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We Are Almost There Arlen L. Chitwood
Appendix 1 Yad Vashem “A Place and a Name”
A Memorial to the Jewish Victims of the Holocaust Even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants — everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant — Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. (Isaiah 56:5-7) “Yad Vashem,” transliterated from the Hebrew text of Isaiah 56:5 (meaning, “A Place and a Name”), is the official name of the memorial in Jerusalem to the 6,000,000 Jewish victims of the Holocaust. And “Yad Vashem,” as well, is not only a memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust but also a research center, fully documenting all aspects of the Holocaust. The Jewish people not only want their own people but the world at large to know about and to never forget that which occurred in Europe throughout the twelve-year reign of the Third Reich (1933-1945), both immediately preceding and during World War II. A Place, A Name The Hebrew word yad in Isaiah 56:5, translated “place” (KJV, NKJV) or “memorial” (NASB, NIV), is actually the Hebrew word for “hand,” though it could take on other related meanings within different contexts. In this passage, the way yad is used, the thought of both “hand” and “place” appear to come into use together. That is, the thought contextually has to do with Israel being lifted up via divine power, by God’s hand, into a particular place, with the nation possessing “a name” (vashem) in keeping with their elevated place. Then, there is one other matter. The two words, yad vashem in Isaiah 56:5, appear in a Messianic passage. These two words actually describe the place that Israel will occupy during the coming Messianic Era — an elevated place above all the nations (no longer the tail, but now the head), with at least one form of Israel’s name in that day seen in Malachi 3:12: And all nations shall call you “blessed” . . . . Thus, the Israeli people, years ago, chose a name for their Holocaust memorial from a Messianic passage of Scripture, actually describing the Jewish people yet future, not today. But, aside from the preceding, there would be a marked parallel between how the two words depict both that which is seen today and that which will exist yet future. 1) Today The Holocaust memorial — aptly named Yad Vashem in one respect — came into existence in 1953, as the nation had previously come into existence in 1948, out of the ruins and devastation produced by World War II. As a “phoenix,” both the nation and the memorial arose out of the ashes of this war. The memorial has to do with the dead, 6,000,000 of them; but the memorial was built by the living, which has grown to another 6,000,000 in the land today. And they have a message for all those who died: “We Live.” 2) Yet Future Yad Vashem in Isaiah 56:5, as previously shown, actually has to do with a description of the Jewish people during another time, yet future. It has to do with a time following a future Holocaust that the Jewish people are about to enter into and experience. During this future time, the Jewish people forming the present nation of Israel in the Middle East are going to be uprooted from their land and driven back out among the nations (aside from those killed or those escaping to a place in “the wilderness” which God will have prepared for them, where He will protect them [Matthew 24:15ff; Revelation 12:6, 14]). And out among the nations, the Jewish people will experience something similar to but far worse than that which they experienced in Europe immediately preceding and during World War II. And out of this time a nation will arise and the true Yad Vashem will be seen. As following World War II, as a “phoenix,” the nation, in connection with the fulfillment of Isaiah 56:5, will arise out of the ashes of that which is about to occur. 3) The Past Assyrian, Nebuchadnezzar, Hitler, the Future Assyrian The Israelites in Egypt during Moses’ day, persecuted by the past Assyrian, were pictured as a bush that continuously burned without being consumed, with God in the midst of the bush (Exodus 3:2-4). Thus, persecuting Israel was/is persecuting God; and to destroy Israel, God must be destroyed. The Israelites during Daniel’s day were pictured by Nebuchadnezzar having three of their number cast into a fiery furnace that had been heated seven times hotter than normal, with a fourth Person seen in the furnace with them (which could only have been the same Person in the midst of the burning bush in Exodus 3:2-4). And the three Israelites emerged from the furnace without a single hair on their heads singed, their clothes unburnt, and apart from even the smell of fire or smoke upon their bodies (Daniel 3:19ff). During Hitler’s day, by and through his efforts to produce a Jew-free Europe, 6,000,000 Jews died — mainly in concentration camp gas chambers, with their bodies then burned in crematoriums. The nation itself though still lived and could not be destroyed. Then when the future Assyrian appears, about twice as many Jews will be slain worldwide in half the time as died in Europe immediately before and during World War II. But the nation itself, exactly as at the end of World War II, will emerge. The nation will still live, with prophecy after prophecy then continuing to be fulfilled regarding Israel. 