Chapter 9 : Jews
for Jesus Outline
1.
The Historical Origins of Jews for Jesus
1.1
The History of Jews for Jesus
1.2
The Priorities of Jews for Jesus
1.3
The Activities of Jews for Jesus
1.4
Individuals Associated with Jews for Jesus
1.5
Relationship with other Zionist Organisations
2.
The Theology of Jews for Jesus
2.1
Dispensational Roots
2.2
Literalist Hermeneutic
2.3
Interpretation of Christian Mission
2.4
Relationship of the Church to Israel
2.5
Theology of the Land
2.6
Restorationism
2.7 Eschatology: Signs of the Times
2.7.1 The Jews are God’s Timepiece
2.7.2
Daniel’s 70th Week Explained
2.7.3 The Rise of the Antichrist is Evident
2.7.4 The Countdown to Armageddon has Begun
2.7.5
The Rapture is Imminent
3. The Politics of the Jews for Jesus
3.1
Defining Christian Zionism
3.2
Support for the State of Israel
3.3
The Territorial Extent of Eretz Israel
3.4
The Jewish Settlements in the Occupied Territories
3.5
Jerusalem the Eternal Undivided Capital of Israel
3.6
The Rebuilding of the Jewish Temple
3.7
Attitudes toward Arabs and Palestinians
4. A Critical Summary of the Distinctive Christian Zionism
of Jews for Jesus
Chapter 9: Jews for Jesus
This analysis of the historical,
theological and political stance of Jews for Jesus will confine itself
primarily with their published statements and activities which relate
specifically to Zionism and the State of Israel. It is therefore not the
author’s intention to question or critique their evangelistic strategy, but only
those aspects of their ministry which pertain to Zionism.
1.
The Historical Origins of Jews for Jesus
1.1 The History of Jews for Jesus
Jews for Jesus was founded in September 1973 by Moishe Rosen[1] as a uniquely Messianic evangelistic mission agency committed to proclaiming ‘Y’shua’ to Jews.[2]
Jews for Jesus arose out of the Californian hippy culture Jesus movement of the 1960’s and early 1970’s which saw the birth of other aggressive evangelistic organisations such as Campus Crusade for Christ and the Navigators. Jews for Jesus claim to be,
'...the largest and best-known of the non-denominational Jewish evangelistic agencies with missionaries in ten countries'.
...in the late 1960s there was a move of the Holy Spirit, and thousands of cause-oriented Jewish young people came to believe in Jesus. When they became Christians, they refused to reject their Jewish heritage; rather, in Christ they discovered the meaning of their own Jewishness.
Jews for Jesus was the slogan. It drew these new Jewish disciples together and into a movement. We are part of that movement; our name tells who we are, who we stand for and what we are doing.[3]
According to Jonathan Freedland, Jews for Jesus and their supporters have led as many as 300,000 Jews into Messianic congregations.[4] A sign outside their San Francisco headquarters reads, ‘Jews for Jesus - Established 32 AD, Give or Take a Year’.[5] Brickner even claims that Jews for Jesus is itself a ‘Sign of the Times’, evidence of the imminent return of the Messiah.[6]
1.2 The Priorities of Jews for Jesus
The fundamental priority of Jews for
Jesus is unashamedly evangelism among Jews. Their mission statement says, ‘We exist to make the messiahship of Jesus an
unavoidable issue to our Jewish people world-wide.’[7]
Since Jews for Jesus was not formed by a church body but by a group of
Jewish believers in Jesus, our approach to evangelism is more Jewish than
Gentile. Jewish people, for the most part, tend to be more emphatic in
interpersonal communication and use forms of humor even in the most serious
discussions. It's not that we don't take the gospel seriously or that we don't
take God seriously; it's just that we don't take ourselves too seriously...
This determination sometimes makes it difficult for us to gain the
friendship and support of fellow Christians who are uncomfortable with the idea
of proclaiming the gospel to those who already have a different set of beliefs.
Yet if the apostles Peter and Paul had been so reluctant, the Gentiles of their
time, who had their own forms of religion, would never have heard the gospel.
There is much confusion about who and what we are. We are one of the few organizations with organized opposition. We believe there are many Christians who appreciate the Jewish roots of their faith, Christians who care for Jewish people and would like them to know the Good News about Jesus. Yet it is not always easy for us to meet these Christians. To say that rabbis and Jewish community leaders don't endorse our efforts would be an understatement. Some have alleged that we are a cult or an exotic new religion. They try to drive a wedge between us and the rest of Christ's Body. Because we are highly visible, Jewish leaders--and many Christian leaders--have uniformly denounced us in a way that most Christians have not encountered. For example, it's becoming popular among liberal Christians to say that Jews have salvation apart from Christ and that direct evangelism of Jewish people is an unnecessary, even insulting, endeavor. But how can it be insulting to speak of the love that Jesus, who came as a Jew, has for all people? How can it be insulting to tell of the great sacrifice He made for all of us? How can it be insulting to offer the abundant life He gives? In a sense, this opposition is a tribute to our effectiveness. More and more Jews are coming to faith in Jesus, and we are honored to be "blamed," though God deserves the credit. Christian scholars and missiologists who have studied our methods are most enthusiastic about our strategy, integrity and ability to carry out the work. But Christian leaders who publicly endorse us draw much ire from Jewish leaders, so very few do. For this reason, we take much of the fire directly.[8]
Our
message is not new, but we're telling it in a new way. For too long the Jewish
roots of Christianity have been forgotten. People have often confused
non-Jewish culture and traditions with what the Biblical religion teaches. The
Messiah was born in Israel, not Greece or Rome. His mother's name was Miryam,
not Mary. And he was known as Y'shua--that's the Jewish way to say Jesus. As
Jews, we've found it necessary to express our faith in Y'shua in ways that are
natural to us as Jews. Our message is no different than that of the rest of
evangelical Christianity; it's just that it reflects our culture and heritage
as Jews. We write our own songs and drama with the hope that our fellow Jews
will want to know why and how we can be Christians and yet maintain our Jewish
identity.[9]
J. I. Packer describes their blunt
approach. ‘...up-front, in-your-face
challenge, with as much humor, chutzpah, and goodwill as possible, is the way
to approach Jews evangelistically.’[10]
Ruth Tucker, in her history of Jews for
Jesus, describes them as a ‘mission with
an attitude’[11].
More than an organisation or ministry, they are, she says,
‘a phenomenon... The organization has a
personality. It is a collective personality that has inherited traits from its
father Moishe, but like any child, it has a temperament of its own.’[12]
She observes that their strategy is to
present the message of Y’shua as the Jewish Messiah, ‘with love and compassion - and let others decide whether they will be
insulted or intrigued.’[13]
Her history of the organisation is primarily, however, a portrait of its
leaders, Moishe Rosen and David Brickner and a record of their emerging
evangelistic strategy. Tucker studiously avoids mentioning their identification
with Christian Zionism, their dispensational eschatology or political
statements concerning Israel.[14]
1.3 The Activities of Jews for Jesus
In addition to 16 permanent branches in the United States, London, Paris, Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg, Toronto, Odessa and Moscow, Jews for Jesus also has chapters in 50 other cities led by volunteers. They also send out mobile evangelistic teams such as the evocatively named, 'Liberated Wailing Wall.'[15]
Jews for Jesus publish a bimonthly booklet entitled Issues featuring an essay or article designed for a Jewish readership. They produce a quarterly publication called Mishpochah Message which is intended to encourage Messianic believers. A Jews for Jesus newsletter is also produced for Gentile Christians. They are a Charter Member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and a member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities.
1.4 Individuals Associated with Jews for Jesus
J.I. Packer, who wrote the Foreword to
Ruth Tucker’s Not Ashamed, describes
Moishe Rosen affectionately as ‘the
portly, near genius who envisioned and shaped the mission from the start.’[16]
Moishe Rosen was apparently Martin
Rosen and changed his name as a result of his Messianic convictions.[17]
Tucker sees Jews for Jesus as still ‘philosophically driven’ by Moishe Rosen. Like William Booth of the Salvation
Army and George Fox of the Quakers,
she describes Rosen as the ‘prophet
founder’ of Jews for Jesus.[18]
In 1996, David Brickner[19]
took over the role of executive director from
Moishe Rosen, and introduced a more democratic style of leadership to the
organisation.[20] Vernon Grounds, president emeritus of
Denver Seminary describes Brickner’s book on eschatology in this way.
From his unique perspective as a Jewish Christian, David
Brickner lucidly explains how the Master-Dramatist plans to work out his great
purposes.[21]
Louis Goldberg, former professor of
Theology and Jewish Studies at the Moody Bible Institute, is now the Scholar in
Residence, Jews for Jesus, New York.[22] Goldberg,
like both Rosen and Brickner holds to a dispensational theology, distinguishing
between God’s purposes for the Jews from those of the Church.
1.5 Relationship with other Zionist
Organisations
Jews for Jesus distance themselves from
evangelical organisations which have disavowed evangelism such as Bridges for
Peace[23]
and the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem.[24] While not endorsing their activities,
Jews for Jesus do, however, promote contact with extreme Jewish groups
committed to rebuilding the Jewish temple in place of the Moslem shrine, the
Dome of the Rock.[25]
In summary, Jews for Jesus is
essentially the largest evangelistic organisation made up of Messianic
believers working primarily among Jews today, led by David Brickner, following
the vision and drive of Moishe Rosen.
2.
The Theology of Jews for Jesus.
J.I. Packer summarises the distinctive
Jewish emphasis to the theology of Jews for Jesus.
Holdings that Jesus of Nazareth - God incarnate, crucified,
risen and now reigning- is the true Messiah foretold in the Old Testament and
the true fulfilment of Jewish hopes, the mission exists to press his claims on
Jewish people everywhere... Jews who receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior and who are ‘completed’ and ‘fulfilled’ thereby do not need to leave
behind their Jewish identity or break with Jewish ways. As Judaizing was not a
theological requirement for the first gentile Christians, so gentilizing is not
a cultural requirement for today’s Jewish believers. Though they belong in the
Christian Church, which has been mainly gentile - non-Jewish, that is - for
most of its life, within the church they are free to be as Jewish as they like.[26]
Packer does not, however, comment on
the link between Jews for Jesus and dispensationalism, restorationism or
Zionism. It will be shown from the writings of its leaders and from its website
that Jews for Jesus, probably more than any other Christian Zionist
organisation, is deeply influenced by dispensational presuppositions.
2.1 Dispensational Roots
Tucker,
herself a dispensationalist, acknowledges that through her contact with Jews
for Jesus, she has appreciated their commitment to the continuing importance of
the, as yet unfulfilled, promises of the Hebrew Scriptures and their, ‘great appreciation for the Old Testament and
the blending of the Old and the New...’[27]
Brickner in Future Hope quotes from, and acknowledges his indebtedness to, other dispensationalist writers including William Blackstone[28], Arnold Fruchtenbaum[29], Louis Goldberg[30], Dwight Pentecost[31] and Robert VanKampen[32].
On their web site, Jews for Jesus
promotes and offers for sale books by other dispensational authors including
John F. Walvoord[33],
Hal Lindsey[34],
Thomas Ice and Randall Price[35],
Tim LaHaye[36],
Zola Levitt[37],
Arnold Fruchtenbaum[38],
Charles Swindoll and J. Dwight Pentecost.[39] They have
also published articles by leading Messianic dispensationalists including Louis
Goldberg[40]
and Arnold Fruchtenbaum[41].
A favourable Jews for Jesus review of Fruchtenbaum’s, thoroughly dispensational
Israelology, gives some indication of
their probable theological presuppositions.
Over 13 years in development, this masterful, groundbreaking
book is the first to create an entire branch of theology from all that the
Scriptures say about the people of Israel, incorporating all doctrines.
Chapters include: The 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14; The Messianic Kingdom or
the Millennial Kingdom; Paul’s sorrow and Israel’s privileges; the judgement of
the Gentiles.[42]
2.2 Literalist Hermeneutic
Jews
for Jesus hold to the same literalist hermeneutic as other dispensationalists. For example, Louis Goldberg, quoting from Dwight Pentecost, insists,
...two
established rules of interpretation are as follows: 1) "When Scripture
makes common sense use no other sense;" 2) "Prophecy ... must be
interpreted literally ... The reason a non-literal method of interpretation is
adopted is, almost without exception, because of a desire to avoid the obvious
interpretation of the passage. The desire to bring the teaching of Scripture
into harmony with some predetermined system of doctrine instead of bringing
doctrine into harmony with the Scriptures has kept this practice alive." The point is
that we have to let the prophetic Scriptures speak on their own without reading
into them![43]
Therefore,
biblical prophecies which have not yet been fulfilled literally and entirely
must await future fulfilment. For example, in a review of David Larsen’s book, Jews, Gentiles and the Church, Leslie
Flynn makes the following observation.
The author lists ample texts from Old Testament prophets that, speaking of the regathering of Israel and her central place among the nations, seem to go far beyond anything that Israel has yet experienced historically in the earlier returns from the Babylonian and Persian captivities, and that are to be literally fulfilled in a personal reign of Christ on earth.[44]
Similarly, a favourable review of Hal
Lindsey’s, Late Great Planet Earth,
makes the following assertions.
Lindsey
unfolds a dramatic and penetrating view of the modern world through the words
of Israel's ancient prophets. First, he draws our attention to prophetic
fulfillments which have now become history... Lindsey builds a powerful case
for their startling accuracy. His clear explanations and vivid writing style
simply add to the remarkable nature of these prophecies. The author moves us ever forward to
history's climax. Lindsey is convinced that the "beginning of the
end" occurred in 1948... In The
Late Great Planet Earth, Hal Lindsey has compiled an ancient message for modern
man. It is a message that cannot be ignored. For one day, end-time prophecies
will become history. This book will undoubtedly help you decide where you fit
in God's prophetic plan for the ages.[45]
Occasionally however, writers are
inconsistent in applying such a literalist hermeneutic. For example, one the
one hand, David Brickner claims that until recently,
...people tended to interpret the Bible’s future predictions
as symbolic. It was inconceivable to them that the end times events depicted in
Scripture could possibly occur in any literal sense. All that has changed...[46]
However, in his interpretation of
Daniel 9 and the term ‘weeks’, Brickner looks for a symbolic explanation.
This passage
from the book of Daniel provides crucial information about the length and
events of the Great Tribulation. But it takes some effort to understand
Daniel's terminology. First, the number seven is significant in Jewish
reckoning. Seven is the number of perfection, and perfection carries with it
the connotation of completion. The number seven is used to measure periods of
time. The seventh day is the Shabbat, the day of rest. The seventh year was the
sabbatical year in Israel, a year when the whole Land was to have a rest, when
there would be no planting and harvesting of crops. When Daniel talks about
"weeks" (literally units of seven) in this passage, he is not speaking
of literal weeks but of periods of time, each a period of seven years.[47]
In his interpretation of the Book of
Revelation, Brickner similarly acknowledges, ‘There is a great deal of symbolism in the apocalyptic passages that
describe them.’’[48]
Throughout Scripture, the end times, and particularly the
battles, are described in what is known as apocalyptic language, prose which
uses a great deal of symbolism. Animals are often used to represent people or
nations, and especially those in leadership. Cosmic signs in the heavens are
symbolic of supernatural phenomena. The symbols can be taken literally in the
sense that they point us to actual events, but they are still symbols, and
therefore not literal representations of those events.[49]
Likewise, Rosen argues that Zechariah’s
prophecy promising an end to the Babylonian captivity and the return of the
Israelites ‘from the countries of the
east and the west’, refers to the 20th Century. Therefore he interprets
references to Egypt and Assyria symbolically.
First, the regathering of the Jewish people will take place
from the west (represented by Egypt) and from the east (represented by
Assyria).[50]
On other occasions Brickner is
confident, without explanation that, ‘we
know that Persia is Iran,’[51]
and that the destruction of Babylon mentioned in Revelation 18 is ‘modern day Iraq.’ [52]
Representatives of Jews for Jesus are
therefore somewhat selective and inconsistent in deciding which passages of
Scripture are to be interpreted literally.
2.3 Interpretation of Christian Mission
Probably
the most significant factor distinguishing Christian Zionist agencies from each
other concerns their understanding of mission. Jews for Jesus are unequivocal
on this matter. Responding to those Christian agencies who have disavowed
evangelism in Israel to ensure the continued favour of the Israeli government,
Brickner asserts, ‘...it is virtually
impossible for anyone who believes the Bible to agree or promise “not to carry
out missionary activity.”[53]
In
1998, when the anti-missionary bill was being debated by the Israeli Knesset,
some fifty Evangelical agencies working in Israel agreed not to engage in
missionary activity in Israel which might alienate ‘Jewish people from their tradition and community.’ Brickner was
reported to be ‘incredulous’ that
Christian agencies had voluntarily agreed to ‘end efforts in Israel.’
