American Jews and evangelicals need a formal mechanism to discuss their differences and similarities on support for Israel, leaders from both sides said Thursday (April 28) at the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum 2011.
Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, spoke alongside Gary Bauer, president of American Values and a board member of Christians United for Israel, about Jewish groups’ concerns over evangelical support for Israel.
We could start with a few basic premises.
1. The modern state of Israel has nothing to do with the biblical state of Israel.
2. The biblical state of Israel permanently ceased to exist with the destruction of the Priesthood, and cannot be re-established.
3. The modern state of Israel has no eschatological significance.
4. The modern state of Israel is simply one nation among many, and is an ally of the US on the same terms as every other ally.
Problem solved. All we have to do is shed this dispensationalist nonsense.
carl
Re # 1
[blockquote] All we have to do is shed this dispensationalist nonsense.[/blockquote]
That about sums it up.
carl’s four points are an excellent foundation for a clear-eyed, clear-headed Mideast policy.
Ah yes, if only it was so easy. If only the Jews had disappeared like most other peoples of the ancient world. But they haven’t. And the Jews continue to be the focus of hatred throughotu the world, with or without a State of Israel. Strange, no?
Liberal American Protestants supported Israel until 1967 but then the Palestinians became the underdog and LAP’s switched sides. I’ve been studying Kings at Beth Israel and see some good and some evil in both groups. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
I don’t think US policy makers are burdened by the misconceptions that Carl rightly identifies(no. 1). But those ideas do affect popular political sentiment and have some influence on political perceptions. It would be a major step forward for both Israel and the United States if Carl’s approach could take root in the general population. I think the US may be the only place in the world where these concepts have much of a presence.
Agreed, #1. You spelled out the RC viewpoint quite nicely for us.
I am not a dispensationalist, but I still regard the Jews as God’s chosen people, and remember the amount of time God devoted to and devotes to them as they successively rebelled against and returned to Him time and time again. The survival of a remnant notwithstanding successive conquest, exile and annihilation, when other peoples have disappeared, to me is evidence of this special place the Jews occupy. I also remember that we are a derivative religion and that Jesus said that His message summed up all that was in the Law and the Prophets and is indeed its fulfillment.
I will certainly pray for the peace of Jerusalem, the Jewish people, and some of their cousins among the Arab people, all of whom consider Abraham their father [Luke 1:54-55], while still being certain that Christ is the fulfillment of all that has gone before and the horn of Salvation by whom alone we are saved, as Luke tells us Zechariah foretold [Luke 1:69].
#6: pretty much in agreement with that. The Jews are with us till the Lord returns. And they will be the focus of the Antichrist’s hatred.