February, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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\r y 1TheGreat RED DRAGON andthe __ • . „ / WOMAN ’S CHILD — in1934 B y LOUIS S. BAUMAN ,* Long Beach, California i S R f i e i i
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3 :15, R .V .). Then and there began the battle o f all the ages— the battle of the two opposing “ seeds” : Cain against Abel, the Nephilim ( “ giants” ) against Noah, Ishmael against Isaac, Esau against Jacob, Pharaoh against Moses, Canaanite against Israelite, Herod against Rachel, Nero against Paul. To the one “ seed,” the Lord Jesus said: “ Pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven” (Matt. 6 :9 ). To the other “ seed,” He said: “ Ye are of your father, the devil” (John 8 :44 ). “ The woman,” symbolically, must be that body which in every age mothers the people of Jehovah. Before the flood, she was o f the line o f Seth. A fter the flood, she was o f Noah, Abraham, and Israel. ■It might be said that the woman was “ the Ekklesia” (church) in its broadest sense. That is, she is “ that which Jof God] is called out” — and separated unto God for His sovereign and eternal purpose in redemption. And this “ woman” is naturally the object of the Serpent’s hatred. The moment God said to the sons o f Jacob, “ Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all peop le: fo r all the earth is mine : and ye shall be unto me a kingdom o f priests, and an holy nation” (Ex. 19:5, 6 ), out came the forked tongue, hissing hate. And when again God covenanted with Israel: “ The Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath” (Deut. 28 :13 ),
S e v e r a l years ago, two Jews whose names are familiar to all the literary world, Ludwig Lewisohn and Jakob Wassermann, were walking along together in the Styrian Alps. Following a few moments of meditative silence, Wassermann suddenly broke the stillness as one solilo quizing : “ When I consider the hatred and stupidity vented upon us in every age, wreaked upon us again in this age and land, I am the more convinced of our import, of our mis sion.” Then, with a touch o f irony, but without bitterness, he continued, “ Yes, we are a very famous people. A very famous people! The whole world talks about us,- thinks about us. Why ?” Again they stood silently, meditating, as the mountain sides were reflecting the last rays o f a setting sun. Once again that most eminent living master o f the German language spoke softly: “ I .do not know why. I know that we are needed . . . That is all . . .W e are slaves— the slaves of righteousness, o f the ultimate hu manities, of the moral energy whose name is love !” The greatest mystery to the Jew is the Jew himself. In his unending trek over the earth, over and over and over this vagabond o f the centuries is heard plaintively muttering, “ Why?” “ Why?” “ Why?” Several years ago, the British minister for the Colonies received in Jerusalem representatives of the various racial and religious groups o f Palestine. Some Arabs protested
the devil’s ultimate defeat was promised, and we may safely con clude that the emotions within the breast of his satanic majesty were not o f the most wholesome sort. For was it not the pretentious claim o f the Serpent that “ all the king doms o f the world . . . and the glory o f them” were his, and to whomso ever he would, he could deliver them (Lk. 4 :5, 6) ? And to think that he must some day yield his dominion o f all the earth to a lot of despised Israelites! Unthink able! No wonder his serpentine “ Honor” writhed with furious in dignation ! T h e C e a s e l e s s B a t t l e o f t h e S e e d s Soon after Elohim promised Mother Eve a redeeming “ Seed” that would bruise the Serpent’s head, she bore her first-born child. In wonderment and joy unspeak able, she cried: “ I have acquired
Jewish schools, Jewish agriculture, and Jewish immigration. Mr. Am- ery replied by pointing to the fact that the Jews were reclaiming the arid soil, bringing money, industry, and schools, and were not asking for help. He added that it would be well if the Arab majority would devote themselves to similar activi ties, productive o f peace and happi ness. This reply was received in utter silence, until Emir Omar el- Bittar o f Jaffa drew himself up to exclaim: “ In al-Din-din, Yehudi ibn Yehudi!” ( “ Cursed be the faith o f thy faith, O Jew, son o f a Jew !” ) But, why? Whether we know why, or not, we do know that the outburst of the Arabian chieftain is profoundly significant o f the whole world’s attitude toward the Jew— yea, it is the spirit that un derlies all racial enmities, and keeps the dove o f peace sitting uneasily upon her nest.
Anti-Semitism in its Relation to Jew and Gentile T HE R ed Shirts, the Black Shirts, the Brown Shirts, and the Silver Shirts are all fearful specters to the Jew and ominous signs to the Gentile. In the ac companying article, which is the first o f three, Dr. Bauman speaks significantly o f these signs. He will have more to say about them in subsequent articles. “ I feel that this introductory message is very necessary to a real understanding o f the anti-Semitic movement o f to day,” the author writes. “ T oday s movement is simply the climax o f the Serpent’ s effort to destroy ‘the seed’— an attack which began in the Garden of Eden. In the next two articles, I shall deal with the present world-w ide anti- Semitic movement.”
man, even Jahveh!” (Gen. 4:1, literal translation). Was this the promised “ Seed” ? “ The great red dragon” ( “ great” but not omniscient) did not know. But he took no chances. He struck. His venom entered the heart of the child, and Cain became the seed o f the Serpent— “ amurderer from the beginning” (John 8 :44 ). Again the woman conceived, and again she brought forth. Again the dragon leaped, and Abel was but a “ vapour” (Heb., Hebei, “ breath” or “ vapour” ).
T h e A n s w e r t o t h e Q u e s t io n , “ W h y ?” But there is an answer to that plaintive cry—- “ Why ?” The answer is to be found within the first recorded promise and prophetic utterance of the God who sees the end from the beginning: “ I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise
*Pastor, First Brethren Church.
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