"If Zionism, In All Its forms, Is So Powerful ...Why Is Israel So Small?": The Almond Rod Chastises Sizer

(Still re-establishing myself in Australia, I'm not able to resume posting on a proper and regular basis until I move into a permanent abode with internet access, which will almost certainly be in the coming  week.)

As someone with an interest in Jewish-Christian relations I note that Ian G's latest post, over at his new blog TheAlmondRod, takes issue with the likes of Ian's fellow Anglican Stephen Sizer.  It concludes:

"If Zionism, in all its forms, is so powerful ...why did the Holocaust happen; why is Israel so small; why does Israel surrender land for peace...etc. etc.?

Ah, yes. That singularly unsuccessful Zionist plot to rule the world which is simultaneously rich, powerful, secret, diabolical... yawn. Where does this strange idea come from? Its a Big Lie. Goebbels practised it. Paul predicted it http://bible.cc/2_thessalonians/2-11.htm .

Actually, the lie is a distortion of promises in the Tenach and in the New Testament. It's the argument over the nature of that distortion and how to interpret scripture that separates me, and others, from Sizer and his ilk.

The day when Israel will be pre-eminent among the nations only comes with the (return of) the Messiah. This will not be brought about by precipitating Armageddon (more about that some other time). It's the rage against God that leads to a rage against real Christianity and against the Jew (again more later).

It's God's fault. He chose someone. It could have a Briton. If it had we would be fighting the French and others for a piece of  the British Isles. It would have been the same story with British names. Josh Davidson would have been born in the North of England and executed in London. And so on.

The Messiah had to be somewhere. Which brings me at last to that saner form of madness which is the Goon Show and the famous Eccles. 

Eccles, when trapped in a coal cellar and questioned on what he was doing there, replies "Everybody's got to be somewhere".

And therein is the problem. The Jews, and others, are allowed to be somewhere, just as long as it is somewhere else."

And for anyone who has not yet discovered it, here is a video recommended by reader Shirlee:

How & Why I Became A Committed Christian Zionist: A British Israel-Supporter Recollects

The following, by reader Ian G,  is cross-posted from his blog The Almond Rod.  (It first appeared there here and here and here, and he tells me there's more to follow in the series, and that some of it will be controversial.  Nor, incidentally, does the series comprise the only posts on his blog of interest to Jews and Zionists, which is why I'm adding The Almond Rod to my blogroll.) 

Writes Ian G:

First steps in Zionism – a personal journey.

This is the first post in a series that will examine how and why I became a committed Christian Zionist. It is my  journey and my understanding.

Like many other brought up in the 50s and 60s, I went to Sunday School. This is different in the UK to what is found in the USA.

At my home church we had a Lay Reader (non-ordained minister licensed to preach in the Anglican Church). He had the enormous privilege of going to Israel for a holiday. Back then foreign holidays were for the rich alone. We were just beginning to get used to the idea that working people might holiday abroad.

He came back with a slide show of places in Israel. He told us that here was where Jesus did this, or there was where David did that etc. etc.  Thus was born a desire, still unfulfilled, to go to Israel and see for myself. I was about eight years old. Many others were taught what I was taught, but they are neither Christian or Zionist.

Back then, I hadn't encountered the idea that scripture was unreliable. I never swallowed that lie.

In course of time (1966), I was confirmed into the CofE and stayed with the Church. It was through the writings of C.S. Lewis that I was shown the work of Satan and the saving power of Jesus the Christ. About this time, God was working in the lives of millions of young people (1967/8). This Revival was sometimes called the Jesus Movement, but I knew none of that. All I knew was the God  that I had personally encountered was the Jesus I read about in the Scriptures. 

I soon came to realise that if I believed the Gospels, I had to believe the Old Testament/Tenach. I didn't know it at the time, but I was now an 'evangelical' Christian.

For me, Jesus and Israel were inseparably intertwined – and I wanted to go to Israel all the more.

First Steps in Zionism Part 2 – some reflections.

Of course, I've missed out a lot of what happened in the 40s, 50s and early 60s. I had only just become a 'teenager' in '66. How I hated that word! Teenagers this; teenagers that. Judge a whole generation because they had reached 13.

In the UK, I could just remember the orange juice ration for babies and my sister being weighed in at the 'clinic', which actually was the Methodist Church Hall. It would feature again in my early life.

Being a voracious reader, and my parents having subscribed for me to a part-work encyclopedia called 'Knowledge', I had some idea of the possible consequences if the USA/USSR confrontation had gone wrong in '62. I can still recall the day that President Kennedy was assassinated. I was aware of the Suez crisis but I couldn't have told you much about it.

