Watchman on the Wall

Narrator: Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. God is still on the throne and prayer changes things. Today, Josh Davis and author Jim Scudder continue their look at the rise of anti-Semitism around the world and how you and I can support our Jewish neighbors.

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The rising global anti-Semitism points to a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Even in affluent American neighborhoods, Jewish people feel increasingly unsafe. How has replacement theology intensified hatred of Jews? Pastor Jim Scudder rejoins Josh Davis on today's Watchman on the Wall program to provide firsthand accounts of anti-Semitism in America, plus practical ways Christians can support their Jewish neighbors.

The spiritual war against Israel, anti-Semitism, and all the expressions that we see of these things even infiltrating our local churches. You've seen it, dear friend. We've seen it. I'm privileged to be joined by Pastor Jim Scudder for part two of our timely conversation on the spiritual war against Israel. That's the name of his brand new book. It's available at swrc.com or by giving us a call at 1-800-652-1144. I'll remind you of that as the broadcast continues. Pastor Jim, thank you so much for joining me today.

Jim Scudder: Thank you, Josh. Great to be with you. Well, we see the rise I believe because God is fulfilling His promises to regather the people of Israel to the land. That had started in the late 1800s. It had become a huge wave right after World War II because of the Holocaust. The nation of Israel should not exist. That never has happened humanly speaking.

Never has a people group been so dispersed for so long and returned. Not only just returned, Josh, but returned worshiping the same God and speaking the same language, which they weren't speaking in diaspora. They were maybe using it in a religious sense, but it wasn't a spoken language. Yiddish isn't Hebrew. But they revived the language. So you have to look at this as something unique and something special.

If God is doing something, and if there are spiritual forces against God, then the closer we get to God's final plan and His redemption of the nation of Israel, which I believe that's what the whole tribulation period is about, then you would expect this rise in Jew hatred to occur. It doesn't make any human sense for this to be happening today.

Right after the October 7th attacks, I was at a Jewish solidarity event in a very Jewish area of the Chicago suburb. I was asked to come and read a Psalm and I actually read Psalm 22, which was amazing because they were in anguish. I was in anguish for Israel. It was a beautiful moment with Jews and some Christians gathering to show our support for Israel.

The police chief of the town, it was Skokie, Illinois, gets up and he says, "If you're Jewish, please do not walk out to your cars alone. We will escort you. The police will escort you to your cars." I'm thinking, this is the United States of America. This is a very influential, affluent area of Chicago. The Jewish people have to be escorted by police officers to their cars because of the violent protests outside.

That was just days after the attack, when the world should have been sympathetic and our hearts breaking for just a human reaction, a normal human reaction to see what happened to the Jewish people and for it to be the opposite. Before Israel did any retaliation, before they had gone into Gaza at all, people were already screaming genocide.

It wasn't because Israel bombed some buildings, which again, Hamas is hiding in these buildings and they're hiding in schools and different things. Israel did a really good job at trying to minimize, and they did, they minimized civilian casualties. Of course our hearts break anytime anyone ever gets killed. When the world should be sympathetic on Israel's side, the world has come against Israel. It tells me that there's something spiritual happening.

I believe there is a culmination of God's prophetic plan that is getting closer and closer. The closer we get to that, the more you're going to see the rise in anti-Semitism. Yesterday we talked about this time of Jacob's trouble. I believe the second half of the tribulation, this red dragon is trying to consume the baby boy that this woman is birthing.

We know the devil is the dragon. We know the woman is Israel. This baby is Jesus. Although the devil failed in Bethlehem with Herod and Herod did kill the innocents, Jesus was spared. The devil is still trying to consume the woman that has blessed the whole world with the Messiah, with Jesus. That's what's happening. The closer we get to the redemption of the nation of Israel, the more we're going to see this Jew hatred and Israel hatred. I believe even anti-Zionism is anti-Semitic.

Josh Davis: We're talking with Pastor Jim Scudder discussing his brand new book, The Spiritual War Against Israel. As you're describing those things, I'm thinking about how even here in North America that has been such a haven for Jewish populations, especially post-World War II, but now we're seeing New York City, some of the places like you mentioned, the Chicago area, and other places in North America, Canada, etc., that Jewish people are looking to go back to Israel.

Of course, some of the Old Testament prophets describe a regathering first in unbelief and then the regathering in belief as you have pointed out through the tribulation period. The 144,000 Jewish evangelists that will come, and many of them will turn to Him, they will look on me whom they have pierced, as Zechariah has said. I think that the Lord is using this evil, satanic, demonic influence to regather national Israel back home in the borders of Israel as a part of the prophetic plan. Do you agree with that assessment?

