The Book of Esther was taught by Dr. James Modlish

 

Some History On Anti-Semitism

 

This lesson deals with some of the history of Anti-Semitism that has taken place down through the ages, starting with the death of Solomon in B.C. 975; and continuing up until the 1800's. This is not to say that the Jewish people are not still being persecuted in 2003, just look at the current news headlines where daily terrorist attacks against God's people are taking place around the world, not just in Israel.

The materials here are from C.I. Scofield's work, and reproduction of the same is only meant to show the continued attacks against God's people throughout history.

 

"After the death of Solomon in B.C. 975, the Kingdom was divided, his son Rehoboam retaining possession of two Tribes, Judah and Benjamin, and with them Jerusalem and the Temple; and Jeroboam, a usurper, as ruler over the remaining ten Tribes, set up his capital at Samaria. This division of the Kingdom, known as "Israel," rapidly declined, and in B.C. 721 the Ten Tribes were carried captive to Assyria. The Two Tribes, known as "Judah," survived over 100 years longer, but in B.C. 606 they were carried in Captivity to Babylon, and Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in B.C. 587. Thus ended a period of deadly tribal wars which was made illustrious by the minis. try of a noble succession of great prophets.

With the Captivity of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem, began that long period which still continues, known in the Scriptures as "The Times of the Gentiles," and which is so fully outlined and described in the Book of Daniel.

The fifth period of Jewish History began in B.C. 536, when the 70 years of the Captivity ended, as prophesied (Jer. 25:11); and some 50,000 of those of the Captivity returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the City and the Temple. The Temple was not finished and dedicated until 20 years later, and the walls of the city were not rebuilt until 70 more years had passed by, B.C. 445.

But while the Jews were permitted to return to their own land, they never again secured supremacy. They remained subject to the different conquerors of their land, though for the most part governed by rulers of their own race, in fulfillment of the prophecy that the Sceptre should not depart from Judah until Shiloh came.

In B.C. 169 Antiochus. Epiphanes, King of Syria, wrested Palestine from Egypt, twice took and sacked Jerusalem, desecrated and closed the Temple, and cruelly persecuted the Jews, until they became so incensed as to rise in rebellion under the leadership of the "Maccabees." This rebellion lasted from B.C. 166 to B.C. 40.

In B.C. 63 Judea became subject to Rome, and during the next 60 years the Roman Empire tightened its grip on the Holy Land. About this time, B.C. 5, many of the students of prophecy, knowing that the time set for the coming of "Messiah the Prince" by Daniel the Prophet (Dan. 9:25) was not far distant, frequented the Temple waiting for the "Consolation of Israel." (Luke 2:5,26.)

In December of that year Jesus was born at Bethlehem, was visited by the Shepherds, acknowledged a few weeks later in the Temple by Simeon and Anna, the Wise men from the East did Him homage, He was taken to Egypt, and returned to Nazareth where He spent His youth and young manhood, and at 30 years of age appeared at the Jordan, was baptized of John and entered upon His public ministry.

But His claim of being the Messiah was rejected by His own people. They joined hands with the Gentiles in crucifying the "Lord of Glory," and in A. D. 70 the Roman armies came, Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by Titus and the Jews were scattered among the nations of the earth. (Matt. 27:25)

It was in April, A.D. 70, that the Roman army, numbering 100,000 men, marched against Jerusalem. The city was poorly prepared to stand a siege.

Josephus says that over 1,000,000 perished in the siege, while 97,000 survived as captives, of whom the handsomest young men were taken to Rome to grace the triumph of the Conqueror, and thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel, that "the 'People' of the Prince that shall come (Antichrist) shall destroy the City and the Sanctuary." (Dan. 9:26.)

In A.D. 1020 Canute banished all Jews from England. In A.D. 1068 the only burial place in all England allowed the Jews was Cripplegate, London. In A.D. 1096 the "Holy War" began by attempting to murder all the Jews in Europe who would not submit to baptism. Henry II ordered the Jews to pay L60,000 toward defraying his expenses during one of the Crusades. At the accession of Richard I (Coeur de Leon), A.D. 1189, murderous riots were instigated against the Jews and not a Jewish household in London escaped robbery and murder.

The following year occurred the "Tragedy of York Castle," in which the chief Rabbi of York, with 500 followers were besieged in York Castle, and when escape became hopeless they slew one another and the chief Rabbi, the last to die, started a conflagration, then took his own life, and when the besiegers broke in they found the besieged in one great pile like the sacrifice upon the altar.

Up to the time of Edward I, A.D. 1272, the Crown claimed to own the Jew and all he possessed, and from time to time would allow him to gather riches that he might squeeze them from him, like water from a sponge. Edward I drove all the Jews, 16,500 in number, from England, and for nearly four centuries there is no evidence that British soil was pressed by a Jewish foot.

In A.D. 1306, on the morning of the fast commemorating the Destruction of Jerusalem all the Jews of France, men, women and children to the number of 100,000, were stripped of their possessions for the benefit of the royal treasury, and cast out of the land. In 10 years they were allowed to return, but soon the "Pastoureaux," bands of fanatical shepherds and malefactors, swept them away by thousands. In A.D. 1683 the Jews were ordered to quit all the French Colonies, and it was not until A.D. 1723, when Louis XV gave the Jews permission to hold real estate in France, that the tide began to turn.

It was established to terrify into faithfulness apostate Jews. Men and women disappeared by hundreds, as if the ground had opened and swallowed them up. Some never returned, others reappeared in after years human wrecks, pale and emaciated and semi-insane through long incarceration in dark and chilly subterranean dungeons. Now and then processions wound through the streets to the place of burning, the victims being tortured with the hope that they would recant before being thrown into the flames.

