Hello, friends, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. In our last episode, we talked about the story of Purim and how Haman's plot to exterminate the Jewish people in Persia was ultimately thwarted by God's providence.
But here's the question that should stop us in our tracks: Why have the Jewish people been targeted for elimination over and over again throughout history—more than any other people group on earth?
And here's the even more remarkable question: How have they survived?
Today, I want to take you on a journey through history that will do two things. First, it will show you the relentless, supernatural hatred that has pursued the Jewish people for millennia. Second, it will demonstrate why their survival is one of the most powerful evidences for the truth of the Bible.
Friends, what you're about to hear is not normal. This pattern doesn't happen to other ethnic groups. And when you see it laid out chronologically, you'll understand why even secular historians call Jewish survival "historically anomalous."
Let me start in the ancient world, before Christianity even existed.
In the 8th to 6th centuries BC, the Assyrian and Babylonian empires carried out mass deportations of Israelites and Judahites. In 586 BC, the Babylonians destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. The goal wasn't just military conquest—it was to break the national and religious identity of the Jewish people.
Then in the 5th century BC, we have the story of Purim I discussed yesterday. Haman's decree in the Book of Esther reflects what historians now recognize as a realistic imperial genocide model. Even critical historians agree it mirrors known Persian administrative practices.
This is one of the earliest recorded genocide plots in history—and it's in the Bible.
Then came the Hellenistic and Roman world.
In the 2nd century BC, the Seleucid Empire under Antiochus IV outlawed the Torah, circumcision, and Sabbath observance. He desecrated the Temple. The intent was clear: erase Judaism from existence.
This sparked the Maccabean revolt, which we commemorate at Hanukkah.
Then came Rome. In 70 AD, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. In 135 AD, they crushed the Second Jewish Revolt, banned Jews from Jerusalem, and renamed Judea "Syria Palaestina" to erase any connection to the Jewish people.
Many historians consider this a partial genocide combined with cultural annihilation. The Roman goal was to dismantle Jewish national existence permanently.
But the Jews survived.
Now we move into early Christian and medieval Europe, from the 4th to 15th centuries.
Friends, I have to be honest here. This is a painful part of Christian history.
The Byzantine Empire periodically banned Jewish worship and forced baptisms. Western Europe saw repeated cycles of forced conversion, expulsion, and property seizure.
England expelled all Jews in 1290. France did it multiple times. Spain expelled them in 1492—the same year Columbus sailed to America. Portugal followed in 1497.
The goal was explicit: "No Jews or no Judaism."
Thousands of Jews were burned at the stake, murdered in pogroms, or forced to convert under threat of death. Those who refused were expelled, losing everything.
But the Jews survived.
In Islamic empires from the 7th to 19th centuries, the situation was uneven—often better than Europe, sometimes worse.
Jews were tolerated as dhimmi—second-class subjects—but faced periodic massacres, forced conversions, and mass expulsions. The Almohads in North Africa and Spain carried out brutal campaigns. Yemen had the "Orphan Decree," which forced conversion of Jewish children.
But the Jews survived.
In early modern Europe—16th to 18th centuries—Jews were confined to ghettos, accused of blood libel (the false charge that they murdered Christian children), and faced repeated expulsions from German city-states.
Eastern Europe saw wave after wave of pogroms—organized massacres.
There were hundreds of localized elimination events during this period.
But the Jews survived.
In the Russian Empire and Eastern Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries, state-tolerated pogroms displaced millions of Jews. Legal restrictions were designed specifically to encourage emigration and suppress Jewish life.
But the Jews survived.
And then came the Holocaust—1941 to 1945.
Friends, this is unique in all of human history.
The Nazi regime had an explicit ideological goal: exterminate every Jew on earth. It was industrialized, bureaucratic, and total. Six million Jews were murdered—including 1.5 million children.
This is a fully documented, modern, systematic genocide of Jews.
And yet, the Jews survived.
After 1948, when Israel was reestablished as a nation, the Jewish populations in the Middle East and North Africa were systematically eliminated.
In Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Algeria, and Morocco, Jewish communities that had existed for thousands of years were reduced from about 900,000 to nearly zero.
Through a mix of violence, confiscation, legal persecution, and expulsion, these ancient communities were eliminated.
But the Jews survived—and many returned to Israel.
Now let me give you the summary that should take your breath away.
Conservative scholarly estimates show:
- Empire or state-level elimination efforts: approximately 25
- Genocidal campaigns with clear intent to physically destroy Jews: 2 to 4, depending on definitions
- Documented expulsions, forced conversions, and annihilation laws: over 100
- Local or regional elimination incidents: over 1,000
Over one thousand documented attempts to eliminate the Jewish people.
