Economic Stimulus Payment - Give it away

John Piper has suggested that Christians do something unthinkably un-American and decidedly Christ-exalting: Give away your Economic Stimulus Payment.

Excerpt:

May I encourage you to be radically creative and hedonistic. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). And those crazy Macedonians in a “severe test of affliction” and in “extreme poverty” had an “abundance of joy” that overflowed in a “wealth of generosity.” They even begged Paul “for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:2-4). They really believed what Jesus said. Really.

Before the check comes dream of some person or ministry which might make much of Christ because you treasured him above your next home project.

I couldn’t agree more.

If you call yourself a Republican, you owe it to your political ideology to actually support a social cause with private money. If you call yourself a Democrat, consider this a way to fund your favorite charity or cause with public money.

Abel

Last Monday, my wife and I received some shattering news. In an unplanned appointment with our midwives, we sat with our eyes fixed on an ultrasound monitor looking at our second child. Our baby laid there in the womb without any movement and without any heartbeat. I waited for the ultrasound technician to flip a switch to allow us to see video footage of the ultrasound, thinking that the machine was just in some sort of still mode. My initial state of denial did nothing to change the fact that our 13-week-old unborn child was dead.

For over a week, I’ve been fighting back thoughts that have flooded my mind with the fragile brutality of all of this. How is it that a child who has never gotten a chance to do anything other than exhibit an insatiable natural will to live would be denied the sovereign gift to thrive and transcend the womb? Why did I hunker down in the presumptive peace of expecting that this pregnancy would go just like our first child’s? What is God’s will in this whole ordeal?

On Monday morning, before we found out about the miscarriage, Lauren and I were talking about potential names for our new baby. We kicked around the idea of naming the child “Abel”. Both of us loved the idea that, in Genesis, Abel offered a pleasing flesh and blood sacrifice to the Lord and it was accepted on account of his faith. At the same time, we had an honest acceptance of the fact that Abel’s name in Hebrew (Hebel) means “Breath”, or “Vapor”, indicating the fleeting brevity of human life. There was no way for us to have known just how prophetic this conversation was.

The author of Ecclesiastes (presumably Solomon) uses the word hebel 27 times in the book and most English translations render it to mean “vanity.” For me, the true meaning of this word brings clarity to most of the passages in Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 3:18,19
I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is [fleeting vapor].

(The distinction between the word “breath” and “breath/vapor” can be seen in the difference between “ruwach” and “hebel” in the Hebrew)

Ecclesiastes 8:14
There is a [fleeting vapor] that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is [fleeting vapor].

Strangely, the author’s honest words about the nature of life have brought me a great deal of comfort and resolution. I can’t shake the images that come into my mind when I think of what has happened to my little baby, but all of this brutality has become bitter-sweet because I have no doubt that God is infinitely sovereign and good.

Let me share something in as bold and raw of a light as I can:

I am fully convinced that our son or daughter is now peacefully situated with our savior Jesus Christ and will be for all of eternity. Not only that, but my wife and I will get to meet them one day in Heaven.

King David confirms this in 2 Samuel:

2 Samuel 12:22,23
He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

David believed that he would one day be reunited with his son. While his son would never again return to earth as he knew it, David was sure that he would see his son in heaven.

I’m convinced that our suffering is shared and understood by God. He allowed his only son to humble himself by becoming human, and then undergo a mercilessly brutal series of floggings and eventually death by asphyxiation on a cross. Surely, God can understand what it feels like to lose a child.

Its been ordained by God for Lauren and I to suffer through the death of a child. It’s been incredibly difficult to accept this in light of such a tangible tragedy. I suppose I was safer believing this when it was convenient to be abstract and philosophical about it. God doesn’t want me to abstract his truth about suffering any longer. Its now a thick and palpable reality to me.

Romans 8:18—25
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

I long to meet our second child in Heaven. I long to see an end to these labor pains. Most of all, I long to see Satan the murderer bend his knee to Jesus and then be thrown into the lake of fire. God is good and I know that I don’t long for his coming in vain.

Chesterton was a rather large man

I came across the following quote from GK Chesterton as the closing words in his work entitled “Orthodoxy”.

Joy, which was the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian. And as I close this chaotic volume I open again the strange small book from which all Christianity came; and I am again haunted by a kind of confirmation. The tremendous figure which fills the Gospels towers in this respect, as in every other, above all the thinkers who ever thought themselves tall. His pathos was natural, almost casual. The Stoics, ancient and modern, were proud of concealing their tears. He never concealed His tears; He showed them plainly on His open face at any daily sight, such as the far sight of His native city.

Yet He concealed something. Solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists are proud of restraining their anger. He never restrained His anger. He flung furniture down the front steps of the Temple, and asked men how they expected to escape the damnation of Hell.

Yet He restrained something. I say it with reverence; there was in that shattering personality a thread that must be called shyness. There was something that He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation.

There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth.

Leave it up to a dead white guy to conclude a book with a word that carries next to no meaning in today’s use of the English language. The word “mirth” is defined as “hilarity: great merriment, gaiety accompanied with laughter and joviality.” Based on the context of Chesterton’s final statement, one could conclude that he’s saying that Jesus often kept his joy and joviality hidden, and that his main outlet of joy was prayer.

