply than they were accustomed to living at home. And then, when it was over, they could come back. That’s what many people thought–Jews and non-Jews. Nobody thought they would be exterminated in gas chambers. Therefore, many of them went as meekly as sheep to their deaths.

German Jews who had lived from 1933 to 1937 or 1938 in Germany had seen how the Nazi system developed, had experienced Kristallnacht, and had fled to the Netherlands in the late 1930s. Many of those people had committed suicide during the German invasion of the Netherlands. The night Hitler invaded Holland–and in the five days of war after the invasion–there was no place left for them to run: Belgium was overrun, and Spain was pro-Nazi. There was no place for them to go but the North Sea….

Herman was only a year older than I, and we thought of the possibility that what was really happening was far worse than anyone had imagined. We thought about those suicides, and we considered Hitler capable of anything.

[T]hat evening when I saw Hein, I asked him, “What do you think, should Herman go?” “You remember what the German Jews did,” he said “They committed suicide.” So I said to Hein [Diet's fiance'], “You say he shouldn’t report, but what can he do? If he shouldn’t go there, what else is there?”

And that moment was the real beginning of our Resistance work. Hein immediately said he knew plenty of Christian farmers around Holk–in the area of the Netherlands called The Veluwe. “Any of those farmers I know around Nijkerk,” he said, “any of them we ask will take Herman. He can work there on the farm.”

The whole business grew so fast that within two or three weeks we had over sixty people who wanted places out in the country, in The Veluwe. Sixty Jews in two weeks, and that was just the beginning. Hein … placed many Jews on the farms around that little town. But the list of Jewish people who wanted to hide kept growing….

At first we thought that was all we had to do: simply help the Jews who wanted to be helped when they began to understand what might happen to them. But we immediately learned that if we were to move these Jewish people out to the country, we would have to get them false identification cards. It was simply too risky to put them on trains when they were carrying IDs which were all marked with that big “J” and which the Germans required, to indicate the holder was Jewish….

By 1943 the group we worked with needed over eight hundred cards every month. The men from the knokploeg did that work, and of course it was very dangerous. But they did it for good reason, not simply because it was high adventure. I went to a few of their planning meetings, and those men always got down on their knees first to ask God to protect and help them….

December 3, 1942 … Jewish people are put out of their homes and into the street–without any shelter. All of Scheveningen has to evacuate.All the beautiful buildings are being razed! The coal [used for heating] has to be left behind, and when they raze the buildings this ends up under the rubble, while thousands are sitting without heat. All the government departments have to leave.

I think that Hitler is fulfilling his prophesy that if he goes under, he will drag all of Europe along with him….

(This has been an excerpt from chapter six of Things We Couldn’t Say by Diet Eman)

A recent Orange County Register news story titled “Rick Warren builds bridge to Muslims”  has caught the attention of many people including several online news sources. The story resulted in a rebuttal by Rick Warren, denying the allegations the article made. For those who are trying to figure out what Rick Warren’s true beliefs are regarding Muslims and Christians uniting, we think the best way to unravel the confusion is to take a look at the past. There are a number of telling statements that Rick Warren has made over the past seven years that paint a very clear picture of Warren’s goals regarding this issue.

It might be wise to remember Rick Warren’s own words in 2005 at the Pew Forum on Religion when he said the following:

Who’s the man of peace in any village – or it might be a woman of peace – who has the most respect, they’re open and they’re influential? They don’t have to be a Christian. In fact, they could be a Muslim, but they’re open and they’re influential and you work with them to attack the five giants. And that’s going to bring the second Reformation.1 (full transcript)

For those who think this might have just been a slip of the tongue, Rick Warren reiterated these thoughts in 2006 when he was interviewed by acclaimed interviewer and broadcast journalist Charlie Rose. This interview showed very clearly Warren’s dream to see Christians and Catholics join together, stating that “minor doctrinal differences” should not keep them separated. “What I am interested in is bringing the church together … we are never going to agree on a lot of things, but I found we do agree on purpose.” He talked about the purposes that all Catholics and Protestants agree on. But Warren took his ecumenism a step further than just a union of Catholics and Protestants. As Warren did at the Pew Forum on Religion in 2005, he explained to Charlie Rose his “man of peace” concept and said that every village, every government, every place has a man (or woman) of peace: “The man of peace is open and influential … and here’s the other thing, the man of peace does not have to be a Christian believer … could be Muslim, could be Jewish.” So what Warren said in 2005 about the Muslim “man of peace” who could help bring about the “second reformation” he still believed in 2006 with Charlie Rose.

