The days are upon us when God-fearing Christians are going to have to make a conscious decision to both vocally and boldly, both in deed and in action, stand up for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism is once again on the rise. The gathering clouds of an ominous storm are thickening, and the storm is going to hit with the fury of hell!
I was challenged once by someone in regard to my vocal support for Israel because they felt that I was supporting “war”, or supporting so-called, “Israeli atrocities”. I responded to them by saying that I took issue with the very premise of his accusations of “Israeli atrocities”. That statement itself smack’s of antisemitic propaganda and a media-manipulated false narrative. A nation has a right to self-defense. Israel is surrounded by nations that deny its very right to exist and enemies that want to “drive them into the sea”. They are constantly bombarded with missile and terrorist attacks simply because they are Israel. They are Jewish. Israeli atrocities? Hardly.
Nevertheless, that argument against me is a straw man in any case. For the record, let it be known that I am not a “war-monger”, nor does my support for Israel mean that I support “atrocities” of any kind, any more than my being “pro-life” must also therefore mean that I support murdering abortion doctors, or blowing up abortion clinics, (I do not). It is a non-sequitur. Support for a cause, or in this case a nation and people, does not mean support of any wrongs committed, real or perceived. Furthermore, neither should my support for Israel be taken to mean that I therefore make myself an enemy of the Arabs, Palestinians, Persians, or any other enemy of Israel. I am only the enemy of that which exalts itself against the knowledge of God. I wish for all to come to the saving Knowledge of Jesus Christ. I have preached the Gospel to all and wish the gospel upon all.
I do not hesitate to affirm that my support for Israel is surely and confidently founded on the convictions that have been formed in me by the word of God. It is not the formation of ill-informed opinion, or of blind prejudice. The eternal promises that God gave to Abraham have stood through the ages and they still stand today, those promises were, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you…” (Gen.12:3) And, "...I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Gen.17:7-8 NKJV)
Those that hold to an errant understanding of the scripture say that the promise was only personally meant for and given to Abraham. They are wrong, because the same promises were reiterated to Issac, (Gen.26:3-4); and then again to Jacob, (Gen.27:29 & Gen.28:13-14)
Many years later in the wilderness the not-yet-ready-for-prime-time “prophet for hire”, Balaam found out in his day that the promises of God are without repentance! Balak King of Moab (the modern day Palestinians) hired Balaam to come and “curse” Israel, (Read Numbers chapters 22 -24)
Balaam found himself confounded by the promise of God!
“Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, From the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!’ But to Balaam’s dismay, he was forced to acknowledge…“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? (Numbers 23:8). Balaam ran smack into the promise…“Blessed is he who blesses you, And cursed is he who curses you.” (Numbers 24:9)
4,000 years later…
Someone asked me, “Isn’t God finished with Israel? Didn’t they reject Jesus and therefore forfeit their promises?” Not according to Paul. Paul takes up three whole chapters in the book of Romans explaining God’s dealings with Israel. Speaking of natural Israel in Romans 11, Paul emphatically declares. “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!” He goes on to say in v29 that, “… the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” This is an oft quoted verse of scripture, often used to encourage someone. But please note most importantly that the immediate context is speaking directly and specifically of God’s calling to natural Israel. (I am not denying that there is a “Spiritual” Israel that is embodied by the church – but there is also a Nation of Israel that has a very specific purpose in the plan of God, and Romans 9 through 11 bears that out).
There is a faulty interpretation of scripture that once was in the church, but today is gaining a renewed acceptance among some which teaches that God has finished with Israel because of their rejection of Christ. This theology is not new – but it seems to be spreading more quickly recently than it has in the past. Some call this theology “replacement theology”.
“Replacement theology” is bad theology; it is bad exegesis and it is poor hermeneutics. Replacement Theology ignores a multiplicity of scriptures and prophecies that clearly could only pertain to natural Israel and it “over-allegorizes” and ‘transfers” them over to pertain only to the church. I am not going to go into all the problems and issues with this faulty interpretation of scripture in this article, suffice it for now for me to say that I find “Replacement Theology” to be egregiously and scripturally in error. The fruit of that teaching sadly is that many Christians are not standing with Israel because they have accepted the errors of "Replacement Theology". It is very troubling to me to see some who profess to be bible believing Christians embrace a subtle, (and sometimes not so subtle) form of antisemitism which is thinly veiled behind the errant teaching of “replacement” theology. It is simply a mistaken and an erroneous teaching that God is finished with the Jewish people and nation prophetically speaking, and has replaced them with the Church. These are dangerous days and it’s vitally important that we be both discerning of the times, and rightfully dividing the whole of scripture.
