Christian Zionism is a misnomer - there is nothing Christian about it
Zionism is a Jewish nationalistic political movement started over a hundred years ago. The term 'Christian Zionism' is coined for the movement that started in America, that is encouraged by the American Jewish lobby groups and the leadership of the nation of Israel, in supporting Israel's political agenda. The motivation driving this movement comes from a wrong understanding of Scripture. Christians who blindly support the policies of Israel are unwittingly supporting the cruel, heartless oppression of innocent human beings. Unknowingly they allow themselves to be manipulated to support secular Israel's political ambitions and consequently they become complicit to injustice, apartheid and unimaginable suffering of large numbers of men, women, and children who are created in the image of our loving God.
Christian Zionism is not Biblical
Christian Zionism is Christianity's cancer. The majority of Christians in America wrongly assume that what they are taught about Israel is true and therefore never consider questioning or evaluating this belief with what is actually taught in the New Testament. The Christian New Testament is the new covenant given by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the basis of our Christian faith. The Old Testament is its historical foundation and through the "lens" of the New Testament, we are able to understand how God had worked his salvation plan through these ancient beginnings.
The first set of verses Christian Zionists utter in defense of their beliefs always seem to be the 'blessings and curses' verses of Genesis 12:3 "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Yet if only they take the time to read and understand Galatians 3, they would realize that these blessings and curses refer to Jesus Christ. But this one simple example is just the tip of the iceberg that will crush the false beliefs many harbor.
At the end of the same Galatians 3 chapter, Paul teaches that there is only ONE people who belongs to God. Several other NT passages reinforce this also. Yet, Christian Zionists are told that there are two people of God viz, the Jews and the 'gentile' Christians and God have a specific plan for each. This is apostate anti-Christ teaching. A 'one people' principle is simply fundamental to Christianity.
Let’s also consider the following:
‘The whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation tells the story of God’s sovereign purpose of grace, His master-plan of salvation through Christ’ John Stott (“The Message of Galatians”)
1. God’s promise of a messiah was first foretold in Gen 3:15 – in this prophesy, the offspring of the woman is Christ who would ultimately defeat (‘crush’ the head of) Satan.
2. God’s redemptive plan began with Abraham. Christians know him as the ‘father of many’ and a man of great faith (Gen 12 onwards; Rom 1:17; Gal 3; Heb 11).
3. Scripture tells us that it was because Abraham had faith that God counted him as righteous – and according to Paul in Galatians if we too have faith as Abraham did, we would be regarded as ‘children of Abraham’ and we would be ‘heirs’ of the promise of the ‘blessing’ spoken of in Gen 12 and subsequent chapters (Gal 3:6-9,14,26-29).
4. The Genesis prophecy of the innumerous numbers (Gen 13:16; 15:5; 16:9; 22:17; 26:4; 28:14) who would make up the descendents of Abraham are all people from all nations in subsequent generations who would have the faith that Abraham had (Gal 3:7,9,14,26-29). God does not have favorites and accepts everyone from everywhere, those who fear Him (Rom 2:11; Acts 10:34-35).
5. What is the ‘blessing’ and ‘curse’ of Gen 12:3? The blessing is not the promise of unconditional divine protection, wealth, health, etc. The promise of blessing is salvation through Jesus Christ (Gal 3:16) for all who display this faith. John Stott (“The Message of Galatians”) described ‘blessing and curse’ as the two destinies of man – salvation through faith in Christ (blessing) or remaining in the bondage of sin (curse) respectively. In Deut 29 and 30 Moses summarised God’s covenant with the Israelites and firmly told them to “choose life” i.e., be blessed rather than be cursed. In Galatians, Paul tells us that Christ took on our sins with Him (the ‘curse’) on the cross. In other words, the blessing was given to Abraham firstly as a promise, and subsequently this promise was fulfilled in Christ Jesus for all believers (Gal 3:13-14).
