John Hagee preaches that Rome, and not the Jews, plotted against and crucified the Lord Jesus. While it is good and needful to oppose anti-Semitism, particularly the virulent “Christian” religious type that led to the Holocaust, there is no greater distortion of the record or graver injustice to the Jews than to tell them they are innocent of Christ’s blood. Not only is no man innocent of His blood, but the Jews as a nation are directly guilty in this regard because of what they did to their Messiah and God Who came to them in the flesh. The only avenue to reconciliation and peace is through the truth.
John Hagee appears to be a stalwart friend of Israel and Jews everywhere. He has visited and organized tours to Israel many times, and has raised funds to support “the Holy Land.” He has done much to publicly promote Israel’s cause. None of which I have a problem with. On the contrary, I am thankful for it.
Recently, the Lord placed John Hagee’s book, Jerusalem Countdown, in my hands. In it Hagee correctly outlines the mortal Muslim threat to Israel, as well as to the West and the world.*
While John Hagee is right about Islam and his stand for Israel and Jews in principle, he remains a false teacher using the Name of Jesus Christ, and thus, he presents a great danger to all. Jerusalem Countdown gives me the opportunity to address not only Hagee’s general nominal Christian error, but also a peculiar and great error and offense he commits against Jews and consequently against all mankind.
There are many marks listed in The True Marks of a Cult that are found with Hagee and his religious organization. He espouses proven diabolical doctrines. Furthermore, John Hagee represents the power of the flesh as few men do; he is the epitome of one carrying the mark of the beast in his forehead and right hand (read how in The Mark of the Beast and the Seal of God). These are all evidential signs of a false teacher.
This critique’s more specific purpose is to expose Mr. Hagee’s particularly deceptive and dangerous doctrine concerning Israel and the Jews. The doctrine is deceptive because it is the opposite of what it appears to be; and dangerous because it serves to hold Jews in bondage to sin. As sincere as he is in his effort to support them, Hagee is their enemy, albeit an unwitting one.
As men love all false prophets who are wont to let sinners off the hook, so the Jews love Hagee for his stand on Israel and world Jewry, because not only does he support them in legitimate ways, he errs in that he denies their guilt for the greatest sin ever committed, that of slaying their Messiah.
Perhaps Hagee’s point is amply expressed in these words: “The Bible text is perfectly clear. Jesus was crucified by Rome as a political insurrectionist considered too dangerous to live. He was a threat to Herod’s grip on Palestine. He was a threat to the high priest. The Calvary plot among Herod’s inner circle produced the Roman crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. It had nothing to do with the will of the Jewish people as a civilization.”
I was surprised when I found Hagee putting the blame squarely on the Romans and absolving the Jews, as a people, of any responsibility for Jesus Christ’s death.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not here to condemn Jews or defend Rome.
Furthermore, I agree that it was not all Jews that were responsible for killing their Messiah. The New Testament bears witness of many who had nothing to do with His execution.
There were the disciples, who were not in agreement with His death, though they did not stand with Him in His trial, fleeing in fear.
There was the crowd following His path to Calvary, and the women who mourned and wept for Him as He bore the cross:
“And a great multitude of people were following Him, and of women who also were bewailing and lamenting Him. But turning to them, Jesus said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:27-28 MKJV).
There were the people at the cross, and those watching from a distance, striking their breasts because of their great pain over the event:
“And all the crowd arriving together at this sight, beholding the things happening, struck their breasts and returned. And all those known to Him stood at a distance; and the women, those accompanying Him from Galilee, were seeing these things” (Luke 23:48-49 MKJV).
“And also women were watching from a distance, among whom also was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less, and of Joses, and Salome, (who also, when He was in Galilee, followed Him and ministered to Him), and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem” (Mark 15:40-41 MKJV).
There was Joseph of Arimathea:
“And behold, a man named Joseph, a councilor, a good man and a just one, this one was not assenting to their counsel and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews; and he also himself waited for the Kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in linen. And he laid it in a tomb that had been cut in the stone, in which no man had before been laid” (Luke 23:50-53 MKJV).
There was a believing Pharisee, Nicodemus:
“And Nicodemus also came, who at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus and wound it with linens with the spices, as is the custom of the Jews to bury” (John 19:39-40 MKJV).
Then there were the more than five hundred believers to whom Jesus appeared after His resurrection, who doubtless had nothing to do with the crucifixion:
“Afterward He was seen by over five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain until this present day, but also some fell asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:6 MKJV).
These were all Jews, certainly the great majority of them. This is not to mention all those pious Jews who, by the Spirit of God, recognized the Messiah for Who He was long before the crucifixion, like Zacharias the priest, his wife Elizabeth (Luke 1), their son John (Luke 3), Simeon (Luke 2:25), Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:36), and the shepherds who saw Him at His birth. So we can certainly say there were many Jews who believed on the Lord, or at least did not agree to His death. We would therefore be so wrong to accuse all Jews of the crime simply because they are Jewish.
But is Hagee right in asserting that Jews were not at all guilty as a people of killing the Messiah? That is what I must understand him to be saying. He says:
“The justice of God would never permit judgment for the sins of a handful of people to be passed to a civilization of people.”
Is that true? If God does not permit the sin of an individual to affect his entire nation or household, and if it isn’t up to a nation to take responsibility for the acts of its individual members, how then does Mr. Hagee explain the incident at Jericho with Achan?:
Joshua 7:1-26 MKJV
(1) But the sons of Israel committed a sin in the cursed thing. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the thing which was cursed. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against the sons of Israel.
(2) And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Bethel. And he spoke to them, saying, Go up and look over the country. And the men went up and spied out Ai.
(3) And they returned to Joshua and said to him, Let not all the people go up. But let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Do not make all the people labor there, for they are few.
(4) And about three thousand men of the people went up there. And they fled before the men of Ai.
(5) And the men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them, for they chased them from before the gate to Shebarim, and struck them in the road going down. Therefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
(6) And Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust on their heads.
(7) And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, why have You at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? And, oh that we had been content and lived on the other side Jordan!
(8) O, Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns their backs before their enemies?
(9) For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear, and shall surround us, and shall cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great Name?
(10) And the LORD said to Joshua, Get up! Why do you lie on your face this way?
(11) Israel has sinned, and they have also broken My covenant which I commanded them, and have even taken of the cursed things, and have also stolen and pretended falsely. And they have even put it among their own stuff.
(12) And the sons of Israel could not stand before their enemies. They will turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become cursed. I will not be with you again, unless you destroy the one who is cursed from among you.
(13) Up! Sanctify the people and say, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, A cursed thing is in the midst of you, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the cursed thing from among you.
(14) And in the morning, you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be, the tribe which the LORD takes shall come, according to its families. And the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households. And the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man.
(15) And it shall be, he who is taken with the cursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all he has, because he has broken the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done wickedness in Israel.
(16) And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes. And the tribe of Judah was taken.
(17) And he brought the families of Judah. And he took the family of the Zerahites. And he took the family of the Zerahites man by man. And Zabdi was taken.
(18) And he brought his household man by man. And Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
(19) And Joshua said to Achan, My son, I pray you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make confession to Him. And tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.
(20) And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this I have done.
(21) When I saw among the spoil a goodly robe of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, I coveted them and took them. And behold, they are hidden in the earth in the middle of my tent, and the silver under it.
(22) And Joshua sent messengers, and they ran into the tent. And behold, it was hidden in his tent, and the silver under it.
(23) And they took them out of the middle of the tent, and brought them to Joshua, and to all the sons of Israel. And they laid them out before the LORD.
(24) And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had. And they brought them to the valley of Achor.
(25) And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? The LORD shall trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
(26) And they raised over him a great heap of stones to this day. And the LORD turned from the greatness of His anger. Therefore, the name of that valley is called, The Valley of Grief, to this day.
So we see that because of one man’s sin, the nation of Israel suffered defeat and thirty-six deaths by an inferior enemy, plus Achan’s entire household, children included (what did they have to do with the sin?), was stoned and burned with fire. God made it abundantly clear that Jews must be as one nation, and not as individuals doing their own thing.
To lay the blame at Rome’s feet rather than at the feet of the Jews, Hagee says:
“The [crucifixion] plot was carried out by the high priest Caiaphas, a political appointee of Rome by Herod the Great, who had conquered Rome before the birth of Christ.”
(Herod didn’t conquer Rome. Hagee meant Herod conquered Israel.) We won’t argue that Caiaphas was or wasn’t a political appointee of Rome. But was Caiaphas only a lackey of Rome and an illegitimate priest in God’s sight? Did he have nothing legitimate to do with Israel? Of what worth are the Scriptures to Mr. Hagee? Let’s see what they say on this matter:
John 11:47-52 MKJV
(47) Then the chief priests and Pharisees gathered a Sanhedrin, and said, What can we do? For this man does many miracles.
(48) If we let him alone this way, all will believe on him. And the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.
(49) And one of them, Caiaphas, being the high priest of that year, said to them, You do not know anything at all,
(50) nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation perish.
(51) And he did not speak this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation;
(52) and not for that nation only, but also that He should gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.
Those words hardly sound like the isolated will of the Romans and those of an illegitimate priest in God’s sight. Furthermore, the Scriptures have something to say about all powers, regardless of how they attained their positions, whether by their own nation or by an occupying one:
“Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities. For there is no authority but of God; the authorities that exist are ordained by God. So that the one resisting the authority resists the ordinance of God; and the ones who resist will receive judgment to themselves” (Romans 13:1-2 MKJV).
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive.” Start to build on a falsehood, and it must contradict truth in all aspects and directions, until the deceiver ends up looking like a prepared meal for a spider.
Hagee would, and does, argue that those against Christ were all stooges of Herod and Caiaphas. But there is an abundance of testimony in the New Testament to counter Hagee’s premise. What about the many reports of the Jews besides Caiaphas who wanted Jesus dead? At His first sermon in a Nazareth synagogue, the Jews sought to kill Him:
Luke 4:16-30 MKJV
(16) And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And, as His custom was, He went in to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.
(17) And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And unrolling the book, He found the place where it was written,
(18) “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those having been crushed,
(19) to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
(20) And rolling up the book, returning it to the attendant, He sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on Him.
(21) And He began to say to them, Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears.
(22) And all bore witness to Him and wondered at the gracious words which came out of His mouth. And they said, Is this not Joseph’s son?
(23) And He said to them, You will surely say this proverb to Me, Physician, heal Yourself. Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your native-place.
(24) And He said, Truly I say to you, No prophet is accepted in his native-place.
(25) But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land.
(26) But Elijah was not sent to any of them, except to Zarephath, a city of Sidon, to a woman, a widow.
(27) And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.
(28) And hearing these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.
