It happened during the WWII, World War II. He told it to me himself. He was a Jewish boy who belonged to a group of Jewish children to be slaughtered by Nazi executioners in the woods of Poland. He was suddenly able to run away from the group at breakneck speed and to disappear among the thick trees and bushes of the endless woods. He followed the group nevertheless, with his heart beating. And, hidden behind the trees, he saw what happened. The machine guns were at the ready at the edge of a long, deep ditch that had already been dug. The rabbi, a teacher, who was accompanying the children, understood that this was the end. He asked, ‘May I still read and sing and pray with the children?’ Surprisingly, he was allowed to do so, with their enemies standing ready, with their machine guns. The Jewish rabbi then began to recite the centuries-old words of Psalm 23:”The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff [for protecting the sheep against wild animals], they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies [who are standing ready, behind the machine guns]; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” The Jewish children and the rabbi entered eternity with those words on their lips.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. Neither the rabbi nor the children knew of the good Shepherd. They lived in Roman Catholic Poland, where they had to undergo unremitting persecution and pogroms for centuries, simply because they were Jewish. After the war the Polish population still killed the Jews who had only just managed to survive the Polish concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. As in Ukraine as well.
Jews were shot dead by Nazis in Lutheran Germany where Protestants stood in support of Martin Luther and his anti-Semitic remarks. As Jews, they saw and experienced nothing but the most horrific discrimination from ‘Christians’.
Yet they sang that the Lord was their Shepherd, that they lacked nothing.’ Nothing. That is how they entered into eternity. Were these children and their rabbi lost forever in eternity? Were they saved? We should leave that to God and keep our mouths shut. We should leave God’s judgment to Him. That is God’s business. And His alone. The Book of works is opened together with the Book of life! All the dead will rise from the grave. Jesus says that some will rise to life, while others will rise to condemnation. He declared: “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment”.1 Judgment would be made according to their deeds. Those who have done good will rise to live; those who have done evil will rise to eternal damnation.2 Fortunately there is the ‘Book of Life’.3 The realm of the dead, Hades (not ‘hell’) will be emptied. The people who drowned at sea and were never given a decent burial at a churchyard will rise as well. Those whose bodies were burned in the fire of a burning house, or those who were totally destroyed in devastating wars with gruesome bombs and other explosives, will be there. Those who had their bodies cremated, and who thought, perhaps, that everything was then definitely past, and that nothing would remain of them, yes, they will rise too—with an immortal resurrection body, for an everlasting future. And the aborted children? Yes, they will be there too. But where will their eternal destination be? Only God knows. The Bible gives warnings and offers eternal life. Those who refuse to accept the invitation will have to face terrible consequences.4 Death and the grave (Hades) no longer have any significance. They will be thrown ultimately into the lake of fire as well, Revelation 20:14. They no longer have any function. They cease to exist. And John sees them disappearing forever.
• As Christians, we sometimes forget that the Bible is a Jewish book, that the Psalms are their Psalms. Jews wrote both the Old and the New Testament.
• We are Gentiles, heathens, they are not. We were without God (Ephesians 2:11-12) They were not (Romans 9:3-5) We are Gentiles who have been brought to worship the One and only God, Creator of Heaven and earth, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• Instead of judging, blaming and condemning Jews, let us pray for them and show them genuine love, in Jesus’ Name. They know our words. Let them now experience our works as well.
Bible References:
1.John 5:24–29 2.Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:46 Comp. Exodus 32:32–33; 3. Daniel 12:1; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 21:27 4.Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30; Luke 13:28, 14:24; Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:48; Matthew 3:12, 13:40–43
