Posted on 08/18/2003 6:58:43 AM PDT by truthandlife
Scarcely a day goes by without a fresh media story in appreciation of our new friends, the Evangelical Christians. Only a few years ago many of us would have been appalled at the prospect of developing warm ties with those we then considered at best eccentrics and more likely anti-Semites obsessed with a fanatical urge to convert us. Indeed, until very recently Binyamin Netanyahu and other politicians who maintained relations with them were subject to ridicule and abuse.
Now it has suddenly dawned on us that there are probably 60 million Evangelical Christians in the United States and that they represent our staunchest supporters and friends. In fact, in recent years concern and devotion for Israel have become one of their highest priorities.
Evangelicals also represent the backbone of the conservative wing of the Republican Party and the central core of support for President George W. Bush. If a significant number of them become sufficiently disillusioned to abstain from voting, it could cost Bush the election.
It is thus no coincidence that the Congressional House Majority leader, Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican described in the New York Times as a leader of the Christian Zionist Movement, who recently visited Israel, is a committed Evangelical Christian.
Evangelicals' passionate support for a Jewish state also extends beyond the political domain. In what can only be described as surrealistic, one of their offshoots, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, in addition to donating substantial sums for welfare causes in Israel recently contributed the entire $2 million required by Nefesh B'Nefesh to provide loans and grants for 1,000 American Jews who made aliya this year.
Over the past year I have become increasingly moved by the consistent flow of encouraging letters I receive from Christians who display such warm support for our position that I have occasionally wished some of our leaders could convey similar passion when they relate to our rights.
This was exemplified by the absolutely marvelous speech Tom DeLay gave at the Knesset during his recent visit.
A few weeks ago I met Gary Bauer, a former US presidential candidate and one of the principal Evangelical leaders. It is symptomatic of the new political alliances that Bauer's visit to Israel was organized by Michael Landau, a prominent New York Aguda-inclined businessman who is also a leading fundraiser for DeLay.
IT WAS clear from our discussions that we will always have differences, major differences. But these people's faith in Israel is uncomplicated, based on religious belief derived from the Bible. And we share a Judeo-Christian heritage that rejects the post-modernism which today prevails throughout so much of the world. It enables us to differentiate between good and evil.
I found it refreshing to discuss the Middle East in a context where terms like justice and injustice and tyranny and freedom are not just political buzz words but meaningful ethical concepts.
Bauer expressed what many Israelis think. He admires and respects President Bush, but cautioned that Israelis would be making a terrible mistake if they took the administration's support for Israel for granted. He was pessimistic about the road map and observed that there were already signs of a drift back to the pre-September 11 State Department approach, which amounted to moral equivalency.
He understood our desperate desire to avoid shouldering the blame should the president's efforts to bring peace to the region founder. But he warned that the window of opportunity was closing and that we faced a potential disaster if we assumed an Oslo-like demeanor and equivocated in our demand that the terror groups be dismantled prior to any further concessions.
The American people could well become exasperated with both sides which would enable the State Department to revert to former policies based on the false belief that the Middle East conflict represents "a cycle of violence" that can be resolved by territorial compromise irrespective of who is right or wrong.
Bauer also made it clear that Christians and other friends of Israel would not remain on the sidelines if unfair pressure were exerted by the administration against Israel. But clearly we cannot expect our Christian friends and supporters in Congress to confront the administration if we ourselves are not willing to be more assertive in relation to policies affecting our vital interests.
Yet despite all the enthusiastic support we receive from Evangelicals, it is important that we do not delude ourselves. In such a wide and diverse group there are bound to be malcontents and deep-seated internal differences. Clearly, under the best of circumstances, we could still encounter problems, possibly unpleasant differences, even outright hostility.
It is therefore very important that the support we receive from our Christian friends in relation to Israel is in no way related to other conditions. Most Evangelicals, especially their leaders, understand and endorse this approach.
But as of now, whilst the chemistry between Jews and Christians has improved, it still remains somewhat unstable. Some Orthodox Jews and many liberal Jews continue to feel uncomfortable about the Christian Zionists' support. They realize that their support for Israel is based upon the belief that the Jews must be sovereign in their land as a precursor to the Second Coming. These and other theological issues should never be explored.
