On May 15, just 2 weeks ago, a worship service at Cornerstone Church was interrupted for over an hour. The church’s pastor, John Hagee, was conducting a Support Israel Sunday. Unknown to the pastor or congregation, 11 Demonstrators from the “Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, participated in this anti-Israel church invasion.” Security personnel from the church had to remove the protesters, one by one, as they took turns interrupting the sermon. It is amazing that we have not heard about this on the news. If this would have happened anywhere other than a church, it would have been the headline on every newscast. (John Hagee Ministries Weekly Update - May 17, 2011)
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress. He was warmly received at a time when Israel’s survival is more threatened than at any time since the nation declared its independence 63 years ago.
Many Christians no longer support Israel. Why has Christian support diminished in recent years? I believe that there are two answers.
1) The preponderance of Replacement Theology.
2) The influence of post-modernism among Christians. Within the philosophy of the Emergent Church is a the view that the Palestinians as oppressed. Emergent Christianity has revived the “Social Gospel” views that were a part of Liberal Christianity, and this liberal mind-set would sooner support the politically correct position rather than the biblical one.
What is the Christian Response to Israel and the Jewish People?
Christians should support the Jewish people and their right to exist as a nation.
We should support Israel Because God Promised to Bless Abraham. Genesis 12:3 "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
A. God CREATED the WORLD to demonstrate His GLORY
B. God CHOOSE ISRAEL to demonstrate His glory.
1. Deuteronomy 7:7–8 "The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. " "But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. "
2. Isaiah 49:3 "He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” "
3. Isaiah 60:21 "Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. "
C. Israel did not claim the LAND for themselves, GOD gave it to them!
We should support Israel Because God Gave Israel the Land Forever
A. It was promised to them. Gen 15:18-20
B. God even promised that He would bring them back when they were punished for their sin. Deut 30:1-5
Notice just a few of the verses in which God reiterates His unconditional promise that the Land of Israel belonged to the Jewish people forever.
A. Genesis 13:15 "All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. "
B. Genesis 17:8 "The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;
C. Genesis 48:4 ‘I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’ "
D. Exodus 32:13 "Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’
E. Deuteronomy 4:40 "Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.
F. Joshua 14:9 "So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’"
G. 1 Chronicles 28:8 “Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. "
H. 2 Chronicles 20:7 "O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? "
I. Psalm 136:21 "(He) gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever. "
J. Isaiah 34:17 “They will possess it forever and dwell there from generation to generation. "
K. Jeremiah 25:5 "They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your fathers for ever and ever. "
L. Ezekiel 37:3 "He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” "
M. Ezekiel 37:12 "Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. "
N. Ezekiel 37:25–26 "They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. " "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. "
O. Romans 11:15 "For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? "
P. Romans 11:25–26 "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. " "And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. "
Q. Romans 11:29 "for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. "
God does not need to be reminded of His promises. They are sure! The frequent repetition of the promise for Israel’s permanent and eternal possession of the land is a sure sign that God intends to fulfill His promise.
We should support Israel Because God Instructs us to Pray for Israel
Psalm 122:6 "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. "
We should support Israel Because God Will Judge the Nations that Harm Israel
Joel 3:1-3
Let’s study this passage closely.
A. WHO is the Judge? God. The name “Jehosaphat = “YHWH Judges”
B. WHO is condemned?
1. This is at the final judgment.
2. All of Israel’s enemies will be judged.
C. WHERE is the judgment? Armegeddon.
1. Joel 3:12-17
2. Revelation 16:16 "Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. "
D. WHY are they judged?
1. Scattering my people (Joel 3:2)
Illus - Helen Thomas. 57 years at UPI. White House Correspondent. “What should we do about the Jewish/ Palestinian problem?” “They should get the H_ _ _ out of Palestine”
2. Dividing up my land.
a. Illus. LAND for PEACE.
b. The WORLD Says:
(1) Palestine belongs to the Palestinians.
(2) FACT: The land was called ISRAEL, or JUDEA or SAMARIA.
(3) Emperor Hadrian, 135 AD.
c. Who are the Palestinians?
