If you believe that the modern state of Israel is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and that the Jewish people have a divine right to their ancient homeland, your views will stand the test of time. But if you simply have a sentimental attachment to the Jewish people and their state, one that is based on a superficial idealizing of the people of Israel, it won’t take much to shake your views.
What happens when Israel’s real blemishes and failings emerge? What happens when you are confronted with the very real humanity of the Jewish people?
Jewish believers in Jesus like myself have an in-house joke when we hear sincere Christians tell us with starry-eyed naiveté about their love for the Jews. We want to ask them, “Have you ever lived in Brooklyn or Tel Aviv?” In other words, we’ll see how much you love our people when you really get to know them.
We are flawed and blemished like everyone else, and just as our special gifts are undeniable, our shortcomings are undeniable as well.
Earlier this week, headlines announced, “Tel Aviv hosts largest gay pride parade in all of Asia, Middle East,” with 180,000 in attendance, including 30,000 from abroad.
This is a staggering number when you consider that Israel has roughly one-fortieth the population of America, meaning that if a similar gay pride event took place in the USA, it would draw more than 7 million people. Can you imagine that?
In January 2012, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, “In a worldwide survey conducted by GayCities.com and American Airlines, 43 percent of voters cast their ballot in favor of the White City, followed by New York City with 14 percent, Toronto with 7 percent, Sao Paulo with 6 percent, Madrid and London with 5 percent each and New Orleans and Mexico City with 4 percent each.”
Tel Aviv trounced the competition, getting more votes than the next six cities combined, yet being a gay hot spot is just one small part of the worldliness of this major Israeli city. This does not bode well for sentimental Zionism.
Abortions are easily obtained in Israel, especially for those under 17 and over 40, while female Israeli soldiers can get free abortions during their term of service. These are the sad, hard facts.
An opinion piece by Lior Akerman in the Jerusalem Post dated Feb. 20, 2014, stated, “It’s no surprise organized crime is flourishing.” And it began with these words: “Over the last month, there have been a number of assassinations of hardcore criminals who according to reports belong to one of Israel’s organized crime syndicates.”
We’re talking about Israel, not Sicily or Russia or even America. We’re talking about “the Holy Land.”
When it comes to the very religious in Israel – called haredim, God-fearers – despite their tremendous devotion to Torah study and prayer and ethical living, they, too, have battled corruption and other sins of the flesh, with some of their leaders jailed in recent years.
And let’s not forget that these traditional Jews, many of whom are deeply devoted and very sincere, are quite hostile to the gospel and passionately oppose any efforts of Gentile Christians or Messianic Jews to evangelize their people, some going as far as to burn New Testaments that were distributed in their midst.
There’s also the very real issue of racial tension between Israelis and Ethiopian Jews, not to mention between Israelis and Arabs.
And then there’s the issue of Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians, something that certainly happens on some level because of the struggles that exist between these peoples.
Sentimental Zionists who visit the Holy Land and come away starry-eyed have to ignore or even deny these many problems, since any admission of Israeli-Jewish moral failure threatens to the burst of the bubble of emotional support for the people and the land.
But a biblically based Zionism remains robust, recognizing that the God who scattered the Jewish people in his anger 2,000 years ago has regathered them by his mercy (rather than by their goodness) over the last 100-plus years. (Remember that it was largely secular Jews, including many atheists and even Communists, whom God used to pioneer the modern-day resettlement.)
As biblical Zionists, we recognize that Israel stands by grace just as the Church stands by grace, and as those committed to the Jewish nation as true friends, we are able to offer constructive criticism and disagreement when needed.
Of course, I also believe that Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East, that the Arabs living in Israel have more liberties than any of their compatriots in any other Middle Eastern (or Muslim) country, that Israel’s attitude toward the Palestinians is much better than the Palestinians’ attitude toward the Israelis, that Israel has much more of an ethical conscious than the vast majority of nations in the world, and that there are many special qualities that make the people and nation unique.
But my solidarity with Israel is not based on the country’s amazing technological advances or the IDF’s ethical requirements or the devotion of religious Jews or the positive virtues of the society. It is based on God’s love for the patriarchs and his commitment to keep his promises to them, which include establishing their offspring, the Jewish people, in their ancient homeland. And just as the Church exists by grace, not works, so also Israel exists by grace, not works.
We do well to ground our support for Israel first and foremost in what the Scriptures teach, not being oblivious to the nation’s shortcomings but saying instead, “We’re not standing with you because of your perfect performance but because of our unconditional love for you and our recognition of the work of God on your behalf.”
Sentimental Zionism has been shaken and will be shaken again. Biblical Zionism is as solid as the Word of God on which it is based.
