Hatred for the State of Israel: A Dangerous Trend in the Modern Church
The hatred of Israel is a dangerous trend in the modern church, one that accords with biblical prophecy of the end times. Most of the world hates Israel because, whether they want to admit it or not, Israel is the nation God separated from the rest of the world as his chosen people. This is the primary reason most of the world hates Jews.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Zechariah 12:3
Unfortunately, the church is not immune to this phenomenon. The early church began to deny their Jewish ancestry by changing the date observing the death of Jesus Christ to anything other than the 14th of Nisan, the actual date of his death. The second century Church disparagingly called this practice of commemorating His death on Passover, the 14th of Nisan as Quartodecimanism. This is where the Church began to forget it’s just the branch grafted in and not the tree itself.
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Romans 11:21
Sense then, the alure of secular power has corrupted the Church allowing Satan to turn it against the brethren of Jesus. I fear for church members who allow the world’s hatred of Israel to infect their faith.
The Denial of Jews as God’s Chosen People
Today there are several schools of thought within the church that denies Israel as the chosen people of God. There is the argument of British Israelism that claims the people of Great Britain are the descendants of the lost ten tribes if Israel. In similar vein, there are also the arguments for Black Israelites or even Japanese Israelites. The Jehovah’s Witnesses also practice a form of replacement theology. They believe they are the inheritors of all the promises given to the Jews.
The Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran Churches even indulged in replacement theology. They believed (and many still believe) that because of the Jews participation in the death of Jesus, the Church became the inheritor of all gifts that the Jews were given by God, and that Jews in general have become a pariah people. The Universal Church became “God’s true Israel.” This “replacement theology” is what made the Holocaust not just possible, but inevitable.
The church did replace Jews as the people God uses to deal with the nations, but that is all. However, the Jews are still kinsmen to Jesus Christ. Jews still have the title to the land given in Gen 15. And the Bible still prophesizes a future for Israel in God’s plans.
However, I’ve noticed a new argument gaining prevalence in the church, and it’s fueling hatred of Israel by many modern church leaders. It is the idea that the Jews in Israel are not really the Jews of the Bible, but rather counterfeit Jews. They believe the nation of Israel is a construct of the New World Order (NWO), that the Jews living there are counterfeit and not entitled to the land, and that the NWO uses Israel as an instrument of control.
The World’s History With Israel
Let us mention some of the things that we know are true from reading an unbiased view of history. The modern state of Israel really is a construction of, for want of a better name, the New World Order (NWO). It was Arthur Balfour, in conjunction with Lord Rothschild, who precipitated the creation of the modern State of Israel. It was the NWO that financed Hitler and the rearmament of NAZI Germany. The reason many nations would not accept Jews fleeing Germany before the war was to build up the coming persecution of the Jews so they would want to immigrate to their historic homeland. All of this happened under the leadership of the NWO and the House of Rothschild (is there really any difference?).
I also agree that, after resurrection of the state of Israel as a nation in 1948, the NWO exerted at least some control over the government and security services of the new state. The NWO also inspired the political Zionist movement to create a “greater Israel” as a source of designed instability in the Middle East. And finally, the NWO inspires efforts to rebuild the Jewish temple because this is where they believe they must they anoint the leader of their anticipated one world government, the one we call the anti-Christ.
While all the above is true, we must also remember that we are living in the kingdom of Satan. He is the ruler here. Most government actions are by the will of Satan. However, even Satan must bend to the will of God and make decisions according to His plan, even though he does not know it.
What Does God Say About Modern Israel
It is important to know what the Word of God says about the modern State of Israel during the time between the destruction of the Temple in 70AD through to the return of Jesus Christ on the Day of the Lord.
Ezek 36 clearly says that the people of Israel have sinned, and God will punish them by dispersing them throughout the nations, and that “When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name.” (Ezek 36:20 NKJV) Nevertheless, the Lord says, “For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.” (Ezek 36:24 NKJV) The entire 36th chapter of Ezekiel describes the dispersal and re-gathering of the people of Israel.
Chapter 37, the prophecy of the dry bones, is a prophecy about the rebirth of the nation of Israel.
‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. Ezek 37:21-23
Will There Be a Nation of Israel During the Tribulation?
Dan 9:26 says the city of Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed. We know from history that this happened in 70 AD; however, in Dan 9:27, during the end times, there is a rebuilt temple where the Jewish rituals of animal sacrifice are being performed. For this to happen, there must be a Jewish nation.
There clearly must be a Jewish nation in Matt 24:15 because the Abomination of Desolation can only happen in the rebuilt temple, and that can only be built after the establishment of the nation of Israel. After the Abomination of Desolation, when Jesus tells the people of Judea to flee to the mountains, we can tell he is clearly talking to and about the Jews because of his choice of language. He tells them to “pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” (Matt 24:20 NKJV) Only Jews recognize the Sabbath. Mark 13 mirrors this same language.
