What follows is a book report, made from excerpts taken from Michael L. Brown’s “Our Hands Are Stained With BLOOD”. Forward It is said of a good book, “I could not put it down.”
I must say of Our Hands Are Stained With Blood, “I wanted
to put it down, set it aside, not read it or deal with its issues”—but
I couldn’t. The Lord would not
let me put it down. I was too
convicted. Convicted of my ignorance. Ignorance of the spirit of
anti-Semitism that has been in the Church and in many so-called Christians
throughout history. I
did not know the extent of the persecution by Gentile “Christians” toward
our Jewish brethren in the past. I
know it now—thanks to Mike Brown’s thorough research and indisputable
historical facts. The statements
of Christian leaders of the past toward the Jew left me shaken and awakened. What scares me is that a similar spirit
of anti-Semitism is in the Church today among some segments of the Body
of Christ. This has come in the
form of a popular teaching circulating in the Church called “Replacement
Theology,” the idea that the Church is the new This book is therefore a wake-up call to
the Church. As a pastor I want
anti-Semitism to stop at the church door.
It must have no place among true Christians. Wherever we see this attitude raise its ugly
head we must work to change it. And
may intercessors be raised up to pray for the gospel to go “to the Jew
first.” I consider myself to be a lover of My prayer is that you will be as deeply
moved as I was by this book, and that you will see that it gets into
the hands of pastors, Christian leaders and laymen, as I plan to do—whether
they are sensitive to Jewish issues or not.
No one can be the same toward the Jewish people, both those who
believe in Jesus and those who do not, after reading Our Hands Are Stained With Blood.
Don Wilkerson
Publisher’s ForewordThis book needed to be written. Gentile believers need to know what was done to the Jewish people over the centuries in the name of Jesus. We Gentile believers need to understand
the pain and suffering that countless pseudo-Christians have brought
upon the Jewish people. Only
then can we ever begin to comprehend the depth of the pain and sorrow
they have endured at the hands of so-called “Christians”. Although much of what you will read cannot
be attributed to genuine Christian believers, some of it can. There is an unnerving trend toward a renewed
anti-Semitic spirit, even among Christians, not only in the We need to understand our responsibility
“to stand in the gap” on behalf of God’s still-chosen people. Genuine prayers of intercession need to be offered
on the behalf of Finally, we need to be reminded to pray
for the peace of Jerusalem, as the Scripture commands us to do, that
the glory of the Lord might subdue the earth, and that at His coming,
there would be a Bride made up of Jewish and Gentile believers alike,
standing together in genuine unity and in the bonds of peace. From the
Preface: “…It is
the Christian Church—in name, though not in spirit—that has actually
written much of
An Orthodox Jewish author in a book published in 1991, could say: “Today, one of the most fundamental causes of Jewish suffering is the hatred of Christians towards Jews and the Jewish faith.” This Jewish author actually believes: From his birth,
every Christian, practicing or nominal, imbibes the belief that the
Jews, i.e., any and every individual Jew, are answerable for the murder
of his messiah. Indeed, the overwhelming
majority of the acts of persecution, religious coercion and massacres
suffered in history by our People came at the hands of Christians. Thus we see that Christianity was a significant
and major cause of Jewish suffering (Meir Simcha Sokolovsky). As you read some of the chapters that follow—especially as you realize that for many Jews, this “Christianity” was the only brand they ever saw—you will feel revulsion, shock and anger. No doubt your reaction will be, “But that’s not the real Church! That’s not me! True Christians are filled with love, not hate.” On the one hand, that is absolutely true. The Church that butchered Jewish men, women and children could only be a thoroughly apostate Church. In order to emphasize that point, I have often put the words “Church” and “Christian” in quotation marks. Throughout the book, you will be reminded of that… …we must realize that both in the past and in the present, the erroneous theology of true Christians has helped open the door for all types of murderous persecutions of the Jews. The fact that some of this theology is still alive today is strong evidence that the contemporary Church needs to repent…” “…Worse still—this is almost beyond comprehension—there are Christian leaders whose ministries are largely devoted to warning believers to beware of evil Israel. I am not exaggerating! There is still an ugly spirit in the Body that must be exposed. It is bad enough that the same diabolical spirit of anti-Semitism influences much of the world today. But that it still exists in the Church is unthinkable! Would to God that this generation of believers would finally drive out that foul spirit. This book has been written with a burning (and often broken) heart, in the hope that the people of God today would utterly repudiate the Church’s sins of yesterday. This will bring reconciliation—reconciliation of the Church to the Jewish people, and reconciliation of the Jewish people to their Messiah. No doubt there will be controversy, from both Christian and Jewish perspectives. I only ask that you, the reader, read this book with an open heart before God. The results are in His hands. May your heart be stirred to action as you read the pages that follow! Chapter One The Final Solution “You are about to go on a journey. The soldiers have ordered you aboard and the train is ready to leave. You stand side by side with your family, wondering what will come next. You are crowded into a railway cattle car, packed with dozens of other adults and children. Where are they taking us now?…” Let’s find out: “…The old,
the sick, pregnant women and small children, two thousand innocent souls,
were shot and brutally thrown into [freshly dug] graves, one on top
of the other. Many of them were
still alive! For most of the
children they didn’t even waste a bullet.
