Why Are Christian Zionists Different?

By Brian Hennessy     

          The fact that Christian Zionists are different from other Christians is obvious to most Jews. Our love and support for Israel and Jewry in general stand in sharp contrast to the sentiments being voiced in other parts of Christendom; sentiments that often reflect a long-time animus towards Jews, which is now being directed at Israel.
Of course there have always been Lord Balfours, Orde Wingates and Corrie ten Booms, individual Christians who stood up for Jews in times of crisis. But never have so many at one time demonstrated the care and concern we see today.

What has caused these Christians to change course so dramatically? Many Jews remain understandably suspicious, and see it all as a ruse to evangelize. Or as a way to fulfill certain eschatological requirements so Jesus can return.

No doubt many Christian Zionists are influenced by a zeal to share their faith in Jesus. But as one who has been a part of this movement for nearly 30 years, I know the emotion and commitment shown by the majority is genuine. Jewish author, Stephen Spector, in his ground-breaking book, “Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism,” quotes one prominent CZ as saying we are “prepared to lay our lives down for Israel and the Jewish people.”

So how do we explain this grass roots movement that has crossed all denominational lines, superseded every theology, and spread to every nation?

To start, Christian Zionists have received a revelation from the Scriptures it seems other Christians have not. In testimony after testimony you hear people say things like, “It just happened to me.” One day they are regular church-going Christians with no interest in Israel, some even borderline anti-Semites, and suddenly they are seeing Jews as long-lost brothers, and Israel as their spiritual homeland.

Although the full revelation often takes months or even years to be fully absorbed, it usually begins with a flash of insight that can only be described as supernatural. This insight is so profound, it not only changes the way a Christian feels about Jews, it changes how he views his own identity as a follower of Jesus. For many, it is as powerful as when they first got saved.

Why some Christians receive this supernatural insight and others do not, or will not, is a mystery. But then it is God who chooses to whom He will reveal His truths. As Moses said, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Exodus 33:19). And Paul comments, “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires” (Romans 9:18).

So what do Christians who get this revelation see?

In former times, Christian Zionists were those who just supported the return of the Jews to their homeland based on the biblical promises. But with this new revelation, more and more followers of Jesus now see themselves as part of the family. Just as it is written: “If you belong to Messiah, you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29).

Therefore, you’ll hear Christians who have this revelation say they have rediscovered “the Jewish roots of their faith.” That is, they have discovered that their faith in Jesus cannot remain separate from the ongoing story of Israel. Which initially creates a bit of an identity crisis.

When they go back to find out why this was never taught, they learn that the early Church Fathers, who were gentile converts, had reinvented the Church following the Jewish rejection of Jesus as Messiah. And one of the first things they did was take Jesus out of His historic context to make him more like us. He was given blue eyes, called by his Greek name, and declared the fair-haired founder of a new religion called Christianity. His role as the Jewish Messiah disappeared.

That’s why, for most Christians today Jesus could have been born Chinese and crucified in Toledo, Ohio. All that matters is knowing that God sent His son Jesus to die for our sins. And if you believe in his atoning sacrifice and walk in his love you will be saved.

But after receiving this revelation Jesus is put back into the story of Israel and a whole new picture emerges. You suddenly understand that as vital as his atonement is to restoring our individual spiritual lives, there is also a corporate physical life being restored that includes us and the Jewish people.

As a result, more and more Christians see the entire Bible as one continuous story of Abraham’s family, rather than as two separate stories about two different peoples of God. And we no longer spiritualize all the promises about the Land. No, we now see Jesus, or Yeshua, to use His Hebrew name, is Israel’s Messiah who came to restore His nation both spiritually and physically! And that in Him we are all, Jew and gentile believer alike, included.

I will never forget the first time this revelation struck me. I was reading in the Book of Ezekiel and came upon a scripture that God had used years before concerning the dramatic spiritual awakening that I’d experienced one night, which up to then I had no words to explain. The words read, “Moreover I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

But as I kept reading this day, I suddenly came to, “And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so that you will be My people and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:28).

That stopped me. I realized that if God had applied the first verse to me about the new heart and new spirit, then this verse must apply also. But how could that be? Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not my forefathers. I’m not Jewish.

That’s when it hit me. My faith in Jesus had brought me into the family, lock, stock and barrel! I suddenly realized the Bible was actually the record of my family tree! It was like when Alex Haley in his blockbuster “Roots,” discovered that Kunta Kinte was his true ancestor.

At the time I didn’t see myself as an actual physical descendant of Abraham, but merely spiritually adopted, which I suspect is where most CZ’s probably see themselves. Later I became convinced I had to be a true descendant in fulfillment of the prophecies, no doubt from one of the lost 10 tribes. (See the October issue, “Could Christian Zionists be the Lost Tribes of Israel?)

Finally, CZs understand better than most Christians that the Middle East crisis is not primarily about oil, Islam or a Palestinian homeland. It’s about all of Israel being restored to God. And Satan trying to keep it from happening.

Most Christians (and some religious Jews) can’t see how God could have anything to do with such a secular venture as the Jewish State. All they see is rampant hedonism, corruption, and bloodshed in the land, so they judge Israel and often fall prey to Islamic/leftist propaganda about the brutality of the Jewish “occupation.” (I find it amusing that America, which is equally awash in ungodliness, is never disqualified from being considered “a Christian nation.”)

But it is not the business of Christians to judge any people, most of all the Jews who have been treated so poorly by Christians over the centuries. It is rather to love all unconditionally and to give account for the hope that is within us as God provides opportunity.

Besides, we are confident Israel’s promised spiritual restoration is coming soon, as evidenced by the fact God has brought them back to their homeland after 2,000 years of exile. It is happening just as Ezekiel prophesied. “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean” (Ezekiel 36:24,25 -NAS).

What’s more, it is not dependant on their state of righteousness. He will do it because He has staked His entire reputation on it. “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name” (Ezekiel 36:22).

In the meantime, Christian Zionists will continue to encourage, support and defend Israel and her people until all the prophecies are fulfilled. And we will pray that more and more Christians join the family.

December, 2010