"Why would God allow six million Jews to die?"

“Why would God allow six million Jews to die?”  Four minutes into our discussion regarding Passover, my new Jewish friend immediately focused on the Holocaust.  Has this question been posed to you?  How did you respond?  And why am I addressing the Holocaust in this blog?  Firstly, please realize that the raising of this question is not unusual.  Secondly, the Jewish community annually observes Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Remembrance Day 13 days following the beginning of Passover.  And so, this observance occurred at sundown on April 23^rd through sundown on April 24^th.  At the first Passover in Egypt, the Passover lambs functioned as a substitutionary sacrifice, dying in place of the people. “Holocaust” means disaster, catastrophe, burnt offering. 

God is omnipotent – He is all powerful; God is omniscient – He is all knowing; God is omnipresent – He is everywhere present/all is within His presence.  God is eternal – He never had a beginning/He’ll never have an ending.  God is just and holy and He is love.  We need to remember that His righteous demands must be met and that He always provides the way to Himself.  God is SOVEREIGN as we know from Scripture.  Many times in life we do not know the “Why?”  BUT GOD is in control.  In this truth we have confidence.  And, please let us remember that God promises RESTORATION!

We can blame the cause of the Holocaust on Hitler and the German people.  However, we need to realize that a far darker cause underlies the attempted extermination of the Jewish people.  It is Satan’s wrath!  And, perhaps, the awareness of sin – sinful mankind – a fallen world – can serve as the signpost that points to something far greater: the holiness and goodness of God and the Messiah Who saves us!  The destiny of the Jewish people is wrapped up in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus. 

I met Bernie at a synagogue.  Bernie was charged with setting up the display for Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Remembrance Day at his house of worship.  Since I was involved in providing a display for this observance at our church, I requested Bernie’s input.  We bonded immediately.  Bernie supplied us with a number of items.  In speaking with Bernie, I discovered that he and his parents lived in the same apartment building in the Bronx where my grandparents lived!  A coincidence?  I think not!  In speaking with Bernie about the Holocaust, I shared with him that Jesus is the quintessential Jew Who, in His sufferings, has embodied the Jewish experience for all time. 

The Messianic movement in Eastern Europe prior to Hitler’s invasion was strong.  There were more than a dozen missions to Jewish people in Warsaw alone.  Many Jewish people had come to faith in Jesus.  When Hitler came on the scene, it didn’t matter if you were a Jewish non-believer or a Jewish believer.  If you were Jewish, you went to the ghetto – and then to the camps.  Jewish believers are burdened for their people.  Jewish believers are passionate regarding sharing Jesus with their Jewish non-believing brethren.  Think of the concentration of Jewish people in the camps…people who were going to their deaths.  Would not Jewish believers be proclaiming Jesus?  And would not the good news of forgiveness of sin and eternal life through the Promised One of Israel spread?

Rachmiel Frydland, one of the most well-known Jewish believers and a survivor of the Holocaust, spoke of his own interaction with the remaining believers in the Ghetto:  “In late 1944, by hiding in cemeteries, deserted churches, and the homes of fearful friends, I was one of the few surviving Jews in Warsaw outside the ghetto.  In that enclosure were 5,000 Jews, the last of Warsaw’s original 500,000.  By God’s enabling, I secretly slipped into the ghetto and was able to speak comfort to a few of the Jewish believers still alive.  Other Jewish brethren heard the message and believed in Messiah Jesus.”  (http://www.messianicassociation.org/bio-frydland.htm)

I do believe we will see in glory many Jewish people from the ghettoes and the camps, having trusted in Jesus for their salvation.

When our Jewish friends, neighbors, acquaintance, and co-workers ask about the Holocaust, listen to them.  Then you might share, “I don’t have all the answers, but will you let me come alongside you and we’ll ask those questions and seek answers together?”

Cathy Wilson
cathylouwilson@live.com