Chesterton wrote Orthodoxy as a reaction against the “Moderns, Materialists, and Skeptics” of his time. He presents Christianity and the Gospel in contrast with rationalism, paganism, and a host of other -isms, and in this statement, he poses a curious observation about the visible joy of Jesus. At first glance, his thoughts seem to fly in the face of Jesus’ resounding promise of joy:

John 16:22—24
So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

John 15:10,11
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

We aren’t necessarily told exactly what this joy should look like. For myself, Chesterton’s words are encouragement to see Jesus as one who fervently pursued a passionate and joyful prayer life. While the world tends to stage large demonstrations of lesser joy, its true that the greatest joy can be found in pursuing God face to face, and asking him to make his name great. The pursuit of God is demonstrated in scripture as being a source of joy. The consummation of his plan is the promise that feeds a joyful life of prayer.

Israel: Dispensation 05

Back in December, I spent some time in Los Angeles doing a live-action film shoot for my work. While I was walking back to the hotel in Santa Monica, a Hasidic man approached me and said “Shalom! Are you a Jew?” I said “No, I’m not a Jew, I’m a Christian.” “Well, you know, Hanukkah’s coming and well….hold on a second…” He then bolted off towards another man who was walking down the street saying the same thing “Shalom! Are you a Jew?” This time he was met with a “uh, yeah, how did you know?” I waited around to talk to the guy because it seemed like our conversation still had some legs. I overheard him admonish this man to start coming to the Chabad House once Hanukkah starts so that he could follow the law and various traditions. The guy he was talking to seemed disinterested and told him that he was circumcised and that his mother is a Jew, and he didn’t really see much of a need to go any further than that. After some opposition, their conversation ended and I approached him again.

I asked him why he thought to come to me and ask if I was a Jew. He explained that his religion calls for him and others to do “outreach”. I asked if that outreach included Gentiles and he said “Oh, no…well, its very hard for a Gentile to become a Jew. You have to do a lot of really hard stuff to become a Jew and we really don’t encourage Gentiles to go through with all of that. But if you’re a Jew, its important for you to follow the Torah and take part in all the customs.” He told me that his father was a leader in the local Chabad House, and that they often go around the city encouraging Jews to start taking their religion more seriously. He handed me a Jewish calendar and I asked him a question I had been wondering about for some time.

“In Genesis, God tells Abraham that his seed will be a blessing to all nations. How has this been fulfilled?”

He fumbled about for a bit and started to tell me about how through Abraham, many nations came about and how not all of them are Jewish. So by simply being the beginning of many nations, he felt that the prophecy had been fulfilled. He started to walk away from me and so I asked if he believed there was more to it than that. He answered “No.” and waved goodbye.

My encounter with this man was intense not because of the words that we shared, but because I could feel a huge connection between us, almost as if I was talking to a long lost relative who shared the same blood, but who spoke an entirely foreign language. I prayed for the man often during that week, that he would see Jesus, and bow his knee to him as Messiah. He knew where our conversation was headed and took the first opportunity to eject himself out of it when I asked a difficult question. I was humbled by the experience because I could see some of my own tendencies in his swift retreat.

The Bible teaches that man is not saved by a working observance of the Old Testament Law. One only needs to hear the words of a pious Jew in Romans 3 to understand that salvation comes only through faith in Jesus the Messiah. Paul’s words alone bear a testimony that shatters many of the teachings of Christian Zionists mentioned earlier in this series. The remaining question is “How are we to practically apply what the Bible teaches about Israel?”

One of the more profound teachings in Scripture about God’s will for the church’s relation to Israel is in Ephesians 2:

Ephesians 2:11—22
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

God wills for the Gentile church and the children of Israel to be one body. The point of division is the reliance on Old Testament Law for salvation. The physical manifestation of that division is circumcision. God’s will is for that dividing wall to be broken down and redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

The most loving thing that we can do for Jewish people is to tell them about the Messiah who has already come once and is coming again. In Acts, we see that the Apostles set out preaching first to the Jews in a particular region and then they preached to the Gentiles. There is already a profound connection between the Church and Judaism, and that is the Law and the Prophets. Preach the glorious Good News of Jesus Christ and assure your Jewish friends that their acceptance of him solidifies them as a part of God’s holy family: Israel.

The modern nation of Israel is commonly understood as being the same thing as God’s holy family as described in Scripture. This understanding often places an undue amount of favoritism in the lap of the Israeli government no matter how secular their beliefs and no matter how unjust their actions. God has shown himself to be more concerned with what his people do with their land than with defending their eternal right to it. In the process of regaining the land of Palestine, over 700,000 non-Jews were uprooted from their homes and placed into refugee camps and other permanent communities. Since 1948, violence in the region has flared up time and time again from both Israelis and Palestinians. Both sides have and continue to suffer immense casualties: men, women, and children. Regardless of the indignant political statements made from both sides, human beings including Jews and Gentiles are suffering and dying. Its a Christian duty to heal the wounded, take care of the orphans and widows, and act as peacemakers. This involves compromise from both sides and instead of finding some sick and sheltered prophetic fascination in watching Palestinians and Israelis get butchered daily, its time for the Church to stand up and anoint the region and people with an oil of service and prayer.