(29) And they rose up and thrust Him outside the city, and led Him up to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, in order to throw Him down.
(30) But passing through the midst of them, He went away.
Herod and Caiaphas didn’t even know of Jesus when He made His first public appearances and was already being rejected. When performing a miracle of healing on the Sabbath day in a synagogue, the Jews sought to destroy Him:
Matthew 12:9-14 MKJV
(9) And when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.
(10) And behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbaths? This so that they might accuse Him.
(11) And He said to them, What man among you will be, who will have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbaths, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out?
(12) How much better is a man then than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.
(13) Then He said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and it was restored whole like the other.
(14) Then the Pharisees went out and held council against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
Mr. Hagee, what had Rome or Caiaphas or Herod to do with any of this spontaneous murderous hatred toward the One Who worked instant, obvious miracles in the midst of those to whom He was sent? Were these manifestations of a political conspiracy? What substance can you give from the Scriptures to that effect?
When Yeshua cast out devils that tormented the people, the Pharisees, a sect some call the true or authentic orthodox Jewish religion, blasphemed Him and the Spirit of God:
Matthew 12:22-24 MKJV
(22) Then one who had been demon-possessed was brought to Him, blind and dumb. And He healed him, so much so that the blind and dumb one both spoke and saw.
(23) And all the people were amazed and said, Is not this the son of David?
(24) But when the Pharisees heard, they said, This one does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons.
Jesus warned these religious Jews and rebuked them for their blasphemy:
Matthew 12:31-34 MKJV
(31) Therefore I say to you, All kinds of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven to men.
(32) And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this world or in the world to come.
(33) Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit.
(34) Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
John the apostle wrote the following words (tell me, Mr. Hagee, if John was referring to the Jews or to the Romans as “His own”):
“He came to His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11 MKJV).
His own countrymen were offended at Him:
Matthew 13:54-58 MKJV
(54) And when He had come into His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so much so that they were astonished and said, From where does this man have this wisdom and these mighty works?
(55) Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers, James and Joses and Simon and Judas,
(56) and his sisters, are they not all with us? Then from where does this man have all these things?
(57) And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house.
(58) And He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Were those Romans, Mr. Hagee, or were they Jews?
Isaiah wrote of the Lord’s appearance in the flesh, centuries before He came. This is what Isaiah prophesied of Him:
Isaiah 53:1-7 MKJV
(1) Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
(2) For He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him.
(3) He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not.
By whom was He despised and rejected, Mr. Hagee? Was it by the Romans? Was it only by Caiaphas and Herod and a handful of “stooges”? Of whom was Isaiah speaking, if not of the Jews, His own people? Isaiah was not a Roman, yet he prophesied that we esteemed Him not. Why would Isaiah include himself? Was he anti-Christ? Was he not prophesying by the Spirit of Christ? He was speaking of the collective nation of Israel (as well as all mankind, of course).
(4) Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
(5) But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed.
(6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
(7) He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.
“He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter.” Who brought Him to whom for slaughter? Was it the Romans to the Jews? Was it the Romans to someone else? Or was it the Jews to the Romans? Here it is:
Luke 18:31-33 KJV
(31) Then He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
(32) For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
(33) And they shall scourge Him, and put Him to death: and the third day He shall rise again.
Was it the Gentiles or the Jews that delivered Yeshua to the Gentiles, Mr. Hagee? Were not the Romans the Gentiles? In your zeal to please and placate the Jews, have you not made the Author of the Scriptures a liar? Or do you not believe that God inspired the New Testament, even as the Jews don’t believe it?
If you don’t believe the New Testament, why do you use it as a heavenly authoritative source in order to support your interpretations contrary to it? How do you explain all these Scriptures that your doctrine makes void?
You write: “Jesus was a very serious political threat to Herod and his stooge high priest Caiaphas. So they entered into a politically inspired plot to have Jesus of Nazareth killed Roman style…the crucifixion!”
You dramatize, exaggerate, and plainly, lie on behalf of the Jews, Mr. Hagee, pinning full responsibility on Rome. Who is paying you to do that? You speak of Herod and Caiaphas as stooges or lackeys of Rome. Whose lackey are you? What perks are you receiving for propagandizing a distorted Scriptural record?
I am not saying Herod was virtuous. He wasn’t, nor were the Romans. There is no Scriptural evidence, however, of your allegations against the Romans or Herod as a Roman lackey seeking to destroy Jesus for political purposes. On the contrary:
John 18:29-40 MKJV
(29) Then Pilate went out to them and said, What charge do you bring against this Man?
(30) They answered and said to him, If He were not an evildoer, then we would not have delivered Him up to you.
(31) Then Pilate said to them, You take Him and judge Him according to your Law. Then the Jews said to him, It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death
(32) (that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He spoke signifying what death He was about to die).
(33) Then Pilate entered into the praetorium again and called Jesus and said to Him, Are You the king of the Jews?
(34) Jesus answered him, Do you say this thing of yourself, or did others say it to you about Me?
(35) Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?
(36) Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would fight so that I might not be delivered to the Jews. But now My kingdom is not from here.
(37) Pilate then said to Him, Are You a king then? Jesus answered, You say it that I am a king. To this end I was born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.
(38) Pilate said to Him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no fault in Him.
(39) But you have a custom that I should release one to you at the Passover. Then do you desire that I release to you the king of the Jews?
(40) Then they [the Jewish multitude] all cried again, saying, Not this Man, but Barabbas! But Barabbas was a robber.
John 19:4-16 MKJV
(4) Then Pilate went out again and said to them, Behold, I bring Him out to you so that you may know that I find no fault in Him.
Do you really think Pilate was playing “cat and mouse” games with the Jews? Was he teasing them? Read on:
(5) Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, Behold the Man!
(6) Then when the chief priests and under-officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, Crucify! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.
(7) The Jews answered him, We have a Law, and by our Law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.
(8) Then when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid.
(9) And he went again into the praetorium and said to Jesus, Where are You from? But Jesus gave him no answer.
(10) Then Pilate said to Him, Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to crucify You, and I have authority to release You?
(11) Jesus answered, You could have no authority against Me unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.
Isn’t that a remarkable statement to Rome from the very lips of the One you profess to worship, Mr. Hagee? Jesus Himself said, “Therefore he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
Who delivered the Savior, the Lamb of God, to Pilate, the Roman governor, if not the Jews?
“And it becoming early morning, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the [Roman] governor” (Matthew 27:1-2 MKJV).
Who was scheming for and demanding His blood? Who had the greater sin, Mr. Hagee? Was it the Romans, or was it those who delivered Him over to the Romans? And Pilate, fearful when hearing that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, and trying to heed his wife’s counsel (Matthew 27:19), tried to release Him! Here is the record, by men moved of the Holy Spirit:
(12) From this time, Pilate sought to release Him. But the Jews cried out, saying, If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.
(13) Then when Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat at a place called the Pavement (but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha).
(14) And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, Behold your king!
(15) But they cried out, Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
(16) Then he delivered Him up to them that He might be crucified. And they took Jesus and led Him away.
The record shows by two or three witnesses that Pilate was reluctant to condemn Jesus:
Matthew 27:17-26 MKJV
(17) Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, Whom do you desire that I release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus Who is called Christ?
(18) For he knew they had delivered Him because of envy.
(19) But as he was sitting down on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, Have nothing to do with that just Man, for today because of Him I have suffered many things in a dream.
(20) But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowd that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
(21) The governor answered and said to them, Which of the two do you desire that I release to you? They said, Barabbas.
(22) Pilate said to them, What then shall I do with Jesus, Who is called Christ? They all said to him, Let Him be crucified.
(23) And the governor said, Why? What evil has He done? But they cried out the more, saying, let Him be crucified!
(24) But when Pilate saw that it gained nothing, but rather that a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. You see to it.
(25) Then all the people answered and said, Let His blood be on us and on our children.
Mr. Hagee writes: “The Bible text is perfectly clear. Jesus was crucified by Rome as a political insurrectionist considered too dangerous to live. He was a threat to Herod’s grip on Palestine. He was a threat to the high priest. The Calvary plot among Herod’s inner circle produced the Roman crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. It had nothing to do with the will of the Jewish people as a civilization.”
The Scriptures are clear, but to whom? And do they declare or mean what Mr. Hagee surmises? We see who delivered whom to whom. And God saw to it that His blood was upon them, even as they had declared with their own lips from their own hearts. They cursed themselves with one accord. And indeed, has not history borne out the consequences the Jews pronounced on themselves? Surely!
(26) Then [Pilate] released Barabbas to them. And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.
Pilate released Barabbas, who was arrested for murder in an insurrection. A political threat, you suppose?
And who were these who mocked Jesus at the cross regarding His preaching to Israel? Was it the Romans, or was it the Jews, Mr. Hagee?
Matthew 27:39-43 MKJV
(39) And those who passed by blasphemed Him, shaking their heads,
(40) and saying, You destroying the Temple and building it in three days, save Yourself. If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.
(41) And in the same way also the chief priests mocked, with the scribes and elders, saying,
(42) He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.
(43) He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him. (For He said, I am the Son of God.)
When Peter stood up at Pentecost, he spoke these word by the Holy Spirit, which appear quite contrary to Mr. Hagee’s doctrine, unless Peter was speaking to the Romans or Caiaphas or Herod, which he wasn’t. He was speaking to the people of Israel, the Jews.
Acts 3:13-15 MKJV
(13) The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Son Jesus, Whom you delivered up, denying Him in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to let Him go.
(14) But you denied the Holy and Just One and desired a murderer to be given to you.
(15) And you killed the Prince of Life, Whom God has raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
Hagee says, “As a people, the Jews had nothing to do with the political conspiracy against Jesus Christ.”
What political conspiracy? If there was a conspiracy, can there be any doubt it was not limited to politics? Can there be any doubt, according to the Scriptures, that “He came unto His own and His own received Him not”? Or that there is nothing in Scripture saying Herod personally sought to kill Jesus? Mr. Hagee, you stand on the shakiest of foundations, putting forth your erroneous propositions in order to defend the Jewish nation. Again, I have no problem with a defense of the Jews, but I do have a problem with a defense on their behalf that harms them. That is the issue here.
You don’t realize that you hold forth the left hand of death, while withholding the right hand of life to Israel and the Jews. You offer them Satan’s false and ineffectual deliverance from guilt, thereby denying them access to God’s true deliverance from guilt, which deliverance washes away their guilt by the Messiah’s blood through acknowledgment, confession, and repentance of sin, as God has always ordained. You are betraying the Jews with a kiss, even as Judas betrayed the One the Jews slew with a kiss. What will they say to you in the day they find out you were so wrong?
