Rescuing Israel

The Jews have been opposed, often overwhelmingly, since their beginning. Throughout history, other peoples have sought to control, suppress, and even annihilate the Jewish population.

In their infancy, the Jews were sheltered in Egypt, but a new pharaoh instituted 400 years of cruel slavery and eventually ordered that all male babies be killed. After arriving in the land of Canaan, the Jews battled many opposing nations throughout the years of the judges and the kings. At times multi-nation coalitions threatened to destroy the Jewish nation.

Assyria conquered the northern kingdom (Israel) in the 8th century BC, killing many and dispersing others. Babylon then conquered the southern kingdom (Judah) in 587 BC, destroying the temple and the cities. Through a series of exiles, the Jewish population in their homeland was reduced to a tiny remnant. Even in captivity, a threat remained. Haman succeeded in having a law passed that could have eliminated the Jewish population in exile.

Antiochus Epiphanes initiated harsh persecution against the Jews, resulting in a revolt that Antiochus suppressed in 168 BC, massacring 80,000 Jews in three days. In the time of Jesus, Herod ordered many male babies and toddlers killed. In AD 70, Titus captured Jerusalem, destroyed the second temple, and over one million Jews were killed, while others were sentenced to slavery or to death in the arena.

Under the Roman Empire, multitudes of Jews were forced into exile. The Bar Kokhba revolt in 132 resulted in many Jews being killed or exiled. Over the next centuries Jews were prohibited from fully practicing their religion, many synagogues were destroyed, hundreds of villages were destroyed, many atrocities occurred, and Jews were exiled from many areas. In 2001, historian James Carroll wrote, "Jews accounted for 10% of the total population of the Roman Empire. By that ratio, if other factors had not intervened, there would be 200 million Jews in the world today, instead of something like 13 million."

In the First Crusade (1096) thousands of Jews were killed and communities completely destroyed, especially in the Rhine Valley. The Second Crusade (1147) brought massacres in France. The Shepherds' Crusades in 1251 and 1320 brought further attacks.

In 1190, houses were burned and Jews massacred in England; they were expelled in 1290. Beginning in 1229, the Inquisition eliminated many. Expulsion from Belgium was advocated in 1261. Over 100,000 were massacred in Germany in 1298. In 1347 and after, Jews were blamed for the Black Death, and at least 26,000 were killed. In Spain, where Jews had previously flourished, pogroms started in the 11th century, massacres in 1389, 300,000 were forcibly "converted" in 1391, and the majority of those remaining were exiled in 1492. France expelled Jews in 1180, 1306, and 1396. Austria expelled them in 1421 and Sicily in 1493. Portugal expelled Jews in 1496, and in 1506 threw 4,000 to angry mobs. Italy expelled Jews from various cities throughout the 1500s, Holland expelled them in 1852, and Bavaria in 1593.

100,000 were killed in Ukraine in 1648-49. In Poland 20,000 were killed in 1768. There was a massacre in Algeria in 1805 and in Damascus in 1840. Pogroms started in Russia in 1881; in three major outbreaks, Jews were left homeless, businesses destroyed, and people killed. In 1915, 100,000 Russian Jews died during a forced march in which 500,000 others were displaced. 200,000 were killed in Ukraine in 1917. In over 1,200 pogroms in Ukraine, entire families were murdered and 60,000 killed. 3,000 were killed in Hungary in 1919.

World War II's Holocaust is well-known. Six to seven million Jews were killed, and the Jewish demographic of Europe was completely overhauled. While Hitler is most blamed, he was not alone. Others joined in the exterminations. ThoughtCo.com has compiled research of breakdown by country, as follows: Austria 65,500; Belgium 25,000; Czechoslovakia 590,000; Estonia 1,000; France 74,000; Germany 165,000; Greece 72,000; Hungary 560,000; Italy 8,000; Latvia 70,000; Lithuania 130,000; Luxembourg 1,200; Netherlands 100,000; Poland 3,000,000; Romania 480,000; Soviet Union 1,340,000; Yugoslavia 164,500. Total 6,844,000.

When the Jews were granted a homeland in 1948, they immediately faced a coalition of at least nine Arab countries who didn't want to give any land to Israel. Since then, Israel has fought the Suez Crisis (1956), the Six Day War (1967), the Yom Kippur War (1973), the Lebanon War (1982), and the Lebanon War (2006). In addition to wars, Israel faces constant threat of attacks and regular shelling and skirmishes.

Israel's story is not over. During the Tribulation, two-thirds of the Jews will die. At an estimated 14.6 million in 2018, the deaths would be around 9,800,000.

BUT - God has chosen this nation and loves them. In Isaiah 41, He reassures them and speaks amazing words. "All those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish. You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent" (vs. 11-12). God promises to strengthen and help His people and urges them not to fear.

If any nation in history ought to have been destroyed, it would be Israel. With the multiplied, violent, and vitriolic opposition against them, there is no way they ought to have survived. Yet in spite of all the hatred of Israel, all the attacks and attempts at extermination, God has preserved them, and He will ultimately give them complete victory over their multiplicity of vicious foes. In an unexpected reversal, it is the Jews' enemies who will be annihilated.

When God loves someone, that love cannot die. When God makes promises, those promises cannot be broken. When God chooses someone, that choosing means something. God has the power to meet the most foreboding threat. He has the ability to defeat the strongest enemy. Days may be very dark for a time, but God and His plan cannot be defeated. Such a God can be trusted and followed confidently.