The book of revelation describes a group of 144 thousand Jews whom God seals as witnesses and servants of God. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, practicing a form of replacement theology, say that these are not Jews, but are in fact elders of their “true church.” However, in anticipation of this heresy, God made sure John named each of the twelve tribes of Israel when he said he would seal 12,000 of each tribe (Rev 7:3-8). The Bible means what it says.
The Temporary Blindness of Jews
In Romans, Paul says God proclaimed a form of temporary judicial blindness of the Jewish people in Rom 11:8-10:
Just as it is written:
“God has given them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes that they should not see
And ears that they should not hear,
To this very day.”
9 And David says:
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, And bow down their back always. Rom 11:8-10
Matt 23:37-39 confirms the blindness of the Jews until they recognize and accept Jesus Christ:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'” Matt 23:37-39
Luke 19:41-42 also confirms this blindness:
Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Luke 19:41-42
The Ending of the Blindness of the Jews
Notice that in Rom 11:25-26 Paul says that the blindness will only last “until the fullness of the Gentiles”:
For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved Rom 11:25-26
I’m uncertain, but I suspect that the “fullness of the Gentiles” and the lifting of the Jews blindness will happen during the events outlined in the Ezek 38:21-23:
I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”‘ Ezek 38:21-23
A Christian’s Attitude Toward Israel
What should a true Christian’s attitude toward Israel be? It’s simple! The Jews, yes even the ones in the State of Israel, are the brethren of Jesus. They are the apple of God’s eye. After the reconstitution of Israel in 1948, the nation will continue, even into the millennium reign of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself will sit on the throne of David, in Israel, during his Millennial reign. As Christians, we should never allow ourselves to be infected with the hatred of Israel that is trending in the modern church. We should ceaselessly pray for Jewish blindness to be lifted, that they acknowledge their transgression and say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD,” that they might turn to Jesus and be saved.
We should not work for or support the expansion of Israel past its current borders. God will take care of that, either in Ezek 38, or during the Millennium.
We should not support the building of a new Jewish temple. We should not be against it either because it is part of God’s plan. However, God has not authorized a new temple, and Jesus Christ is now the only sacrifice needed, or acceptable, for the remission of sin.
We should never support any of Israel’s actions that are evil or go against scripture. However, we must always be ready to support and protect Israel. The hatred of Israel is a dangerous trend in the modern church, and we do not want to be on the wrong side when Jesus judges the nations in Matthew 25:31-46.
We should also keep in mind that the rebuilding of the temple is one of the signposts proclaiming the accuracy of Gods prophetic word. Much like the restoration of Israel after almost 2000 years or Israel regaining sovereignty over Jerusalem during the 1967 war, these are pre-conditions of the coming tribulation period.
Significance of God’s Promise in Gen 15
Lastly, concerning the right of Israel to the land. The reason so many Christians, including myself, are concerned with Israel’s right to the land is that it concerns one of God’s major promises: the promise that God made to Abram in Gen 15. God gave Israel title to this land forever.
There is also a future milestone referencing this promise that I have not heard any prophetic Biblical scholar talk about – ever. Dan 9:27 speaks of the “Prince Who Shall Come” confirming a covenant with the many. I have heard many theories talking about a peace treaty, or the prince might confirm an already existing treaty like the Camp David Accords. None of these are true. The covenant the anti-Christ will confirm, though I do not know the form the conformation will take, has been in existence for thousands of years and can be found in Gen 15.
The Genesis 15 Covenant
Gen 15 is where God makes a blood covenant with Abram promising him that his descendants will inherit the land if Israel. However, it is important to notice that after the heifer, the goat, and the ram were split apart, “a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.” (Gen 15:12 NKJV) God then passed between the pieces alone, reciting His terms of the promise to Abram and his descendants. ABRAM PROMISED NOTHING! He was asleep! It was a one-sided promise by God!
What this means is that God gave an unconditional promise, and God keeps all promises. Abram and his descendants can commit no sin deep enough, do no abomination bad enough, or reject God or God’s messiah completely enough to lose this promise.
IF YOU SAY THIS PROMISE NO LONGER APPLIES TO ISRAEL, YOU ARE CALLING GOD A LIAR!
The anti-Christ must confirm this covenant to usher in the final seven years, commonly called the tribulation period, described in Dan 9:27. The fulfillment of this prophecy is nothing less than the conformation of Israel’s right to exist, and confirming Israel’s right to exist is the one thing the Middle East Arab nations say they will never do.
Conclusion
As Christians, we should support the existence of Israel in their own homeland. The hatred of Israel is a dangerous trend in the modern church, and Jews, having been regathered out of all the nations, are the apple of God’s eye and the kinsmen of Jesus Christ. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and of Israel, and pray that the grace of God be upon them that they might acknowledge Jesus Christ and be saved. Take joy in Israel, for it is the fulfillment of God’s promise and a signpost on God’s prophetic calendar. Be in awe that, as the Bible predicted in so many places, God has gathered them out of all the nations of the world, into one place, and made them live as one nation once more after almost 2000 years.
How miraculous is that?