Evangelical Support for Israel

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67422238

This is but one of many articles making the rounds over the past couple of months since the latest outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinians. The story is always essentially the same and yet new actors arise and the rhetoric sometimes changes – as do some of the political dynamics.

As usual, secular mainstream media outlets struggle to explain Evangelical support for Israel, the key being Dispensational Theology. Some of its tenets are mentioned without actually explaining the nature of the system. The Jews (and Israel) being God's people are the central organizing principle of the system and this paradigm drives its eschatology which attaches prophetic significance to the establishment of the Zionist state in 1948.

Of course there are some ironies at work – Zionism arose independently within the Habsburg Empire, but the (then new) school of Dispensationalism did exert influence on British policy and there were figures associated with Zionism such Orde Wingate who (as part of this theological movement) laboured to bring it about.

There were older non-Dispensational beliefs about a Jewish restoration held by some – views that believed a great revival/conversion was promised in New Testament prophecy, but these groups did not hold to the Dispensational view that the Jews were still God's people and in fact His primary purpose in terms of the Earth and Kingdom. This older Jewish revivalist/mass conversion view became increasingly rare over the course of the twentieth century – many either rejecting it or those inclined toward it moving in the direction of the Dispensational school.

As the article indicates, American Evangelicalism (which is overwhelmingly Dispensational) offers near unconditional support for Israel and in particular it has wed itself to Likud and Netanyahu has long been a favourite. It was no accident or coincidence that Franklin Graham was quick to fly over to Israel at the commencement of the current war and to meet with Netanyahu and express solidarity. And indeed, Netanyahu has also worked with American Evangelical allies against the likes of Clinton and Obama, while the record concerning Biden is not yet clear.

As far as these Evangelicals are concerned, the Palestinians need to leave and many hold to a (even more bizarre) Greater Israel view that posits a significant portion of Egypt, most of Syria, and swathes of Iraq and Saudi Arabia also belong to Israel. On the extreme end one might hear rhetoric from the pulpit condoning the notion of something as extreme as nuclear war in order to achieve these territorial goals. Misreading the Scripture on multiple levels their theological errors play out in terms of ethics and actual government policy.

Such bloodthirsty zeal will have little problem with the present slaughter taking place in Gaza. In fact if anything they're more likely to believe that Israel is being too restrained.

Given their confusion of America and American patriotism with notions of the Kingdom and Church, then it's not too surprising to hear statements about the US standing with Israel. For these people this is not just a policy declaration but a moral-theological one. It's America and Israel contra mundum – God's right and left hand as it were.

The media struggles to understand all of this and has instead latched on to certain statements such as the inopportune commentary on the Holocaust offered by John Hagee – who in New Testament terms is a Judaizing heretic as he does not believe the Jews in fact need Christ, or at least not the gospel of the cross.

Hagee presumes to interpret Providence through the lens of his erroneous theology and its equally erroneous eschatology. The media perceives his statement to be Anti-Semitic but they do not actually understand him. He's not celebrating the Holocaust but arguing it was used by God – which of course is true but not the way Hagee reads it. But to the ears of unbelievers, such Providential machinations (as they would see it) would make God into some kind of monster – the very author of those events.

One does not wish to defend Hagee who is repugnant and even evil (a real con-artist) and yet the media commentators are frankly way out of their depth.

Sadly these Dispensationalists are guilty of misreading the Bible on a massive scale. The Old Testament in its entirety (which would include the Jewish people or nation as well as the actual land territory) were typological pointing to Christ – and were fulfilled by Him. In terms of covenant relationship with God, the New Testament couldn't be clearer – the Jews are apostates in need of repentance. God will save a certain number of them but in doing so they become Christians and leave their Judaism behind. The reality is that Dispensationalists like Hagee, with their emphasis on the 'Holy Land' (which in fact ceased to be holy at the inauguration of the New Covenant) and the blasphemous prospect of a rebuilt Temple, express views that are tantamount to suggesting that the Messiah has not come and that Christ has not fulfilled these promises. Contrary to the apostle Paul who insists all the promises are affirmed and confirmed in Christ (2 Cor 1.20), Hagee et al. effectively argue that these promises are fulfilled by other means – namely in the Jewish people, the land territories, and the re-establishment of the Old Covenant sacrificial system. In other words a great deal of Old Testament prophecy is not about Christ at all but about the Jewish people and their would-be empire.

Because of this false system, American Evangelicals are keen to support Israel and all its dastardly deeds – including its many wars, sabotage, and assassinations. Evangelical efforts (combined with other pro-Israel interests) ensure the Zionist state is given billions of dollars and armed to the teeth. And the US Empire provides diplomatic and military protection for Tel Aviv as well. But it goes beyond this as this faction will view US policy vis-à-vis nations like Iraq and Iran through this distorted lens. Israel's interests are their interests and as such they support a large-scale war with Iran and many supported the US invasion of Iraq because they believed it would further Israeli interests and set the stage for the Zionist state to capture these lands that they (through a misreading of Scripture) believe are part of Israeli territory.

If they are correct, that would be one thing and one could dismiss the concerns of the media and cultural mainstream. But tragically they are incorrect and dishonour Christ and have misread the Word. Through their models of American and Israeli Zionism they have embraced a multifaceted heresy and with this gospel-destroying error they have introduced a set of bestial ethics that are antithetical to the New Testament. They have a lot of blood on their hands and they have deceived themselves into thinking that they are honouring God.