An Unfortunate Choice

To me, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an abhorrent man. I don't say that to raise eyebrows. It should be obvious that the there are a host of reasons that his very presence at the United Nations is an insult to civilized society. That he will very shortly be answering questions at a university in a democratic nation, and that he will be allowed to twist truth and push his brand of hatred is simply gut-wrenching for the families of those American and international soldiers who have been killed or maimed by the munitions and weaponry supplied by Iran to those who oppose us in Iraq and elsewhere.

I believe it is an unfortunate decision that has been made to allow this man to be applauded in any forum here in this country. I realize that as 'civilized' adults, that we can and often do intellectualize just about anything to get what we want, but this issue should have boiled down to a little bit of common sense, and applying that, he should never have been invited to speak at Columbia. I think Jay Leno said it best, in that instead of allowing this man to come to our ground zero, that we should provide him with his own ground zero. Does that sound extreme?

This man is the world's number one sponsor of terrorism, and is glibly obliged to make horrific statements about not only our president, this nation and others, but he wishes to destroy one nation in particular, specifically stating numerous times that Israel should be wiped off the map. He even denies the Holocaust. Now they are going to have nuclear weapons. It doesn't matter how tough the questions are, or how hotly demanded the answers are. To question this man is sheer folly. I believe it will be fruitless, save one thing. To those who already know of it, his psychopathy will only be reinforced. Still, it is a slap in the face to many, but especially to Jewish people.

The roots of anti-Semitism go deep, and for nearly 2,000 years, even admired church leaders have been prejudiced against the Jewish people. Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Eusebius, John Chrysostum, Jerome, St. Augustine and even Martin Luther made remarks that either had a "somewhat" misguided view of Judaism or that were completely anti-Semitic.

By the time the middle ages rolled around, two very wrong concepts had become recognized doctrine within the church. First---that the Jews were responsible for killing Christ and that they should be treated like Christ-killers and second----that the church had replaced Israel and because of that, God had no further use or future purpose for the Jewish people.

This is one of the reasons it is so hard to share the Gospel with Jewish people. They have been persecuted and killed for millennia now, even in the name of Jesus. They are assailed from all sides with prejudice and hatred the likes of which most of us will never know. It would not surprise me if they were to think of Christianity as almost as mortal an enemy to their people as someone like President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

God's word strongly rebukes anti-Semitism. In Psalm 129:5-8, we are told that all who hate Zion will be put to shame. Acts 4:27 states: "27 For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done."

It is clear that all of us have the blood of Christ on our hands. This is confirmed by Romans 3:23 and other verses. Jesus laid down his life for all of us, to give us a way to be forgiven, if only we choose to follow Him. No one may excuse himself from the guilt of sin. That is only for God to do, and God is not done with the Jewish people.

"Why," some would ask, "would God preserve such a stiff-necked and rebellious people?" It is because throughout their history, they have been witnesses of God, and he continues to demonstrate His prodigious grace and unfathomable faithfulness. How can any of us who know Him ask why they should deserve such consideration, in that we have been given it ourselves? He is not doing something for the Jewish people that He is not willing to do for anyone else who asks Him to. Why is this so hard for some people to accept? It is prejudice. It is anti-Semitism, and it is a failure to understand that God's grace and forgiveness is available to anyone who will turn to Him.

The regathering of the Jewish people into their own nation state, and into only a small pocket of the area originally promised to them by God is no accident of history, and the fact that the entire world is focused on Israel and the Middle East is no accident either. It was foretold in God's word. The Bible says that all of the nations of the world will come against the Jewish people over the control of the City of Jerusalem. (Zachariah 12:2-3) That has not happened yet, but it will.

God is the one in control, and only He has the power to take what Satan means for evil and use it for good. Only He has the power to bring about His perfect will in this world. The Jewish people will be preserved, and a remnant of them will be saved to a man and all of God's promises to them will be fulfilled. Until that day, there will always be the Mahmoud Ahmadinejads. We have to recognize them for who they are. Vigilance is the key. Daily reading of God's word will keep us alert, if we only read it without any presuppositions. There will always be haters of Jews, and people who just don't understand that while God hates sin, that His grace is available to all of mankind.