Holocaust is synonymous with the suffering of the Jews It brings to our mind scenes of indescribable horror The word means, “A large scale sacrifice, especially by fire” and comes from the Greek holos (whole) and haustos (burned), according to Webster’s Dictionary.
In the New Testament, the word is used three times in Hebrews 10 6,8 as “burnt offering” and in Mark 12 33 as “whole burned offering” The Hebrews context is the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice over those of the law, in Mark, the scribe learned love of God is superior to the ritual of the law.
Failure to understand sacrifice
Throughout history, the Jews have failed to grasp the meaning behind sacrifice They replaced the concept of atonement with that of appeasement King Saul is an example of someone who sought to placate God by offering of the flock taken as forbidden booty He had to learn, “To obey is better than sacrifice” (I Sam 15 22) How different was the understanding of faithful David “For you do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it, you do not delight in burnt offering The sacrifices of God are a broken and a contrite heart These, 0 God, you will not despise” (Psa 51 16,17)
Lacking David’s insight the “experts” in the law were scandalized when Jesus ate with sinners (Mt 9 11) The Lord directed them to the scriptures they claimed to know so well “Go and learn what it means, I will have mercy rather than sacrifice” (Hos 6 6) The Lord saw the parallel with the current situation wayward people who were outwardly observing the law being led by elders and priests who were all depraved, to the extent of committing murder.
Crucifixion invited holocaust
God looked in vain for “goodness” (Heb chesses meaning mercy, loving kindness, forgiveness) There was only the empty shell of religious ritual Devoid of mercy and understanding, the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day were already plotting his murder Clinging to their view of the law, they rejected the Lamb of God They sealed their own fate, bringing the prophecy of John the Baptist into effect “His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor, and gather his wheat into the barn but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matt 3:12)
Paradoxically, in rejecting Jesus Christ, the anti-typical burnt offering (“holocaust”), they themselves became God’s sacrifice in the holocaust of A D 70.
Nations as sacrifices
The metaphor of recalcitrant nations as sacrifices is found in numerous places in scripture It is used of God’s judgment upon Edom “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom” (lsa 34 6) Also of Egypt it is said, “The sword shall devour, it shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood For the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice” (Jer 46 10) Probably the best known example is the prophecy against Gog The call goes to the birds, “Assemble yourselves and come Gather together from all sides to my sacrificial meal which I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel” (Ezk 39 17) In Zephaniah the metaphor is referring to God’s own people “And it shall be, in the day of the LORD’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes and the king’s children and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.” (Zeph 1 8)
Israel as a sacrifice
This same language is used of Israel, for in refusing the sacrifice provided by God, the Jews became a sacrificial carcass to be devoured “Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth and no one shall frighten them away” (Deut 28 26) Throughout the succeeding centuries, the persecutions revealed through Moses came to pass.
Grimly, the holocaust under the Nazis is but part of the suffering which eventually will bring Israel to repentance We pray for the day when the acceptance of the Lord Jesus as the pascal lamb will bring them back into covenant relationship with God, a day when degradation and suffering will be past.
The prophetic gaze of Zephaniah looks beyond the sacrifice to the bringing of Israel to glory “Sing O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem The Lord hath taken away thy judgments He hath cast out thine enemy the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee thou shalt not see evil any more” (Zeph 3:14,15)
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One