The Problems with Christian Zionism
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Dr. Munther Isaac
I am posting this in light of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas to emphasize again the folly of supporting the modern State of Israel based on a false interpretation of Genesis 12:1-3.
Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Notice verse 3 says, “all families of the earth”? This includes the Gentiles, meaning non-Jews. And who exactly are those families?
Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
So says the Apostle Paul! How clear can he get? How much clearer can that be? Who is Abraham’s seed? Those people who deny Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Messiah? Or are they those who accept Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah? Galatians 3:29 unequivocally tells me the latter is the truth!
Jesus clearly refutes the notion of Christian Zionism. Christians must not support the physical state of Israel that rejects Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah because God Himself does not support it!
Matthew 21:42 Jesus saith unto them (chief priests and Pharisees), Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
The Kingdom of God has now been given to the believers in Christ Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles who trust Jesus for salvation!
Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
The following is from Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian who was born in Beit Sahour, Palestine. He is an ordained minister of the Lutheran Church and serves as an Assistant Pastor at Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church Bethlehem. The video is short and to the point. I also have the text of the talk below.
Transcript of talk by Dr. Munther Isaac
As a Palestinian Christian, I have many problems with Christian Zionists. First of all, this is an ideology that completely ignored me and ignored my people and to a certain degree even dismissed us and dehumanized us speaking about an empty land Palestine as a land without a people. That is dehumanizing to our presence.
If you believe that God brought the Jews to this land and they have a divine right to this land and this is the fulfillment of prophecy, then what about me? What should I do? Should I just leave? Pack and leave? Is this what you are proposing?
In other words, this is an ideology that completely ignores our presence and even dismisses that presence. Many times they would tell us to go to Jordan. Many times they would say there is no such thing as a Palestinian. Other times they even say we are an obstacle to the second coming of Christ! And in that process, they have ignored our rights.
And maybe one of my biggest problems with Christian Zionism is that it is devoid of justice. Because what about the current military occupation of our land and our people? What about the many injustices and the discriminative laws of the State of Israel towards Palestinians? I mean it’s a state that says that the right to self-determination is exclusive to the Jewish people only. How can you as a Christian support that? What about the rights of refugees to return? Or about land when to confiscate land from Palestinian families, sometimes Palestinian Christian families, to build a Jewish settlement on that land? How can you be as a Christian okay with that, with that action?
So this is an ideology that has many times ignored justice and even dismissed our rights as people who have been living here for hundreds if not thousands of years. But then I have to speak as a Christian. Does the Bible really teach that? When I read the Bible and I look at the God of love the God of Christ who’s manifested in Jesus Christ, I have to question that ideology. Is God really a God who divides people based on race? Or who decided four thousand years ago that this particular people have an exclusive right to this land and they have an eternal possession and a divine right to assert the land and this is how we solve the conflict? This isn’t what I read in Scripture about Jesus Christ, about the Christ who loves all people equally about even the Church in which there is no Jew or Gentile, and about the God of grace and mercy.
The gospel of Jesus Christ has been discredited by these Christians who promote such ideologies.
(End of text.)
A message to a friend who supports the modern State of Israel
I believe many Christians today have no understanding of the significance of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD. The Messiah Himself was behind that destruction showing that He is done with Israel according to the flesh for their rejection of Him.
John 1:11-13 KJV
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. [12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: [13] Which were born, NOT OF BLOOD, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Romans 9:6 KJV
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are NOT ALL Israel, which are of Israel:
Galatians 3:6-7 KJV
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. [7] Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the SAME are the children of Abraham.
Those in Christ are the only true Israel, the prince of God and man, that the Father recognizes today. You can debate this but I submit to you this is the doctrine Bible-believing Christians held for 18 centuries before John Nelson Darby spread his false doctrines of Dispensationalism and Christian Zionism. None of the famous Bible commentators before Darby taught Zionism. I am talking about men of God such as Matthew Henry, John Gill, Adam Clarke, and all the other Bible commentators before Darby and 1830. I stand with those men. Some of them suffered opposition and persecution from the Whore, the false bride of Christ, the Catholic church. They were willing to die for their stance on Scripture. The Church has been infiltrated today by many false teachers, especially the Church in America. In spite of the great number of churches, America continues to degrade morally to the point the president of the United States himself is promoting ungodly and unbiblical practices.
Related posts:
Munther Isaac: Christian Zionism as Imperial Theology in Text Format and Video
American Christian Zionism History, Theology and Implications
C.I. Scofield: Father of the Heresy of Christian Zionism
The Historical Roots of Christian Zionism, its Theological Basis and Political Agenda
Christian Zionism & End Time Deception and Delusion
Celeste Solum – “Wicked Problems”
The Importance of Christians and Churches Speaking Out About Cultural and Civil Problems