(1) in 1948, Arabs living in the region left, urged by Jordan and Syria. They were told that they would only be in Jordan for a short while, and then they could return and plunder the wealth of the Israeli’s
(2) between 1948-1949, an estimated 400,000-750,000 Arabs left Israel.
(3) in 1950, the Arab league passed a resolution that NO ARAB NATION could accept the Palestinian refugees as citizens. They preferred to use them as a sympathy bargaining chip instead of providing citizenship.
(4) TODAY, the descendants of those Arabs still live in squalid refugee camps, nearly prisoners by Jordan and Syria.
(5) ALSO, in 1948-1950, the Arab nations forced 850,000 Jews from their homes, confiscating their lands and property. These Jews were incorporated into Israeli society. Why is there no cry from the world about the expulsion of the Jews, or the confiscation of their land?
(6) The nations of the world are turned against Israel, with AMERICA being her last an only defense.
(7) Steve Herzig reports in Israel my Glory, May 2011. “Museum for Resistance Tourism.” Funded and built by Hezzbullah, outside Beirut, Lebanon, 500,000 guests have come to see destroyed Israeli tanks, piles of helmets, and Terrorist propaganda. You can call it “Jihad Theme Park,” or “Six Flags Over Armageddon.”
(8) In Israel, Israeli’s live behind barbed wire, while Arabs enjoy Israeli citizenship, education and health care.
d. On May 23, 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress. He brought the house down with applause and ovations as he described Israel’s desire for peace and the special relationship between Israel and the United States. If this bond is every broken, if the United States every turns away from Israel, it will spell the end of God’s mercy on America. Here are some of the Prime Minister’s remarks:
This is not easy for me. I recognize that in a genuine peace, we will be required to give up parts of the Jewish homeland. In Judea and Samaria, the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. We are not the British in India. We are not the Belgians in the Congo.
This is the land of our forefathers, the Land of Israel, to which Abraham brought the idea of one God, where David set out to confront Goliath, and where Isaiah saw a vision of eternal peace. No distortion of history can deny the four thousand year old bond, between the Jewish people and the Jewish land......
If the benefits of peace with the Palestinians are so clear, why has peace eluded us? Because all six Israeli Prime Ministers since the signing of Oslo accords agreed to establish a Palestinian state. Myself included. So why has peace not been achieved? Because so far, the Palestinians have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state, if it meant accepting a Jewish state alongside it.
You see, our conflict has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state. It has always been about the existence of the Jewish state. This is what this conflict is about. In 1947, the United Nations voted to partition the land into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jews said yes. The Palestinians said no. In recent years, the Palestinians twice refused generous offers by Israeli Prime Ministers, to establish a Palestinian state on virtually all the territory won by Israel in the Six Day War.
They were simply unwilling to end the conflict. And I regret to say this: They continue to educate their children to hate. They continue to name public squares after terrorists. And worst of all, they continue to perpetuate the fantasy that Israel will one day be flooded by the descendants of Palestinian refugees.
My friends, this must come to an end.....
As for Jerusalem, only a democratic Israel has protected freedom of worship for all faiths in the city. Jerusalem must never again be divided. Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel. I know that this is a difficult issue for Palestinians. But I believe with creativity and goodwill a solution can be found.
So peace must be anchored in security. In recent years, Israel withdrew from South Lebanon and Gaza. But we didn’t get peace. Instead, we got 12,000 thousand rockets fired from those areas on our cities, on our children, by Hezbollah and Hamas. The UN peacekeepers in Lebanon failed to prevent the smuggling of this weaponry. The European observers in Gaza evaporated overnight. So if Israel simply walked out of the territories, the flow of weapons into a future Palestinian state would be unchecked. Missiles fired from it could reach virtually every home in Israel in less than a minute. I want you to think about that too. Imagine that right now we all had less than 60 seconds to find shelter from an incoming rocket. Would you live that way? Would anyone live that way? Well, we aren’t going to live that way either.
II. What Can I Do?
A. Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
B. Learn more about the truth of Israel (help inform your neighbors)
C. Write your US Senators and US Representative with your support for Israel