It
is ironic that the gospel first proclaimed in Jerusalem and Judea might now
become illegal there. Israeli government leaders must be shown the untenable
position in which they put themselves. Should that new bill become law, Israel
will no longer be a free country. Israel will have to arrest Christians for
proclaiming their faith on the very streets where Jesus walked and taught 2,000
years ago.
...Of course, all of us who are ministers
of the gospel will try to present the message of the Messiah so as not alienate
people from their God-given traditions and their God-given land and people.
However, we also know that there will be some who will choose to be offended by
that Gospel message no matter how sensitively it is presented and will react
with hostility treating Jews who come to believe as outcasts.[54]
Brickner warned that if the bill was
passed, Israel would ‘no longer be a free
country’.[55]
He does not elucidate on the meaning of ‘free’
or say for whom - presumably Messianic believers rather than necessarily
for Palestinians. Zaretsky similarly links support for the State of Israel with
Jewish evangelism.
We
need to remind Christians who say "Israel, right or wrong" that we
cannot extend truly Christian support for Israel without linking it to the
gospel of salvation. Christians who denounce evangelistic efforts to the Jewish
populace of Israel as an affront are, in essence, saying that they are ashamed
of the gospel.[56]
In
this regard Jews for Jesus has been highly critical of organisations such as
Bridges for Peace and the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem, for
refusing to engage in evangelism among Jews in Israel.[57] Brickner
argues that the disavowal of evangelism among Jews is a greater evil than
anti-Semitism.
But there is
another problem that has even deadlier consequences. Some Christian Zionists
are so eager to be for Israel that they seem to care little about Jews being
for Jesus. They are so in love with the idea of Jewish people being in the Land
that they don't think of the implications of those same people being outside of
Christ... God is no more willing to pass over the sins of disobedient
Israel today than He was on that first Passover Eve... Without the blood of the
Lamb on the doorposts of their hearts, modern Israelites are destined for
judgement, too. This means that the majority of the people of Israel are in
jeopardy. God will judge the unrighteous of the nations and Israel today, just as
He did then. There is no automatic pass. Only in Christ is there assurance of
lasting safety and peace for the Jewish nation. True Christian Zionists want to
see Israel graced with the blessings that only come through faith in Jesus.
...true Christian Zionists are unrepentant evangelists of the Jewish people.
The rest are frauds and phonies. They claim unquestioning support of Israel but
fail to be watchmen on the walls. The blood of Israel will be on their hands
(see Ezekiel 33:6). Christians who truly love Israel will express their love
most powerfully by proclaiming the redemption found in the blood of the Lamb,
Jesus our Messiah.[58]
Louis Goldberg has similar
reservations.
Clarence Wagner and other leaders of Bridges for Peace, an
organisation founded in 1976, would classify themselves as evangelicals...
Dedicated to the building of sincere relationships between the Christian and
Jewish communities, while encouraging greater concern for the land and people
of Israel... While these folk are avowedly evangelicals, do they share a
biblical witness? ...Similar organisations exist in North America and Europe,
all sharing their love for Jewish people but with no offer of a message of
salvation.[59]
Supporters of Jews for Jesus have also
been highly critical of Maurice Cerrulo as well as the International Christian
Embassy, which are seen as ‘false and
unscriptural expressions of Christian Zionism which defy the Great Commission.’[60]
The conviction that the return of the
Messiah is imminent leads Tuvya Zaretsky, Jews for Jesus Chief of Station in
Los Angeles, to suggest that the dispensational Church age is nearly over and
that evangelism in the Middle East should therefore take precedence over other
forms of Christian mission in other parts of the world.
The
Christian Zionist sees God's time clock as somewhere close to the final seconds
before the curtain will lift on His last act in human history... If these are the last days (many of us think
they are, though no one can know for sure until events have taken place), then
we need to hasten all the more to bring the gospel to the peoples of the Middle
East. If we truly believe that Christ is the only hope of eternal life for
everyone, we need to make Him known among those peoples. If, on the other hand,
our Christian conviction leads us to believe that these are not the last days,
then by all means, it is still incumbent upon us to fulfill the mission of God
to make disciples of all nations. [61]
According to Brickner, there remains
hope, however, for those unbelievers who miss the rapture but survive
Armageddon. In the Millennium and under the universal reign of Jesus, all
nations, he claims, will come to worship God in Jerusalem.
But when Y’shua returns... we will all know the truth
fully... This knowledge will be expressed in an amazing and unified system of
worship centred in Jerusalem - in a brand new temple... There will be no
minority religions because everyone will be worshiping the one true God. [62]
He gives though, a sober warning for
those who are ‘against’ Israel.
The Judgment of the Nations happens at the very end of the
Tribulation and it applies to those living on the earth at that time. Those who
oppose the Messiah, who have aligned themselves with the Antichrist and against
Israel, will be judged and delivered into “the abyss.”[63]
The implication that final judgment
will, in part at least, be determined by one’s attitude to Israel would suggest
that to Brickner, Zionist belief is integral to salvation. The understanding of
Christian ministry within Jews for Jesus is also in part determined by their assumptions concerning the relationship of the
Church to Israel.
2.4 Relationship of the Church to Israel
Jews
for Jesus stress their identification with some elements within traditional
Protestant Evangelicalism.
Those who are involved with us know we have not separated ourselves from mainstream Christianity. Each person on our staff is a member of an evangelical congregation, and together we represent many different denominations. In theology, we are not innovative but represent mainline evangelical thought and preach the historic gospel upon which all true Christians agree. Our frontline missionaries are Jewish or married to Jewish believers and ordained or commissioned by their own churches. We require our missionaries to have the same Bible training that would qualify them for service in most churches or foreign missions.[64]
In their Doctrinal Statement, Jews for Jesus, nevertheless, affirm their belief in the continuing existence of separate, parallel covenants for Israel and the Church, a doctrine central to dispensationalism.
We believe Israel exists as a covenant people through whom God continues to accomplish His purposes and that the Church is an elect people in accordance with the New Covenant, comprising both Jews and Gentiles who acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and Redeemer.[65]
Jews for Jesus do not elaborate at this
point on what those ‘continuing purposes’
may be for Israel. They do, however, stress that Jews blessed by God’s covenant
with Israel, nevertheless still need to believe in Jesus as their Messiah in
order to be saved.[66]
Brickner, following Darby’s own dispensational terminology, regards the last two thousand years history of the Church as ‘a parenthesis’ to God’s future plans for the Jews, who remain his ‘chosen people’.[67]
The Bible clearly indicates that Israel is God’s chosen people, the apple of his eye-his special one. People struggle with that... It seems so ethnocentric, so nonegalitarian, so arrogant. Why should Israel be regarded as special?... The Bible points out that God never chose Israel because we were such a great people, but because the God of Israel is a great God, a God who choose his own reasons to use a small and seemingly insignificant people to be his light of the world.[68]
Whilst believing that God will bring
peace and reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles in the Millennium[69],
Jews for Jesus do, however, distance themselves from evangelicals who are
working to achieve it now. They are critical, for example, of individuals such
as Gary Burge[70], John Stott[71] and Don
Wagner[72]
of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding who work alongside agencies such
as the Middle East Council of Churches because of their mutual commitment to
achieving a just peace in the Middle East based on the rule of international
law and upholding of human rights.
Wagner
never states what theological view one ought to adopt; however, he does
advocate replacement theology (that is, the Church replaces Israel as the true
people of God). In chapter seven, he quotes from the well-known British
evangelical churchman John R. W. Stott who thinks "political Zionism and
Christian Zionism are biblically anathema to Christian faith" (p. 80).
Although Wagner follows Stott's bold assertion with a quote from one of his
sermons, Wagner does not offer a justification for adopting this view. Rather,
he simply appeals to the purported ends of adopting such a view, a greater love
and concern for the plight of Palestinian Arabs.
The third and perhaps greatest weakness can be found in Wagner's call for ecumenicism. He urges evangelicals to understand the complex missiological and ecclesiological issues and join in cooperation with such organizations as the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). By pursuing this goal, Wagner displays a willingness to overlook central issues (e.g., the imperative to evangelize). Although dialogue should take place, the evangelical community cannot work with the MECC when it opposes direct evangelism of Muslims or Jews.[73]
Eriksen is equally dismissive of Gary
Burge’s plea for recognition of a marginalised indigenous Palestinian Christian
community.
Burge
makes an impassioned appeal to the reader to recognize that a Christian
community exists among the Palestinians. Although it is important to understand
that the Palestinian community is not comprised solely of Shiite Muslims but
includes Christians as well, Burge overstates the case. In the Middle East, the
term "Christian" is used to identify a sociological community. Being
a member of the "Christian community" does not necessarily mean one
is a Christian. Burge seems to overlook this and accepts everyone who is a
member of the "Christian community" as a Christian.[74]
Whilst identifying with evangelicalism,
however, representatives of Jews for Jesus are equally critical of those who do
not recognise the Jews unique relationship with God, separate from that of the
Church. This clearly has implications for their view of the Land itself.
2.5 Theology of the Land
Brickner sees God as having a unique
relationship with both the Holy Land as well as the Jews. ‘Passover and
the Year of Jubilee both point to God's ownership over the Land and the people
of Israel.’[75]
Arnold Fruchtenbaum offers a detailed
analysis of the supposed biblical basis for Zionism’s claim to the Land.
More often
than not, the claim to Palestine as a Jewish homeland has been based upon
historical and national rights. All this changed when Menachem Begin became
Prime Minister of Israel. Historical and national claims were not discarded,
but took secondary place to the Biblical claims which were now being set forth.
Begin quoted heavily from God's promises to Abraham, Moses and the prophets.
The West Bank was now called by its old Biblical names of Judea and Samaria.
Secularized Jews have not been comfortable with this claim to the land, though
orthodoxy has been ecstatic with it. Some went so far as to state that the
Biblical right to the land is the only really valid claim. Is there any
validity to making the Scriptures the source for the modern Jewish claim to the
land? The answer is a resounding "yes." In fact, this is the only
area where Jewish claims become unique. While both historical and national
claims are important, the Arabs have made their own claim to the land based
upon those two elements as well. At that point, it becomes a matter of choice
of whose historical and national claims one will accept. However, in the area
of the Biblical right to the land, the Arabs cannot make any claim to it, while
the Jews can. ...the Jewish
Biblical claims have no rival.[76]
Fruchtenbaum basis the Jewish claim to
land, well beyond the modern borders of Israel, on divine promises made to
Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 12, 13 & 15.
What are these
claims? The claims to the land are first of all, rooted in the Abrahamic
Covenant. This covenant is found in several passages of the book of Genesis,
and each passage builds on the previous. one. The first such passage is Genesis
12:1-3... What is most relevant in this passage is the promise that Abraham
would be shown a land. Nothing more than that is promised. Having arrived in
the land that he was shown, God discloses more... Genesis 12:7.
The promise
here is that the descendants of Abraham will eventually possess the land that
he was shown. The fact that Abraham's descendants will possess this land is
reaffirmed in Genesis 13: 14-17; but then, in addition, there is a further
promise made that Abraham himself will also possess this land. The Lord said to
Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are
and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give
to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of
the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be
counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving
it to you." So Abraham is now commanded to make what amounts to the first
Holy Land tour of Israel, for all the land that he sees in its length and breadth
will be his. However, the exact boundaries are not given until we come to
Genesis 15:12-18: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of
Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates--" At the time of the signing and sealing of the Abrahamic Covenant,
God spelled out the future history of Abraham's seed prior to their initial
entry into the land. Then God states what the northern and southern boundaries
will be: from the Euphrates in the north to the river of Egypt in the south.
The latter border refers to the most eastern branch of the Nile Delta, which
now goes along the line of the modern-day Suez Canal.
The Covenant
Confirmed
This covenant
is later reconfirmed to Isaac in Genesis 26:2-5 and then to Jacob in Genesis
28:13-15. In these passages, both Isaac and Jacob are promised that they
themselves will possess the land as will their descendants.
What is
promised by God in the Abrahamic Covenant is expanded and expounded upon by
Moses and the prophets. In Leviticus 26:40-45, Moses points out that after a
worldwide dispersion of the Jewish people, they will eventually be regathered
into the land. The basis of this reclamation of the land is the Abrahamic
Covenant (verse 42). Israel's regathering to the land after worldwide
dispersion is also found in the prophets.' The common element that is repeated
over and over again by the prophets is that the worldwide regathering and
possession of the land is based upon God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Especially revealing is the statement found in Isaiah 27:12: “In
that day the
Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O
Israelites, will be gathered up one by one.”
Isaiah
reaffirms not only a regathering and possession of the land, but he further
reaffirms the very boundaries of the land that were promised to Abraham in its
northern and southern boundaries. So, then, according to the Scriptures, three
promises are made with regard to the land: first, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
were all promised the possession of the land; second, the descendants of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were promised the possession of the land; and third,
the boundaries of the promised land extended from the Euphrates River in the
north to the River of Egypt in the south.[77]
Fruchtenbaum insists that the borders
of Israel will extend from Egypt to the Euphrates when the Messiah returns.
How will God's
promises be fulfilled? ..Jesus turned to the Scriptures for evidence of the resurrection by
quoting Exodus 3:6 where God said to Moses: "I am the God of your father,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." That
particular expression in the Old Testament became a formula for the Abrahamic
Covenant. That covenant, as has been shown earlier, stated that the land was
not only to be possessed by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but also by their
descendants. The Patriarchs, however, all died without possessing the land, and
their descendants have never possessed all of the promised land. So how will
God keep His promises in accordance with the Abrahamic Covenant? Only by doing
two things: first, there must be a resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and therein lies the evidence for a physical resurrection. The point Jesus made
to the Sadducees was that for God to keep His promises and to prove Himself not
to be a liar requires a physical resurrection. But second, there would have to
be a restoration of the land in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob can all live,
and a Jewish state must be formed where they and their descendants can dwell...
There will be a time when the Jewish people will possess all of the promised
land, however the Bible makes it clear that this will be fulfilled only during
the Messianic times, that is, after the Messiah returns and sets up His
kingdom.[78]
Leslie
Finn, in an endorsement of David Larsen’s ‘Jews,
Gentiles, and the Church’ summarises the biblical basis for Zionism as,
God’s
unconditional covenant with Abraham, which includes the promise of the land, a
seed to rule over the land and the blessing his offspring will be to all
humankind.’[79]
Likewise,
Brickner argues that ‘God’s promise
concerning the Land and the people of Israel stand as an unconditional covenant
for all time.’[80]
The partial fulfilment of these promises is seen in the ‘restoration’ of the
Jews to Palestine and the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.
2.6 Restorationism
While the New Testament writers
interpret the covenantal promises made originally to Abraham and his
descendants as fulfilled in and through the Church,[81] Rosen, along
with several other Jews for Jesus leaders, argues that they pertain exclusively
to the Jewish people today and form the legitimate basis for their claim to the
political territory in Palestine.
Yet the Jewish people are still alive today, just as God
promised Abraham. By our very survival, we are testimony to the faithfulness of
God.[82]
For 3,800 years, the Jewish people have clung to the promise
God made to Abraham. Through all kinds of persecution the Jewish soul has
flourished because of the awareness... That God has designated a “place” for
us... Israeli citizens will pay gladly with their lives to protect their
descendants' rights to that promised land.[83]
Similarly,
Brickner believes the contemporary State of Israel is evidence of God’s
continuing protection and favour toward the Jews.
I believe the
modern day state of Israel is a miracle of God and a fulfillment of Bible
prophecy. Jesus clearly said that "Jerusalem would be trodden down of the
Gentiles until the time of the nations is fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). It has
been 50 years since the founding of that state, but only 30 years since
Jerusalem came under the control of Jews for the first time since Jesus made
that prediction. Could it be that "this generation shall not pass until
all these things are fulfilled?"[84]
Brickner argues that the ‘times of the Gentiles’ referred to by
Jesus in Luke 21:24 ended in 1967 when Israel ‘recaptured the ancient city of King David.’
For the first time in 2000 years the holy city of Jerusalem
is no longer “trodden down” by non-Jewish nations.[85]
Goldberg also sees evidence of
providential divine intervention in the founding and continued survival of the
State of Israel.
As difficult
as it is to explain the evil that these men did to Jews, and as painful as it
is to listen to the stories of the survivors, we know that God did intervene in
the senseless brutality. We did survive. The modern state of Israel came into
existence--and suffering was the gestation and birth pangs... Under all of the
pressure brought to bear on Israel, God has fought for His people as He did in
the ancient world. Against the overwhelming odds in the war of 1948-49, and
even through the heavy losses incurred in the first few hours of the Yom Kippur
war of 1973, God protected her. Then again, when Israel was pressured on the
diplomatic front, other incidents took place in the Middle East which took the
focus off of Israel and gave her a chance to "breathe" and go on.
There was the fight between Egypt and Libya, the Lebanese Civil War, and the
Iraq-Iran War. One needs to see how the Lord can stir up nations to guard His
people.[86]
Goldberg basis this assumption on
passages from Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel where a greater, more comprehensive
and permanent return to the Land is predicted than was apparently ever achieved
under Ezra and Nehemiah.
