Vol. H-0003 November 1998 No. H-0011

CHRISTIAN ZIONISM

​​"From its roots among the pietistic Protestants in the 16th century and the 17th century English Puritans, the theology of Christian Zionism has grown tremendously in recent decades. Today, many thousands of Christians around the world, from a host of church backgrounds and denominations, are ready to declare and demonstrate their love for and support of Israel and the Jewish people.

CHRISTIANS AND ZIONISM

The saga of the Jewish return from exile to their ancient homeland in Eretz Israel is among the most compelling of this past century. The struggles and successes of the Zionist movement, fostered by Theodore Herzl 100 years ago, are unprecedented in human history as nearly 2,000 years of Jewish wandering and suffering gave way to the rebirth of Israel.

One of the major keys to Herzl's thinking and success was the influence of his Christian friends. When Herzl was debating where to find a haven for Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe, the Rev. William E. Blackstone sent him a copy of the Old Testament with prophetic references to the Jews' return to the Land of Israel marked throughout. And William Hechler, a British chaplain and tutor to German royalty, was instrumental in helping Herzl gain access to Kaiser Wilhelm II, thereby bringing the Zionist cause into the mainstream of European geo-political discussion.

The influence of these Christian figures evidences an undeniable truth: the origins of the Zionist movement are much older than Herzl, being laid down in the Bible and the millennial hope of Jewish return to the Land of Israel as promised by the Hebrew prophets. And indeed, Christians often proved to be the most sincere believers in these prophetic verses and the strongest advocates for restoration of the Jews to Zion.

Following the Reformation and its emphasis on the authority of Scripture, different Protestant sects fleeing religious persecution identified with the sufferings of Jewish peoples and modeled their communities on the concept of God's covenant with the Hebrews. As they read the promises in the biblical prophets concerning the regathering of a scattered Israel, the Puritans in particular showed great interest in the idea of restoration of Jews to their land.

During the tremendous revivals that swept England and America in the 18th and 19th centuries, Christian ministers preached that the regathering of the Jews to Israel was an imminent sign of the "last days" and Messiah's soon return. Such British church and political leaders as Lord Palmerston and Lord Shaftesbury proclaimed that England in particular was divinely positioned to assist with Jewish settlement in the Middle East. In 1891, six years before the First Zionist Congress, Blackstone presented a petition to US President Benjamin Harrison calling for reinstatement of the Jews to Israel; among the signatories were Cardinal Gibbons, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan and more than 400 other leading Americans.

In due time, these efforts bore fruit. The "Restorationists" were to impact the policies and decisions of Great Britain when the government of David Lloyd George issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917 in support of "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". After decades of Christian advocacy for Jewish return to the Holy Land, the prevailing view among those western decision-makers at the Versailles Peace Conference was that they simply were recognizing pre-existing national rights and the biblical connection of the Jews with the land of their fathers in approving the British Mandate in Palestine.

In the Land of Israel itself, devout Christians were instrumental in aiding the Zionist cause. Colonel John Henry Patterson first commanded the Zion Mule Corps and then the Jewish Legion, which fought with the British armies to drive the Turks from Palestine in 1917. Thus he helped fulfill a goal of many Zionists (including a young Ze'ev Jabotinsky who served under Patterson) of a Jewish combat force and the revival of their ancient fighting spirit. Major-General Orde Wingate, a British intelligence officer in Mandate Palestine, risked his military career by secretly training special "night squads" (the Palmach) to carry out missions against Arab raiders and thus deter attacks on the Yishuv. Inspired by biblical figures like David and Gideon, Wingate helped shape the Israel Defence Forces' core military doctrines of deterrence and independent initiative.

The story of Jewish restoration to the Land of Israel is replete with many more examples of Christians who, sensing the prophetic significance of the return of the Jewish exiles and the rebirth of Israel, have played significant roles in nurturing the Zionist dream, persuading key political figures, influencing momentous historic events, saving Jews from peril, and enhancing the security and well-being of the modern state of Israel.

[The following is an affirmation made at the third International Christian Zionist Congress assembled in Jerusalem on the 29th day of February, 1996]

AFFIRMATION OF CHRISTIAN ZIONISM

After careful consideration and prayer, we join with one heart and mind to declare and decree our firm belief that:

1. The Bible is the inspired Word of God and is the basis of our faith as Christians following the teachings of our Lord and the Apostles and the source of our motivation as Zionists.