Jim Scudder: I do. Because in these different events that I've been going to to try to show our solidarity to the Jewish people, they have told me, even though Israel was in the middle of fighting Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah from Lebanon, they even had Iranian threats. In the years after the Hamas attack, they were telling me, residents of very nice areas of Chicago were telling me they feel more at risk here than they would in Israel, which was in the middle of a war.

That's telling, and I do believe you're right. Whenever there's an eagle and they hatch their eaglets, after a while the eagle starts pulling out some of the soft feathers out of the nest and all of a sudden these little twigs and stuff start poking up and the eaglet gets very uncomfortable. At a certain point the eagle nudges that little eagle out of the nest. I believe that's what God is doing with the Jewish people.

I have a lot of Jewish friends now in both here in the Chicago area and in Israel. They all have this sense that God is really wanting the earthly people of God, Israel, to return to Israel. More and more of them are talking about it. I think that's what is going on. When you see Mayor Adams, the mayor of New York, unbelievable, we have a terrible mayor in Chicago, Mayor Johnson, he's the lowest-rated mayor we've ever had. These people are making disasters of their cities, but also they are allowing this anti-Semitism to go unchecked.

I was invited to the Chicago City Council to do an opening prayer for a special session to show solidarity for Israel. A really simple vote. They debated this and it wasn't going to pass. They wanted a pastor, a pro-Israel pastor to come and pray. So I did. In that debate, they had a gallery full of people. They had maybe 50 Jewish people who were respectful and quiet. They were there just listening and being respectful.

The other half of the gallery, they were pro-Palestinian. They were obnoxious, they were loud, and the mayor repeatedly warned them to stop. They didn't. So what does the mayor do? What does Mayor Johnson of Chicago do in this special session? He says, "I warned you." So he kicks out the pro-Israel people, which had not said a word. I said, "What a coward." He had to kick them out because he couldn't get the business done, but he kicks everybody out. That's what we're dealing with.

But again, I believe God has allowed anytime you have an official, a president or a mayor or a king, God has allowed that person to rise to that position. Now we should be exercising our right to vote and often we are to blame because the church, we could change elections if everyone got out to vote and we really encourage that. Hopefully people are doing that. Either way, God is allowing something to happen for a special reason.

Josh Davis: In your book you talk about replacement theology. I know it's a big can of worms to open up, especially when we're just doing a short-form interview, but I just strongly encourage people to purchase this book. Friends, the book is called The Spiritual War Against Israel. It's available at swrc.com. You can give us a call, 1-800-652-1144. Just request your copy of the book, The Spiritual War Against Israel, by Pastor Jim Scudder. Pastor Jim, you quote Dr. Tommy Ice in the book and his great quote: "Wherever replacement theology has flourished, the Jews have had to run for cover." Help us to see through briefly this deceptive doctrine of replacement theology and how it's infiltrated the church.

Jim Scudder: I don't mind opening a can of worms. I have a grandson and he loves to go fishing and we use worms, so no problem at all. Replacement theology wasn't around in the early church. You would think, after Jesus ascended, maybe that would have crept in. The nation of Israel officially rejected the Messiah. But you don't see it anywhere. You don't see this supersessionism, replacement theology, or fulfillment theology, these three basically very, very similar doctrines weren't around.

When did they come up? They came up after 70 AD. Once Israel was destroyed by Rome and Jerusalem and scattered, then the church fathers started to say, "Maybe we misunderstood this. Maybe the church is the new Israel." Of course that was an erroneous position, but it was a position that I might be able to understand after the destruction of Jerusalem. That continued and it helped spawn the Holocaust because Martin Luther at first was very friendly and right with the Jewish people and he would be kind.

Later in his life he was terrible about Israel and the Jewish people, very anti-Semitic and awful. I believe that was used by the powers in Germany to allow the rise of Jew hatred and the Holocaust. These things do have impact. After 1948, replacement theology should have been gone. Because now what they have to say is, "They're not really Israel." Or the Khazars, these Gentiles, these Turks that converted to Judaism, that's who they are, the Ashkenazis. It's just ridiculous.

Then Hitler really messed up. He thought he was killing six million Jews and he actually killed six million Gentile converts. Is that what happened? Then also, in Israel today, the majority of Jews are not white European Ashkenazi Jews. They are black and brown. The majority are Sephardic from Spain or Mizrahi, the Jews from the East. The majority is not the European Jews. People cast aspersions because they have no choice. Israel's back and replacement theology, supersessionism, fulfillment theology should have been done away with because Israel's there.