The Prophets
Speak to Our Day and the Future... Jeremiah promised, "For thus says the
Lord, 'When seventy years have been accomplished for Babylon, l will visit you
and fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place"' (the
land promised in the beginning to Abraham, Jeremiah 29:10). Jewish people
continued to live in this land until 70 C.E. when Roman soldiers surrounded and
brought havoc to Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple. The second commonwealth
had come to an end.
Does this
mean, however, that land promises are not in effect after 70 C.E.? I hardly
think so, if we carefully consider the full scope of what the prophets declare.
Four aspects of Israel's prophesied return bear our sober consideration: 1) The
fact of Israel's return was predicted; 2) The finality of Israel's return was
foretold; 3) The manner of Israel's return was prophesied; 4) The precedent for
Israel's return was provided.
1) The fact of
Israel's return was predicted. The prophets spoke extensively on this subject.
Jeremiah and Isaiah, for example, speak of an extensive restoration of Israel:
...(Isaiah 49: 19-20) ...(Jeremiah 31:8). Although some would contend that
these and other prophecies of restoration were fulfilled in the 6th century
B.C.E return from the Babylonian Captivity, the prophets explicitly indicate
otherwise. Thus Ezekiel declares that they will be gathered up "from the
lands of their enemies" (note the plural--hardly a reference to the
Babylonian exile in one land), and that they will be gathered again "to
their own land" (Ezekiel 39:25-28). And Isaiah, the prince of the
prophets, explicitly excludes the Babylonian Captivity return from
consideration ...From the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11: 11, 12)
2) The
finality of Israel's return was foretold. Amos explicitly states that this
return is not like any previous return. Once gathered up, Israel will be
planted on their own land "never again to be uprooted from the land I have
given them, says the Lord your God" (Amos 9:15). Certainly this could not
be the return from the Babylonian Captivity which was followed by a further
dispersion. In this connection, speaking specifically of Jerusalem, Jeremiah
states, "The city will never again be uprooted or demolished"
(Jeremiah 31:40). Could the language be more plain? ...The various events
predicted in connection with the future restoration of the Jews, are so
numerous, and of so complicated a character, that it is made the more probable
that the restoration also, if it is indeed to take place, may follow this
analogy, and, like the subjugation of the nation, occupy a very considerable
length of time. ...God's work in history in the ancient world can perhaps
shed some significant light on the current situation, where God has also been
working for 100 years to finally initiate a new day on behalf of Israel and the
nations.[87]
Controversially, Rosen interprets the
language of Zechariah 10:8-12, where a promised return is described as so great
that, ‘there will not be room enough for
them’, as legitimate grounds for deporting Palestinians to neighbouring
Arab states.[88]
A preoccupation with interpreting
biblical passages and contemporary events as evidence of the imminent end of
the world, so common among dispensationalists, is a dominant theme on the
website of Jews for Jesus, and the writings of its leaders.
2.7 Eschatology: Signs of the Times
Jews for Jesus doctrinal statement contains a brief reference to their official eschatological position.
We believe that Jesus the Messiah will return personally in order to consummate the prophesied purposes concerning his Kingdom.' [89]
What those 'prophesied purposes' are is not elaborated on. David Brickner is careful to acknowledge that his own eschatological views do not necessarily reflect those of all within Jews for Jesus.[90] However, Moishe Rosen, Brickner’s predecessor and the founder of Jews for Jesus, unequivocally endorses them.
David Brickner courageously tells of prophetic events. His
position is solidly based on the teachings of the Jewish Scriptures and the New
Testament. This book will be as controversial as it is true.[91]
Rosen also believes the return of Jesus
will occur in his lifetime,[92]
while Brickner argues Jesus will return to rescue Israel from the Antichrist.[93]
Within their eschatology, four features, in particular, stand out: The Jews are
God’s timepiece; Daniel’s 70th Week is near; the spirit of the Antichrist is
evident; the countdown to Armageddon has begun and the Rapture is imminent.
2.7.1
The Jews are God’s Timepiece
For Rosen, the events of 1948 are
evidence of the fulfilment of biblical prophecy. Whereas the prophecies of
Jeremiah and Zechariah are taken by most commentators as referring to the
return of Israel from Babylonian captivity, Rosen insists that their literal
fulfilment only took place in 1948. With specific reference to Jeremiah 30,
Rosen argues,
First of all, the prophecy both predicts and assumes that
the descendants of Abraham will be in possession or repossession of the land.
This is a very important point, because from 135 C.E. To 1948 C.E., that had
not been the case. Only after 1948 was it possible for the prophecy to be
fulfilled. The prophet Jeremiah had predicted a time when Israel would be
regathered to the Promised Land.[94]
Rosen also sees significance in the
fact that Zechariah 8:7 predicts that exiles will return from the east and
west, something with which, as a Jew, he personally identifies.
Regathering them from an ancient dispersion is one thing.
Saving his people from the countries of the east and west is quite another....
The horrible pogroms of Czarist Russia, the virulent anti-Semitism of the
Western World, the Holocaust of this century on Europe, the constant threat of
war by Arab peoples, and the repression in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
- all are threats from which the Jewish people are being “saved” even as we are
being “regathered” to the land of Israel.[95]
However, two chapters later in
Zechariah 10, the prophet specifies the countries from which Israelites would
return - Egypt and Assyria via Gilead and Lebanon. Nevertheless, Rosen insists
these prophecies could only have been fulfilled in the events surrounding the
Balfour Declaration of 1917 and Declaration of Independence in May 1948.[96]
Similarly, Brickner’s belief in the
imminent return of the Messiah is also linked to the establishment of the State
of Israel.
It has been 50 years since the founding of that state, but only 30 years since Jerusalem came under the control of Jews for the first time since Jesus made that prediction. Could it be that "this generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled?"[97]
Lesley Finn, in his review of David Larsen’s book on the relationship of the Jews to the Church,[98]similarly affirms the author's conviction that,
"The Jews are God's timepiece,"
the author says. They are the key to history and prophecy... God's
unconditional covenant with Abraham, which includes the promise of the land, a
seed to rule over the land and the blessing his offspring will be to all
humankind... the regathering of Israel and her central place among the nations,
seem to go far beyond anything that Israel has yet experienced historically...
that are to be literally fulfilled in the personal reign of Christ on earth.[99]
While
appearing to distance himself from Hal Lindsey’s attempts to date the Messiah’s
return, Flynn nevertheless quotes Larsen’s own colourful speculations.
A major section of the book addresses the future of Jews in biblical prophecy. The author does not believe that the church has replaced Israel, making a strong point that Israel is a separate entity and that the covenants and promises relative to the land are to be taken literally. His eschatology is standard pretribulational, premillennial dispensationalism. He parts company with Hal Lindsey on the interpretation of "generation" in Luke 21:32. Lindsey takes it to mean that the generation born at the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948 would be alive for the Second Coming. As we move out of the 80s into the 90s, and Christ has not returned, Larsen believes that Lindsey's date-setting brings discredit to prophetic study. When the topic turns to life in the millennium, the author allows himself a measure of curiosity and speculation, such as in his suggestion that the saints with resurrected bodies will headquarter in the New Jerusalem, which will hover over the earth like a gigantic chandelier or space model, while mortals will live on earth, but with the two groups intermingling.[100]
2.7.2
Daniel’s 70th Week Explained
Critical
to the Dispensational eschatological timetable is a need for a 2000 year pause,
or ‘parenthesis’, in the prophet Daniel’s countdown to the End Times. Arnold
Fruchtenbaum attempts to explain this chronology and, in particular, the 70th
week.
More than any
other book of the Hebrew Scriptures, the writings of the prophet Daniel
confront us with evidence of the time of Messiah's coming--evidence that many
people would rather not see. But it is there and cannot be ignored... Gabriel
told Daniel that the purpose of his visit was (1) to correct Daniel's
misunderstanding concerning when the messianic kingdom would be set up and (2)
to present God's revelation, which contained a timetable for Messiah's coming.
The Decree of
the 70 Sevens--Daniel 9:24a
Gabriel's
prophecy to Daniel began with the words, "Seventy sevens are decreed upon
thy people and upon thy holy city..." Many English versions have
translated the phrase to read "seventy weeks." But this translation
is not totally accurate and has caused some confusion about the meaning of the
passage. Most Jews know the Hebrew for "weeks" because of the
observance of the Feast of Weeks, and that Hebrew word is shavuot. However, the
word that appears in the Hebrew text is shavuim, which means
"sevens." The word refers to a "seven" of anything, and the
context determines the content of the seven.
Here it is
obvious Daniel had been thinking in terms of years--specifically the 70 years
of captivity. Daniel had assumed that the captivity would end after 70 years
and that the kingdom would be established after 70 years. But here Gabriel was
using a play upon words in the Hebrew text, pointing out that insofar as
Messiah's kingdom was concerned, it was not "70 years," but "70
sevens of years," a total of 490 years (70 times seven)...
The 70th
Seven--Daniel 9:27
From where we
stand in time today, the last seven years of Daniel's prophecy are still
prophetic, still future, but it is with their conclusion that all six purposes
of verse 24 will reach their fulfillment. The verse's main points are as
follows: First, the 70th seven will begin only with the signing of a seven-year
covenant or treaty between Israel and a major gentile political leader.
Secondly, in the middle of that period, that is, after 3 1/2 years,
this gentile leader will break his treaty with Israel and cause a cessation of
the sacrificial system. The implication here is that by this time a temple in
Jerusalem will have been rebuilt again and the sacrificial system of Moses
re-instituted, but then will be forcefully ceased. Thirdly, the result of the
breaking of this covenant is that the temple will now be abominated. The "
abomination" refers to an image or an idol. As it was in the days of
Antiochus Epiphanes, so it will be again in the future when a gentile ruler
will abominate the temple by means of idolatry. Fourthly, the abomination is to
be followed by wrath and desolation, persecution and warfare, for the remaining
half of the 70th seven (the final 3 1/2 years). ... But once those
days have run their course, the last three things predicted in verse 24 will
occur: After this period the age of righteousness will be brought in, in which
the most holy place will be anointed and every vision and prophecy be
fulfilled. At this point the messianic kingdom for which the prophet Daniel
yearned will be set up.
Obviously, the
messianic kingdom requires the Messiah to rule as king. This means the Messiah
will come after the 70th seven. Yet earlier Daniel stated that the Messiah
would come and be killed after the 69th seven. This would appear to be a
contradiction unless Daniel was speaking of two comings of the Messiah. The
first time was to be after the 69th seven, when he would die a penal,
substitutionary death for the sins of Israel and accomplish the first three
purposes listed in verse 24. The second time was to be after the 70th seven
(still future), when he will establish the messianic kingdom..[101].
Fruchtenbaum
does not explain why Daniel gives no hint of a two thousand year gap between
the 69th and 70th period of seven years of his prophecy. Brickner, however,
offers this explanation.
The prophecy
of Daniel, chapter nine, has not been completely fulfilled. There is more--one
"seven" of the seventy still remains to be played out. But there
seems to be a break in Daniel's countdown; he indicates a time lapse between
the sixty-ninth seven and the final seven. "The end will come like a
flood, war will continue until the end and desolations have been decreed."
The past 2000 years have been a parenthesis in Daniel's prophecy and we await
that final seven: "He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven, but
in the middle of that seven, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering and
one who causes desolation will place abominations on a wing of the temple until
the end that is decreed is poured out on him."[102]
These writers are, however, ambiguous
as to when Daniel’s final period of seven years will actually begin and his
prophetic clock start ticking again. Brickner is confident that the Temple will
have been rebuilt first since, according to Daniel, the Antichrist will have
appeared before then and put an end to the sacrificial system.[103]
2.7.3 The Spirit of the Antichrist is Evident
Moishe Rosen’s book, Overture to Armageddon, is also
subtitled ‘Beyond the Gulf War’ and
was published just months after the Gulf War in April 1991. The cover also sets
an image of the Jewish star of David against the Islamic crescent and star.
Rosen provides a theological explanation for the conflict and its eschatological
ramifications. Rosen regards Saddam
Hussein as a demonic figure because of his antipathy toward the Jews and
cult-like image among Palestinians.
The Bible refers to this attitude, which combines
self-appointment to the office of “savior” with hatred of the Jewish people, as
the spirit of Antichrist... [104]
Rosen also claims to see a resemblance
to Saddam Hussein in the portrayal of the ‘man of lawlessness’ by Paul in 2
Thessalonians 2.
Can you see the parallels between this “man of lawlessness”
and Saddam Hussein? Exalting self, a rebellious spirit, one doomed to
destruction.[105]
However, in a subsection entitled, Hussein the Antichrist? Rosen backs away
from equating the two.
Is Saddam Hussein, ruler of modern Babylon, the Antichrist?
I hardly think so. But as much as any other man who ever lived, he has
represented the spirit of Antichrist about which the Bible warns... The defiant
spirit of Saddam Hussein, the adoration of him by masses of Arabs, the
weddedness of Israel to Jerusalem - all may be signs of more biblical prophecy
being fulfilled before our eyes, the beginning of the end, the overture to
Armageddon.[106]
What the world witnessed Saddam Hussein doing in the Gulf
could be a representation, a precursor, an overture, to such an event or
situation.[107]
Brickner also believes the Antichrist
will seek to destroy the Jewish people.
As with Hitler, the destruction of the Jewish people is only
part of the Antichrist’s plan; his ultimate goal is world domination.[108]
While remaining agnostic on whether the
Antichrist is alive today[109],
Rosen and Brickner are nevertheless convinced Armageddon is close.
2.7.4 The Countdown to Armageddon has Begun
Brickner’s book is representative of
the writings of other’s within Jews for Jesus who propound what is essentially a pessimistic premillennial
dispensational eschatology, in which Armageddon is about to begin, and with
separate chapters on the Rapture, Antichrist, Temple, Armageddon and
Tribulation.[110]
Judgment. For
most, it is a topic to be avoided at all costs. We have a strong aversion to
being told we are wrong--much less that we must suffer consequences for it. But
that is exactly why God warns of judgment--so that people can respond
positively and avoid the consequences.
In ancient
Israel, God sent prophets to alert the people to coming peril. Those prophets
were not particularly pleasant people. While their ways may have seemed overly
dramatic to some, no one could fail to hear their warnings--and yet, even after
hearing them, people failed to heed those warnings. We know from history that
when Israel ignored the prophets, the consequences were dire. Wars, captivity,
dispersion... all the things the prophets predicted came to pass. That is,
almost all. Trouble is Coming. Those same prophets predicted certain events
that have not happened yet. They predicted a time described as a Great
Tribulation, a time that will be marked by terrible worldwide trouble or
"tsuris" such as this planet has never seen. Such tsuris you wouldn't
wish on your worst enemy! Y'shua also spoke of this terrible time--the verse
cited at the beginning of this chapter is an excerpt from a speech he gave
describing this Great Tribulation. The last book of the New Testament, the book
of Revelation, gives an even more comprehensive look at these future events. It
describes three sets of seven judgments, each one more terrible than the last.
Suffice it to say, this time period will be unparalleled in human history...
The Bible talks about three sets of judgments during the Tribulation, using the
metaphors of seals, trumpets and bowls. The seals will include terrible wars,
famine, earthquakes and something described as "the stars falling to the
earth like fruit falling from a tree" (perhaps referring to killer
asteroids). The trumpet judgments will include an apocalyptic storm that is
described as "hail and fire mingled with blood, burning up a third of the
earth's trees and all green grass." Perhaps a nuclear holocaust? There is
also "something like a great mountain burning with fire thrown into the sea"
that will destroy a third of the living creatures in the ocean. Another
heavenly body described as a star will plunge to earth contaminating a third of
the world's water supply. A darkening of the sun and the air is also predicted.
The judgments known as the seven bowls will include some kind of skin disease
for most of the world's population. There will be more water pollution, this
time killing all marine life. Some of the plagues will be reminiscent of the
plagues God poured out on Egypt: a tangible darkness, water turned to blood. No
wonder this time in history is called the Great Tribulation![111]
Rosen similarly speculates that the
events that led up to the Gulf War are, ‘...right
for a similar crisis to develop into the cataclysmic events that will bring
Jesus the Messiah back to earth.’[112]
In a fascinating review of Hal Lindsey’s, Late Great Planet Earth, an anonymous reviewer appears to endorse Lindsey’s pessimistic countdown to Armageddon.
The
Late Great Planet Earth pushes us forward at a breathtaking pace. Lindsey
carefully details the modern alignment of national powers as his explanations
move naturally back and forth between the Scriptures and newspapers. He points
out that Ezekiel predicted a Northern Confederation of powers with Russia at its
helm (Ezekiel 38).