6. What about Israel? “the apple of God’s eye” (the endearing phrase found in Proverbs, Zech, Lam) or God’s “chosen people”. Firstly ‘Israel’ is the new name of Jacob and it means ‘one who struggles with God and with man and have overcome’ (Gen 32). This name henceforth aptly refers to all subsequent believers who struggled and overcome their sinful nature to put their faith in God. The title ‘chosen people’ is used in 1 Peter 2:9 and is addressed to the new Christians scattered in the various places of the Roman Empire and therefore clearly demonstrates that this title was confered to all people (Jews and Gentiles) who believed. John clarified that it was God who initiated His soveriegn plan of salvation (John 15:16) hence it was God who ‘chose’ to send Jesus to save humanity. Therefore, the term ‘chosen’ has absolutely nothing to do with the idea of some sort of special previlege bestowed by God. Romans tells us that man is so dead in his transgressions that it is impossible for him to even recognise this fact let alone save himself (Rom 3:10-12).
7. In Romans, Paul made it clear that the terms ‘Israel’ and ‘Jew’ are spiritual terms. He made it clear that ‘Israel’ refers to all true believers (Rom 9:6-9) and not the physical descendents of Abraham (unless of course they are believers). The same is true for the term ‘Jew’ in Rom 2:28-29.
8. According to Scripture, all Christians are like the branches on a tree (John 15:1-7) whereby Jesus is like the rootstock. Branches take nutrients from the rootstock. In Romans 11, Paul refers to the ‘natural branches’ and the ‘grafted branches’ (Rom 11:17-21). All receive their nutrients from the rootstock who is Christ. This metaphor speaks of the fact that the Gospel was first given to the ancient Israelites through Abraham ‘in advance’ (Gal 3:8) hence the term ‘natural branches’. More importantly, this verse tells us that God has all humanity in mind right from the beginning (Gen 3:15) but it is just that God’s sovereign plan started with Abraham. The important point is that Christians from everywhere are the branches of the ‘true vine’ who is Christ (John 15:1).
9. The Bible tells us that God’s redemptive plan through Christ was a ‘mystery’ to these early men and women of faith (Deut 29:29). In other words, they were not given the complete picture back then (1 Cor 2:6-9; Rom 16:25-27; Eph 3:6; Col 1:26-27). ‘Natural’ or ‘grafted’, from the first branch to the last branch, all must have faith to be counted as righteous (Rom 1:17).
10. Christian Zionists like to create a ‘strawman’ argument by saying that some Christians support a ‘replacement theology’ whereby Gentiles replaced Jews. It all sounds very appealing and they hope to invoke sympathy and support. The truth is that ‘replacement theology’ or ‘supersessionism’ is unbiblical and it remains a distracting flimsy strawman argument. Nobody has been replaced.
11. What about the idea of a future center of God’s Kingdom on earth in Jerusalem in modern-day Israel? This undue focus on modern-day Israel by Christian Zionists is a dangerous and unscriptural teaching one which has huge implications in a volatile middle-east. Christians must never allow their faith to become embroiled with Israeli politics. The term Christian Zionism is a misnomer. There is nothing Christian about it. Jesus himself taught the Samaritan woman that the time had come where the physical place of worship no longer matters (John 4:21-24). Jesus said that His Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Hebrews 11 and 12 tells us that the patriachs looked forward to a future “a better country – a heavenly one” or “heavenly Jerusalem”. Many misguided Christians have even donated money towards the building of a temple in Jerusalem. Revelations 21 using metaphoric imagery tells us that the Christian church is the “bride” of Christ who is the “bridegroom” (Rev 21:2). The church is the spiritual Jerusalem of Scripture. There is no physical temple there (Rev 21:22). The Kingdom of God is really in the midst of all believers (Luke 17:20-21).
12. Finally, in John Stott’s “The Message of Galatians” he wrote:
“ We Christians are Abraham’s seed who inherited the blessing promised to his descendants (Gal 3:29). Like Isaac, we are ‘children of promise’ (verse 28) and ‘children … of the free woman’ (verse 31). We are citizens of the true Jerusalem, ‘the Jerusalem above’ (verse 26; cf. Heb 12:22; Rev 3:12;21:2). We are the ‘Israel of God’ (Gal 6:16) and ‘the true circumcision’ (Phil 3:3) ”
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
Supporting Christian Zionism leads well-meaning Christians away from the true Gospel and causes them to support injustice and the oppression of others in the name of God.
