Dr. Thomas Ice
Anti-Semitism has been around for thousands of years, and it is still very much with us today. The world has witnessed, in the last few years, the greatest increase in anti-Semitism since World War II. Danny Danon, currently Israel’s United Nations ambassador has said, “Jew hatred and demonization of Israel are at ‘the highest level of our lifetimes.’”[1] Since the founding of the nation of Israel anti-Semitism has expanded into another strand we call either “anti-Zionism” or “the new anti-Semitism.” The new strand of anti-Semitism is expanding throughout the world under the leadership of the Arab Muslim world. Former Palestinian Muslim terrorist Walid Shoebat said, “As it was with the Nazis, the Palestinian schools are terror factories.”[2] In essence Islam has become the new Nazis with an agenda to exterminate the nation of Israel and all Jews worldwide, and it appears to be getting worse every year.
God is not going to set up His future millennial kingdom without His chosen people Israel existing in a right relationship with Him. The Bible predicts Israel will reach this relationship at some point during the seventieth week of Daniel, often known as the tribulation. Since the Bible clearly teaches a roadmap concerning the destiny of national Israel, then I as a Bible-believing Christian believe what God says about future Israel. This is why I am a Christian Zionist or a “Restorationist” as it was known since the 1600s before Zionism became a movement at the end of the nineteenth century. The new book The Case for Zionism provides many reasons and defenses of Christian Zionism, because there is tremendous support from many different areas for the modern state of Israel.
I believe the battle for Israel and Jerusalem today is more than just human interaction over an issue. Instead, it involves a struggle over God’s plan for history and the opposition to that plan from Satan and his angels in the spiritual realm. To be on the wrong side of this issue is to oppose God Himself. This is the advice given by Gamaliel to his fellow Jewish leaders when they were persecuting the early church. “And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action should be of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God” (Acts 5:38–39). If God has decreed it, then there is nothing anyone can do to stop t; not even Satan himself. If God has not decreed it, then it will not be accomplished. The Case for Zionism is a book about how God is bringing to pass His plan from before the foundation of the world for Israel. Yes, it does involve men and means, but ultimately God will bring it to pass in history.
Since Israel is at the center of God’s plan of redemption for humanity, it is important that Christians learn of and know how to defend the modern state of Israel. I am currently sixty-five years old and have been in the church almost every time the doors were open starting nine months before I was born. Yet, when I was in high school, I do not remember even knowing if there was a modern state of Israel. I soon learned that there was a new country called Israel. When we were 21, my wife and I went to Israel on our honeymoon, and we have been learning about ancient Israel and the modern state ever since. Just eight months after our first tour of Israel the Yom Kipper war broke out and Israel was almost overrun by her Arab enemies, but she was not defeated; instead, the nation executed one of the most amazing military comebacks in history.
Since her founding as a modern nation, Israel has had many military victories that have enabled her to become one of the most productive and wealthy nations in the world. Yet, she is constantly and increasingly under attacks from other people throughout the world. For example, on October 17, 2016 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted to deny that there has ever been any Jewish or Christian historical connection to the Temple Mount. Instead, they said Islam is the only religion that can make a historical claim to what they call “the Al-Haram Al Sharif” (the Noble Sanctuary). The implication of such a view is that any event recorded in the Old Testament could not have happened, nor could any of the references to Jesus and the early church in the New Testament be historical as well. The vote for this resolution was 24 for it and 6 against, while 26 abstained and 2were absent. The United States voted against it, while most European countries abstained, and those voting for it were mainly Islamic countries with a few exceptions.[3]
Such assaults against Israel continue daily, in addition to the military and terrorist activities the citizens of Israel must constantly deal with. The United Nations has for years implemented a constant assault on the young nation. “From 1947 to 1991, there were about 300 anti-Israel General Assembly resolutions against Israel. In 2012, there were 22 GA resolutions specifically against Israel, while there were only four for the rest of the world combined.”[4] It appears the main purpose of the United Nations is to pass resolutions against Israel. The European Union (EU) is constantly pressuring Israel on a variety of issues with which they are unhappy about concerning Israel. No doubt the Obama administration has radically changed the relationship between former best friends—Israel and the United States. Christians need to make sure they know God’s viewpoint on these issues as they continue to be very important issues in our day and into the future and The Case for Zionism provides many of the answers to these issues.
The purpose of The Case for Zionism is to inform Christians about why we should support the modern state of Israel, because it has biblical significance and fits into God’s plan for history. Anyone who takes the Bible literarily, as God intended, will see when God said “Israel” He meant “Israel” and not something else. In order for the anti-Christian Zionist position to be true, Israel has to mean something else. The notion that God has forever replaced Israel with the church requires an allegorical interpretation that is totally subjective. It is as if these people really know what the hidden message of Scripture says and means, while those who take it literally just don’t have the spiritual insight of the allegorizes. Even if one rejects the biblical teachings about Israel, as many do, it is important to also know international law totally supports the modern state of Israel and she has a right to all the land west of the Jordan River. However, if the Bible is totally rejected as a source of accurate history, then how would anyone know the Jews and their land of Israel are who they are today? How would someone like Hitler know who the Jews are in order to persecute the chosen people? God’s Word is true and will be further demonstrated to be true in the future.
The Bible is clear that Israel has a national future in which she will dwell in blessing in her land. None of the supposed objections that critics have raised will stand up to a proper examination of the whole counsel of God’s word on the matter. This time will come after the entire nation of Israel has been converted to Jesus as her Messiah. However, in the mean time, the current regathering of Israel in unbelief is for the purpose of putting God’s covenant people through the fire of the tribulation, which will result in the salvation of the remnant. If one misses the clear message of this biblical teaching it is only because they have a bias against this view, since Scripture is clear. Maranatha!
[1] Danny Danon, Quoted in “Israeli UN Envoy: Jew-Hatred At ‘Highest Level of Our Lifetimes,’”(Breitbart News; Sept. 9, 2016), p. 1, www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2016/09/08/israeli-un-envoy-jewhatred-at-all-time-high-anti-semitism-2-0-uses-internet-as-tool-for-hate/.
[2] Walid Shoebat, Why I Left Jihad: The Root of Terrorism and The Rise of Islam (United States of America: Top Executive Media, 2005), p. 97
[3] Tovah Lazaroff, “UNESCO votes: No connection between Temple Mount and Judaism” (Jerusalem Post, October 13, 2016), http://www.jpost.com/printarticle.aspx?id=470050.
[4] Eric R. Mandel, “Is the United Nations anti-Semitic?” (Jerusalem Post, July 7, 2014), http://www.jpost.com/printarticle.aspx?id=361842.