Christian Zionism: Consise and to the Point

DEFINITION:
Christian Zionism is the belief that Canaan, the land promised to the Jewish people, is their everlasting possession (Genesis 17:7-8; Psalm 105:7-12).

CONDITIONS:
Israel’s ownership of the land is forever but her domicile, or privilege of living upon it, is conditional upon her reconciled relationship with the God of the Bible (Deuteronomy 26:16-19).

HISTORY:
Israel’s failure to live as a holy people in the Holy Land has disqualified her from domicile upon it and has led to her exile twice (Deuteronomy 28:15, 36, 58-64).

THE NATIONS:
God has always used the surrounding nations and peoples to judge Israel but their intent is and always has been evil. Therefore they have divided her land with destruction in mind. The God of the Bible will and has severely judged them for it (Zechariah 1:15; Jeremiah 25:9; Joel 3:1-3).

We will not support now, or at any time, any decision to divide the land of Israel.

THE PROPHETIC CENTER:
Christian Zionism must be filtered through the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth. He is at the center of all the purpose of God (prophecy) and is first and foremost a Jewish Messiah (Revelation 19:10; Romans 1:1-6).

He Himself noted that Israel would not know the things that make for peace until it squares up to His claims (Luke 19:41-44).

Paul the Apostle would never have embraced a form of Christian Zionism that does not factor the claims of Jesus into it. We cannot get around this and deal with Israel as if Jesus has not come. This is the problem with political Zionism and many Christians embrace it.

This means:

1. We affirm that all the land given to her is hers;
2. We will not in any way condone the dividing of the land;
3. We will wait on God in much prayer about Israel’s journey while calling on her, as friends, to stand firm, as we believe that the current peace process is ill conceived, just as Oslo 1 and 2 were;
4. We note with sadness that scripture clearly teaches that Israel’s current journey will be punctuated by war (Daniel 9:26), affliction (Hosea 5:15), and even dramatic loss of land (Zechariah 14:1-2). We will in no way be part of it but we recognize that at the root of her conflict or problem are the claims of Jesus. These claims will at some point in the future be met (Romans 11:25-26, Romans 10:1-3), and then Israel will inherit, for the first time in history, all the land bequeathed to her (Ezekiel 36:24-28).
5. We are witnessing a sinister attempt by the nations to disinvest Israel of Jerusalem. We will stand against this, all the while warning the nations of dire consequences if they persist in this (Zechariah 12:1-9).

This position, outlined above is, I believe, balanced, biblical and thus correct. It rejects replacement theology, affirms all the land bequeathed to Israel as an everlasting possession and recognizes the rightful claims of Jesus of Nazareth over her national life. After all, He is the very center of all prophetic voices in the scripture.

THE TENSION

There is an obvious tension in holding this position outlined above. The Prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah and others felt this tension. They would, by the urging of the Holy Spirit, emphasize at one moment the need for Israel to repent, return to her God and that such a return would grant her the privilege of domicile or living upon the land bequeathed to her by God Himself. Failure would bring land shrinkage, judgment and even exile.

By doing this they incurred the anger of the “analyzing religious pundits” and they were called false prophets, sell outs and compromises in terms of the prevailing Zionist thought. But equally they would at other times emphasize the glorious future and promise of Israel’s full restoration. This promise included the destruction of her enemies and the vindication of her calling and historical journey.

The above is what I call “the rhema factor.” That is, we are from time to time called upon to emphasize the one aspect of “the tension” to the exclusion of the other. This is by the leading of the Holy Spirit. At other times we are called upon to be silent. This too by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Thus there are two types of “word truth” in scripture. Firstly, the written word that remains solid, unshakable and fully inspired and secondly, the “spoken word” that applies aspects of the “written word” when required by the Holy Spirit. This is not a matter of contradiction but of timing!

The problem we get is that people with an interest in these things tend to dogmatically apply one side of “the tension factor”. Thus when others seek to express the truth of both sides they are “stoned” and accused of departing from the mandate or vision. Jeremiah was abused by his brethren in this manner and not by his enemies outside the gate! Not much has changed but our obligation is to God and not to man.

The issue is even more compounded today as at the heart of the one issue, relating to Israel’s spiritual restoration, is the person of Jesus of Nazareth! Some Christian Zionists tend to want to ignore this factor because of its contentious implications and thereby give Israel “a pass” on it. The consequences are twofold as we have seen:

1. The embracing of the dual covenant error…..and,
2. The propagation of political Zionism.

On the other hand some people embrace the Jesus factor only and offend and alienate the Jewish people. Both positions are extreme.

We affirm biblical truth fully and recognize that it must be applied with the leading of the Holy Spirit and applied with real love, comfort and concern. Most important of all is the fact that by recognizing both sides of the “tension factor” one is able to more fully connect with the purpose of God and not work against it.