Many
of Lindsey's observations on the Arab world will leave you shocked; he points
out the awesome accuracy of the words of men who lived 2,500 years before
Nassar and Sadat. Though Lindsey's claimed prophetic fulfillment in modern Red
China and the European Common Market might cause some discomfort for any who
fear to "put Scripture out on a limb," the interpretations cannot
merely be sloughed off as the "modern musings" of a doomsday prophet.
The facts call for a serious and sober evaluation of modern political realities
in light of astounding Biblical truths.
When exactly will Jesus the Messiah return to this earth? Don't expect Hal
Lindsey to give you a specific answer to this age-old question. He does tell us
what to look forward to and though he doesn't say when, his urgent pen spells
out "soon!" Though written in 1970, Lindsey's prophetic scenario
concerning the rise of an anti-Christ is chilling, for today we can see the
modern scene more ripe than ever before for the emergence of a world empire and
its leader. The description of the Battle of Armageddon, which he labels World
War III, will have you riveted to your chair, as Lindsey leads you through a
chain of prophecies pointing to the Messiah's second coming. In The Late Great
Planet Earth, Hal Lindsey has compiled an ancient message for modern man. It is
a message that cannot be ignored. For one day, end-time prophecies will become
history. This book will undoubtedly help you decide where you fit in God's
prophetic plan for the ages.[113]
Brickner seems to endorse Lindsey’s
speculative interpretation of Ezekiel 38 where Gog and Magog are seen as
references to a contemporary Russia threat to Israel.
Ezekiel paints a picture of a massive army descending upon
the land of Israel. The troops are led by Gog who is the leader of the land of
Magog along with the other lands of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal... We hae a strong
indication of which nations they represent today. Magog, Meshech and Tubal were
tribes of the ancient world between the Black and Caspian Seas, which today is
Southern Russia. The tribes of Meshech and Tubal have given their names to
cities of today, Moscow and Tobolsk. Rosh is believed by some to be where the
name “Russia” came from.
When you consider that Moscow is almost in a straight line
due north from Jerusalem, it could very well be that a confederation of nations
led by Russia are behind this first Tribulation battle.[114]
Brickner’s literalist exegesis forces
onto biblical texts as well as contemporary events most unlikely scenarios,
such as invading armies using Bronze Age military tactics while deploying 21st
Century weaponry.
Together these nations attack the Land of Israel in the
mountains of Israel. Their armies are placed from the northern end of the
Valley of Jezreel down to the areas of the South. Beer Sheva and the Negev.
Jerusalem is in the middle of these mountains, and this is where the armies
converge in a massive invasion.
The Bible says that these armies will cover the land just
like a storm cloud. Ezekiel depicts Israel as a nation of unwalled cities,
vulnerable to her enemies. Israel’s defenses will be lowered because she
believes she will be protected by the treaty she signed with the Antichrist
three and one half years earlier. But Israel is betrayed. The attack comes and
the nations of the world stand back and watch... There is going to be mass
confusion among Israel’s enemies as God’s earth-shattering, miraculous
intervention strikes. These people are going to be utterly slaughtered. In
fact, Ezekiel tells us it will take Israel seven months to clean up after the
battle.[115]
Another anonymous article, written by a
Messianic believer living in Israel, describes in graphic apocalyptic detail
how some within Jews for Jesus are ‘Preparing
for Armageddon.’
The letter,
which had arrived a month in advance, was couched in military terms of
"call-up order," ordinance numbers and penalties for non-appearance.
So, exactly at the appointed time, I presented myself at the designated place
in order to participate in a two-day first-aid course for emergency duty... It
was the second day that did it. We were in the same room and the faces were
familiar now and I even knew some names. We started on an informal note with
the prospect of discharge from call-up that afternoon. Slowly, the content of
the lectures clouded the sky for me. Gradually, the day darkened, evil seemed
imminent, threatening; the exercise was no longer a game.
In the first
session we used a life-size dummy electronically equipped for resuscitation training.
Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is a great deal harder to do than it looks, even
on a clean, plastic doll. Every so often the horrific possibilities surfaced.
What to do if there is vomit, if the mouth is injured, if the jaw is shot away?
What if it was really up to me?
The next
session gained our silent and close attention. It was then that the shadow of
Gog and Magog began to loom. The incongruity of our largely middle-aged,
office-based group learning the dosages of atrophine antidote for use in chemical
warfare was grotesque. But more grotesque yet was the reality of it. Who but
such as we will face the "silvery rain" of nerve gas and mustard gas,
the powders and sprays that nauseate, confuse, poison and kill? The next war
will not be an affair just for the armies, we will all be there.
The moment
came when he demonstrated a new gas-proof baby-carriage cot, and how it could
be worn on the back. As he stood there, masked, with the "baby" on
his back, I suddenly saw the scene. Maybe the city would be unmarked, with only
the cruel rain gently falling. All around, there would be those who had
succumbed. They would lay contorted and alone. It would not be an easy death.
And there he was, the last man in sight, with his child, dependent on the
charcoal filters for six hours of good air, and then... That was when the
horror, the pathos of it all hit me, the pain, the emptiness of devastation and
isolation. Aghast, I asked Moshe the same question that we had asked a
different Moshe thousands of years ago. Then too, destruction had been imminent
with no way out visible. Through the long years, desperation continued to call
out in anguish: Where do we run, where is it safe?
It was later,
at home, that I realized that the answer was the same now as then; unless we
run to the mercy of the Lord, we will be destroyed by Pharaoh, by Amalek, by
Ishmael, by Gog and Magog. The only preparation for Armageddon, the final
battle, is to prepare to meet God, not Gog. Once we've had that encounter, our
"call-up" is to spread the good news of peace, of peace with God; to
prepare the people to receive the victorious King when he returns on the other
side of suffering, when the silvery rain will be forever gone.[116]
Brickner is confident, however, that despite the threats of Saddam Hussein, and a coalition of hostile countries including Russia, Libya and Iran,[117] the Jews will be secure, protected by the Lord God himself.
Throughout the generations, individuals like Haman, Herod, Hitler and Hussein have harboured satanically inspired hopes of annihilating the Jewish people. But our sovereign God has proven his faithfulness time and time again, and will not allow His people to be destroyed or his purposes to be thwarted.[118]
He is, however, also pessimistic about the fate of Jews returning to live in Israel.
The good news is, as the prophet said, that Israel will be delivered in the end. The bad news is, that deliverance comes at enormous cost and through great conflict. The Land and the people of Israel will be ground zero, center stage of world attention... The people of Israel will be key players in this end-of-the-world scenario. They will be subjected to invading armies... The battle that will rage in the Land will be fierce and deadly as all the nations of the world will come against Israel. Though the nations will eventually lose the war, the casualties of the battles will be even more devastating than those of the Holocaust.[119]
Indeed, Brickner is convinced Jerusalem will be the epicentre of the battle of Armageddon.
There is terrible bloodshed as Jerusalem suffers horrible defeat... Half of the people in the city are destroyed or taken into captivity. The destruction and devastation are hard to imagine. The nation of Israel is battered, broken and beaten. She is nearly destroyed... But its not over yet.[120]
In
an article entitled, Haman, Hitler, and
Now Hussein - Another Holocaust? Louis Goldberg also describes graphically,
a terrifying scenario awaiting Israel.
"So,"
you might ask, "with Israel once more on her ancient soil and enjoying
freedom she has not known for 2,500 years, how in the world can we talk about
another holocaust? How would nations and leaders ever permit such a situation
ever to occur again?" We have to listen to what God has said in His Word
and also to what Jewish traditional writings have to say. One Scripture passage
declares with jolting clarity:"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. And 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."
Note the
plural, "nations." And not just some of the nations, but
"all" the nations of the earth will be gathered against it
(Jerusalem). In no way can we say that this Scripture was already fulfilled. In
the past, Jerusalem has been attacked by one nation at a time: Babylon, Persia,
Greece, Rome. The message of future horror is repeated by the prophet later on:
"the city (Jerusalem) will be captured" (Zechariah 14:2). Jerusalem
will fall into the hands of invading troops!
Besides the
killing and death among the nations in this period yet to come, what will be the
carnage in the land of Israel itself? God tells us through His servant
Zechariah: "And it will come about in all the land, declares the Lord,
that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in
it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is
refined, and test them as gold is tested." (Zechariah 13:8, 9a)
Should this
prophecy be fulfilled today, considering the current Jewish population of
Israel of nearly 3,800,000, it would mean that over 2,5 million Jews will die!
The 1.25 million who are left would be dragged through the worst pressuring in
the history of the Jewish people. What horror! What destruction! How can we
even talk about it? It should make every human being weep. With the ovens of Auschwitz
and Bergen-Belsen still warm in the minds of the Holocaust survivors, how can
we even begin to imagine another carnage?
While the United States has aided Israel in its defense until now, what will the future hold? We would hope that the United Sates will not abandon Israel. Yet when we consider end-time prophecy, we know that not one nation will come to her aid... Shlomo Goren, a former senior intelligence officer who is the Coordinator of Government Operations in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza district once said in the hearing of this writer, "We are now entering the long, dark tunnel that will lead to the kingdom someday. We already hear the footsteps of Messiah as we begin our dark experiences!"[121]
Brickner also raises the apocalyptic temperature by claiming,
The sure word of prophecy in the Scripture promises that the dawn is nearing. Look around you and see if our world is the one that prophecy describes. Listen closely as the orchestra begins. Can you hear the themes? The piece they are playing is “The Overture to Armageddon.”[122]
Holding to the dispensational doctrine of the Rapture, representatives of Jews for Jesus are confident that those who believe in the Messiah will not have to endure the Tribulation or Armageddon.
2.7.5 The Rapture is Imminent
Affirming the innovative dispensational
doctrine of the ‘Rapture’ of the Church just before the Tribulation, a review
of End Times by John Walvoord,[123]
promises,
The end times can be happy and rewarding for Christians. The
key is understanding them. With clarity, logic and conviction, this book
dramatically explores world events in light of biblical prophecy, outlining the
precepts of our faith. Written by one of the field’s top experts, it is the
definitive work on prophecy.[124]
In a similar review of Road to Armageddon, written by faculty
from Dallas Theological Seminary[125], for Jews
for Jesus, clear dispensational assumptions are offered concerning the
‘Rapture’ of the Church.
The end of the decade, a century and an era are here - and people are pondering the spiritual significance of these last days. Are these the end times described in the Bible? Read this edited collection of dynamic and fascinating lectures from a six-week series at Dallas Seminary... Practical advice for perilous times; The Rapture: the next event on God’s calendar; the Antichrist: who is the next world ruler?; The Second coming: what are we looking for?[126]
While not offering any biblical basis for this doctrine, Jews for Jesus instead assume it as true and promote Tim LaHaye’s controversial and fictional 8 volume ‘Left Behind Series’ from their web site.
The Left Behind Series
Dr Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
The bestselling Christian fiction series of
all time, with over 7 million sold! Thrilling end-time adventure looks at life on
Earth following the Rapture. In one cataclysmic moment, millions around the
globe disappear, vehicles careen (sic)
out of control loved ones vanish before your eyes, global chaos ensues.
Searches for family members, for answers and truth fill your every thought.
War, famines, plagues are coming-and so is the antichrist. You’ll pick it
up-but not put it down!
#1 Left Behind
The bestseller that begun it all! A novel of
the earth’s last days that delivers an urgent call to today’s readers to
prepare their own hearts and minister to others.
#2 Tribulation Force
The protagonists find themselves pressed
into service for the man they believe is the antichrist during the seven most
chaotic years the planet will ever see.
#3 Nicolae
“The wrath of the lamb” is about to be
poured out upon the earth. The Tribulation Force continues its adventures after
the Rapture, with the rise of the antichrist. Nicolae Carpathia, who tightens
his grip on world economics and politics. A dramatic all-night rescue run from
Israel through the Sinai will hold you breathless to the end.
#4 Soul Harvest
The world is reeling from the great
earthquake as Nicolae Carpathia, enraged by an evangelistic effort that yields
the greatest harvest of souls the world has ever seen, begins a world rebuilding
campaign. The world takes sides - from hope to devastation and back again - all
in the quest for truth and life.
#5 Apollyon
The destroyer is unleashed... The fourth and
fifth trumpets blow... Demon-locusts torture the unsaved... The Tribulation Force
travels to Israel for the “Conference of Witnesses.”
#6 Assassins
The assignment: Jerusalem. The target:
antichrist! As judgments continue to unfold, assassins are gunning for the
soon-to-be-antichrist, and setting the stage for the last half of the Tribulation.
A horde of 200 million demonic horsemen slay a third of the world’s population,
the Tribulation force prepares for a future as fugitives.
#7 The Indwelling
The indwelling marks of the beginning of the
second half of the seven year Tribulation period. The question of who killed
Nicolae at the end of the book number 6, Assassins, will be answered. Readers
will experience the horrors of God’s judgment and the hope of salvation as they
follow Rayford, Buck, Chloe, and the rest of the Tribulation Force in
heart-stopping action.
#8 The Mark
The evil world leader Nicolae Carpathia officially takes his place as the Antichrist and begins his three-and-a-half year reign of terror over the earth. Technology provides the means to place the mark of the beast on every human, and the Trib Force scrambles to survive.[127]
Speaking of the return of Jesus, Brickner describes life on earth for those who have survived Armageddon.
And that is when all of the idolatry, all of the unbelief, all the blindness and hardness of heart will come to an end. Real salvation, physical and spiritual will come to all of Israel... In that greatest of all end times moments, God will rescue the Jewish people from her enemies and bring everlasting peace and justice on the earth. In a sense, it will be a brand new beginning for Israel and the world. The people and the place of Israel will still have a central role to play.[128]
Through their web site and the published writings of their leaders, Jews for Jesus identify with, and affirm, a classic dispensational eschatology in which a revival will occur among the Jewish people after the Church has been removed in the ‘rapture’. Such a view of the future in which the Jews remain central to God’s purposes on earth, both prior to, during and after any Millennium, and in which Israel and Jerusalem, in particular, plays a vital role at the heart of the Messiah’s universal reign on earth, clearly has contemporary political ramifications.
3. The Politics of the Jews for Jesus
Jews for Jesus claim to be neutral on
the question of Zionism and the significance of the State of Israel.
Jews for Jesus as a ministry does not take political positions. We do, however, take scriptural positions; and from the Scriptures we can say that in God's timing, he will restablish (sic) the ancient state of Israel as prophesied, using whatever means he deems necessary. There are those who believe that God has established the modern state of Israel as part of this redemptive plan. If that is true, we rejoice; nevertheless, we cannot say with certainty that the return to the land at this time is what was foretold by the prophets.[129]
J. I. Packer supports this perspective.
Evangelicals differ on whether the state of Israel, now
celebrating its first half-century, is a fulfilment of biblical prophecy, just
as they differ on other questions about prophecy and Christ’s return. Jews for
Jesus leaves these questions open for discussion and dogmatizes only on the
principle that the spiritual future for Jewish people is in the Christian
community[130].
Through their published literature and
web site, Jews for Jesus are, however, explicit in advocating a pro-Zionist
position, both supporting and defending the State of Israel.
3.1 Defining Christian Zionism
Rosen offers a definition of Zionism
which combines both biblical and secular Jewish aspirations and roots them in
an exclusive claim to the territory of Palestine.
The belief that modern Jews should have a secure territory
in our ancient homeland is called Zionism. But Zionism is more than that. Even
for the diaspora, Jewish identity is shaped in large part by the affirmation
that Israel is a Jewish state - a place belonging not only to its citizens, but
a state and a land belonging to all Jews everywhere. Zionism is rooted in God’s
ancient promises to Abraham. God promised Abraham more than a nation of
descendants. He promised a land.[131]
Richard Harvey defines Zionism as the “theory, plan or movement for setting up a
Jewish national or religious community in Palestine.”[132] He suggests
that Jesus was himself a Zionist.
Was Jesus a Zionist?
...Some claim Jesus was a pacifist; others said he was a
freedom fighter in league with the Zealots of his day. But close examination
reveals that Y’shua saw the rule of God as being both a spiritual and a
political reality in line with Hebrew Scriptures. Throughout his life Jesus
interacted with the Zionism of his day.[133]
Harvey offers no evidence for his claim
that Jesus saw the rule of God as a political reality as well as a spiritual
one.
David Brickner defines Christian
Zionism in these terms.
True Christian
Zionists want to see Israel graced with the blessings that only come through
faith in Jesus--so true Christian Zionists are unrepentant evangelists of the
Jewish people.[134]
He seeks to place Jews for Jesus
between those who uncritically endorse Zionism and those he describes as
holding to ‘a pro-Palestinian replacement
theology’.
First, it has
been two thousand years since the Land has been occupied by Jewish people for
50 consecutive years! But second, and perhaps more to the point, there is
little jubilation in Israel today. The land is mired in seemingly intractable
conflict. Feelings of hopelessness overshadow efforts to establish peace
between Israelis and Palestinians. Many Christians respond to the Middle East
dilemma with one of two extremes: militant anti-Arab Christian Zionism or
pro-Palestinian replacement theology. Adherents to either extreme ignore the
very character and continuity of God. In this they are seriously mistaken.