It continues and that tells me that there's just this anger, this hatred against the Jews and the Jewish people. Even if you don't believe in a future for Israel, Josh, and I know you do, but even if you don't, shouldn't we still love and support the people that brought us the Bible? Every book is Jewish. The savior of the world, his name is Yeshua. He was a rabbi. He had 12 followers, very Jewish. The one that we're going to have to worship forever is a Jew.

If you don't love the Jewish people because they brought forth this amazing salvation, I think at the very least all people, all Christians that have been blessed by the Savior should love and want to share the gospel. Paul said "to the Jew first." He said we should provoke them to jealousy. He went to the synagogues first. We need to make sure that this incorrect eschatology doesn't impact our trying to share the gospel with all people, especially the Jewish people.

Josh Davis: Absolutely. Speaking about the gospel, I've had people say it to me, "Well, you guys, the dispensationalists and others, you all believe there's two different ways of salvation. You believe that Israel is going to be saved a certain way and the church is going to be saved another way." The Bible doesn't teach that. So what does the scripture say? Is there two separate ways of salvation?

Jim Scudder: We have a whole chapter on that because our defense for Israel might lead people to say, and there are some like John Hagee has said, there's this dual covenant. He's wrong. I appreciate John Hagee for what he's tried to do to support Israel and they have done a lot, you have to admit that. But this dual covenant is not biblical. In other words, Abraham and I are saved the same way.

Abraham believed God. It was way before he offered Isaac. It was before Isaac was born. He believed God and the Bible says very clearly in Genesis and in Romans that it was counted to him for righteousness. Salvation is always by faith. It's never by the sacrificial system or any type of covenant. It is an offer of salvation through faith in either the coming Messiah, which Abraham believed in the coming Messiah, or the Messiah that has come.

Today we know him as Jesus. His Hebrew name is Yeshua. Anyone who puts their full trust in him, not in their religion, not in their works, but in Jesus because he came, God in the flesh, never sinned, died as a sinner in our place, the perfect human sacrifice. If you will believe in him, Jesus said he's the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by him.

Whether you're Jew or Gentile, we all need to be saved from our sins. Isaiah says "we're all like sheep that have gone astray. We've turned everyone to our own way, but the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Even in Isaiah 53 we find the death, he was cut off from the land of living, and then the resurrection. We see that in Isaiah 53 as well.

I was just in Israel and they have the actual Great Isaiah Scroll, the Dead Sea Scroll on display. Normally it's a facsimile, a copy. In Israel at the Israel Museum today they have the actual Isaiah 53 scroll. It's beautiful. It's over 2,000 years old and there it is, Isaiah 53, right there for all to see.

Josh Davis: Oh wow, that's amazing. The Israel Museum there in Jerusalem and of course that scroll found at Qumran in those caves and what a beautiful thing that that is. I had a Jewish professor in seminary and he turned to the Lord Jesus Christ but somebody, a Christian friend when he was a young man, told him, "Why don't you pick up your Bible and read Isaiah 53?"

They had never heard it in the synagogue. He'd never heard that passage. He said, "Oh come on, that's not in there." And so he went and read it for the first time. He said, "You Christians are trying to trick me. What are you doing? You're messing up the Bible." And eventually he became a Christian and turned his life over to the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for sharing the gospel message.

We just have a couple minutes remaining. You end the book with a lot of practical stories and give a lot of good food for thought on how Christians who love Israel, who support Israel can be a blessing to the Jewish people today and to national Israel. Could you share some of those thoughts?

Jim Scudder: Okay, so what can we do? A lot of people say, "Well, I'm in a small town in America or in North America and what can I do?" I'm sure everybody knows someone that's Jewish. It could be your doctor, it could be your neighbor, your letter carrier, whoever. If you know someone that's Jewish, just go up to them and say, "Hey, I just want to let you know I'm a Christian and you have blessed me so much by providing the world with Jesus. I just want to say thank you for giving me my Messiah." I believe Genesis 12:3. There's a blessing to those that bless Israel.

Josh Davis: Pastor Jim Scudder, thank you so much for joining me on these two Watchman on the Wall episodes. Friends, one more time, if you'd like to pick up this book, as he said, it's a very helpful guide. It'll help you know how to respond to some of the critics as well. It's called The Spiritual War Against Israel. It's available at swrc.com or give us a call, 1-800-652-1144. Pastor Jim, thank you so much for your time and your expertise and your heart for Israel and for the word of God.

Jim Scudder: Thank you so much, Josh. God bless.

Josh Davis: God bless you.

Narrator: Every day, the headlines coming out of the Middle East seem to grow more alarming. But what if the battle over Israel is about far more than borders, politics, or military conflict? What if it's part of a much greater spiritual war that has been raging for thousands of years?

