Sermon #1123 Q & A: Is The Bible Anti-Semitic?

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1 Sermon #1123 Q & A: Is The Bible Anti-Semitic? Jesus makes it clear how much he values questions from the earnest seeker of truth in Matthew 7:7-8, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. We appreciate Let the Bible Speak viewers who contact us with their sincere Bible questions. We greatly respect those whose love for the truth has led them to make major changes in their lives that they might make their calling and election sure and worship in spirit and in truth. Our time today will be devoted entirely to Bible questions. If you have Bible questions, we hope you will contact us. After our song, we ll address our first question, Is the Bible anti-semitic?... A question from London, England: Is the Bible anti-semitic (or slanted against the Jews)? Many Jews and some other individuals are concerned about this question. I think it is fair to say that no book is more pro-semitic and no book is more anti-semitic than the Bible. Because the Jews play such a central role in the Scriptures and because so much is shared in the Bible about so many Jews, it is inevitable--as it would be with any other nationality--that much positive and much negative is revealed against the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Bible, though, is fair in its depiction of these people. The only man ever to live a sinless life was a Jew named Jesus The only man to be the Son of God was also a Jew. The twelve apostles were Jews. The meekest man on the earth was a Jew -- Moses (Numbers 12:3). The wisest man on the earth was a Jew -- Solomon (1 Kings 4:31). The gospel was first preached to the Jews in Acts 2. Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." The apostle Paul anticipated a similar question about the Jew s position under the New Testament when he wrote in Romans 3:1-2, "What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God." The fact that God entrusted the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament to the Jews is significant. Additionally, Luke the physician, is the only non-jewish New Testament writer (Colossians 3:10-11). Some scholars argue that Luke, too, was Jewish. The apostle Paul contributes further to the New Testament significance placed on the Jews when he writes in Romans 9:2-5, "I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God." Here the Holy Spirit elaborates on the blessings poured out on the Jewish people with this considerable, but not exhaustive list that includes their reception through Moses of the Ten Commandments, the presence of God in a special way through the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21-22), the presence of God in a special way in the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place within the tabernacle and temple, the responsibility of the Levites to minister in the holy things of God, the Jewish prophets as instruments through which the promises regarding the Messiah were communicated, and of course, the fact that the Messiah would be connected to the Jewish nation by blood. Although I would feel very special if I were a Jewish Christian, the bottom line is that "all have sinned" (Romans 3:9, 19-20, 23, 29-30) and all need the forgiveness found only in Jesus. The Spirit teaches in Romans 10:12, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him." 1

2 Q & A: Is The Bible Anti-Semitic? by Brett Hickey, sermon # of 5 The Bible may seem anti-semitic because it focuses so heavily on the Jewish nation. We see the best and the worst of man in the Jews we read about in the Bible. Jesus threatened the Jewish system and the powers that be with his authoritative teaching, miraculous demonstrations, and confrontation of wrong practices. By overturning the tables of the moneychangers, confronting the Jewish elite for their errors, and repeatedly refuting their criticisms, Jesus exposed and angered them until they felt compelled to destroy Him. A viewer from an undisclosed location contacted me by with the following question: As a member of the body I try to study the word daily. During my studies I became curious as to why Judas' punishment was more severe than those Jews who petitioned for Jesus' death. Is there any scripture that states a person s punishment for betrayal? Jesus interaction with Judas Iscariot is intriguing. Judas was included among the Twelve Jesus chose to send out to preach and perform miracles in Matthew 10:1-10, yet Judas betrayal of Jesus is prophesied in Psalm 41:9, Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me. There is no uncertainty about Judas eternal state. Jesus says in Matthew 26:24, "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." I do not know of a specific Scripture that addresses your specific question, but Judas did commit three of the seven abominations listed in Proverbs 6: ) Hands that shed innocent blood, 2) A heart that devises wicked plans, 3) Feet that are swift in running to evil, Of course, any sin will separate one from God. The apostle Paul writes in Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. You may find the more detailed message about Judas beneficial on LetTheBibleSpeak.com #852. A viewer on our Let the Bible Speak Facebook page asks: Is it necessary to obey priests and elders to obey God? Obeying priests is not required of Christians. Only Levites were priests under the Law of Moses but all Christians are priests in New Testament times. The Bible teaches in 1 Peter 2:9, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. We also read in Revelation 1:5-6, To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father Must one obey his elders in order to obey God? The Scriptures addresses this idea in Hebrews 13:17, Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. While Christians clearly have an obligation to be submissive to elders, this responsibility has been perverted by religious leaders like Jim Jones and David Koresh. In 1978, nine hundred members of Jones congregation, Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, submitted to his leadership in a mass suicide by drinking cyanide-laced punch. Koresh had a dozen children with Branch Davidian members other than his legal wife. Claiming to have opened the fifth seal from the book of Revelation, Koresh and his followers began stockpiling weapons at their 2