We can help the wounded on both sides by donating money and other resources to emergency relief organizations such as Magen David Adom and the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Both face unparalleled challenges healing the wounds of this conflict, and both could use our unbiased support.

The Abraham Fund is involved in “Advancing the coexistence and equality among Jews and Arabs in Israel.” They are actively educating people in the Israeli government about the social and economic realities of Arab life in Israel. They promote dialogue through encouraging Jewish schools to teach Arabic to schoolchildren, and they work with Israeli police to sooth wounded relations with the Arab minority in Israel. Their current hope is to transform the Beit HaKerem Valley into a “coexistence zone” driven by social and economic prosperity, safety and fruitful cooperation.

Intercession on behalf of the people living in the region of Israel is the most practical and constant method for Christians worldwide to work for peace, justice, and the fruitful proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Acquaint yourself with the diverse people of the land, and the history of their struggle, and you will find your prayer taking on a new dimension of clarity and precision as you align your hearts compassionately with the humanity that dwells on all sides of the conflict walls.

Israel is a diverse nation containing a complex mix of the following religious/cultural groups:

Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, Druse, Bedouin, Secular Arabs, Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardic Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Secular Jews, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syrian Orthodox Christians, Armenian, Latin-rite, Marionite, Melkite, and Syrian Catholics, Anglicans, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Church of the Nazarene, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and non-denominational Christians, as well as a host of other religions and cultural persuasions.

This brings complexity to the need for prayer, but it should cause one to realize that the situation in Israel is not simply a matter of Jew -vs- Muslim. Pray for the salvation of each and every person living in the region, and pray specifically for how God would want to redeem the rebellious systems of belief that currently reject his son and show hatred for the Good News.

Pray specifically for the families of the wounded and casualties of the conflict. Pray for miraculous healing and regeneration of blown-off appendages, ruptured eardrums and lungs, punctured hearts and damaged brains. Lift your hands and do not cease asking God to have his name glorified in the region through miraculous signs and wonders, and through the rebirth that only comes from a bowed knee to Jesus. Meditate on God’s word and ask him to fulfill his desire to have “one man” where there is now two. Ask him to hasten the day when Jesus will come in the clouds and judge the hearts of man and bring down the New Jerusalem where the old one lies.

Come Jesus, and surprise us with your will! Help us to be postured towards loving you with all that we are, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to participate in the creation of “one man” where there is now two. Amen!

Israel: Dispensation 04

Willem Glashouwer’s book “Why Israel” provides a glimpse into his own organization’s narrow beliefs regarding Christian Zionism. It is, therefore, worthwhile to take an even broader survey of the different sorts of Zionist leanings that exist within the Christian church today. Before I highlight a few examples, its necessary to at least provide a cursory history of Christian Zionism.

Christian Zionist History on Fast-Forward

In England, the emergence of proto-Christian Zionist beliefs followed the translation of the Bible into English. As the word of God became accessible to non-clergy Englishmen, individuals started to discover “the people and land of the Book.” Because of this, many British statesmen developed a clearer sense of the history of a people who had been forcefully spread out over Europe and Asia. While Zionism had not yet developed in any sort of organized manner, the roots of Zionist beliefs started to take form even within the hearts and minds of Gentile Christians.

The advent of organized Jewish Zionism followed quickly on the heals of the “Haskalah” of the 18th century. The Haskalah was a movement among European Jews that proposed the adoption of enlightenment values for Jews to become fully integrated into European society. It was primarily concerned with secular human rights issues and for a secular form of Judaism in Europe. The Haskalah solidified Jews in Europe under a revival of Jewish secular identity. Many Jews ceased observing the ritual laws of the Torah as a result of this movement. It later developed into Zionism (a focus on the reestablishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine) while facing the persecutions of the late 1800s.

Around the same time, an American preacher influenced by D.L. Moody began to speak fervently about the restoration of the historical Israelites to the land of Palestine. His name was William Eugene Blackstone, and he also believed in a premillennial return of Christ and the Christian rapture. In 1887, he founded the Chicago Hebrew Mission for the evangelization of American Jews. In 1891, he obtained the signatures of 413 prominent Americans advocating the resettlement of persecuted Jews in Russia to a new homeland in Palestine. He gathered this document to sway the opinion of President Benjamin Harrison to support such an initiative. Blackstone later made a similar appeal to President Woodrow Wilson that influenced his acceptance of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which was the British establishment of a Palestinian homeland for Jews:

Arthur James Balfour (Foreign Secretary of England):
“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

In 1948, Israel was officially recognized as an independent nation in the land once called “Palestine”. President Harry S. Truman, influenced by his own flavor of Christian Zionism, was compelled to disregard the advice of the U.S. State Department and stand to recognize the official state of Israel regardless of the effect that this would have on the population of over 1 million Palestinians that inhabited the territory. As a result, 914,000 people in Palestine were expelled from their homes and forced into refugee camps.

