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Did Jesus Give Away the Land of Israel to Christians? (Matthew 5:5) Pt 1

Photo courtesy of Photo by Raimond Klavins from Unsplash

Most evangelical supporters of the modern state of Israel MUST become familiar with the biennial conference Christ at the Checkpoint (CATC). This symposium is organized by Palestinian Christian pastors and leaders in conjunction with Bethlehem Bible College, a non-denominational Evangelical school located in the West Bank and a source of anti-Zionist propaganda. The major mission of this controversial forum is stated in the “About” Section of the CATC website, “We are a community of evangelical Christians who believe that following Jesus with integrity means that our lives are formed by our love for God, the teaching of the Bible and a fearless life of discipleship in the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.

On the surface the Christ at the Checkpoint mission statement appears acceptable. The commitment to apply Christian principles to navigating and addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is appealing to Christians who want to reflect the principles taught by Jesus. To clarify their viewpoint regarding the Middle East conflict, the CATC “About” field continues, “We feel compelled to address the injustices that have taken place in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, particularly the Palestinian lands under occupation.”

However, after listening to the CATC talks posted online, one notices the lecturers are quick to condemn the Jewish state, but are strangely quiet about the atrocities committed by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the Hamas government in Gaza. Dexter Van Zile, a writer for C.A.M.E.R.A. (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis), reflects in an article about the CATC gatherings, “all the problems and suffering associated with the Arab-Israeli conflict are placed at the feet of Israel, America and the West while the misdeeds of Palestinian leaders are ignored.”

The Role of CATC in Denying God’s Promises of the Land to Israel

Checkpont West Bank
Ahmad Al-Bazz

In this article the alleged injustices occurring in the Palestinian territories will not be addressed. Rather, our goal is to deal with the underlying agenda of CATC in questioning and opposing any theology that advocates a divine plan for Israel’s future.

CATC’s adversarial position concerning theologies that are supportive of Israel is stated as follows ” . . . we reject theologies that lead to discrimination or privileges based on ethnicity. Worldviews that promote divine national entitlement or exceptionalism do not promote the values of the Kingdom of God because they place nationalism above Jesus.” Any attendee at CATC is soon made aware the majority of speakers do not believe the God of the Bible has a plan for the nation of Israel that includes both the title and possession of the Promised Land.

In contrast, one who maintains God DOES have a future plan for Israel believes the divine program for the Jewish nation has NEVER been based on ethnicity. The Lord’s planned blessings for Israel is founded solely on His elective choice as seen in Deuteronomy 7:6-8:

The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping rthe oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Deuteroomy 7:6-8 (ESV)

The true intent of the CATC conferences can be missed in the slew of many messages that obfuscates their agenda. From the One for Israel website this intention is spelled out:

The conference claims to be “theology in the service of peace and justice” but its true purpose is to fundamentally change the way that Evangelicals in the West read the Bible in order to fundamentally change their political stand regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict-and through them, to affect their political leaders. Instead of reading the Bible in its historical and cultural context in order to understand what the inspired prophets and apostles communicated as the Word of God, organizers of CatC want us to read the Scriptures only “in the shadow of the occupation”, that is, filtered through the Palestinian Arab’s POV and political aspirations. 

https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/christ-at-the-checkpoint/

Of course, the leaders involved in CATC will demonstrate a desire for Israel and the Jewish people to experience salvation through Yeshua. Still, the denial of God’s promises of the land to the nation of Israel lies at the heart of the CATC agenda.

The Role of CATC in Altering the Fingerprint of the Nation of Israel

It is tempting to only see CATC as an evangelical effort to right injustices and to take a stand for the oppressed Palestinians. Yet we must keep at the forefront the deeper aim of CATC as stated by a One for Israel position paper: “to sway Evangelical believers worldwide away from belief in the eternal promises of God to Israel by slandering the Jewish people and delegitimizing the Jewish state . . . “

fingerprint
Free photo 2737531 © Andy Brown – Dreamstime.com

The Jewish News Syndicate chimes in with a similar understanding of the theological underpinnings of this evangelical anti-Israel effort, “CATC includes a heavy emphasis on replacement theology, which teaches that the Christian church has replaced Israel or the Jewish people regarding the plan, purpose, and promises of God. Adherents of the theology believe that the Jews are no longer God’s ‘chosen people’.” Those who hold to any form of replacement theology are asking its adherents to believe the fingerprint of Israel in the Jewish scriptures has been altered. Like a thief who uses acid or a surgical technique to change his fingerprints, these RT theologians have attempted to file off the fingerprint of Israel from Old Testament promises so that the nation’s identity is replaced with that of the Church.

