The Significance of Israel - some objections considered

by Howard Taylor.

This article is a short section of a chapter in a book to be published early in 2009, edited by Calvin Smith and called 'The Jews, Modern Israel and the New Supercessionism'

  

Over and over again the Old Testament prophets tell us that, the history of the Jews will be unlike the history of any other people, and that towards the end of time, after great suffering, the Jews will return to the Promised Land, where they will become the centre of hostility. This hostility will affect the whole world.  Eventually God will reconcile them to their Messiah, cleanse them from their sin, judge the nations who have hated them, and make them a blessing to all peoples. (Isaiah 43.49;  Jer 30-33;  Ezek 36-39;  Zech 12 & 13. etc. etc.). We shall see soon that the New Testament confirms this Old Testament promise. Events this century seem to be fulfilling these prophecies.

 

Let us consider the principles that Moses gives Israel even before they enter the Promised Land for the first time.

          (a) God's Judgement against Israel's sin means that her people will be scattered from the land.

                  

          Then the Lord will scatter you among the nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods -gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both day and night, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, 'If only it were evening!' and in the evening, 'If only it were morning!'- because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. (Deut 28:64-67 NIV.)

 

(Anyone who knows anything about Jewish history - especially in the last 1000 years - will recognise these words as striking indeed. They were spoken by Moses 3,300 years ago and have been remarkably fulfilled throughout Jewish history until this present day. Even liberal Bible scholars, who deny that Moses himself spoke these words, recognise that they are at least 2,500 years old.)

 

(b)  God's forgiveness to Israel will mean that God will restore its people to the land.

Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant lands under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. (Deut 30:3-5 NIV.)

 

These are the principles laid down in the book of the Law and therefore do not refer only to this or that event in the history of Israel. They describe God's dealing with Israel in all its history. They are expounded and applied over and over again in the Hebrew prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Zechariah etc.). Indeed they are a major theme of most of the prophets

 

But now to a very important question hinted at above. Does the New Testament have anything to say about the principles of scattering and regathering that Moses spoke of or do these principles apply only to Old Testament times? In Luke 21:20-24 we read: When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains and let those in the city get out ....FOR THIS IS THE TIME OF PUNISHMENT IN FULFILMENT OF ALL THAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN.....They will fall by the sword and be taken as prisoners to all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES ARE FULFILLED.

 

This passage tells us that the coming scattering of Israel is the true fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies. We therefore conclude that these Old Testament prophecies cannot have referred only to the Babylonian exile hundreds of years before Christ! That means that the Old Testament prophecies about the restoration after exile must also refer to events after Christ as well as events before His time on earth. This is confirmed by the last words in the above quote which show us that the coming Jewish exile from Jerusalem maybe for along time but is not forever.

 

So why is there a widespread belief these days that Israel is not significant?

 

Modern Political Considerations.

 

Many people find it difficult to believe that God's hand is in the restoration of Israel because we are led to believe that they have unjustly displaced Arabs from their land.   To respond to this one cannot avoid politics, so I make the following brief points:

 

l.  The Middle East conflict is not just between Israel and the Palestinians but has always been between Israel and the vast Muslim world.  (ie before there was a problem of "occupied territories" or refugees).

 

2.   The majority of Israeli Jews we re, in 1948, of Middle Eastern - not European - descent. It is not true that the majority of Israelis were European Jews running from Nazi ideology. The majority were fleeing Arab persecution they were experiencing in their Arab homelands. The view that Palestine should be the Jewish homeland goes back in history along time before Nazi Germany came on the scene. The Holocaust, however, did have a pivotal roll in the foundation of Israel.

 

3.      Arab Nationalism and the PLO have always claimed that the Palestinians belong to the one 'Arab Nation' that covers the whole Middle East. (See the PLO Covenant). The Arabs have 20 states of their own.   It is absurd then to claim that the Jews are to blame for the fact that the Palestinians have no homeland. All the Jews have ever wanted is just one little one for themselves.  (Most  Arab nations remain violently hostile to Israel's very existence).

