The news reporter interviewed a 70 year old Jewish man, who is packing his belongings and regretfully leaving his home and his life in Manchester, and heading for Israel – because he no longer feels safe in the UK.
There’s an irony in the fact that he is leaving his life in one of the world’s most stable and peaceful societies, and relocating to a small country in the heart of the volatile Middle East, which is beset by enemies that are sworn to its annihilation, and is almost constantly under attack and at war.
Nevertheless, apparently one in five British Jews are thinking the same way. The reason? In Israel it’s OK to be Jewish. Increasingly, that doesn’t appear to be the case elsewhere.
In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, set during the pogroms against the Jews in early 20th Century Russia, there’s a scene in which Tevye the dairyman prays to God, “I know we’re the chosen people, but can’t you choose someone else for once?” The answer is no. ‘“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen”’ (Isaiah 43:10). It’s not that Jews are in any way superior to anyone else. The Bible’s account of their history demonstrates this with ruthless honesty. But they are God’s people, whether we or they like it or not.
Their unique and remarkable history was written before it happened. In the 7th Century BC, their prophet warned that they would be uprooted from their land and taken captive because of their idolatry. But they would return after 70 years (Jeremiah 25:8-14), which they did (2 Chronicles 36:17-23).
Then Jesus Christ himself warned that they would be uprooted again and scattered throughout the world, until the time of their exile was over (Luke 21:20-24).
The prophets foretold their eventual regathering to their homeland (for example Ezekiel 37). The horrors of the Holocaust in the Second World War were the catalyst for this being accomplished.
They are still in the process of being regathered. Perhaps the current rash of worldwide antisemitism will accelerate this.
The prophets look forward, to our day and beyond. Relocating to Israel will not ultimately secure peace and security, because a time of unprecedented disaster awaits the nation in the final throes of this age (Ezekiel 38), which the Bible calls Armageddon (Revelation 16:16).
But a remnant of Israelis will come through the turmoil – and then, the nation will at last be transformed. Chastened, they will accept Jesus Christ as their saviour (Zechariah 12:10). And then they will come into their own. They will form the nucleus of the Kingdom of God, with its capital in Jerusalem. It seems there will be a second gathering, when those Jews still living elsewhere will be gathered to their land (Isaiah 60).
Then, at last, the Jews will no longer be a despised race. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’” (Zechariah 8:23).
Chris Parkin
