Among Evangelicals, A Kinship With Jews: Some Skeptical of Growing Phenomenon

The Washington Post ^ | January 8, 2006 | Alan Cooperman

[quidnunc]

Danville, Va. – Everyone who worships at the Tabernacle quickly learns three facts about its deeply conservative pastor. He comes from a broken home. He rides a canary-yellow Harley. And he loves the Jews.

There is some murmuring about the motorcycle. But the 2,500 members of this Bible-believing, tradition-respecting Southern Baptist church in southern Virginia have embraced everything else about the Rev. Lamarr Mooneyham.

Out of his painful childhood experiences, Mooneyham, 57, preaches passionately about the importance of home. Out of his reading of the Bible, he preaches with equal passion about God's continuing devotion to the Jewish people.

"I feel jealous sometimes. This term that keeps coming up in the Old Book — the Chosen, the Chosen," says the minister, who has made three trips to Israel and named his sons Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. "I'm a pardoned gentile, but I'm not one of the Chosen People. They're the apple of his eye."

Scholars of religion call this worldview "philo-Semitism," the opposite of anti-Semitism. It is a burgeoning phenomenon in evangelical Christian churches across the country, a hot topic in Jewish historical studies and a wellspring of support for Israel.

Yet many Jews are nervous about evangelicals' intentions. In recent weeks, leaders of three of the nation's largest Jewish groups — the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the Union for Reform Judaism — have decried what they see as a mounting threat to the separation of church and state from evangelicals emboldened by the belief that they have an ally in the White House and an opportunity to shift the Supreme Court.

-snip-

[familyop]

"Scholars of religion call this worldview "philo-Semitism,"..."

And who might those "scholars of religion" be?

Until recently, I thought that the word, "Judeo-phobia" was incorrect, because most people who disagreed with Judaism simply hated it. But maybe that's changing. Some are now showing fear that many of the more conservative Christians are being "Judaized."

[Fee]

Jews may be the chosen people, but it is not the first time God had to kill many of them for disobedience. Look what happen to them when Moses came down from the mountain and found many of them worshipping the Golden Calf. Look what happen to the land of Israel and Judah when the successor kings of Solomon failed and were destroyed and the people where carried away as slaves to Babylon. The Jewish people had several Disporas before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD.

[DoNotDivide]

I believe the Holy Bible and it says to bless Israel, the Jews and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

http://www.saltfactory.com/heart/prayjew.htm

There are so many reasons to be in prayer for Jerusalem and the Jewish people. These are God's chosen people. He loves them with an everlasting love, He is still their God.

We have the promise of God's blessing in praying for them:

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee." Psalm 122:6

We know that there will be no peace for the Jews OR Jerusalem until the Lord's Second Coming, He has already told us so. So when you pray for the peace of Jerusalem you are in effect praying for the King of Kings and Lord of Lord's to return in all His glory.

"Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. " Genesis 12:1-3

The Lord promises to bless those that bless them and curse those that curse them. God said that from Abraham all families of the earth would be blessed, and we have been!

We are indebted to the Jewish people. They were first in privilege and first in time. It was given to them by God to bring us knowledge of God. They gave us the Bible and they gave us Christ. Jesus was Jewish. All of the roots of our Christian faith are Jewish. The first church was Jewish, the first preacher was Jewish, the first missionary was Jewish. The first EVERYTHING in our faith was Jewish!! If you can pray for no other reason, then pray on this ground.

"Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." John 4:22

The Jewish people were given the awesome task of preserving God's precious Word for us. They painstakingly copied God's word for us generation after generation. They counted every letter and every word, they used special ink and animal skins. It had to be a clean animal. They could write no word from memory. They would destroy the whole page if they found just one mistake, and destroy the whole document, even if it was almost complete if they made just 3 errors. No whiteout for the Jewish people. Whenever they came across His name YHVH, they would have to (by tradition) clean out the ink of the pen AND wash themselves before writing His name. These people handled God's word with great care and reverence. They loved God and considered His word sacred. It was a task given specifically to them by God Himself.

"Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." Romans 3:2

God didn't choose them because they were a great and mighty people, He told them they were the least of all people. It is the same with Christians today - we were not chosen because of who we are, or the great things that we have done. He chose us simply because He loves us just as He loved them, and still loves them today. He chose the nation of Israel to be a sign to the rest of the world, they are still a sign to the world today. Watch Israel and you are watching God's time clock in action.

God saved them by grace; He saves us by grace. The church has not replaced Israel - They are still His people and He will still save His people. He promised and God does not break His promises. When the church is removed from this earth, Israel will once again be His witnesses in a mighty way and we should pray for them! They were the key to the blessings that God has given us today. All families of the earth have been blessed.

Remember that Paul was a Pharisee and that the New Testament was written by Jews. God warned us not to put ourselves above them:

"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Romans 11:25

You see, God has blinded the Jews so that you could be saved!! Have you ever stopped to wonder what would have happened if the Jewish Nation had accepted Yeshua? We would be lost! But that was not part of God's plan

"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway." Romans 11:7-10

So does that mean that God has turned His back on them and given up on them?

"I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but [rather] through their fall salvation [is come] unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy." Romans 11:11

No - God still loves them, they are still His people, He loves them with an everlasting love and if He loves them, than shouldn't we also?