Growing up in an English Market Town in the Durham Dales had a great many blessings and privileges; not least our very own Museum/French Chateau and a Public School, Grammar School and Secondary School.

It wasn't idyllic, by any means, but it was a much better life than many, even in the UK, enjoyed.

We didn't hear much about Israel. As far as my generation was concerned, it was where it was supposed to be, where the Bible said it was, more or less. We knew nothing of the Balfour Declaration or the machinations of T.E. Lawrence and the Foreign Office. My father's generation, having done National Service, couldn't comprehend why Irgun and other groups attacked the King David Hotel and hanged National Servicemen, just young men trying to serve King and Country.

Now, at a distance, I can only wish that we had kept our word. I think that there are apologies due on both sides.

I don't know that I really 'became' a Zionist. I think it is the word that best describes what I believe and how those beliefs developed. For me, and for many, Israel had every right to exist in its homeland. After all, a war had just been fought for the right of all of us to live freely and in our own countries. At least, that's what the people fought for.

First steps in Zionism – Part 3: 1967 and all that!

These are my memories of what it was like to be 14, at school, discovering a personal faith, discovering the Bible and being confronted with the amazing feat of arms that was the Six-Day War. It's my history as I remember it. I will try to be accurate but it's not journalism or general historical analysis. It's about how I became/discovered I was a Christian Zionist.

It's worth remembering that in 1967 many people still had personal memories of WW2. Grandparents and some parents had served in the Forces. Most had done National Service and nearly all had lived through the War. We knew what the Germans had done. Back then we were less fussy about German /Nazi distinctions. We knew that the Jews deserved a homeland and we knew, to some extent, the Bible.

The Four 'Rs were reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic', and religious instruction. This latter meant Christianity and, because Christians revere the Old Testament/Tenach, there was some familiarity with Judaism and with the Geography etc. of the Holy Land. We knew things that these days some people actually question, such as the reality of the Temple in Jerusalem until AD 70. I'll post later on the change in terminology and the undermining of Christian Education in the latter half of the 20century. (Not a thesis, just a blog-post!)

For those who want a timeline and a history of the build-up to the war, I suggest that you go here . It's quite amazing how different political attitudes were then.

I vaguely remember Nasser taking the straits of Tiran (Gulf of Aqaba). Everyone knew that a regional war was was imminent. What no-one expected was a different kind of Jew.

The school I attended had a Combined Cadet Force. The best in the North-East, then and now. US reader, please do not make the mistake of interpreting this as being the same as your ROTC. It's very part-time, more fun, more relaxed, less intense, in short, more British. It's not full-volume, buzz cuts, calling sergeants 'sir' (good grief!!!) etc. Voice of command, yes on parade, hair - just above the collar, and our lot were so arrogant ( I'm sorry to say) that we never saluted anyone under the rank of Major. I'm not sure how we got away with it. The point being we appreciated the feat of arms that was the Six-Day War.

Instead of Saul cowering in his tent, or the dreadful images of the Holocaust, we had an army of Davids, young, fit and victorious.

Some of us thrilled to see this, and when we saw those same soldiers reunite Jerusalem and praying at the Western Wall, it felt like we were watching the Bible come to life.

And then, as part of my growth as a Christian, I discovered Obadiah. to be precise 1:20 . Zarephath, half-way between Tyre and Sidon. I wondered if we might see conflict in the Lebanon in that area? Obadiah got that one right, but possession is yet to come. Given the persecution of non-muslim Arabs, I still expect to see them look to Israel for protection.

To summarise, at this point I believed that:

The Jews had a right to live in their historic homeland;
They had a right to self-determination – rule themselves;
And they had a right to self-defence.
This made me a Zionist, if I but knew it.
It also made me a patriot as every nation has these rights.

I also believed that I was seeing the fulfillment of prophecy .
This made me a religious Zionist.

Finally, it seemed to me that this heralded the return of the Messiah.
And this made me a Christian Zionist.

Nothing, that I have learned since, has changed these basic convictions.
There is much more to come, but these are still my first steps in Zionism.

Learn more about these pictures here.

"The Almond Rod": A Welcome New Christian Blog

British Methodist-turned-Anglican Ian G has been a reader of this blog since soon after it began.  His comments have always been welcome, and I've had reason to tip my hat to him on not a few occasions (he's not to be confused with another very welcome contributor, that resource extraordinary, Ian, whose latest links are in a comment on my previous post).

It was Ian G who enabled this post, which consists largely of his doughty protest to the British Museum regarding its inappropriate use of the P-word, and he also authored this guest post about a Christian NGO and its dangerous attitude to Israel.

Ian G must have the magic touch, because both posts received a lot of attention.