In Palestinian replacement theology, some of their theologians see the land of Israel as a type of heaven and not a geographical destination; many opt for a replacement theology in which the Church is the spiritual “New Israel”. A growing number of New Testament theologians hold the promises given to Israel are now fulfilled in Jesus. He is the goal of the Old Testament prophecies and He is the “new Israel”.

The variations of Replacement Theology are manifold and cannot be covered in this piece in their entirety. Yet the essential conviction of RT that replaces the nation Israel with the NT Church and the land with spiritualized interpretations will be discussed throughout this article. In addition, every attempt will be made to address the passages cited by Replacement Theology that are used to diminish the commitment of the God of Israel to His nation.

The perspective on Israel by CATC organizers is well stated by Palestinian Salim Munayer, head of Musalaha a non-profit organization which works towards reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. In response to a concern about God’s promises of the land to Israel, Munayer responded,

“CATC interprets them via a new “theology of the land”. This theology teaches that “the blessing of the Promised Land has been stretched over the whole earth.” God has gifted every people with a homeland, on condition that they behave morally. The Jews behaved immorally and lost their land to the Palestinians. If the Jewish people will become moral, God will let them share the land with the Palestinians (italics mine).

https://news.kehila.org/the-controversial-christ-at-the-checkpoint-a-beginners-factual-guide/

The Role of Christians in Grasping Israel’s Role in God’s Plans

Most non-RT scholars will argue against the general theological statements which support the stance God has replaced Israel with the Church. Yet when texts used by RT proponents to support their theology are carefully examined, we discover the tedious work of exegesis of these verses has oftentimes been neglected. Two results are noticed:

RT is built on a foundation of poorly interpreted biblical texts.

blowing up balloon

Throughout the Tenach God is inflating Israel like a giant balloon with blessings and promises concerning the future of the nation. To defend the position that sees the continuation of God’s promises to Israel, the proponents take into account the many texts that support this position.

For example, according to Psalm 2:6 and Zechariah 14:6-7 the Messiah will rule from Jerusalem during the Messianic kingdom. The nations of the earth will come to Zion to worship the Messiah King of Israel (Isaiah 61:10). Because of God’s commitment to Israel, the nation is preserved by Him throughout the ages. In the Hebrew scriptures and post-biblical history, the “balloon” nation almost floats above all attempts to wipe them out by the enemies of God’s chosen people.

In contrast, Replacement theologians use their anti-Israel doctrine to deflate the special position Israel has in the Word of God. These advocates fail to interact honestly with the many Old Testament passages that reinforce God’s continued relationship with Israel.

For instance, most conservative biblical scholars view Ezekiel 37:1-14, the Valley of the Dry Bones, as a prophecy of the regathering of the Jewish people to the land of Israel and the ensuing spiritual regeneration of the Jewish people. RT interpreters view Ezekiel 37 as referring to the gathering of redeemed people-Jews and Gentiles-into the church. The latter interpretation ignores the details of these fourteen verses in favor of a general interpretation that is indifferent to the specifics of the prophecy. Ezekiel 37:12 declares to a scattered Israel throughout the earth, “And I will bring you into the land of Israel.” Where is this geographical location God promises to bring the replacement “new Israel” (the Church) to?

By the time we get to the NT, these RT teachers have redefined Israel or ignored the promises God gave to the Jewish nation. This is because these scholars have built their theology on poorly interpreted passages from the Hebrew Bible regarding Israel.

RT often overlooks the entire scope of OT prophecies about Israel.

RT maintains if an OT prophecy regarding Israel’s future is not mentioned again in the NT, the passage is to be ignored. Oddly, these neglected specifics of OT prophecies about Israel form the greatest argument against Replacement Theology.

