What do you think of this....

[daygo]

This week on 'The Hal Lindsey Report'
I've been in the ministry for more than fifty years. Yet I never cease to be surprised or disturbed (perhaps "outraged" may be a bit more accurate) when ministers and theologians attack Israel. When I say to my friends or colleagues, "Can you believe this?", I'm sure some of them are thinking, "Hal, just accept the fact that the world hates Israel!"

I do accept that. But what I never can accept is that the Church hates Israel!

Well, certainly not the whole Church, but large portions of it. This should come as no surprise to those of you who regularly watch "The Hal Lindsey Report." But on the other hand, like me, it probably does continue to surprise you if you love Israel and think all other Christians do, too.

Not true. In fact, there are large numbers of Christians, including many in liberal Protestant denominations, ministries, ecumenical associations, and para-church organizations that virtually despise Israel and what she stands for.

And that number is growing. And what's worse is that it's growing within Evangelical ranks.

Of course, you've heard me address this topic before when I've discussed the growing "Replacement Theology" movement. If you recall, those who promote "Replacement Theology" think that God reneged on His unconditional covenant with Abraham, scrapped the promises He made to his descendants, the Jews, and bestowed them upon the gentile church. So, when you read about the promises made to Israel in the Bible, you just replace "Israel" with "the Church." Never mind about the curses and judgments God pronounced against them. Apparently, those don't count.

I'm sorely tempted to label that a crock of lies, but I'll restrain myself for the sake of decorum. I will point out, however, that to believe that proposition is to essentially call God a liar.

You're probably asking yourself, "Why is Hal bringing this up now?"

Well, in just a few weeks, a group of church leaders and theologians -- the majority of them from the United States -- are gathering in Bethlehem (Judea, not Pennsylvania) to do one thing: demonize Israel. Their effort to de-legitimize the nation of Israel and, as a bonus, the Christian Zionism movement in America will take place under the guise of a conference entitled, "Christ at the Checkpoint."

The group has the audacity to state that they hope their deliberations will cause many of us American Christian Zionists to reconsider our position and "seek a proper (my emphasis) awareness of the issues of peace, justice, and reconciliation."


But they give the game away when they refer to Israel as an "illegal regime" and say that it has "reached a level of almost unimaginable and sophisticated criminality." Further, they don't make me feel all warm and fuzzy when they accuse many of us of being "accomplices in crimes against humanity, such as the crimes of apartheid and persecution..." by supporting Israel's right to exist. And just to make sure that we Christian Zionists understand where they're coming from, they say our beliefs are "a crime and sin as defying the core of the Gospel."

Well, that sure makes me want to donate a few bucks to the cause. How about you?

Seriously, though, to have a group of Christian ministers, theologians, and church leaders (some of whose names you may recognize) travel to Israel and declare to the world that the Jews are NOT God's "chosen people," as the Word describes them, but, rather, bastards and impostors (my words, not exactly theirs, but certainly their implication), is a bit unsettling. Wouldn't you agree? Further, to hear them proclaim that the land of Israel is not the Jews' documented inheritance from God, but belongs to the Palestinians (who are, as Newt Gingrich recently described them, an "invented" people), drips of heresy.

Can you believe this? Oops, there I go.


This beggers belief.

[IamPJ]

I heard about this group going to Israel. It's appalling to say the least. It makes me wonder what Bible these people read!

[Hannah]

Romans chapters 9 through to 11! I don't think they have either read them or they must have torn them out of their Bibles to be so ignorant of them.




RO 11:1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me" ? 4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

[caligal]

Wow! I just got done reading those verses today! I can't believe any BAC could go along with this. I don't think these people read or believe the Bible.

[Meg]

If God decides to forget His promise to never leave nor forsake Israel, then we're all in big trouble. As for those going to denounce Israel, they should reconsider whose side they're on in the first place. They sound self-righteous and smug to me...

[Robert]

I think I don't want to be any of the ones going to Israel to denounce her when they have to appear before the Lord....

[billym]

I did not know about them going to Israel, thanks for posting

[BobFin]

I can not understand Bible-believing people doing something like this. If they truly do it, then Gen 12:3 will be on their heads!

Gen 12:3
will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;

I wonder if they will be the ones in Matt 7:22-23

Matt 7:22-23
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

I truly believe that the only thing that has saved our nation is that we stand behind Israel! If we back away, we are doomed as a nation. Come Lord Jesus, come!