You are saying to the alcoholic, “You aren’t an alcoholic, God forbid!” instead of asking him to stand up and take the first step of recovery by publicly declaring, “I am an alcoholic.” You deny Jews life, Mr. Hagee. As it is written:
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6 MKJV).
Let’s look at more Biblical record of the opposition of Jews to their Messiah. The most prominent religious sect of Jews of the day was constantly offended with Jesus (the Gospels record many instances), because He confronted them on their empty and hypocritical profession of faith:
Matthew 15:7-14 MKJV
(7) Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
(8) “This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
(9) But in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
(10) And He called the crowd and said to them, Hear and understand.
(11) Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.
(12) Then His disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?
(13) But He answered and said, Every plant which My Heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.
(14) Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
There were not many Romans or Herodians (Jews favorable to the rule of Herod) among the Pharisees, Mr. Hagee. The other major sect of that day was the Sadducees, and they had no more love for Yeshua than did the Pharisees and scribes:
Matthew 16:1-4 MKJV
(1) The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Him, tempting Him. And they asked Him that He would show them a sign from Heaven.
(2) He answered and said to them, When it is evening, you say, Fair weather; for the sky is red.
(3) And in the morning, Foul weather today; for the sky is red and gloomy. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot see the signs of the times!
(4) A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And there shall no sign be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And He left them and went away.
Mr. Hagee, Jesus told a parable to the Jews opposing and harassing Him, and prophesied of a people, a nation. You tell me if Jesus was speaking of Rome or of Israel:
Matthew 21:33-46 MKJV
(33) Hear another parable. There was a certain housemaster who planted a vineyard and hedged it round about, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and rented it to vinedressers, and went into a far country.
(34) And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers to receive its fruits.
(35) And the vinedressers took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
(36) Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did the same to them.
(37) But last of all he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son.
(38) But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and get hold of his inheritance.
(39) And taking him, they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
(40) Therefore when the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?
(41) They said to Him, Bad men! He will miserably destroy them and will rent out his vineyard to other vinedressers who will give him the fruits in their seasons.
(42) Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures, “The stone which the builders rejected, this One has become the head of the corner; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes”?
(43) Therefore I say to you, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing out its fruits.
(44) And he who falls on this Stone shall be broken, but on whomever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
(45) And when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that He spoke of them.
(46) But seeking to lay hands on Him, they feared the crowd, because they held Him for a prophet.
How many times must the Scriptures tell you the Jews are guilty as a people?
John 10:24-39 MKJV
(24) Then the Jews encircled Him and said to Him, How long do You make us doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.
(25) Jesus answered them, I told you and you did not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.
(26) But you did not believe because you are not of My sheep. As I said to you,
(27) My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
(28) And I give to them eternal life, and they shall never ever perish, and not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand.
(29) My Father Who gave them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.
(30) I and the Father are one!
(31) Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
(32) Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from My Father; for which of these do you stone Me?
(33) The Jews answered Him, saying, We do not stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, make Yourself God.
(34) Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your Law, “I said, You are gods”?
(35) If He called those gods with whom the Word of God was, and the Scripture cannot be broken,
(36) do you say of Him Whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, You blaspheme, because I said, I am the Son of God?
(37) If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me.
(38) But if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works so that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.
(39) Then they again sought to seize Him, but He went forth out of their hand.
They wanted to kill Him right there and then. Was Caiaphas involved in that conflict?
Concerning the raising of Lazarus from the dead, it says, “Then many of the Jews who came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done” (John 11:45-46 MKJV).
“Then from that day they took counsel together that they might kill Him” (John 11:53 MKJV).
Matthew 22:15-21 MKJV
(15) Then the Pharisees left and took counsel that they might entangle Him in words.
(16) And they sent their disciples out to Him along with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that You are true, and that You teach the way of God in truth. Nor do You care for anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.
(17) Therefore tell us; what do You think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?
(18) But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why do you tempt Me, hypocrites?
(19) Show Me the tribute money. And they brought a denarius to Him.
(20) And He said to them, Whose image and inscription is this?
(21) They said to Him, Caesar’s. Then He said to them, Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things which are God’s.
When Jesus healed the lame man, this is the thanks He received from the Jews:
John 5:15-18 MKJV
(15) The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus Who had made him whole.
(16) And therefore the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day.
(17) But Jesus answered them, My Father works until now, and I work.
(18) Then, because of this, the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. (Read entire chapter.)
When Jesus healed the blind man, the Pharisees were set on condemning Jesus, charging Him for not keeping the Sabbath. Such was never Herod’s, Pilate’s, or Rome’s concern.
The following chapter of John’s Gospel is quite revealing of precisely why the Jews hated the Lord. As the Messiah, the anointed Son of God, He declared things they judged to be blasphemy. They didn’t believe. They could not receive Him or His Word. Their hatred had nothing whatsoever to do with political intrigue.
John 7:1-53 MKJV
(1) After these things Jesus walked in Galilee, for He did not desire to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.
(2) And the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near.
(3) Therefore His brothers said to Him, Move away from here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see the works that You do.
(4) For no one does anything in secret, while he himself seeks to be in public. If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.
(5) For His brothers did not believe in Him.
(6) Then Jesus said to them, My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
(7) The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its works are evil.
(8) You go up to this feast; I am not yet going up to this feast; for My time is not yet fulfilled.
(9) And having said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
(10) But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as in secret.
(11) Then the Jews sought Him at the feast and said, Where is He?
(12) And there was much murmuring among the crowd concerning Him, for some said, He is a good man; others said, No, but he deceives the crowd.
(13) However, no one spoke openly of Him, because of the fear of the Jews.
(14) Now about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the Temple and taught.
(15) And the Jews marveled, saying, How does this man know letters, not being taught?
(16) Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not Mine, but His Who sent Me.
(17) If anyone desires to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of God, or I speak from Myself.
(18) He who speaks of himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of Him Who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.
(19) Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not one of you keeps the Law! Why do you seek to kill Me?
(20) The crowd answered and said, You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?
(21) Jesus answered and said to them, I have done one work, and you all marvel.
(22) Because of this Moses gave you circumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath day.
(23) If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath day so that the Law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry at Me because I have made a man entirely sound on the Sabbath day?
(24) Do not judge according to sight, but judge righteous judgment.
(25) Then some of those from Jerusalem said, Is this not the one they seek to kill?
(26) But lo, he speaks publicly, and they say nothing to him. Perhaps the rulers truly know that this is the Christ indeed?
(27) However, we know this one, from where he is; but when Christ comes, no one knows from where He is.
(28) Then Jesus cried in the Temple as He taught, saying, You both know Me, and you know from where I come. And I have not come of Myself, but He Who sent Me is true, Whom you do not know.
(29) But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He has sent Me.
(30) Then they sought to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
(31) And many of the crowd believed on Him, and said, When the Christ comes, will He do more miracles than these which this One has done?
(32) The Pharisees heard that the crowd murmured such things concerning Him. And the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to seize Him.
(33) Then Jesus said to them, Yet a little while I am with you, and then I go to Him Who sent Me.
(34) You shall seek Me and shall not find Me. And where I am, you cannot come.
(35) Then the Jews said among themselves, Where is He about to go that we shall not find Him? Is He about to go to the Dispersion of the Greeks, and to teach the Greeks?
(36) What saying is this that He said, You shall seek Me and shall not find Me, and where I am, you cannot come?
(37) And in the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
(38) He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
(39) (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
(40) Then when they heard the Word, many of the people said, Truly this is the Prophet.
(41) Others said, This is the Christ. But others said, Does the Christ come out of Galilee?
(42) Has the Scripture not said that Christ comes from the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
(43) So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.
(44) And some of them desired to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
(45) Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees. And they said to them, Why have you not brought him?
(46) The officers answered, Never did any man speak as does this Man.
(47) Then the Pharisees answered them, Also, have you not been deceived?
(48) Is it not true that not any of the rulers or of the Pharisees have believed into him?
(49) But this crowd, not knowing the Law, is cursed.
(50) Nicodemus said to them (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them),
(51) Does our law judge the Man before it hears Him and knows what He does?
(52) They answered and said to him, Are you also from Galilee? Search the scriptures and see that a prophet has not been raised out of Galilee.
(53) And they each went to his own house.
Mr. Hagee, who needs a political conspiracy to condemn Jesus Christ when miraculous good works caused the religious Jews to seethe with envy and rage? Yeshua didn’t threaten the political powers, but He was a threat to the authority of those who presumed to represent God.
Yeshua HaMashiach sought no kingship in this world. To the Romans (Pilate), He said, “My Kingdom is not of this world,” which was not a problem to the Romans. But to the Jews He said He was the Son of God, and that was a great problem for them. Here is another chapter (a smaller portion of which was posted above) that manifests the true, essentially nonpolitical, but spiritual, conflict:
John 10:14-39 MKJV
(14) I am the Good Shepherd, and I know those that are Mine, and I am known by those who are Mine.
(15) Even as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.
(16) And I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must also lead those, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.
(17) Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I might take it again.
(18) No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down from Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. I have received this commandment from My Father.
(19) Then a division occurred again among the Jews because of these words.
(20) And many of them said, He has a demon and is insane. Why do you hear Him?
(21) Others said, These are not words of one who has been possessed by a demon. A demon is not able to open the eyes of blind ones.
(22) And the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem, and it was winter.
(23) And Jesus walked in the Temple in Solomon’s Porch.
(24) Then the Jews encircled Him and said to Him, How long do You make us doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.
(25) Jesus answered them, I told you and you did not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s Name, they bear witness of Me.
(26) But you did not believe because you are not of My sheep. As I said to you,
(27) My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
(28) And I give to them eternal life, and they shall never ever perish, and not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand.
(29) My Father Who gave them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.
(30) I and the Father are one!
(31) Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
(32) Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from My Father; for which of these do you stone Me?
(33) The Jews answered Him, saying, We do not stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, make Yourself God.
(34) Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your Law, “I said, You are gods”?
(35) If He called those gods with whom the Word of God was, and the Scripture cannot be broken,
(36) do you say of Him Whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, You blaspheme, because I said, I am the Son of God?
(37) If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me.
(38) But if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works so that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.
(39) Then they again sought to seize Him, but He went forth out of their hand.
Here is another passage that records who hated the Savior and why:
John 12:37-43 MKJV
(37) But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they did not believe on Him,
(38) so that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
(39) Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again,
(40) “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.”
(41) Isaiah said these things when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.
(42) Still, however, even out of the rulers, many did believe on Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;
(43) for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.
John Hagee refuses the sound and repeated testimony of Scripture that much more than politics, Caiaphas, and Herod was responsible for the death of the sacrificial Lamb of God. The religious Jews in general come on the scene as His enemies time and time again. Of them, Jesus said:
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do. But do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do” (Matthew 23:1-3 MKJV).