On the other hand, most traditional Jews are pleasantly surprised and encouraged when they learn that there are millions of gentiles who share their conviction that Eretz Yisrael was given to the Jewish people by God and will always remain their land.
It would thus be absurd to reject as allies those whose vision of a messianic future we do not share. Indeed we should make every effort to strengthen the relationship as long as we take care not to become involved in broader areas that would inevitably lead to misunderstandings and conflict.
The writer is senior vice president of the World Jewish Congress.
This is not necessarily the case....Some Jews have told me that they believe Christian Evangelical's support for Israel is based upon the return of Christ...and not necessarily an intrinsic love for Israel or Jews
Some Jews have expressed annoyance over the idea that Evangelicals think they can usher in or somehow make Christ appear (against His will) if Israel maintains or gains it's sovereignty over all the land God granted to Israel (fufill certain prophecies and God must appear...like summoning spirits in witchcraft)
Perhaps some Evangelicals feel this way...but to most..this is more in line with Cult thinking than bible based..
God will do what God will do...no one can promote or control or even predict when that day will be..(though Jesus gave us signs to look for when the day grew closer)Jesus himself once said that only God the Father knows that day that even He (God the Son) does not know it..but that it would be revealed to Him (Jesus) and then revealed to us.
..Support for Israel ..according to some if not most Evangelicals is based upon the PROMISE ...the Covenant... relationship between God and Israel through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob- that also led to the very birth of Jesus and his work of salvation..that for God's grace includes us goyim to
According to my bible God said..."Salvation is of the Jews... (Jesus)"
There is also the promise God made to Abraham... Those who bless you I will bless and those who curse you I will curse..we take this at face value..and fear the Lord (The fear of the Lord is the beginnng of wisdom)
Christians understand the value of believing Jews and Israel to God...and the covenant relationship between the God they also love and Israel
These kinds of things are the reason Christian Evangelicals support Israel and its sovereignty in the land God gave..
We simply do not want the satanic pagan religons of the Philistines to govern the land and oppress God's people...we want to protect Israel and the Jews who live there from them...as we feel God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit would have us do-imo
He has that wrong.
It is based upon the belief that Jews WILL BE sovereign in their land....
Wel, Evangelical Christians have told me (I am an Orthodox Jew) that their support of Israel is due to their belief that the prophecies in the Tanakh (Old Testament) must be fulfilled literally before the Messiah (theirs or the one we are still waiting for) can come.
Our belief is that any part of the Holy Land which comes into our hands MUST NOT BE given away, and that the Temple will be rebuilt by G-D in a clearly miraculous way.
The prophecies in Zechariah 14 are particularly chilling and suggest some kind of chemical or nuclear war.
What's "mainline theology?" The Episcopal Church?
A normal interpretation of scripture (as opposed to a fanciful allegorical reading) will lead one to conclude that the land belongs to the physical descendants of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob. It further teaches that the Jews must be sovereign in their land prior to the return of Messiah.
But I do agree with you that the real reason for support of Israel is simple; there is a commonality between Jews and Christians. We both highly revere the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And we believe what Jesus said, "Salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22).
LOL. I saw this at the Seattle Rally for Israel, where a couple of local conservative radio talk show hosts asked their listeners to turn out. One fellow stared at me and said, "You're not Jewish! Why are you here?"
I would feel very uncomfortable ascribing to God a term that we Americans use for our own children. Israel is God's chosen people -- best not to paraphrase what is already perfect.
Excellent
Allow me to quote from the King James Version of the Bible, Deuteronomy 32:9-10
For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
There's no basis for such nitpicking.
In the popular English translations of the KJV, the NIV and the RSV the Jews are referred to verbatim as a "chosen people" only once - but as the apple of God's eye three or more times.
Exactly - there are literally hundreds of phrases we use regularly that were introduced into the English language purely through translations of the Bible.
"The Apple of God's eye" is not a paraphrase. God said it himself .. Zech 2:8.
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