"Could this little calf born in Israel bring about Armageddon?"
Posted on 08/15/2002 6:18:24 AM PDT by NYer
WASHINGTON - At a time when Israel is increasingly beleaguered and bloodied, its strongest political and financial backing is coming from evangelical Christians, many of whom believe the Jewish state has to be supported so Jesus Christ can return.
The level of support is startling and is growing rapidly.
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a Chicago-based group headed by Canadian-born Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein and funded mainly by evangelical churches, has raised US$60-million for Israel in the past seven years.
Last month, U.S. evangelical congregations raised US$2-million to help about 400 U.S. and Canadian Jews emigrate to Israel.
Last weekend, Christian television stations across the United States held a five-hour telethon to raise money for the victims of suicide bombers in Israel.
And on Oct. 20, Rabbi Eckstein's group hopes to gather 100,000 churches and a million Christians for a day of prayer and solidarity with Israel.
Christian supporters of Israel argue there are a host of reasons to back the Jewish state besides helping speed along the apocalypse, such as God's promise to Abraham in Genesis that those who bless Israel will themselves be blessed.
"This is where both our faiths were born, where Moses and Jesus walked," said Ralph Reed, an influential Republican lobbyist and strategist, former director of the Christian Coalition and co-chairman with Rabbi Eckstein of the Stand for Israel campaign. "There are also shared democratic values ... and Israel has historically been our most reliable ally in that part of the world. A lot of American Christians feel an almost patriotic duty to defend Israel."
But the core reason for the overwhelming support for Israel among conservative Christians is the Biblical prophecy of the end-times, a view that has received a boost with the hugely successful novelization of the apocalypse in the 10-volume Left Behind series.
"When it comes to Israel, by and large there is an admiration and a love of Israel and a certain love of the Jewish people," said Marc Gopin, a professor of international diplomacy at Boston's Tufts University and author of Holy War, Holy Peace: How Religion Can Bring Peace to the Middle East. "But a fairly large portion have a specific end-game in mind."
Unlike mainstream Christians, who tend to read much of the Bible as allegory, conservative Christians see it as the literal word of God, and that word spells out impending doom for this world. A recent poll by Time magazine found that 59% of Americans believe the events described in the Book of Revelations will come true.
According to a school of Biblical interpretation called dispensationalism that dates back to the 19th century, the sequence of events leading to the end of the world begins when the Jews are restored to their homeland, something that happened when the state of Israel was created.
That scenario then predicts Jews will become hated and despised by the whole world and Israel will make an alliance with a powerful figure who turns out to be the Biblical Antichrist. He will lead his armies against a force of 200 million soldiers under the "kings of the east" at Armageddon, near Jerusalem, leading to the return of Jesus and the establishment of God's kingdom on Earth.
Some Jews will be destroyed and the remaining Jews will accept Jesus as their Messiah.
The enthusiastic support of Christian conservatives has had a significant impact on U.S. policy toward Israel. Based on the Bible, they believe God gave all the land of Israel to the Jews, leaving little room for a land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians.
Palestinians should aspire to "a prosperous life in Israel," said Tom DeLay, a born-again Christian and one of the most powerful Republicans in the House of Representatives, during a recent television interview.
Although evangelical Christians were his firmest supporters during the 2000 election, there is no evidence that George W. Bush, the U.S. President, shares their millennial views. But he is arguably the most fervent Christian president in history and was strongly influenced by a 1998 trip to Israel while he was governor of Texas. He has also been a strong backer of Mr. Sharon's hard line toward Palestinian terrorism.
While Mr. Reed, who occasionally advises the President, doubts Mr. Bush is awaiting the coming of the Lord in Jerusalem, he made it clear that "American Christians are one of the most critical allies that the state of Israel has in the whole world.
"You can make a strong case that the religious conservative constituency can have the most significant impact on American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. They want to make sure that any peace process respects Israel's sovereignty and security."
"Could this little calf born in Israel bring about Armageddon?"
The creature looks ominous to me, but we better wait for the “Raptureists” to weigh in on this.
Now, I'm not about to start engaging in yet another eschatological debate here, because frankly I'm undecided as to what position is the correct Biblical one. To me personally, it doesn't matter. If I live my life in worship, service and love it will not matter, come tribulation, rapture or otherwise. I will be ready. There is certainly an exciting quality to the pre-mill disp. view, but it also makes some assumptions I'm not ready to make. Suffice it to say I have not found a single school of thought that doesn't have to do a lot of circus tricks to show how it fits with all Scripture.
Genesis 12:1-3 supports Christian support for Israel. If you would set aside your Book of Mormon and the spurious Book of Abraham and read the promise to Abraham in the Bible (Genesis 12:-13) you wouldn't make this type of foolish statement. You say "ignorant superstitions", I say Pot. Kettle. Black.
Speaking of foolish superstitions, here's why this bothers you...
The Aaronic Priesthood continued “with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel” from Aaron until John the Baptist, who was a priest in the Aaronic order (D&C 84: 26-27), and by this authority he prepared the way for and baptized Jesus. Nineteen centuries later this same John was sent from heaven as a resurrected being to confer the Aaronic Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. This was done on May 15, 1829, near Harmony, Pennsylvania, along the banks of the Susquehanna River. At that time John outlined some of the duties, privileges, and limitations of the priesthood, specifying that the Aaronic Priesthood holds the keys of the ministry of angels and can perform baptisms by water, but has not the authority to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Aaronic Priesthood functions under the direction of the Melchizedek Priesthood (D&C 13; JS-H 1: 68-72).
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Mormonism has hijacked the Aaronic priesthood, so all this talk of Jewish reinstitution of the sacrifices of the original and biblical Aaronic priesthood UNDERCUTS your claims!
It's not wise to mess with Israel this way! GENESIS 12:3 "I will curse those who curse thee."
I take a similar view..God is fully in charge..what I believe makes no difference:>)
I am to live a life with Christ at its core...I have no fear before me for He is faithful!
Yes and we all know what a wonderful idea land for peace was!
But the core reason for the overwhelming support for Israel among conservative Christians is the Biblical prophecy of the end-times, a view that has received a boost with the hugely successful novelization of the apocalypse in the 10-volume Left Behind series.
And the proof for this claim is? The article quotes Ralph Reed talking about our support for Israel, yet ignores what Reed has said about why conservative Christians support Israel. (Hint, none of the reasons he gave had to do with Bible prophecy.)
Perhaps next time they might actually try to find a religious leader who says that the main reason we should support Israel, because of End Time events.(If this is the main reason, why dispensationalists support Israel, then it should be easy to find them.)
Interesting enough the article actually does give what I believe is the real reason why dispensationalists support Israel.
"When it comes to Israel, by and large there is an admiration and a love of Israel and a certain love of the Jewish people," said Marc Gopin, a professor of international diplomacy at Boston's Tufts University
Now Let's make fun of that reason
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