A report by the Church of Scotland, published this week, denies any special privilege for the Jewish people in the land of Israel. The church, which in recent years has jettisoned its once philosemitic character, opened a wide rift with the Scottish Jewish community with the report. Among other controversial statements, the report argues that, "Christians should not be supporting any claims by Jews, or any other people, to an exclusive or even privileged divine right to possess particular territory."
EOZ has already noted the inherent problems in that the authors of the report basically know little and twist verses. More at this JC blog.
This follows a pattern of the past few years (see me here; and also here).
The conclusion reads:
From this examination of the various views in the Bible about the relation of land to the people of God, it can be concluded that Christians should not be supporting any claims by Jewish or any other people, to an exclusive or even privileged divine right to possess particular territory. It is a misuse of the Bible to use it as a topographic guide to settle contemporary conflicts over land. In the Bible, God’s promises extend in hope to all land and people. Focussed [sic] as they are on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, these promises call for a commitment in every place to justice in a spirit of reconciliation.
As far as I can see, they ignore the entire corpus of "מצוות התלויות בארץ" - commandments that are dependent on the Land of Israel.
Here is a source from the Conservative stream.
Not only do these Presbyterians misinterpret text, ignore texts - Jewish and Christian - and seem not to know much, but they use the same paradigms they oppose Jews using to justify Jewish nationalism.
Just one example:
God’s promises extend in hope to all land and people
True. But how?
Here's Isaiah's prophecy, Chapter 2:
2 And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many peoples shall go and say: 'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
That "house" is the Temple. It will be in Jerusalem, Zion. It will be rebuilt. And more in Chapter 56:
1 Thus saith the LORD: Keep ye justice, and do righteousness; for My salvation is near to come, and My favour to be revealed. 2 Happy is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth fast by it: that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3 Neither let the alien, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying: 'The LORD will surely separate me from His people'; neither let the eunuch say: 'Behold, I am a dry tree.'
4 For thus saith the LORD concerning the eunuchs that keep My sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and hold fast by My covenant: 5 Even unto them will I give in My house and within My walls a monument and a memorial better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting memorial, that shall not be cut off. 6 Also the aliens, that join themselves to the LORD, to minister unto Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast by My covenant: 7 Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. 8 Saith the Lord GOD who gathereth the dispersed of Israel: Yet I will gather others to him, beside those of him that are gathered. 9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
Yes, there is harmony and due consideration for all peoples but it takes place only when the sovereignty of Israel as God's selected people are reestablished in our homeland, our territorial, topographical, geographical Land of Israel, the same Land of Israel where a certain Jesus was born:
So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.
The land is real, and so is the shame of the non-Jewish nations, as in Ezekiel 36:
7 therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: I have lifted up My hand: Surely the nations that are round about you, they shall bear their shame. 8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to My people Israel; for they are at hand to come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown; 10 and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded; 11 and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
And the action plans of these Scots are so:
Proposed Deliverance:
Refute claims that scripture offers any peoples a privileged claim for possession of a particular
territory.
Note that the current situation is characterised by an inequality in power and therefore reconciliation can only be possible if the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the blockade of Gaza, are ended, and on that basis encourage all parties and the international community to renew peace negotiations.
Instruct the C&S Council to publicise resources to encourage wide discussion of the report The Inheritance of Abraham and its concluding principles.
Encourage the appropriate committees in Presbyteries to consider the report The Inheritance of Abraham and bring it to the notice of their Presbytery.
Urge the UK Government and the European Union to do all that is within their power to ensure that human rights are respected in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Urge the UK Government and the European Union to do all that is within their power to ensure that international law is upheld in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Urge the UK Government and the European Union to use pressure to stop further expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank.
"Deliverance"?
This is an "evil" from which Christians should be staying away.