Christian Zionism is Christianity's cancer. The majority of Christians in America wrongly assume that what they are taught about Israel is true and therefore never consider questioning or evaluating this belief with what is actually taught in the New Testament. The Christian New Testament is the new covenant given by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the basis of our Christian faith. The Old Testament is its historical foundation and through the "lens" of the New Testament, we are able to understand how God had worked his salvation plan through these ancient beginnings.
The first set of verses Christian Zionists utter in defense of their beliefs always seem to be the 'blessings and curses' verses of Genesis 12:3 "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Yet if only they take the time to read and understand Galatians 3, they would realize that these blessings and curses refer to Jesus Christ. But this one simple example is just the tip of the iceberg that will crush the false beliefs many harbor.
At the end of the same Galatians 3 chapter, Paul teaches that there is only ONE people who belongs to God. Several other NT passages reinforce this also. Yet, Christian Zionists are told that there are two people of God viz, the Jews and the 'gentile' Christians and God have a specific plan for each. This is apostate anti-Christ teaching. A 'one people' principle is simply fundamental to Christianity.
Let’s also consider the following:
‘The whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation tells the story of God’s sovereign purpose of grace, His master-plan of salvation through Christ’ John Stott (“The Message of Galatians”)
1. God’s promise of a messiah was first foretold in Gen 3:15 – in this prophesy, the offspring of the woman is Christ who would ultimately defeat (‘crush’ the head of) Satan.
2. God’s redemptive plan began with Abraham. Christians know him as the ‘father of many’ and a man of great faith (Gen 12 onwards; Rom 1:17; Gal 3; Heb 11).
3. Scripture tells us that it was because Abraham had faith that God counted him as righteous – and according to Paul in Galatians if we too have faith as Abraham did, we would be regarded as ‘children of Abraham’ and we would be ‘heirs’ of the promise of the ‘blessing’ spoken of in Gen 12 and subsequent chapters (Gal 3:6-9,14,26-29).
4. The Genesis prophecy of the innumerous numbers (Gen 13:16; 15:5; 16:9; 22:17; 26:4; 28:14) who would make up the descendents of Abraham are all people from all nations in subsequent generations who would have the faith that Abraham had (Gal 3:7,9,14,26-29). God does not have favorites and accepts everyone from everywhere, those who fear Him (Rom 2:11; Acts 10:34-35).
5. What is the ‘blessing’ and ‘curse’ of Gen 12:3? The blessing is not the promise of unconditional divine protection, wealth, health, etc. The promise of blessing is salvation through Jesus Christ (Gal 3:16) for all who display this faith. John Stott (“The Message of Galatians”) described ‘blessing and curse’ as the two destinies of man – salvation through faith in Christ (blessing) or remaining in the bondage of sin (curse) respectively. In Deut 29 and 30 Moses summarised God’s covenant with the Israelites and firmly told them to “choose life” i.e., be blessed rather than be cursed. In Galatians, Paul tells us that Christ took on our sins with Him (the ‘curse’) on the cross. In other words, the blessing was given to Abraham firstly as a promise, and subsequently this promise was fulfilled in Christ Jesus for all believers (Gal 3:13-14).
6. What about Israel? “the apple of God’s eye” (the endearing phrase found in Proverbs, Zech, Lam) or God’s “chosen people”. Firstly ‘Israel’ is the new name of Jacob and it means ‘one who struggles with God and with man and have overcome’ (Gen 32). This name henceforth aptly refers to all subsequent believers who struggled and overcome their sinful nature to put their faith in God. The title ‘chosen people’ is used in 1 Peter 2:9 and is addressed to the new Christians scattered in the various places of the Roman Empire and therefore clearly demonstrates that this title was confered to all people (Jews and Gentiles) who believed. John clarified that it was God who initiated His soveriegn plan of salvation (John 15:16) hence it was God who ‘chose’ to send Jesus to save humanity. Therefore, the term ‘chosen’ has absolutely nothing to do with the idea of some sort of special previlege bestowed by God. Romans tells us that man is so dead in his transgressions that it is impossible for him to even recognise this fact let alone save himself (Rom 3:10-12).