Mr. Hagee should know that the ruling priests like Caiaphas were Sadducees, not Pharisees. Yet time and time again, the Pharisees and the scribes (the copyists and teachers of the law) are also implicated as enemies of Christ. The Pharisees and Sadducees were in opposition to each other. Yet both were opposed to their Messiah Yeshua, and both were Jews. Were both denominations of their day collective lackeys of Rome?
Where are you getting your information, Mr. Hagee? The Jews have judged and condemned the New Testament for being anti-Semitic. Why would they do that if it was plain that it was the Romans who were responsible for Jesus’ death, not the Jews? Why are they so incensed against the New Testament if it is a testimony against Rome, as you claim, and not against the Jews? Note that Jesus had no harsh words at all for the Romans, but see the words the Lord had for the religious Jews:
Matthew 23:13-36 MKJV
(13) But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men. For you neither go in, nor do you allow those entering to go in.
(14) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and pray at length as a pretense. Therefore you shall receive the greater condemnation.
(15) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of Hell than yourselves.
(16) Woe to you, blind guides, saying, Whoever shall swear by the Temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the Temple, he is a debtor.
(17) Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that sanctifies the gold?
(18) And, Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor!
(19) Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
(20) Therefore whoever shall swear by the altar swears by it, and by all things on it.
(21) And whoever shall swear by the Temple, swears by it and by Him Who dwells in it.
(22) And he who shall swear by Heaven swears by the throne of God, and by Him Who sits on it.
(23) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and you have left undone the weightier matters of the Law, judgment, mercy, and faith. You ought to have done these and not to leave the other undone.
(24) Blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
(25) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of extortion and excess.
(26) Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of them may be clean also.
(27) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outside, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
(28) Even so you also appear righteous to men outwardly, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
(29) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,
(30) and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
(31) Therefore you are witnesses to yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets;
(32) and you fill up the measure of your fathers.
(33) Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of Hell?
(34) Therefore, behold, I send prophets and wise men and scribes to you. And you will kill and crucify some of them. And some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city;
(35) so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berachiah, whom you killed between the Temple and the altar.
(36) Truly I say to you, All these things shall come on this generation.
Luke 11:52-54 MKJV
(52) Woe to you, lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and you have hindered those who were entering in.
(53) And as He said these things to them, the scribes and Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw Him out concerning many things,
(54) lying in ambush for Him, and seeking to catch something out of His mouth, so that they might accuse Him.
Did He ignore the enmity of the Sadducees? By no means:
“And Jesus said to them, Take heed, and beware the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6 MKJV).
John the Immerser also spoke to both Pharisees and Sadducees (major religious organizations of the Jews in that day), and what he called them was not very nice:
“But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance; and do not think to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:7-9 MKJV).
These were all Jews to whom John was speaking, not Romans. The stage was being set for a showdown, which had nothing whatsoever to do with the Romans, except for serving as “lackeys” for the Jews in the very end. The Jews pressured Pilate and appealed to his fears in order to condemn their Messiah, as you should plainly see by the Scriptures.
And why did they get Rome to do their dirty work? Would they not have done it themselves if they weren’t under Rome’s law?
“Then Pilate said to them, You take Him and judge Him according to your Law. Then the Jews said to him, It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death” (John 18:31 MKJV).
Had they not had the fear of Rome, they would have bypassed Pilate and Herod and independently dispatched their Messiah. Do you believe the New Testament as inspired of God, Mr. Hagee, or do you not?
And to whom was Yeshua speaking when He prophesied against Jerusalem? Was it to the Romans or to the Jews? If Rome was the real culprit, why did He not go after Rome in judgment, instead of Jerusalem, the capital of the Jews? Here are His words:
Matthew 23:37-39 MKJV
(37) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
(38) Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
(39) For I say to you, You shall not see Me from now on until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord.”
Luke 19:41-44 MKJV
(41) And as He drew near, He beheld the city and wept over it,
(42) saying, If you had known, even you, even at least in this day of yours, the things for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
(43) For the days will come on you that your enemies will raise up a rampart to you, and will surround you, and will keep you in on every side.
(44) And they will tear you down, and your children within you, and will not leave a stone on a stone because you did not know the time of your visitation.
Mr. Hagee, you said, “As a people, the Jews had nothing to do with the political conspiracy against Jesus Christ,” and, “The justice of God would never permit judgment for the sins of a handful of people to be passed to a civilization of people.”
So why was Israel destroyed? Why was God’s Temple destroyed a second time? Were the Romans free agents of evil, independent of God’s will? Were the Jews really suffering because of the sins of the Romans? Or was it because of their own sins? If Israel as a nation were innocent, would her God have not protected her as promised, as He had done so many times in the past? Mr. Hagee, are you not a false witness?
For those who want to see how much in error “Pastor” John Hagee is, read The True Marks of a Cult, Diabolical Doctrines, and The Mark of the Beast and the Seal of God.
Was the following act of Jesus a threat to Rome or to Jews?
Mark 11:15-18 MKJV
(15) And they came to Jerusalem. And entering into the Temple, Jesus began to cast out those who bought and sold in the Temple. And He overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves.
(16) And He would not allow any to carry a vessel through the Temple.
(17) And He taught, saying to them, Is it not written, “My house shall be called the house of prayer for all nations”? But you have made it a den of thieves.
(18) And the scribes and the chief priests heard. And they sought how they might destroy Him. For they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His doctrine.
Jesus had specific words to speak against the Jewish scribes:
Mark 12:38-40 MKJV
(38) And He said to them in His teaching, Beware of the scribes, who love to walk about in robes, and love greetings in the markets,
(39) and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost places at feasts,
(40) who devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense make long prayers. These shall receive greater condemnation.
He never once spoke against the Romans.
Of His nation, the Jews, He said, quoting David: “But that the Word might be fulfilled that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause’” (John 15:25 MKJV).
Whose Law? That of the Jews.
Peter was momentarily an enemy to the Christ, and he was sharply but graciously rebuked by the Lord for it. Peter was inadvertently opposing the needful way to the cross:
Matthew 16:21-23 EMTV
(21) From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go off to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised the third day.
(22) And taking Him aside, Peter began to rebuke Him, saying, “God be gracious to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You!”
(23) But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block unto Me, because you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
His offense appears to be similar to yours, Mr. Hagee, except that while Peter’s offense was temporary, it is apparent you have established yourself in yours.
Your doctrine in discussion here is one of transferring the guilt of Jews to the Romans for slaying the Messiah. It is not only error, it is destruction, both of Jew and Gentile, should the lie be believed. Jews must recognize their sin and confess it. Unconfessed sin is folly at any time, allowing the sin to continue in its destruction of the sinner.
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 MKJV)
Better that Jews should acknowledge and confess their sin of having slain first their prophets, and finally their Messiah, the sacrificial Lamb of God, Who is Yeshua HaMashiach. By encouraging them to deny this, you deny them reconciliation with their Lord and Savior. And consider the implications of that:
Romans 11:13-15 MKJV
(13) For I speak to you, the nations; since I am the apostle of the nations, I glorify my ministry;
(14) if by any means I may provoke those who are my flesh to jealousy, and might save some of them.
(15) For if their casting away is the reconciling of the world, what is their reception except life from the dead?
I am in the Lord’s stead now on your behalf, Mr. Hagee, rebuking your stance against Christ. Will you deny yourself and take up the cross now, or will you continue to be an enemy of the cross?
According to the prophets of the Tenach, has not the great misfortune of the Jews come on them for their sins? (Read Israel, Is Your God Unjust?) And what sin could be greater than the one for which they have never accepted responsibility as a nation or people? (Read The Key for Israel and the Jew.) And what is the antidote for sin and deliverance from bondage and destruction, if not confession and repentance? As it is written in their Scriptures and ours:
“If My people, who are called by My Name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 MKJV).
With confession and repentance of sin, Satan’s power is automatically broken, and deliverance and healing naturally follow. But if Jews prefer to believe Hagee, who declares them to be innocent of their great crime, then they remain in their guilt and consequent destruction. And the rest of the world suffers, for as it goes for Israel, so it goes for the entire world. When the Jews are blessed, the whole world is blessed (of those who can receive it), but when the Jews suffer, the whole world suffers.
Perhaps it should be acknowledged that many have come blaming and condemning the Jews as “Christ-killers.” No doubt, it may appear we are doing the same, but not so. While we most certainly declare the Jews are the “Christ-killers,” we do not condemn them.
The difference is in the motive and application. We do not speak to their detriment, nor do we encourage any evil against them. Indeed, we condemn it in the strongest terms. (Read Jews, Why I Am for You.) Those who harm Jews harm themselves (take Hitler as the classic example; see what happened to Saddam Hussein, and watch what happens to Muammar Gaddafi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). We speak for the Jews’ immeasurably great benefit, with only goodwill for the Jewish people, the eternally chosen, temporarily cast off, and ultimately to be restored, people of God. (Read Raising the Flag and Nation of Israel.)
Furthermore, and most importantly, we recognize that all men are sinners and therefore all are responsible for Messiah’s blood because His blood was, of necessity, shed for all. The status of all men is at the root cause of His death. Jews are no different from the rest of mankind in hating and murdering the Messiah.
As He said to His disciples, “And you will be hated of all men for My Name’s sake, but the one who endures to the end shall be kept safe” (Matthew 10:22 MKJV), and “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18 MKJV).
So we need to make an important point here, lest anti-Semites should presume to find justification in our words: It is not a matter of race that makes the difference in hating the Messiah, but of heart. There are those who believe, whether Jew or Gentile in the flesh, and those who don’t, those who are of the world, whether Jew or Gentile. Paul wrote these important words:
“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that outwardly in flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart; in spirit and not in letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God” (Romans 2:28-29 MKJV).
There are those who claim to be Jews, that is, believers in God, but who are not:
“Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie…” (Revelation 3:9 KJV).
So aside from the physical nation of Israel, there are two kinds of Jews, those with professions of faith who believe and those who don’t believe. Those who believe are as lambs for the slaughter; they are persecuted and will not persecute; they are from above. Those who don’t believe seize temporal power and will not accept the Law of the Kingdom of God; they are as the Gentiles and are Gentiles in spirit, notwithstanding circumcision (keeping a set of commandments). The kingdoms of this world are the only ones they desire or understand; they are from beneath.
Who is it that believes? Would one say that physical Jews believe and Gentiles don’t? No, it is God Who decides who believes and when:
Romans 9:15-18 MKJV
(15) For He said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
(16) So then it is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of God, the One showing mercy.
(17) For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “Even for this same purpose I have raised you up, that I might show My power in you, and that My Name might be declared throughout all the earth.”