2. God the Father, Almighty, chose the ancient nation and people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to reveal His plan of redemption for the world. They remain elect of God, and without the Jewish nation His redemptive purposes for the world will not be completed.

3. Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and has promised to return to Jerusalem, to Israel and to the world.

4. It is reprehensible that generations of Jewish People have been killed and persecuted in the name of our Lord, and we challenge the Church to repent of any sins of commission or omission against them.

5. The scattering of the Jewish People throughout the centuries of the Diaspora was ordained by the Lord as corrective, as were previous exiles, and redemptive, bringing the knowledge of the one true God of Israel unto the Gentile nations.

6. The modern Ingathering of the Jewish People to Eretz Israel and the rebirth of the nation of Israel are in fulfillment of biblical prophecies, as written in both the Old and New Testaments.

7. Christian believers are instructed by Scripture to acknowledge the Hebraic roots of their faith and to actively assist and participate in the plan of God for the ingathering of the Jewish People and the restoration of the nation of Israel in our day.

8. The Lord in His zealous love for Israel and the Jewish People blesses and curses peoples and judges nations based upon their treatment of the Chosen People of Israel.

9. Concerning Jerusalem: It is the Holy City of the Jewish People and those of biblical faith. At the time appointed by God, Messiah will return to sit on the everlasting Throne of David in Jerusalem and will reign over all the world in righteousness and peace.

10. According to God's distribution of nations, the Land of Israel has been given to the Jewish People by God as an everlasting possession by an eternal covenant. The Jewish People have the absolute right to possess and dwell in the Land, including Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Golan.

11. Christians should oppose all forms of discrimination and prejudice (antisemitism) against the Jewish People and the Jewish State and should seek to be a comfort and a friend to them.

12. God’s choice of Israel was a means to reach the world with His love, Word and redemption. Therefore, fulfilling the Great Commission is vital and flows out of our commitment to Israel.

STATEMENTS AND RESOLUTIONS

1. Because of the sovereign purposes of God for the City, Jerusalem must remain undivided, under Israeli sovereignty, open to all peoples, the capitol of Israel only, and all nations should so concur and place their embassies here.

2. As a faith bound to love and forgiveness we are appreciative of the attempts by the Government of Israel to work tirelessly for peace. However, the truths of God are sovereign and it is written that the Land which He promised to His People is not to be partitioned. It is our moral sense that Israel and the nations err in according favour and status to the current leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization and in placing in their hands land and people that are precious to God. It would be further error for the nations to recognize a Palestinian state in any part of Eretz Israel.

3. To the extent the Palestinian Covenant or any successor instrument calls for the elimination of Israel or denies the right of Israel to exist within secure borders in Eretz Israel, it should be abolished.

4. The Golan is part of biblical Israel and is a vital strategic asset necessary for the security and defense of the entire country. no bilateral or multilateral agreements with Syria should give consent to, either expressly or by implication, Syria's continued occupation of Lebanon and oppression of its Christian community.

5. Israel has the clear and lawful right to defend itself.

6. Regarding Islam, we express the following concerns with Muslim attitudes towards Jews and Christians out of a sense of compassion for the millions of people who believe that they follow in the faith of Abraham by way of Islam, and with a commitment to intercede for them, that the Spirit of Truth will reveal to them the true nature of the faith of Abraham:

A. We are convinced from a biblical standpoint that the Muslim concept of "Allah" is an anti-Jewish and anti-Christian distortion of how God revealed Himself to the Patriarchs, Kings and Prophets of Israel, and how God has revealed Himself through our Lord. We find these attitudes have their source in the portions of the Qur'an which accuse Jews and Christians of having falsified the revelation of God given in Scripture.

B. Those elements within the Islamic faith which promote hatred of Israel and of Jewish peoples bring spiritual bondage, evil and confusion upon themselves, their followers and their nations. Christian compassion demands that all Christians actively seek to free them from any such hatred towards Israel and the Jewish People.

C. The Islamic claim to Jerusalem, including its exclusive claim to the Temple Mount, is in direct contradiction to the clear biblical and historical significance of the city and its holiest site, and this claim is of later religio-political origin rather than arising from any Qur'anic text or early Muslim tradition.

