ANTISEMITISM AND THE DIVINE PRESERVATION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE

The story of the Jewish people is a remarkable and miraculous one. Despite persistent and widespread antisemitism (hatred of and prejudice towards the Jewish people, because they are Jewish), the Jewish people have not only survived, but thrived! As Dr. Randall Price has noted, several empires – including the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans – have taken the people of Israel captive, and devasted their land. When we add to this the severe persecution suffered by Jews in the lands of their exile (including Medieval Europe), the Holocaust (Price, quoted in Hitchcock, 112-113), terrorism, and many wars between Israel and Arab and Islamic nations, the survival of the Jewish people as a distinct people group stands as an astonishing fact of history. The Jews are the only exiled group to maintain their distinct identity despite the fact that they have been scattered to over seventy countries for more than two millennia (Ibid., 112). British historian Norman Cohn observed that, save only, and to a lesser extent, for the Roma (historically referred to as “Gypsies”), the Jews appear to have been unique among people groups in having persisted indefinitely as a distinct cultural and communal entity despite extensive dispersion, the absence of a territory of their own, and considerable internal diversity (Cohn).

Despite centuries of dispersion, exile, and persecution, the Jews have not only survived, but have re-established a national existence in their ancient Biblical homeland, the Land of Isreal. To understand how unprecedented this is, consider the fact that no other people group in history has been exiled from their homeland, lost their national existence, and their language, only to return back to their ancient homeland, revive their national existence, and their language, except for the Jewish people (Varner, quoted in Reagan) – the very people that the Bible promises would ultimately be restored back to their land (cf. Amos 9:11-15, Ezekiel 37). The preservation of the Jewish people despite millennia of dispersion among the nations has been referred to as one of history’s greatest miracles (Reagan). The Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy, described the Jewish people as “the symbol of eternity” – an affirmation of their enduring nature despite being the object of the world’s mistreatment and persecution (Ibid.).

Even though other people groups and nations have ceased to exist, the Jewish people continue to exist after 4,000 years, and this in the face of various attempts to destroy them (LaHaye and Hindson, 99). And the Jews are the very people that God has promised to preserve. God, through the prophet Jeremiah, promised that as long as the sun, moon, and stars remain, the Jewish people would remain:

This is what the Lord says,

he who appoints the sun

              to shine by day,

who decrees the moon and stars

              to shine by night,

who stirs up the sea

              so that its waves roar—

              the Lord Almighty is his name:

“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”

               declares the Lord,

“will Israel ever cease

              being a nation before me.” (Jeremiah 31:35-36, NIV)

Part of Israel’s history has involved severe divine chastisement for rebellion, sin, and idolatry towards God. We can read about this in the Bible. In fact, in Deuteronomy 28, God warned the people of Israel about the consequences of disobedience, which included exile from the land (see Deut. 28:15-68). And following their rejection of Jesus, the Lord declared that the Jewish people would be “taken as prisoners to all the nations” (Luke 21:24, NIV) – something that has since been fulfilled with the Jewish diaspora following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. What we can see from this is that antisemitism, and the difficult history of the Jewish people did not "take God by surprise." Nor is it any indication that God has failed His people. Indeed, His very preservation of His people is a testament to His covenant faithfulness towards them. The Bible is clear that the Jewish people have a glorious future as a nation which will be inaugurated when they recognize Jesus as their Messiah at the time of His Second Coming. God's kingdom will be established on earth when Jesus returns, and this divine Messianic rule over the world, for the glory of God, is part of God's purpose for choosing - and preserving the Jewish people.   

God has bound Himself and His purpose for this world to the Jewish people. This means at least two important things. First, the Jewish people will be preserved to fulfill all that God purposes to fulfill through them. Ultimately, they are indestructible, not because of something inherent in them, but because of the God who preserves them and watches over them to fulfill His purpose. Psalm 121:4 says, “Behold, He who watches over Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep” (NASB). Secondly, we need to view antisemitism and anti-Zionism through this lens. Zionism refers to the Jewish nationalist movement that seeks support for and the establishment of a national home for the Jews in the historic Land of Israel. God has chosen the Jewish people for Himself and for His purpose (Genesis 12:1-3, Deut. 7:6-7, Psalm 135:4, Romans 11:25-29). Consequently, to hate and resist the Jewish people is ultimately to resist God and His plan for this earth. It is true that those who harbor antisemitism in their hearts may not necessarily be conscious of the fact they are opposing God, but that is the ultimate implication of their hateful attitude towards the Jews.

