ZIONISM: GOD'S IDEA
by Sam Nadler
Zionism
is the belief in a Jewish homeland, an organized return of the Jewish people
to Zion. The word “Zion” represents the Land of Israel, though it originally
referred to Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:1; Psalm 51:18).
It is no secret that Israel’s neighbors oppose Zionism. In fact, the Muslim
world has never acknowledged Israel’s right to exist - hence, the
continuation of war and terrorism with which we are all too familiar. Recent
movies and books from even so-called evangelical perspectives have sought to
critique “Christian Zionism,” which is the phenomenon of fervent Christian
support for the State of Israel.
Yes, there is always a danger of prioritizing the politics of Israel over
proclaiming Good News to the Jewish people. God’s Good News expresses His
love in Yeshua which is for the redemption of all people, and this certainly
includes Arabs. However, most evangelical critics of Zionism parrot an
extreme anti-Israel viewpoint, a perspective which often descends into
anti-Semitism and madness. Theologically, they push the notion that Israel
continues only as “the Church” and that the Jewish people as such are no
longer relevant to God’s plan. Thus, they fail to consider that even as
there are Arabs who are believers, God has done a work in raising up
Messianic Jews in the Land. Both are a part of God’s redemptive purposes as
they reach out to all with ears to hear.
God is a Zionist. He is committed to and concerned with the return of the
Jewish people to Zion. Let us consider what the Scriptures say.
Now it will come about that in the last days the
mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the
mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will
stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the
mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us
concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.
(Isaiah 2:2)
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, They
shout joyfully together; For they will see with their own eyes when the LORD
restores Zion. (Is. 52:8)
Again, proclaim, saying, Thus says the LORD of
hosts, My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will
again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem. (Zechariah 1:17,
Isaiah 14:32, 35:10, Jeremiah 31:6)
The prophets are clear that God will restore His people in their land. His
love never fails.
He Hasn’t Changed His Mind
In light of all the troubles that Israel
has endured, including the many hundreds of years the Jewish people had gone
without a state, one might think that perhaps God has changed His mind and
forsaken Israel as a nation. Not so. The Scriptures are clear that even if
the Jewish people themselves would think this, it is never the case that God
could let go of Zion.
But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, and the
Lord has forgotten me." Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no
compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not
forget you ... Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your
walls are continually before Me. (Isaiah 49:14, 16)
For I will restore you to health and I will heal
you of your wounds, declares the LORD, Because they have called you an
outcast, saying: It is Zion; no one cares for her. (Jer. 30:17)
God actually chose Zion (not Mecca, Rome, or Salt Lake City) as the place
where He would dwell with His people.
For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for
His habitation (Psalm 132:13). Blessed
be the LORD from Zion, Who dwells in Jerusalem (Ps. 135:21).
He never changed His mind on the matter (Romans 11:1,2). In fact, the Lord’s
future headquarters will again be Zion.
Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for
behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD.
(Zech. 2:10)
When Yeshua returns, it is to Zion: Then the LORD
will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of
battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives
(Zech. 14:3,4). Therefore He will dwell there in the Kingdom age:
Thus says the LORD, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain
of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain (Zech.
8:3).
All of the seething anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism we see today is but a
foretaste of a future war by the nations united against Israel (Zech. 14:2).
In this attack, God is giving over the nations to their own evil desires and
wicked ways (Romans 1:24-28). This “giving over” reveals the truth that the
anti-Semitism of these nations is really anti-God:
For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those
who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your
people, and conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said,
"Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be
remembered no more. For they have conspired together with one mind; against
You they make a covenant" (Psalm 83:2-5).
Again, the Good News is God’s priority and must be ours as well. The Lord’s
Return to planet Earth is linked to Israel’s repentance and faith in Him
(Matthew 23:39; Zechariah 12:10; Acts 3:19-21). Part of the enemy’s
strategy, then, is to prevent believers from
pray[ing] for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps.122:6). The enemy does
this by obscuring
1. Israel’s Biblical right to Israel and Jerusalem,
2. the only means of obtaining peace, through the Prince of Peace (as
opposed to political solutions), and
3. God’s provision for the true spiritual need of Israel: forgiveness of
sins through Messiah Yeshua.
Let us not be deceived by the schemes of Satan to destroy Israel, but rather
pray and proclaim Good News to Israel and the Jewish people around the
world, while we still can.
*
Sam Nadler is director of Word of Messiah Ministries in Charlotte, N.C. This
article is
reprinted
with permission from Word of Messiah's
April 2011 online newsletter at
http://www.wordofmessiah.net/3/post/2011/04/zionism-gods-idea.html.
Many other fine articles and other
features may
be found at Word of Messiah's website,
http://www.wordofmessiah.org.
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