One of the most compelling arguments for the existence of God is the existence of the Jew. Nations larger than Israel are now extinct. Tribes that were at one time greater in number than the nation of Israel are currently either extinct or endangered. At present, Russia contains more than twenty tribes of indigenous peoples that are endangered. There are more than 1,800 tribes in Brazil that are currently extinct. Where are the descendents of the Biblical “Nineveh”? They are non-existent. Where is the nation of the Philistines? There is no such nation. Where are the kingdoms of Tyre and Sidon? They are gone. Where is the Grecian empire? It is all but forgotten. What about the Roman empire? The Roman Catholic church is all that remains of it.
These nations, tribes, and people groups were far bigger than the nation of Israel. Yet, against all odds, the Jews cannot be destroyed. Geographically, they are small and completely surrounded by their enemies. Ethnically, they are a small minority. Politically, they are globally insignificant. Demographically, they scarcely register as even a statistic. Yet no one can deny that they have left an impression upon the world about which no other group can boast. Repeatedly throughout history, world leaders have vowed to destroy the Jews. Those leaders are dead. The Jew remains.
The First Marvel – Jewish Identity
The Jews were scattered from the land of Israel in Old Testament times as they were carried off into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. They remained in Babylon for seventy years. After that time, Cyrus, king of Persia, allowed the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and the wall. Although many Jews returned to their homeland, many did not. Many Jews remained scattered throughout the known world during Alexander's empire, and even to New Testament times. In the inter-testamental period, the Grecian empire was in full force. Jews were scattered, many of them in Chaldea, some in Greece, others in Syria. Though the Greeks influenced the Jews greatly, the Jews remained faithful to the tenets of Judaism. Jews that were influenced greatly by the Greeks became known as “Hellenistic Jews.” Many of these Jews spoke Greek rather than Hebrew. Because Solomon's temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, the Jewish synagogue was born. Throughout the known world, the Jew, separated from the temple of his homeland, worshiped in the synagogue in whatever region he may have been. Even in a polytheistic Grecian world, the Jews remained true to their monotheistic values.
The Second Marvel – Jewish Perseverance
The Jews were further scattered in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Herod's temple and the city of Jerusalem. The Jews were a people without a home. For over two millennia, the Jews were driven from their land. Although they were once a nation with definite borders, ruled by their own kings, protected by their own military, spoke a common Hebrew language, unified under a monotheistic system of worship, and participated in their own unique customs and culture, the Jews have been homeless. They have dwelt in nations that would receive them – some as friends, others as enemies. Many nations viewed the Jew as the problem in their failing economy. Because of this, Jews have throughout the centuries been the object of persecution. Haman tried to commit genocide against the Jews during the time of the Medo-Persian empire. Adolf Hitler blamed the Jews (primarily, though not exclusively) on the economic woes that faced Germany after the first world war. It seemed that no matter how bad the economy was in Germany, German Jews prospered. Germans cannot prosper, Hitler argued, while the Jews are prospering. With this reasoning as the basis, many Jews throughout Europe faced extermination during World War II. In more recent times, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad infamously stated that Israel should be wiped off the map. Of course, Haman did not exterminate the Jews; Hitler could not rid the world of Jewish presence; and Ahmadinejad was incapable of destroying the nation of Israel. No matter what attack is launched against the Jews, no plan to extinguish their influence from the face of the earth has ever been, or will ever be, successful.
The Third Marvel – Jewish Wealth
In his best-selling book Thou Shall Prosper, Rabbi Daniel Lapin demonstrates that the Jews are disproportionately wealthy. The Jews make up less than 2% of the US population, less than 1% of the world's population, but they make up 15-25% of Forbes 400 list of billionaires in any given year. The Jews, in spite of all that has come against them, prosper! This is an undeniable fact. Absolutely no one can deny that the Jews prosper to a degree that is against all odds. There are many indicators that point to the fact that the Jew should not even be in existence, let alone prosper! It is entertaining for Christians to watch journalists present their best articles attempting to explain the immense wealth of the Jewish people. Once in a while, I will read a news article about the latest study that presents some new insight on why the Jews are incredibly wealthy. It is hilarious to read some of their explanations.
Of course we Christians know positively why the Jews are incredibly prosperous. The God of the Bible has blessed them! When Hitler tried to destroy the Jews, it was not a battle between Hitler and the Jews; it was a battle between Hitler and God! And God won! You will have to exterminate God before you can exterminate the Jews. The atheist thinks he has already destroyed God, but the incredible wealth of the Jew says otherwise. The Jew is blessed because, in Genesis 12, God declared that they would be blessed. God has stacked the odds against the Jews and then blessed them against those odds. Behind the prosperous nation of Israel stands the God who prospered them. You either see that truth, or you refuse to see it. Either way, it is there.