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [saying], Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry." Jeremiah 31:3-4

God made a covenant with Abraham. It was an everlasting covenant and it did not have any strings attached to it. There were no "but if you mess ups", or if you turn your back on me - it was just God's promise to Abraham an everlasting covenant with him and his seed. Genesis 12:1-4

"And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." Genesis 17:7-8

He is still their God, even if they don't know it! Just as He is the God of the lost here in the USA that don't know it. What an honor to be used to help bring a Jew to their own Messiah, for without Him they are lost. They are still His sheep, He is still their Shepherd and we as Christians are deeply indebted to them for so many reasons. Pray for them - if your heart does not ache for them, bring it to God and talk to Him about it.

God will keep His promise. The physical deliverance of Israel is yet to come, it will happen. And God asks us to pray for it. To pray for them, to love them, His chosen people. We should tell them the "Good News" we should pray for their salvation and we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Their whole history is an open book to us. We see their victories and defeats, the good and the bad. How they glorified God and how they turned from Him. How they did right in the eyes of God and how they made terrible mistakes - and praise His Name it is from them, the good and the bad that I learn that God loves me. I learn from them that there is nothing I can do to deserve God's love and nothing I can do to fall from His grace. For every fault I can find in the Jews of the Old Testament I can find within myself - and the most common fault found with the Jews in the New Testament, that they rejected their Christ, I too was guilty of. That He was crucified because of their sin, I too am guilty of. For you see, He died on account of my sins. I am just as guilty of His death as they.

Scripture to study:
· Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21

[papertyger]

Ping to this fascinating new trend ;o>

[Petronski]

· Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21

Can you narrow that down a bit? LOL

[ArmyTeach]

Im confused. It's bad to be anti-Semitic, that's evident. But now it's 'bad' if we as Christians actively support Judasism and Israel?

[Giant Conservative]

Isn't it incongruous with belief in one universal almighty all-encompassing divinity to contend that favoritism from such is extended to a particular group?

Surely humankind has outgrown such tribalistic views.

And after all, many religions have contended that their supporters would be blessed and their opponents cursed.

Further, isn't it incongruous with Christianity to contend that even the most faithful Christians have lesser status than even one other religious group?

[rdb3]

The principle is called "omninomism."

Never heard of that term, either.

This is a ch__ch. What's missing?

[Hypervigilant]

Goofy, isn't it.

What is "bad" is to be a Christian.

Tick...tick...tick...

Counting down to the return of the King.

[investigateworld]

"Geez, this evangelical will occasionally worship at a synagogue for a change of pace"

I never pass up and opportunity to attend a bas mitvzah or bar mitsvah. I suspect my friend went through something similar about two thousand years ago.

[Petronski]

It's a Latin gag: "omni" meaning all, "nom" meaning name, "ism" meaning, well, "ism."





I made it up. ;OP

[Zack Nguyen]

"That hope is felt and expressed by Christians as a kind, benevolent hope," said Galambush, author of "The Reluctant Parting," a new book on the Jewish roots of Christianity. "But believing that someday Jews will stop being Jews and become Christians is still a form of hoping that someday there will be no more Jews."

Not so! Receiving Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah whose death and resurrection save us, does not make one less Jewish! American evangelicals are rediscovering the Jewish roots of their faith, not hoping to dissolve Judaism. Most evangelicals would be horrified at the suggestion, I believe.

[papertyger]

Im confused. It's bad to be anti-Semitic, that's evident. But now it's 'bad' if we as Christians actively support Judasism and Israel?

It's bad because it robs liberal jews of the race card when opposing conservative christians.

[Giant Conservative]

...it is not the first time God had to kill many of them for disobedience.

Do you really believe in a deity who, per the conceptual framework you've delineated, kills people?

Seriously.

Islam does; The West should be better.

[Drango]

A note to all our Jewsish FRiends...We've got your 6.

[DoNotDivide]

Hehehe. That is pretty hilarious.

[Zack Nguyen]

We're going to help Jews -- we're not going to witness to them, we're just going to help them.

I think we should do both as God allows.

[papertyger]

Isn't it incongruous with belief in one universal almighty all-encompassing divinity to contend that favoritism from such is extended to a particular group?

Nope.

[Conservative Goddess]

On rediscovering the Jewish Roots of our faith....

YES! Absolutely correct!!!!!!!!

[wardaddy]

Non-Jewish American leftists would sell them down the river in a New York

Hell they already did. FDR let Jews die knowingly in WWII and yet the jewish community adored him for the most part. Go figure.

The jews today who don't like christians' affinity for Israel are those who don't like the conservatism associated with serious christians anyhow. These christians support for Israel is irrelevant to them. Now, liberal apostate christian groups divesting from Israel as we speak have a cozy relationship with liberal jews at the ACLU, People for the American Way, etc etc.. water seeks it's on level

I have yet to hear jewish conservatives pissed off cause right wing christians support Israel I am a far right wing christian but i support Israel simply cause I know them and think they are deserved more so than muzzie vermin....not for any end-of-days reasons...though an argument could be made there admittedly. I'll let God settle that, meanwhile I trust my instincts and empirical obzervations.