They were just thrown in alive.
And together with those who were only wounded, finished their
lives under the pressure of the human mass…We learned of the massacre
from the Polish police themselves. They
told [our friend] Moshe Hersh about it in great detail, because they
themselves had taken part in that slaughter.
On the following Sunday, they went to church
with their families, as if nothing had happened. They suffered no guilt feelings. After all, they were only murdering Jews, with
the blessing of their priests, who inflamed them from their pulpits
on Sundays” (Martin Rosenblum, quoted in Martin Gilbert, The Holocaust: A History of the Jews During the Second World War [New
York: Henry Holt, 1985, p. 445, my emphasis]
p. 177, Notes section of Our
Hands Are Stained With BLOOD. Chapter Two A Terrible, Tragic Past “Christianity
did not create the Holocaust; indeed Nazism was anti-Christian, but
it made it possible. Without
Christian antisemitism, the Holocaust would have been inconceivable…Hitler
and the Nazis found in medieval Catholic anti-Jewish legislation a model
for their own, and they read and reprinted Martin Luther’s virulently
antisemitic writings. It is instructive that the Holocaust was unleashed
by the only major country in “…The German
Nazis, then, did not discard the past; they built upon it. They did not begin a development; they completed
it. [Raul Hillberg, The Destruction of the European Jews…1985]” Chapter Three A Blessed and Beautiful Stream “It is true that the Church has sinned terribly against the
Jewish people. But not all the Church has sinned. Wherever
Jesus has been lifted up and adored, there have always been genuine
lovers of Learn about this stream of love and river of blood and who plays an active role within each. Chapter Four The Rabbis: Stiff-necked, Hardhearted and Proud?
“There are hypocritical leaders in every religion.
There are charlatans in every faith.
But are the rabbis especially guilty?
Are they worse than everyone else?
Do they all conceal horrible sins in their hearts? Are they ungodly blasphemers, since they deny
Jesus as Lord? Are they superficial
legalists, since they reject the New Covenant?” The truth about the way most of the rabbis are
and were in history will amaze and humble you. Are you ready for the truth? Chapter Five Miriam and Jacob: Household Names in the Savior’s Home “What do you think of when you hear the words, “Mary, the mother of Jesus”? Do you think of a statue in a Catholic church somewhere, with the Son of God as a babe in His mother’s lap? It certainly sounds “Christian,” doesn’t it? Now, what do you think when you hear the words, “Miriam, the mother of Yeshua”? Quite a different picture comes to mind! This one looks extremely Jewish. Well, for the record: The mother of Jesus was named Miriam as surely as the sister of Moses was named Miriam. In fact, all the Mary’s in the New Testament were Jewish women called Miriam. (That’s right, Mary Magdalene was actually Miriam of Magdala! If we had called her “Mary,” she would not have known we were talking to her.) Because the New Testament was written in Greek, the names have come down to us in Greek dress. But, if we want to get our facts straight, we need to understand that John was really Jochanan (pronounced Yochanan), Matthew was really Mattityahu (Mattai for short) and good ol’ Simon Peter was really Shimon Kepha. In fact, James was really not James at all. He was Jacob!…”
Do you really understand the culture the Christian church was born out
of? If you’re so not sure now,
you need to read this chapter. Modern
Messianic Jewish congregations may be carbon copies of the original
Chapter Six Bad Reporting, Bias and Bigotry “What do the major newspapers, news magazines and news broadcasts on television and radio all have in common? It is a history of misleading, anti-Israel reporting! Here are some examples…
What follows in this chapter is a factual expose of reported stories and
the actual truth that debunks each and every one. Do you have the courage to learn the truth and
be set free from all the lies? Read
the real plain truth about this bias as Chapter Six exposes and separates
fact from fiction behind the sensational news stories of the mainstream
press. Who are the real bigots? Chapter Eight The Inquisition Isn’t Over “Everyone has heard about the Spanish Inquisition. In the days of Christopher Columbus and of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, the Catholic Church launched a terrible persecution against suspected heretics. Thousands [of Jews] were imprisoned, tortured and burned at the stake. All this is common knowledge. But how many of us know that there was a particular “heresy” the Spanish Inquisition sought to uncover and destroy?” This one will amaze you! But it has been part and parcel of the apostate church as well as many genuine churches, that Jews who converted to Christianity up until very recently had to forsake every vestige of their Jewish background and religious practices. But be it known:
“Rather than taking the Law away from Of course, observance of the Law does not make us more righteous, more loved or more spiritual. Through the cross our sins are forgiven, and the Spirit leads us in paths of life. But where is it written that believers, in particular Jewish believers, are forbidden to observe the Law? Where is it written that the Spirit always leads us away from and against the Law? Let’s get more specific: Where do the Scriptures clearly and decisively make Sunday into the Sabbath? (Forget about Church tradition. What does the Bible say?) Then why are Jewish believers who set aside Saturday for Sabbath worship considered divisive? Where does God say to forget the biblical feasts? Then why are Jewish believers who celebrate the feasts instead of later, man-made holidays, accused of going back under the Law? [and certain Sabbatarian Christian churches and denominations who keep the biblical feasts instead of the man-made holidays—they are labeled (I say libeled) as legalists.] Where does the Word teach that Jews must become Gentiles to be saved? We have really forgotten our roots! Chapter Nine Are You a Crusader for Christ? “According to Romans
11:11, “salvation has come to the Gentiles to make If
you think so, then you need to read what follows in this chapter--what
an Israeli writer has had to say on this subject.