7. In Romans, Paul made it clear that the terms ‘Israel’ and ‘Jew’ are spiritual terms. He made it clear that ‘Israel’ refers to all true believers (Rom 9:6-9) and not the physical descendents of Abraham (unless of course they are believers). The same is true for the term ‘Jew’ in Rom 2:28-29.
8. According to Scripture, all Christians are like the branches on a tree (John 15:1-7) whereby Jesus is like the rootstock. Branches take nutrients from the rootstock. In Romans 11, Paul refers to the ‘natural branches’ and the ‘grafted branches’ (Rom 11:17-21). All receive their nutrients from the rootstock who is Christ. This metaphor speaks of the fact that the Gospel was first given to the ancient Israelites through Abraham ‘in advance’ (Gal 3:8) hence the term ‘natural branches’. More importantly, this verse tells us that God has all humanity in mind right from the beginning (Gen 3:15) but it is just that God’s sovereign plan started with Abraham. The important point is that Christians from everywhere are the branches of the ‘true vine’ who is Christ (John 15:1).
9. The Bible tells us that God’s redemptive plan through Christ was a ‘mystery’ to these early men and women of faith (Deut 29:29). In other words, they were not given the complete picture back then (1 Cor 2:6-9; Rom 16:25-27; Eph 3:6; Col 1:26-27). ‘Natural’ or ‘grafted’, from the first branch to the last branch, all must have faith to be counted as righteous (Rom 1:17).
10. Christian Zionists like to create a ‘strawman’ argument by saying that some Christians support a ‘replacement theology’ whereby Gentiles replaced Jews. It all sounds very appealing and they hope to invoke sympathy and support. The truth is that ‘replacement theology’ or ‘supersessionism’ is unbiblical and it remains a distracting flimsy strawman argument. Nobody has been replaced.
11. What about the idea of a future center of God’s Kingdom on earth in Jerusalem in modern-day Israel? This undue focus on modern-day Israel by Christian Zionists is a dangerous and unscriptural teaching one which has huge implications in a volatile middle-east. Christians must never allow their faith to become embroiled with Israeli politics. The term Christian Zionism is a misnomer. There is nothing Christian about it. Jesus himself taught the Samaritan woman that the time had come where the physical place of worship no longer matters (John 4:21-24). Jesus said that His Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Hebrews 11 and 12 tells us that the patriachs looked forward to a future “a better country – a heavenly one” or “heavenly Jerusalem”. Many misguided Christians have even donated money towards the building of a temple in Jerusalem. Revelations 21 using metaphoric imagery tells us that the Christian church is the “bride” of Christ who is the “bridegroom” (Rev 21:2). The church is the spiritual Jerusalem of Scripture. There is no physical temple there (Rev 21:22). The Kingdom of God is really in the midst of all believers (Luke 17:20-21).
12. Finally, in John Stott’s “The Message of Galatians” he wrote:
“ We Christians are Abraham’s seed who inherited the blessing promised to his descendants (Gal 3:29). Like Isaac, we are ‘children of promise’ (verse 28) and ‘children … of the free woman’ (verse 31). We are citizens of the true Jerusalem, ‘the Jerusalem above’ (verse 26; cf. Heb 12:22; Rev 3:12;21:2). We are the ‘Israel of God’ (Gal 6:16) and ‘the true circumcision’ (Phil 3:3) ”
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
Supporting Christian Zionism leads well-meaning Christians away from the true Gospel and causes them to support injustice and the oppression of others in the name of God.
Resources:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xw3YwXgyfI A must watch documentary film "With God On Our Side"
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exLXj9-YQpk
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v2NkoNVg Excellent history of the issue
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xw3YwXgyfI A must watch documentary film "With God On Our Side"
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exLXj9-YQpk
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v2NkoNVg Excellent history of the issue