After Truman’s presidency, a good friend introduced him to a group of professors by saying “This is the man who helped create the state of Israel,” but Truman corrected him: “What do you mean ‘helped to create’? I am Cyrus. I am Cyrus!” Truman was comparing himself to the Persian King in the Old Testament who defeated the Babylonians, enabling the Jews to return to their land after 70 years of captivity.

While this historical accounting leaves out many details in the development of Christian Zionism, the most relevant points have been noted. Even early on, Christian Zionists exhibited influence and control over political and international affairs. Characteristic of the movement is the belief that the establishment of the modern state of Israel is in fulfillment of key biblical prophecies leading to a hastening of the return of Jesus Christ. Also characteristic of this movement is the idea that Christians can and must do what they can to influence or force a hastening of Christ’s footsteps through a particular interest in the political and social affairs of modern Israel.

Various Contemporary Christian Zionist Beliefs

Rick Joyner and Morningstar Ministries

In the July of 1999, Gentile author and self-proclaimed prophet Rick Joyner presented a list of prophecies outlining his beliefs about Israel and the end-times. Here are just a few things that he professed at a conference called “Messiah ’99”:

The Messianic people are a prophetic righteous remnant, “that are calling the Church back to their Jewish roots” and “they are back to become a prophetic call to the nation of Israel.”

Messianic people are, “THE HEAD,” meaning, of the Body of Christ and the First Fruits.
Jews and Gentiles will be looking to the Messianics to explain the Word of God.

Reconciliation happens when there is restitution, and there’s going to be a lot of restitution for the Messianic people as Jews.

Messianic people will have a better ability to witness, heal, discern and utilize spiritual gifts than others.

Messianics are going to help us (the Church) restore our foundations to where they belong — and we won’t get where we’re supposed to be without their help.

The LaHaye/Jenkins Book Club

Popular interest in Christian Zionism surged around the year 2000 on account of the “Left Behind” series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. While Christian involvement in fervently evangelizing Jews and urging them to move back to Israel is often cited as a function of hastening the return of Jesus, it isn’t often that they are told of all the prophecies that involve them in the end times. For example, Tim LaHaye and others believe that Zechariah 13:8 is a yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecy about the grotesque murder of 2/3 of all Jews in Israel.

Zechariah 13:8
“In the whole land, declares the Lord,
two thirds shall be cut off and perish,
and one third shall be left alive.”

It would be difficult for Christian Zionists to encourage Jews to move back to Israel if they also told the part of the story where only 1/3 of them will survive something worse than the Nazi Holocaust. This part of the story is often conveniently withheld.

Pat Robertson’s Foot/Mouth

In 2006, the infamous televangelist Pat Robertson found that his words could still provoke a healthy dose of controversy when he spoke harshly about the recent stroke and hospitalization of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon:

“He was dividing God’s land, and I would say, ‘Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the [European Union], the United Nations or the United States of America.’ God says, ‘This land belongs to me, and you’d better leave it alone,’”

This statement came as a response to the Prime Minister’s withdrawal of Israeli forces from the battle-embittered territory of Gaza. Robertson fully believed that God had vengeance on Sharon for compromising a divine land right. He later apologized to the Prime Minister’s family after Israeli officials canceled plans to involve Robertson in the construction of a new Christian tourist center in Northern Israel.

“My concern for the future safety of your nation led me to make remarks which I can now view in retrospect as inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief experienced because of your father’s illness…”

John Hagee is Ready For Combat

In July of 2007, Texas Pastor John Hagee and his organization, Christians United For Israel, held a conference called “A Night to Honor Israel”. Over 4,500 people from every state in the country, including Newt Gingrich and multiple U.S. Senators attended the event. Hagee addressed this highly influential and powerful audience with a call to preemptively attack Iran for the sake of Israel.

“Let us shout it from the housetops that a new day has been born in America. The sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awakened. If a line has to be drawn, draw the line around Christians and Jews. We are united. We are indivisible. And together we can reshape history…we want you to recognize that Iran is a clear and present danger to the United States of America and Israel… it’s time for our country to consider a military preemptive strike against Iran if they will not yield to diplomacy. And if they continue the pursuit of nuclear weapons we must not allow them to manipulate the economy of the world because they have a nuclear weapon.”

One should certainly not underestimate the political weight of the words spoken by this man from Texas. History has shown that preachers can often have enough influence to either coddle or sway the interests of powerful men holding public office to change the state of foreign or domestic policy. Hagee’s sentiment is that if any group is bold enough to make threats against Israel, Christians should respond with preemptive and violent attack, and he feels that God and his word back this sentiment.

Earning Your Way into New Jerusalem - IHOP

While all of the above examples provide a look at some of the common extremities of belief within Christian Zionism, its also worthwhile to look at the seemingly milder presentation of Zionist beliefs found within a popular youth prayer movement. Kansas City’s International House of Prayer disseminates a message about Israel that avoids some of the common scriptural and social pitfalls of the older generations of Zionists while continuing to support the notion of hastening the return of Jesus through alignment with modern Israel.

