A Deadly, Anti-Israel Theological Error
Michael Brown
The idea that
God is finished with the Jewish people as a nation and that the church has
replaced Israel in God’s plan is not only a serious theological error. It is a
deadly one as well.
It was this
false theology that helped fuel the fires of Jew hatred in one of the early
church’s most respected leaders, John Chrysostom (347-407), who once said, “God
hates the Jews, and on Judgment Day will say to those who sympathize with them:
‘Depart from Me, for you have had intercourse with My murderers!’ Flee, then,
from their assemblies, fly from their houses, and hold their synagogue in
hatred and aversion.”
Without this
erroneous theology, the Crusades would never have taken place 700 years later.
It was this
false theology that helped fuel the fires of Jew hatred in the great reformer
Martin Luther (1483-1546), who gave this counsel to the German princes of his
day: “First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools. ... Second, I advise
that their houses also be razed and destroyed. ... Instead they might be lodged
under a roof or in a barn, like the gypsies. ... Third, I advise that all their
prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and
blasphemy are taught, be taken from them. Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be
forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb.” (For many more
examples, see my book Our
Hands Are Stained With Blood.)
But the sad fact
of history is that it is this very theology that opened up the door to
centuries of “Christian” anti-Semitism in the past, and it is threatening to
open up that ugly door once again in the present.
In light of the third “Christ
at the Checkpoint” conference that just took place in the ancient city of
Bethlehem, where issues like these were anything but theological abstractions,
it’s important to remember how wrong theology leads to wrong actions.
According to
Acts 1, after the disciples had spent 40 days with Jesus after His
resurrection, speaking to them “about the kingdom of God” (v. 3), His devoted
followers wanted to ask Him one question before He ascended to heaven.
They inquired,
“Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He replied, “It
is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own
authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the end of the earth” (vv. 6-8).
In other words,
that’s a good question, and it certainly makes sense in light of everything
we’ve been talking about, but the timing of when that will happen—when God will
“restore the kingdom to Israel”—is not of your concern right now. You must
concentrate on fulfilling the Great Commission with the help of the Spirit’s
power.
But that’s not
how John Calvin interpreted Jesus’ reply. As noted by Dr. Paul R. Wilkinson in
his book Understanding
Christian Zionism, Calvin stated that there “‘were “as many errors ... as
words’ in the disciples’ question concerning Israel’s restoration. This, he
believed, showed ‘how bad scholars they were under so good a Master,’ and
therefore ‘when he [Jesus] saith, you shall receive power, he admonisheth them
of their imbecility.’”
Wilkinson also
notes, “At the 5th International Sabeel Conference in 2004 [this is an
anti-Zionist conference], Mitri Raheb denounced the disciples as ‘very
narrow-minded,’ ‘nationalistic,’ and ‘blinded’ for asking such a question.”
To be candid,
interpretations like these are nothing more than exegetical nonsense, standing
the biblical text on its head.
For example, if
the disciples had said to Jesus, “Lord, is this the time for us to take up
swords and behead our enemies?” He would not have replied, “It’s not for you to
know the time for beheading that the Father has determined. You just
concentrate on preaching the gospel.”
Hardly! Instead,
He would have rebuked them in no uncertain terms.
But that’s not
what He did here, despite the fact that His words are constantly interpreted as
if He had said, “You idiots! Don’t you know that I’m through with Israel? Don’t
you know that the church has replaced Israel? Have I been with you so long and
you still don’t get it?”
Instead, He
simply told them it was not for them to know exactly when the Father would
restore the kingdom to Israel (something that Jesus and Peter and Paul
affirmed; see Matthew 19:28; Acts 3:19-21; Romans 11:28-29; 15:8); their
mission was to be His witnesses.
Unfortunately,
in our day, as we are seeing an increasing number of Christians turning against
the modern state of Israel—and I don’t simply mean that they are
criticizing Israel when Israel deserves criticism but that they are rejecting
it as a prophetic fulfillment in any sense of the word, also embracing the
Palestinian narrative of Israel as an evil occupier and
claiming that no prophetic promises remain to the Jewish people as a nation—we
are seeing the seeds of Jew hatred being planted again in the hearts of many of
these believers. Their hostility to Israel is hardly a secret.
Be careful,
people of God!
History could
well repeat itself—to the reproach of the name of Jesus, to the disgrace of the
church, and to the spiritual and physical harm of the Jewish people—unless we
get our theology right.
You have been
forewarned.
Source: Charisma,
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