There is an insightful passage in Jeremiah where the Lord specifically warns against having a theology that denies Israel's future destiny: “Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lord chose, He has rejected them?’ Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight. Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of Heaven and Earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from His descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them’”. (Jeremiah 33:24-26).
The Replacement Theology advocates repeatedly confound the Mosaic Covenant with the Abrahamic Covenant. God spoke to Abraham and said; "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Gen 17:7-8 NKJV)
The Mosaic covenant does not negate God’s promise to Abraham of “an everlasting covenant”, and the LAND as an “everlasting Possession”. Even as Paul explains, “And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” (Gal 3:17-18)
I stand with Israel because God stands with Israel.
In the book of Daniel, Chapter 10 – we find Daniel fasting and praying, seeking the Lord for answers to his visions. The Angel Gabriel finally shows up to tell him that he was hindered by the “prince of Persia” and that Michael had to come to his aid to break through enemy lines. (Persia, by the way, is modern day Iran. And just another note of Interest…when did Persia change its name to Iran? In 1935 when the shah of Iran was befriending Hitler and listening to Hitler’s ideas he suggested that they change their name from Persia to – Iran – Iran is the Farsi word for ARYAN!). The regime in Iran holds to the "Aryan" beliefs of Hitler's Germany! Better start connecting the dots!!!
There is something that has been going on in the spiritual realm between Persia/Iran and Israel for a very long time! And it’s about to break out from the heavenlies into our realm! Make NO MISTAKE about it!
Daniel 10:21 tells us that after Gabriel interprets the dream for Daniel he then leaves to rejoin the fight against the Prince of Persia along with Michael who is Israel’s prince. (I.E. – Guardian/arch angel). That spiritual struggle erupts again in the last days. Daniel chapter 12 opens with this: “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.”
Why do I stand with Israel? Because God stand’s up for Israel. You don’t have to believe that if you don’t want to. But it is more than clear to me.
Why should we stand with Israel? 5,000 years of history ought to show us why. Throughout the Jewish history those that have sought the destruction of the Jew’s have time and again been on the wrong side of history. Who can curse what God has blessed? You say Israel is no longer under the careful attention of God? The scripture proves you wrong.
This has been proven true for 5,000 years. It would be smart to be on the right side of history. Ask Pharaoh, ask Balak, ask Goliath, ask Haman, Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. And there are plenty more I could mention. Ask Antiochus Epiphanies, and more recently Adolf Hitler.
The Replacement Theology crowd keep insisting that since Israel disobeyed God and therefore were driven from their land they then have no right to it. However, there are literally hundreds of verses of scripture that disprove their thesis – but this one in Leviticus is particularly relevant since it comes in the very chapter where the Lord warns them of the curses of disobedience.
‘Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. ‘But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD.’” (Leviticus 26:44)
The prophet Amos also prophesied, “ I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them," Says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:14-15 NKJV)
(Amos 9:15 NLT) "I will firmly plant them there in the land I have given them," says the LORD your God. "Then they will never be uprooted again."
(This passage from Amos is particularly important because those who view the post-Babylonian restoration of Israel, as the “fulfillment” of Israeli restoration prophecies must then explain why Israel was in fact “Uprooted” again in 70 A.D. Stating that they were uprooted in 70 AD because of their rejection of Christ does not answer the question. Did God break his promise? Or, rather were the prophecies not pertaining to the post Babylonian exile but they were in fact given for a later time. Viz. The end times.)
Replacement theology can be dismissed with one fact, and two words! ISRAEL EXISTS!
“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved…” (Rom.11:25)
Therefore, rest assure that the day will come when He will do as He promised! “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced…" (Zeck.12:10).
Those days are nearing! Therefore, pray for the Peace of Jerusalem - that they may look upon Him who was pierced for our transgressions and wounded for our iniquities…that their eyes may be opened so that they may see that the chastisement that brings us our peace…will bring them theirs as well! And they will be grafted back into The Olive Tree!
His Grace is Still Amazing to me! Andy White
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