(18) Therefore He has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardens.
“For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10 MKJV).
Our point is that the nation of Israel is responsible for killing the Messiah and must recognize and acknowledge the fact. However, we realize that Israel performed a duty ordained from above in its murderous hatred of the Righteous One, by the express will of God:
“Men, Israelites, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by powerful works, and wonders and miracles, which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, this One given to you by the before-determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by lawless hands, crucifying Him, you put Him to death” (Acts 2:22-23 MKJV).
Had Jesus Christ not given His life by their wicked hands, we would all be without hope, still in our sins. Israel was the priesthood of the nations, performing the Perfect and Only Efficacious Sacrifice of the Lamb without spot or blemish, for the sins of all mankind. (Read Israel, the Explanation for the Horrendous Contradictions You Suffer.) As wrote Paul the apostle, once a rabid enemy of the Messiah, but turned to be His ardent disciple:
Romans 11:32-36 MKJV
(32) For God has shut up all in unbelief, so that He might show mercy to all.
(33) O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!
(34) For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?
(35) Or who first gave to Him, and it will be repaid to him?
(36) For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him be glory forever! Amen.
So one may ask, “What’s your problem then? By killing the Messiah, the Jews saved us all from our sins!” My answer: As we have all sinned and can only repent when knowing and confessing that we have sinned, so it must be for all. But if we don’t know we have sinned, we will only remain in sin’s destructive power. This goes for both Jew and Gentile. We speak so that people will repent and know their God.
And here is what Paul says is happening and going to happen:
“I say then, Did [the Jews] not stumble that they fall? Let it not be! But by their slipping away came salvation to the nations, to provoke them to jealousy. But if their slipping away is the riches of the world, and their default is the riches of the nations, how much more their fullness?” (Romans 11:11-12 MKJV)
“For if the casting away of [the Jews] be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15 KJV)
Romans 11:25-29 MKJV
(25) For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest you should be wise within yourselves; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the nations has comes in.
(26) And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, “There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
(27) For this is My covenant with them, when I have taken away their sins.”
(28) Indeed as regards the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. But as regards the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
(29) For the free gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
No man has the right to condemn the Jew. One who condemns the Jew is condemned. Paul says:
Romans 11:17-22 MKJV
(17) And if some of the branches [the Jews] were broken off, and you [Gentile], being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and became a sharer of the root and the fatness of the olive tree with them,
(18) do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, it is not you that bears the root, but the root [the Jew] bears you [the Gentile].
(19) You will say then, The branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.
(20) Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be high-minded, but fear.
(21) For if God did not spare the natural branches, fear lest He also may not spare you either!
(22) Behold then the kindness, and the severity of God; on those having fallen, severity; but on you, kindness, if you continue in the kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
The difference between us and Israel’s enemies is as white and black; we seek Israel’s salvation, not its destruction. We call for national repentance of the historic act of murder of the Holy and Innocent One, which alone will bring salvation for the perpetrators and life from the dead for the world. Those hatefully shouting “Christ-killers!” seek only the Jews’ destruction and will receive destruction. Anti-Semites destroy themselves, for God will not countenance their evil. To Abraham, the father of all Jews, God spoke eternal words:
“And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3 MKJV).
Paul Cohen and I and all those with us desire the great good of all Jews, of Jerusalem, and of Israel. When we witness the spirit and conduct of Israel in the media in comparison to the spirit and conduct of its enemies, we marvel and wonder why the world can’t see the glaring in-your-face contrast of good and evil, reasonableness and unreasonableness, right and wrong, justice and injustice, innocence and guilt, truth and lies.
We are in awe as to how this wicked world falls for the blatant lies Arabs, Muslims, and all anti-Semites disseminate against Israel. The hypocrisy and contradiction are unspeakably evil. It angers us, but we also know that these things must be until Israel’s time, when it is brought to the light and to final victory. The heat of the oil-fired Muslim furnace is necessary for Israel’s good. Without it, Israel will not come to be bread for the nations.
Indeed, Israel, particularly orthodox Jewry, has much from which to be cleansed. Reader, have you red the Babylonian Talmud, which is the most revered “holy” document of orthodox Jews today, above the Tenach (Old Testament)? It is Pharisaical and highly antithetical to the Bible and its Author, both Old and New Testaments. Is the Babylonian Talmud Herod’s or Caiaphas’ doing? I think not; its content was formed centuries before these men or Rome existed.
Nevertheless, Paul Cohen and I are here to save and not to condemn the Jews, God’s own, even if many of them are, as Jesus said, of their father the Devil:
John 8:31-59 MKJV
(31) Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed on Him, If you continue in My Word, you are My disciples indeed.
(32) And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
(33) They answered Him, We are Abraham’s seed and were never in bondage to anyone. How do you say, You will be made free?
(34) Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever practices sin is the slave of sin.
(35) And the slave does not abide in the house forever, but the Son abides forever.
(36) Therefore if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
(37) I know that you are Abraham’s seed, but you seek to kill Me because My Word has no place in you.
(38) I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you, then, do what you have seen with your father.
(39) They answered and said to Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus answered them, If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
(40) But now you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth which I have heard beside God; this Abraham did not do.
(41) You do the deeds of your father. Then they said to Him, We are not born of fornication; we have one father, even God.
(42) Jesus said to them, If God were your father, you would love Me, for I went forth and came from God; for I did not come of Myself, but He sent Me.
(43) Why do you not know My speech? Because you cannot hear My Word.
(44) You are of the Devil as father, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
(45) And because I tell you the truth, you do not believe Me.
(46) Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe Me?
(47) He who is of God hears God’s Words. Therefore you do not hear them because you are not of God.
(48) Then the Jews answered and said to Him, Do we not say well that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?
(49) Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
(50) And I do not seek My own glory, but there is One Who seeks and judges.
(51) Truly, truly, I say to you, If a man keeps My Word, he shall never see death.
(52) Then the Jews said to Him, Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham and the prophets are dead, and you say, If a man keeps my Word, he shall never taste of death.
(53) Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets are dead; whom do You make Yourself?
(54) Jesus answered, If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father Who glorifies Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
(55) Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I should say I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and I keep His Word.
(56) Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw and was glad.
(57) Then the Jews said to Him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?
(58) Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham came into being, I AM!
(59) Then they took up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus hid Himself and went forth out of the Temple, going through the midst of them, and passed on by.
Yeshua laid down His life for all men and called on the Father to forgive them. We are sent of God to intercede for the Jews, and the only way we know to do that, as directed by the God of Israel, is to notify them of their great national sin and to call upon them to acknowledge and confess it candidly and openly. We have hope by the Scriptures that this will happen:
“Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and those who pierced Him will see Him, and all the kindreds of the earth will wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7 MKJV).
After Jesus was crucified, the persecution of the saints by the Jews continued:
Acts 4:1-21 MKJV
(1) And as they spoke to the people, the priests, and the Temple commander, and the Sadducees came on them,
(2) being grieved that they taught the people, even to announce through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
(3) And they laid hands on them and put them under guard until the next day, for it was already evening.
(4) But many of those who heard the Word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.
(5) And it happened on the next day that their rulers and elders and scribes, gathered to Jerusalem,
(6) and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest.
(7) And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name have you done this?
(8) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel,
(9) if we are examined today on a good work for an infirm man, by what this one has been healed,
(10) be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you crucified, Whom God raised from the dead, in this Name does this man stand before you whole.
(11) This is the Stone which you builders have counted worthless, and He has become the Head of the corner.
(12) And there is salvation in no other One; for there is no other Name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
(13) But seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and perceiving that they were unlearned and uneducated men, they marveled. And they recognized them, that they had been with Jesus.
(14) And beholding the man who was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
(15) And when they had commanded them to go aside out of the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves,
(16) saying, What shall we do to these men? For that indeed a notable miracle has been done by them is plain to all those dwelling in Jerusalem. And we cannot deny it.
(17) But, so that it spread no further among the people, let us strictly threaten them, that they speak to no man in this Name from now on.
(18) And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor to teach in the Name of Jesus.
(19) But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it is right before God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
(20) For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
(21) So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way as to how they might punish them, because of the people. For all glorified God for that which was done.
Was it only the high priest or Herod that sought to snuff out this new sect? Not according to the record. There were many other Jews equally incensed against the Messianic movement:
Acts 6:8-14 MKJV
(8) And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
(9) Then there arose certain of the synagogue which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and from Asia, disputing with Stephen.
(10) And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
(11) And they induced men to be saying, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.
(12) And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes. And coming on, they seized him and brought him to the Sanhedrin.
(13) And they set up false witnesses, who said, This man does not cease speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the Law.
(14) For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered to us.
Stephen, the first to die after the Messiah, died at the hand of the Jews. By the Holy Spirit, he spoke strong words against them, particularly to the Sanhedrin and their fathers, for which they stoned him to death:
Acts 7:51-60 MKJV
(51) O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so you do.
(52) Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of Whom you have now been the betrayers and murderers;
(53) who received the Law through disposition of angels, and did not keep it.
(54) And hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts. And they gnashed on him with their teeth.
(55) But being full of the Holy Spirit, looking up intently into Heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
(56) And he said, Behold, I see Heaven opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.
(57) And crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and ran on him with one accord.
(58) And throwing him outside the city, they stoned him. And the witnesses laid their clothes down at the feet of a young man named Saul.
(59) And they stoned Stephen, who was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
(60) And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice, Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Being that Stephen spoke by the Spirit of the Messiah, the Sanhedrin repeated their murder of the Messiah through Stephen.
And there was a zealous Jew indeed, who was determined to stop the Messianic sect by any means necessary. Of him is recorded:
“And Saul, still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to Damascus to the synagogues; so that if he found any of the Way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2 MKJV).
But when Saul was turned by the Messiah, Who appeared to him on the road to Damascus, he became a preacher of the Gospel he once opposed. And who was it that opposed him, Mr. Hagee?:
Acts 9:20-25 MKJV
(20) And immediately he proclaimed Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.
(21) But all who heard him were amazed and said, Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this Name in Jerusalem and came here for that reason, that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?
(22) But Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived at Damascus, proving that this One is the Christ.
(23) And after many days had been fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him.
(24) But their plot was known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night in order to kill him.
(25) Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a basket.
More persecution by the Jews, not for politics, but for envy:
Acts 13:44-50 MKJV
(44) And on the coming Sabbath day almost all the city came together to hear the Word of God.
(45) But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and contradicted those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
(46) But speaking boldly, Paul and Barnabas said, It was necessary for the Word of God to be spoken to you first. But since indeed you put it far from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the nations.
(47) For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “I have set You to be a light of the nations, for salvation to the end of the earth.”
