Chapter 11

                                             The Serpent's Trail Begins

NOTE TO THE READER — This next section of the ancient Serpent is written as a childlike satire.  Due to the intense nature of this highly sensitive subject, this capricious style will help the reader to understand this issue as spiritual and not a battle between flesh and blood.

 

 

Anti‑Semitism is an ancient hostility toward the Jewish people and their God, YAHveh.  In order to understand the essence of the hatred of and persistent warfare against Israel, a brief history of anti‑Semitism is needed.  The battle between God's people and Satan has raged since the Garden of Eden; it has left a bloody trail throughout biblical and world history.  The Serpent will continue to spew his anti‑Semitic venom until the Messiah crushes him and all of Israel's enemies under His holy, vengeful feet.

The ancient Serpent made his initial appearance in the Garden of Eden.  There he injected his lethal venom of deception into the bloodstream of mankind.  However, by the Creator's holy vengeance, Satan's ultimate doom was sealed.  YAHveh declared to His adversary,  "And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He [Messiah] shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel"  (Ge 3:15).

The Almighty's pronouncement of Satan's future destruction caused the Adversary's hatred to rise to immeasurable proportions.  In fury, the Serpent went on a raging quest to destroy the promised "seed," through whom his ultimate defeat would come.

The battle lines were drawn.  Satan knew he must kill or be killed.  Like all crafty serpents, he hid himself in the dust of the earth.  Man, who was created from the dust of the earth, became the vehicle through which he would war against the promised seed of woman.  Poised, ready to attack, he waited for the appearance of his prey.

What was the lineage of people through whom the man‑child Redeemer would come?  The Jewish race—through Abraham, his son Isaac, Isaac's son Jacob, and Jacob's twelve sons—was chosen by YAHveh as the lineage through which the Redeemer of mankind and the destroyer of Satan would come.

 

 

                                               Don't Twart YAHveh's Blessings

 

YAHveh made an everlasting promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their offspring from the twelve tribes of Israel^[1]—the Jewish people.  God declared to Abraham:

"And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.  And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  (Ge 12:2-3)

In addition to these promises, YAHveh granted Abraham and his descendants (the Jewish people) an area of land from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates.  The boundaries of this land include all of modern-day Israel, the disputed territories, and much more.

YAHveh gave the Holy Land to His chosen people through an everlasting covenant.  Even today, any person or nation that embraces a political or religious doctrine opposed to this biblical fact will inevitably find itself fighting against the Mighty One of Israel.  The Bible tells us that this heated controversy over the land of Israel, which has raged since ancient times, will one day climax in the war of all wars, called Armageddon (see Rev. 16:16).

Due to the focus of this book, the issue of God's everlasting gift of the land of Israel to the Jewish people will not be addressed.  Suffice it to say, however, that those who know the God of Israel and the Messiah will readily accept and affirm this biblical truth.

 

 

                                              Ancient Agents of Anti‑Semitism

 

The Almighty, well aware of Satan's vendetta against Israel, took divine precaution and built a wall of protection around His chosen nation.  YAHveh's declaration to bless all who would bless Abraham's descendants and to curse any person or nation who dared to curse them was and is a safeguard for His people.  His warning to the Gentiles is still in effect:  Do not curse those whom YAHveh has commanded you to bless, or you will be under His curse! (see Ge 12:3; Nu 23:19-20; 24:9).

The Abrahamic covenant is a plumb line of truth by which the Holy One judges individuals and nations, and by which they will ultimately be built up or torn down.  Biblical and world history testify to this.

With Abraham's seed targeted for attack, the ancient Serpent formulated his hideous scheme to destroy this chosen nation before the Messiah could be born.  His strategy was to inject his venom into the heart and mind of Ishmael, Isaac's brother, and later into Esau, Jacob's brother.

This poison of sibling rivalry—jealousy, hostility, and revenge—has powerfully permeated millions of Ishmael's and Esau's descendants to this day.  This venom bred a consuming, obsessive hatred of Israel.  Throughout history, as these nations have yielded to anti-Semitism, they have become Satan's primary earthly agents for the destruction of the Jews.

The Bible and many history books are filled with accounts of the Adversary's vicious attacks against the Jews.  The consequences of these attacks affirm the sovereignty of YAHveh's curses on any agent of Satan who perpetuates this deadly venom of Jew‑hatred.

The Edomites and the Amalekites were two biblical nations that descended from Esau, Jacob's jealous and angry brother.  The Old Testament is full of prophetic judgments against these enemies of Israel.  For example, because the Amalekites continually warred against Israel, YAHveh declared in anger, "Write this in a book as a memorial . . . that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven" (Ex 17:14).

