History of Jewish persecution

[wonby1]

Has anyone studied the history of Jewish persecution?  It is pretty impressive to say the least.  It seemingly began since the 400 years of slavery in Egypt.  Here is but a taste.

70 AD The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and killed over 1 million Jews.

561 AD The bishop of Uzes expelled Jews from France.

613 AD Jews in Spain were told they had to convert to Christianity or leave.

855 AD  Jews were expelled from Italy

1096 AD  Crusades began in which over 12,000 were killed.

1099 AD  The Crusaders forced all the Jews of Jerusalem into a central synagogue and set fire to it.

1121 AD  Jews were exiled from Flanders which is now present day Belgium.

1146 AD  The second Crusade began in which the French monk Rudolf called for the destruction of the Jews.

1180 AD  French King Phillip Augustus seized all Jewish property and expelled them from the country.

1215  AD  Jews were required to wear a special dress in the form of a ring via the Fourth Lateran Council which approved cannon laws.

1227 AD  The Synod of Narbonne required Jews to wear an oval badge.

1259  AD  The Synod of the archdiocese of Mainz declared Jews to wear yellow badges.

1267  AD  The Snod of Vienna ordered Jews to wear horned hats.  Thomas Aquinas said that the Jews should live in a state of perpetual servitude.

1298  AD  Jews were persecuted in Austria, Bavaria, and Franconia with over 100,000 Jews murdered.

1321 AD  In France, Jews were accused of having incited criminals to pioson wells as 5,000 Jews were murdered.

1347 AD  Jews were blamed for the Black Death because they seemingly were the only group to have not suffered from it, presumably due to following the Mosaic sanitary laws.  They were accused of making a deal with the devil as hundreds of thousands were murdered all across Europe.

1354 AD  12,000 Jews were exiled in Toledo.

1394 AD Jews were exiled from France.

1434 AD  Jewish men in Augsburg had to sew yellow buttons to their cloths.  Across Europe, Jews were forced to wear a long undergarment, and overcoat with a yellow patch, bells and tall pointed hats with a large button on them.

1497 AD  Jews were exiled from Portuagal.

1540 AD  Jews were exiled from Naples.

1555 AD  A Roman Catholic Papal law required Jews to wear badges and live in ghettos.  Living conditions in these ghettos were dreadful as many died. 

1582 AD  Jews were exiled from Holand.

1648 AD  Chmielnicki Bogdan led an uprising to exterminate Jews as over 100,000 Jews were murdered.

1917 AD  Over 200,000 Jews murdered in the Ukraine.

Of course, this is by no means a comprehensive list.  It seems to me that the Holocaust was nothing more than a natural climax to this persecution.

Is there any other people on the face of the planet that has undergone such drastic persecution?  Today they are surrounded by angry Muslims with the UN to boot.

[Seriousseeker]

Israel is an interesting subject, in that most of the Bible concerns them ---except for a parenthesis in the Epistles concerning the Church and mankind in general.  Here is a paper you might find of interest.

A  COMMENTARY  ON  ISRAEL'S  FUTURE
By R. L. DeWitt, 08/11

[Many religious people speculate about God's mind concerning Israel ---the people in the Bible whom God called by covenant for special care (see promises to Abraham in Genesis 12 & 17& 22 ).  Popular thoughts are often guesswork and  misapplying Scripture to suppose things not true to the Word of God.]
Let us seek to appreciate God's purposes  and determine what is the course for Israel ---God's chosen earthly people. Will they diminish and be destroyed, or continue and eventually prosper and be at peace?

Any careful student of the Bible will see that there are three kinds of people in the world:  Israelites, Gentiles,  and the Church of God.  Israel is a chosen earthly people, presently under discipline, but always in the mind of God for good.  They are presently set aside,   but will be preserved and restored in a day to come with blessings on the earth forever. The Church is a called out and redeemed people as a heavenly bride today, who will go to be with Christ forever.  All other souls are Gentiles ---the gender of mankind.