(48) And hearing, the nations rejoiced and glorified the Word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
(49) And the Word of the Lord was carried throughout all the country.
(50) But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women, and the chief ones of the city, and raised a persecution against Paul and Barnabas. And they threw them out of their borders.
Acts 14:1-7 MKJV
(1) And it happened in Iconium, they both went together into the synagogue of the Jews, and spoke so as a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
(2) But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the nations and made them evil-hearted against the brothers.
(3) Therefore they stayed a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, Who bore witness to the word of His grace, giving miracles and wonders to be done by their hands.
(4) But the multitude of the city was divided. And part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
(5) And when there was an assault made by both the nations and the Jews, with their rulers, in order to insult and to stone them,
(6) they were aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the country around them.
(7) And there they were preaching the Gospel.
Acts 17:1-14 MKJV
(1) And traveling through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
(2) And according to Paul’s custom, he went in to them and reasoned with them out of the Scriptures on three Sabbaths,
(3) opening and setting forth that Christ must have suffered, and to have risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus Whom I preach to you is Christ.
(4) And some of them believed and joined themselves to Paul and Silas, both a great multitude of the worshiping Greeks, and not a few of the chief women.
(5) But the disobeying Jews becoming jealous, and having taken aside some wicked men of the market-loafers, and gathering a crowd, they set all the city in an uproar. And coming on the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the mob.
(6) And not finding them, they drew Jason and certain brothers before the city judges, crying, These who have turned the world upside down have come here too,
(7) whom Jason has received. And these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.
(8) And hearing these things, they troubled the crowd and the city judge.
(9) And taking security from Jason and from the rest, they let them go.
(10) And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. They, when they arrived, went into the synagogue of the Jews.
(11) And these were more noble than those of Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily to see if those things were so.
(12) Therefore many of them believed, and quite a few of honorable Greek women and men.
(13) But when the Jews from Thessalonica knew that the Word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the people.
“But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Yeshua was the Messiah. When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!” (Acts 18:5-6 HNV)
“And after the uproar had ceased, calling the disciples and greeting them, Paul left to go into Macedonia. And passing through those parts, and exhorting them with much speech, he came into Greece. And spending three months there, there being a plot against him by the Jews, being about to sail into Syria, he proposed to return through Macedonia” (Acts 20:1-3 MKJV).
Acts 21:26-31 MKJV
(26) Then taking the men on the next day, being purified with them, Paul went into the Temple, declaring the fulfillment of the days of the purification, until an offering should be offered for each of them.
(27) And when the seven days were about to be completed, the Jews who were from Asia, having seen him in the Temple, stirred up all the crowd and laid hands on him,
(28) crying out, Men, Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches all everywhere against the people and the Law and this place. And even he brought Greeks into the Temple and has polluted this holy place.
(29) (For they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city before, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the Temple.)
(30) And all the city was moved, and the people ran together. And laying hands on Paul, they drew him outside of the Temple. And immediately the doors were shut.
(31) And as they were seeking to kill him, the news came to the chiliarch of the cohort, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
Acts 22:17-24 EMTV
(17) [Paul said,] “And it happened to me, having returned to Jerusalem and praying in the Temple, that I came to be in a trance
(18) and saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and go out quickly from Jerusalem, for they will not receive your witness about Me.’
(19) And I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I was imprisoning and beating those believing on You.
(20) And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by consenting to his murder, and guarding the clothes of those murdering him.’
(21) Then He said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
(22) Now [the Jews] were listening to him until this statement, and they lifted their voice saying, “Take away such a man from the earth, for it is not fitting for him to live!”
(23) And as they were crying out and throwing off their clothes, and throwing dust in the air,
(24) the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said for him that he should be given a hearing with scourging, so that he might learn why they were crying thus against him.
Acts 23:12-15 EMTV
(12) Now when it was day, some of the Jews joined in a conspiracy and bound themselves by a curse, saying neither would they eat nor drink until they would kill Paul.
(13) And there were over four hundred who had made this plot;
(14) who came to the chief priests and to the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves by oath with a curse to taste nothing until we kill Paul.
(15) Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you are going to determine more accurately the things concerning him; but we, before he comes near, are prepared to kill him.”
Here we see where the Romans were protecting their citizen with honor, while the Jews were trying to destroy theirs. Even though Paul was a believer, the Romans regarded his life with respect, while the Jews hated one of their own for his faith. Speak of contradiction! Just who are the pagans, and who are the godly? Continuing:
Acts 23:16-31 EMTV
(16) But when Paul’s sister’s son heard about the ambush, he came and entered into the barracks, and told this to Paul.
(17) And Paul, summoning one of the centurions and said, “Lead this young man away to the commander, for he has something to tell him.”
(18) Therefore taking him along, he brought him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul, having summoned me, asked me to bring this young man to you, for he has something to say to you.”
(19) And the commander, taking him by his hand, withdrew to a private place and inquired, “What is it that you have to tell me?”
(20) And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask that tomorrow you bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin, as though they are going to learn something more accurate concerning him.
(21) Therefore you must not be persuaded by them; for more than four hundred of them are lying in wait for him, who have bound themselves by a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they kill him; and now they are prepared, waiting for the promise from you.”
(22) Then the commander dismissed the young man, and commanded him, “Tell no one that you have made known these things to me.”
(23) And having summoned two of the centurions he said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers, and seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen, in order that they may go to Caesarea, to leave at the third hour of the night;
(24) and place mounts at their disposal, in order that they may put Paul on them, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”
(25) And he wrote a letter which contained this content:
(26) Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.
(27) This man, having been arrested by the Jews, was about to be killed by them. I came upon them with the detachment of soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he is a Roman.
(28) And desiring to know the cause for which they were accusing him, I took him down to their council;
(29) and I found that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had no accusation against him worthy of death or chains.
(30) And when it became known to me that a plot against the man by the Jews was about to happen, I sent him at once to you, and also commanded the accusers to state the charges against him before you. Farewell.
(31) Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him during the night to Antipatris.
What do you have to say of these things, Mr. Hagee? Are you undone or defiant now? Which will it be? The mortal threat of Jewish opposition to Yeshua HaMashiach was prevalent and persistent, so much so that Paul was forced to appeal to a pagan Roman ruler for safety from those who presumed to worship God as Abraham’s seed!
Acts 25:1-12 MKJV
(1) Then entering the province, after three days Festus went from Caesarea to Jerusalem.
(2) And the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and they begged him
(3) asking a favor against him that he would send for him to Jerusalem, making a plot to kill him on way.
(4) Then indeed Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea; he himself would depart shortly.
(5) Then he said, those having power among you may go down with me. If there is a thing amiss in this man, let them accuse him.
(6) And staying among them more than ten days, going down to Caesarea, on the next day sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought.
(7) And he having come, the Jews who came down from Jerusalem stood around and brought many charges against Paul, which they could not prove.
(8) Defending himself, Paul said, Neither against the Law of the Jews, nor against the Temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything.
(9) But Festus, wanting to please the Jews, answered Paul and said, Will you go up to Jerusalem and be judged there before me about these things?
(10) But Paul said, I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know.
(11) For if I am an offender or have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is nothing of which these accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.
(12) Then conferring with the Sanhedrin, Festus answered, You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go. (Read the whole chapter.)
Of himself, Paul later said:
Acts 26:1-23 MKJV
(1) And Agrippa said to Paul, You are permitted to speak for yourself. Then stretching out his hand, Paul made a defense:
(2) Concerning all of which I am accused by Jews, King Agrippa, I think myself happy being about to make defense before you today,
(3) you being especially expert in all customs and questions among the Jews. Therefore I beseech you to hear me patiently.
(4) Truly, then, all the Jews know my manner of life from my youth, which was at first among my own nation at Jerusalem,
(5) who knew me from the first, if they would testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
(6) And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made to our fathers by God,
(7) to which promise our twelve tribes hope to attain, serving God fervently night and day. For the sake of this hope, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.
(8) Why is it thought a thing incredible with you that God raises the dead?
(9) I truly thought within myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,
(10) which I also did in Jerusalem. And I shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests. And they being put to death, I cast a vote.
(11) And I punished them often in every synagogue; I compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly furious against them, I persecuted them even to the outside cities.
(12) In which pursuit also traveling to Damascus with authority and power of decision from the chief priests,
(13) at midday, along the highway, O king, I and those with me saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun; shining around me.
(14) And all of us falling to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
(15) And I said, Who are you, lord? And He said, I am Jesus Whom you persecute.
(16) But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of what you saw, and in what I shall appear to you;
(17) delivering you from the people and the nations, to whom I now send you
(18) in order to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, so that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.
(19) After this, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the heavenly vision.
(20) But to those first in Damascus, and Jerusalem, and to all the country of Judea, and to the nations, I made known the command to repent and to turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
(21) Because of these things, having caught me in the Temple, The Jews tried to kill me.
(22) Then having obtained help from God, I stand until this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said was going to happen;
(23) whether the Christ was liable to suffer, whether first by a resurrection of the dead He was going to proclaim light to the people and to the nations.
Now who is being delivered over to whom here?:
Acts 28:17-19 MKJV
(17) And after three days it happened that Paul called together those being chief of the Jews. And they coming together, he said to them, Men, brothers, I did nothing against the people or customs of our fathers. I was delivered a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans
(18) who, examining me, were of a mind to let me go because there was no cause of death in me.
(19) But the Jews speaking against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar; not as having anything to accuse my nation.
The Jews, true to the role God appointed for them, opposed the apostle Paul to the very end of his life:
Acts 28:23-29 MKJV
(23) And [the Jews] having appointed him a day, many came to him in his lodging; to whom he expounded, testifying of the Kingdom of God, and persuading them the things concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses and out of the Prophets, from morning until evening.
(24) And some indeed believed the things that were said, others did not believe.
(25) And disagreeing with one another, they were let go, Paul saying one word: Well did the Holy Spirit speak through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
(26) saying, “Go to this people and say: Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and not perceive.
(27) For the heart of this people was fattened, and they have heard with their ears dully; and they closed their eyes; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”
(28) Therefore be it known to you that the salvation of God is sent to the nations, and they will hear.
(29) And he having said these words, the Jews departed, having much discussion amongst themselves.
In the end, Paul was offered up as a sweet-smelling sacrifice unto God by beheading. The Jews finally got their way with him, but Paul’s job was done, even as Yeshua’s job was done at the time of His death at the hand of the Jews.
Paul had these things to say of the Jews as well:
“For there are indeed many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouth you must stop, who subvert whole houses, teaching things not right for the sake of ill gain” (Titus 1:10-11 MKJV).