3 Q & A: Is The Bible Anti-Semitic? by Brett Hickey, sermon # of 5 compound near Waco, Texas. On February 28, 1993, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided the compound during an investigation into illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Four ATF agents and six Davidians died in the initial two hour exchange of gunfire. In response to pressure by the ATF after a 51- day stand-off with Koresh, Branch Davidian members burned their fortress. Koresh and 79 others died in the fire. These extreme examples demonstrate that the biblical instruction to Obey those who rule over you must always be qualified by legitimate biblical support for the teaching of the leadership. Jesus warns against blindly following religious leaders in Matthew 15:14, They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch." A viewer from Tennessee: I m trying to learn how to look up words to get the origin of the true mean concerning the scriptures. What dictionary should I use? Fellow evangelist Nate Bibens of Lawrenceburg, TN, gave this response to our viewer: I believe you were interested in resources that assist with looking up word definitions in Scripture? First of all, let me say that is a wonderful goal, and I appreciate your desire to know exactly what God s word says! Below are a handful of different resources I hope they might prove beneficial in your study. Online Resources: Biblestudytools.com is a website that offers several resources, including dictionaries and lexicons that can assist with looking up word definitions. In my opinion it takes a little bit of time to get used to, but it is completely free to use. You can pull up passages in the website, and click on specific words in order to get definitions, or you can use the search feature to look up specific words directly. Mobile Resource: There are several Bible applications for iphone and Android devices, but one I use specifically for definition purposes is Blue Letter Bible. I believe it s available on both platforms, and it is free on Android, and possibly iphone as well. It is a good overall Bible app, but I find it particularly helpful because it comes with built in dictionaries. If you click on a verse and select the interlinear option, it will provide a screen with short definitions of each word in the verse, and you can select individual words to pull up longer, more thorough definitions. Books: There are two primary books I would recommend, if you are interested in purchasing an actual dictionary; Vine s Expository Dictionary has been a long-standing and standard work, and it is easy to use. You can find new and used copies very easily online and in Bible stores, probably for $10 - $25. Mounce s Expository Dictionary is very similar to Vines, just a bit newer. It is also very easy to use, readily available, and costs just under $25 I think. I have both of these books, and would recommend either one. I will add a couple other resources to those brother Bibens recommended: studylight.org and studythebibleyourself.com. The latter is produced by L. G. Butler, a member of my home congregation who has provided support to a number of projects at LetTheBibleSpeak. Studythebibleyourself.com is an excellent resource that compiles a number of other Bible study tools and guides the Bible student through their use. A viewer from Missouri asks: We all know the 10 commandments, but what exactly are the commandments of Jesus? 3