Those who opt for the first extreme imagine that a vote for Israel is a vote
for God--no matter what. Such people overlook questions of right and wrong--of
justice and righteousness in Israel--because they focus solely on God's
promises to the Jewish people concerning Israel's future. The Scriptures don't
encourage such blind loyalty. One can strongly support Israel and her right to
live in peace and security without ignoring the plight of Palestinians in the
land. God commanded Israel to be kind to sojourners because we were once
sojourners in the Land of Egypt and we know what it is like to be treated
harshly. It is shameful for militant Christian Zionists to demonize all
Palestinians in their attempt to justify unquestioning loyalty to any Israeli
policy.[135]
It is significant that Brickner regards
Palestinians as merely ‘sojourners’
in Israel since the Land itself belongs solely to the Jews. Similarly, Tuvya
Zaretsky, places his Christian Zionism between those who have disavowed
evangelism and those who espouse what
he terms as “Christianized” human rights.
The
Christian Zionist sees God's time clock as somewhere close to the final seconds
before the curtain will lift on His last act in human history. For some, this
viewpoint translates into unquestioning support for any political move the
state of Israel makes as an effort to participate in what God is apparently
doing in the end times. Unfortunately, for some Christians, the price for such
support of Israel is the disavowal of evangelism and the advocacy of anti-Arab
sentiment. Years ago, Rabbi Meir Kahane, leader of the Jewish Defense League,
wrote a column for the Jewish Press in New York. In one article,
"Christians for Moses," Kahane advocated that the Jewish community
seek the political and financial support of the American Evangelical Christian
Right. He pointed out that they were eager to give it but also warned that the
Jewish community should not succumb to conversionary efforts. Evidently many
Jews read that column, and most Christians did not. Increasingly those who
wanted to take a position of supporting the Jewish State did so--at the expense
of their evangelical commitment to proclaim the gospel. While some Christian
supporters of Israel quietly whispered that they had the ear of Israeli
leaders, giving the impression that a witness was going out, something else was
happening. In truth, while money and political support were accepted, any
mention of the gospel was merely tolerated as the appropriate cost for benefits
received. Certain groups, one of which provided sea transportation to Israel
for Russian Jews, have quietly, but not publicly, disavowed any evangelistic
efforts toward Jewish people.[136]
At times Christian Zionists like these
quoted appear more Zionist than their Jewish counterparts. This is a position
Louis Goldberg seems to accept as a compliment.
"In the
day when the Messiah returns," I said, "all of Jerusalem will be in
the hands of Jewish people. In fact, all that God promised to Abraham, declared
in Genesis 15:18, will be in the hands of Jewish people." My Israeli
friend made us both laugh when he exclaimed, "You have just out-Zioned all
the Zionists!"
In discussing
the validity of Zionism, modern media moguls and the common man alike often
fail to consider the question which, when noted, cuts like a clear laser light
through the smoke screen of polarized political rhetoric: Is modern Israel
merely a political entity or is it rather a fulfillment of prophecy? If the
former is true, then what politics created, politics may destroy. If the latter
is true, then Israel has a right to the land because she has been given it by
the original owner--God.[137]
The most common manifestation of
Christian Zionism is seen in the support given to the State of Israel. Jews for Jesus as an organisation has repeatedly
offered such support.
3.2 Support for the State of Israel
While Brickner distances himself
from those who give uncritical endorsement to the State of Israel, he
nevertheless believes there is a direct continuity between the Jews of the
Bible and the modern State of Israel. He also argues that Eretz Israel is the ‘God-given land’ of the Jews.[138]
Those who opt
for the first extreme imagine that a vote for Israel is a vote for God--no
matter what. Such people overlook questions of right and wrong--of justice and
righteousness in Israel--because they focus solely on God's promises to the
Jewish people concerning Israel's future. The Scriptures don't encourage such
blind loyalty. One can strongly support Israel and her right to live in peace
and security without ignoring the plight of Palestinians in the land. God
commanded Israel to be kind to sojourners because we were once sojourners in
the Land of Egypt and we know what it is like to be treated harshly. It is
shameful for militant Christian Zionists to demonize all Palestinians in their
attempt to justify unquestioning loyalty to any Israeli policy.
But what shall
we say of those Christians who take the other extreme--who want to
de-legitimize the Jewish people as God's chosen? It boggles my mind that some
Christians divorce the modern state of Israel from the land and the people we
read about in the Bible. To do so is to ignore what God is doing in our day and
age... I believe the modern day state of Israel is a miracle of God and a
fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Jesus clearly said that "Jerusalem would be
trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the nations is fulfilled"
(Luke 21:24). It has been 50 years since the founding of that state, but only
30 years since Jerusalem came under the control of Jews for the first time
since Jesus made that prediction. Could it be that "this generation shall
not pass until all these things are fulfilled?"[139]
A Jews for Jesus book review of Israel the Miracle[140] contains
the following assertion.
The reestablishment of the State of Israel was prophesied
throughout the Bible. The stunning photographs... will bring it to life before
your eyes. From its history, to its rebuilding through to today, you will
experience this wondrous miracle called Israel.[141]
While sympathetic to the restoration
movement, Goldberg is critical of the stance taken by the British government in
restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine from the 1930’s. ‘This was an
unconscionable violation of the Balfour Declaration they had instituted seventeen
years earlier.’[142]
In an article about his first encounter
of the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967, Jhan Moskowitz describes volunteering to
work on a Kibbutz in the Negev so, ‘others,
better trained could be freed for military duty.’[143] Similarly,
Rosen justifies the pre-emptive strike by Israel against her Arab neighbours in
1967, claiming the choice, then as now, is between fighting and being
annihilated.
In response to the threats that had been made and to prevent
their being wiped off the map. The Israelis struck on June 5, 1967 in what
became known as the Six-Day War. Once Israel took East Jerusalem and unified
the city, there was never a thought of ever giving it up.[144]
Furthermore, on their web site, Jews
for Jesus speculate that, based on biblical precedence, God has sanctioned the
use of force by Israel, to continue occupying the Palestinian Territories and
the Syrian Golan Heights.
So
far as force of arms is concerned, the choice for Israel has been to fight or
to be annihilated. It must be remembered that every defensive position entails
some violence. All bloodshed is regettable; but Israel has no choice when faced
with an intransigent and implacable fore who has threatened in the past to
"drive her into the sea." ... We must also remember that war has not always been "wrong."
In Moses' time the sons of Jacob did not traipse into the land of Canaan and
find a welcoming committee eager to greet them and congratulate them upon their
arrival. God commanded that they take Canaan by force. At that point it would
have been wrong for them not to do it. There may be some who think that God has
learned some new lessons since ancient times, but to our knowledge, God does
not change. It is entirely possible that once again he might move Israel to
resort to force.[145]
Jews for Jesus have also defended
Israel’s denial of Palestinian human rights on the grounds of national
security. In a response to Gary Burge’s criticisms, Jim Eriksen made the
following assertions.
Burge
continually gives the reader personal examples, derived from his trips to
Israel, of alleged Israeli abuses in the occupied territories. In addition, he
attempts to cite human rights studies and international norms that may be
applicable to Israel. In doing so, he exposes the weaknesses of his analysis.
For example, although Israel is a signatory of various international human
rights documents, it has signed with reservations; namely, it has reserved the
right to derogate certain rights in times where national security is
threatened. This derogation of rights by reservation is not unique to Israel;
most nations make a similar reservation to preserve national sovereignty during
times of unrest or war. No mention of this is made by Burge, and the reader is
left to believe that Israel has refused to abide by agreements it signed.[146]
Louis Goldberg offers a further
perspective on Israel’s recent history.
The struggle
was also ominous. As soon as Israel declared her independence, surrounding Arab
nations came down on her to driver her into the sea. Only God sustained Israel;
many nations of the world expected her to fall. But by the summer of 1949, the
Israelis had weathered the first attack. Since that War of Independence, Israel
has fought four more wars: in 1956 in Sinai; in 1967 on all fronts, north, east
and southwest; in 1969-70 at the Suez Canal; and in 1973 primarily with Egypt
and Syria when Israel was caught by surprise.
Apart form
these wars, pressure has always been exerted on Israel to give up territory for
no reason to those who rejected any peace treaty. While Israel and Egypt came
to an understanding in 1979 in the Camp David Agreement, there has been no
movement for change with the Palestine Liberation Organization and her
supporting nations in the Middle East.
Instead of receiving gratitude for their help in expelling
the PLO, the Israelis were in turn set upon by a coalition of Lebanese and
Syrians who bitterly wanted them out of Lebanon! A once quiet neighbour had
changed in character to become a hostile northern frontier state.
Divine
Protection. Under all of the pressure brought to bear on Israel, God has fought
for His people as He did in the ancient world. Against the overwhelming odds in
the war of 1948-49, and even through the heavy losses incurred in the first few
hours of the Yom Kippur war of 1973, God protected her. Then again, when Israel
was pressured on the diplomatic front, other incidents took place in the Middle
East which took the focus off of Israel and gave her a chance to
"breathe" and go on. There was the fight between Egypt and Libya, the
Lebanese Civil War, and the Iraq-Iran War. One needs to see how the Lord can
stir up nations to guard His people.[147]
In October 2000, following the outbreak
of the Al Aqsa Intifada, Jews for Jesus placed an advertisement in the New York
Times entitled ‘Open Letter to
Evangelical Christians from Jews for Jesus.’ In it they called upon
evangelicals to show support and solidarity with the State of Israel.
Now is the time to stand with Israel.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, our hearts are heavy as we watch the
images of violence and bloodshed in the Middle East. Once again, this ancient blood feud has grabbed the spotlight of
world attention. Once again, all the efforts of political and humanitarian
leaders to bring about peace have fallen short. Once again, the tide of world
opinion is turning against the nation of Israel. Yet, this should come as no
surprise to those who know God's word: "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup
that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well
as Jerusalem" (Zechariah 12:2). The only hope for peace was born in the
Middle East. Y'shua the Messiah is the Prince of Peace... As evangelical Christians, we must obey the
admonition of Scripture: "Shaalu shalom Yerushalaim - Pray for the peace
of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6). As
followers of Jesus, we must demonstrate that loving Israel does not mean hating
Arabs. ". . . you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus
19:18). As God's people, committed to
peace, we call for restraint on both sides of the conflict. As lovers of the God of Israel, we must
remember His promise concerning the children of Abraham, "I will bless
those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse" (Genesis
12:3). As those committed
to the word of God we must remember concerning the Jewish people that ". .
. theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the
receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the
patriarchs and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God
over all forever praised!" (Romans 9:4,5)
Christian friends, "The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable"
(Romans 11:29). So must our support for the survival of Israel in this dark
hour be irrevocable. Now is the time
for Christians to stand by Israel. Now is the time for Christians to pray for
the peace of Jerusalem...[148]
Jews for Jesus have therefore not only
defended the State of Israel, but also, by implication, its pre-emptive use of
force, the denial of human rights on the expedient grounds of national security
and has funded advertisements encouraging other evangelicals to support Israel
also.
Such
support invariably involves the defence of enlarged borders for the State of
Israel, beyond those recognised in international law.
3.3 The Territorial Extent of Eretz Israel
Following the assassination of Yitzhak
Rabin, Jews for Jesus called upon Christians to,
‘pray
for Eretz Israel’, that is, ‘greater’ Israel, and,
...to show solidarity with the Jewish people through
personally written expressions of sympathy and condolences to the Rabin family
and to the nation of Israel.[149]
The extent of ‘Eretz Israel’ is not always defined but when it is, Fruchtenbaum,
for example, is unequivocal. There is a determinism implicit in his literalist
hermeneutic.
At no point in
Jewish history have the Jews ever possessed all of the land from the Euphrates
in the north to the River of Egypt in the south. Since God cannot lie, these
things must yet come to pass. Somehow or other, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must
possess all the land, and second, the descendants of Abraham must settle in all
of the promised land.[150]
Likewise, Louis Goldberg is equally
dogmatic.
To whom does
the land belong? Based upon God's statement to Abraham ("Unto thy seed
will I give this land." Genesis 12:7), and corroborated by the prophets of
the Hebrew Scriptures, we can only declare that the land belongs to the people
of Israel. Ultimately Israel will have all that was promised in its entirety to
Abraham.[151]
Brickner is more specific, explaining
that in, or by, the Millennium, all God’s promises concerning the land will be
fulfilled.
The land God promised had very specific boundaries from the
Euphrates River to what is called the River of Egypt. The River of Egypt is not
the Nile. It is a stream or wadi that runs down through the middle of the Sinai
peninsula. Israel has never fully possessed that territory.[152]
Confusingly, however, earlier in the
same book, Brickner claims, ‘Everything
God promised to Abraham has come to pass.’[153]
Whether such prophecies are seen as
fulfilled or still await future fulfilment, the leaders of Jews for Jesus
support the right of Israel to lay claim to all the land promised to Abraham in
Genesis. This is evident from their ambivalence regarding Israel’s settlement
programme in the occupied Palestinian Territories.
3.4 The Jewish Settlements in the Occupied
Territories
Jews for Jesus compare Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian Territories with the United States claim to Texas.
Many might wish that the Israeli government could feel secure enough to withdraw the settlements on the West Bank. But on the same basis, the United States should seriously consider giving Texas back to Mexico and, indeed, should never have settled it in the first place.[154]
Louis Goldberg is unable to comprehend
why, ‘pressure has
always been exerted on Israel to give up territory for no reason to those who
rejected any peace treaty.’[155]
In an emotive article on the role of
the settlements entitled, ‘The Key to
Israel’s Defense’, Martha Jacobs describes her visit to the K’far Etzion
settlement between Bethlehem and Hebron. In it she perpetuates the myth that
the land was ‘desolate’ before the
Jewish settlers arrived, and that they ‘reclaimed’
the land of the West Bank again in 1967.
The
setting sun cast an enchanted glow on the fertile hills. I gazed upon the plush
and verdant surroundings. Peach, apple, cherry and pistachio nut trees were
plentiful. The fields were cultivated and teeming with life. Some modern
structures stood out boldly, dotting the sides of a crude dirt road. I was at a
high enough elevation to see part of the Gush Etzion settlements. A vague
outline of Jerusalem was visible in the distance some twelve miles away. Gush Etzion
played a key part in Jerusalem's defense when Israel first struggled into
statehood. The entire scene began to blur around me as the impact of its
history moved me to tears. The kibbutz (communal farm) on which I stood, K'far
Etzion, was a religious one established in 1943 along with three other seedling
communities that made up the Gush Etzion settlement.
Today
it's hard to imagine that this hilltop was once barren, but its exposed
location in the middle of hostile surroundings on the ancient road between
Hebron and Jerusalem has made it vulnerable to attack. During the War of
Independence, this strategic little settlement suffered seige after seige,
isolating it from help. Somehow the pioneer families managed to hold out for
six months until finally the Arab Legion attacked the colony with tanks,
armored cars and a huge army. The few surviving settlers with their homemade
weapons used their very bodies to block the progress of the enemy toward
Jerusalem. Entire families gave their lives in a heroic battle for Jerusalem's
sake.
The
settlement was destroyed but the surviving children of these Jewish pioneers
kept in touch. For nineteen years the land of Gush Etzion was in Arab hands and
remained desolate. However, in August of 1967, the hills were reclaimed and
these "children" returned and rebuilt K'far Etzion and the other
settlements, bringing to life the dreams and efforts of their fathers and
grandfathers.[156]
The existence of the settlements in the
Occupied Territories are seen by Jacobs as necessary for the defence of Israel.
The
struggle that this story illustrates is not over. Israel must still go to
extreme lengths for her defense. Defense is the largest item on Israel's
budget: thirty-five percent of the Gross National Product as compared to fifteen
percent for the U.S.S.R. and eve (sic) percent for the United States. To this day the kibbutzim are not only
used to develop the land and make the deserts bloom, but they also serve an
integral part in Israel's defense. Many are surrounded by heavy barbed wire,
and each member of the kibbutz is given assigned guard duty.[157]
Much of the West Bank land illegally
occupied by Israel has been unilaterally absorbed into the Jerusalem
municipality. It is therefore not surprising that both for ‘biblical’ as well
as pragmatic political reasons, Zionists insist Jerusalem must become the
exclusive Jewish capital.
3.5 Jerusalem the Eternal Undivided Capital of
Israel
Jerusalem plays a central role within
the Christian Zionist scheme for the restoration of the Jews to the Land. In an
answer to a question as to why Christians should pray for the peace of
Jerusalem, the Jews for Jesus website offers an insight into this perspective.