It is true Ezekiel 37 is not mentioned in the New Testament. However, where does it teach in the New Covenant scriptures that Ezekiel 37 is no longer applicable because the text is not mentioned in the NT?

The NT does not mention God’s covenant promise to Noah in Genesis 9:11 to never destroy the earth with a worldwide flood again. Because this commitment to Noah is NOT repeated in the NT, does that mean God can once again destroy the earth with a universal flood?

The “Israel” of RT is an Israel devoid of the important connection to the Hebrew roots of the nation. Israel has become gentilized and christianized according to these scholars. It is an Israel unrecognizable to the Old Testament student and to the majority of Jewish people.

However, the most confusion initiated by Replacement Theology is seen in the way they interpret many passages in the NT about Israel. One important passage often misinterpreted by RT is Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (ESV). This is not a text most Christians would associate with a denial of God’s promises of the land to Israel.

In contrast to popular belief, Matthew 5:5 has become one of the major New Testament passages used by Replacement theologians to prove the New Testament does not teach the land of Israel is promised to the Jewish people.

Some biblical scholars who have bought into Palestinian replacement theology contend in this verse Jesus is removing the land of Israel from the Jewish nation and giving the land-figuratively-to His followers-the Church. In essence, Yeshua is universalizing the Abrahamic promises to Israel to spread out over the entire gentile world and is excluding Israel save for the Jewish believing remnant in Yeshua.

Since Matthew 5:5 is not only in the famed Sermon on the Mount and one of the first times Jesus supposedly refers to the land of Israel in His teaching, one can see why understanding this passage is so essential.

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Does God Really Have Plans to Prosper You? (Jeremiah 29:11) Pt. 3

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

In the film documentary American Gospel writer and director Brandon Kimber shares a sampling of the messages coming out of the Prosperity Gospel movement. In one video segment Pastor Joel Osteen punches out a message in which he asks, “Who told you you can’t accomplish your dreams? God has His plans for you. Your destiny is calling out. It’s time to start living large.” In another sermon Osteen counsels, “I’m asking you to feel good about who you are.”

The focus of Osteen’s message in these video slices is not fixed on the person of Jesus. Rather the youthful Osteen concentrates on self-fulfillment and the belief God will enable us to realize the American Dream of prosperity and accomplishing our personal plans and goals. A message like this often latches on to Jeremiah 29:11 as a passage that guarantees God will enable you to attain your hopes and dreams.

Prosperity Image
Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay

As we dive deeper into the Jeremiah passage, we learn the prophet’s message has little to do with actualizing one’s private ambitions. Jeremiah is not promising modern Christians that God will grant His children all aspects of the American Dream.

When Jeremiah 29:11 is misapplied in this manner, the intent of the text is tossed aside to make the words of the prophecy fit an entirely different situation. Then the Scriptures become a source text for people to quote as they wish depending on the situation. Rather than allow the Scriptures to shape our spiritual values and our attitudes towards materialism, we bend the Word of God to our own aspirations as demonstrated in the aberrant teaching of the prosperity huckster Joel Osteen.

Furthermore, in the American Gospel Dr. Julius Kim, Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary California notes the harm done when the central focus on the New Testament message becomes self-fulfillment, healing and prosperity,

“We’re seeing a church in America that is becoming ultimately Christless. When we believe in a gospel thinking it is all about us, we miss Jesus’ words entirely.”

Dr. Julius Kim, Westminster Seminary California

In fact, the recipients of Jeremiah 29:11 would have been aghast at how this prophetic promise has been misunderstood and misused by modern followers of God. Sadly, the reason why the prosperity gospel is so popular is that most Bible teachers and pastors refuse to correct and call out these questionable teachers.

Today, many Christian leaders succumb to the immaturity of Christians who come out in droves to hear a carnal prosperity message. Somewhere along the line these neophyte believers were taught incorrectly. As a result, their hearts are more fixed on God’s blessings, rather than on God Himself. Once a follower of Yeshua locks into a lifestyle of seeking gifts over and above the gift giver, they are ripe for deception.