From IHOP’s “Israel Mandate” webpage:
“The operation and visitation of the spirit in Israel is a vital part of releasing the great end-time harvest among the nations (Ezekiel 36:23–36). However, this full release will only come as a result of a body of believers who are committed to a life of night and day prayer living a fasted lifestyle.”

From IHOP Pastor Mike Bickle’s sermon “The Fullness of the Gentiles; Provoking Israel”
Most Gentile believers are significantly unaware of the plan of God, as revealed in the Scripture, and of the jeopardy they will be in if they do not understand it so as to cooperate fully in the grace of God. That fear of God, that peril, is almost non-existent among Gentile believers, five hundred million strong in the earth. That is trouble. That is not a good situation. We are not going to be equipped by Messianic believers trumpeting this, and five hundred million Gentile believers going, “Well, it is their thing.” We need an army of men and women taking their stand; anointed, equipped at the heart level, at the revelatory level.

In [Romans 11:20], “Because of unbelief they were broken off. You stand because of faith. Do not be haughty, but fear God.” Why? Why was this fear of God? Why do we have to fear God because Jewish people are going to get saved? Why does that have the fear of God on it? Paul says, “Stay with me, here. If God did not spare the natural branches, he may not spare you!” Where is the trumpet blast to the Gentile believers? God, the love sick Bridegroom God, may not spare you and your church!

The Gentiles in Rome are going, “Paul, you have not even met us.” Paul says, “Stay with me. Therefore, consider the goodness. Study the goodness, study the Bridal Paradigm, study the Father-heart of God. Encounter the goodness. Get lost in the realm of the mercy and the goodness of God.”

IHOP’s presentation of Christian Zionism is more honestly connected to their focus on end-time prophecy. In the previous statements, the leadership at IHOP is effectively saying “If you don’t begin to understand and participate in what we think God is going to be doing in Israel, you will likely lose your salvation and be destroyed.” When Paul, in Romans 11, is talking about humbling ourselves before the God who spared us and grafted us into the olive tree, Mike Bickle interprets this as a warning to Gentile believers about being destroyed if we don’t recognize what God is going to do with the Jews. It seems more reasonable to say that Paul is urging the brethren to remain humble because they did NOTHING to deserve being grafted in. Mike Bickle prefers to focus on the way he believes that Gentile believers can be worthy enough to remain a part of the olive tree.

What follows after this can only be described as the IHOP re-contextualization of any given verse in scripture to align with their image of Jesus as being primarily a “love-sick Bridegroom God.” While this sermon lacks any pragmatic examples of what it means to understand and “cooperate fully with the grace of God” as it applies to modern Israel, the threat is implicit yet clear: “You and your church can lose your salvation if you don’t get this right.”

Hastening the Day

Whether its the youth-palatable IHOP message or the southern drawl war-porn of John Hagee, the essential focus of Christian Zionism has less to do with compassion for Jews as human beings and more to do with compelling Jesus to “hurry along and get us out of this sick-ol’-world already.”

So far, I’ve spent a lot of time in this series being critical—cutting into the beliefs and actions of others. I’d like to spend my next post suggesting, what I feel to be, God-pleasing and practical applications of what scripture demonstrates and teaches us about Israel.

Israel: Dispensation 03

In Romans 11, Paul crafts a vivid picture of an olive tree to explain the complex relationship between ethnic Israel and Gentile Christians. Towards the end of the chapter, he makes a few statements that raise the question of how he defines the word “Israel.” Is “Israel”, in all instances within Romans 11, meant to be understood as those people who have simply been born into a Jewish family?

Before I try to tackle this question, I want to start off by exploring whether God values racial identity in a way that would cause us to assume that he favors one ethnic group over another.

God, throughout all of history, has used covenants to establish agreements and promises with humans. Through these covenants, we are able to see who God favors. In Genesis, we see the first covenant established with Noah’s family/offspring and all the creatures found on the ark. God’s promise here is that he would never again destroy all the creatures on earth with a flood. Since all of humanity and the animal kingdom had been wiped out besides those who were on the ark, its safe to say that God established his first covenant with all of creation since we are all descendants of those who were saved from the floodwaters.

Later in the book of Genesis, during God’s action in response to the pride of Babel, we can see the first spreading and diversification of humanity. Even later, Abraham and his descendants received a covenant with God that was/is exclusively directed towards them and not the other nations that had been spread out during the incident in Babel. From Abraham, we see the beginning of a long line of covenantal people including the man named Israel. From the twelve sons of Israel, we have the direct ancestry of ethnic Judaism. In one limited sense, its clear that God chose to have his favor on a specific ethnic group by way of blessing the offspring of his faithful elect.

From the beginning of the book of Exodus, we begin to see a more complex pattern emerging than that of God’s favor being dealt simply on the basis of human ethnicity. Moses married Zipporah, who was not from the twelve tribes of Israel and God did not lift his favor from Moses’ descendants. In Deuteronomy 7, God tells the Israelites to commit all the nations of people who stand in the way of the Promised Land to total destruction, making sure to avoid intermarrying with them. God gives his reason for this in Deuteronomy 7:4:

Deuteronomy 7:4
for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

God’s basis for this prohibition is that the people from other ethnicities would have a profound effect on Israel, namely that they would cause the people of Israel to begin to worship false gods. At this point in history, one’s ethnicity generally determined their religion. On this basis, God prohibited the Israelites from marrying outside of their race. This prohibition crops up again in numerous places throughout the Old Testament.

