Hi all,
The rise of antisemitism, Israel, and Christianity are on a collision course.
Antichrist and antisemitism
When Jesus spoke of people betraying believers in Him and hating believers in Him, He was talking to Jewish believers at the time. Today there are believers in Jesus both Jew and Gentile, so antisemitism and anti-Christ are forever linked. History bears this out,; for 1 example, there were 6 million Jews killed in the Nazi camps, but what is not mentioned is that there were another 5 million non-Jews also killed – Christians, some in name but many practicing. Perhaps Dietrich Bonhoeffer the most famous Christian in that group. If they hated Jesus, they will hate us.
The apostle John uses the word ‘antichrist’ 4 times. The first is in I John 2: 18-19:
“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”
Notice the first method of identifying the antichrist spirit: “They went out from us, but they didn’t really belong to us”. This means the antichrist spirit appears to be a Christian: ‘one of us’. In the other 3 times he uses the term ‘antichrist’ he says the antichrist spirit denies Jesus is the Christ. But that first one he says there are many antichrist (spirits) out there, and they ‘went out from us’. They appear to be Christian, but in reality deny Him. (The 4x he uses the term: I John 2: 18-19, 22; 4: 3; II John 1:7)
He also said: “…many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” These so called Christians, who went out from us but are not part of us, are part of the evidence of being in the last hour of the age. That spirit masquerades as a Christian, but works against all that is actually God. Our word of caution is to watch for people who say they are Christians yet are against Israel and Jewish people. (See II Corinthians 11: 13-15)
“They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” Titus 1: 16.
The word ‘detestable’ in Greek means ‘abominable and/or idolatrous’, and is the only place this is used in the NT. Paul is saying they are detestable to God, claiming to know Him, but denying Him in their words and life. The word, when grouped with the others, speaks to hypocrisy: living one way in front of people, denying Christ in their lifestyle in secret.
These would include people who claim to be Christian but live openly sinful lives. This is not talking about the imperfect Christian, battling their flesh, old ways, habitual sins as part of their character, though they love the Lord. No, the apostles are talking about open sin as a lifestyle lived in deceit and undermining the ways of the Lord in others. We are told to judge the fruit of someone’s life in Matthew 7: 15-20, while the Lord alone knows a person’s heart. We can judge a person’s words and lifestyle, ‘fruit’ of their lives, while refraining from judging their heart – that is the Lord’s realm as only He knows.
Therefore….
I have friends in many nations of the world. I’ve been to about 25 nations in my travels and can say I love those nations in large part because that is where my friends are from. In each of those nations I find something to love, whether it be ancient culture and history, or food, or natural wonders, but it is the people I love the most. It is those friends within the context of the nations where they live that I love.
Similarly, I’ve have yet to visit the nation my best friend is from, but because I love Him I love His nation – Israel. Christians and Christianity in general must ask if a person can truly be a Christian while hating the nation their Lord is from, of which He is King. In the Rosenburg Report in 2025, Joel Rosenburg asked that very question, especially among young people:
“We all agree that it is absolutely sickening that secular young people, unchurched young people, are turning against Israel and against the Jewish people. But why are kids raised in Christian homes and in Christian churches—why are they being swayed by these lies?”
I would suggest that parents, grandparents, and churches aren’t teaching what God says about Israel: Referencing Jeremiah 31:3, Rosenberg reminded listeners, “The Lord appeared to him to Israel from afar, saying ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, I have drawn you with loving kindness.’” He stressed that many children simply aren’t hearing these passages at home. Social media is perhaps more influential than parents or churches, for the algorithms direct content to a person based on what they’ve already seen, making true research of all points of view more difficult.
Some might argue ancient Israel is not modern Israel, but that would be like referencing you as a baby and then talking about your life now and saying they aren’t the same. With Israel we need to step back from ancient vs modern to look at covenant. The fact is, historical fact is, God made covenant with Abraham and His descendants for the land of Israel. Over the centuries they’ve gone through many political forms, religious zeal and apathy, and their borders have expanded and contracted. In many ways ancient Israel and modern Israel aren’t the same. What IS the same is God made covenant with Israel and that is unrelated to border lines and political considerations, or even faith in Christ or not.
In the US antisemitism from people who claim to be Christian, in life or culture.
Candace Owens is an example who infamously said she she would “literally rather…saw off my own foot than support Israel ever again…Never supporting that demonic nation again” and “I am Catholic, I believe in real demons, and Netanyahu is very clearly a demon.”
Antisemitism has many branches seen in politics, news and social media that all lead back to the main root hatred for God and His people, no matter the shiny and appealing packaging. Let us consider the statement: Christ is King. All reading this would agree with that statement. But for some against Israel, it has been weaponized, targeting Jews. In 2025 a Rutgers University associated study group found a sharp increase in the use of ‘Christ is King’ as an anti-Jewish meme: “The weaponization or hijacking of ‘Christ is King’ represents a disturbing inversion of its original intent. Rather than sacralizing shared values, extremists have exploited this religious expression to justify hatred.”
Jack Posobiec, Senior Editor at Human Events and noted US conservative Republican, said this: “Abraham was Christian, Moses was Christian, David was Christian…Adam and Noah were Christian.” He was responding to a Jordan Peterson statement that Judaism developed key ideas (within the Mosaic Law) opposing tyranny and that Christ Himself was a Jew. Posobiec responded with: “This is not what most Christians believe.”
Re-writing Biblical history reveals a thinking that marginalizes Jews and Israel, which those who believe in Replacement Theology (believing the church has completely replaced Israel) or hate Israel use to substantiate their belief system. Erase the Jews, center only on Christians and call it God. But it is intellectually dishonest in the face of history and scripture. It strips Christianity of the very inheritance that gives it meaning.
Sign of the end times: Antisemitism that includes believers in Jesus
- “And you will be betrayed both by parents, and brothers, and relatives, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.” Luke 21: 16
- “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” Matthew 24: 10
That is happening right now, today, in many parts of the world. The west, because it has been founded on Jude-Christian morality, has largely been spared. But when the political tide shifts, as we’ve seen in the UK and starting in the US, the underlying hatred will seek a political expression..
- “And you will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10: 22, Mark 13:13, Luke 21: 17
- “And you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.”Matthew 24: 9
- “If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.” John 15: 18
- “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, great is your reward in heaven, for they also persecuted the prophets who came before you.” Matthew 5: 12
- “Rejoice that you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings…” I Peter 4:13
Shouldn’t our concern be that if someone accused you of being a Christian, there be enough evidence to convict you?
Historically, Jews and Christians have been made the scapegoats for a nation’s economic troubles. Nero blamed Christians for the burning of Rome in the year 64. Hitler blamed Jews, Christians, and conservatives as standing in the way of Nazi progress. Rather than looking for the latest color of the moon or some person’s dream about the rapture, why not keep your fingers to the pulse of rhetoric that is antisemitic and anti-Christian/conservative?
New, and happier subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
