How can we pray in light of antisemitism?

The Scripture cannot state it more unambiguously than God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 12:3 – “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

In the final analysis, antisemitism is more destructive to those who practice it than to those who bear the brunt of it. Hard as it may be to contemplate the anguish of Jewish people who have suffered such cruelty at the hands of their enemies throughout the centuries, it is even more frightening to consider the eternal judgment courted by those who are determined to hate what God Himself loves. As the character, Yakov Bok in Bernard Malamud’s award-winning novel The Fixer observes as he reads the New Testament his guards have given him, “If you want to be an anti-Semite, you must first hate Jesus Christ.”

As believers in Messiah, we have a vital part to play to stem the tide of antisemitism. Starting at home, we are charged with the task of praying for the Jewish people and demonstrating our support by coming alongside our Jewish neighbors with affirmation as well as the encouraging words of the Gospel.

We must speak out against religious and ethnic hatred wherever we find it – not only against the Jewish people but against anyone. The Body of Messiah has a prophetic ministry to stand against anyone whose words and actions betray that their source is the Master of Lies.

We must also search ourselves. Is there any false thing in us that needs the power of regeneration that only the Spirit can supply? For did not our Master tell us, “First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5)?

In light of God’s love for the Jewish people, Christians can pray in some different ways.

1. First and foremost, that Jewish people become open to and receive the Good News of Messiah.
2. Pray for God’s protection for the Jewish people around the world.
3. Pray for those who hate the Jewish people – that God transform their hearts through His all-surpassing power.
4. Pray to become an instrument of Messiah’s message to the Jewish people and others in your world. Pray for His servants everywhere.

Antisemitism has only one sure antidote: the perfect love of Messiah that “casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).

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