The plight of the Jews in history and Covid-19
Recently I have been reading a book called, ‘The Holocaust, An unfinished History’ by Dan Stone. In the book I came across the term ‘choiceless choice’ which I had never heard of before. It intrigued me because although Stone doesn’t realise it, I think this neatly sums up what many will be faced with in the near future during the Tribulation period. The ‘choiceless choice’ was a term coined by Lawrence Langer to describe the no-win situations faced by Jews during the Holocaust. They were coerced to give up their businesses and property, they were coerced to wear a golden star on their jackets to identify themselves as Jewish, in August 1938 men were coerced to take the name “Israel” and women the name “Sarah”. They were beaten, enslaved, death marched to the point of exhaustion and exterminated like rats. There were no viable choices in all of this but perhaps to flee before it all began. The trouble was that each day the walls grew higher and each week after Hitler came to power saw new obstacles to leaving the country.
Similar to many of the Jews in the 1930-1940s, was the plight of Jews in the 6th century BC when they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians. What would you do if you were faced with a choice that seemed like a lose-lose situation like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Book of Daniel? They were faced with the terrible choice of going against their Jewish Law and conscience by falling down and worshiping the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar or being thrown immediately into a blazing furnace.1
During the Covid-19 pandemic in the early 2020s, many felt the same when faced with a ‘choiceless choice’ being coerced into taking the jab or losing one’s job. It was the jab or the job! I faced the same situation albeit on a relatively minor scale in losing a casual job with a Christian Funeral Director. I chose to not take the jab and consequently lost my job as a result. But many were faced with losing livelihoods, careers and felt like they had no choice but to go against their conscience.
The harbinger of times to come
My point is that that ‘choiceless choice’ for Daniel and his companions, for the Jews during World War 2 in the holocaust, and recently during the Covid-19 debacle is a harbinger of what is going to occur again very soon during the last 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation in my opinion. At that time the world will be faced with the choice of worshiping the image of the beast and taking his mark or facing death. For the non-Christian it will be a no-brainer at that time and they will willingly take the beast’s mark and worship his image otherwise they simply won’t be able to function in society. It will not be ‘choiceless choice’ for this group. There will be no question that they will take the mark and worship the beast but for the discerning and faithful Christian it will be a ‘choiceless choice’. They will feel coerced to take the mark and the sad thing is that many will do exactly that. They might think that God will understand their plight and forgive them of this choice because they will reason that they effectively had no choice. It was a ‘choiceless choice!’ Surely God would not want them to die. But the reality and the truth is that we will have a choice. Not all choices are easy and this is one that will need to be bravely made because really there will be no choice but to refuse to worship the beast just like the three young men in Daniel’s day refused to bow down. But of course there will be a consequence. The consequence for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was that they were thrown into a fiery furnace seven times hotter than normal. The consequence for refusing the mark of the beast and worshiping the image of the beast will be just as terrible–beheaded or imprisoned at best. But I would like to suggest that there is another choice that a Christian can make at that time if he is quick and acts on the knowledge contained in the Bible. It is the same choice that the Jews had available to them in the 1930s before things got really bad.
Each day we see the walls around us grow higher, and each week brings new obstacles to leaving the country. Hopes and plans are buried, and the number of fellow sufferers in Central Europe grows ever greater.
The choice to flee
After Hitler came to power in January 1933 there were 8 ½ years of opportunity for persecuted Jews to flee before Jewish emigration was finally banned on 23rd October 1941. And many did indeed flee, one of the first and perhaps most famous being Albert Einstein in March 1933 after the Enabling Act was passed. This act gave Hitler unprecedented power to rule by edict and bypassed the normal processes of parliament. On the 28th March 1933, Einstein immediately surrendered his German passport only eight days after the act was passed. What does that tell you? It tells us that the smartest guy on the planet was German and that he got out of there immediately! And that also tells me that the smart choice was to flee. We convince ourselves that we are faced with a ‘choiceless choice’ because we want our lives to remain the same. We find it hard to think outside of the box as humans–we are used to the four walls of the lives we have created for ourselves. It’s like we are in a prison cell and we get used to it and find comfort in our lives, in our place of residence, with our families and friends and our finances. But the longer we remain, like the Jews in Nazi Germany, the higher the walls and greater are the obstacles. In 1937, 130,000 Jews left Germany, in 1938 40,000 Jews left Germany, and in 1939 75,000-80,000 Jews left Germany. Hundreds of thousands of Jews escaped extermination by fleeing but 6 million Jews did not. And things got worse for the Jews in Europe during this time. The Nazis continued to hunt for Jews as far as the island of Corfu off the coast of Greece even when it was obvious that Germany would lose the war such was their tenacity to exterminate the Jews. In fact, Stone in his book says the drive to murder Jews was central to Nazism. Antisemitism was the kernel of Nazi ideology. As soon as Hitler came to power, attacks on the Jews began.