 

4.  The so-called 'occupied territories' never belonged to Palestinians. The West Bank belonged to Jordan and Gaza belonged to Egypt. In 1967 Egypt made blood curdling threats against all Jews and brought its army to the border of Israel and also Jordon attacked Israel. Technically Israel fired the first shot in its war against those who openly said they would destroy Israel. After the end of this war Israel offered to give back the territories in return for peace, At a summit the Arab nations said "No peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel and no recognition of Israel." So the Israelis kept hold of the territories partly for ideological reasons and partly for security reasons. They began to build settlements on the territories to strengthen their hold.

 

5.   The Arab nations are much larger than even the USA and have long-term oil supplies.   Israel is as small as one of the small states of America. It is about the size of Wales and has had no oil.

 

6.   The cause of the Palestinian refugee problem was war.   The wars were started by the vast and wealthy Arab nations with the sole intention of wiping Israel off the map.   During these wars Arabs (the ones now called Palestinians) suffered at Israeli hands but it was the Arab nations which initiated the wars. This includes the 2009 Gaza conflict which cost so many precious lives which included children.

 

7.   There is no other nation in world history that has survived such overwhelming danger and hatred as Israel today.   Even though they may react violently and unjustly towards the Arab rioters in their midst, I doubt whether any other nation would act with more restraint, given only a fraction of the danger to its very existence.   (If it were to withdraw to its pre - 1967 boundaries it would be only 9 miles wide at its middle populated area).

 

8.   Although God may indeed judge unjust Israeli actions, other nations will have to face similar judgement for far far greater injustices committed with much much less excuse.   (One has only to consider Israel's neighbours to realise this, never mind much of the rest of the world.)

 

Theological Assumptions which colour Christian attitudes against the continuing purposes of God for Israel.

 

1.    If one believes that God’s relationship with his creation is purely spiritual (ie He does not interact with the physical space-time of this world) then one will find it difficult to believe that He is active in history so as to give the Jews a unique history among the nations – a history which now has resulted in their regathering. If one does hold this view (a form of Deism) one must still come to terms with, what is widely observed (even by the non-religious), namely that Jewish history in remarkable in its uniqueness.

If on the other hand one believes that God can and does act in the space-time of this world then will not have a theological problem with the uniqueness of Jewish history and perhaps its restoration to the land.

2.    If one believes that the Old Testament is concerned with a particular people and land and not with all the world, and that the New Testament gives this a universal application then one will find it difficult to see how God could have any continuing special purpose for Israel and its land. If however one believes that both Old and New Testaments hold particular and universal together (this is the argument of Paul in Romans 2-3 and 9-11) then one will find it easier to see the continuing significance of land.

 

3.  If one holds the view based on such texts as 1 Peter 2:9, that the mission of ancient Israel has been transferred to the Church (this is called Replacement Theology or Supercessionism), then one will call the Church the new Israel and one will not hold that modern Israel has a unique significance in the purposes of God. This is precisely the kind of conclusion that the Apostle Paul refuses to draw at the end of Romans 2 and the beginning of Romans 3, when discussing the relationship between the new circumcision and the old. If on the other hand we hold that the privileges of ancient Israel are not transferred but used merely to describe the Church, then we will not have any difficulty in recognising the continuing significance of the history of the Jewish people.

 

4.    If one believes that the salvation of Christ is only for the spiritual part of human beings then one will find it difficult to believe that land is significant. If one believes, however, that the redemption of Christ embraces all creation then one will be able to see that land is significant. Since Paul (Rom 9-11) re-affirms God’s ancient covenant with Jewish Israel and that at the heart of this ancient covenant is ‘land’ one will see why Paul does not need explicitly to refer to their restoration to the land – especially as, at that time, they were not even in exile from the land.

 

5.    If one believes that Christ fulfils Israel’s unique destiny and that ‘fulfils’ includes in its meaning a ‘putting an end to’ then one will find it difficult to see the continuing relevance of Israel in the story of redemption. If, however, one believes that Christ fulfils Israel’s destiny from Abraham to the end of time then one will see Israel’s continuing history as ‘in Christ’ – even if Israel itself does not recognise it.

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