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Does God Really Have Plans to Prosper You? (Jeremiah 29:11) Pt. 2

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

Introduction

Prior to my acceptance of Yeshua as Messiah of Israel and Redeemer, I embraced several Eastern faiths. I was hunting for a connection to God. To find true peace, some paths required I subjugate my cravings that were in the way of experiencing inner tranquility. Eventually, I was no longer bothered by material things I could not afford or the circumstantial setbacks I experienced. Maintaining my inner calm became a greater priority than getting rattled by temporary frustrations.

Soon I embarked into the world of New Testament Christianity. The evangelical sphere I observed split into two avenues. One lane beckoned me to take the words of Jesus seriously when He called His followers to a life of self-denial. This road involves serving God and others even in the midst of difficult times. In the course of enduring life’s obstacles with God’s strength, the follower of Yeshua finds divine peace and joy.

The other route I encountered was the prosperity gospel. In this scenario suffering should NOT be part of the believer’s life. Rather, this scheme teaches God has promised His children a lifestyle of self-fulfillment, physical health and material wealth. The message is positive and promises the Christian freedom from suffering.

The question must be posed: Which path is the one that most aligns with the teaching of Scripture?

Understand the priority of pursuing God’s kingdom over material blessing

Prosperity Image
Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay

According to Matthew 6:33, Jesus taught His disciples, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” “All these things” refers to the preceding verses in which Jesus describes the concern of God for our material needs-food and drink plus clothing. Jesus does not declare God will provide His followers mansions, several luxury cars in our garage and extravagant vacations. In contrast, because we can trust God to meet our basic needs, we are freed up to seek His kingdom as a priority.

In contrast, many prosperity gospel preachers encourage the Christian to seek “these things” first and then once the person is wealthy and healthy, he or she can experience the kingdom of God. In this world of promised prosperity God exists for me and my needs.

As a result, the Christian enmeshed in this teaching no longer becomes more like Jesus, but he or she is transformed into a materialistic person with skewed priorities. It is my observation this prosperity-focused movement has ignored a lack of spirituality that has crept into the Body of Messiah. The reason? The focus of this teaching is on the believer’s selfish desires and not on establishing the priority of the kingdom of God.

Grasp the true meaning of happiness defined by Scriptures

In no way am I promoting the idea the follower of Yeshua cannot find lasting happiness in this earthly world. My concern is determining what exactly is the happiness God wants for us.

Sadly, some faith teachers offer little qualification of what prosperity and happiness means. The unsuspecting Christian is led to believe that the promised happiness is defined by the materialistic pursuits of our contemporary culture, not by the Word of God. For this reason, believers are open targets for erroneous thinking about what true happiness is.

It is a fair question to ask ourselves, “Is my contentment based on the secular American Dream or by a blessedness defined by Scriptures?”

After all, fulfilling the American dream does not always bring us lasting enjoyment. According to Jonathan T. Pennington, in The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing, he observes, “Wisdom literature such as Psalms and Proverbs often depicts the foolishness, shortsightedness, and ultimately short-lived and destructive nature of ungodly pleasures that promise no lasting happiness” (pg. 295). If we are deadset on grabbing our “best life now,” how are we any different from the unbeliever who cherishes the same pleasures? Does God bring us into a relationship with Him so we can scarf up all the material benefits we can fit into our earthly suitcases? Where is the discernment to see material blessings are a by-product of seeking God and not the goal of seeking God (Matthew 6:35-34)?

Later in this blog post we will gain more insight into the enjoyment we can expect from the Lord. For now let us be cautious to not allow secular thinking define for us what is lasting happiness.

Zero in on the place of blessing during our times of hardship

We should not overlook the future aspect of the blessings God wants to give us. Pennington frames this concept from the New Testament where God is “bringing His kingdom from heaven to earth, vanquishing His enemies and establishing justice and peace between people and all of creation” (Pennington, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing, pg. 296). In other words, there is a “not yet” aspect of God’s promised blessedness.

Hence, we await the coming of God’s kingdom to grant us lasting happiness on earth, not only in heaven. Jesus describes the “not yet” aspect of spiritual joy on earth in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Mathew 6:10).

Why speak a prayer about the future coming of God’s kingdom on earth if we believe the kingdom has come with all its blessings right now? In other words, how can we receive our best life now if God tells us the “best life” is ahead of us and awaiting the Second Coming?

