A Look Into History
God Keeps Covenant
Day 5
by Wendy D. Beckett
“…do not boast… Do not be arrogant.” (Romans 11:18 & 20)
Day 5 of God Keeps Covenant: A Look Into History.
A devotional may seem to be a strange place to discuss history. Sadly however, many in the Church today have no idea how much persecution has been inflicted on the Jewish people in the name of Christ. So our key Scripture for today is Paul’s warning resounding down through the centuries to all who will hear: “Do not be arrogant.” Regrettably, many have ignored Paul’s plea.
The apostles were scarcely in their graves when key leaders in the early church began turning against the Jews. By the time Christianity became accepted throughout the Roman Empire, every vestige of Jewishness had been erased from the Church. Jewish people who became Christians were forbidden to keep Saturday as the Sabbath, or to celebrate the feasts commanded by the Lord through Moses.
Expulsion, forced conversion and violence mar the pages of the history of Christian Europe as the separation between Christian and Jew continued to widen. Even many of the holiest and most respected church fathers were virulently anti-Semitic. (1)
The Crusades, between 1000 and 1200 AD, became an excuse to eradicate as many Jews as possible as fanatic knights and their followers rampaged through cities and towns on their way to the Holy Land. Once in Jerusalem, these men, convinced they were doing God’s will, slaughtered Jews as well as Muslims until the blood literally ran through the streets.
In Europe in the late 1200s, a story circulated widely that Jews were kidnapping Christian children, slaughtering them, drinking their blood and using it to make their Passover bread. Untold thousands of Jewish people lost their lives in the ensuing centuries because of this preposterous lie. These accusations continued in Eastern Europe well into the last century and still surface today in Muslim countries. How difficult this is to comprehend!
Down through the centuries, persecutions and mass expulsions took place in England, France, Spain, Russia and Eastern Europe. Between 1440 and 1808, 30,000 Jews were burned at the stake in Spain and thousands more in Portugal and Mexico.
Even Martin Luther (1500s) in his later years joined the ranks of those who vilified the Jews and desired their destruction. It has been said that Luther’s angry outbursts against them helped Hitler justify his purges and death camps.
It is estimated that in the centuries before the Holocaust 7,000,000 Jewish people were slaughtered by those confessing to be Christians. Then during World War II another 6,000,000 were annihilated.
Where was the Lord in all those centuries of suffering? I believe He was weeping with His people. “In all their affliction He was afflicted.” (Isaiah 63:9 NKJV) He was also weeping over His Church. He had left such clear instructions to love.
Lord, what horrors You have looked upon! Our hearts break that Paul’s warning was not heeded and that the Jewish people have had to suffer so intensely for so long! Cleanse us, Your Church, from any remaining arrogance.