A retired teacher of religious studies, he has now launched a blog of his own, entitled "The Almond Rod," and while its main focus is irrelevant to our purposes, he intends to turn his attention to Israel and Zionism from time to time.

It being Easter, Ian has just put on a post called "Who Killed Jesus? Murder or Suicide?"  He tells me:

"It is an examination of the proper Christian understanding of what Jesus' death was all about. My argument, although lengthy as a blog post, is an outline of, what I believe to be, correct interpretation and theology. I make no concessions on what I believe, but I hope that I have shown that labelling the Jews as 'Christ-killers' is biblically illiterate, theologically unsound and illogical.  I hope it will be of interest to your readers ..."

Thanks, Ian G.  At a time when Israel is under constant and even increasing demonisation from so many in the Christian churches, who frankly ought to know better, your entry into the blogosphere is a welcome development!

Some Good End-of-Year Reading

Earlier this month the Washington Post carried a review by Jennifer Rubin of Lela Gilbert's new book, Saturday People, Sunday People: Israel Through the Eyes of a Christian Sojourner.

Writes the reviewer, inter alia:

'The meat of Gilbert’s book and its uniqueness among hundreds on the Middle East published every year, however, documents the virtually ignored Jewish "nakba," a world used mostly by Arabs to described the "tragedy" of Israel’s birth....

The media of course have virtually forgotten (or hidden) this expulsion, preferring to fixate on the Palestinian refugee problem and the so-called “right of return.” That imbalance in the historical record and journalism of the 20th century goes hand in hand with coverage of the Gaza wars that focuses on the Israeli strikes on terrorist leaders and ignores the thousands of rockets fired at Israeli civilians.

But in this nakba the Jews now, tragically have company. The title of the book on one hand describes the intertwined history and tradition of Jews and Christians, but it also has become a description of the deadly agenda of Islamic fundamentalists: First, the Saturday people, second the Sunday people. In other words, first rid these countries of Jews and next go after the Christians. This they do with near international impunity. In Gilbert’s vivid and at time (appropriately) gruesome account of murders, church bombings and other anti-Christian atrocities she paints a portrait of a human rights catastrophe playing out before our eyes and a world gone mad, indifferent to and largely unaware of the plight of Christians. She meticulously documents the atrocities against the Egyptian Copts and other Christians from Nigeria to Iran to Indonesia and Afghanistan.

Her message is poignant, namely that Jews and Christian share a common tradition and faith, founded on ” biblical principles, founded on the sanctity of life, affirming that humans are made in the image of God . . . Our roots are firmly planted in common ground. … We have chosen life and we deplore the Islamist culture of death. We needn’t fight our battles alone.” That’s an optimistic note for a tragic story in which Christians and Jews, who certainly have at times not been on the same side, have a new brotherhood of faith, forged in the fire of Islamic fundamentalism. It is a timely reminder of the nature of our shared enemy and the obligation for shared defense in the cultural, ideological and military war against the jihadist culture of death.'

Read all of Jennifer Rubin's article here

From Nick Gray of recently established site Christian Middle East Watch comes an insightful article entitled "Christian NGOs and Israel" that begins:

'A few days ago, the Commentator published an article by me ... on the reasons why so many Christian organisations working in the Middle East are hostile towards Israel. There are a good number of excellent pro-Israel organisations, who seek to serve both sides of the divide in Israel and who successfully keep an apolitical stance. Why can so many others not do the same. If the organisations working in Palestinian areas insist on being so poisonously anti-Israel, why do the pro-Israel groups not behave in the same way? Who is showing a more Christian face to the world; the ones serving Palestinians while pouring vitriol on Israel, or the ones quietly serving both communities and hating neither?

Dexter Van Zile ("Why are Christian charities bashing Israel?" 15th December) admirably exposed a major problem in the Christian development agency universe; a problem that too often seems to focus on only one geographical area in the whole world. Embrace the Middle East (an evolution of a long-standing agency with a history of excellent work on behalf of the poor of the Middle East), Christian Aid, World Vision, The Amos Trust and many others do provide aid to the poor and they do engage in commendable development projects in the cultural and religious turmoil we call the Middle East. Sadly, however, the majority of such charities seem to have an unacceptable political bias where this one geographical area is concerned - that narrow strip of land popularly known as "Israel-Palestine" or "Palestine-Israel" depending on your worldview! As someone who has worked in the Christian charity sector for over 25 years and with a special concern in the Middle East, I would like to offer a four point rationale for this anomaly in the mindsets of otherwise thoroughly admirable, caring organisations.'  Read the rest here

And from Hadar Sela the indispensable new site BBC Watch comes a characteristically masterly exposé of the BBC's persistent failure to appreciate that the 1949 Armistice lines do not constitute borders.  See that excellent post here