Oh, the
The arrogance of telling the Jewish people how to interpret Jewish texts and Jewish theology is breathtaking. It is hardly surprising that the Church has this year departed from its long-standing practice of engaging in dialogue with the Jewish Community, because it claims to know Judaism better than we do. Meanwhile it recently sponsored a conference organised by someone whose website promotes Holocaust denial and the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion - but it claims to want to act as a peacemaker in the Middle East! Sadly, this document makes that impossible, and closes the door on meaningful dialogue. On behalf of the Jewish Community of Scotland, we call upon the Church to withdraw it from the forthcoming General Assembly. If the Church cannot build bridges, can it at least refrain from burning them?
P.S.
Another angle.
Oh, and note, ironically:
In 1839, the Church of Scotland sent Andrew Bonar, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Alexander Black and Alexander Keith on a mission to report on the condition of the Jews in their land. Their report was widely published and was followed by a "Memorandum to Protestant Monarchs of Europe for the restoration of the Jews to Palestine." In August 1840, The Times reported that the British government was considering Jewish restoration.
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The document from the Church and Society Council on "The Inheritance of Abraham" is an outrage to everything that interfaith dialogue stands for. It reads like an Inquisition-era polemic against Jews and Judaism. It is biased, weak on sources, and contradictory. The picture it paints of both Judaism and Israel is barely even a caricature. The arrogance of telling the Jewish people how to interpret Jewish texts and Jewish theology is breathtaking. It is hardly surprising that the Church has this year departed from its long-standing practice of engaging in dialogue with the Jewish Community, because it claims to know Judaism better than we do. Meanwhile it recently sponsored a conference organised by someone whose website promotes Holocaust denial and the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion - but it claims to want to act as a peacemaker in the Middle East! Sadly, this document makes that impossible, and closes the door on meaningful dialogue. On behalf of the Jewish Community of Scotland, we call upon the Church to withdraw it from the forthcoming General Assembly. If the Church cannot build bridges, can it at least refrain from burning them?
The Scots write (on page 2) that
In general terms there have been three main ways of understanding the promises about land in the Bible: (1) A territorial guarantee; (2) A land held in trust (3) A land with a universal mission.
and then proceed to turn scripture, Halacha, Torah Sheb'al Peh, modern Zionist literature and centuries of Jewish thought upside down and inside out in order to show that all three understandings are faulty. They argue that, whatever the promises that gave rise to the notion of a promised land, these have to be understood this way:
Focussed as they are on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ [they] call for a commitment in every place to justice in a spirit of reconciliation... [page 9] Jesus gave a new direction and message for the people of God, one which did not feature a special area of land for them... [page 8]"
In short, the Scots say we Jews are to live our personal and collective lives according to certain selected principles of their religion; ours evidently does not count. It's a bizarre line to take when first you demolish the other's view of its own history and theology and self-determination.
But it fails to come to terms at all with history.
The final stage in the development predicted by the prophet is the restoration of the monarchy. The last king to reign upon the throne of David, described in Chronicles as the "throne of the Lord", was Zedekiah who was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He was told by Ezekiel the prophet that the throne would be overturned, "until he come whose right it is" (Ezekiel 21:27). Who is that? Who, but the Lord Jesus Christ concerning whom his mother was told by the angel:
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32-33).
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He is the king referred to by Ezekiel. And as two parts of this three-pronged prophecy has had token fulfillment, surely this is a guarantee that the third part will likewise be fulfilled: "One king shall be king unto them all".
That King is the one whom the Jewish people dragged before Pilate 1900 years ago, demanding "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked: "Shall I crucify your king?" They replied, "We have no king but Caesar" (see John 19:12-15). Under pressure, therefore, Pilate ordered the execution of Jesus Christ by the Roman method of crucifixion, and over his cross was placed the caption announcing the reason for such: JESUS OF NAZARETRH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
It is a remarkable fact of Bible narrative, that Jesus was both born and died as king of the Jews. At his birth there came wise men from the east inquiring: "Where is he that is born king of the Jews?" (Matthew 2:2), and when he died he did so because his accusers challenged his teaching that he was appointed to rule (John 18:37; 19:12).