Satan, the great enemy of God, is keen to see the Jewish people erased form history, for if he can destroy the people whom God has chosen to bring about His good plan for this world, then he thwarts God’s plan. Seeing antisemitism from this perspective sheds light on some of the horrendous deeds done to the Jewish people over the centuries, including the brutal murder of six-million Jews – two-thirds of all Jews in Europe – by Nazi Germany. Antisemitism represents Satan’s ferocious opposition to God and His redemptive plan for this world. This satanic opposition is expressed as rage against the Jewish people. As Jonathan Bernis has put it, satanic rage against Jews is the root of antisemitism (Bernis). His goal is the annihilation of the Jews, for it is through the Jewish people that the Messiah comes - the one who brings about redemption for the world, and the ultimate defeat of Satan (Ibid.). Mitch Glaser has also noted that Satan is the cause of antisemitism. He also affirmed the centrality of Israel in God's redemptive plan, and that Satan endeavors to derail that plan by trying to destroy the Jewish people (Glaser, quoted in CPM).

Antisemitism is ultimately a spiritual issue with a spiritual root: Opposition to God and His purposes. Antisemitism has persisted across different time periods and across diverse societies, adapting to different historical and geographic contexts. It appears to be cosmic in scope. It is not limited to one era, or one location. It is not dependent on modern Middle East geopolitics and tensions. Relative to the rest of humanity, the Jews are a tiny people (representing about 0.2% of humanity), and yet they are one of the most (if not, the most) hated and persecuted people groups. Antisemitism exists whether Jews are in exile, or in their Biblical and ancestral home, the Land of Israel. There is no common thread to antisemitism, except hatred of the Jews, period. The Bible teaches us that God has chosen the Jewish people for Himself and for His purpose. As such, I see no more plausible explanation for the existence of antisemitism than satanic opposition to God and His purposes. If the Jewish people cease to exist, then the God of the Bible is a myth, and the Biblical narrative and worldview can be safely discarded. But if the Jews endure, then the Biblical and Messianic hope remains: Redemption for humankind through the King of the Jews, Yeshua Ben David (Jesus, Son of David).

Now it’s important to say that being God’s chosen people does not make Israel and the Jewish people immune from error or somehow beyond legitimate criticism. The Jewish people are not “better” than Arabs, or Greeks, or Chinese, or Indians, or Africans (you understand my point). And if there is something for which the State of Israel should be legitimately called to account for, then that should be done. But hatred of the Jewish people, or delegitimizing the nation of Israel - the one and only Jewish state, or using unfair standards towards it, or skewing narratives to “create” criticism of Israel, or terrorizing Jewish students on university campuses, or promoting anti-Israel biases in media – all cross the line!  

I’ll close with this: God’s choice of the Jewish people is not simply for their sake. God promised to make Abraham into a great nation, and through him the entire world would be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3). Abraham, together with his son Isaac, and grandson Jacob (whose name was later changed by God to Israel, as recorded in Genesis 35:10), are the patriarchs of the nation of Israel. And it is through the nation of Israel that Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of Israel’s king David, came. He is the Son of God, and the king of Israel (John 1:49).

