The Sickness

I recently watched two programs, one a theatrical film, that exemplify the weird, millennia-long sickness of humanity: Jew-hatred.

The first was a Netflix program about German attitudes toward the Holocaust and Nazi philosophy. The emphasis was on former SS officers and enlisted men that were still alive in Germany not many years ago. You’ve seen this type of thing: interviews of old men in their homes or at an outside café; they reminisce about the terrible days of their youth.

In the case of the SS (the wholly evil, elite contingent of fighters that specialized in the extermination of Europe’s Jewish population), 90-year-old men spoke pretty openly about their involvement…until it came time to really accept responsibility. Then and only then, to a man, they fell back on that old lie: “I was only following orders.”

Some denied the heinous crimes took place at all. A couple of the men appeared to come clean and acknowledge the epic horror they took part in. But in the end, they either denied that they knew what was going on in the camps, or they claimed not to have participated in it. But these men were camp guards, frontline troops, etc.! They knew exactly what was happening. So did local residents. You see, since the war, most Germans have claimed that they didn’t know what was happening.

In the most poignant moment, one SS member agreed to meet German youth at the villa actually used in early 1942 to plan the Holocaust, in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. I will give this one man credit: he passionately argued that what was done was wrong and that it had stained the German people. He spoke from experience.

What did the youth do? Most fidgeted and look either annoyed or indifferent. Several pushed back! They actually told this old SS man that they didn’t feel guilty for what had happened. But let’s make the distinction: obviously they weren’t alive during World War 2. However, they weren’t even willing to accept the fact that the Holocaust forever left a dark stain on Germany. They were arrogant.

Much of this is explained by the famous passage from 2 Timothy 3. The fact is, much of the world has gone cold. No love, no empathy, no remorse for sin.

It is why Israel continues to be besieged by the international community. Recently, a German institute planned an event in Tel Aviv, but the presentation was to claim that the Holocaust was no different from the Palestinian “Nakba,” the “terrible persecution of Arabs” after Israel’s founding. The comparison is grotesque, of course. Under pressure, the group cancelled the event, but the fact that it was a go at all is deeply disturbing.

The film that I saw, 1974’s “The Odessa File,” featured Jon Voight as a German freelance journalist in 1963, who discovers that a Nazi war criminal is operating in the open in Hamburg. When he catches up with the former SS camp commandment, the villain does what they all do: I didn’t participate in the murders, the numbers were inflated, etc.

The world has hated the Jews from the beginning. Remember Abraham’s troubles with the kings in his neighborhood? The mayhem continues to this day.

We must see all this for what it is, though: Endgame. If German youth don’t care about murdered Jews, if Palestinians continue to murder Jews in their ancestral homeland, if Jews are even feeling unsafe in America, the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord cannot be far off.

Let us continue to stand with the Jews no matter what. And to pray fervently for the return of our Lord.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

The Politics of Prophecy

Caroline Glick’s sobering assessment of Israel’s domestic politics (which of course bleed into the international arena), ahead of elections, was sobering. But her always on-point perspectives are needed. I am quite sure she feels better today than she did last week.

This week Bibi Netanyahu is back.

Not only did the former premier win this week; he is probably going to garner more seats in his Knesset coalition than anyone could have hoped. A slim-to-solid majority is in the offing for the country’s longest-serving prime minister. President Isaac Herzog will task Netanyahu with forming a new government.

Unlike the left-wing “caretaker” government of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Netanyahu is being swept into power yet again by far-right parties.

For his part, Naftali just gave a speech in which he implored the government not to “make leftists feel unwelcome.” What??? What is it that happens to brave IDF soldiers that later enter politics? Bennett at one time was considered to be Netanyahu’s heir apparent. He has fallen far from those days.

In my view, an added bonus of Netanyahu’s victory is the ascent of Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing politician that will not support policies of appeasement. That’s a win for the whole country.

Glick this week, just ahead of elections, had this to say:

“Last May they put their hatred and envy of Netanyahu above their professed ideology and their voters to oust their camp from power and give Israel its first post-Zionist government.

“Netanyahu gave his successors a country with a fast-growing economy, even as the global economy was sunk in deep recession following the Covid-19 lockdowns. Today, the economy is on a sharp downward trajectory. Inflation is galloping forward with no end in sight. And the middle class is straining to keep itself above water as prices outstrip wages.”

This last comment is particularly fascinating, since it both flies in the face of Bennett’s statements (in which he, Biden-like, claimed to have delivered a booming economy, among other things). It also describes almost perfectly the American experience after an illegitimate government took control at roughly the same time.

In fact, the Biden regime has been putting the screws to Israel behind the scenes, as we knew they would. I would bet that Susan Rice and Team are actually running foreign policy, and the oily residue of Obama’s Jew-hatred is evident.

Now let’s look briefly at how all this might impact Bible prophecy. I feel certain we are in the end-game, as always because Israel is central. Notice what Glick said about Israel’s position in the international community:

“Australia’s announcement last week that it is rescinding recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was an expression of the growing contempt in which the nations of the world now hold Israel.”

Further, the leftists in Washington continue endangering Israel:

“As for the Palestinians, reports over the past several weeks revealed that the Biden administration is interfering in Israel’s military operations in Judea and Samaria down to the company and squad level through its embassy in Jerusalem.

“This state of affairs, in which a U.S. administration that has made little effort to hide its hostility and the hostility of its policies to the Jewish state has taken effective control over Israel’s foreign policy, is unprecedented. It has devastated Israel’s regional standing, and compelled Israel to adopt policies and positions that undermine its national interests and security.”

Expect this to change somewhat, as Netanyahu returns to power, and the Americans are poised for seismic changes in Congress.

International governments displaying their contempt for the Jewish state, and US meddling in Israel’s security could add up to a scenario fast-approaching when we see those evil coalitions forming to move against Israel militarily. Not just regionally, which we’ve seen too many times in the last 75 years, but internationally.

Let us continue to pray for Israel, and pray for her new/old prime minister!

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com