This Article: (6 Pages)
1) Holocaust and History
We are told that Israel is Yahweh's witness to the truth of His word (Isaiah 43). For many people the Holocaust is a reason to argue God does not exist, however, this article will examine the deep links that the word 'holocaust' has to Israel's history.
The word 'holocaust' is from ancient Greek and means “wholly-consumed” as in something burnt completely in fire. It is not a new word. It was used in the early years of the Common Era. It is found in the translation of Mark's record of the the Scribe's words to describe a whole burnt offering made as a sacrifice.
And to love him (God) with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.(Mark 12:33)
In the Greek the phrase 'whole burnt offering' is ὁλοκαύτωμα or holokautōma. When this word is Anglicised it becomes 'holocaust'. If the word only occurred once in the scriptures we could think that perhaps it was unusual, a word made up specifically at that time. The writer to the Hebrews in the Greek also uses the same word in the following,
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou would not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou would not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; (Hebrews 10:4-8)
This passage actually quotes the Old Testament, specifically Psalm 40:6. The word in Psalm 40 for 'burnt offerings' in the Septuagint version is the word holokautōma 'holocaust' also. In fact this word occurs 59 times in the Septuagint always in relationship to a whole burnt offering made in sacrifice. In many of the occurrences the word is associated with atonement. The passage from Leviticus below is typical (see also Leviticus 14:19-20,31,15:15, 16:16, Numbers 6:11, 8:12,15:25. Nehemiah 10:33).
And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he has sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. (Leviticus 5:10).
The word 'holocaust' is used for the offering made on the day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:25,27). It is also the word used for the offering made with bread and wine (Numbers 29:6). The association with bread and wine points forward to the symbols used by Y'shua for his sacrifice.
2) Holocaust is a sacrifice
The burnt offering called a holocaust is associated with the meal offering that is baked on an oven that is eaten by the priests, indicating a way that the priest would be associated with the 'holocaust' or the offering.
And the priest that offers any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered. And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it. (Levitcus 7:8-9)
Yahweh is spoken of as causing a holocaust as He consumes Elijah's offering on Mt Carmel.
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. (1Kings 18:3)
There is one instance where the word holocaust refers to the sacrifice of a human. In an extraordinary incident the son of the King of Moab is offered by his father for a holocaust.
And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not. Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land. (2Kings 3:26-27)
The Temple of the future is associated with sacrifice. The Prince who comes into Ezekiel's temple makes a holocaust also, interestingly no animal is named. Not only that but the people also make a daily a holocaust of a lamb, which is offered with bread and oil.
Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily unto the LORD, one shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate. Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the LORD of a lamb of the first year without blemish:.... and the meat offering, and the oil, every morning, for a continual burnt offering. thou shalt prepare it every morning. (Ezekiel 46:12-13,15 KJV)
Before we leave the discussion of the sacrifice as holocaust or complete burning, there is one point that the scriptures make. The thing given for the burnt offering or a holocaust must represent a cost to the person making the offering.
And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. (2 Samuel 24:24).
3) Revival of the word Holocaust
For 2000 years the Greek version of the word 'holocaust' has been available and readily accessible in the Septuagint translation, due to the study of the New Testament, where it has been used to refer to a sacrifice made by burnt offering. Just in this last century the word was used for the first time to describe a modern event.
Once we understand the way in which the word holocaust is used by the Septuagint translation we see that the modern event is just like an offering, a sacrifice. Without that great sacrifice Israel would not exist. Every Israeli knows the Land is their heritage, hope and their place of deliverance. For the nation of Israel to obtain that deliverance some, a representative number of the multitude of man, six million were first made a sacrifice of, a burnt offering, in an oven. This fits a pattern set down by Yahweh for a sacrifice for atonement.
The nature of the sacrifice cannot be mistaken. For associated with the event is the images of ovens, of smoke ascending and of cattle cars. King David points out that the sacrifice must be at a cost. It is well known that the Jewish people paid a great monetary price also, in that the nations seized their assets, money and, particularly, their gold (including the fillings in their teeth). Also, of the deliverance from Egypt it is written
But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. (Deuteronomy 4:20 KJV)
At that time Moses took ashes from a furnace to throw to the heavens to create a plague upon man as they said reported Yahweh's words to Pharaoh, “Let my people go.” It is recorded by the Prophets that the deliverance of Israel would be like that of the deliverance from Egypt.
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. (Hosea 2:15 KJV)
And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them. ... I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. (Zechariah 10:6-10 KJV)
The process of Yahweh having mercy has begun and the deliverance, of coming out of an iron furnace and one of a great sacrifice has happened.
4) A Difference between Sacrifice and Offering
There is more. The Greek word 'holocaust' literally means something wholly consumed and burnt. The English translators consistently use the expression 'burnt offering', where the Septuagint translators have used 'holocaust'. It is most likely the Septuagint translation influenced their thinking, however, the emphasis of the English translation shifts to something given to be burnt. But neither convey the meaning of the single Hebrew word used.
The Hebrew word for 'a burnt offering' or 'sacrifice' adds to the meaning. In the Hebrew text the word translated 'sacrifice' in the English version is most commonly 'zebach' meaning 'slaughter', or 'olah' meaning 'going up' or less commonly 'qûrbân' better translated 'brought near' or a 'present'. These all convey very different pictures. Something for slaughter focusses the death, whereas a present focusses on the role of the giver. However, in all instances where the Septuagint version translates the word as 'holocaust' the word in the Hebrew is עלה or 'olah' and it means an 'ascent', a going up, or 'to go up to' or stairs. The word refers to the smoke of the burning ascending.
