Holocaust

In Genesis 22 we read of the sacrifice of Isaac. This story, for the Jews is one of the most reverend of the Old Testament. Here, Abraham is tested by God so the scriptures tell us. God asked Abraham to take his son, his only son of his love, and place him on the alter of sacrifice. The language of this story is very rich and deep. This story has implications that reach deep into the Christian heritage as well as the Jewish. There are many things that could be talked about and are in a number of other places. But one thing that I do not often see is the connection between the holocaust of WWII and Abraham's sacrifice.

As we read this story, both in the Greek (LXX) and in the Latin (Vulgate) we see the word "offering" being translated as Holocaust(Latin) ὁλόκαυστον(Greek). I have often wondered who labeled the terrible persecution of the Jews in WWII as being for the Jews the Holocaust. The name implies a burnt whole offering to the Lord. The definition in an English dictionary of holocaust is just that, a burnt offering. Maybe I am coming late to the table but that is very moving for me. That the Jews see their sacrifice of those horrible years as equal in some way to the Abraham sacrificing his son, the son of his love. God gave His son for humanity. God asked Abraham for his son, did God ask the Jews for their sacrifice? Is that what is meant by the Holocaust? The word in Hebrew for whole offering or burnt offering is olah. It is the only offering that is wholly burnt, no meat is eaten or left from the offering. Who knows what really turned the tables in WWII so that good would win over evil.

In our present condition as Christians what should our attitude be of suffering? Paul told Timothy "not to be ashamed to testify of our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering (pa◊scw) for the gospel, by the power of God."(NIV, 2Tim.1:8). The word that Paul uses here and elsewhere for suffering is indeed the same word as Paschal, the sacrificial lamb that Christ became. Our suffering as Christians is as a sacrifice to God, by His power and grace. We as Christians are participators in this suffering and sacrifice. It makes me appreciate even more our Jewish brothers and the call of God that is upon their lives.