1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 MKJV
(14) For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also have suffered these things by your own countrymen, even as they also by the Jews;
(15) who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, also driving us out and they do not please God and being contrary to all men,
(16) forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always; but the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
“Five times from the Jews I received forty stripes minus one” (2 Corinthians 11:24 MKJV).
Mr. Hagee, is not the evidence of the Scriptures quite contrary to your theology? Where did you get your Bible, or the inspiration for your interpretation?
We have no doubt whatsoever that when the Jews acknowledge their great sin (of which they have been unaware, by the way – Acts 3:17), things will miraculously turn in their favor. They shall stand and be strong, stronger than even in David and Solomon’s glory days. There will be nothing their enemies will be able to do to them, should the Jews confess Christ’s murder and turn to Him as their Lord and Savior. This is The Key for Israel and the Jew.
No more will Israel be destroyed, the Jews slaughtered and sent away captive, whether for 70 years by the Babylonians or 27 times that duration by the Romans. This time, God will do a work in the heart of the Jews, even as Ezekiel prophesied so long ago:
Ezekiel 36:16-38 JPS
(16) Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:
(17) Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings; their way before Me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.
(18) Wherefore I poured out My fury upon them for the blood which they had shed upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;
(19) and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries; according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
(20) And when they came unto the nations, whither they came, they profaned My holy Name; in that men said of them: These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of His land.
(21) But I had pity for My holy Name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they came.
(22) Therefore say unto the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD: I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations, whither you came.
(23) And I will sanctify My great Name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
(24) For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
(25) And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean; from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
(26) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
(27) And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them.
(28) And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
(29) And I will save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
(30) And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.
(31) Then shall you remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
(32) Not for your sake do I this, says the Lord GOD, be it known unto you; be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
(33) Thus says the Lord GOD: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded.
(34) And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all that passed by.
(35) And they shall say: This land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.
(36) Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD have builded the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate; I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
(37) Thus says the Lord GOD: I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
(38) As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed seasons, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
We shall now identify why John Hagee errs as he does.
Beginning at chapter 8 of Jerusalem Countdown, “The Rise of Anti-Semitism,” Hagee quotes David Aikman from an article in Charisma magazine as follows:
“Many Christians have begun to experience a love for the Jews that has nothing to do with the End Times, but which is almost certainly the work of the Holy Spirit. It is thus important for all Christians…to be respectful of Jewish feelings in light of the uglier side of Christian history.”
There are several things I’d like to ask concerning what Aikman is saying:
One, is Mr. Aikman suggesting that a true Christian has ever not loved Jews? This cannot be said of any true Christian, for the God of the Jews dwells in him.
Two, could not the “End Times” involve a turning of hearts to the Jews?
Three, if God is turning hearts to the Jews, why is it “important for all Christians…to be respectful of Jewish feelings in light of the uglier side of Christian history”? Will hearts not be automatically turned to do the right thing both in word and spirit?
Four, does Aikman suggest that the Holy Spirit will fail to redeem the Jews if Christians don’t do things just right? Does Aikman believe in God or does he not?
Five, just what is a Christian, and what is Christian history? It appears that Aikman is confused on this important issue.
However, our focus isn’t on Aikman right now; it’s on Hagee. It is evident Hagee doesn’t understand what is a true Christian or what nominal Christian history is all about. That is because he is a Baptist, an ordained minister by men who, while he preaches from the Bible, is not a true Biblical Christian.
The links offered in this paper Scripturally support what I say. The Scriptures I quote support what I say. But let’s go on for more evidence that John Hagee is a false teacher, leading many astray. He quotes and agrees with Aikman because he doesn’t know the Truth.
The fact is that the history of the Christian church, as we have known it, has nothing to do with the Lord and His saints. It is the record of the harlot church, Mystery, Babylon the Great. It is the history of the false church, but not the true, of the persecuting, but not the persecuted, church.
Indeed, the false congregation of God, starting with the Jews, did its level best to destroy the true, along with all traces of its existence. The false congregation has maligned, slandered, and libeled the true, condemning it as satanic and heretical, judging it not fit to live. The harlot congregation has been a vicious whore as the Bible describes:
“And in [Mystery, Babylon the Great] was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all those who were slain on the earth” (Revelation 18:24 MKJV).
The harlot congregation or assembly of God, or what Hagee calls the Christian church, persecuted both the Jews in the flesh and Jews in the spirit (true believers). True believers have never persecuted anyone, not false Christians, not Jews, not anyone. Being born of God, it is not in the nature of true believers/true Christians/ true Jews to do so. These have only been persecuted, as sheep led to the slaughter (read The Persecutors and Persecuted). Jews persecuted true believers in the Messiah, as is on record in both the Old and New Testaments, but true believers have never persecuted Jews.
After quoting Aikman, Hagee writes:
“In this chapter, we are going to take a look at ‘the uglier side of Christian history’.”
Here we must establish an understanding. Hagee proposes to look at the history of false Christianity, which he supposes to be representative of true believers, legitimate, but wayward. This is not true. As Jesus said:
Matthew 7:15-20 MKJV
(15) Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
(16) You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
(17) Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.
(18) A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
(19) Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
(20) Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.
Being false, despite charitable deeds, preaching, and many other apparent good works, false Christianity has only the ugly side in nature. Why is that? It is because false Christianity is the counterfeit of true Christianity. It is unregenerate – an imitative product of the carnal man. The false church is comprised of the works of men, of man-made, rather than God-made, Christians. It has no beautiful side; it is all ugly, as beautiful as it may appear to the world.
It is the false Christians who, in Jesus’ Name, wreaked their havoc on the world, with true Christians and with Jews. Hagee writes:
“The Roman Catholic Church…was supposed to carry the light of the gospel….”
The only way Mr. Hagee could ever say that is because he has never recognized the Catholic Church for what it is and has always been – counterfeit Christianity, anti-Christ – even though he boldly declares its heinous sins and sinfulness throughout its history. Does he or does he not believe the Lord’s plain words about trees and fruit? The answer is, “No.” There can be only one reason for that. He does not believe according to the faith from above.
“We are of God. He who knows God hears us. The one who is not of God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6 MKJV).
The Catholic Church has been the most vicious, murderous, diabolical organism in the Name of Christ on the face of the earth, and her daughters have been little better, for like begets like, and those who are born of, or broken from, her are as her, just as a willow branch will produce a willow tree of the very same kind from which it was separated.
So let’s not blame true believers in Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach for the sins of nominal Christians who had nothing to do with Him. History records only the ugliness of the false and not of the true, which ugliness doesn’t exist. While Hagee is right about “Christian” Roman warfare against Jews, he is wrong in supposing that true Christians were ever anti-Semitic.
The Jews as a nation were responsible from the beginning for the persecution of the faithful and righteous. They persecuted and killed their prophets before Christ, as testified by the prophets in the Tenach, and persecuted true Christians from the time of Christ. Those who desire to know the truth about true believers will read the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, not Christian history or John Hagee’s writings.
May God forgive and redeem the Jews to the full status of His beloved. He does that by His grace through the process of repentance and not by pretending there was never any guilt. Ignorance and unjustified oversight never have, and never will, win the day for anyone at any time. God calls all into account, as history has amply demonstrated and will continue to do so.
Galatians 6:7-10 MKJV
(7) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he also will reap.
(8) For he sowing to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh. But he sowing to the Spirit will reap life everlasting from the Spirit.
(9) But we should not lose heart in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not faint.
(10) So then as we have time, let us work good toward all, especially toward those of the household of faith.
Victor Hafichuk
(Click HERE to skip to the response from John Hagee’s organization and what transpired afterwards.)
* There can be no doubt the West is now in great peril. Within our boundaries, the lethal threat advances with increasing, cancerous progress.
On this, we agree fully with Hagee. While many “infidels” (non-Muslims) sleep, the vicious violator is in the bedroom with drawn sword, proceeding to rape, pillage, and destroy. Islam’s committed intent, in true Muhammadan spirit, is to wipe out all vestiges of Judaeo-Christian and general Western culture and influence. Its religious mandate from Allah, its false god, and Muhammad, its false prophet, is to destroy Jews and Christians, to establish Islam throughout the world, and to impose Sharia law upon every living soul. That is Muhammad; that is the Koran; that is Islam, like it or not. Talk about death and Hell closely stalking.
The West has earned this judgment of God (read The Muslim Scourge and The Muslim Scourge: Ordained by God). The nominal Christian West has denied its God and become horridly corrupt. It deceives itself into thinking it is right and good, or worse still, that truth and good don’t matter anymore. “Christ has picked up the tab for all our evils and we are no longer obligated” – so goes the prevalent heinous doctrine, implied or explicit. Nominal Christendom has come to conclude that Christianity is anything unregenerate men want it to be for their convenience – they call it “grace.”
But God calls it “iniquity.” Orthodox Western Christian religious culture needs to be destroyed. It is the harlot, Mystery Babylon, the mother of whores, destroying man ever so piously and lovingly.
God destroyed mixture in Noah’s day when His sons married daughters of the world, producing strange children (Genesis 6:1-7). This He did by water. Now He must destroy the world again, but this time, He must use a more powerful and permanent cleanser – spiritual fire.
He will now destroy the ungodly mixture in our day, a day filled with rapacity and murder, of every kind of violence of body, soul, and spirit one can possibly imagine, as it was in Noah’s day (Genesis 6:11) and worse. And God is using the vicious beast of Islam as one of His major fiery cleansing agents to do it. When He has completed His judgment on those who take His Name in vain, bringing on offenders the things offenders have done, God will utterly destroy the beast of Islam, sparing mankind inevitable complete self-destruction:
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22 MKJV).
March 17, 2011
Dear Paul,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On behalf of John Hagee Ministries we thank you for sharing your thoughts with Pastor Hagee. Members of our staff at John Hagee Ministries reviewed your inquiry regarding who killed Jesus Christ.
The execution of Jesus was carried out by Roman soldiers. First, who killed Jesus is irrelevant. If you’re a devout Christian, Jesus would tell you not to blame but to forgive. If Jesus hadn’t died on the cross, you’d have no route to salvation. So in a way you should be thanking those who executed him, not blaming them.
The Gospel of Matthew tells us that when Christ was brought to the Sanhedrin, “The Chief Priest, the elders, and the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death” (26: 59-61), and found several. Finally, Christ’s own words were found sufficient to condemn Him to death. Thus, in the morning, “…all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death” (27:1). Later, when Pilate tried to release Christ, they vehemently insisted that He had to be killed, and the angry crowd that was present, as well as the priests, finally prevailed (Luke 23: 23).
