7.022 How Many Times Do I Have to Tell You 85? 26 Feb 2007

7.022 How many times do I have to tell you – 85? 26 Feb 2007

Not too long ago one of my friends did a bit of a count and came up with 85 texts of prophecy indicating that Israel would return to his land in the end of days.

Sadly, some churches and their rather unique purpose-propelled theologians have now come to the conclusion that God wiped that all off the slate when He sent Jesus on His global redemptive mission. That is, they have concluded that with His Advent, any and all prophecy is all over, finished—no more prophesies to be fulfilled! People who reckon this kind of scenario are known as preterits. Not sure if they even know this label is in the dictionary, and even less sure how they handle the return of the King of the Jews? I mean, that's prophecy isn't it?

But in short, the big broom that they use is that the significance of the Jew is no more; Israel is a pipe-dream, and whatever happened in 1948, 1967 and the current broiling scenario in the Middle East is not worth wasting one's time on. Unfortunately, from the passing of the Apostles and the anti-Semitism that arose from some of the so-called Church Fathers of Second Century vintage, this pick and choose culling of the Scriptures is hardly new.

In fact as late as last year, we found some new kids on the block (read: preterits on the premises).

Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, veteran Arabic translators probing Palestinian Media Watch, translated "Christian Zionists" by Hamed Al-Tamimi for the rest of us to get the picture. Hamed Al-Tamimi is the Director Inter-Religion Dialogue Department and Member of the Supreme Judicial Council, and he begins his “warning” with:

"Very few people know the truth about this [Christian Zionist] movement, which unconditionally supports the Zionist enemy, and unconditionally opposes Islam and the Muslims… Their association and their organizations, headed by 'The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem,' carry out their criminal activities against the Palestinian issue and the Palestinian people..."

Marcus and Crook captioned their article "Christian Zionists adopted Satan as God" and gave us the following revealing summary as Al-Tamimi sees it:

1. Christian Zionists "adopted Satan as God." 2. Christian Zionism is a dangerous distortion, a deviation from the true Christian faith. 3. The Christian Zionists and Zionist Jews "comprise the greatest danger to world truth, justice, and peace." 4. The International Christian Embassy "carries out criminal activities" against Palestinians. 5. Christian Zionism must be expelled by the World Church.

Aaron Klein gives us the entire Al-Tamimi manifesto in the Feb 25, 2007 edition of World Net Daily that can be found on: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50109

The amazement is how these Seventh Century scholars presume to know what "true Christian faith" is all about!

In reality, Hizbullah and Hamas do honestly believe that they have a “peace plan” of moral- measurement to kill all the Jews and then there will be world peace! Adolph Hitler had drawn identical conclusions, but American Zionists forced him into a Nazi bunker and the Communists got to him first. Ironically, these clever historians also allege that it was the Jews who were the culprits that had invented Communism. So that figures! The Communists (read: proxy “Jews”) killed Hitler, Islam’s herald of hope, so now it's left to those peace-lovers, Hamas and Hizbullah, to finish the job. I am not being cynical at this point. This was the exact essence of a proclamation by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem near the end of World War II. And if you read the translations of Arabic on Palestinian Media Watch, the only changes are the methods in their murderous momentum.

Anyway to keep our point in focus, this crowd of "neo-Bible commentators" put out a proclamation that these biblically blind folk who have been seduced by the 85 promises are, not only deceived, but also are actually straight from the devil himself.

Well that's to be expected from peace-lovers like Hamas & Hizbollah, but not to be outdone, the peace-loving Palestinian Christians also get into the act. Back in August 2006 the leaders of many of the mainline churches in Jerusalem put forth their own proclamation against Bible-believing Zionists. We should say that these fellows are not exactly representative of some of their less clued-in colleagues in the West (same denominations but modified mentality) who still take the Bible for what it says (85 times). In Jerusalem they wear black robes and parade around town in fairly impressive fashion. The difference from their western brethren is that they happen to be "indigenous" clergyman (read: still a fair bit anti-Semitic). Unfortunately, Jews who happen to be the majority in Jerusalem are not their favorite creatures. So to sing the same song as H & H, their own “Christian” manifesto sounds somewhat familiar. It goes a bit like this:

Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel...

The Christian Zionist programme provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism…

We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation…

We reject the teachings of Christian Zionism that facilitate and support these policies as they advance racial exclusivity and perpetual war rather than the gospel of universal love, redemption and reconciliation taught by Jesus Christ…

And they go on to talk about justice, which is of course among the godliest of principles in the Scriptures. You can read it all on: http://www.j-diocese.com/DiocesanNews/view.asp?selected=238

Now a lot of this is fairly biblical - if not taken out of context. What thunders out in its omission is the fact that back in the 19th Century only a handful of Arabs lived in the land, and a few more began to follow the Jews back to the land after 1880. The tidal wave of Arabs that have "lived in the land for 5000 years" poured in after WW-1 when the British opened the floodgates of Arab in-migration on the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Up to that time the Turks kept the Arabs out!

Therefore all this biblical-justice hype is merely a political justification of Esau's millennia-old hatred, treading under foot Bible verses dictated to the prophets by the God of Jacob—all 85 of them!

Anyway we have one small clue yet to note. On Dec 23, 2006 the mission arm of the United Church of Christ made yet another decree to the demise of Jewish destiny. On their website they published verbatim the very declaration of their black clad colleagues of Jerusalem. Check it out: http://www.globalministries.org/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=1589&Itemid=36

Wait a minute. Where did we happen to hear about that particular offshoot of the original Church of Christ before? Just 3 weeks ago in my February 2 bulletin! It’s the doctrinally adaptable denomination of choice by US Presidential hopeful, Barack Hussein Obama, his "spiritual umbrella" since he no longer acknowledges his earlier Muslim linkage!

But since that earlier bulletin that was sent to me, a tide of ominous tidings continues to roll in.

An article by Chad Groening in One News Now.com was entitled: “Obama's pastor admits concerns over candidate's ties to Islam” and lists two major concerns by Chicago Pastor Jeremiah Wright, Jr., namely Obama's identity with the militant Palestinians as well as his injudicius association with Nation of Islam’s radical leader, Louis Farrakhan. The entire exposure is worth reading on: http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/article.php?id=1042.

Yet perhaps the most divulging, if not damning, report of all on his past militant cum activist views was by Ed Lasky, secular news editor of American Thinker, which is reported in full on: http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/article.php?id=1064.

Sobering stuff! Victor Schlatter, South Pacific Island Ministries