Also, why do Jewish believers insist
on calling themselves Messianic
Jews? Chapter Ten “More Tears”
“A little more than 100 years ago, a Christian minister to the
Jews “was asked what he thought wanting on the part of the friends of
Why more tears? What does he mean
by this? Chapter Eleven So Near and Yet So Far Is Judaism evil and anti-God?
Learn the plain truth on this matter.
The facts revealed in this chapter will astound and humble you. Chapter Twelve Has God Forsaken His People?
“Some things are non-negotiable.
God’s covenant with
This is a question that needs answering once and for all from an honest
and biblically accurate study of God’s Word.
This chapter provides a clear definitive answer from just such
a study. Chapter Thirteen Natural Children and God’s Children “Romans is Paul’s theological masterpiece. In the first eleven chapters, he lays out the absolute essentials of our faith. In the last five chapters, he tells us how to live. If we understand Romans, we understand the gospel.
It is in Romans that Paul demonstrates that all have sinned,
Jew and Gentile alike. It is here that he opens up the incredible revelation
of justification by faith [the same identical faith Abraham was saved
by]. (Think of trying to understand
that without Romans!) It is here
that he speaks of our struggle with sin, our victory over sin and life
in the Spirit of God. And then
he brings it all to a climax with an in-depth teaching about
A proper understanding of what Paul teaches about Israel in Romans clears
up just which Israel Paul is teaching about in Romans—the natural children
of God—the Jews—or the spiritual Children of God, the believers in Jesus.
Have we been wrong in our understanding of just who “Here is where the Church, which has been primarily
Gentile since the second century, has made a big mistake. She has been guilty of boasting over the natural
branches, forgetting her root and misinterpreting Chapter Fourteen “Thou Shalt Not Steal”
“…We [Jewish believers in Jesus] are not as much the fourth branch
of Judaism as we are the Jewish part of the Church!
It is only together with the rest of the Body that we will be
perfect…It has not been enough [for the Gentile church] to spiritually
apply God’s promises to
Want to see how this happened? Chapter Fifteen A Diabolical Plan “With every fiber of his depraved, sinister being, Satan despises the Jews. He hates them with a perfect hatred. Their total destruction is his goal. He is the author of the spirit of anti-Semitism. There is no other way to explain the venomous hostility that has been hurled against the Jews by so many people in so many countries for so many years.
Why the Jews?…anti-Semitism existed before
Christianity began. Hatred against the Jews has been too intense, too cruel, too universal, too destructive to be explained in terms of divine punishment alone. Yossel Rakover’s Holocaust prayer says it so painfully well: You say, I know,
that we have sinned, O Lord. It
must surely be true! And therefore
we are punished? I can understand
that too! But I should like You
to tell me whether there is any
sin in the world deserving such a punishment as the punishment we have
received! Anti-Semitism has clearly overstepped the bounds of heavenly judgment and chastisement. But why? Who’s responsible? Is it God, as many assume? Or is it really Satan. Read the evidence provided in this chapter and
decide for yourself. Chapter Sixteen Life From the Dead “…Did
they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?
Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation
has come to the Gentiles to make The
day will come when Gentile believers will make “[For] if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! (Rom. 11:12).”.. …Today,
there are men and women across the globe who are children of the living
God, the spiritual seed of Abraham, joint-heirs with the Messiah, recipients
of eternal life, blood-washed, Spirit-filled, consecrated saints as a result of Israel’s transgression.
How much greater will At
this very moment, a continuous stream of praise ascends to heaven in
more than 2500 languages, and angels shout for joy as sinners repent worldwide
as a result of Find out how and what must be done first to
bring this about—to do this, you must order the book and read it. To order online try any of these urls: http://www.icnministries.org/resources/books.htm
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