But he has never yet exercised that power nor been afforded that dignity!
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Christ affirmed that he was appointed as king, and declared that he had come into the world to bear witness unto that truth (John 18:37). He spoke a parable unto the Apostles because they imagined that "the Kingdom of God should immediately appear" (Luke 19:1 1). In it he likened himself to a Nobleman who had to go into a far country (i.e. heaven) to receive for himself a Kingdom, "and to return" (v. 12). At his return, he would discipline and humble those who "hated him" and would not have him "to reign over them" (v. 14), and reward those of his servants who faithfully fulfilled his will.
Later, he predicted the impending overthrow of Jerusalem (fulfilled when the Romans destroyed the Temple in A.D.70), the scattering of the Jews into all parts of the earth, and their ultimate return to their ancient homeland.
He declared:
"They (the Jews) shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES BE FULFILLED" (Luke 21:24).
Christ thus taught that the Gentile domination of Jerusalem would be limited until the times of Gentile domination would be on the point of collapse.
That time is now as Psalm 102:16 clearly teaches.
It is an amazing fact, that though the nation of Israel was revived as a consequence of World War II, the UN did not grant Jerusalem to the Jews. It was to remain an International City belonging to neither Jews nor Arabs, but with access to both.
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But in 1948, the Jordanians annexed Jerusalem, and then denied entrance to the city by the Jewish people.
For almost twenty years, from 1948 until 1967, Jews could not enter the old city of Jerusalem, even though it was their holy city, the center of their worship.
However, in 1967 an event of greatest significance occurred. Egypt invaded Israel, and the Six Day War broke out. In an amazing manner, one of the swiftest victories in history was won by the Jewish forces. In five days, Egyptian military might was shattered: its army defeated and dispersed, its airforce destroyed, and Israel was victorious. But then, Jordan, believing that Israel was weakened through the effort, and, that its main forces were far to the south, declared war. Israeli authorities appealed to King Hussein of Jordan not to do so, but in vain. The Jordanian army likewise suffered a disastrous defeat and Israel occupied the territory today described as the West Bank, ancient Samaria and Judea, including such cities as Nablus, Hebron, and JERUSALEM!
Christ's prophecy had been fulfilled!
The occupation of Jerusalem in 1967 indicated that "the times of the Gentiles" were about to be fulfilled, and that the world had entered the final stages leading to Christ's coming and Armageddon.
Such teaching is basic to both Old and New Testament Christianity; for the purpose of God is common to both. Accordingly, Paul wrote:
"I would not that ye should be ignorant of this mystery (or secret) . . . that blindness in part is happened to Israel, UNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles be come In. And so Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer (Christ), and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they (the Jews) are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's (Abraham etc.) sakes" (Romans 11:23-28).
In these words, Paul predicted that the Jewish people would be blind to the true identity of Christ until "the fullness of the Gentiles come in", at which time, Christ will return, discipline, humble and convert the Jewish people.
Then will be fulfilled the final development in Ezekiel's three-pronged prophecy: "One king shall be king unto them all". Christ will, at last, be King of the Jews.
That third stage in the prophecy will also witness World War III Armageddon!
Observe the development: World War I witnessed the way opened for the Jews to return to their land; World War II brought the establishment of the State of Israel; World War III will introduce Christ to the world as the Victor of Armageddon.
We are therefore living in very significant times.
According to this Christian document, Jewish history has become “Palestinian Arab history” and the Jewish nation (“Am Yisrael”) that ruled in the Holy Land for a thousand years and developed a world-shaking culture never existed.
The Christian document is pure anti-Semitism, since it presents the Jews as stateless beings.
The Church of Scotland’s report is the first major Christian document envisioning a world without Israel. It contains the same diatribes of the early Christians against the Jews, like Jerome’s “the Jews as Judases”, Augustine’s “the Jews as Witness People” and John Chrysostom’s “slay the Jews”.
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