Last week, on January 10th, at approximately three o’clock in the morning, a young man set fire to the Beth Israel synagogue in Mississippi, a congregation of about 150 families. The fire caused serious damage, destroying parts of the building, including two Torah scrolls, and left the synagogue unusable for the foreseeable future.
What grieves us deeply is not only the act itself but also the spirit behind it. By all outward appearances, this 19-year-old man who set the fire identified himself as a Christian. He even created a website called The One Purpose, focused on identity and self-improvement, where he frequently posted biblical verses and offered free Scripture lessons.
At his first court appearance, when asked by the judge whether he understood his right to an attorney, he responded, “Yes, sir, Jesus Christ is Lord.” When he was first apprehended, his words revealed a tragic distortion. He reportedly laughed and referred to the building as a Synagogue of Satan. This moment forces us to pause and reflect. Throughout history, this phrase has been misused to wound, accuse, and defame the Jewish people.
Today, it is resurfacing, especially online, often repeated by extremists or by individuals who do not understand its biblical context or its devastating consequences. However, such misuse of Scripture does not reflect the heart of God, nor the teachings of Jesus or the New Testament, the Brit Chadashah. It reminds us of the solemn responsibility we bear to handle God’s Word with truth, love, and humility, so that sacred language is not turned into an instrument of harm and hate, but rather into an instrument of healing.
These words, Synagogue of Satan, come from the mouth of Jesus, Yeshua, Himself, who pronounced them twice in His address to the seven churches in Revelation. This is what He said, “I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich, and the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Rev. 2:9, 3:9. Who is Jesus referring to when He speaks of the Synagogue of Satan? In many ways, the answer is more straightforward than it may first appear. Yeshua says that these people claim to be Jews, yet are not. So, simply put, they are not Jews.
Biblically speaking, a Jew is a people, not merely a religious label or a faith adopted at will. It is an identity rooted in lineage and ancestry, not something one becomes simply by claiming it. So who are these who say they are Jews but are not? They are non-Jews, Gentiles (those from the nations) who seek to remove the Jewish people from the Scriptures and replace them, claiming Israel’s promises and identity for themselves. In other words, the issue is not belief in God but the false claim to Israel’s identity and role, made at the expense of the Jewish people.
Imagine you arrive at the airport, suitcase in hand, ready to board a flight to Paris. At the counter, the agent asks, “May I see your passport?” You confidently reply, “I don’t have one, but I feel French.” The agent blinks. “I’m sorry, sir, are you a French citizen?” You say, “Well… no. I’ve never lived in France. I wasn’t born there. My parents aren’t even French. In fact, I don’t speak the language very well… But I strongly identify as French, and I’ve decided that I belong to France.” At this point, security begins to gather around you.
No amount of claiming, feeling, or imitating can replace true identity. You don’t become French by declaring it. And you don’t become Jewish by taking Israel’s name while removing the Jewish people’s blessings. Jesus’ words in Revelation are not complicated. He is not condemning Jews; in fact, He is defending them. The problem He exposes is not belief, but identity theft.
We should also remember that although Paul’s unique calling and ministry were primarily to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13), whenever he entered a new city, he first went to a synagogue. Throughout his journeys recorded in Acts 13 through Acts 28, we can count at least ten cities where this pattern appears. Would Paul ever enter a “synagogue of Satan”? Absolutely not! He consistently entered synagogues of the Jews, where he proclaimed the Word of God to them. This pattern further confirms that the expression in Revelation cannot refer to Jewish synagogues as such, but to something else entirely.
On the contrary, when speaking of the Jewish people, Paul wrote one very poignant text, right at the heart of the New Testament, the Brit Chadashah, when he said, “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from the Messiah for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
Here, we can feel the deep pain that the apostle Paul carried in his heart. As antisemitism began to grow in the Roman world and Jewish believers were increasingly made to feel unwelcome in the churches, Paul was anything but indifferent. His response is staggering. So great was his love for his own people, Israel, that he declares he would be willing, if it were even possible, to be cut off from God himself for their sake.
In the strongest possible terms, Paul affirms his readiness to endure separation so that Israel might receive God’s salvation. This stands in sharp contrast to those who misuse the Word of God to accuse or defame the Jewish people. Paul’s words reveal the true heart of the New Testament: a heart filled with grief, love, and a fierce defense of Israel.
This is what the Jewish community needs to hear today, not condemnation but the love of the Messiah and the clear testimony of Scripture, which stands against hatred and distortion. The message they most need to hear from us, from the Bible-believing community, is not accusation but assurance. Jewish people and Bible believers, Christians, need to know that the New Testament, the Brit Chadashah, does not teach that the God of their fathers has abandoned them, but that the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua Himself, loves them with a perfect and enduring love.