[FaithInChrist]

This makes me feel ill. They are running the name of a true Christian through the mud by taking this stance in the name of Christianity. I pray that Isreal knows that some still stand with her. I cannot imagine feeling more alone in the world than being an Isrealite right now. I will keep Isreal in my prayers, and also pray that hearts are changed while standing in the birthplace of our Lord and Savior.

[Carl]

Could do a better job of spreading the truth of Christ. How can anyone read the bible and come to the concept of replacement theology?

[JoelH]

Unfortunately it is going to go rampant due to the rapid decline of dispensational theology as a whole - replaced by protoliberal Church Growth Purpose Driven Church and Emergent Church on the mainstream side and by Young Restless Reformed on the more conservative end, and worse is some of them are not only born again genuine Christians, but also some of the more biblical teachers when it comes to salvation, sanctification, prayers etc. I personally run around in chruch circles as such, and I wouldn't say a majority are anti-Semitic or even anti-Israel. They just think that modern Israel is an accident of history.

There are also different strains of replacement theology: I have heard many say Israel is enlarged/morphed to become the believing Jews and Gentiles together, and the other school says only Jesus Himself is true Israel and the Jewish nation is just a type/foreshadow of true Israel i.e. Jesus.

Regarding Romans 11, Augustine, Luther, and Calvin misinterpreted the passage meaning that God's mercy is such that there are still a number of Jews sable to be saved and not all go to hell, but they disappear as members of the Church and no longer Israel, and that's it. Pretty illogical. I'm aware there is a civil war within the Reformed segment that holds to supercessionism as to the meaning of Romans 11. Many Young Reformed types do believe there is a future salvation of national Israel. I gather D.A. Carson could be more sympathetic to the Jews, with John Piper more anti-Semitic. But also some anti-Israel Christians are saying the Christians are misuing Romans 11 to misdirect US foreign policy towards biasing towards Israel!

[Robert]

Could do a better job of spreading the truth of Christ. How can anyone read the bible and come to the concept of replacement theology?

Answer- "Cafeteria Christianity"; they take the parts they like and leave the rest.

Unfortunately for them, Paul makes it VERY CLEAR in the book of Romans that the Church has not replaced Israel

"I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.” But what is the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.” In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace." (Romans 11:1-6, NASB, emphasis mine)


Paul states here that God has not rejected His people ONE BIT. In fact, the fact that Paul was chosen to be an apostle to the Gentiles refutes this assumption. That the Lord would choose from the chosen nation those He would have be representatives to the Gentile world says clearly that God has not rejected Israel.

But then we read the following:

"What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.” And David says, “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.” (Romans 11:7-10, NASB, emphasis mine)

We would ask after reading this passage "wait, it clearly says 'but those who were chosen obtained it,and the rest were hardened'. Doesn't that mean God has rejected Israel?" No, it doesn't; scripture reassures us that God's nation has not been abandoned forever:

"I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be![/B] But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too." (Romans 11:11-16, NASB, emphasis mine)

Paul explains in these two passages that the Lord has not rejected Israel, but has instead rejected the hearts that have hardened themselves against Him. As we have read in Romans chapter 1, God merely turns us over to what we have already chosen in our hearts. In their hardness, Israel had chosen God, but they had chosen to come to Him in their own way instead of His: the Messiah. Because of this, God has not rejected them, but has instead offered salvation to the Gentiles after they rejected it. God is using this to make His people jealous and turn to Him, and while it was always His plan to save the whole world Gentiles and all, He crafts His plans to have maximum effect! As we can see, He has not left Israel to rot, but instead has set His nation aside so that He could reach out to the Gentile world. God has not abandoned His nation, but is expecting that they will return to Him. And not only so, but that He has promises yet to keep to them:

"For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” (Romans 11:25-27, NASB, emphasis mine)

It does not say in scripture "God will remove Jacob's ungodliness by merging the nation into the Church"; instead, scripture tells us:

"The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.“It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the LORD of hosts, their God.’ In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem. The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah. In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves." (Zechariah 12:1-14, NASB, emphasis mine)

In Zechariah 12, the Lord makes it clear that when the nations of the earth have all come against Jerusalem and the nation of Israel has no hope of surviving, they will realize their hardheartedness and mourn for the Messiah they rejected. This then ties in with the previous passage in Romans 11, and indeed on that day, the House of Israel will be saved. For this reason, the church has NOT replaced Israel, and Israel and the church are not one in the same. Yet, anyone who repents before this dispensation is over will be of the church, and thus part of the Bride of Christ.

Frankly, I consider it "spiritual coveting" for someone to think that the Church "replaces" Israel. That would mean that in believing so, they are coveting the promises God made to Israel and thus seek to take what is not theirs.