In
Deuteronomy 30:7, Moses reiterated the curse, implying blessing by contrast,
and making application to the Jewish people as a whole. How appropriate, then,
to pray for the peace of Israel, the Jewish national homeland, and for its
capital, Jerusalem... What is the mystique of that eternal city? What
mysterious feelings grip the Jewish heart at the mention of that name? ...the
name Jerusalem triggers an immediate emotional response. Although some might
deny it, the consciousness of one's Jewish identity seems to be tied somehow to
Jerusalem and all that it symbolizes. Far more than a mere geographic site,
Jerusalem is the "heartbeat" of God's ancient people, no matter where
in the world they reside. Jewish history and Jewish destiny are irrevocably and
forever interwoven with those of Jerusalem. The ancients considered Jerusalem
the center of the earth. The site of the Holy Temple is there upon Mount
Moriah; and in the bedrock of that summit lies a large, flat rock called
Even-hashetiyah, purportedly the base and center of the world... In the
third century, Jewish sages called Jerusalem the middle of the earth, saying,
"...the land of Israel is the middle of the earth. Jerusalem is the middle
of the land of Israel. The Temple is the middle of Jerusalem. The Holy of
Holies is the middle of the Temple. The holy ark is the middle of the Holy of
Holies. and the Stone of Foundation is in front of the Holy of Holies."
...Aside from geographical considerations, we see Jerusalem as the
"center" of the world in that it is central in God's plan for the
human race. When we pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), we are
praying for the place, for its people who live there and elsewhere, and for its
prophetic destiny.[158]
Moishe Rosen identifies with the
belligerent stance taken by Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon.
...Jerusalem is not negotiable. It will never be negotiable.
Jerusalem is the heart of the Jews. It has been the capital of the Jews for the
last 3,000 years. We will accept no other arrangement.[159]
Showing solidarity with Israel’s
‘exclusive’ historical claim to Jerusalem, The
Liberated Wailing Wall, the touring group of Jews for Jesus musicians,
recorded their tenth album of songs in 2000 in commemoration of ‘Jerusalem’s 3000th anniversary.’ [160]
At the heart of the Zionist claim to an
exclusive Jewish capital in Jerusalem, lies the deep conviction that the Jewish
Temple will also be rebuilt.
3.6 The Rebuilding of the Jewish Temple
The rebuilding of the Jewish Temple and
the reinstitution of animal sacrifices is something both Rosen and Brickner
both believe will happen soon. ‘The Bible
clearly states that there will be a Temple in the end times.’[161]
Brickner asserts that the preparations for rebuilding the Temple began in 1967
with the capture of the Old City of Jerusalem.[162]
In a chapter entitled, ‘The Middle East Today’, Rosen claims the
prophecy of Ezekiel 43 refers to imminent events leading to the rebuilding of
the Temple.
...at some point in these stressful days, the ancient Jewish
Temple will be rebuilt on the holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem... Prophecy
foretells the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple and the reinstitution of the
sacrifices prescribed in the law of Moses. In a vision of the future Temple,
Ezekiel received this word... Some way, somehow, the Temple will be rebuilt, in
spite of the fact that two Arab shrines now stand on the only site on earth
where this Temple may stand.[163]
David Brickner bases his own belief on
other biblical passages such as Daniel 9.
Obviously the
Temple has been rebuilt because Daniel tells us this ruler puts an end to
sacrifice and sets up some kind of abomination (a loathsome horror that would
be anathema to Jewish worship) right inside the Temple in Jerusalem. Ultimately
this ruler is destroyed in a final conflagration of enormous proportion. Who
exactly is this "ruler" who makes a treaty with Israel? Why will the
Temple be rebuilt in Jerusalem, and what will this final conflagration alluded
to be like?[164]
Zahava Glaser
elaborates on the grounds for believing that the Temple sacrifices will be
re-instituted. In describing the centrality of the Temple in contemporary
Jewish worship Glaser insists, ‘when
God instituted the sacrificial system, it was instituted for all time.’
The
Temple for Today? The Temple sacrificial rite retains a special significance
in many aspects of traditional synagogue and liturgical Jewish worship today.
Indeed, the synagogue and liturgy have kept alive the memory of the Temple
in the minds of Jewish people. Abraham Millgram notes: The synagogue proved
itself a most effective preserver of the ancient sanctities in the national
memory of the Jewish people. During the millennia of exile the Jews gathered
daily in their synagogues and prayed for the restoration of the Temple. They
symbolically performed the Temple rites and scrupulously safeguarded the identity
of the Temple functionaries. They thus kept themselves in constant readiness
for the resumption of the sacerdotal rituals in the rebuilt Temple. The memory
of the Temple sacrifice still burns brightly in the collective experience
of our people. That memory is sustained by the daily prayers and repetitions
in the traditional synagogue service. Yet it has not been able to fill the
void in the worshiper's heart, as it has not availed to truly cleanse the
conscience of the worshiper. When God instituted the sacrificial system, it
was instituted for all time... What flour is to bread, the sacrificial system
is to the religion revealed in the Jewish Scriptures. It is not a garnish.
It is not a flavoring. It is the very substance out of which the Jewish religion
was constructed. We can forever design our own substitutes, but they cannot
satisfy our yearnings the way God's own provision can. Though some rabbis
might minimize the revealed system of worship and its requirements, can the
individual Jew neglect what God says? Can there be a "proper" Judaism
without a priesthood, an altar, a sacrifice and a place on earth where God
meets the individual? Isn't it ironic that it takes the New Testament to tell
of the new altar, the everlasting sacrifice and the new high priest through
whom gentiles as well as Jews are made holy?[165]
Jews for Jesus also speculate on the
question of whether red heifers are needed in order to make future temple
priests ritually clean before sacrifices can be re-instituted.
I have heard that without the original ashes of the red
heifer for purification as described in Numbers 19, Temple worship cannot be
resumed. I have also heard that some Jews in Israel are searching for the ashes
of the red heifer so they can begin rebuilding the Temple. Is this true?
The
book Ready to Rebuild: The Imminent
Plan to Rebuild the Last Days Temple by Thomas Ice and Randall
Price describes the efforts of two Gentile Americans--independently of one
another--to attempt to locate a jar which supposedly contains the ashes of the
last red heifer used in Jewish ceremonies. Nevertheless, Ice and Price state,
"Nothing in the text [of Numbers 19:10] or in extra-biblical tradition
explicitly states that such continuity with the original ashes is required. For
this reason, the recovery of the ashes of the red heifer is not considered
important by some Temple activists" (pp. 135-36). According to a spokesman
for the Temple
Institute, a group active in preparing for a Third Temple, the
need for the original ashes "is not a Jewish concept."
There
are however, efforts underway to breed red heifers in Israel. Interested
readers are referred to the above book, available through our Purple Pomegranate Resource
Cataloge, and to our article "Israeli Groups Involved
in Third-Temple Activities".[166]
Glaser
appears to hold to the dispensational view that the Temple will be rebuilt, in
part, because the Jews have a separate covenant relationship with God apart
from the Church. He therefore does not see the high priesthood of Jesus in any
sense replacing or superseding that of the Jewish religious system based on a
rebuilt Temple.
The
Jews for Jesus web site also suggests that the Temple was central to Jewish
worship for ‘thousands of years’ when
in fact the Temples of Solomon (966BC-586BC), Zerubbabel (516BC-21BC) and Herod
(21BC-70AD) stood on the site for a total of less than 590 years.
In
the year 70 A.D. a great national tragedy struck the Jewish people. As Roman
legions swept down upon the "City of Peace," the Temple, center of
Jewish worship for thousands of years, was destroyed.[167]
Rosen perpetuates similar errors in
describing the Dome of the Rock as Islam’s ‘second’ holiest shrine, when it is
in fact considered their third most holy site. He also wrongly refers to the
Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosques as ‘Arab’ mosques.[168] In reality not all Arabs are Moslems and
most Moslems are not even Arabs. Rosen even suggests, however, that the site
has only become significant for Moslems since, and in reaction to, the rise of
Zionism.
The Dome of the Rock, a fairly unimportant shrine for
centuries, was elevated to the position of second holiest shrine in Islam,
largely, some think, as a defense against what some people viewed as the
“encroachment of Zionism.”[169]
Brickner also assumes the Temple must
be rebuilt because a dispensational reading of prophecy requires a further
desecration by some future Antichrist figure. This is probably why he laments the fact that ten days after Moshe
Dyan captured the Old City in 1967, he returned the Temple Mount area to the
Islamic authorities.
Israel’s secular military leaders had no commitment to
rebuilding the Temple. To them it was a relic of the past. To them, the Temple
Mount represented potential conflict with Islam, more a political liability
than anything else. Many Jews today feel quite different about that “little”
piece of real estate.[170]
Brickner and others within Jews for
Jesus look to ultra-orthodox Jewish groups to fulfill this Christian Zionist
expectation.
‘Children wanted for future Temple service. Ultra-orthodox
Jewish sect is searching for parents willing to hand over newborn sons to be
raised in isolation and purity in preparation for the rebuilding of the
biblical temple in Jerusalem. Only members of the Jewish priestly caste, the
Kohanim need apply.’
Words from an ancient scroll discovered in a recent
archaeological dig? Or perhaps an excerpt from a Hollywood screenplay for some
biblical epic? Actually, those words are a simple advertisement from a March
1998 edition of the contemporary Israeli newspaper, Haaretz. What some
westerners might consider ancient conflicts and antiquated concerns are, in
fact, current events to many people in the Middle East... The Bible clearly
states that there will be a Temple in the end times.[171]
Jews for Jesus states that it does not
endorse the activities of Jewish groups committed to rebuilding the Jewish
Temple. It nevertheless provides information on, and offers direct Internet
links to, eight extreme and militant Jewish organisations involved in attempts
to destroy the Dome of the Rock, rebuild the Jewish Temple and re-institute
Jewish Temple worship and sacrifices. These include the Temple Institute and
Temple Mount Faithful.[172]
Now, however, despite the fact that two Muslim mosques sit
upon the Temple Mount, there are Jewish groups concerned with training priests
for the day that the Temple is restored. Aterah Kohanim is one such group. They
have purchased many of the Arab homes in the Old City of Jerusalem, very near
the Temple Mount. They have also set up yeshivas to educate and train Temple
priests; two hundred men are in active training for the priesthood there now.[173]
One of the most extreme is the Temple
Mount Faithful. Brickner points out that they are ready to commence building ‘at any moment.’
They’ve cut a massive piece of limestone, a 4.5-ton
cornerstone to begin their work. Their first attempt to bring it up to the
Temple Mount was in 1989. Each year during Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles,
they enact the elaborate water-drawing ceremony at the pool of Siloam, and then
attempt to set the cornerstone for the rebuilding of the Temple. Each year the
Israeli government authorities prevent them. The site remains a holy place for
Muslims and it is under Islamic control. Israeli government officials have
little stomach for actions that might well lead to riots or perhaps even World
War III.[174]
Zhava Glaser also appears to affirm the
motives of Gershon Salomon, founder of The Temple Mount Faithful.
Very few Jews
have the courage to talk about the most important subject in the Jewish
religion: that is, the question of the Temple, the high priest, the altar and
the place of sacrifice. Gershon Salomon is a man of such courage. This
53-year-old scholar is the founder and head of a group called, "The Temple
Faithful." His credentials as an Israeli patriot are impeccable, beginning
at age eleven when he was arrested by the British authorities for putting up
Zionist posters during their occupation of Israel. He has stood up for what he
believes to be true ever since. In 1958, while a paratrooper officer, he was
wounded and spent a year in the hospital. When he finally returned to his unit,
he had to walk on crutches. Salomon is no rabble rouser. He served for ten
years on the Jerusalem City Council. Even now, he's completing his doctoral
studies on Kurdish national movements. However, in October of 1990, he
announced that he intended to lay the cornerstone for the Third Temple. And
that pronouncement so inflamed the Jerusalem Muslim community that the Temple
Mount riot ensued which led to the killing of many Arabs and Jews. Admittedly,
Salomon says that he would remove the Muslim presence from that site; his idea
is to move the Dome of the Rock and the al Aksa Mosque (which have stood on the
mount since the 7th century) and possibly have them transported to Mecca. He
also wants to increase the Jewish population of Jerusalem, and by that he means
in the Old City. One must take Salomon seriously. Nine thousand people are on
his "Temple Mount Faithful" membership list. In addition, there are
two talmudic schools located near the Wailing Wall that are teaching their
students the specifics of service in the Temple. Another organization, the
Temple Institute, led by Rabbi Israel Ariel, has researched and reconstructed
many of the ritual implements. Former chief rabbi Shlomo Goren, who is in
charge of yet another Temple Mount group has vowed, "I cannot leave this
world without assuring that Jews will once again pray on the Mount." Sympathy for
the rebuilding of the Temple is burgeoning and yet this kind of activism is
puzzling. Salomon says, ‘Certainly, I believe you have to work actively as an
agent of God for the Redemption to occur. I totally reject the approach of Jews
waiting passively for the Messiah.’ What shocks so many Jewish people is that
there are a substantial number of Bible-believing Christians who completely and
totally agree with Salomon's view and see the rebuilding of the Temple at
Jerusalem as a sign or a harbinger that the Messiah (Jesus) is about to return.
Most modern Jews have significantly departed from a Jewish religion that held a
hope for a coming Messiah--a Judaism that was sacrifice-centered and looked to
a time when the Temple would be restored...[175]
Sam Kiley, the
Jerusalem correspondent for the Times, regards Salomon in a rather different
light, representing the ‘...almost
acceptable face of millennial cults.’ In an interview with Kiley, Salomon
is quoted as insisting the Islamic shrine must be destroyed.
The Israeli Government must do it. We must have a war. There
will be many nations against us but God will be our general. I am sure this is
a test, that God is expecting us to move the Dome with no fear from other
nations. The Messiah will not come by himself, we should bring Him by fighting.[176]
Brickner is convinced from his reading
of scripture that the rebuilding of the Temple will be associated with the
deaths of most Israelis.
A full two-thirds of the population of Israel will perish in the ensuing conflict, according to Zechariah 13:8. The hope of the Jewish people in seeing the glorious Temple rebuilt will, in fact, lead to their greatest calamity and suffering.[177]
Rosen speculates on such a future scenario, suggesting the Dome will be destroyed by scuds fired by Israel in an attempt to implicate Iraq, turning Moslem rage away from Israel and onto Saddam Hussein.
In truth, the fusillade of missiles had not all come from Iraq - only the ones which hit Jewish neighbourhoods. The rest were Scud-class missiles launched by Israelis from mobile launchers deployed deep in the Judean wilderness, near the Israeli/Jordanian border. Yitshak Shamir had his revenge.[178]
Jews for Jesus also endorse and sell a
provocative book, Ready to Rebuild: The Imminent Plan to Rebuild the Last Days
Temple, by Thomas Ice and Randall Price. These dispensational writers
advocate the rebuilding of the Jewish temple next to, if not in place of, the
Dome of the Rock.[179] Their book review implies the State of
Israel is behind moves to rebuild the Temple.
Something is happening in Israel! For many years there has
been speculation as to whether the Second Temple, destroyed in 70 AD, will ever
be rebuilt - even though Scripture predicts it. Now you can read the startling
evidence. The move is already underway. This fascinating, fast-moving overview of
contemporary events shows why the Temple is significant in Bible prophecy and
how, more than ever, Israel is ready to rebuild.
“A masterpiece presenting all the various views with
substantiating evidence... A mine of information for those concerned about prophecy...
A solid basis for faith and what can actually be expected in regard to the
rebuilding of the Temple... (it) is highly recommended.” - John F. Walvoord,
chancellor, Dallas Theological Seminary. Chapters include: The Temple in
transition; The Temple and Islam; Activity on the Mount; An ancient tunnel
uncovered; Temple Mount alternatives.[180]
Though not all Christians agree with the author’s views of
the end times, this book can be recommended as a responsible treatment of
Third-Temple activity in Israel.[181]
Brickner makes an indirect reference to
the claims made by Ice and Randall that the Jewish Temple could actually quite
legitimately be rebuilt alongside the Dome of the Rock.
...there may be a solution for that barrier to rebuilding.
You see, recently some archaeologists have concluded that the actual location
of the foundation stone upon which the ark rested is north of the Dome of the
Rock. If true, it is theoretically possible to rebuild the Temple without
having to tear down the Muslim holy sites. Nevertheless, because of the
proximity to the mosques, it remains a sensitive issue to say the least.[182]
Brickner and Rosen are emphatic that
the temple will be rebuilt soon. It is merely a question of how. “We can only speculate how the problems
facing the rebuilding of the Temple will be resolved.”[183]
Such provocative convictions clearly
have ramifications for the way Christian Zionists view Arabs, generally and
Palestinians, in particular.
3.7 Attitudes toward Arabs and Palestinians
Brickner disassociates himself from
Christians who ‘demonize’ the Palestinians.
It is shameful
for militant Christian Zionists to demonize all Palestinians in their attempt
to justify unquestioning loyalty to any Israeli policy...[184]
Similarly, Ruth Rosen, in an
article about ‘Holocaustology’ and
the Jewish exploitation of the Shoah,
describes the sympathy Jews feel for those who have also been oppressed.
