The Enemy Within

As we once again face enemies from outside our borders who wish to destroy Israel we are faced with an enemy from within. People who want to bring the Jews to Jesus-to save us.

These missionaries are active in Israel and the diaspora. As long as Israel allows these people-who call themselves our friends-to proselytize in Israel, it makes it so much easier for missionaries in the West to try to convert us. After all if it’s okay in the Jewish state it must be okay everywhere.

Are we prepared to let our children die to protect us from our enemies at the gate while admitting into our home those who wish to destroy us with their words?

Watch and listen: Missionaries and Messianic Preachers

Here are the words of someone who works with ICEJ, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.

“We help those most in need in Israel including Holocaust Survivors, orphans, widows, 120,000 Olim from the Diaspora, absorption and much more. Israel in Crisis we provide respite for families in the south during attacks, and have installed endless number of bomb proof shelters especially to Israel’s south. I volunteer my time, full time and overtime since 1996 my first trip, for the sake of Israel and our Jewish community and continue to dialogue with Christians and yes even your leftist Jews (who are the worst) about Israel’s Biblical, historical right to her Land, and against Antisemitism BDS/and all that the enemy throws at all of you. ICEJ mandate comes from your (our) scriptures Isaiah 40:1 to bring comfort to God’s people.”

Yes, they do help us. There’s no question of that. But the question I ask is “Why?” Why do they help us? To make Israel a stronger Jewish nation or to keep Israel alive for their own motives, their own desires, their prophecies?

When I was a resident in clinical pastoral education in a prestigious hospital in Toronto, Canada, I had two supervisors: the in-house supervisor, a wonderful Baptist man for all of the residents and one other. The Chief Jewish Chaplain of Ontario was my extra Supervisor. He came to visit us one day and said to all: When a Jewish patient asks for the chaplain to visit, no one but a Jewish chaplain was to attend.

“Why?” my peers asked. Because, he said, “Jews fear proselytizing by Christians.” They had a great deal of trouble with that explanation.

One day I was called to speak to an elderly man. As a rule, chaplains in a residency programme do not reveal their religion. We are trained to care for all but know when to call a chaplain from the same faith as the patient. (I know I am contradicting myself: I said that non-Jewish chaplains were told to call Jewish ones. Often I would call the priest for my Catholic patients). My religion came up. And this lovely elderly man was so concerned for my soul to be saved that he immediately started to talk to me about Jesus and my need to accept him. This was his priority once he knew I was Jewish. His illness, his problems were gone now that I was there and needed saving.

And so ladies and gentlemen I am giving you what it feels like to be Jewish and constantly being the recipient of proselytizing by good intentioned Christians. The word “No” is not often accepted.

I have been called racist, hateful, spiteful and an enemy of Christianity because I fight against all who try to convert our children away from Judaism and into other religions. There are 7 billion people on this planet. Two billion are Catholic/Christian. The Jewish people are all of fourteen million.

We would be much greater in number if not for the attempt to remove us from this world by prosecution, persecution, expulsion, the Inquisition, the progroms and then the modern military-industrial attempt to wipe all of us on the face of the earth-the attempted genocide of the Jewish people by the Nazis and all those who turned away from us in our time of need. Willful blindness by those who now claim to love us.

Despite our requests on line to stop this proselytizing in the name of saving our Jewish souls, the rhetoric continues.

Here are a few of the responses by Christians to the blogs about Evangelical proselytizing.

“I merely ask “don’t people need Jesus”? And my goodness, you’d thought I had cursed out everyone.”

“All Christians do is try to protect Israel and save lives and souls.”

“And saying we can’t proselytize to Jews makes no sense. I believe everyone has the right to know the choice so they can make an informed decision; apparently she disagrees with the sharing of knowledge and faith. Not very supportive of freedom of religion, I guess.”

“We defend Israel out of love for Jesus, and God, and obeying Him. And we don’t push our faith out of any agenda other than our desire to obey our Lord, and spread His love and Salvation. And as it says in Revelations, one day every knee will bow to Jesus and they will know that He is Lord. The Jews are not exempt to this.”

One man got very upset-with me and wrote “I repeat, if you want respect you must give it in kind.” That he had no respect for my wishes and the wishes of the vast majority of Jews today: that you do not proselytize, seemed to bypass him completely. It is a prime example of Freudian projection.

But the following comment upset me the most.

“Diane, are the Jewish not strong enough to say ‘no thanks’”

Ahhh, yes, blame the Jews for being weak. It’s not the fault of those trying to lure them away from their Judaism; it is the fault of the Jews for being weak and therefore prey for these people.

And it clicked. Here is our new Amalek. The ones who pick off the weakest; the ones that straggle behind.

This is our enemy within.