Why Do People Hate the Jews? Why I Love the Jewish People

          Anti-Semitism is still a massive problem. The Jews have been the most hated and persecuted people in history and nothing has changed today. In October of 2018 a man shouting hatred for Jews entered a Jewish temple in Pittsburgh and killed eleven worshippers. College campuses have been hotbeds of Jewish hatred for more than a generation and the American Left has decided that Israel is the bad guy in the Middle East. Is this anti-Semitism? Abraham Foxman says it is. Foxman was the head of the Anti-Defamation League, the largest organization in America committed to the defense of Jews. A number of years ago I heard him speak at a synagogue in Boulder, Colorado. His argument was simple: If you hold Israel to a different standard than the other nations in the Middle East, you are guilty of anti-Semitism. I agree with him. And Israel is judged differently from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Palestinians, and all the rest. That’s singling out the Jews for special hostility.

Mainline liberal, protestant churches have made strong attacks on Israel, comparing their treatment of the Palestinians as a form of the old South African apartheid; one of their leaders said Jewish treatment of Palestinians is just like slavery. The Israelis are just like the slave owners in the old South? That seems like anti-Semitism to me.

If you look at FBI statistics on hate crimes more are committed against Jews than anyone else. So the Jews continue to experience extraordinary hostility and discrimination.

But I love the Jewish people; I am a member of the largest constituency on earth that loves the Jews. I am a protestant Evangelical Christian; my religious group is more positive toward Jews and Israel than anyone else. And not just in America. David Aikman said that although the Chinese government is pro-Palestinian, the Chinese church is pro-Israel.  In the Q and A session after Foxman spoke someone asked how Jews can tolerate the support of Evangelical Christians with whom Jews disagree on almost every political issue. Foxman acknowledged the differences but then said something I will never forget. “We appreciate their support since all other voices are silent.”

Let me give you six reasons why I love the Jews.

First, they are the chosen people of God. I love the Jews because my God loves the Jews. He chose them specially to serve His unique purposes in saving the world from sin. They have paid a terrible price for their unique status and most of them have abandoned the God of the Bible, the God of Israel. But He loves them still and so do I.

Second, they prove the existence of God. One of the greatest theologians of the 20^th century was Karl Barth. One day after class a student asked him if he could prove  God exists. He said, easily. “I can prove the existence of God in a single word—Israel.” The ongoing existence of the Jews and their massive contributions to the human race are proof that their prophets are right. They are God’s special people and prove His existence by their survival and character.

Third, I love the Jews because they are God’s chosen instrument in providing my Savior. What an elaborate plan our heavenly Father had for saving us from hell and the just desserts of our sin. The plan was put in motion 2,000 years before Jesus. At the beginning of Genesis 12 we read, “God spoke to Abraham.” He called out one man and then through the centuries, through the Jews, God preserved the Messianic line. The end result was the salvation and eternal hope of everyone who believes in Jesus, the fulfillment of God’s purposes for the Jews. I am grateful to them for all their suffering and sacrifice, as I am the beneficiary.

Fourth, they are the most uniquely gifted minority in history and have been a great blessing to the world in more ways than I can count. A number of years ago the great Gentile sociologist, Charles Murray, wrote an essay entitled “Jewish Genius.” Murray wondered why such a tiny minority had had such astonishing success. He asked what accounts for the extravagant overrepresentation of Jews, relative to their numbers, in the top ranks of the arts, sciences, law, medicine, finance, entrepreneurship, and the media.

In the 20^th century the Jews won 150 times more Nobel prizes than their numbers would predict. He then tried to account for Jewish I.Q’s. Why is theirs so much higher than the general population? He was never able to answer his own question. Finally, at the end of his essay, the agnostic Murray stated the only conclusion that worked. The reason for Jewish Genius? They are God’s chosen people.

Fifth, I love the Jews because they wrote the Bible, the most powerful and wonderful book ever written; the book that has provided more blessings for the human race than all other books combined. This is the argument of my book, Seven Ideas that Changed the World.

Sixth, and finally, I love the Jews because I am one. Not by blood. I am Scotch-Irish from the hills of Appalachia. But according to the Apostle Paul I’m a Jew. In Romans 2 he says at the end of the chapter: “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. ²⁹ But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” Romans 1:28,29

So, inwardly, I am a Jew because of my relationship with the greatest of Jews, Jesus of Nazareth.

At the beginning of Romans 10 the Apostle Paul says, my heart’s desire and prayer for Israel is that they might be saved. Let’s join Paul in that prayer and pray for the salvation of the Jewish people. And let’s continue to love them the way God loves them.

Thanks for listening. May the great God of Israel bless you this day in a mighty way.

More: The Seven Ideas that changed the world are Jewish ideas; to be more precise, they are seven ideas that Almighty God revealed to His chosen people, the Jews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgscHBjbKv8

Jewish Genius, by Charles Murray; https://www.commentary.org/articles/charles-murray/jewish-genius/

A very entertaining article by a Jewish writer, encouraging her audience to watch the Chosen, the remarkable saga of Jesus and His disciples:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-this-jew-is-binge-watching-the-chosen-and-maybe-you-should-too/

Mark Tooley is an Evangelical Protestant; he asks the questions, “Why is the Left taking side against Israel?” https://wng.org/opinions/why-is-the-religious-left-taking-sides-against-israel-1668775191?mkt_tok=NzEwLVFSUi0yMDkAAAGIKiEuZeqalnqvdryEgHC7nj1eCFVy0y_KtEG9Ga7TOphn17aLkBTrRSsAU_x84yBLduDostgCIXlhUeFWT7oGaoTvR2eQUcIIGFwgRbZa2xk

My book, Seven Ideas that Changed the World, is about Jewish ideas, spread by Christian culture. They are history’s most powerful; https://www.amazon.com/Ideas-That-Changed-World-civilizations-ebook/dp/B085MM79ZB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=COE2SKDPUEBS&keywords=seven+ideas+that+changed+the+world&qid=1685978128&sprefix=seven+ideas+that+changed+the+world%2Caps%2C322&sr=8-1