We Jews have
often risen to the defense of the oppressed and have sympathized with those
who, like us, have suffered unjustly. We have followed the biblical mandate to
reach out to those who are afflicted. We have been instrumental in bringing
about justice for people who have been deprived of their rights.[185]
It is notable, however, that
nowhere in this article by Rosen, or any other published by Jews for Jesus, do
the writers empathise with the sufferings experienced by the Palestinians at
the hands of the State of Israel. Instead Rosen spiritualises the issue,
lamenting the failure of Jews to recognise how the Messiah suffered on their
behalf.
It is one
thing to sympathize with the sufferings of others when doing so makes us feel
righteous and noble. But to think that someone suffered because we are not
righteous... That we are both the cause and the beneficiaries of his unjust
suffering? These are very uncomfortable, very disturbing thoughts.[186]
Similarly, Richard Harvey
considers the implications of the Year of Jubilee for Jews but makes no
reference to international calls for the return of land illegally occupied by
Jewish settlers and taken from Palestinians.
What is the
significance of the Jubilee year in the light of the 50th Anniversary of the
founding of the State of Israel? Freedom! That’s what the Jubilee is all about.
The legislation of Leviticus 25 and elsewhere in the Torah makes the 50th year
the glorious climax of the period of seven sabbatical years ...in the jubilee
year, property was returned, and whole families caught in debt were freed...
How does this apply today, as we celebrate Israel’s 50th year of Independence?
...The command to “proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its
inhabitants” (Lev 25:10) speaks of the freedom that is far more than economic,
that only the Messiah can bring. Whilst we wait for the secular State of Israel
to fulfill the promise of its Zionist founders, we can be sure that when the
Prince of Zion returns, the chains of oppression, whether political, economic
or cosmic, will be finally cast away.[187]
While looking forward
eschatologically to the fulfilment of the provisions of the Jubilee, Harvey
nevertheless avoids making any association with the continued denial of basic
human rights to Palestinians under Israeli military occupation. Indeed he
implies Palestinians should be grateful.
The
Arab minority in Israel lives in better economic conditions than in many
neighboring Arab states, and is certainly treated far more humanely than a Jew
would be in an Arab land.[188]
Harvey does not specify whether
he is referring only to the State of Israel or Eretz Israel and the Occupied
Territories as well. Indeed, Louis Goldberg, scholar in residence at Jews for
Jesus, and formerly professor of Theology and Jewish Studies at the Moody Bible
Institute, seems surprised that Palestinians cannot live contentedly and
peacefully under Israeli occupation.
... pressure
has always been exerted on Israel to give up territory for no reason to those
who rejected any peace treaty. While Israel and Egypt came to an understanding
in 1979 in the Camp David agreement, there was no movement for change within
the Palestine Liberation Organization and her supporting nations in the Middle
East. ...Meanwhile, Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza were expressing
frustration at living in a culture that was increasingly not their own. The
region of Judea and Samaria, the Israeli designation for the West Bank, was
being opened up to new settlements. Palestinian Arabs, sensing that they were
losing their identity, reacted. In December 1987 the Palestinian people living
in Gaza and the West Bank began an action that has been dubbed the intifada
("uprising"). Seemingly spontaneous outbursts of rock-throwing, and
civil disobedience have given way to organized acts of violence. They have
developed as an expression of a Palestinian nationalism movement within the territories.
In the hope of breaking a political deadlock the U.S. has encouraged talks...
However, on a human level, the atrocities of the past, and those that continue
today end up only in burying the hope for future discussions on "the
situation." ...Under all the pressure brought to bear on Israel, God has
fought for his people as he did in the ancient world.[189]
For Brickner, Palestinians as merely ‘sojourners’ in Israel since the Land
itself belongs solely to the Jews.[190] Rosen goes
further, describing Palestinians as ‘squatters’,
perpetuating the myth that their claim to Palestine is recent and tenuous.
What about the Arabs of Palestine (both Muslim and Christian
Palestinians) who remained in the territory dedicated by the British to Zionist
benefit? They were descendants of Bedouin tribesmen who had finally settled in
the hills of Palestine, in a sense as squatters in Ottoman Turk territory.[191]
Rosen speculates that the
Scriptures even provides justification for the deportation of Palestinians from
land in the Occupied Territories claimed by Jews. With reference to Zechariah
10:8-11, Rosen argues,
The prophet
predicted that “there will not be room enough for them.” Land for settlement is
already a pressing problem in Israel. ...there are in Israel, albeit an extreme
minority, who advocate the transport of the 1.7 million Palestinians from the
occupied territories into neighbouring Arab states. This “transfer Policy” is
now championed by Rahavam Ze’evi in his newly created post of Minister Without
Portfolio. His nomination was approved the week of February 18, 1991.
Supporters of this policy find its
rationale in two areas: (1) by eliminating the presence of the Palestinians
from the occupied territories, Israel would eliminate the intifada and its
accompanying problems; and (2) the policy opens up large areas of land for the
purposes of settlement.
With an expected avalanche of
immigrants from the Soviet Union in 1991 and 1992 (some estimate as many as two
million), the words of the prophecy take on fresh meaning. Once again, this is
not a fictional scenario. These are events that you can watch on television or
read about in your morning paper. Compare them with Scripture. Coincidence?[192]
While Rosen acknowledges that
such a ‘solution’ represents the view of an ‘extreme minority’ he nevertheless suggests this is consistent with
his interpretation of both scripture and contemporary events.
Ironically, while Brickner
concedes that, ‘The Scriptures, both Old
and New Testament portions, serve as the foundation for the ethics and
jurisprudence of Western civilisation,’[193] he and
other representatives of Jews for Jesus have repeatedly criticised Christian
agencies who have challenged Israel’s human rights record on the basis of those
same Scriptures. For example, Brickner
criticises Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding (EMEU), which was founded
by John Stott and directed by Donald Wagner, for highlighting the failure of
the State of Israel to uphold Palestinian human rights.
There are,
however, others who describe themselves as evangelicals who want "middle
east understanding"--when in fact they are merely mouthpieces for
anti-Israel propaganda. They allow their politically correct, over-wrought
sense of moral outrage over the suffering of Palestinians to dictate their view
of Scriptures. They point to injustice in the land and the fact that Israel is
in unbelief, and conclude that God is through with the Jews and the land of
Israel is illegitimate in His eyes. [194]
Jim Eriksen also takes issue with Gary
Burge’s assessment of ‘alleged’ human rights abuses by Israel, justifying her
treatment of Palestinians on the grounds of ‘national security’.
Burge
continually gives the reader personal examples, derived from his trips to
Israel, of alleged Israeli abuses in the occupied territories. In addition, he
attempts to cite human rights studies and international norms that may be
applicable to Israel. In doing so, he exposes the weaknesses of his analysis.
For example, although Israel is a signatory of various international human
rights documents, it has signed with reservations; namely, it has reserved the
right to derogate certain rights in times where national security is
threatened. This derogation of rights by reservation is not unique to Israel;
most nations make a similar reservation to preserve national sovereignty during
times of unrest or war. No mention of this is made by Burge, and the reader is
left to believe that Israel has refused to abide by agreements it signed.
Burge also gives a rather skewed view of the wars following
the creation of the nation/state of Israel in 1948. For example, he describes
the "Intifada" as "civilians" using "civil
disobedience" to "thwart Israeli control and inspire international
sympathy." No mention is made of the more radical groups, such as Hamas,
that entertain the destruction of Israel.[195]
Tuvya Zaretsky was invited to speak at
an Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding conference in 1995. In a
subsequent reflection he claimed somewhat condescendingly that EMEU had
compromised the gospel, substituting instead a ‘“Christianized” version of human rights.’
The
purpose of the conference was to bring Middle Eastern Christians to the
attention of the Church in the Western world. Originally, EMEU had forgotten
that the Church in the Middle East includes Jews who love Jesus. Therefore, I
was invited to participate and bring that perspective... They are compassionate
Christians who hold a low view of eschatological theology, including the return
of Christ. They focus on reforming cultures and reshaping the political state
in order to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. They regard justice, mercy
and the advocacy of human rights as tools to realign society. Their
"ministry" is to lobby for change in U.S. foreign policy toward
Israel and to bring about governmental change in the Land to provide a
Palestinian homeland. Among such groups, the proclamation of the gospel as the
way to peace for both Jews and Arabs is seldom, if ever, mentioned... Those who
seek political solutions must remember that we Christians are not called upon
to reform cultures. We are charged with calling those cultures and their people
to measure themselves by the Bible. The Bible states that there is only one
name given under heaven by which we must be saved, and that is the name of
Jesus (Acts 4:10-12). Faith in Him, therefore, is the only true hope for peace
among the peoples of the Middle East.[196]
Brickner
similarly warns those, especially evangelicals, who do not share his particular
Zionist perspective, that they are fighting against God.
Peril awaits
those who presume to say that God is finished with His chosen people: "And
in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples. All who
lift it shall be slashed, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered
against it" (Zechariah 12:3). Woe to anyone who joins those nations to
gather against the Jewish people who are now back in the city of David. Just as
God judged the nation of Egypt for her ill treatment of His people, so will He
judge nations today. Evangelicals who would understand the Middle East must pay
close attention to the teaching of Scripture, and take note of the cosmic
forces that now do battle in the heavens but will soon do battle on earth. They
must choose carefully which side to uphold.[197]
The review of Lindsey’s, Late Great Planet Earth reaches similar
conclusions.
Many
of Lindsey's observations on the Arab world will leave you shocked; he points
out the awesome accuracy of the words of men who lived 2,500 years before
Nassar and Sadat.[198]
Goldberg
laments the treatment Israel received having ‘expelled’ the Palestinians from Lebanon.
Instead
of receiving gratitude for their help in expelling the PLO, the Israelis were
in turn set upon by a coalition of Lebanese and Syrians who bitterly wanted
them out of Lebanon! A once quiet neighbour had changed in character to become
a hostile northern frontier state.[199]
Brickner
believes lasting peace will only be achieved when both Jews and Palestinians
come to faith in the Messiah.
It is significant
that Israel's 50th anniversary falls so close to Passover. Let's remember that
without redemption, there can be no Jubilee. The conflict in the Middle East
will only be resolved when Palestinians and Jews alike are redeemed by the
blood of the Lamb of God. When both sides recognize God's ownership over all
and can love one another in Jesus' name, that will be the ultimate Jubilee![200]
Zaretsky
also concludes pessimistically that peace in the Middle East will come only
when the Messiah returns. Until then ‘peace’ is, he appears to suggest, only
experienced individually through personal belief in the Messiah.
Messiah
Jesus will end all the political strife when He establishes His throne on earth
at His appointed time. In the meantime, He brings peace to the United States
and to the Middle East and wherever He reigns as Lord and Savior in the hearts
of individuals.[201]
Jacobs,
however, suggests more controversially, that Israel will only experience peace
when the Messiah destroys her enemies - presumably the Arab nations.
This
man, Y'shua (known as Jesus), who claimed to be the Messiah, was actually
claiming to be God's impenetrable defense, if Israel would recognize him.
Zechariah spoke of the Messiah, "Then the Lord will go forth and fight
against those nations (Israel's enemies) as when He fights on a day of battle.
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front
of Jerusalem on the East..." (Zechariah 14:3, 4).[202]
Rosen concurs, arguing that the Arab
peoples will experience God’s judgement for their hostility toward Israel.[203]
As has been shown, Brickner also perpetuates the error that equates the term
Arab with Islam when in fact most Moslems are not Arabs and many Arabs are
Christians.[204]
Attitudes within Jews for Jesus toward Arabs and Palestinians appear then to be
determined more by superficial prejudices and dispensational presuppositions
than by any overriding commitment to basic human rights or common justice.
4. A Critical Summary of the Distinctive Christian Zionism
of Jews for Jesus.
Jews for Jesus is essentially the consequence of the ministry of one man, Moishe Rosen, a Messianic dispensational evangelist. In 28 years it has become the largest evangelistic agency working among Jewish people in the world. Not surprisingly it has aroused considerable opposition from Jewish organisations.[205] Until now, it appears, however, the consequences of its dispensational theology, its commitment to Zionism and antipathy toward the Palestinians have not been appraised.
Rosen, Brickner, Fruchtenbaum and Goldberg, along with other contributors to their publications and web site justify their Zionist views on biblical grounds based on dispensational presuppositions, arguing Jesus was a Zionist and divine promises to the Jews of the Bible apply to the State of Israel today.
They hold to a literalist biblical hermeneutic in which unfulfilled prophecies concerning Israel’s borders from the River of Egypt and the Euphrates will one day be realised. The State of Israel will be centred on Jerusalem, the exclusive capital of the Jews, and a rebuilt Jewish Temple in place of, or along side, the Muslim Dome of the Rock.
Representatives support the illegal Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories, have defended Israel’s pre-emptive use of military force against the Palestinians and promote organisations committed to destroying the Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount. The Jews are seen as God’s covenant people alongside but separate from the Church which is a parenthesis in God’s continuing purposes for Israel.
Jews for Jesus appear generally pessimistic about contemporary political attempts to find a peace settlement in the Middle East and have funded advertisements calling upon Christians to support Israel. Tensions both leading up to and subsequent to the Gulf War have been interpreted as signs that the rapture, tribulation and Armageddon are imminent. They believe most Jews will be killed, but a remnant saved, spiritually and physically when the Messiah returns to be their king.
Based on this analysis of its own publications, it may be asserted that Jews for Jesus is more explicitly dispensational and more overtly Zionist, than is the British-based, Churches Ministry Among Jewish People. Because of its commitment to proselytise Jews, they may also be distinguished from other Christian Zionist organisations such as Bridges for Peace and the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem who limit their ministry to ‘blessing Israel’. Representatives of Jews for Jesus have been critical of both for claiming to be evangelical while disavowing evangelism. Jews for Jesus are equally critical of other evangelical organisations such as Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding who support the Palestinian’s right to self determination, autonomy and other basic human rights. Jews for Jesus representatives have also warned that those who do not share their particular perspective face impending divine judgement.
As an organisation of Messianic Christians committed to both evangelism among Jews as well as encouraging political support for the State of Israel, Jews for Jesus is unique, having, ‘Out-Zioned the Zionists’[206].
Updated 17 April 2001
24,900 words
1 [1]Moishe Rosen, Jews for Jesus (Old Tappan, New Jersey, Revell, 1974); Y’shua (Chicago, Moody Press, 1982); Overture to Armageddon? Beyond the Gulf War (San Bernardino, California, Here's Life Publishers, 1991); The Universe Is Broken--Who On Earth Can Fix It? (San Francisco, Purple Pomegranate, 1991). See also Moishe & Ceil Rosen, Christ in the Passover (Chicago, Moody Press, 1978); Ruth Rosen, ed. Jews for Jesus (San Francisco, A Messianic Jewish Perspective, 1987)
2 [2]Ruth Tucker, Not Ashamed: The Story of Jews for Jesus (Sisters, Oregon, Multnomah, 1999)
3 [3]Jews for Jesus, Jews, Jesus and Jews for Jesus, www.jewsforjesus.org
4 [4]Jonathan Freedland, ‘The Jews for Jesus’, The Guardian Weekend, 21 December 1996, pp. 18-20.
5 [5]ibid.,
6 [6]David Brickner, Future Hope, A Jewish Christian Look at the End of the World, 2nd edn. (San Francisco, Purple Pomegranate, 1999), p. 9.
7 [7]Jews for Jesus, Jews for Jesus www.jews-for-jesus.org/
8 [8]Jews for Jesus, Jews, Jesus and Jews for Jesus, www.jewsforjesus.org
9 [9]‘Moishe Rosen’, www.jewsforjesus.org
10 [10]J. I. Packer, Foreword in, Ruth Tucker, Not Ashamed: The Story of Jews for Jesus (Sisters, Oregon, Multnomah, 1999), p. 7.
11 [11]Tucker, Not., back cover.
12 [12]Tucker, Not., p. 14.
13 [13]Tucker, Not., p. 10.
14 [14]Tucker, Not.,
15 [15]Jews for Jesus,, Our Doctrinal Statement, www.jews-for-jesus.org
16 [16]Packer, Foreword, p. 7.
17 [17]Raymond Ortlund, Foreword, in Moishe Rosen, Overture to Armageddon? Beyond the Gulf War (San Bernardino, California, Here's Life Publishers, 1991)
18 [18]Tucker, Not., p. 14.
19 [19]David Brickner, Future Hope, A Jewish Christian Look at the End of the World, 2nd edn. (San Francisco, Purple Pomegranate, 1999)
20 [20]Tucker, Not., p. 14.
21 [21]Brickner, Future., back cover.
