CHRISTIANS DIVIDE OVER ISRAEL
By Harmony Grant
5 Sep 07
Miracles can happen, even in the lazy heat of summer. At the
end of July, 34 evangelical leaders signed a
remarkable letter to the President. It urges a more balanced
view of Israel than is generally heard from the American pulpit.
“Precisely
as evangelical Christians committed to the full teaching of the Scriptures,
we know that blessing and loving people (including Jews and the present
State of Israel) does not mean withholding criticism when it is warranted,” say
these leaders, “Genuine love and genuine blessing means acting
in ways that promote the genuine and long-term well being of our
neighbors.”
Their
letter endorses a two-state solution and acknowledges that “both
Israelis and Palestinians have legitimate rights stretching back
for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine.”
Though
unlikely to fully satisfy all anti-Zionists, the letter writers still
powerfully disagree with Christian pro-Israel groups such as Pastor
John Hagee’s influential Christians United for Israel (CUFI).
CUFI lobbies for a preemptive strike of Iran; it ardently opposes
any return of illegal Jewish settlements to the Palestinians who
were violently expelled from them. Christian Zionists like Hagee
believe that “blessing God’s chosen people” means
supplying Israel with fervent moral, financial, and military support.
Most believe this will hasten Christ’s return.
Not
all evangelicals agree! The letter’s 34 signers seek “to
correct a serious misperception among some people including some
U.S. policymakers that all American evangelicals are opposed to a
two-state solution and creation of a new Palestinian state that includes
the vast majority of the West Bank . Nothing could be further from
the truth.”
Hagee
himself quickly responded. He fired a rebuttal letter to the White
House, denouncing his dissenting brethren—who include the editor
of Christianity Today, presidents of Fuller Theological Seminary
and The Christian and Missionary Alliance (of 2,000 churches), and
chairman of World Relief, among others.
These
letters show a very healthy, unforeseen and public rift in the Christian
evangelical church! The
Jewish Week quotes Richard Cizik, VP of the National Association
of Evangelicals, saying the letters reflect a deepening theological
split among evangelicals over the church’s duty to Israel and
the Jewish people.
This
question deeply matters: How do we bless the descendants of Abraham?
What we owe Israel matters to all Americans, church-going or not.
We are giving almost $2.5 billion to the Jewish state this year,
more than to any other nation. Our struggle in Iraq, which can largely
be blamed on our loyalty to Israel, costs us more $3 billion every
week! (Yes, you read that right: $3 billion a week.) The
largest pro-Israel lobbying group, AIPAC, is one of the most powerful
lobbies in Washington DC, period. Politicians say that what Israel
wants, Israel gets. The seemingly distant struggle in the Mideast
is actually very close—relevant to every taxpayer and voter,
both to us and to our children.
Hagee Twists Scripture
John
Hagee claims that “Bible-believing evangelicals will scoff” at
the letter sent by the 34 Christian leaders. His organization, CUFI,
opposes “ America pressuring Israel to give up more land to
anyone for any reason.” Hagee says, “God gave to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob a covenant in the Book of Genesis for the land of
Israel that is eternal and unbreakable, and that covenant is still
intact.” This point of view is prevalent in the American church
but is not based on a truthful reading of the Bible.
I
sometimes think Christian Zionists must have an alternate Bible that’s
missing passages like Gen.18:19 which says Abraham's descendants
can claim the covenant promises given to Abraham only when they "keep
the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice." Maybe
the Zionist Bible is also missing Deut. 4: 26, 27 and 30:1-3 which
promise God's exile to Jews who reject His law, requiring obedience
before they can return. God's judgment of sin is as timeless as His
blessing for the obedient! In three dramatic expulsions (after the
covenant was given), God deprived rebellious Jews of the right to
occupy the land. Are these conditional terms—repeated through
the Old Testament—somehow missing from Hagee’s Bible?
In
July, journalist Max Blumenthal made Rapture
Ready, a brief documentary about one of Hagee’s “Nights
to Honor Israel .” () A member of Hagee’s audience told
Blumenthal that a sign of the “beast” is that he will
force Israel into a peace treaty with the Arabs. This audience member
reflects the irrational and unbiblical passion for Israel that has
turned evangelicals—from church pews to the White House—into
the servants of right-wing Jewish Zionists.
“Obviously,
we have to be connected to Israel in order to enjoy the second coming
of Christ,” former House majority leader Tom DeLay told Blumenthal.
But
this is not at all obvious! Should we be connected to Israel through
unconditional support of her actions, whether just or unjust—or
as the righteous prophets and Christ Himself were connected: through
loving rebuke? The Bible provides strong reasons to disagree with
Hagee’s passionate and undiscriminating support of the Jewish
state.
Christians Speaking the Truth
Last
March, prominent talk radio host Janet Parshall publicly dropped
out of a Jewish-Christian caucus in Jerusalem after it condemned
Christian evangelism of Israeli Jews.
“I
thought, wait a minute. We can’t just blindly support Israel,” Parshall said. “We have to be able to tell them [about
Christ] as a friend, you can’t do that. You can’t silence
us.” She says she realized that Israel was telling evangelicals, “We’ll
take your aid, your support and your tourist dollars, but we won’t
take your Jesus.”
Like
all true Christians, Parshall wants to bless Israel as God commands.
But she realized blind moral and financial support is not a true
blessing! Rather, Christians must speak the whole truth in love,
seeking first to share the blessing of redemption through Christ.
She criticized Christian Zionists for suggesting that Jews can be
saved apart from obedient trust in Christ. “That’s not
true,” she said.
She’s
right. And Cizik (VP of the Nat. Assoc. of Evangelicals, remember)
said Parshall’s position is “gaining traction” among
evangelicals. “I hear that a lot,” he told the Jewish
Week.
I
think St. Paul would be very pleased. He
said divisions must come in the church, in order to prove who is
standing with the truth. Paul himself publicly rebuked his fellow apostle,
Peter, for reverting to Jewish laws out of fear, instead of standing
on the salvation Christ brought. Today, the Zionism and increasing
Judaization of the American church would certainly earn his public
rebuke! Evangelical debate over our duty to Israel is long overdue,
and I only pray it will grow. It's high time the church exalted the
whole Biblical truth. In this case, contention is good!
Harmony
Grant writes and edits for the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative
watch dog organization.
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