As in the 1930s for the Jews the only option, the only choice during the next time of Jacob’s trouble will be to flee or to resist like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. There will be a great persecution against Jews and Christians. In fact just today I watched a CBN news clip where in America, banks are closing accounts of religious organisations if they do not meet their DEI criteria–diversity, equity and inclusion. That means persons and religious organisations of the Christian faith. People, the increasing legislation has begun, the walls have begun to grow higher as for the Jews during the Nazi period.
The devil is in the detail
The amazing thing with what happened to the Jews during the Nazi era was that no one can figure out what was behind Hitler’s and the Nazi’s fierce determination to pursue the elimination of the Jews. Dan Stone and many other Holocaust authors recognise that the extermination of the Jews was central to what they were all about but they don’t know why. In fact there is a great quote from Stone when he recognises that there was something behind it all but he doesn’t see it as the devil per se.
The Holocaust looks like a series of interlocking local genocides carried out out under the auspices of a great project.
Indeed, I agree with Stone in his quote, it was a grand project–a project of Satan himself to eliminate the entire Jewish nation just as in the days of Haman. And here is the rationale behind the devil’s grand project: If the devil can eliminate the entire nation then he can delay or even perhaps cancel the prophecy in the Bible in Ezekiel. It would be impossible for the Jewish nation to be revived if there was no Jew alive and so no tribulation period called Jacob’s trouble and no returned Messiah. If there is no return of Jesus Christ then he does not get chained for 1000 years and he extends his life. The devil is in the detail! Two thirds of all Jews at that time were in fact murdered–6 million of them. But God in His grace allowed a remnant to survive and the nation of Israel was formed in a day–who has even heard of such a thing?
I’ll leave you with one final quote from Dan Stone…
In Poland itself the experience of the Jews rapidly appeared to justify the decision by many to flee. Those who remained under German control in the autumn of 1939-some 1.5 million-quickly found themselves trapped; their lives were to deteriorate very rapidly indeed.
Conclusion
There were 500,000 Jews who died in ghettos during World War 2 because they didn’t heed the warning signs; there was a Holocaust by bullets at first when 1.5 million were shot; in total 6 million Jews were murdered which ended in what was called the ‘Final Solution.’ Many were faced with what they thought was a ‘choiceless choice’ — they couldn’t see a way forward because they were stuck in a kind of inertia. My friends we do have choices, it’s just the choices are ever harder. One day soon we will be faced with the choice like the Jews to leave all behind of what we know, feel comfortable with because the devil is going to try again. The strategy won’t be any different than the first time around but it will be much worse because the next time the persecution and hunt for Jew and Christian will go beyond the island of Corfu, it will extend to the islands at the ends of the earth.
There will be a choice though. It is clear that Christians will have to hide in a place of refuge. That place is Ammon, Moab, and Edom which is modern day southern Jordan.2 It is the only place on earth which will be beyond the clutches of the devil. Luke 21:36 (the point of this whole ministry) clearly states that we must be ready to escape all that is about to happen.
2 Responses
Steve I have been reading Jonathan Cahn’s books. Firstly, ‘The return of the Gods,’ which I couldn’t put down, and now ‘The harbinger’ with its study notes which is about the vow of Isaiah 9:10. The condition of our hearts is so important to understanding , knowing and acting when the time comes. PS great insight too.
Thank you
Dave Sippel
Listening to the Oral Histories of Jews caught up in the Holocaust says it all. Their friends assured them they would be safe, they couldn’t believe things would deteriorate so quickly, some were people of prestige and wealth and learning.