Our Response:

That statement is true and false, because there is a bigger picture here.

Yes, Jews have died at the hands of some sinful Gentiles; however, we must remember it was the Jews who initiated his execution. And, according to YHWH, ALL have sinned and come short of earning God's praise (Romans 3:23). We could trace all the way back to Adam, the first sinner, and lay the blame on him. We could also lay the blame on the Jews themselves who were "dispersed throughout the nations" because of their disobedience (as revealed throughout the Tanach. We could say that if Israel had not been guilty of sinning, then the Holocaust might never have happened, as the Jews would still have been under hszShem's protection.

Ezekiel 36:19-21: 19 I scattered them among the nations and dispersed them throughout the countries; I judged them in keeping with their manner of life and actions. 20 When they came to the nations they were going to, they profaned my holy name; so that people said of then, 'These are ADONAI'S people, who have been exiled from his land.' 21 But I am concerned about my holy name, which the house of Isra'el is profaning among the nations where they have gone.

Throughout history "the Jews" have always suffered and/or died for various reasons - the biggest being that Satan absolutely hates YHWH's Chosen (who were referred to as "Hebrews"; not "Jews", because there were no "Jews" until Jacob gave birth to Yehudah who was just ONE of the Tribes of Israel) and has knocked himself out to kill them off. He used the evil Hitler to try to finish off the Jews for good - but YHWH turned it around and used it for His glory! Yes millions died - but we have to remember: YHWH allowed it happen; nothing happens without His consent. While this doesn't seem fair, YHWH is God, and we are His creation with whom He can do whatever He chooses. Be that as it may, because of the Holocaust the world briefly felt sorry for "the Jews" which made one of His end-time prophecies come true in 1948 when Israel was returned to its rightful owners! (And while the Jews have certainly turned Israel into a paradise again, they have also given away Gaza AND the Temple Mount ... all for the sake of peace with whom? The very same people He constantly warned Israel AGAINST!)

Ezekiel 36:8-10 prophesied that Israel would be restored as a nation and repopulated with its people: "'But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt."

The prophet Ezekiel said that the Jews would return, rebuild and repopulate their fallen cities. In 1948, there were about 600,000 Jews living in Israel. Today there are about seven million, with many more returning each year. (As an aside, many people try to make fun of believers by pooh-pooing the fact that "there have always been religious kooks telling us that the world was coming to an end, and it's STILL HERE!" They obviously didn't know that YHWH does everything in order and in HIS timing. The world [as we know it] couldn't have "come to and end" until all the prophecies have been fulfilled. "The end" couldn't come before Israel became a nation once more....)

Our Response:

Zechariah 9:9-10 - 9 Rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Tziyon! Shout out loud, daughter of Yerushalayim! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is victorious. Yet he is humble - he's riding on a donkey, yes, on a lowly donkey's colt. 10 I will banish chariots from Efrayim and war-horses from Yerushalayim. The warrior's bow will be banished, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. He will rule from sea to sea, and from the [Euphrates] River to the ends of the earth.

You quote Zechariah 9:9 and can't see that this describes Yeshua? (Check out 48 Dead-On Messiah Prophecies to see all the prophecies He fulfilled!) According to Daniel, there would be 483 years between the decree to rebuild the wall and the city of Jerusalem in troublesome times before Messiah would be cut off for the sins of the people. Exactly 483 years after the rebuilding of Jerusalem and its walls, Yeshua of Nazareth offered himself to the nation of Israel. He rode into the city on a donkey to the rejoicing of the people, just as the prophet Zechariah had predicted! He was humble, he was righteous, he was everything the Tanach foreshadowed. And he will rule from sea to sea to the ends of the earth when he returns to defeat the antichrist at the battle of Armageddon: See Endtime Questions.

According to mathematician Professor Peter Stoner: The prophecies Yeshua fulfilled are "dead-on" accurate and that the probability of at least 48 Old Testament prophecies about Yeshua being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number of 10^157 power!

Quote from Stoner:

For example, what's the likelihood of a person predicting today the exact city in which the birth of a future leader would take place, well into the 21st century? This is indeed what the prophet Micah did 700 years before the Messiah. Further, what is the likelihood of predicting the precise manner of death that a new, unknown religious leader would experience, a thousand years from now - a manner of death presently unknown, and to remain unknown for hundreds of years? Yet, this is what David did in 1000 B.C.

Again, what is the likelihood of predicting the specific date of the appearance of some great future leader, hundreds of years in advance? This is what Daniel did, 530 years before Christ.

If one were to conceive 50 specific prophecies about a person in the future, whom one would never meet, just what's the likelihood that this person will fulfill all 50 of the predictions? How much less would this likelihood be if 25 of these predictions were about what other people would do to him, and were completely beyond his control?

For example, how does someone "arrange" to be born in a specific family?

How does one "arrange" to be born in a specified city, in which their parents don't actually live? How does one "arrange" their own death - and specifically by crucifixion, with two others, and then "arrange" to have their executioners gamble for His clothing (John 16:19; Psalms 22:18)? How does one "arrange" to be betrayed in advance? How does one "arrange" to have the executioners carry out the regular practice of breaking the legs of the two victims on either side, but not their own? Finally, how does one escape from a grave and appear to people after having died a horrible death?

Indeed, it may be possible for someone to fake one or two of the Messianic prophecies, but it would be impossible for any one person to arrange and fulfill all of these prophecies.

Our Response:

Remember: We are trying to figure all this out from a human standpoint. The simple answer is that Yeshua, the human being, wasn't "God". He never claimed to be! He was a human with a divine Nature, since his Father was YHWH! Since Yeshua was in human form, he naturally had human feelings, urges, and desires. His qnoma - Nature - was Divine, and this is what kept Him from sinning. However, when you're nailed to the cross/stake and are in agonizing pain, your flesh is bound to respond. Yeshua's physical body was experiencing horrendous pain and that that pain was so great that it is easy to imagine how his flesh complained to the Father: "How could you DO this to me? You know this hurts! Why do I have to endure this? Please take me now!"

NOTE: Qnoma is a very important term that has been greatly diluted and misunderstood over the centuries. Through an exceedingly complex linguistic chain of events this word, meaning "an occurrence of a nature" got morphed and perverted into "person" in Greek. As a result, the One Elohim (YHWH) is represented in a pagan manner in the Greek New Testament as a "person" distinct and equal with "Elohim the Son" and "Elohim the Ruach haKodesh." Instead, it is the oneness of YHWH that manifests in Mashiyach, not that Mashiyach's divinity is separate from his Father's. However, in this case we are talking about humanity and not YHWH, and both of them have "natures" that cannot be seen, and yet are a root part of their being.

Or, to put it another way, a "nature" is like a body hidden behind a curtain. For those in the audience, nothing of that nature can be seen. Then, all of a sudden, a hand and part of an arm appears through the veil. While we know there is a body attached to that limb, the limb is all we see. Furthermore, that arm moves with full force, will and agreement of the mind that controls the body. For the viewers, the arm appearing out of the curtain is the qnoma (occurrence) and the hidden mind behind that limb's movement is its kyanna (nature).

It is important to note that Yeshua was an "arm" of YHWH (Isaiah 53:1). According to the Aramaic, the correct translation of Mark 15:34 and Matthew 27:46 is: And in the ninth hour, Y'shua cried out in a loud voice and said, Eil! Eil! lmana shwaqthani, that is "My El! My El! Why have you spared me? - NOT, "Why have you forsaken me"....