In Nehemiah 13, we see the reestablishment of Ammonites and Moabites being restricted from entering the assembly of God. This is specifically because of their ancestors’ wickedness against the tribes of Israel in hiring the prophet Balaam to curse them. Again, this prohibition was based on the actions and beliefs of other nations, not simply their ethnicity.

Ruth abandoned the paganism of her Moabite ancestry and declared to Naomi that “your God will be my God”, effectively joining the family of Israel. Ruth was obviously important to God regardless of the fact that she came from a godless culture. She was important enough that He assigned her to be a part of the lineage of Jesus of Nazareth. Here is only one of many decisive points where we can see that God favors faith over ethnicity.

In Genesis 15:6, we see that because Abraham believed in and trusted God’s promise to him, his belief was credited to him as righteousness. Hebrews 11 gives us precedent to understand God as showing favor on account of faith, not simply ethnicity. The author of Hebrews clearly wishes to link the faith held by Christians (Jews and Gentiles) to that of the heros of the Old Testament. The great cloud of witnesses that stand with us all have one thing in common, faith in Jesus.

This is all to assert that God has shown a pattern of blessing people on account of his grace, in light of their faith. A misconception made on the part of many Christian Zionists is that God has a racially involved agenda that works in the favor of Jewish people irrespective of any belief in the saving blood of Jesus Christ. This misconception leads many to elevate place and race (Jerusalem and ethnic Israel) above the clearer scriptural themes of grace and faith.

It is important to note that throughout redemptive history we see a progression in the value placed on nation and family. In the Old Testament, the themes of nation and family are framed in earthly terms. In fact, the words “nation” and “family” are almost synonymous in an Old Testament context. In the New Testament, we see a shift occur where the value placed on nation and family is framed in more heavenly terms. Jesus, in Mark 3, Matthew 12, and Luke 8:19-21, drastically redefines the traditional Jewish understanding of family by implying that the disciples are more of a family to him (through faith and obedience) than his own fleshly mother and brothers. Jesus is called a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, an honor that subverts the traditional Jewish system where the Levites assumed exclusive priesthood. As for national affiliation, Philippians 3:20 teaches us that our citizenship is not of Jerusalem, Rome, or the United States, but that our citizenship is of heaven. Perhaps God’s intention for the Old Testament focus on the nation and family of Israel was to condition us to have the mindset of being a part of a heavenly family, a kingdom-nation.

This brings us back to Paul and his definition of the word “Israel”. To more fully understand the way Paul defines “Israel”, we’ll have to look at a number of places where he directly defines the word/idea.

Romans 9:6–8
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

Galatians 3:7–9
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Galatians 3: 25—29
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Galatians 4:21—31
Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written,

“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

It is very clear that when prompted by a question of the superiority of racial identity and Torah observance over faith in Jesus Christ, Paul resoundingly defines “Israel” as being those who are saved by the blood of the new covenant. The fact that he still places importance on the connection to Abraham, and calling the family “Israel”, further reinforces that God, all along, has valued faith and kingdom mentality above simple ethnic origin. We, who are Gentiles by ethnicity, and Christians by grace and faith, have been adopted into the family of God. Even to Paul, who states a number of times what a Torah-true super Jew he was, the thing that defines his place in the family of Israel is not his birthright or any religious piety that he has exhibited, but rather his faith in the grace of God through the blood of Jesus.

Romans 11
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

In Romans 11, Paul kills two birds with one stone. He speaks words that incite ethnic Israel to be jealous of the adoption that Gentile Christians have received, and he calls Gentile Christians to be humble about what they have received (not earned!), because without the blood of Christ, they have nothing over the unbelieving Jews. Paul speaks of the remnant of the Old Testament who did not bow their knees to false gods, and he assures that there will be a remnant of ethnic Jews who will believe in Jesus and be saved.

In the end, he concludes that ALL ISRAEL will be saved. I understand this as being all of those (Gentiles and Jews) who believe in Jesus Christ and have been saved by his grace. I don’t think that there is clear biblical precedent to believe that God has a plan to save all of ethnic Israel. Following in the pattern of how God has worked in the past, I surmise that there will only be a remnant of ethnic Israel who will be saved, and only as a result of accepting the grace of God through faith in Jesus. This is an eschatological presupposition of mine, and nothing more. Paul refers to this as a mystery, and the only thing that I’ll conclude is that, indeed, it is a mystery. I’ll also assert that our God is not a racist god that focuses on simple blood relation over faith and obedience.

Willem Glashouwer’s book “Why Israel” represents many sentiments that are held by Christian Zionists worldwide, but within the broader religio-political Zionist worldview, there’s quite a bit of diversity in belief. In the next part of this series, I’ll examine the varying beliefs of other Christian Zionist organizations and churches to determine if there is anything good and biblical that can be gained from their focus on Zionism.