4) If One Wants to Do Away with Israel… If one wants to destroy or see God do away with Israel, he will need to change both laws that God has established and decrees that He has made (e.g., note Isaiah 54:17; Jeremiah 31:35-37; 33:20-26). Those in the past should have asked about the matter or read the Book. They found out the hard way. And the same could be said for the one about to appear. His end will be the same. His end has already been foretold time after time in the Book. Never Again, but… Relative to the Holocaust, or anything like the Holocaust, the Jewish people have a saying today: “Never Again!” That is, the Jewish people are determined to never let anything like this happen again. The Jewish people are determined to never again let any group of people, any nation, or any group of nations, do something such as was done to them in Europe during the reign of the Third Reich. And this would undoubtedly be the main reason for Israel’s hardline attitude toward dealings with individuals and nations today, particularly the Moslem nations surrounding them (which are mainly Arabic nations). With a view to the past, dating back 3,500 years, with a particular emphasis on the recent past in modern times, how else could one expect the Jewish people to react (e.g., the Jewish people’s present reaction to the U.S. Secretary of State trying to bring about a peace agreement between them and nations openly proclaiming that they have one goal — to drive Israel into the sea)? (In the light of Scripture, efforts by anyone attempting to bring about peace between Israel and the surrounding nations today can only result in complete failure. It simply can’t be done. God has “torn” the nation, for a reason; and God alone will one day “heal” the nation when His purpose for tearing the nation has been brought to pass [Hosea 5:13-6:3]. Until then, no power on earth can do a thing about effecting peace in the troubled Middle East. Hosea 5:14 specifically states, “. . . none shall rescue him [the one whom God has ‘torn’].” Those presently trying to bring about peace in the Middle East should have checked the Book. It would have prevented a lot of unnecessary expended energy and expense.) But as previously shown, that which the Jewish people have determined to never let happen again, will happen again. And, when it does happen again, the sufferings experienced by the Jewish people in Europe during the reign of the Third Reich will pale by comparison to the sufferings that the Jewish people are about to experience. The latter will so far exceed the former, or any other period of Jewish persecution dating all the way back to the inception of the nation during Moses’ day in Egypt, that there can be no comparison. The Future Holocaust Israeli Repentance, Then . . . Why will this future Holocaust occur? And what will be the end of the matter? The answers to both questions are very simple, and they have to do with two inseparably interrelated things: 1) Israeli disobedience. 2) God driving the Jewish people out among the Gentile nations to effect repentance through persecution at the hands of these nations. The Prophets have spoken, this is what they have to say, and God’s Word given through the Prophets cannot fail to be fulfilled. The future Holocaust will be of such severity that the Jewish people — after 2,600 years of Gentile dominance, with the Jewish people scattered among the nations — will be brought to the place of repentance. That, in short, is “the why” of the future holocaust, along with its “intensity”; and, as well, that, in short, will be “the end of the matter.” After the Jewish people have been brought to the place of repentance through the severity of the future Holocaust, Christ will return, bring about Israel’s national conversion, re-gather the Jewish people from the nations back to their land, destroy Gentile world power, make a new covenant with Israel in a restored theocracy, and subsequently work through this restored nation pertaining to purposes seen in their calling in the beginning. A repentant, converted, and restored Israel will then hold the scepter and occupy a position at the head of all the Gentile nations; the nations will be blessed through Israel; and Israel will then carry the message of the one true and living God to the nations worldwide. Then, the entire Jewish nation and the world at large will, at long last, realize that which is set forth by the words “yad vashem” in Isaiah 56:5. |