YAHveh's memory is not a short list of vengeances; it is an eternal scroll of remembrance.  In His sovereignty, the Mighty One will completely destroy all of Israel's enemies, sparing only those who bless Israel.  Only these will warrant YAHveh's promised blessings.

Throughout Scripture, the Edomites^[2] (Esau's descendants) are symbolic of any person or nation that harbors Satan's hatred for the Jews and continually opposes Israel.  YAHveh's judgment against Edom for anti‑Semitism is clearly stated:^[3]

"O how Esau will be ransacked, And his hidden treasures searched out! . . .  "Will I not on that day," declares YAHveh, "Destroy wise men from Edom? . . . "Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered with shame, And you will be cut off forever. . . . Do not gloat over your brother's [Israel's] day, The day of his misfortune." (Ob 1:6-12)

Moab was another agent of the Serpent's anti‑Semitic venom.  Jeremiah prophesied concerning YAHveh's judgments on Israel's enemy:

". . . Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.  Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you?  Or was he caught among thieves [nations, individuals, religions, and doctrines that steal from Israel what is rightfully her inheritance]? . . ." (Jer 48:26-27)

The redeemed remnant must beware of "replacement theology" which Satan has insidiously injected into the bloodstream of Christianity over many centuries.  This doctrine resembles the spirit and pride of Edom and Moab.  Ishmael, Esau, and their descendants claimed Israel's promises to be their own.  In a similar manner, those who embrace replacement theology suppose that Israel's promises now belong to the Christian church, which they believe has replaced Israel in God's heart and plan.

Doctrines that have arisen against the knowledge of YAHveh's eternal purpose for Israel are destined to be destroyed like the pride of Moab:

"We have heard of the pride of Moab . . . Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation. . . . And Moab will be destroyed . . . Because he has become arrogant toward YAHveh"  (Jer 48:29, 42).  [Remember Paul's warning regarding Gentile arrogance against the Jews (Ro 11:20-21).]

As we follow the slippery path of the ancient Serpent, we find that his next great strategy was fulfilled by Pharaoh of Egypt.  This satanic agent was fearful because of the increasing number of Israelites and their potential power in the land.  He plotted the mass murder of all Jewish male infants.  Through Pharaoh's paranoia, Satan attempted to terminate the Hebrew race before the Redeemer could be born.  Again, YAHveh foiled the plans of the Adversary.  The Hebrew race was perpetuated, yet the Serpent continued to plot against Israel.

During the 400s b.c.e.^[4] Haman, a descendent of King Agag, embraced the ancient anti-Semitism of his Amalekite forefathers.  As a high-ranking Medo‑Persian official, he became Satan's agent for perpetuating hatred against the Jews.  His diabolical plan was to have every Israelite killed in one day.  Queen Hadassah (Esther) was used by YAHveh to intervene, and the Jews were divinely spared.

Before every major move of the Almighty on behalf of Israel, the Enemy attempted to wipe out the Jewish race.   At the time of the Redeemer's prophesied birth, Satan launched another massive attack.  This time, King Herod was the embodiment of the Serpent's poisonous paranoia.   Dread of the coming infant "King of the Jews" provoked Herod to issue a murderous edict.  All Hebrew boys under age two were destined for slaughter.  YAHshua, the man‑child Messiah, escaped Satan's vengeful strategies just as His forefather Moses had centuries before.

Although the Serpent's appetite for Jewish blood was temporarily satisfied, his main purpose was foiled again.  The Mighty One of Israel is always the victor over His Adversary's schemes!  In spite of this hideous plot, the Jewish Messiah, Satan's dreaded conqueror, was born.

The enemy's blood boiled in his evil veins the day the infant YAHshua was circumcised unto the God of Israel.  There in the temple, the infant Messiah was heralded by the prophet Simeon and prophetess Anna.  He was honored and praised as "the consolation of Israel" (Lk 2:25), the "light of revelation to the Gentiles" (Lk 2:32), and "the glory of Thy people Israel" (Lk 2:32).

Murderous hatred flared in Satan's nostrils.  Enraged and panic-stricken, he again surmised that he must kill or be killed.  It was then the Serpent cunningly infused deception into the hearts of the power‑hungry, the self‑righteous, and the traditionally religious.  He stirred up a mob of Jews, Gentiles, religious leaders, and Roman rulers to nail the "King of the Jews" to a tree at Calvary.

As the blood of YAHshua spilled out upon the earth, the crafty Serpent must have let out a shout of victory that echoed throughout hell's domain.  Little did he realize that this victory shout would soon become a gasp of defeat.  The ancient Serpent was ensnared by his own devious devices.  Messiah's spilled blood would now redeem and empower an army of Jews and Gentiles, and unite them into one new man (Eph 2:15).  Satan's ultimate defeat was now written and sealed in the very blood of the One he so furiously plotted to destroy.