We have examined the use of the Greek word, a Gentile word, with a meaning that is accessible to the Gentile world and the English translation. Neither wholly burnt or something given to be burnt is the meaning of the single word used in the Hebrew for a 'burnt offering' sacrifice. In Hebrew the emphasis is not on the destruction, but rather on the smoke ascending, or 'going up'. Now, Moses at the bush saw the bush burning but the bush was not consumed. Those who do not know the Hebrew hope see the sacrifice of the Holocaust as one of a complete burning, whereas, those who know the hope of Israel know that the sacrifice of those lives was the means of “going up”. It is no accident that the return to Israel is called “The Aliyah” or the “going up”.
The following is from the Department for Jewish Zionist Education. (www.jafi.org.il) Note the word in bold underlined. That word is the plural for 'olah'.
Introduction - "Aliyah" - the word and its meaning
Aliyah, (pl. aliyot) "ascension" or "going up" is the arrival of Jews as individuals or groups, from exile or Diaspora to live in Eretz Yisrael - the Land of Israel. Those who "go up" for this purpose are known as olim - a term used in the Bible when the Children of Israel went up from Egypt (Gen. 50:14 and Num. 32:11) and - at a later period - for the exiles who returned from captivity in Babylon (Ezra 2:1,59 and Neh. 5-6). The call of Cyrus, King of Persia, in 538 B.C.E., - "Whosoever there is among you of all His people, his God be with him, - let him go up." (Ezra 1:3, II Chron. 36:23) - has been used as a watchword for aliyah.
The contributors to Wilkipedia have added: "A Jew who makes aliyah is called an oleh (m. singular) or olah (f. singular), the plural is olim. Many Jews espouse aliyah as a return to the Promised land, and regard it as the fulfilment of God's biblical promise to the descendants of the Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Those who go up are known by the same word as that word translated as 'burnt offering' in the English translations. And they 'go up' to receive their promised inheritance. This event has shown to all the world a great principle that has been seen from the very beginning. It was shown when the lamb was slain to provide a covering for Adam and Eve and when the lamb and the first-born were slain in Egypt. The principle is that deliverance to receive the promises is not without the shedding of blood.
5) What about the Suffering of the Holocaust?
The reason many say God cannot exist is that they say a God cannot allow suffering. In this they say that life of itself is valuable and that life without hurt or pain is the only good. However, many who experience hardship acknowledge the great gain they have by their suffering, indicating that suffering may of itself be 'good'. In any case, if there is a God, life is a gift of that God. Certainly Yahweh's word indicates it is his right to give and to take, to hurt and heal. That some should die young in sacrifice for others will not lessen their chance of life for-ever. In fact quite the contrary (Luke 17:33).
Some Christians believe Y'shua died instead of them. This, on examination, seems a dangerous simplification and may lead to a perception that since his sacrifice no-one need die. Y'shua's sacrifice cannot mean that we need not die in the same way, as there is ample evidence to show that many people have been burnt or killed for their beliefs. In many cases, they have gladly followed their saviour's example. Why did people have to die when standing up for the principle of freedom of belief, if their actions were in accordance with Yahweh's will? They were a sacrifice so that we, today, in certain countries, can freely profess our beliefs. Again the principle is that deliverance is not gained without sacrifice of life.
This principle is fundamental to the system of the world as the Creator has made it since Eden. It is possible that many who died in the Holocaust may have rejoiced that their death gave real freedom to their people. How many times in remembrance of war here in Australia is it said of those that died that their lives were given in sacrifice for their country?
See articleANZACS and Sacrifice
Noah understood this. When he was delivered after the flood, he offered a burnt offering that ascended up of all the clean animals. It is recorded that Yahweh was pleased at this action. He was not pleased that the animals died, but rather he was pleased that Noah understood his great principle of deliverance: that deliverance is not without a sacrifice.
The Holocaust was a great offering that lead to the deliverance of the people of Israel and their inheritance of the Land. It is a 'type' at a national level. The specific individuals who died would gain personal eternal deliverance based on their relationship with Yahweh.
6) The utimate Holocaust
All holocausts, including the sacrifices made by the Fathers, those made under the law for atonement and even those made by the Protesters and the subsequent sacrifices are patterns that point to the sacrifice for all time, that of Y'shua who ascended up, and the ultimate deliverance for all time, that of life for-ever.
And it does not matter whether we suffer or do not suffer, or whether our life is short or long, or whether we make a great sacrifice or not, as in the end we will all, in the normal course of events, die. In the same way, all the sacrifices that make the types and patterns are of no eternal value, they cannot give life for-ever.
However, the types and patterns are designed to show us how Yahweh has chosen to deliver us. Acknowledging the rightness of Yahweh's choice will not come naturally to us. Yahweh seems to have made it that way as we need to learn to be obedient and acknowledge that His way is right and that He has the right to make the rules.
There is a corollary to the understanding that the meaning of the Hebrew word for the atoning sacrifice means 'to ascend'. If the most relevant feature of the atoning sacrifice was that it ascended, it follows that this is the most relevant feature of Y'shua's sacrifice. Just as the ashes of the beast did nothing, the death of Y'shua, of itself, did nothing. Y'shua's death was his obedience.
There was no power in this act of obedience until Y'shua had been resurrected and had ascended.We are to remember the death, or the obedience, but we are saved in the resurrection, in that we, also in similitude, will be raised up to claim the promised inheritance.
For more on the consuming fire, See articleOur Merciful God is a consuming Fire
The book the Enduring Earth gives more information on the inheritanceAn Enduring Earth
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