I’ve been MIA

Hey all. I apologize for delaying so much in continuing the Israel series. I’ve been swamped with more work than I know what to do with and my priorities are leading me to other things besides this blog.

Please keep checking back because I plan on continuing this series in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience.

Israel: Dispensation 02

In “Why Israel”, Willem Glashouwer spends a lot of time and effort referring back to the words of Paul in Romans 11 to support his views on the nation of Israel.

Concerning Romans 11, he asserts that:

Page 72:
“All over the world synagogues sprang up as the Jews were scattered. In the midst of all races and peoples and nations and religions, the Name and the Word of God, Moses, and the prophets were present in the synagogue. The “root” apparently had to be physically present all over the world, in order that Gentiles might become engrafted in that root, and join the covenant relationship of God with Abraham, now extended in the New Covenant…Despite the tension in the relationship of church and synagogue, both share the same root, namely the covenant[s] of God with Israel. More precisely, the church stands on the root, which is God’s relationship with Israel. Gentiles were engrafted in the new covenant that was made with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Paul had to remind the Roman Christians “You do not support the root, but the root supports you!.” The spiritual (and possibly even the physical) root of the church is Israel and the covenants God made with her. In spite of the early infiltration of the church by elements of Greek philosophy and attempts to detach the church from her Jewish root and to convert Israel to a non-Jewish theology, this is still the case. Despite her Gentile nature, the church is grafted into the cultivated olive tree whose root is in rich sap.”

All throughout the book, Glashouwer makes a number of different declarations of what Paul, in Romans 11, is referring to as the “root”. At one point in the book, he writes that Israel itself is the root. In the quote above, he declares that the root is the covenants that God has made with Israel, and then one sentence later he changes it to the broader context of God’s relationship with Israel. In his mind, its the relationship that Israel has with God that we Gentile believers stand on for our salvation.

Jesus came into human history and expounded the lesser significance of Jewish blood-relation in comparison to what he was providing through his shed blood. I think Paul (amongst others) got this, even though he was a Jew of Jews by birthright, consecration, zealotry, etc…

Lets look at Romans 11 and try to determine the primary and secondary messages that Paul was sending out:

Romans 11

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Elijah implicates ALL of Israel for the assassination of God’s prophets and the desecration of his temples. God’s response to him is that there’s a remnant of people who have not partaken in those crimes (or idolatry, for that matter). Paul inserts the parallel idea that while not all of Israel has been or will be rejected, but that there will be a remnant of ethnic Israel who have been elected and chosen by God’s grace.

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see
and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”

And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs forever.”

Through the old law, Israel has been unable to attain salvation. The law existed to convict all of their sinfulness (Romans 7). The “elect” obtained salvation through God’s grace, not through observance of the law. Furthermore, the hearts of “the rest” were hardened, their eyes were blinded, and their ears were made deaf.

So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Since there was/is a portion of Israel whom have rejected Jesus, us Gentiles are given the wild privilege of having this salvation offered to us. In the same way that this should make us feel eternally grateful (to Jesus), our acceptance of God’s grace was designed to make those who have stumbled incredibly jealous. Paul says that he highlights this in his ministry specifically to make Jews jealous. If the first portion of people who believe in Jesus are made holy by his blood, then perhaps their influence and testimony will cause others to eventually join the family. Here’s where Paul brings in the idea of the root and the branches. It seems like he’s making a simile between the firstfruits and the root. However, it appears that Paul’s comparison contradicts Glasshouwer’s assumption that the olive root is the relationship God has with Israel.

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

The root of an olive tree provides nutrients to the rest of the tree in the form of sap. The branches of the tree receive nutrients primarily from the root and without the root, the various branches will eventually die.

In the Christian faith, what is it that provides us with salvation from Hell and access to God the Father?

There is no more important element in the Christian faith than the blood of Jesus Christ. Without his blood in/on our life, we have no salvation and we will be cut off from the tree. In my mind, it’s wiser to assume that the olive root is actually Jesus Christ. We are imputed his righteousness (“sap”), and without him, we are damned.

We Gentiles were grafted into the tree as wild olive shoots. In the cultivation of olive trees, the cutting and engrafting of foreign limbs promotes the natural growth of the tree. This is also done when branches have become disconnected from or no longer draw from the roots. Those branches have to be cut out or the tree will eventually suffer. So Paul is saying that both the engrafted branches and the natural ones are subject to being cut off. He also says that both can be grafted back in as well (praise God! this also has implications in the age-old debate between Arminians and Calvinists). Paul gives us instruction to note the severity of God in his act of cutting some branches off, and the kindness of God in his act of grafting some branches in for the first time, or after a previous fall. This is also a warning to Gentiles to avoid thinking that because a Jew rejects Jesus at this current time, that they will forever. God is both severe and kind.

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
“and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”

As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Paul concludes the passage with statements that are still a total mystery to me. I have some assumptions about what this final passage means, but I won’t be so arrogant to think that I’ve wrapped my brain around it and figured it all out.

