Pro-Palestine, Anti-Israel protests on college campuses dominated the news this past week. Jewish students were redirected “for their own safety.” They were told to go home and stay home. Several schools told students to finish their semester online.

I read an article this week about the early stages of antisemitism in pre-WWII France.^[1] The author wrote,

“In 1941, my Jewish father lived in Paris. He was only 16 years old, and he lived with his parents in the 13th district. I remember him telling me how his Jewish father… was asked to turn in his bicycle to the local police station. As a citizen in good standing, he did, and so did tens of thousands of Jews. Now, the Jews were stuck at home with no mode of transportation, but maybe the underground Metro railway, as long as they wore their yellow star patch and only used the last car of the train.”

Jews being told to stay at home “for their own safety” is eerily reminiscent of the first steps to the Holocaust.

Alan Dershowitz commented,

“During recent protests in New York, there were calls to repeat the barbarity of October 7 ‘a thousand times.’ There were shouts of ‘We are Hamas,’ ‘Death to America,’ ‘Burn Tel Aviv to the ground,’ and ‘Jews go back to Poland.’ The chant of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is pervasive. Free of what? Free of Jews. The goal is to make all of Israel Judenrein – ethnically cleansed of all Jews. One never sees a sign calling for a two-state solution or for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. These are not the goals. What is demanded is the end of any Jewish presence in the Middle East.”

Researchers agree that the antisemitism we are witnessing is unprecedented. CNN reported “Antisemitic incidents in the US reached their highest level last year since the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a civil rights non-governmental organization, began recording them in 1979. Antisemitic incidents have nearly tripled in the last six years. Last year, criminal and non-criminal cases of harassment, vandalism and assault of Jewish people and people perceived to be Jewish hit record-high levels in the US.”

An organization called Combat Antisemitism reported “A nearly 60% increase in antisemitic incidents in 2023 [globally].”

The Jerusalem Post: “The annual report for 2023 and January 2024 on the fight against antisemitism published by the Diaspora Ministry, the World Zionist Organization, and the Jewish Agency, showed that between October and December, the number of antisemitic incidents worldwide increased sixfold [235%].”

As much as 2500yrs ago, the Bible predicted that the Jews would be dispersed from their homeland to all the nations of the Earth. After a time, they would return; Israel would be a nation once again.

But she would be a hated, despised nation. Jerusalem especially would be a source of constant tension and turmoil throughout the whole Earth.

Antisemitism is nothing new. The current, global, irrational antisemitism is, if not new, unprecedented. It is what we expect from reading the Bible as future history.

As all eyes are on the Middle East, we are looking up.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

1Th 4:17  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

1Th 4:18  Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The resurrection and rapture of the church is presented as an imminent event. It could happen anytime. Right now, for example.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, get ready, stay ready, and keep looking up.

Ready or not Jesus is coming!