Often the blessings we receive from God in this world are found in the midst of suffering and brokenness. In a strong sense, the follower of Jesus lives in a paradox: we encounter loss, longing, suffering and even persecution along with spiritual happiness, joy and peace. Paul writes, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ [Messiah] you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). The inclusion of suffering in the spiritual life is also described in Phillipians 3:8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ [Messiah] Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [Messiah]”.

What we need is a more balanced approach to what it means to find happiness that is not tied into grabbing as much of the American Dream as possible.

To establish the basic tenets of the health and wealth message, the faith teachers gravitate towards biblical passages like Jeremiah 29:11. In this series of articles we have been focusing on understanding the context and audience of this often misused Scripture verse. We must ask, “Who is this promise addressed to? What exactly are the plans God has for His people? How should a modern follower of Jesus apply this verse to their lives?”

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Did Those Six Million Jews Die for You?

Auschwitz entrance

The Entrance to Auschwitz

By now the controversy surrounding the Jews for Jesus video “That Jew Died for You” has simmered down. Still the strong negative reaction by the Jewish community to the JFJ evangelistic effort remains a stain on Jewish-Christian relations.

At the release of the video prior to Holocaust Remembrance Day, a Jews for Jesus press release, explained the video seeks “to help redefine the conversation and reshape views of Jesus and His relationship to the Holocaust.”

The intentions of JFJ in the production of this video were honorable and aimed to initiate conversation among Jewish people regarding Christianity’s relationship to the murder of six million Jews under the evil Nazi regime.

David Brickner, Executive Director of  JFJ offered his public commentary on the video, “The horrors of the Holocaust and the 6 million who died has gnawed at the consciousness of Jews for over 60 years. We want Jewish people to understand that the sufferings inflicted at the hands of the Nazi’s were in no way based on the teachings of Jesus (underlining mine). In fact, he suffered and died on our behalf to show us the love of God.”

Oddly, the majority of Jewish people do not think the teachings of Jesus are responsible for the horrors of the Holocaust. Rather, the Jewish community is  more concerned with the antisemitic attitudes of  Eastern European Christians prior to and during World War II that helped fuel the racist ideology behind the  Holocaust. (more…)




Not All Israel Is Israel Part 3

The controversy over God’s continuation of Israel as a viable nation despite their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah looms large in the Christian church.

Most followers of Jesus are not even aware of the various Christian theologies regarding the Jewish nation.  Yet when uninformed evangelicals are exposed to such anti-Israel beliefs such as Replacement Theology (the view that Israel is no longer God’s elect people but replaced by the Church), these Christians are conflicted over what they are  hearing and what the Bible teaches.

As a representative of Replacement Theology (though he prefers the term “Fulfillment Theology”) Gary Burge, New Testament professor at Wheaton College, in his book Whose Land? Whose Promises?  the author states, “Abraham can become the father of many nations because when Gentiles share in Abraham’s faith, he becomes their father too (Romans 4:16).  Physical lineage, therefore, has been spiritualized into a lineage based on faith (emphasis mine). The ‘land of Israel’ is likewise spirtualized now to include the entire world” (pg. 182).

geneology

The key concept to focus on from Burge’s theology is, “physical lineage  . . . has been spiritualized into a lineage based on faith.”  Israel  is no longer a physical nation, according to the Wheaton professor, but has become a spiritual entity that one enters into by faith  in Christ not by physical heritage through Abraham. If the physical seed has been “spiritualized” then the “physical” is no longer relevant, hence the physical nation of Israel is moot to God’s spiritual program.

The glaring mistake Burge makes is twofold:  first, the physical lineage of a member of the nation of Israel never implied the individual within the nation  has a relationship with God, and second, within the physical nation of Israel there has always existed a spiritual remnant of Israelites who remained faithful to God.  These two truths do not redefined the nation of Israel, but describe the reality of a spiritual remnant within the physical Jewish nation.

In contrast to Gary Burge’s fulfillment theology which pushes aside God’s plan for the physical nation  the Apostle Paul  teaches that Israel still exists as a nation even after the first coming of the Messiah. In Romans 9:3-4a Paul pleads, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” To Paul, “those of his own race” are “the people of Israel” quite alive and not replaced by or fulfilled in the New Testament church.  (more…)




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