There’s apparently a number of Gentiles that God knows will come into the family and accept Jesus. To accomplish this, God has allowed a partial hardening of ethnic Israel. When all the Gentiles have “come in”, then all of Israel will be saved. What Paul means by “all Israel” is a bone of contention. If its simply God’s plan to redeem all of ethnic Israel through miraculous means, I’ll be overjoyed. However, I suspect that there’s more to how Paul defines “Israel” than what can be taken at face value. This is where I will pick up in my next post. For now, consider the following passages of scripture:

Galatians 3:7–9
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

25—29
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Romans 9: 1—13

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Israel: Dispensation 01

I recently finished reading a book called “Why Israel” by Willem Glashouwer. Since a lot of the content sparked a bunch of Bible study, I’m going to spend the next 4 posts addressing a number of issues raised in the book.

Willem Glashouwer is the President of Christians for Israel International, a Christian Zionist organization with headquarters in Holland. His book deals with numerous issues concerning the relationship between Christians and Jews, and his view of the eschatological significance of the return of Jews to the Holy Land. I honestly can’t say that this is a good book, but it has spurred on a lot of study regarding the nation of Israel.

Overall, Willem seems to be motivated greatly by the historical spectre and current reality of anti-Semitic beliefs and actions worldwide. There is absolutely no doubt that one’s view of Israel can quickly be colored in reaction against Christians’ statements of anti-Semitism that begin as early as the first century.

“The Jews will never be restored to their former condition.” Origen, 2nd Century

[Jews are] “murderers, destroyers, men possessed by the devil. They know only one thing, to satisfy their gullets, get drunk, to kill and maim on another.” John Chrysostom, 4th Century

“The Jews, surely rejected by God, are no longer his people, and neither is he any longer their God.” Martin Luther

Even this small selection of statements is enough to grieve me with shame over sharing a single belief with any of the people quoted. Surely, scripture speaks with a bit more importance about the relationship God has had with the people whom he first called his own.

Willem takes his book in the direction of reacting against anti-Semitic beliefs in the Church, and uses that reaction to substantiate his theology as it concerns the apocalypse. In the process, he’s guilty of making a number of statements that show less of a commitment to sound biblical exegesis, than to Christian Zionism. Over the course of this series of postings, I’ll try my best to give some of the most striking examples:

Page 144
John 1:1–5:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
——–

“After reading this scripture, and keeping in mind that Jesus Himself was a Jew, it could be stated:

In the beginning there was the Messiah, and the Messiah was with the Jews, and the Messiah was a Jew. He was in the beginning with the Jews. Through Him and His Jewish disciples, all the Christian church was made; without the Jewish Messiah and His Jewish disciples, nothing good was made that has been made in the Church. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light keeps shining in the Gentile darkness and the Gentile darkness has never put it out.

The Christian church rose from the blood, the resurrection and words of the Jewish Messiah. And the Christian Church was Jewish at her inception. The history of the Church – which stems from its awakening through God’s revelation to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – is linked to the Jews. Yet the Christian Church turned away from the Jews, as the Jews turned away from the Christians. One could say that the Church cut the root and stole the fruit.”

Keep in mind that the actual context of John 1 has little to do with Jesus being a Jew, but rather that he is the Word (logos) of God, and in fact God himself! John 1 makes cataclysmic statements about the nature of Jesus Christ as being fully man and fully God, the creator of all that exists. Many theological errors begin as humble disconnections of scripture from context and end up running fast and loose with the original intent of the passage. Please take a second to read a bit more of John 1:

John 1:6—18

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Glashouwer finds it necessary to reinterpret John 1 to be Jew-centric and to focus on Jesus as being a Jew who came primarily for the Jews and only parenthetically saved the Gentiles from their own darkness. This passage actually indicates that Jesus enlightens everyone, including Jews. We see that Jesus’ own people did not receive him, and that it’s because of the reception of and belief in him that anyone is granted the right to become a child of God. Additionally, the children of God are not merely children of blood, or of human will. The full context of the passage utterly obliterates Glashouwer’s notion that we could read it the way he wants us to read it.

None of this takes away even a shred of the historical or theological significance of the people of Israel. In my next post, I’ll explore some of the claims that Glashouwer makes about Paul’s message on the olive tree in Romans 11.

English translations of the Bible + Convergent Confrontation

Hank Hanegraaff just posted a nice little ditty about the history of English translations of the Bible. For certain, his reporting on this subject is quite truncated, it proves to be no less a great read.

In other news, Pastor Mark Driscoll recently did a particularly fine job of confronting a number of bad teachings and preachers (by name) at the Convergence conference in North Carolina. His address is found at the bottom of the list (Session 3). If you have trouble downloading the message from the SBTS site, do an iTunes Store search for “Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary”, and subscribe to the free Audio Podcast (Mark’s session shows up as “Convergent Conference - Session 3″).

The blogosphere is on fire with talk about Mark’s words, and it’s no wonder considering the appropriate severity that he employed. The best that this could accomplish is a rather hearty “conversation” about the doctrinal failings (and heresy) that can easily result from the desire to be relevant at all costs. Instead, much of what’s being said is really just a critique of Mark’s tactics and words.

UPDATE: Mark Driscoll’s message can be downloaded here.