Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Abraham's Tent

As a Christian-Zionist, I recognize what Jews and Christians share in common: our Judeo-Christian heritage. As we share in mutual biblical interests, I would expect to be able to freely discuss, engage in scintillating dialogue, hearty fellowship, proper debate and honest disagreement in Abraham's tent.
It grieves me to see so much anti-Semitism in many forums I participate in, yet God knows I do my best to counter it in my defense of Jews, Israelis and the Jewish homeland, the Promised Land of Israel. Such folks usually consider me a dupe for Jews, or blather that I am really a Jew pretending to be a Christian, and other conspiracy ideas.
It grieves me to see the same mentality, the same bullying tactics of usually one troubled soul inciting others to gang up against me, in Jewish or Mideast forums. They are no better than the anti-Semites. When one examines my posts, they will find Jewish/Israeli/Christian-Zionist issues addressing biblical topics such as the Temple Mount, the Third Temple, the Yitzhak Rabin assassination controversy, aliyah, the Lost Ten Tribes (hastening the process of redemption), Vatican efforts to undermine Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, Israeli defense, etc. What sane Jew or Israeli would object to such relevant topics?
Since my topics are clearly relevant to whatever forum I'm on, then such desperate folks who exhibit an unwarranted hatred against me, who engage in an irrational crusade against me, must resort to questioning my motivation to promote their conspiracy ideas of some secret agenda. I have none. I am open and honest, unlike them. None of my posts are "missionary," as they very well know. All of my posts are clearly based upon Israeli/Jewish/Christian-Zionist issues and concerns. Abraham would rebuke those who would so mistreat his guests. Let us bless Israel and those who would bless Israel together.
*****************************************

Christian Zionists believe and support the fulfillment of the many prophecies that foretold the restoration of Jews from all over the world to the Promised Land of Israel. Christian Zionists oppose those who would seek to undermine or destroy the Jewish Homeland for the myth of Palestine that is against the Word and Will of God.

Christian Zionists put many Jews and Israelis to shame, especially those who remain in a self-imposed exile contrary to the clear teachings of Judaism and those like Shimon Peres who are out in left field and would surrender Jerusalem to sworn enemies if the price is right.

2 comments:

healtheland said...

The reason why I am not a "Christian Zionist" is because "Christian Zionists" ignore the fact that Jews, or groups and individuals who purport to represent Jews, oppose and try to undermine Christianity. Oh, we can be Christians, all right, as far as they are concerned. So long as we no longer believe in the literal truth, inerrancy, and final authority of scripture, or that Jesus Christ was the Jewish Messiah that they rejected and sent to be crucified by the Romans, was raised from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of the Father.

Now please keep in mind that the original "Christian Zionists" were actually on the Christian LEFT. That's right, not so long ago the Christian left actually believed in the truth and inerrancy in scripture, and its leaders such as Martin Luther King zealously advocated for Israel and Jews for decades. Over time, the Christian left was convinced by their Jewish "friends" that this point and that point of the New Testament was "anti - Semitic", or at least "the context in which it has been traditionally interpreted is anti - Semitic", and pretty soon all "sophisticated, educated, tolerant people" knew that believing in the New Testament was for uneducated bigots. Of course, once they abandoned belief in the Bible, soon the only reason to defend Israel and Jews was because the conservatives hated both. But once conservatives started LOVING Jews, especially their enemies on the Christian right, then the Christian left abandoned their pretenses, and actually began to start voicing the same "how come all criticisms of Israeli policy and EVEN MENTIONING the disproportionate influence of Israeli lobbying groups!" refrain that Pat Buchanan and similar did for decades.

So now Jewish leaders have had to switch teams. Christian "Zionists" are now going to the same "interfaith dialogues" that the Christian left went on decades ago, and are coming out of them talking the same nonsense about how they should not evangelize Jews, how evangelizing Jews should not be a priority because the whole nation is going to accept Jesus when He returns, a "better way" to preach portions of the New Testament, and how "Jesus was killed by the Romans for his political beliefs."

Look, anyone who has been immersed in God's Word understands the amazing paradoxes. So I have one for you. On one hand, Jews are God's chosen people, and we are to love them, pray for them, and defend them as God will curse those who curse them and bless those who bless them. On the other hand, non - Messianic Jews hate the gospel and do everything they can to oppose and destroy it. Modern Jews are literally the descendants of the Pharisees of the New Testament times (the Sadducees were destroyed in 70 AD), and if anything they are worse, becaude the New Testament Jews at least PRETENDED to be following the Torah, which the current Jews have totally cast aside for tradition and deny the meaning of because the Torah and the prophets all point to the Messiah that they rejected.

So, failing to bless the Jews and support Israel would be foolish because it would oppose God's Commandments. But ignoring that Jews oppose the gospel and not defending and promoting the faith no matter the cost would be equally foolish, because it would oppose God's Commandments. All of God's Commandments carry equal weight. So, suspending God's orders to promote and defend the gospel in some contexts to spare the feelings of Jews who rejected it is abiblical. Meanwhile, preaching the gospel and in other respects being a real Christian is not anti - Semitic and curses or harms Jews in no way.

Did you know that attempting to convert someone in Israel is a crime punishable by five years in jail? They CLAIM that doing so protects ALL faiths, but come on. It isn't as if Muslims are being converted by Jews, or Christians by Muslims. That law was passed SPECIFICALLY to keep Christians from preaching the gospel, and now they are taking actions to strengthen the law. They are using the large number of conversions by Ethiopian and Russian immigrants as an excuse for clamping down, but the real reason is that they know that their embrace of evangelical Christians is going to lead to their nation being flooded by people with a zeal to preach the gospel (which was never that big of a problem back when their supporters were the Christian left; even before they thoroughly abandoned the Bible they were more interested in social uplift). But you aren't hearing any of the leaders of the "Christian Zionist" movement warning their charges that if they go to Israel and actually try to practice their faith, they could be thrown in jail, do you? You have Christian kids going to Israel to join the Israeli army to defend a nation that won't even allow them to practice their own religion! They are only doing so because people like John Hagee aren't telling them the truth about the antipathy that most Jews have towards the gospel, and the extent to which they deal with it they blame on the Holocaust. So, the Holocaust was why Jewish groups joined with the ACLU and similar to take prayer out of schools and ban nativity scenes in public places?

There is a war going on, and it would be a terrible shame if "Christian Zionists" choose to stop fighting it in favor of trying to influence American and Israeli foreign policy to MAKE Jesus Christ come back quicker.

David Ben-Ariel said...

I wasn't going to publish your comment because it is filled with truth and ERROR. If you read my articles about Christian Zionism you will see I make no excuse for Jews rejecting Jesus, or for traditional Christians preaching their counterfeit Christ and false gospel. You're going off the deep end with a lot of irrelevant accusations, some of which are true, in part. The bottom line for Christian Zionists is that it is the Promised Land of ISRAEL - not Ishmael - and that God promised, prophesied, to restore the Jews to the Promised Land of ISRAEL and He has. We, unlike Nazi-Muslims and confused "Christians", support God's Word and Will in this regard, without giving a blank check to the Jews in many other regards.

Christian Zionists support and uphold God's Word and Will: it's the Promised Land of ISRAEL and it is evil to attempt to pervert any part of it into an accursed "Palestine" or to side with Nazi-Muslims against our Jewish brethren.