Friends, this is unprecedented in human history.
Let me share three powerful truths that emerge from this historical pattern.
First, no other people group has experienced this level of sustained elimination attempts—and survived.
Think about it. The Assyrians who conquered Israel? Gone. The Babylonians who destroyed Jerusalem? Gone. The Persians who ruled under Haman? The empire is gone. The Greeks under Antiochus? Gone. The Romans who destroyed the Temple? Gone. The Spanish Empire that expelled the Jews? Gone. The Russian Empire that carried out pogroms? Gone. The Third Reich that built death camps? Gone.
Every empire that has tried to eliminate the Jewish people has itself been eliminated—but the Jews remain.
This is not normal. In the ancient world, when a people group was conquered, displaced, and had their temple destroyed, they disappeared. They assimilated. They ceased to exist as a distinct people.
The Hittites—gone. The Phoenicians—gone. The Philistines—gone. The Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites—all gone.
But the Jews? Still here. Still speaking Hebrew. Still practicing their faith. Still connected to their ancient homeland.
Secular historians call this "historically anomalous." That's academic language for "this doesn't make sense according to our normal understanding of history."
But it makes perfect sense when you understand the Bible.
Second, the survival of the Jewish people is direct evidence for the truth of Scripture.
God made specific, clear promises to the Jewish people:
Jeremiah 31:35-37 says, "Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is his name: 'If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.' Thus says the LORD: 'If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD.'"
God is saying: The Jewish people will exist as long as the sun, moon, and stars exist.
Amos 9:14-15 says, "I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them."
God promised they would return to their land and never be uprooted again.
Friends, in 1948, after nearly 2,000 years of exile, the nation of Israel was reestablished. Jewish people from over 100 countries returned to the land. They revived a dead language—Hebrew hadn't been spoken as a common language for 2,000 years, and now it's the official language of a modern nation.
This has never happened in human history with any other people group.
The fact that the Jewish people still exist, that they've returned to their homeland, that they speak their ancient language—this is a miracle that points directly to the truth of God's Word.
Third, the pattern of elimination attempts reveals a spiritual reality: Satan hates the Jews because through them came the Messiah.
This isn't about politics or ethnic conflict. This is spiritual warfare.
Genesis 3:15 is the first promise of the Gospel—that through the seed of the woman would come One who would crush the serpent's head. Satan knew the Messiah would come through the Jewish people, so he has tried repeatedly throughout history to eliminate them before the Messiah could come.
He tried through Pharaoh in Egypt. He tried through Haman in Persia. He tried through Antiochus in Greece. He tried through Herod when Jesus was born.
And when Jesus came, died, and rose again—defeating Satan at the cross—Satan's hatred didn't end. It intensified.
Because the Jewish people still have a role to play in God's prophetic plan. Romans 11 makes clear that a day is coming when "all Israel will be saved." Satan wants to prevent that from happening. Jesus Himself discusses His return when He says, “For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23;39…satan really does not want that to happen! He thinks that by the complete destruction of the Jewish people, he can stop the return of Jesus Christ.
But he can't. Because God keeps His promises.
Now, let me bring this home with a challenge for every believer.
The survival of the Jewish people is not just interesting history. It's not just an academic curiosity. It's evidence that demands a response.
If God has supernaturally preserved the Jewish people through over 1,000 elimination attempts, what does that tell you about:
- The reliability of Scripture?
- God's faithfulness to His promises?
- The reality of spiritual warfare?
- Your responsibility to stand with God's covenant people?
When you see anti-Semitism rising today—and it is rising—you're not just seeing human prejudice. You're seeing the ancient Satanic hatred manifesting in another generation.
And you have a choice: Will you speak up? Will you stand with the Jewish people? Will you recognize that what's happening is not political, but spiritual?
Psalm 129:1-4 says, "'Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth'—let Israel now say—'Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.' The LORD is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked."
They have not prevailed. And they never will.
Because the same God who promised to preserve the Jewish people is the same God who keeps all His promises. Including His promises to you.
If God can keep the Jewish people through Pharaoh, Haman, Antiochus, Rome, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the pogroms, the Holocaust, and modern attempts to eliminate them—can't He keep you through whatever you're facing?
If God can fulfill His promise to bring the Jewish people back to their land after 2,000 years—can't He fulfill His promises to you?
The survival of the Jewish people is a standing miracle that shouts from every generation: God is real. His Word is true. His promises are certain.
Let me pray…
Thank you for joining me today. The indestructible survival of the Jewish people reminds me that we serve a God who keeps His word, who cannot be defeated, and whose purposes will prevail.
Until next time, keep your eyes on the nations, stand with Israel, and remember—if God preserved them through 1,000 elimination attempts, He can preserve you through anything.
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