Many found themselves led from the Hall of judgment along subterraneous passage ways to the chamber of the "Iron Maiden," the rude hollow figure of a woman, made of iron, which at the touch of a spring flew open and disclosed its inner surface studded with iron nails rusted by the blood of its numerous victims. No sooner did the condemned step inside than the figure began to close, hugging in its iron grasp the victim, until the nails, entering the body amid the shrieks of the victim, pierced some vital part, and when all was over the "Iron Figure" again opened and allowed the body to fall into the yawning pit below.

But this was not all. Ferdinand and Isabella in A.D. 1492 issued an edict of banishment against all the Jews in Spain. A Jew offered 600,000 crowns for a revocation of the edict. The King and Queen hesitated and were inclined to accept when the Spanish Inquisitor, Torquemada, stalked into the presence of the abashed rulers and holding up a "Crucifix" before them cried

"Behold Him Whom Judas Iscariot Sold for 30 Pieces of Silver. Sell Ye Him Now for a Higher Price and Render an Account of Your Bargain Before God."

The sovereigns trembled before the stern Dominican and the Jews had to go. They were given four months in which to prepare. Whither to go they knew not, for there was no hospitable shore to which to fly. Some embarked for Africa and were sold into slavery, A number reached Italy. Their sufferings were indescribable. Two hundred years later, A.D. 1680, the spirit of Spain toward the Jews was unchanged.

Ferdinand and Isabella's decision to expel the Jews deal a terrible blow to Spanish prosperity. The Jewish middle class had been the backbone of Spain, even as the Huguenots had been the backbone of Prussia during the 'Seven Years' War. No modern nation survives the loss of its middle class and its stabilizing influence on the economy. Those who would have gladly dispossessed the Jews and stepped into their place lacked the necessary qualifications. The Spanish Empire began to fall apart and was lost completely during the reign of Philip II. Anti-Semitism had again brought judgment!

In relating the history of Spain, the Columbia Encyclopedia gives cognizance to this fact in its 1950 Edition page 1863:

... The expulsion of the Jews deprived Spain of a large part of its most useful and active population. Many went to the Levant and to the Netherlands, where their skills, capital, and commercial connections benefited their hosts… The Jewish… legacy to Spain and Western Europe is immense… and Jewish scholars such as Maimonides had a major share in the development of Christian scholasticism.

In his book, Jews, God and History (published by Simon and Schuster, New York, 1962), page 231, Max 1. Dimont cites excerpts from an article written by Martin Luther in defense of the Protestant position. The article, penned in 1523 and entitled "That Jesus Was Born a Jew," strongly advocates the principle of pro-Semitism. Luther said in part:

For they [the Catholics] have dealt with the Jews as if they were dogs and not human beings. They have done nothing for them but curse them and seize their wealth. I would advise and beg everybody to deal kindly with the Jews and to instruct them in Scriptures; in such a case we could expect them to come over to us… We must receive them kindly and allow them to compete with us in earning a livelihood… and if some remain obstinate, what of it? Not everyone is a good Christian.

England's strong ties with Catholicism were severed. During the first civil war (the Puritan Revolution a man of great military genius, Oliver Cromwell, rose to a place of prominence and leadership. His well-disciplined regiment of horses which composed the nucleus of the Ironsides, had distinguished itself in a number of battles. With the defeat of the Cavaliers, the adherents of the Royal Party of Charles I, feudalism ceased to exist in England and gave way to the incentive of capitalism. England looked for new vigorous leadership and found it in Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, who did more to keep England on an even keel than anyone else had ever done. He indirectly opened the door of divine blessing when he declared his country a haven for the Jews in 1655 and offered them citizenship and equal privileges with the English people. As a result the sun began to rise on the horizon of the British Empire. It reached its zenith in the reign of Queen Victoria, when it could be truthfully said that the sun never set on the Union Jack.

No doubt two of the greatest assets to Victoria's reign were Disraeli and Gladstone, both of whom served alternately as prime ministers in the later years of her reign. Never as popular with the Queen as Disraeli, Gladstone, himself a believer, is best known for excellent domestic politics, His foreign policy, however, was weak and tempered by liberalism. On the other hand, Benjamin Disraeli, the first Earl of Beaconsfield, was a brilliant statesman in every respect. He was the son of Isaac D'Israeli, a Jewish convert to Christianity, and quite possibly Benjamin Disraeli, too, was a believer. Certainly he was the first Jew in modern history ever to have attained such renown in a great nation. While Disraeli was the founder of the British Conservative Party, he instituted vastly bettered domestic programs in housing, health and working conditions without socialism! Yet it was for his brilliant foreign policy that the annals of history record him as one of the greatest statesmen of all time.

It was to D'Israeli's ministry that Britain owed its emergence and consolidation as an imperial power and that Victoria owed her title as Empress of India. It was his purchase of the controlling shares in the Suez Canal that gave Britain its powerful position in the Mediterranean. During his tenure of office, the Fiji Islands were annexed, Cyprus was ceded to Great Britain and Russia's power was greatly reduced in the Balkans.

Two other Jews held positions of importance under Victoria: Sir Moses Montefiore, the Queen's financial adviser and founder of the Provisional Bank of Ireland, and Sir Rufus Isaacs, the first Jewish Chief Justice of England. The latter was subsequently knighted to serve as Viceroy of India."

An additional factor that heaped upon Britain countless blessings was the tremendous number of missionaries sent out to proclaim the Gospel of salvation to the uttermost parts of the empire. Yet Britain never used its power to coerce human volition where salvation was concerned! Thus it is easy to see why Britain was a great nation in the last century: it maintained the principles of the laws of divine establishment* and a pro-Christian, pro-Semitic attitude.

* Divine Establishment, Laws of: Thieme