Shoah

The term “Holocaust” is derived from a Greek word meaning "burnt offering" (the Hebrew equivalent is “olah”). It has become the most common word used in English to describe the Nazi extermination of Jews. The word Holocaust is sometimes used to refer to the persecution of other groups that the Nazis targeted, In contrast, The Hebrew word Shoah, which means "catastrophic destruction", refers exclusively to Jewish victims.

A correspondent asked me if the Shoah (Holocaust) was prophesied in the Bible. This was not a question that I had thought about, so it started me thinking. I began with a study of the Hebrew word “shoah”. It is used in the Old Testament about a dozen times, meaning calamity, disaster or ruination. It is applied to Job a couple of times. David uses the word shoah three times in Psalm 35 to describe the terrible afflictions that had come upon him.

Shoah is used for the future in Zech 1:15 for a day of rage and a day of distress and ruination. However, as far as I know, there is no specific prophecy about the Shoah that the Jews experienced due to the Nazi movement in the 1930s and 1940s.

However, the experience in Europe fits within the general prophecy given in Deuteronomy 28, where Moses describes the blessings that come with keeping the covenant and the curses that come with breaking it. These curses are the consequence of losing God's protection from evil. Deut 28:65-67 describes the last most awful stage of disobedience in this way.

Among those nations, you will find no peace, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. So your lives will be hanging in doubt before you; and you will be terrified night and day, and have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, 'If only it were evening!' And at evening you will say, 'If only it were morning!' because of the terror of your heart which you fear, and the sight of your eyes which you will see.

This is a good description of what the Jews in Germany and Eastern Europe felt, but what actually happened is far worse.

This might be a bit controversial, and difficult for many Christians to accept, but the Shoah (holocaust) was not announced by God through his prophets because he did not plan it. It was far more horrendous than the curse of the law required. The Shoah was far worse than specified by Deuteronomy 28:65-67, which is the culmination of the curse.

I believe that the Shoah was planned by the spiritual powers of evil as part of a bigger plan to develop Zionism and circumvent God's plan for restoring Israel by bringing about a return to the land before the right time had come.

I also believe that the Calling of the Jews and their return to the land is an epochal event in New Testament history that opens the way for the fullness of the Kingdom of God because God's team will be complete.

The spiritual powers of evil could not prevent God from completing his plan, so they tried to disrupt it by pre-empting it.

The restoration of Israel described in the Old Testament is a glorious event, with a massive outpouring of the Spirit, tears of repentance, joy in the Lord, and the nations graciously opening the way for God's people to return. We have not seen the fulfilment of these scriptures yet. The land has not been restored to the “milk and honey promised”. Instead, a massive amount of water has been used on a few parts of the land.

The return that we have seen is what Ezekiel called a "return by the sword". The spiritual powers of evil implemented a plan where the Jews were returned using political manoeuvring and military power. The nation of Israel relies on political scheming for its security. This dependence on political and military power has given a place to angry and violent spiritual powers. We can see the ugly consequence of this spiritual problem being outworked right before our eyes in the current disaster in Gaza.

The spiritual powers of evil planned the Shoah because without the guilt that it created, the Western nations would not have supported the creation of the State of Israel. So, the Shoah and the establishment of the state of Israel was a package developed by the spiritual powers of evil to invigorate their evil plans. They planned to disrupt God's plan for the calling of the Jews, the restoration of Israel and the coming of the Kingdom. This is why it was not prophesied by God and his prophesied.

However, God is God, so he will not be circumvented. He will complete his purpose, and millions of people who are descendants of Jacob (many without realising it) will awake and return to a restored land. This will open the way for the collapse of political power and the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

However, God's plan might take a little longer because many of the Jews bought into the false plan developed by the spiritual powers of evil. Their plan will produce great hostility to Israel amongst the nation. It may end with an invasion of Israel by Western military powers.

This war might result in serious destruction and contamination of the land by the nasty weapons that are used by both sides (warned in many Old Testament prophecies, eg Jer 4:20). God might need to wait for the land to recover before he can bring the descendants of Jacob back in the glorious and joyful restoration prophesied in the Old Testament.