The nation called Israel today was formed in 1948 as a sovereign state, and the people that returned and settled in that land reclaimed what God gave them a very long time ago,  as the Bible shows.  Their return was allowed by God, but not directed by Him, for He will personally re-gather them in the "promised land" one day in the future, in triumph over all their enemies as prophecy shows.

The so-called Israelis today are called that as nationals, but God's people of the O.T. are by promise still Israelites.  The reference to "Jews" today is a religious name and are called that because it was mostly the tribe of Judah that returned to recover the land after exile, but actually most Israelites do not know which tribe they are from.  They are a scattered people in the world, and will not be gathered again as a nation by God until the Lord comes to reign after the Tribulation Period, as shown in Bible prophecy.

Israelites were overthrown and taken captive by the judgment of God in about 588 BC for their rebellion over many years.  Some were allowed to return under the provision of Cyrus, King of Persia – circa 520 BC, and later the King Artaxeres in 446 BC.  This people were later conquered by Rome about 63 BC just prior to the time of Jesus Christ, and later driven out by the Romans in about 137 AD after being occupied by them for about 75 years,  though some poor Israelites remained along with various Arab tribes wandering through the land, but never settling and forming a State.

The history thereafter in brief shows Great Britain governing the land under the control of the League of Nations following World War I, then dividing the land to accommodate various religious groups coming in 1922.  After Israel began returning to their homeland in great numbers in the 1930's they eventually formed a nation in 1948. One can study the historical account further from the official records.

The world in general today is divided, with most people outside of real Christianity opposing Israel and calling for them to give in to Moslem demands for ownership of part of Israel's land.  That is unique in the world, for it does not happen in any other country.  Israel established a nation and developed the land, and now the various Arab groups that continue coming into the land today want to own it.

Israel is still God's earthly people by covenant, and that is why we as Christians must honor that and aid Israel as much as we can.  Israel and the Church are both people of God.  We may not approve of their governmental ways, and we are sad that they reject their Messiah --the Lord Jesus Christ, but that is between them and God (and they have and will suffer much for it).  Today they must come to God the same as Gentiles through Jesus Christ --God's beloved Son and their only blood sacrifice.  Only then will the current generation find blessing and hope, and that for eternity.
 
It is important to see in the Bible that Israel as a people will rule over the earth by God's leading when the new earth is established and they repent (note Zech. 13:6);  and today their religion has been done away at the cross.  The church --the bride of Christ, is a heavenly people, and they are not destined to live on the earth, but in Heaven.  One needs to understand this difference between the Church and Israel.   -RLD

[wonby1]

There is no question in my mind that such persecution is supernatural in nature.  In addition, the mere fact that they have survived such persecution and even returned to their own country with their own religion is statistically insane.

To think that God would ever give up on them is to not appreciate the OT.  Make no mistake, he never gives up on them just like he never gives up on the human race.  In the end, they will return to him.

[DaveW]

Wonby -

I am curious in your time line why you left off the 135 ad Bar Kochba revolt and resulting Roman persecution which also changed the church. It remains a major event in world affairs.

Rome came in and physically removed the Jews from the province of Judea and repopulated it with a mishmash of people taken (by force) from various Arabic tribes whom they re-named "Palestinians" and renamed the province "Palestine."

For a good read on the church's persecution of Jews, read "Our Hands are Stained with Blood" by Michael Brown.

[DaveW]

There is no question in my mind that such persecution is supernatural in nature. 

I do not know if you ever heard of a bible teacher (of blessed memory) named Derek Prince or not.  But he made an interesting observation just before Israel became a nation in 1948.

Prince had been a double Kings Scholar from Eaton College, Cambridge; and taught graduate level Greek Philosophy at Cambridge before world war 2. During the war he became a believer as he served in North Africa.

After the war back at Cambridge one of his fellow professors asked about whether he thought making a Jewish nation would solve the issue of Jewish persecution.  Prince said that if the persecution was of human origin, it should settle the issue; but if it were of spiritual origin, a Jewish state would only make it worse.