D. We condemn...(the...) view now ascendant within Islam which, by its own tenets, advocates violence and Jihad (holy war) as a legitimate means to spread the Islamic faith and advance the Islamic world view. We find the most pernicious expression of such...views is the belief that a Muslim who sacrifices his very life to kill a Jew receives the reward of instant entry to Paradise. The practice of such beliefs poses an increasingly unacceptable peril to Israel and a grave threat to both the Muslim and non-Muslim peoples throughout the world. These threats must be opposed and challenged by all.

7. While Gentile believers have been grafted into that household of faith which is of Abraham (the commonwealth of Israel), replacement theology within the Christian faith, which does not recognise the ongoing biblical purposes for Israel and the Jewish People, is doctrinal error.

8. Regarding Aliyah, we remain concerned for the fate of imperiled Jewish People in diverse places and seek to encourage and assist in the continuing process of Return of the Exiles to Eretz Israel. To this end we commit to work with Israel and to encourage the Diaspora to fulfill the vision and goal of gathering to Israel the greater majority of all Jewish People from throughout the world.

PLEDGE

We recognize that in making and declaring this Proclamation, we engage fully in matters of great weight and concern to the nations. As Christians we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as our self. Bound by His Divine love, we are yielded to a ministry of reconciliation which yearns to reconcile humankind to our Creator and people to each other. Therefore, we make this Proclamation with a sense of purpose and destiny, and with pure conscience, knowing that the mercies of our Lord are ever toward us and are available to all men everywhere, and that He will perform all that He has promised to do. Therefore, we pledge the unwavering commitment of our lives and resources to accomplish the goals and purposes set forth herein." International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

APPENDIX

We rely on the following specific Scriptures, among others, as the basis for our firm beliefs:
Affirmation 1: Deuteronomy 8:3; Psalms 119:103, 105; Matthew 4:4; Acts 2:42; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16.
Affirmation 2: Genesis 12:1-3; Romans 11:1-2; Romans 11:28.
Affirmation 3: Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 53; Psalms 22; Romans 15:1.
Affirmation 4: Luke 24:47.
Affirmation 5: Joshua 16:1; Luke 21:24; Romans 11:28-30.
Affirmation 6: Jeremiah 23:3,7,8; Jeremiah 31:8-10,23; Amos 9:13.
Affirmation 7: Psalms 80; Isaiah 40:1; Isaiah 49:22-23; Isaiah 60:10-12; Romans 11:17, 25.
Affirmation 8: Genesis 12:1-3; Joel 3:1-3; Matthew 25:36.
Affirmation 9: Isaiah 2; Isaiah 11; Jeremiah 3:17; Zechariah 14; Revelation 2:26-27.
Affirmation 10: Genesis 17:1-8; Joel 3:1-3.
Affirmation 11: Isaiah 40:1; Zechariah 2:8; Matthew 5: 1-12.
Affirmation 12: Genesis 12:1; Romans 9:4-5.

For those who do not know the story of Volkswagen: The "Beetle" was created by order of Adolph Hitler as the "Peoples Car". Further, Volkswagen used forced labor (Jews & others) in their plant during the Nazi war. I give you the following from an advertisement for a Volkswagen Beetle toy automobile:

"AN OLD SOLDIER IN A BRAND NEW UNIFORM - WHO SIMPLY REFUSES TO CALL IT QUITS" Don't write this off as just an advertisement! It is much, much more...it is in truth, a declaration! Take note!

Choice

The choice before us today is the same choice that is before us every day. We can choose to accept the gift of God through the Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of His Son, or we can refuse Him and sentence ourselves to eternal death. Give Him the opportunity today to show you how His Love can change your life...forever. He died for you ​and He Loves you and longs to be with you...forever in His Love. His Love is greater than anything you could ever imagine. Give Him a chance...and He'll prove Himself to you! He died for you and He Loves you and longs to be with you...forever in His Love. His Love is greater than anything you could ever imagine. Give Him a chance...and He'll prove Himself to you!

In Jesus' Name, Be Blessed!

 Baruch Haba B'Shem Adonai!

 Blessed Is He Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord!

 The article on Christian Zionism and The Affirmation Of Christian Zionism, Statements and Resolutions, Pledge and Appendix are taken from the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ)