A Short Word On Fashionable Christian Anti-Zionism & Emergent Neo-Christofascism - Part Two

 A Short Word on

Fashionable Christian Anti-Zionism & Emergent Neo-Christofascism

based on conversations I have had with ‘professing christians’

Part Two

Certain [professing] Christians have concentrated on the socio-political actions of an unbelieving portion of the Nation of Israel, instead of recognising their presence in the region as having prophetic significance. This failure has contributed to a maelstrom of antisemitism & inflammatory ignorance, the like of which was seen in Nazi Germany. The same demonising rhetoric used by The Church & later by the Third Reich, is being used again. This is Neo-Christofascism.

Replacement theology [which is nothing more or less than very poorly dressed up antisemitism], not only demonstrates a supreme ignorance of God’s purpose for the Jews, but also His purpose for The Church. When pressed concerning my pro-Israeli position, I find it tiring to have to explain to otherwise intelligent people that what I believe has nothing to do with the politics of the region & everything to do with God’s use of Israel as a vehicle through which The Messiah came & their role as His timepiece for the world & the end of the age.

The Church has failed to recognise the Jews theologically & in doing so, it has failed to understand its own role, resorting to a gross over-spiritualisation of prophetic Scripture & the development of a new socio-political doctrine. To place The Church at centre stage at the exclusion of Israel is unbiblical & it is just plain wrong. This exclusive practise is reflected in Gentile theology, evangelism & doctrine.

In reality, the clock began to tick in Eden, when The Lord told the serpent ‘and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel’ (Genesis3:15). Satan had already proven himself to be the enemy of God & now God declared war on him. These words were a Messianic prophecy, but some, in their witlessness & shortsightedness have believed that after the coming of Christ & after His death, burial & resurrection, all bets were off. God somehow stops the clock, resets it, changes the rules of the game by drafting a New Covenant, benches Israel & sends The Gentile Church out onto the field to pick up the ball that Israel dropped, sweep the board & finally be raised aloft in victory & glory. Nothing, my dear friends, could be further from the truth. Israel & The Church are inextricably linked. Salvation is of the Jews (John4:22).

Christianity [or The Way as it was more properly known] is a sect within & not separate from Judaism. To listen to some [professing] Christians today, you would be forgiven for thinking that Christianity is a Gentile faith into which the Jews were being grafted. Not so. That’s not God’s order. Gentile believers are grafted into a Jewish root.

The Christian faith is first & foremost a Jewish one that finds its fulfilment in The Messiah of the Jews, our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ. The Sadducees were a sect (Acts5:16-18). The Pharisees were a sect (Acts15:4-6 & 24:5) & we, the followers of the one & only Rabbi Yeshua ben Yosef, are a sect too (Acts11:26, 24:5 & 28:22). This makes all other sects & their respective Rabbis within the faith obsolete, but it does not do away with God’s purpose for Israel. No Jews, no Church. It’s as simple as that.

God’s plans & purposes for Israel did not end with Christ’s coming. The Messiah’s appearance heralded a quickening towards the end of the age, an end that puts Israel & the Jews very firmly in the game & not on the side-lines. However, at present, it is popular not only for [professing] Christians to bash Israel, but also for [professing] Christians to condemn her & take sides against her in favour of her enemies. This is both unbiblical & unbelievable. It’s also untenable theologically. As previously stated, some have mistaken their personal politics for biblical conviction.

I have heard certain [professing] Christians state that the Jews ‘deserve everything they get’ & that ‘there would be a lot more coming their way if [they] had their say’. This is nothing new & certainly not an original position taken by The Church. The following is an extensive quote from a 2013 document produced by the Anti-Defamation League.

“After the advent of Christianity, a new anti-Judaism evolved. Initially, Christianity was seen as simply another Jewish sect, since Jesus and the Disciples were Jewish and preached a form of Judaism. In the year 70 C.E. the Romans destroyed the Jewish State, and most Jews were scattered throughout the ancient world. During the first few hundred years after the crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans, adherents of both Judaism and Christianity co-existed—sometimes peacefully, sometimes with animosity—as they sought to practice their faiths in the same lands. With the conversion of the Roman emperors, Christianity became the sole established religion of the Roman Empire, and the early church fathers sought to establish Christianity as the successor to Judaism. The refusal of Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah was viewed as a threat to the Roman rulers and to Christianity. Since both religions came from the Old Testament, Christians sought to establish the validity of their new religion by claiming that it superseded Judaism.” – A Brief History of Anti-Semitism © 2013 Anti-Defamation League

And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost. (Acts13:42-52).

In my mind & from what I hear & observe, this is the crux of the problem; Gentiles somehow believe that they are superior to & above the Jews, who [for the most part] have rejected their Messiah. This is dangerous, not only because it’s bad theology, but also because ultimately it sows the seeds of the same brand of murderous antisemitism [or neo-christofascism] that a certain Austrian born dictator displayed in the not so distant past. Those with whom I discuss these matters will vehemently deny that they are antisemitic, fascist, or racist in their view of Israel. Yet one cannot hold the belief that God has finished with the Jews, that they have no legitimate claim to their homeland & that they ought to be systematically punished for their exercise of military self-defence without wearing one or more of those unsavoury hats.

The clock is still ticking. The game is not over. We are in the last of the last moments. Israel has a major & significant role to play.

Detractors love to use Acts 13 as a benchmark or watershed moment, citing Paul’s words, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles’ (vs.46). In their view, this is the moment when God turns His back on the Jews who had turned their back on the Gospel & began to show His grace to the Gentiles. This isn’t true at all. The inclusion of the Gentiles did not mean the exclusion of the Jews. To claim this, is intellectual dishonesty at best. At worst, it is a rabid biblical illiteracy.

During a season of fasting & prayer in The Church at Antioch, The Holy Spirit gave specific instructions concerning Barnabas & Saul. ‘Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away’ (Acts13:1-3).

Barnabas & Saul left & went to Seleucia, then sailed to Cyprus (vs.4). At Salamis they preached in the Synagogues & also came to Paphos, where they encountered the false prophet Bar-Jesus [also known as Elymas]. Sergius Paulus, the deputy of the region, sends for the Apostles because he wants to hear the Word of God, but Bar-Jesus attempts to turn him away from the faith. An act for which he is supernaturally struck blind for a season or period of time (vss.5-12).

After these things, the Apostles come to Antioch in Pisidia & entered the Synagogue there on the Sabbath, ‘And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience’ (Acts13:15-16). In this setting, Paul delivers a rousing sermon to the Jews, within earshot of the Gentiles.

And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath (Acts13:42). The Gentiles wanted to hear the Gospel. When multitudes of people came out to hear God’s Word, the Jews were ‘..filled with envy..’ & ‘..spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming’ (vs.45). It is at this point, that many I speak to will claim that God rejects Israel & embraces the Gentiles. But how can this possibly be? Bear in mind the fact that The Holy Spirit Himself had sent these Apostles out ‘..for the work whereunto [He had] called them..’ (vs.2). When the Jews reacted negatively out of envy, Paul & Barnabas state their mission & make it clear, saying, ‘For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth (vs.47). Here, Paul is quoting the Prophet Isaiah.

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; (Isaiah42:6). In the same chapter, the Prophet declares that God’s servant ‘..shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles’ (vs.1). Is this done after The Lord somehow wrests salvation from the Jews? No. The Gospel is given to the Gentiles also, not instead of the Jews.

And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him (Luke2:25-33).

In Acts 13, we simply see what it is that The Holy Spirit had commissioned Paul to do. God had not turned His grace away from Israel at all, even though certain of the Jews had turned their backs on Him & His Messiah. To surmise that God had in any way, shape, form or fashion, turned away from Israel, is to inadvertently admit that the Gentile Church is a completely separate entity to The Church instituted by Christ.

The Church instituted by Christ was a Jewish Church, with Jewish Apostles in leadership. They spoke of a Jewish Messiah, Who had instructed His Gospel to be preached in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria & to the uttermost parts of the earth. The Gentiles were always meant to have the Gospel preached to them. But they were never meant to replace Israel.

Here, in Acts 13, we see Paul inaugurated as Apostle to the Gentiles. He didn’t start another Church that would interpret the Gospel & the Scriptures in any way suited to them. Neither did he preach replacementism, supersessionism or a fashionable neo-christofascism. Paul preached a Gospel of true inclusion. Not the inclusive garbage that modern Christianity proposes, but the Gospel that unifies Jew & Gentile in Christ.

But of those who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: but contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles;) and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do (Galatians2:6-10).

For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: (Romans11:13). Paul was called to the Gentiles, just as Pater was called to the Jews. All however, are called unto God. How then, can a Gentile Church say the things that it does, when it is through the Jews that it has its inclusion to the Gospel?

With God, there is no either, or. There is no instead of. For the Gentile Church to take such a position is an affront to the finished work of Christ. Only an anti-semite would suggest such a thing, only a biblical ignoramus would teach it & only a fool would believe it. We see progressively throughout the Book of Acts that God reached out to Gentiles & saved them, then incorporated them into the body & oversaw their instruction. At no time whatsoever was there any suggestion that the Gentiles would supersede the Jews & replace them.

Jesus said, ‘And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd (John10:16). There aren’t two folds. There is no displacement of one by the other. Just as there are prophecies concerning the Jews, there are also prophecies concerning the Gentiles. In either group, those who believe in Christ are made one in Him. However, it is through the Jews that The Messiah came & it is to the Jews that the Gospel was first preached.

The rejection of Christ by the majority of the Jews in no way negates God’s Word concerning them, any more than the rejection of Christ by billions of Gentiles negates any words spoken by God concerning the Gentiles. The Gentile Church cannot replace Israel because without Israel, there is no Church. If His grace is turned away from Israel, what of the Jews who believe? Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: (Romans3:29). 

End of Part Two.

copyright © by David Samuel Parkins mmxvi all rights reserved.

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