““Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.””
Exodus 1:9-10
I saw a video recently that suggested that the roots of anti-Semitism lay in the fact that the Jews have always become too successful wherever they are. For me this has become the most compelling argument, and also explains racism in general. The easiest example close to home are the anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia that erupt every so often.
There are other theories about the origins of anti-Semitism e.g. they killed Christ, and some of it is more modern such as their treatment of the Palestinians but the verses in Exodus provide the earliest description of such a movement.
Today, right-wing politicians make increasingly bold statements that echo such sentiments, and tap into such fears. MP Enoch Powell said in 1968 that Britons were becoming “strangers in their own country” and was kicked out of the shadow Cabinet. The current PM Starmer used the unfortunate phrase an “island of strangers” to talk about the same issue of immigration and it was naturally compared to Powell’s speech.
The theme about the success of others leading to resentment is the easiest explanation. And thus we come back again to the issue of coveting and fear of loss. God can bless us abundantly, in ways we don’t even think about - our health, a roof over our heads, a stable environment in the home, in the office and in the country etc. But we tend to end up far more preoccupied with comparison ( the thief of joy, as the cliche goes) with others over the size of our homes, cars, holidays and such.
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