In The Spiritual War Against Israel, respected Bible teacher Dr. Jim Scudder takes you deep into scripture to explain why Israel remains at the center of God's prophetic plan and why the Jewish people continue to face relentless opposition. You'll discover the biblical foundation for Christian support of Israel, examine the historical and spiritual forces behind modern anti-Semitism, and gain a clearer understanding of what God's word says about Israel's future.

Whether you've studied Bible prophecy for years or you're just beginning to ask questions, this timely resource will strengthen your faith, sharpen your biblical worldview, and help you better understand the events unfolding before our eyes. Order your copy of The Spiritual War Against Israel today at swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144.

The latest issue of our Prophecy in the News magazine is out, full of exciting articles themed around the idea of sacred spaces. With a preview of this outstanding issue, here is Prophecy in the News magazine editor, Lee's Cutshall.

Lee's Cutshall: Hello and welcome. We are here for a special Prophecy in the News magazine preview with our host of Watchman on the Wall, Pastor Larry Spargimino. Hi, Dr. Spargimino.

Larry Spargimino: Hello there in Tennessee. So glad to be connected with you.

Lee's Cutshall: I am always glad to be connected with you and miss getting to see you. But I love getting to listen to you. I'm Lee's Cutshall. I work with Pastor Larry and our lovely friends at Southwest Radio Ministries and Prophecy in the News and edit the magazine. Today we've just got a few minutes to talk about the upcoming magazine and it of course is going to be focused on America and its 250th birthday that we've celebrated this summer. Pastor Larry, you have written a piece called "The Bible, The Churches, and Revival: The American Identity." Can you share with us some tidbits that will tantalize us?

Larry Spargimino: Well, throughout its history, America's pioneers and leaders believed that America's destiny was tied in with America's faith in God. If we go back to the Mayflower Compact 1620, we see that these original arrivals were coming here and I'm going to quote from that document, "for the advancement of the Christian faith."

So they were coming not as fur traders or loggers or farmers, they were coming as evangelists. There's never, never been this kind of a sentiment in the founding of a nation. And this sentiment I believe is still with us, although it's been kind of torn down a little bit by those who are progressives.

If you travel overseas today and meet Christians in other places, they will tell you that America has a church on every corner. That's our identity. Now that doesn't mean it's a Bible-believing church, but a lot of people think, "Oh, that's a Christian nation. They have so much freedom. They can go on the radio. They can write books. They can do what we're doing right now." So at least that's a picture of what people think of us. And I know there are many Americans who are trying to destroy that picture, but we're not letting it happen.

Lee's Cutshall: Well those soccer players who came over here were just amazed at the freedoms that we have and how friendly our people are despite what they hear overseas and abroad.

Larry Spargimino: The fact is, if you look at our history, I'm going to just take a poke at the First Great Awakening. It had great impact on the American colonies. Eternal matters, obedience to God, a rejection of the so-called divine right of kings, moving the seat of authority from man to God. All these were pivotal in the years before the American Revolution.

And I think the First Great Awakening was very, very significant in that. As a matter of fact, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was still in the future, yet the concept of devotion to God and a government of the people, by the people, and for the people was taking shape in these formative years.

Lee's Cutshall: That's awesome. Remember that "blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Thank you again, Pastor Larry. I want to remind everyone how they can obtain a Prophecy in the News magazine, this one or others. They are all available from the very beginnings of the magazine some years back at swrc.com or by calling 1-800-652-1144. Thank you all for listening. God bless America. God bless you, Pastor Larry.

Larry Spargimino: Thank you so much.

Narrator: Turn on the news for just a few minutes and you'll see a world on edge. Rising anti-Semitism, hatred, war, a relentless focus on one tiny nation, Israel. Why? Why has Israel remained the center of global conflict for thousands of years? Well, the answer is it's spiritual.

In The Spiritual War Against Israel, Bible teachers Dr. Jim Scudder and Dr. Phil Stringer take you to God's word to uncover the unseen battle that has been raging since the beginning. You'll discover why Satan has always opposed God's chosen people, why Israel remains central to Bible prophecy, and why every Christian should understand what scripture says about the days in which we're living.

This isn't just another book about current events. It's a biblical guide that will strengthen your faith, answer difficult questions, and help you view today's headlines through the lens of God's eternal plan. If you've ever wondered why the world seems obsessed with Israel, or if you want to be grounded in biblical truth instead of media narratives, you need this book. Order your copy of The Spiritual War Against Israel today. Visit swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. Get your copy today and discover the spiritual battle behind the headlines before the next headline unfolds.

Tomorrow, Josh Davis shares the latest headlines from the end times, so be sure to tune in. Watchman on the Wall is a production of Southwest Radio Ministries and is supported by you. To learn more, visit swrc.com.