Why We Must Pray and Act against Today’s Rise in Antisemitism

Israeli soccer fans were in Amsterdam last Thursday night for a game between a club from Tel Aviv and a Dutch club. Suddenly, mobs unleashed a wave of violence against them, chasing Jews through the streets on motorbikes and beating them. According to Dutch authorities, the campaign was organized beforehand, and the attackers were equipped for their onslaught. The messaging app Telegram was used to talk about “going on Jew hunts,” Amsterdam’s mayor later reported. One Israeli soccer fan said, “They knew exactly where we stayed. They knew exactly which hotels and which street we were going to take. It was all well-organized, well-prepared.”

The site of the attacks was especially ironic: Amsterdam once had a large and thriving Jewish population, but 75 percent of them perished in the Holocaust. Jewish teenager Anne Frank hid for years in the city before she was arrested in 1944 and died in a Nazi concentration camp.

Now, violence against Jews in Amsterdam is rising again, along with Holocaust denial. But there is more to the story.

Antisemitism Reaches Record Highs in the US

In a recent survey, 96 percent of Jews from thirteen European countries said they had encountered antisemitism in their daily lives even before the ongoing war in Gaza. Most who responded said they worry for their own (53 percent) and their family’s (60 percent) safety and security. Unsurprisingly, Europe’s Jewish population has dropped 60 percent in the last fifty years.

Lest we think this cannot happen in America, we need to know that it is happening in America.

According to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League Center for Extremism:

Antisemitic incidents in the US reached a record high since last year’s Hamas attack in Israel.
More than ten thousand incidents were reported from October 7, 2023, to September 24, 2024, a more than two hundred percent increase compared to the same period a year earlier.
This is the highest level of antisemitism since the ADL began tracking such incidents in 1979.

Jonathan S. Tobin, editor-in-chief of Jewish News Syndicate, warns:

In essence, every college with an anti-Israel encampment or a campus culture where pro-Israel Jews find themselves ostracized and targeted by faculty and students is an example of how pogroms like that in Amsterdam become a possibility.
The takeover of American education by those advocating for toxic Marxist myths like critical race theory and intersectionality, which falsely label Jews and Israel as “white” oppressors who are always in the wrong and deserve whatever violence is directed at them, has led to the indoctrination of a generation that sees the barbaric atrocities of Oct. 7 as justified “resistance.”

But there is even more to the story.

Three Reasons Satan Inspires Antisemitism

The devil is the author of antisemitism. How do I know?

Satan seeks “only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Antisemitism steals from the Jews their security, cultural status, prosperity, and often their possessions. It kills them in the millions; it destroys their communities and seeks to eradicate their race.
Satan wants us to strive to be our own god (Genesis 3:5). Antisemitism claims an innate superiority to Jews and a “right” to persecute them, reinforcing the “will to power” at the heart of humanity’s fallen condition.
Satan hates God but cannot attack him, so he attacks those whom God loves (cf. Luke 22:31; 1 Peter 5:8). The best way to grieve me is to harm my children. Our Father feels the same about each of us, both Jews and Gentiles (Galatians 3:28).

But there is even more to the story.

Why We Must “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem”

Antisemitism, like all racism, is an affront to the God who made each of us in his image (Genesis 1:27) and “loves each of us as if there were only one of us” (St. Augustine). Accordingly, throughout Scripture and human history, the Lord invariably and inevitably must bring judgment against those who sin against humanity in this way.

The Egyptian pharaoh mercilessly enslaved and persecuted Jews, but his army was destroyed in the Red Sea, and Moses led the people of Israel to their Promised Land.
The wicked Haman sought to eradicate the Jews of Persia but was hanged on the scaffold he built for their leader, Mordecai (Esther 7).
The Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, and Roman Empires that mercilessly persecuted Jews are no more, but Jews continue to thrive.
Hitler’s “final solution” murdered six million Jews, but his Third Reich was destroyed, and the modern State of Israel was born in response to the Holocaust. More than one million Jews in the Soviet Union were murdered; now, the Soviet Union is no more.

Similarly, Abraham Lincoln stated prophetically in his Second Inaugural Address that the Civil War was divine punishment for the sin of slavery, a sin in which all Americans were complicit. From then to today, those who perpetuate the heinous sins of antisemitism and racism against their fellow humans must face the loss of God’s favor and the incursion of his wrath.

So, let us urgently “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” today (Psalm 122:6). By this, let us ask Almighty God to protect Jews and all other oppressed minorities around the world. Let us seek his direction and strength as we seek to answer our prayer with our actions.

And let us remember John Donne’s sober warning:

“Send not to know for whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.”

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.

Quote for the Day:

“The denial of human rights anywhere is a threat to the affirmation of human rights everywhere.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Related Resource: Why Young Evangelicals Are Turning Away from Israel

Are young evangelicals becoming indifferent to Israel? In this episode of Inside the Epicenter, we delve into a revealing study by Dr. Kirill Bumin and Dr. Motti Inbari that uncovers a concerning trend of declining Christian support for Israel, particularly among the younger generation of evangelicals. Research-minded guests join host Joel Rosenberg and cohost Lynn Rosenberg to explore this shift's complexities. As we navigate through recent political developments between Israel, Hamas, and the United States, we also tackle the generational divide in political ideology, social justice concerns, and theological perspectives that influence support for Israel. Whether discussing the emotional impact of modern media consumption or the disconnect between older and younger evangelicals' views, this episode offers an in-depth analysis and invites listeners to reflect on the changing dynamics of Christian Zionism in the 21st century.

Published Date: November 12, 2024

Jim Denison, PhD, is a cultural theologian and the founder and CEO of Denison Ministries. Denison Ministries includes DenisonForum.org, First15.org, ChristianParenting.org, and FoundationsWithJanet.org. Jim speaks biblically into significant cultural issues at Denison Forum. He is the chief author of The Daily Article and has written more than 30 books, including The Coming Tsunami, the Biblical Insight to Tough Questions series, and The Fifth Great Awakening.