Why Still Care about Israel? by Sandra Teplinsky

Author:Sandra Teplinsky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL012110, REL006140, Israel (Christian theology), Palestine in Christianity
ISBN: 9781441263247
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2013-08-12T16:00:00+00:00

Timeless Weapons of Deceit

“What has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The biblical truism has applied to Israel and her enemies since ancient times. A snapshot survey of Scripture shows how Satan has used world weapons of deceit against the Jews like no other nation on earth.

In the book of Esther, a Persian official named Haman demands that all bow down and worship him. Mordecai, a God-fearing Jew, refuses. At this Haman is outraged; to retaliate, he plots the annihilation of Jews throughout the empire. Like Israel’s enemies today, Haman concocts a scheme based on lies that he reports to the government: “There is a certain people . . . who . . . do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them” (Esther 3:8–9).

The duped king concedes to Haman’s request. But the sinister ploy is fabricated and undeserving. There is no mention of sin on the Jews’ part; to the contrary, it is Mordecai’s worship of Yahweh that stirs the enemy’s wrath. While the plan providentially backfires and Haman is killed, the spirit of Haman lives on.

Consider next the book of Ezra. After exile in Babylon, many Jewish people have returned to the Promised Land. They plan to rebuild their country and at first things go well. But after the foundation of the Temple is laid, the opposition stirs. When local efforts to stop the Jews from rebuilding fail, a formal appeal is filed with the authorities. The deceitfully crafted complaint distorts reality almost beyond recognition:

The king should know that [the Jews] . . . are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city [Jerusalem]. . . . Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer. Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message. . . . We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.

Ezra 4:12–14, 16

The threat is thoroughly fabricated. But the propaganda campaign succeeds, at least temporarily, and the king orders the construction to stop.

Five hundred years go by and Yeshua is born. Obsessed with a lie that the child will lead a revolution and usurp his royal crown, a Roman king executes every Jewish boy in the region of Messiah’s birth (see Matthew 2:13–18). Decades later, another Roman ruler sentences Yeshua to death, based again on more lies (see Matthew 26:59–61; Luke 23:2).

What does the devil do to oppose God’s purposes? Throughout the Bible a pattern emerges. Satan’s timeless weapon of choice is deceit. The father of lies, lies. And his goal is murder.

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