Warren elaborated to Rose more about his inclusive vision for world peace. He told Rose that Jesus sent out his disciples to go find the man of peace in every village. He said Jesus sent them out to find people who would work with them on solving poverty, sickness and the other problems of the world. (He said that they did not have to agree with the disciples message or beliefs.) In the same vein, Warren said that we don’t have to have the same religion or moral beliefs to work with people on poverty, disease, etc. As an example, he told Rose he just met with the President of the gay-activist group ACT UP, and asked him, “Eric [Sawyer], how can I help you get your message out?” Sawyer answered, “Use your moral authority.” Warren then said to Rose, “I’m working with these guys … I’m looking for a coalition of civility, which means let’s get back to the original meaning of tolerance.”2 (watch interview between Charlie Rose and Rick Warren- this interview was still online when we posted this article in March 2012. By January 2013, it was gone.)

Lighthouse Trails has been studying Rick Warren’s teachings and comparing them with Scripture for 10 years. He has consistently taken Scripture out of context. His “man of peace” view is one example of his serious distortions of what Scripture actually says. Jesus told his disciples to go out and call people to repentance whereas Warren is suggesting that we are to ignore our differences (including moral differences) and work together for peace. Peace was not a goal that Jesus gave the disciples but rather was a blessing the disciples could give to a house that received their message:

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. (Matthew 10:5- 15)

While we, as Christians, should certainly treat our fellow man with respect and kindness, how can we say that those of a religion that rejects that Jesus Christ is God, that He is the only Savior of the world, and that only those who name the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will be saved, will help bring about a second reformation? When Rick Warren talks of a second reformation, clearly, he is referring to the first reformation that took place over 500 years ago. Roger Oakland talks about Warren’s “second” reformation in Faith Undone:

[U]nlike the first reformation, led by those who defended the truth of God’s Word, Warren’s reformation is of a different nature . . . Rather than Jesus Christ being the focal point of this ecumenical spiritual body, all that it requires is a common cause. . . .Warren’s all-inclusive church includes a broad spectrum of believers with a common cause. . . . . Rick Warren’s reformation . . .  will include Catholics, Muslims, and homosexuals—a combination hardly similar to the 16^th century reformation. (pp. 149-151)

At the Pew Forum on Religion in 2005, Rick Warren said this about a new reformation:

You know, 500 years ago, the first Reformation with Luther and then Calvin, was about beliefs. I think a new reformation is going to be about behavior. The first Reformation was about creeds; I think this one will be about deeds. I think the first one was about what the church believes; I think this one will be about what the church does. The first Reformation actually split Christianity into dozens and then hundreds of different segments. I think this one is actually going to bring them together.

We can see why Rick Warren would be bothered that the first reformation “split Christianity.” (He forgot to mention how many believers were murdered by the Catholic Church for splitting.) At the Pew Forum, Warren said “I would encourage you to look at this evolving alliance between evangelical Protestants and Catholics, particularly in the evangelical wing of Catholicism.” And in the Charlie Rose interview, Warren states there are over 2 billion Christians in the world, saying that this number includes hundreds of millions of Catholics. So given his view that this “second” reformation will fix all those splits (basically the birth of Protestantism), it shouldn’t really be too surprising that he would want to see Muslims as part of the second reformation as well as Catholics. And we need to understand that such an alliance is warned about in Scripture as a one-world religion that will help set up the platform for the Antichrist.

After the Orange County Register article came out in February, Rick Warren issued a rebuttal saying that the OC article was way off. But all one needs to do is look back to 2005 and 2006 and see exactly what Rick Warren intends and hopes for.  And we shouldn’t forget 2007, when Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and other Christian Leaders invited Muslim leaders to share “Common Love for God.”  You can read that document at the Yale University website here. And a list of some of the evangelical signers here. So, as a continuation of Warren’s comments in 2005 and 2006, in 2007 he continues on the ecumenical slide of apostasy (in the name of good deeds).