Were all the Jews, therefore, guilty of Christ’s death? Absolutely not. Were most of the religious leaders guilty? According to the Gospel story, they were. They plotted to capture Christ, they found false witnesses to inculpate Him, and they refused to believe His word, though His mighty works supported His claims. The religious leaders wanted Him dead and did not cease until their aim to have him killed was accomplished.
We at John Hagee Ministries pray for you and your family in the name of our Lord. May God bless you and guide you in all your ways. Isaiah 26:3 reminds us, “And He will keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee”.
Sincerely,
Edward Martinez
John Hagee Ministries
Hi Edward,
Thanks for getting back to me. Now read the paper I sent you, because it’s obvious you and your team haven’t. You assume we are saying things we aren’t, and then you send us a standardized answer based on your erroneous assumptions. You need to carefully read the paper and inform yourselves of what we actually do say. You need to deal with the facts and not defensively regurgitate doctrinal error that is already soundly refuted in the very writing you presume to address.
We aren’t blaming the Jews for killing the Messiah, as you ignorantly accuse us. We are alerting them to the facts declared in the Scriptures, in order that they might recognize their sin, repent, and be reconciled to their Lord and God.
The difference is night and day between those who condemn the Jews in hatred, and those who tell the Jews their sin in the truth and love of God to deliver them from death. It’s the difference between the Catholic Church (and other anti-Semites, like Luther), instigating violent persecution against the Jews by calling them “Christ-killers,” and Stephen (and other saints) testifying in the Spirit of Christ to the Jews of their rebellion against God that culminated in the betrayal and murder of their Messiah (Acts 7), for their sakes.
The righteous come showing His people their sins:
“Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet! And show My people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins” (Isaiah 58.1).
On the one hand we have the Catholic Church and others condemning and persecuting the Jews. On the other hand we have the faithful testimony of the saints who were consequently persecuted by the Jews. Didn’t they stone Stephen for telling them the truth? Yet he prayed for his brethren, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:60). So not only did the Jews murder their Messiah, but also those who, in and by the Messiah, were sent to them for their good.
Paul, a Jew, said this:
“Who [the Jews] both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us. They please not God and are contrary to all men” (1 Thessalonians 2:15).
As a Jew, of course Paul is not speaking of every single Jew, but of the nation as a whole, of whom he also said:
“I speak the truth in Christ — I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites and to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers, and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, Who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 9:1-5).
So how can you think yourselves to be in harmony with God when you teach contrary to His Words? How can you be justified when dismissing the testimony of Paul and the rest of His saints? Why do you think the Jews have been persecuted around the world ever since the days of their Diaspora? Haven’t you heard of the law of sowing and reaping? The persecution they sowed against Christ and His Body came back to them multiplied, just as it works when you plant and water seeds in the earth.
In the paper showing Mr. Hagee’s error, we say that not all Jews were calling for Christ’s blood. Again, had you responsibly red it, you wouldn’t so readily misstate our position. Or would you? Are you that blind, or a straight-out liar? You have no basis for your objections, Edward. The Lord says you will give account for your every word. You need to awaken to the fear of God.
Jesus said of the Jews and the nation of Israel, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Yet within a generation, God razed Jerusalem, just as He also prophesied. The Temple was destroyed, not one stone left standing upon another, and the nation was dispersed as foretold by Jesus and its prophets. Though individual fates vary, God treats the Jewish people as a nation, a single entity.
Today the Jews worship the stones they believe remain from their ancient Temple, not knowing or recognizing that One greater than the Temple is here, presently among us because He is in us. Their Messiah Whom they slew was resurrected, ascended into Heaven, and returned to us by His Spirit, inhabiting those who receive Him by faith. His Name is Emmanuel indeed, “God with us!”
But you prefer to keep the Jews ignorant, in their homage to dead stones rather than the Chief Cornerstone, Whom they rejected? Do you think it pleases God that you consign them to such darkness and base idolatry? Is it right to lead them on to believe they are square with God as is? You and your people could only take this position because you are in the dark yourselves, ignorant of the resurrected, living Lord and His life-giving ways. You have a form of godliness, but lack the reality, denying His power.
Unlike the Jews, you claim to have the Son of God. They aren’t the false friends of God – you are. Woe to you people! Know and attend to your own sins and offenses against God, and then you can help your neighbors see theirs. Read The True Marks of a Cult, all of you, and let it be known that you are in grave error. Repent in dust and ashes. Tear down the temple of false religion that you have made with carnal hands, promoting yourselves in the name of fallible man. Yours is the work of the destroyer.
Yes, we all know that Jesus prayed for the Jews’ forgiveness, but who can say they have received that forgiveness as a people? If they had, why did God send Rome to destroy their nation, taking away their land and homes, if not their lives? If that is the forgiveness of God, pray tell what is His wrath?
Paul said this about the situation of the Jews before Jerusalem was razed by Rome, yet after Jesus and Stephen prayed for their forgiveness:
“For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also have suffered these things by your own countrymen, even as they also by the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, also driving us out and they do not please God and being contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always; but the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost” (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16).
And wasn’t that wrath exemplified by the fall of Jerusalem and the dispersing of the Jews to the four corners of the world? So we see how God speaks and acts towards Israel as one people and nation. The actions of those who lead Israel particularly affect the rest of the nation. For example:
“Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites” (2 Samuel 21:1 KJV).
Obviously not all of the Jewish nation participated in this deed. God specified that only Saul was to blame, yet what he did had ramifications for the rest of the people. The famine sent by God afflicted the whole nation. He revealed the root problem to David, and the remedial action to solve it. Something had to be done. Without recognition of sin, without repentance and remediation where due, the sin remains and deadly consequences continue.
And what of God’s promise of blessings or curses through Moses, which can apply to an individual, but was given to the whole nation of Israel?
“And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD your God to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you this day, that the LORD your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth…. The LORD shall establish you a holy people unto Himself, as He has sworn unto you, if you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways” (Deuteronomy 28:1,9).
How will the Jews, as a people, be reconciled to God, if you deny them the truth about their past sin that has them bound to death and Hell? What you promote by spreading John Hagee’s teaching comes directly against the Word of God – for example, Zechariah 12:10:
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
You deny Israel the promise of their liberation, as the prophet goes on to say (verse 13:1):
“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.”
Who are you and John Hagee to declare cleanness without repentance and without drinking at the Fountain that is Christ? Who are you, John Hagee, and the pope to stand as one between the Lord and His people, presuming to stand with them while betraying both with a kiss?
“Hear, O you mountains, the LORD’s complaint, and you strong foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a complaint against His people, and He will contend with Israel” (Micah 6:2).
We are so thankful for what God has done for Israel, restoring them to their promised land in this last and great Day. We have no doubt whatsoever that He will fulfill all His promises to Israel, also bringing them into the promised Land from above, the Zion of God, as spoken from the beginning:
“And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written: ‘There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins’” (Romans 11:26-27).
Those who love God are for Israel and the removal of their sin.
Has Mr. Hagee seen our writing? You spoke in his name, answering what you haven’t even heard. Do the responsible thing now and read the writing, amend your answer (if you will), and provide all of this to Mr. Hagee, allowing him to hear the matter and speak for himself. You can be sure many others are and will be reading it.
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Since there are no available email addresses on John Hagee’s site, I used their contact form to provide him and his staff with our response to his book, Jerusalem Countdown, and its antiChrist doctrine. Several days later, I received a reply from Edward Martinez, representing “John Hagee Ministries.”
Although Edward claimed that “members of our staff at John Hagee Ministries reviewed your inquiry regarding who killed Jesus Christ,” it was obvious that no one had responsibly done so. In the first place, had they done so, they wouldn’t call it an inquiry.
All this and more is addressed in my reply to Edward, which never reached him because it bounced back as undeliverable, as shown above. Edward sent me mail from an address that couldn’t receive mail, though there was nothing in his letter alerting me to the fact he would not receive a reply.
If I actually had been inquiring of Hagee Ministries, that would have left me without my question answered. As it was, I was speaking substance for the benefit of those on the other end, but they had already hung up the phone. What do the Scriptures have to say about this kind of behavior?
“Listen before you answer. If you don’t, you are being stupid and insulting” (Proverbs 18:13 GNB).
And they don’t listen before or after they answer!
Like the pope of the Catholic Church, Hagee has simply issued his edicts and that’s the end of the matter. You have your answer, patronization politely disguised as dialogue among the brethren of Christ. No true man of God is threatened by truth or error and would use a pretense of civility to hide the fact.
John Hagee dispenses his opinions as the Word of God, while refusing to listen to the truth or to defend his exposed error. How disgusting! How despicable! He presumes to represent the One Who says, “Come, let us reason together,” yet he represents himself as the Final Word with which there is no reasoning whatsoever. His behavior in this matter tells the whole story, as does the name, “John Hagee Ministries.” None of it has anything to do with Jesus Christ.
A site reader, James, left the following comment:
You should address the error that Hagee teaches claiming Jews do not have to call upon the Name of Jesus and become born again in order to be saved.
There’s numerous articles on the net / videos showing Hagee saying this so finding proof of this shouldn’t be hard.
Another reader, Brad, found the following:
John Hagee is quoted as saying: ““I’m not trying to convert the Jewish people to the Christian faith… In fact, trying to convert Jews is a waste of time. Jews already have a covenant with God and that has never been replaced by Christianity.” (Houston Chronicle, April 30, 1988, sec, 6, pg. 1). ”
“The [Jewish] people wanted Him to be their Messiah, but He absolutely refused. The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah, it was Jesus who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews!” (John Hagee, Should Christians Support Israel? (San Antonio, TX: Dominion Publishers, 1987, [pp. 67-68])
Another source:
Victor replied:
James, you bring up an important fact. Thank you! Hagee declares an unforgivable error, that the Jews don’t need Jesus Christ’s salvation, that He is not their Messiah. This is A LIE OF LIES. Jesus Christ is the Messiah, HaMashiach, of all mankind, beginning with the Jews and on to all gentiles. He is the Savior of ALL men. How Hagee can teach that He isn’t the Savior and Lord of the Jews defies the Biblical Record in its entirety.
Isn’t it ironic how Hagee appears to be a great friend of the Jews and of Israel and at the same time leads them astray? Much like the Greek gift of the Trojan horse to the city of Troy, an apparent gift with the intent to destroy. Not saying Hagee deliberately seeks to destroy Israel and the Jews but he serves to that end nonetheless. In any case, his ministry and message are devilish. He will fail.
There’s a preacher who works to promote the Bible and uses it to try to substantiate what he teaches, yet puts forth a prominent message that so contradicts the entire Bible. This wolf wears some impressive sheepskin to deceive people in many ways but he will be exposed. Even now, some see Hagee’s folly and only the wicked are so incredibly blind and foolish as to believe such obviously destructive claptrap.