Testimony of truth locks horns with poisonous propaganda.
by Charles Gardner.
I make no apologies for what might seem to many as a provocative title. With all the heat engulfing the Middle East over Iran, I may be accused of stoking the flames. But it’s the truth.
And let’s face it, the conflict is basically over the clear threat posed, principally to Israel, but also to the West in general, by an evil regime bent on their destruction. And at the eye of the storm is Zion, also known as Jerusalem, where God has chosen to dwell.
This was literally fulfilled in the distant past when His presence was especially felt on the Temple Mount. But since the coming of the Jewish Messiah, a closeness with God can be experienced wherever in the world he is worshipped.
Nevertheless, there is still a very real sense in which heaven and earth meet on Mt Zion, where Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead, and where he will return in power and great glory (Acts 1:11f, Zechariah 14:4).
The word ‘Zion’ is used 161 times in the Bible, including seven in the New Testament. My colleague David Soakell of Christian Friends of Israel says: “It can be said that God is the greatest of all Zionists!”
Which is why, not long ago, many of us used to sing a 3,000-year-old song: “The Lord has chosen Zion for his habitation; there he’ll rest forever, there he’ll dwell.” (Psalm 132:13f)
I also love singing that inspiring John Newton hymn based on Psalm 87: “Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion city of our God.” A transformed former slave ship captain and friend of William Wilberforce, Newton was evidently a Zionist, who rejoiced in witnessing the early stages of London’s Jews recognising Jesus as their Messiah.
The plain fact is that Zionism is a biblical concept which explains why, before the Bible became widely available in English, the Church lost the plot and connived in the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290. In 1589, for example, Francis Kett was burned alive by the Church for the ‘heresy’ of promoting Jewish restoration (Zionism, in other words). Fortunately, however, the Puritans of the 17th century led the way to their readmission.
Further focus on Jewish restoration (to their land and their Lord) by 19th century evangelicals saw Britain play a crucial role in enabling the fulfilment of biblical prophecy, culminating in the re-birth of Israel in her ancient homeland.
To be a Zionist is to be thoroughly biblical. When we depart from Scripture, we get into trouble. For example, the insistence that Roman Catholic priests remain celibate is surely linked to the widespread instances of sexual abuse by men for whom a no doubt genuine calling has been strangulated by a repressive doctrine that has no basis in Scripture.
The Methodists, meanwhile, that marvellous worldwide movement inspired by the Wesleys, came a cropper with their encouragement for members to ‘sign the pledge’ of abstinence from alcohol. And neither was that in the least biblical. Then, as a denomination, they decided to support a boycott of Israeli goods over supposed mistreatment of Palestinians.
Now well down the slippery slope, they drifted further from God’s word by recognising same-sex marriage, leading to a significant exodus of dedicated members.
We need to get back to the Bible. Jewish evangelists have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and New York to help that process by challenging their fellow Jews to recognise that Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) is their Messiah. When shown passages from Isaiah and the Psalms, the invariable response is that they must be from the New Testament. They are shocked to discover, for example, the description of the suffering servant being pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 53) is actually in their own Bible (known as the Tanakh or Old Testament) and was written 700 years before Christ.
The Bible is true; every word of it. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)
The devil has been in the business of putting doubt into people’s minds since the beginning of time, as in “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1) But there is a way back through Messiah who paid the full penalty for our sinful rebellion.
“And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10)