22 [22]Louis Goldberg, Haman, Hitler and Now Hussein - Another Holocaust? www.jews-for-jesus.org/topics/issues/08-01/hamanhitler.htm
23 [23]Louis Goldberg, ‘Historical and Political Factors in the Twentieth Century Affecting the Identity of Israel.’ In Israel The Land and the People, ed. H. Wayne House (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kregel, 1998), p. 131
24 [24]David Brickner, ‘Don’t Pass Over Israel’s Jubilee’, Jews for Jesus Newsletter, April 1998.
25 [25]Rich Robinson, ‘Israeli Groups Involved in Third Temple Activities’ Jews for Jesus Newsletter Issue 10, Adar 5753, 1993; Zhava Glaser, ‘Today’s Rituals: Reminders or Replacements’ Issues., 8, 3.
26 [26]Packer, Foreword., p. 7.
27 [27]Tucker, Not., p. 18.
28 [28]William Blackstone, Jesus is Coming (Old Tappan, New Jersey, Revell, 1932)
29 [29]Arnold Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of the Messiah (Tustin, Ariel Ministries, 1983)
30 [30]Louis Goldberg, Turbulence Over the Middle East (Neptune, New Jersey, Loizeaux Brothers, 1982)
31 [31]Dwight J. Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Dunham, 1958)
32 [32]Robert VanKampen, The Sign (Wheaton, Crossway, 1992)
33 [33]John Walvoord, End Times (Waco, Texas, Word)
34 [34]Hal Lindsey with C.C. Carson, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1979), Issues Book Review, Issues, 3. 7.
35 [35]Thomas Ice and Randall Price, Ready to Rebuild, The Imminent Plan to Rebuild the Last Days Temple. (Eugene, Harvest House, 1992)
36 [36]Tim LeHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins, The Left Behind Series (Tyndale House)
37 [37]Zola Levitt, The Second Coming (?)
38 [38]Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology (Tustin, Ariel Ministries, 1992)
39 [39]Charles R. Swindoll, John F. Walvoord, J. Dwight Pentecost and other members of the Dallas Theological Seminary, The Road to Armageddon (Word, ??)
40 [40]Louis Goldberg, Haman, Hitler and Now Hussein - Another Holocaust? www.jews-for-jesus.org/topics/issues/08-01/hamanhitler.htm
41 [41]Arnold Fruchtenbaum, This Land is Mine, www.jews-for-jesus.org/topics/issues/02-04/land.htm
42 [42]Jews For Jesus, www.jews-for-jesus.org/
43 [43]Louis Goldberg, ‘Whose Land Is It?’ Issues, 4.2. Goldberg quotes from Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1964), p. 60.
44 [44]Leslie B. Flynn, A Review of David L. Larsen, Jews, Gentiles, and the Church: A New Perspective on History and Prophecy (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Discovery House Publishers, 1995), Messianic Review of Books, Spring 1996, Vol. 4, 1.
45 [45]Hal Lindsey with C.C. Carson, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1979), Issues Book Review, Issues, 3. 7.
46 [46]Brickner, Future., p. 7.
47 [47]Brickner, Future., p. 17.
48 [48]Brickner, Future., p. 36.
49 [49]Brickner, Future., p. 69.
50 [50]Rosen, Overture., p. 152.
51 [51]Brickner, Future., p. 70.
52 [52]Brickner, Future., p. 73.
53 [53]‘Jewish Mission Leader Rejects Report’ Jews for Jesus Briefing Bulletin, 1 April 1998.
54 [54]‘Jewish Mission Leader Rejects Report’ Jews for Jesus Briefing Bulletin, 1 April 1998.
55 [55]‘Jews for Jesus calls new anti-missionary bill religious extremism.’ Jews for Jesus Briefing Bulletin, 25 May 1998.
56 [56]Zaretsky, Peace.,
57 [57]Louis Goldberg, ‘Historical and Political Factors in the Twentieth Century Affecting the Identity of Israel.’ In Israel The Land and the People, ed. H. Wayne House (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kregel, 1998),
58 [58]David Brickner, ‘Don’t Pass Over Israel’s Jubilee’, Jews for Jesus Newsletter, April 1998.
59 [59]Louis Goldberg, ‘Historical and Political Factors in the Twentieth Century Affecting the Identity of Israel.’ In Israel The Land and the People, ed. H. Wayne House (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kregel, 1998), p. 133.
60 [60]Jacov Prasch, ‘Jews for Jesus Blast False Christian Zionists’, Moriel Prayer and Newsletter, No. 11, Autumn 1998; Baruch Maoz, “The Christian Embassy in Jerusalem” Mishkan, 1/1990, no. 12. p. 3.
61 [61]Tuvya Zaretsky, ‘Peace in the Middle East’, Jews for Jesus Newsletter, August 1995.
62 [62]David Brickner, Future Hope, A Jewish Christian Look at the End of the World, 2nd edn. (San Francisco, Purple Pomegranate, 1999), p. 94.
63 [63]Brickner, Future., p. 108.
64 [64]Jews for Jesus, Jews, Jesus and Jews for Jesus, www.jewsforjesus.org
65 [65]Jews for Jesus, Doctrinal.,
66 [66]Joseph P. Gudel, ‘To the Jew First. A Biblical Analysis of the Two Covenant Theory of the Atonement’. Christian Research Journal (July-September 1998), pp. 36-42.
67 [67]Brickner, Future., p. 18, 130; J. N. Darby, 'The Character of Office in The Present Dispensation' Collected Writings., Eccl. I, Vol. I, p. 94.
68 [68]Brickner, Future., p. 96.
69 [69]Brickner, Future., p. 97.
70 [70]Gary Burge, Who Are God’s People in the Middle East? (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1993)
71 [71]John Stott, ‘Foreword’ in Peter Walker ed. Land of Promise (Leicester, IVP, 2000)
72 [72]Donald Wagner, Anxious for Armageddon: A Call to Partnership for Middle Eastern and Western Christians, (Scottdale, PA, Herald Press, 1995),
73 [73]Jim Eriksen, A Review of Anxious for Armageddon: A Call to Partnership for Middle Eastern and Western Christians, by Donald Wagner (Scottdale, PA, Herald Press, 1995), in Messianic Review of Books, Vol. 3.2 www.jewsforjesus.org
74 [74]Jim Eriksen, A Review of Who Are God’s People in the Middle East? by Gary Burge (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1993), in Messianic Review of Books, Vol. 2.2 www.jewsforjesus.org
75 [75]David Brickner, ‘Don’t Pass Over Israel’s Jubilee’, Jews for Jesus Newsletter, April 1998.
76 [76]Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, ‘This Land is Mine’, Issues, 2.4. www.jewsforjesus.org
77 [77]Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, ‘This Land is Mine’, Issues, 2.4. www.jewsforjesus.org
78 [78]Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, ‘This Land is Mine’, Issues, 2.4. www.jewsforjesus.org
79 [79]Leslie B. Flynn, A Review of David L. Larsen, Jews, Gentiles, and the Church: A New Perspective on History and Prophecy (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Discovery House Publishers, 1995), Messianic Review of Books, Spring 1996, Vol. 4, 1.
80 [80]Brickner, Future., p. 33.
81 [81]See Galatians 3:29; Romans 9:8.
82 [82]Rosen, Overture., p. 97
83 [83]Rosen, Overture., p. 105.
84 [84]Brickner, Don’t.,
85 [85]Brickner, Future., p. 8.
86 [86]Louis Goldberg, ‘Haman, Hitler, and Now Hussein - Another Holocaust?’ Issues, 8.1.
87 [87]Louis Goldberg, ‘Whose Land Is It?’ Issues, 4.2.
88 [88]Rosen, Overture., pp. 152-153. See section 3.7.
89 [89]Jews for Jesus, Doctrinal.,
90 [90]Brickner, Future., p. ii
91 [91]Brickner, Future., back cover.
92 [92]Rosen, Overture., p. 70.
93 [93]Brickner, Future., p. 135.
94 [94]Rosen, Overture., p. 113.
95 [95]Rosen, Overture., p. 151.
96 [96]Rosen, Overture., p. 152.
97 [97]Brickner, Don’t.,
98 [98]David L. Larsen, Jews, Gentiles, and the Church: A New Perspective on History and Prophecy (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Discovery House Publishers, 1995)
99 [99]Leslie B. Flynn, A Review of David L. Larsen, Jews, Gentiles, and the Church: A New Perspective on History and Prophecy (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Discovery House Publishers, 1995), Messianic Review of Books, Spring 1996, Vol. 4, 1.
100 [100]Leslie B. Flynn, A Review of David L. Larsen, Jews, Gentiles, and the Church: A New Perspective on History and Prophecy (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Discovery House Publishers, 1995), Messianic Review of Books, Spring 1996, Vol. 4, 1.
101 [101]Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, ‘The Messianic Time Table According to Daniel the Prophet’ Issues, 5. 1.
102 [102]Brickner, Future., p. 18. See also his ‘prophetic parenthesis’ timetable, p. 130.
103 [103]Brickner, Future., pp. 18-19.
104 [104]Rosen, Overture., p. 131.
105 [105]Rosen, Overture., p. 132.
106 [106]Rosen, Overture., p. 133.
107 [107]Rosen, Overture., p. 157.
108 [108]Brickner, Future., p. 45.
109 [109]Brickner, Future., p. 135
110 [110]David Brickner, Future Hope, A Jewish Christian Look at the End of the World (San Francisco, Purple Pomegranate Productions, 1999)
111 [111]Brickner, Future., pp. 13-14.
112 [112]Rosen, Overture., p. 134.
113 [113]Hal Lindsey with C.C. Carson, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1979), Issues Book Review, Issues, 3. 7.
114 [114]Brickner, Future., pp. 70-71.
115 [115]Brickner, Future., pp. 71-72.
116 [116]Jews for Jesus ‘Preparing for Armageddon’ Issues, 3.7.
117 [117]Brickner, Future., p. 71.
118 [118]David Brickner, ‘No Coincidence’. Jews for Jesus Newsletter, Vol. 3: Adar 5758, March 1998.
119 [119]Brickner, Future., p. 35.
120 [120]Brickner, Future., p. 74.
121 [121]Louis Goldberg, ‘Haman, Hitler, and Now Hussein - Another Holocaust?’ Issues, 8.1.
122 [122]Rosen, Overture., p. 189.
123 [123]John Walvoord, End Times (Waco, Texas, Word)
124 [124]Jews for Jesus, Publications.,
125 [125]Swindoll, Road.,
126 [126]Jews for Jesus, Publications.,
127 [127]Jews for Jesus www.store.jewsforjesus.org/books/products/sp057.htm
128 [128]Brickner, Future., p. 38.
129 [129]‘Zionism.htm’ Jews for Jesus FAQ, www.jewsforjesus.org
130 [130]Packer, Foreword., p. 7.
131 [131]Rosen, Overture., p. 106.
132 [132]Richard Harvey, ‘Has Zionism Failed?’ Issues, 5. 10.
133 [133]Harvey, Has.,
134 [134]Brickner, Don’t.,
135 [135]Brickner, Don’t.,
136 [136]Zaretsky, Peace.,
137 [137]Louis Goldberg, ‘Whose Land Is It?’ Issues, 4.2.
138 [138]‘Jewish Mission Leader Rejects Report’ Jews for Jesus Briefing Bulletin, 1 April 1998.
139 [139]Brickner, Don’t.,
140 [140]Hilla and Max Jacoby and Peter Meyer-Ranke, Israel the Miracle (?)
141 [141]Jews for Jesus, Publications.,
142 [142]Louis Goldberg, ‘Whose Land Is It?’ Issues, 4.2.
143 [143]Jhan Moskowitz, ‘If I forget you, O Jerusalem’ Issues, Vol. 2. 4. www.jewsforjesus.org
144 [144]Rosen, Overture., p. 129.
145 [145]‘zionism.htm’ Jews for Jesus FAQ, www.jewsforjesus.org
146 [146]Jim Eriksen, A Review of Who Are God’s People in the Middle East? by Gary Burge (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1993), in Messianic Review of Books, Vol. 2.2 www.jewsforjesus.org
147 [147]Louis Goldberg, ‘Haman, Hitler, and Now Hussein - Another Holocaust?’ Issues, 8.1.
148 [148]‘Open Letter to Evangelical Christians from Jews for Jesus: Now is the Time to Stand with Israel.’ The New York Times, 23 October 2000.
149 [149]Jews for Jesus Briefing Bulletin, 6 November 1995.
150 [150]Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, ‘This Land is Mine’, Issues, 2. 4. www.jewsforjesus.org
151 [151]Louis Goldberg, ‘Whose Land Is It?’ Issues, 4.2.
152 [152]Brickner, Future., p. 90.
153 [153]Brickner, Future., p. 34.
154 [154]‘zionism.htm’ Jews for Jesus FAQ, www.jewsforjesus.org
155 [155]Louis Goldberg, ‘Haman, Hitler, and Now Hussein - Another Holocaust?’ Issues, 8.1.
156 [156]Martha Jacobs, The Key to Israel’s Defense’ Issues, 4. 2.
157 [157]Martha Jacobs, The Key to Israel’s Defense’ Issues, 4. 2.
158 [158]‘Jerusalem.htm’, The Jews for Jesus FAQ, www.jewsforjesus.org
159 [159]From an interview with the Los Angeles Times (October 12, 1990). Cited in Rosen, Overture., p. 129
160 [160]‘The Liberated Wailing Wall’ Jews for Jesus web site. www.jewsforjesus.org
161 [161]Brickner, Future., p. 60.
162 [162]Brickner, Future., p. 137.
163 [163]Rosen., Overture., p. 114. See also p. 166.
164 [164]Brickner, Future., p. 18.
165 [165]Zhava Glaser, ‘Today’s Rituals: Reminders or Replacements’ Issues., 8, 3.
166 [166]‘Red Heifer.htm’ The Jews for Jesus FAQ, jewsforjesus.org
167 [167]‘Jerusalem.htm’, The Jews for Jesus FAQ, www.jewsforjesus.org
168 [168]Rosen, Overture., p. 139.
169 [169]Rosen., Overture., p. 127.
170 [170]Brickner, Future., p. 60.
171 [171]Brickner, Future., p. 53.
172 [172]Rich Robinson, ‘Israeli Groups Involved in Third Temple Activities’ Jews for Jesus Newsletter Issue 10, Adar 5753, 1993.
173 [173]Brickner, Future., p. 60.
174 [174]Brickner, Future., p. 61.
175 [175]Zhava Glaser, ‘Today’s Rituals: Reminders or Replacements’ Issues., 8, 3.
176 [176]Sam Kiley, ‘The righteous will survive and the rest will perish’ The Times, 13 December 1999, p. 39.
177 [177]Brickner, Future., p. 62.
178 [178]Rosen., Overture., p. 140.
179 [179]Thomas Ice and Randall Price, Ready to Rebuild, The Imminent Plan to Rebuild the Last Days Temple. (Eugene, Harvest House, 1992)
180 [180]Jews for Jesus review of Ready to Rebuild by Thomas Ice and Randall Price (Eugene, Harvest House, 1992), www.store.jewsforjesus.org/books/products/bk154.htm
181 [181]Rich Robinson, ‘Israeli Groups Involved in Third Temple Activities’ Jews for Jesus Newsletter Issue 10, Adar 5753, 1993.
182 [182]Brickner, Future., p. 61.
183 [183]Brickner, Future., p. 61.
184 [184]Brickner, Don’t.,
185 [185]Ruth Rosen, ‘Holocaustology, Past Oppression, Present Excuse?’ Issues Vol. 13. 5.
186 [186]Rosen, Holocaustology.,
187 [187]Richard Harvey, ‘Ask the Maven’ Jews for Jesus Newsletter, Vol. 3, Adar 5758, March 1998.
188 [188]Richard Harvey, ‘Has Zionism Failed?’ Issues, 5. 10.
189 [189]Goldberg, Haman.,
190 [190]Brickner, Don’t.,
191 [191]Rosen, Overture., p. 124.
192 [192]Rosen, Overture., pp. 152-153.
193 [193]Brickner, Future., p.33.
194 [194]Brickner, Don’t.,
195 [195]Jim Eriksen, A Review of Who Are God’s People in the Middle East? by Gary Burge (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1993), in Messianic Review of Books, Vol. 2.2 www.jewsforjesus.org
196 [196]Zaretsky, Peace.,
197 [197]Brickner, Don’t.,
198 [198]Hal Lindsey with C.C. Carson, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1979), Issues Book Review, Issues, 3. 7.
199 [199]Louis Goldberg, ‘Haman, Hitler, and Now Hussein - Another Holocaust?’ Issues, 8.1.
200 [200]Brickner, Don’t.,
201 [201]Zaretsky, Peace.,
202 [202]Martha Jacobs, ‘The Key to Israel’s Defense’, Issues, 4.2.
203 [203]Rosen, Overture., p. 155.
204 [204]Rosen, Overture., p. 139.
205 [205]See www.jewsforjudaism.org for example.
206 [206]Louis Goldberg, ‘Whose Land Is It?’ Issues, 4.2.