Jesus’ death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice for sin. This simply means that His death was sufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of all humankind. He came as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NIV). All of us have “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NIV) – all of us; no exceptions. Because of our sin, we stand guilty and condemned before a holy God, and the penalty for sin is death – physical death, and eternal separation from God. Unless our sin is forgiven, we have nothing to look forward to but death and eternal judgment. But God is love (1 John 4:8)! He became a man in the Person of Jesus Christ, and suffered a substitutionary death on our behalf. This means that He paid the sin penalty that we deserved to suffer – death. He suffered the wrath of God towards our sin. As the Bible says, “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18, NIV). This is why Jesus died. He Himself was innocent of all sin. He died to pay the price for our sin. The Bible teaches us that whoever believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43), and is assured of heaven upon death. Though “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” we are also told that through faith in Christ, we are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24, NASB). We receive forgiveness of sins by trusting in Jesus because He paid the penalty for the sins we commit. The price has been paid in full. God is satisfied with what Jesus has done, and forgiveness of sin is available to all who believe in Christ.

The proof that Jesus’ death was sufficient to pay the penalty for all sin is His resurrection from the dead. His death paid the penalty of sin, and with the penalty of sin paid, He rose triumphant from the grave. All who trust in Jesus’ finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of sin and for eternal life receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Heaven is not earned by being “good.” It is received by faith in Christ, trusting that what He accomplished for us on the cross is sufficient to pay for our sins. We are made righteous not be doing good deeds, but by faith (Romans 4:1-25).

This blessing – eternal salvation – comes to the world through the Jewish people. God’s love and choice of Israel do not mean that He does not love the Arab people, or any other people group. His love for the entire world is expressed through His gift of Jesus, and it is through God’s choice and calling of Israel that Jesus came. We read of God’s love for the world in the early chapters of the Gospel of John: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV). The Jewish people that the world hates were called by God to be the very channel through which He would bring blessing to the world.

The story is not over though. The Bible tells us that Jesus is coming back, and when He does, it will be as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16). It is then that He will sit upon the throne of His father David (Matthew 25:31, cf. Luke 1:32) in Jerusalem, and usher in the Messianic era – an age of glorious peace on earth (Zechariah 9:10). This too will be a blessing that comes to the world through the Jewish people.

God’s purpose for this world is inseparably bound up with the Jewish people. Through the Jewish people has come the knowledge of the one true God and redemption from sin through Jesus Christ. And it is through the king of the Jews - Christ the Messiah, that the kingdom of God will be established in the earth. The Jewish people will endure. Antisemitism is a great evil, and a present reality. But there is coming a day when a Jew will reign over this world from the city of Jerusalem for the glory of God, and the blessing of humankind. National salvation is coming to the Jewish people (Romans 11:26). In the meantime, let us love and bless the Jewish people, through whom our redemption – in the Person of Jesus Christ - comes. Maranatha!

References:

Bernis, Jonathan. Why Satan Hates the Jews: The Spiritual Roots of Antisemitism. Phoenix: Jewish Voice Ministries International, 2015.

Cohn, Norman. "The Pursuit of the Millennium." The Anarchist Library https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/norman-cohn-the-pursuit-of-the-millennium?utm_source=chatgpt.com, accessed October 6, 2026.

Mitch Glaser. "Why are Jews Hated: Let's Explore the Spiritual Side of things." FIRM, July 20, 2015, https://firmisrael.org/learn/why-are-jews-hated-lets-explore-spiritual-side/. Quoted in Chosen People Ministries, "The Spiritual Origins of Antisemitism. https://chosenpeople.com/the-spiritual-origins-of-antisemitism/#b346f8ef-4fc5-480d-9d5b-9907049256f8, accessed October 7, 2026.

LaHaye, Tim & Ed Hindson. Target Israel: Caught in the Crosshairs of the End Times. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2015.

Price, Randall. "The Divine Preservation of the Jewish People." Bible Prophecy Blog, October 1, 2009. Quoted in Mark Hitchcock, The End: A Complete Overview of Bible Prophecy and the End of Days Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2012.

Reagan, David R. "The Preservation of the Jewish People." Lion and Lamb Ministries, February 5, 2017. https://christinprophecy.org/programs/the-preservation-of-the-jews/, acccessed October 6, 2026.

Varner, Will. Quoted in David R. Reagan, "The Preservation of the Jewish People." Lion and Lamb Ministries, February 5, 2017. https://christinprophecy.org/programs/the-preservation-of-the-jews/, acccessed October 6, 2026.