Posted on 04/07/2008 11:01:12 AM PDT by Jbny
On Sunday, Likud opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu described Christian Zionists as Israel’s best friends:
This is a friendship of the heart, a friendship of common roots, and a friendship of common civilization.
The comments came at an Evangelical event in Jerusalem organized by the San Antonio, Texas-based Christians United for Israel and led by evangelical Pastor John Hagee.
There’s always a lot of grumbling about the Jewish-Evangelical alliance in support of Israel.
(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...
God bless America and God bless Israel..they are best allies we have, and we had better keep them; or God will not be pleased with us.
Amen!
The article confuses Christian Zionists with true evangelicals. The former is primarily motivated by politics not religion, and they are short on theology and long on speculation. Their drive and devotion is grounded in charismatic leaders rather than the pure Word of God.
RULES! Post Bibi pictures.
Although Bibi represents secular Zionism (though of the rightwing variety), I'm happy that he responds with hakkarat hatov to true friends.
May all Jews embrace the Torah and all non-Jews the Noachide Laws!
Absolutely correct. We are joined at the hip by God!
And this one Torah as well!
Sh'ma Yisrael. Adonai elohenu. Adonai echad.
Does that "pure Word of God" of yours include the prophets:
"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee," saith the LORD. "And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be My people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee. And thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the LORD shall inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again." [Zechariah 2:10-12]
So then was Zechariah a politician or a prophet??? Get real --
Yep, and it also includes the NT which says in one place,
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12)And in another place it says,
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar -- 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children-- 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Gal. 4)So, if you want to understand what the Bible means by "Jerusalem" you need to read the entire Bible and not rest on an unqualified reading of select OT passages.
"He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name." (Rev. 3:12)
Remember, the New interprets the Old, not vice versa.
Pax.
"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee," saith the LORD. "And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be My people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee. And thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the LORD shall inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again." [Zechariah 2:10-12]
Is the New Jerusalem in the holy land or in heaven???
So then by your understanding, the Jerusalem to which the diaspora will return before the battle of Armageddon will come down from heaven?
Replacement theology is a jumble of misunderstandings, and impossibilities that will only be untangled when the Lord himself returns to clense their minds.
Yes.
The New Jerusalem is that to which God has called all His true children, the offspring of Abraham, for, "if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Earthly Jerusalem was the type of the true dwelling place for God's people. It served its purpose for a time, but the true children of Abraham look forward to the same heavenly city that was Abraham's promise, "for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. ... But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."
It is the heavenly Jerusalem that God has prepared for His people. Those who look to an earthly one are the ones who received the warning of the apostle Paul in Galatians 4.
The true holy land is in heaven, where Christ presently reigns upon the throne of David, and from there He is exercising progressive dominion over the nations of the earth. "Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet."
Only as run through his Roman Catholic decoder-ring. His Hebrews 1:1 read, “God, having of old spoken to us over the heads of the fathers in spite of the prophets....”
The diaspora (as you call them) are really the remnant of Israel who are being regrafted into the root over the last 2000 years. They are the ones who have come to the heavenly Jerusalem. They have found their true home in Christ, with His saints in heaven. We have been rasied up and are reigning with Him even now. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"
Some folks think they will only be seated with Christ in their future millennium. But our position with Christ is a reality today, and it is as secure as it will ever be for the elect.
A carnal city holds no hope for the people of God. "but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: 'Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband.' Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? 'Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.' So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free."
Do you wish to be children of the bondwoman or of the free? Where is your home and your hope?
Such hit-and-run comments are not up to your usual standards.
TC, you need to buy a Bible and read it.
Your desire to replace Israel is insufficient to overcome God’s word.
Which Jerusalem is God referring to here??? It can't be the New Jerusalem in heaven unless you are going to argue that God rejected that city. Do you really want to argue that???
Therefore it must be the earthly Jerusalem, right??? And since it was the earthly Jerusalem that was rejected, as the prophet said, it will be this earthly Jerusalem that will be chosen again.
If you’ve never tried this before, you will find that it is exactly (EXACTLY) like trying to witness of Christ to a Roman Catholic or a Mormon.
Thanks for the input. Obviously, if you read my posts and see all the Scripture that I quote you wouldn't be questioning whether or not I own a Bible. But I see all you guys have to fall back on are slogans.
Of course I understand also that you don’t like the way I interpret the passages because they do not fit with your preconception about futurism and hyper-literalism.
You can stand with Darby and Scofield. I’ll stand with the apostles and how they interpreted things like "Jerusalem", the "temple", God’s "chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation ", the transition from old covenant to new covenant, that there is neither Jew nor greek. And the fact also that there is no hint in any of the NT apostolic writings about the fictional futurist Jewish millennium with a physical temple, Levitical priesthood, racial separation, and blood sacrifices for sin, etc.
That's what the Bible says:
"20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke 21)
The hypothesis of the futurist literalist is that something happens with regard to earthly Jerusalem after the "times of the Gentiles are fulfilled". But of course the text does not say that. And we know from the rest of the NT that the apostles turn their attention to populating the heavenly Jerusalem, which is in reality the true dwelling place of God’s people. So then the futurist literalist has to invent the radical distinction between God’s earthly people and heavenly people so they can invent a future for earthly Jerusalem so they can rebuild an earthly temple so they can reinstitute earthly sacrifices for sin.
To steal a phase, this is real decoder-ring theology. It only makes sense if you are willing to drink the kool-aid.
So you can deny that the city was rejected, but I challenge you to find any hint in the NT that the apostles believed earthly Jerusalem would be restored. Any.
But you folks are left looking forward to a Jerusalem that Paul in Galatians 4 identifies with Hagar and unbelief; a carnal city that holds no hope for it inhabitants.
Even though the term is inaccurate, I really have no problem being labeled a "replacement theologian" by those whose own theology was invented following the ecstatic rants of a young Scottish lass in the 19th century, and which has been roundly rejected within my own Reformed tradition for its unbiblical (heretical) teachings.
I’m not going to ignore Jesus, Peter and Paul because of what’s in Mr. Scofield’s Notes. When I was a child in the faith I believed many of the things you do. "… but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
“Binyamin Netanyahu described Christian Zionists as Israel’s best friends”
Never mind that many of Israel’s “best friends” fund Jewish settlements, encouraging more immigrants to move there, and expect that two-thirds of those living there to soon be wiped out, of course.
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