It was January 27th, 1945 when Soviet forces rolled into Auchwitz-Birkenau, liberating the Nazi death camp, where millions of Jews had been murdered during the previous 3 years. The survivors who were liberated by the Red army were those who had been too sick or weak to leave on the "death marches" that the Nazis forced upon the rest of the camp population as the Russians approached. Of the 60,000 who left on such marches, almost one third died along the way.

Over 60 years later, in November 2005, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/7 designated January 27th as an International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Jews have had their own day since 1951, on the 27 of Nisan (late April), known as Yom HaShoah.

At last year’s remembrance ceremony, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General gave his views on what this day is all about:

He also took the opportunity to criticize Israel for the Gaza conflict, couching his terms as if they were balanced - completely ignoring the history of the conflict:

So, what was supposed to be a remembrance day of the Holocaust turned into a soap-box on the mutual hatred and intolerance of Arabs and Israelis. But more than that he perpetuated the Anti-Zionist dogma which equates modern Israel with the Nazis and the Palestinians as the victims.

In his remarks this year, Ban Ki-moon decided to focus on the theme of "the legacy of survival" as "a message about the triumph of the human spirit. A living testament that tyranny, though it may rise, will surely not prevail." It is interesting to note that of some 229 words in his message, he only mentioned "Jews" once. The thrust of the message continued current trends in removing much of the essentially Jewish history of the Holocaust, and bringing it into the domain of human rights.

The irony is that in last year’s message, Ban Ki-moon felt the need to call out Iranian President Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust, but then 9 months later gave him a global podium at the UN General Assembly in September 2009. Ahmadinejad didn’t waste the opportunity to have 35 minutes to rail against Israel, accusing them of genocide, barbarism and racism. Though a number of delegates walked out, he left the stage to a loud round of applause.

And how could we forget Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s speech during which he suggested that former American President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as part of an Israeli conspiracy?

Yes there’s a body of evidence compiled over the last 65 years which clearly demonstrates a pattern of acceptance of Anti-Semitic and Anti-Zionist views at the United Nations.

The following chart gives a reality check on the continued actions against Israel. The chart compares some major conflicts of the last decade or so - comparing reported deaths against UN General Assembly resolutions:

As we see - some 4 million people were killed during the Second Congo War, and there were 56 resolutions. Around 35 thousand were killed in the Invasion of Iraq, yet only 15 resolutions. Compare that with 249 resolutions relating to Israel during the Second Intifada and the 2006 Lebanon War!

In a recent Jerusalem Post article, Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League reflected on this:

Ban Ki-moon was right that tyranny will rise again, and he was also right that it will be destroyed. God’s Holy Scriptures inform us of this. However, tyranny won’t be defeated by the "triumph of the human spirit" but by the Lord Jesus Christ and all his saints. In fact, Revelation 16 indicates that the "human spirits" are behind the roiling of the nations against Israel, culminating in their being gathered together to Armageddon.

Regular readers of the Bible Magazine and Bible in the News will be familiar with this passage, which speaks of the philosophies of the French Revolution - Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality, that of Humanism and Nationalism. These emanations are associated with three distinct entities, allied against Israel - Russia as the dragon, Europe as the beast, and the Papacy as the false prophet.

So the "human spirit" will gather these nations to "Armageddon" (v16), a composite Hebrew word meaning "a heap of sheaves in a valley for Judgment." God has assured his servants living in these days, that he is using this "human spirit" to bring the nations to Judgment.

Zechariah 14:1-2 give us a glimpse of what is in store: "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city."

What will happen next? We read in in verse 3: "Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle."

In verse 9, we are told about the final result: "And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one." This will usher in the ultimate "end of tyranny", when rebellious nations will be brought to heel. Taking their place will be a righteous theocracy headquartered in Jerusalem.

Continuing to read in verse 16-17: "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain."

There will be no hypocrisy associated with the memorials, festivals and holy days of the coming Kingdom of Israel!

On this Holocaust Remembrance day, the world may wish to focus on the "dignity of human spirit", but Bible students do well to reflect on the living witness to God’s word, as Isaiah prophesied in chapter 43:

Join us again next week, God willing, for another edition of Bible in the News.

www.bibleinthenews.com