Grant Berry: The Church Needs Freedom From Anti-Semitism
There is a difference between blatant anti-Semitism and generational anti-Semitism, which we need to get a clearer understanding on.
Generational anti-Semitism is perhaps one of the subtlest deceptions of the enemy because it can so easily go undetected. You can actually love Israel and still be affected by it through the bloodline if it has not yet been broken off from your ancestral past. This is not necessarily as a result of what you may have done personally, but because of the effects and sins of our ancestral line that has acted in ignorance, hatred and blindness towards the Jewish people, which the enemy may still have a hold on. For have we not been called to love Israel despite their current rejection of the gospel? And yet the church moved in the opposite direction. (See Romans 11:28-29.)
I believe it is actually this generational anti-Semitism from our pasts that keeps the church separated from its destined role to be reconnected to the firstborn through the Fathers Heart, to intercede and to breathe spiritual life back to Israel. For just as God used Israel to give birth to the church, now in turn, to complete the family circle, we would give life back to them. From the Father’s perspective, we are family, and we need to begin to see Israel as such and to love them as our very own—to see them through eyes of faith in God’s holy Word and covenants to re-establish them, which can only be accomplished through the heart of the Father, as I have pointed out in earlier articles here, here and here.
Israel’s spiritual awakening is the golden key to this age we are coming into to fulfill our Father’s words and covenants to Israel, which must happen before the Lord can return. However, by God’s own plan, neither the church nor Israel can be complete without each other. For as we come into the fullness of the Gentiles upon the earth, so it says, “All Israel will be saved.”
Yet without us, His body, His church, taking that golden key and laying hold of it with all our might and strength, coming into unity with the Holy Spirit’s guidance and God’s timing to awaken Israel spiritually, they cannot come forth. But thank G-d that He is sovereign and that He will ultimately have His way through us.
I believe it is God’s divine plan to unite us at this time, His mercy plan to finally bring His family into a oneness between Jew and Gentile despite the massive rifts, that His firstborn children may come forth, that He may have mercy on us all. What an honor God is actually bestowing upon us in these last generations. That is why we must begin to adjust with the Holy Spirit’s guidance into the spiritual reconnection, as nothing less than the Father’s love and heart will ultimately enable this end-time transaction.
Anti-Semitism
On the other hand, generational anti-Semitism can cause us to be anti-Semitic. The church’s past has unfortunately been full of diabolical acts toward the Jewish people, which is now the main reason why most Jews cannot tolerate anything Christian—especially our symbols, which maybe precious to us but instead have been used to kill their ancestry. We need to gain a better understanding on this when we try to witness to them to help break down some of these barriers.
As a result, the spirit of anti-Semitism has travelled through the bloodline of the generations of the church, beginning in the second and third centuries, along with the establishment of the Gentile church through Rome all the way through to the church’s reformation.
Just look at Martin Luther, for example, whom God used to introduce the doctrine of grace. In the beginning of his ministry, he tried earnestly to reach out to the Jewish people, but when they continued to reject him, he eventually turned against them and succumbed to some horrible anti-Semitic rhetoric, which in my mind opened the way for anti-Semitism to travel into the modern church as well empowered Nazi Germany against the Jewish people. For how could a whole nation of people act and behave in the manner in which they did if they had not first been spiritually seduced through generational anti-Semitism?
Is Generational Anti-Semitism Keeping Us Apart?
As difficult and as challenging as this may be for many of us, we must understand that in our ancestry’s ignorance, many of them behaved despicably toward the Jewish people and especially the church. If the enemy has been able to use this against us, shouldn’t we be willing to address it so we can break free of it and allow the Father to bring us together? Because by God’s own end-time design, neither of us can come into our spiritual inheritance to rule and reign with Christ without each other. The past has to be dealt with so our hearts can get free from it.
Could it also be possible that as a result of this past church history toward the Jewish people, the church has received its own veil as a measure of judgment? And could it be, as a result, that at best our theology is blurred toward the end times concerning Israel, especially our own unique role that we are still yet to play in God’s glory plan? Why is it that there is still a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding when it comes to Israel and the church, that the mystery the apostle Paul spoke of in Romans 11 is still not clear?
While I write these words, I want you to know that in no way am I pointing the finger here at anyone to lay blame. Rather, I am bringing our past into the light so we can find reconciliation. However, without discussing and fully addressing the past, sometimes it is just not possible to break free, which I believe to be the case here. I also believe the enemy of our souls is still using the past against us to keep us apart without us even being aware of it, which is now of vital significance to the fullness of the kingdom of G-d upon the earth that his grip would be exposed.
Indeed, neither Jew nor Gentile was innocent here from the past, and a great deal of the persecution within God’s family actually started from the Jewish side first. As a Jew, I would seek your forgiveness for what transpired. This is quite clear throughout the New Testament, especially within the book of Acts.
However, as the church evolved, its Gentile elders sadly misinterpreted the Jewish apostles’ experience and writings of their own struggles in reaching their Jewish brethren who would have actually considered themselves cut off for their own sake (Rom. 9:3). Instead, they determined the Jewish people had come into a final judgment, despite the numerous prophecies and Scriptures that foretold of their spiritual awakening (Deut. 30:4-6; Jer. 31:31-37; Ezek. 36:24-28).
However, as we know from history, the persecution of the Jews did not stop there, and as most of us are aware, the tables greatly turned in this regard. I believe that in order for us to find complete liberty here, we must be willing to look back and gain a better understanding of how the enemy has sown his seeds against us to keep the family of God separated. For that has always been his goal.
As difficult as it may be for us to face in the church, I believe we have received a measure of Israel’s blindness coming back upon us as a result of our ancestral actions toward them (see Matt. 7:1). Therefore, we are not the only ones who are veiled when it comes to Israel and the church and the last days. It is as if a mirror of Israel’s blindness has come upon us. And this is why I believe our theology concerning both groups is also in need of adjustment and correction. For without the past being broken off us, I believe the enemy can still influence us and keep us apart from our destined role to release life back to the Jewish people: “Just as you were one time disobedient to G-d have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that that too may now receive mercy as a result of G-d’s mercy to you. For G-d has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all” (Rom 11:30-32).
As I have already written in part 3 on the great role of the church in the last days, we are being prepared for a wedding. To meet the bridegroom, we must be willing to allow His Spirit to cleanse our hearts and properly prepare us for these days. For this transition in time and history, He is now leading us into for the sake of His glory. For this reason we need to pray, confess, renounce and repent of anything unclean in our hearts or influences that may need to be broken off from our pasts without condemnation, that we may come into a new day and receive a new and fresh anointing and download from God that will open our eyes and equip us with the heart of the Father and the heart of the Son for the family of God. We pray this so that the end may come and the Lord will return to the earth to take up David’s seat and throne, that righteousness would truly reign upon the earth.
You may read more about this most delicate matter in my new book, The Ezekiel Generation, in chapter’s 5 and 6 with suggested prayers on the subject for all of us.
Grant Berry is a Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus and author of The New Covenant Prophecy and The Ezekiel Generation. He has founded Reconnecting Ministries with the specific focus to help the church reconnect spiritually to Israel and considers it vital to the kingdom of G-d in the last days. His message focuses on the unity, love and healing that the Father wants to bring between Jew and Gentile yet clearly points out the differences and misunderstandings between the two groups. Now is the time to look more carefully into this mystery to make way for healing and reconnection in the Spirit. For more information, please visit reconnectingministries.org.
