The theory that Jews control the world, while obviously a conspiracy theory, has shown remarkable staying power.

From The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to modern accusations that Israel manipulates the United States into fighting its wars, there is a persistent belief on both the extreme left and the extreme right that Jews secretly run global affairs. Again and again, we hear the same claims: the Jews control the banks, the media, Hollywood, the government, etc.

Why does this idea refuse to disappear?

This conspiracy theory survives because, on the surface, reality sometimes looks as if it were true.

Israel is a tiny country of about ten million people, yet it stands at the center of world events. The Jewish state fights wars against enemies many times its size, and somehow survives. The United States, the world’s greatest superpower, repeatedly finds itself aligned with Israel against powerful adversaries. To many observers, this does not look like a coincidence. It looks like influence.

Even more striking is the long arc of Jewish history itself. The Jewish people survived nearly two thousand years of exile, persecution, and dispersion, yet never disappeared. They returned to their land, rebuilt their state, revived their language, and re-emerged as a central force in world affairs. From a purely natural perspective, this is difficult to explain. It almost looks as though the Jews must be pulling the strings behind the scenes.

But the conclusion is wrong.

It is not the Jews who control the world. It is the God of the Jews who controls the world.

There are no secret councils in Zion directing global events. There are no hidden networks manipulating nations for Jewish benefit. What there is, however, is a long and mysterious history in which the Jewish people repeatedly survive against the odds and remain at the center of events far larger than themselves.

For those who refuse to believe in the God of Israel, this creates a problem. If there is no divine providence, then how can Jewish history make sense? How can such a small nation play such an outsized role for so long?

If one begins with the premise that God is not real, there is only one option left. The Jews must be secretly controlling history.

And so the conspiracy theory returns.

Not because it is true, but because without God and divine providence for Israel, they simply have no other way to explain what they see.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)