Wolves in sheep’s clothing

Supposedly Evangelical Christians hold anti-Evangelical positions on Israel and the bible.

By EARL COX
Earl Cox 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Earl Cox 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Some 600 supposed Christians recently gathered in Bethlehem for the “Christ at the Checkpoint Conference.” It focused mainly on two questions: Is the present physical restoration of Israel as a nation part of God's plan? And are Christian Zionists correct to support it? The conference was organized by the Bethlehem Bible College. Most of the speakers answered these two questions with a definitive, "No!"
The selected speakers strongly supported the anti-Jewish Replacement Theology so rampant in the Christian church today.  This faulty theology maintains that Israel was replaced by the Christian Church in the New Testament and that, therefore, the restored, modern-day nation of Israel is not God's plan for the Jewish people.
The Arab-operated Bethlehem Bible College is known to be strongly pro-Arab and anti-Jewish in its positions and teachings. Yet, like most of the others present, they like to call themselves "Evangelical Christians." In reality, they are not because, as already stated, Evangelical Christians believe that the entire Bible is the true and inerrant Word of God just as it is written without any man-made alterations, exemptions or additions. That includes all the Biblical prophetic passages that talk about the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland and the restoration of their ancient nation of Israel. From my observations, only a few “real” Christians attended the conference.
I want to share with you some of the biased anti-Israel statements made by several of the featured speakers at the conference. One was Professor Gary Burge of Wheaton College in Illinois; a renowned American Evangelical Christian school. Burge reportedly stated, "I am tired of meeting Christians who say that because of who the Jews are, they are entitled to something here in this land."  Remember, Professor Burge is speaking to this gathering of 600 in Bethlehem.
A friend of mine who is a Wheaton graduate and also a retired professor himself, Dr. Al Snyder, reacted by saying he does not know if Burge is a Bible professor, a mathematics professor or a biology professor.  Nevertheless, “One way or the other,” Dr. Snyder said, “he should be ashamed and he should be dismissed from his faculty position. Professor Burge does not seem to know the truth of what the Bible teaches about the Jewish people inheriting and possessing the land of Israel as an ‘eternal possession.’”     
Following Burge’s comments, Manfred Kohl, a German theologian, made the comment that anyone who believes the land of Israel belongs solely to the Jews is a "dummkopf," which means a very stupid person. He stressed that "Replacement Theology” is correct, if by it we understand that Jesus replaced the Old Covenant and the kingdom of Israel with a New Covenant. So "in Jesus' theology the land, like the law, becomes irrelevant," said Mr. Kohl.
We have to ask, who is the “dummkopf” here? The Bible clearly teaches that the land of Israel was given to the Jewish people as an "eternal possession." The Bible also clearly teaches that God Himself regathered the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth following the Diaspora, and that God Himself planned and brought about the restoration of the Jewish nation.
In the Bible it says, “Can a nation be born in a day?”  Well, the answer is obviously “yes” as Israel was reborn on May 14, 1948. God promised through His prophets that no one would ever again defeat or destroy the restored Jewish nation and that He would not only protect and preserve the nation, but He would also prosper it.  This has certainly come to pass.  Israel is a world leader in so many areas, including technology, medicine, science, agriculture and more.
Another speaker, Anglican theologian Colin Chapman, dared to say, "If Israel had complied with United Nations resolutions, Hamas might never have come into existence," and "if Israel had not invaded Lebanon, there might be no Hezbollah today."  These statements may well have uncovered another of Manfred Kohl’s “dummkopfs.”
Any moderately educated person who keeps up with current events and who is unbiased in their thinking and attitude should know that if Israel had complied with all the UN resolutions, Israel would not exist today.  They would also know that Israel did not invade Gaza or Lebanon, but rather only responded to attacks initiated by Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon; cowardly terrorists bent on the destruction of Israel and her people. Israel has always sought peace and peaceful co-existence with all of her Arab neighbors – the same neighbors who instigated five military wars against the Jews, not even counting the intifada. These neighbors have perpetrated countless heinous acts of terrorism. And the Arabs are still shouting their desires and plans to destroy the Jewish nation and the Jewish people altogether.
One speaker Salim Munayer stated: "The Messianic theology sees the establishment of the State of Israel as the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and it assumes that God has taken sides in this conflict." Well, Mr. Munayer should know from all the prophets, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos and Zechariah that the restored nation of Israel is indeed the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, and that God has indeed taken sides in the Israeli-Arab conflict. The Jews are still God's chosen people, and God has definitely declared that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews - not to the Arabs.
The conference clearly revealed that these so-called Arab Christians do not believe or celebrate God's faithfulness in miraculously fulfilling His long awaited promises to regather the Jewish people from around the world and to restore, preserve and bless their ancient nation of Israel. What a sad conclusion. These so called Arab Christians are nothing more than wolves in sheep’s clothing.