I was browsing through Instagram, something I never do, and saw this video of a man asking antisemites if they understood what they were doing supporting the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people. I had to watch to find out more.
Do antisemites realize that they are just creating a new holiday for the Jewish people? Do antisemites understand that most of the Jewish holidays are about evil people trying to kill them, how they overcome and win, and then they create a special feast filled with empty carbs? After I stopped laughing at the truth of what he said, I began thinking.
Over the past 35 years I have heard many Messi-antics, Hebrew roots-type reject the holidays of Hanukkah and Purim as tradition because they are not part of the Feasts of the LORD. They imply in their arguments that either the events are at best manmade or at worst never even happened. Sound familiar? With the events happening today and the murder of innocent Israeli citizens, the Gaza war, and the cry for the annihilation of the Jews and their country of Israel, it should become evident that these traditional holidays hold more than empty carbs; they are grounded in truth.
Antiochus Epiphanes did exist; he was one of four leaders who ruled a divided kingdom after Alexander the Great died. He really did try to destroy everything Jewish from desecrating the Temple in Jerusalem to murdering innocent Jews who just wanted to live their lives for the God of Israel. His large and empowered armies were eventually defeated by a small band of Jewish men who fought for the lives and the Biblical traditions of their people. Sound familiar?
From the junk heap left behind by the Syrians, the Temple was restored, rededicated, and a celebration feast for eight days was inaugurated called Hanukkah. It is unfortunate that Hanukkah occurred between the intertestamental times or it would be in the Bible; oh, yeah it is. Yeshua celebrates Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication, in John 10 and has a lot to say about his people, miracles, sheep who follow his voice, and his Father.
Purim is another disputed traditional holiday (even though it’s in the Bible) among those who believe they have joined the Olive Tree of Israel through faith in Yeshua of Nazareth. An edict written by Haman, King Xerxes‘ second-in-command, called for the annihilation of all the Jews in his kingdom on one day – the 15 of Adar. King Xerxes (remember the movie 300) didn’t seem to take issue with murdering an entire group of people for a sum of money. Sound familiar?
Today, the issue still includes Persia and silver to annihilate the Jewish people and remove Israel from the world map. Persia? Yeah, Persia. In 1935, the Reza Shah wanted foreigners to use the term Iran, meaning of the Ayrans, instead of Persia. In 1959, his son said that “Persia” and “Iran” could be used interchangeably. So, Persia is still trying to finish the work of Haman that thousands of years ago was thwarted because Queen Esther, married to King Xerxes, came to the rescue of her people, the Jewish people. Haman was executed like so many radical leaders of terrorism should be! Again, a feast was declared – the Feast of Purim. And this one, just like Hanukkah, after being a memorial to the victory of the Jewish people over their enemies is full of empty carbs: cookies, cakes and treats!
Then there was the Holocaust only 90 years ago. Hitler wanted a nation of Ayrans! Following the history yet? This was such a huge event that there are three observances worldwide. In Israel, the memorial is called Yom HaShoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day. It begins at sunset at the Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. The Israeli flag is lowered and six torches are lit to remember the six million Jewish people who were murdered. The next day at 10:00 a.m. air raid sirens sound throughout Israel and the Jewish people observe two minutes of solemn reflection when they pause what they are doing. Even motorists stop their cars in the middle of the road and stand in silence as the siren is sounded. From the ashes of the Holocaust and the survival of the Jewish people came this new memorial, or a tradition to be judged by those who don’t like carbs?
Biblical prophecy says that before Yeshua, the Messiah and King of Israel, returns, two things must occur. First, the Jewish people will return to their Land. According to the prophet Ezekiel, they will be as ‘dry bones’ and without faith. This prophecy was fulfilled in 1948 as one of two things that came out of the Holocaust. The state of Israel was established; it is a state that is mostly secular (that is changing daily with the war and the soldiers wanting to wear tzizti and tefillin), but it is the first state since the destruction of the Temple by Rome nearly 2000 years ago.
Second, there will be a war of great magnitude – not just in weaponry, but in the numbers of nations and warriors involved. Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 and Psalm 83 describe this war in which every nation of the world will come against Israel and eventually against Jerusalem. These Scriptures outline the nations involved and the purpose of the war: to annihilate Israel and the Jewish people. It seems the beginnings of these rumblings, the ‘birth pangs’ as Yeshua called them have begun with the Gaza War. At this time, the nations are dividing with support or not with support, but eventually, they will all come against the chosen people of God.
What will be the outcome of this final war and the desire of the Arab nations to destroy Israel? Well, Israel wins. In the end, Israel is delivered by their Messiah –– all Israel will be saved. And, the Jewish people will accept Yeshua of Nazareth as their Messiah. Yeshua will stand on the Mount of Olives and the mountain will split into two parts. He will come down the mountain, enter the Eastern Gate, and set up his throne in Jerusalem, in the rebuilt Temple described by the prophet Ezekiel, and rule and reign the world for a millennium.
When the King of Kings returns, there will be a Wedding Feast, the completion of the betrothal ceremony at Passover. His Bride will have prepared herself with righteous acts and be given a fine linen gown. And an uncountable number from every nation, tribe, and language will be blessed to attend the Wedding of the Lamb as the wedding guests (Revelation 19:7-9).
I am expecting that after such a momentous victory of the Commander of the Lord’s Armies over all the nations of the world that tried to destroy not only Israel and the Jewish people, but also everyone who put their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the promised ‘seed,’ that this Wedding Feast will be the greatest of the Feasts of the LORD, and maybe hold to the tradition of an infinite amount of empty carbs in the largest wedding cake ever!
Rejecting holidays that celebrate the victory of the Jewish people over enemies that want to annihilate them is itself antisemitism. It is the desire to remove God from the equation of Jewish historical experience and life. It is unfortunate that many who claim to follow Jesus are completely unaware of these celebrations and why they exist. It is even more unfortunate to see and hear of those who follow Yeshua who don’t even support Israel because … they are in unbelief; they have been replaced?! The whole reason that God tests His chosen people is to bring them to repentance so they see His salvation and obey His Torah. Unbelief has a divine purpose, and when the Jewish people believe in Yeshua, there will be life from the dead. As a non-Jew who believes in the Jewish Messiah of Israel and follows him as a disciple, I have chosen to honor not only the Feasts of the LORD, but also those holidays that remember the Jewish people have a right to live, and stand for the covenant of Land for the children of Abraham. I am not an antisemite. I love eating empty carbs!
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