4 Q & A: Is The Bible Anti-Semitic? by Brett Hickey, sermon # of 5 The 10 commandments are not the same as the commandments of Jesus. The 10 commandments are part of the Law of Moses that has been put away. Now this may be new information, but consider the following information from the Scriptures. We find the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. The fourth commandment is found in Exodus 20:8-11, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Meanwhile, in the New Testament we find the apostle Paul writes in Colossians 2:16-17, So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. The Law of Moses taught Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Even though the apostles do teach many fundamental truths as love and kindness, there is not one single New Testament Scripture where the apostles command members of the early church to keep the Sabbath. What makes this so remarkable is the significant Gentile audience who received their epistles. Instead, as we have notice, the apostle Paul wrote, Let no one judge you regarding sabbaths When we back up a couple verses we find the Spirit teaches in Colossians 2:14, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. What was the handwriting of requirements that was against us? It was the Law of Moses! The Law of Moses was against man because man was unable to keep the law perfectly. When he broke the law, man became a sinner. Meanwhile, the Law of Moses (including the Ten Commandments), though it is holy and just and good (Romans 7:12) provides no way for man to gain complete forgiveness of his sins. Jesus nailed it to the cross. We find similarly in Ephesians 2:15, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace Furthermore, if anyone still has any doubt that the Ten Commandments are under consideration here, note even further clarity in Romans 7:6-7, But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, You shall not covet. " When the Holy Spirit says we have been delivered from the law, understand that the Greek word (katargeo) translated delivered means according to Thayer s Greek-English Lexicon, to render inoperative; to deprive of force, influence, power; to cause to cease, put an end to, do away with, annul, abolish;.to be severed from, separated from, discharged from, loosed from any one. Then, to make it clear that the law referred to includes the Ten Commandments, the apostle Paul says this law includes the command, You shall not covet. (See also 2 Corinthians 3:14-16; Galatians 4:21-31; 5:4; Hebrews 7:22; 8:6-13; 9:15-24; 12:24; 13:20). This is not to say that the moral principles from the Ten Commandments are rendered null and void. We find nine of these Ten Commandments reiterated in some form in the New Testament. Our Missouri viewer asks further, What exactly are the commandments of Jesus? In other words, when Jesus says in John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments, what commands are under consideration? Some people mistakenly interpret Jesus to say, If you love Me, keep MOSES commandments. That is not what Jesus said. He said, If you love Me, keep MY commandments. Similarly, we read in 2 John 9, Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. What Jesus taught and what Jesus commanded is obligatory for Christians. It is a grievous error to diminish His teaching. 4

5 Q & A: Is The Bible Anti-Semitic? by Brett Hickey, sermon # of 5 In addition to what Jesus taught Himself, it is important to understand that Jesus delegated His authority to the apostles. Jesus said in John 16:13, However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth Jesus tells the disciples further after His resurrection in Matthew 28:20, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; Since Jesus delegated this authority to the apostles and the Holy Spirit is responsible for what they wrote (2 Timothy 3:16-17), we can have the confidence that the apostles taught in the New Testament are the commands of Jesus The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:37, If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. Stay with us for a final word, after our song We hope you will contact us so we can help you obey the Lord according to the new covenant. Again, you may pre-order our new six lesson correspondence or simply request a copy of this message, Q & A: Anti-Semitism, #1123. Sign in to our Facebook page for the daily Bible verse and subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the weekly message at your convenience. Join us next week as we continue in our stand for truth in a world of religious confusion. We say with the apostle Paul in Romans 16:16, the churches of Christ salute you. Until next week, goodbye and God bless. Are you searching for the truth of God's word and have a sincere desire to learn about the Bible? Do you want to know what the Bible says about salvation and about Christ and His church? If you are looking for Bible Founded discussion on these topics and many others, then please accept this invitation to explore "Let the Bible Speak" and then contact us for additional studies. We are members of the church of Christ as found in the New Testament. We are not members of a denomination or earthly religious organization. We are a brotherhood of believers, joined by a common bond, Jesus Christ. We try to live and worship following the patterns found in the New Testament. (For manuscripts of other sermons visit: COPYRIGHT Let The Bible Speak. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Express permission is granted to distribute any video, audio, or transcript of any broadcast message as long as the material is: unedited and attribution is given to Let The Bible Speak; a hyperlink to LetTheBibleSpeak.com is included for electronic distribution; a text reference is included to for printed distribution; and the original author receives attribution. An irrevocable, world-wide, royalty free license for distribution is granted as long as such distribution has the intent of: supporting the truth as presented; giving glory and honor to God; and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. 5