Some of you might remember when Rick Warren went to Syria in 2006. While walking down a street, he was video taped saying some very shocking things. The recording ended up on YouTube but was removed quickly when a conservative Christian news agency wrote about it. We bring this up in this report for two reasons, one to show another example of Warren’s efforts to bring about an ecumenical, all religions-together “reformation; and two, to show another example of how Rick Warren says and does things, then quickly backtracks and says, I didn’t really mean that but all along keeps moving down the one-world religion highway. In our article in 2006, “Mr. Warren . . .  Excuses, Excuses,” talking about his trip to Syria, we stated:

Warren said that Christians and Muslims live peacefully together in Syria. He added, and I quote: “The official government role [in Syria] and position is to not allow any extremism of any kind.” But what about Syria’s extremism against Israel? Nor did Warren mention any co-existence between Muslims and Jews in Syria. And he did not mention Syria’s hostility towards Israel and threats, that if ever carried out, Israel would be no more.

By the way, if you go to that article link above (Excuses, Excuses), you can listen to a short clip of the YouTube video that was quickly removed. Yet, even though we have that proof, Rick Warren issued a defense statement shortly after, blaming “bloggers” for “inaccuracies, misquotes, and misperceived motivations.” (How many times have we heard him say that!) It is worthwhile to note that those whom Rick Warren refers to as “bloggers” include many reputable and long standing ministries and organizations, some of which are news agencies, radio ministries, discernment ministries, and publishing companies. The implication in using the term “bloggers” is that there is no credibility or stability thus they should be ignored. One of those news agencies that challenged Warren about his comments while in Syria in 2006 was WorldNetDaily. President of WND, Joseph Farah, wrote an article titled “Rick Warren on Syria – “A Moderate Country.” Farah states:

“Now, keep in mind, [Rickl] Warren has been telling the world he was misquoted by the Syrian press when he extolled the virtues of the totalitarian police state.” But before anyone questioned his statements, Warren’s Saddleback Church had recorded him as he strolled down a Damascus street explaining what a peaceful and tolerant place Syria really is. As soon as I hotlinked to the YouTube video last week and questioned Rick Warren about it, the church yanked it. I didn’t have time to download a copy, but, thankfully, one johnny-on-the-spot talk-show host did. . . .

Warren moves into this Muslim-Christian brotherhood sophistry. The only way Christians get along with Muslims in an officially Muslim country is by accepting the role in Islam known as “dhimmi.” Think of the dhimmi life as religious apartheid. It’s a good analogy. Christians are not free to evangelize Muslims. In a civil dispute between a Muslim and a Christian, the Christian’s word is worth less than nothing. . . . Rick Warren seems to want to be everything to everyone. He seems to want to please the whole world – everyone, that is, except the voiceless victims of tyranny, anti-Christian persecution and anti-Jewish bigotry in Syria. (click here to here audio of Rick Warren in Syria)

Rick Warren has been working hard for a long time on bringing about a new reformation. He told Larry King once it was one of his life’s goals. There has been no indication that he has changed his mind on this. So while you may see him take two steps forward and one step backward in order to cover his tracks, remember he is moving forward as are other key emerging new spirituality figures today. Rick Warren said (quoting Jesus in Luke 9: 62 out of context) in his best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life (pp. 285-286), that those who get distracted thinking about Bible prophecy regarding Christ’s return are not fit for the kingdom of God. Perhaps his attitude regarding the second coming of Christ has affected his views about an all-inclusive global religion. But one thing is for sure, Rick Warren’s “second” reformation is something Bible believing Christians should steer clear of, remaining faithful until He comes for His bride.

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.(II Peter 1:19)

Related Articles:

Rick Warren Doublespeak by Steve McConkey

Newspaper Catches Rick Warren Fibbing by Dave Tombers (WND)

Chrislam – Another New Kind of Interspiritual “Christianity” by Mike Oppenheimer

Purpose-Driven Terrorism by Mark Tooley (FrontPageMag)

WorldNetDaily on Mark Driscoll and Rick Warren: Growing trend to meet with Muslims rings alarm bells for some by Michael Carl (WND)