- Pay close attention to this article from Jan Willem van
der Hoeven, Director International Christian Zionist Center (below). This
is a perfect example of how Christian Zionists uphold utterly erroneous
concepts and doctrines which feed into Zionist madness.
-
- First off, he tells a great lie; That God would never
uproot his people, the Jews, from this land which he gave to them for an
"eternal possession." Well, Jan selectively chooses to ignore
the number of times in the past when God did just that!! He is ignoring
the countless times God uprooted them from the land and sent them into
slavery for punishment for sins against Him, and worse, deliberately exonerating
the Jews of the murder of the Messiah and the consequences of that conspiracy
to this day! He also knowingly ignores the fact that the Apostle Paul,
in his letter to the Romans, enlightens us to a profound truth:
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- "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither
is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which
is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Romans
2:28-29)
You see, Paul, a Jew himself, enlightened by Christ, came to realize that
the plan of God, in chosing and using the Hebrew people for the establishment
of the first covenant and the bringing forth of Messiah -- Jesus -- had
nothing to do with a material inheritance or promise given to a people
by their race; rather... as he plainly reveals...
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- "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham,
are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is,
They which are the children of the flesh, these are NOT the children of
God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." (Romans
9:7-8)
In other words, only those faithful were ever regarded as "Israel,"
the people of God; and Paul was further revealing to the church, through
the Spirit of Christ, that the former things of the first covenant God
made with them, were "passing away" ("In that he saith,
A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and
waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Hebrews 8:13).
-
- The promise of that 'covenant' was complete in Christ;
Jesus Christ being the inheritor of all things and He himself, in death,
making a NEW covenant (testament), with new inheritors based on new criteria.
Were the old to also inherit simply because they were of a race or came
from some particular physical place? Absolutely not! Though this is the
very contention of the Jews and has been for centuries (which Christ Jesus
squarely opposed to their face). For the former things were merely types
and shadows of the latter, which were fulfilled and realized in Jesus Christ,
who removed the veil of mystery and brought final revelation to his people,
by faith. The people of the flesh, that is, the race of Jews, were of no
special value short of their historic place in God's plan in the past --
henceforth, there was no "Jew" or "Gentile" in terms
as had existed before. As it is written, "God is no respector of persons."
-
- The material elements of the promise were not forsaken
at all, rather the only thing that changed was WHO would inherit them!
Neither were the people to whom the promise was made neglected, rather,
Christ clarified WHO they were (and they were not the Jews based on race!).
And Paul makes it clear, it was not to be by race, ever, and certainly
had nothing to do with that defunct religion of Judaism! On the contrary,
Paul says...
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- "As concerning the gospel, they (the Jews) are enemies
for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the
father's sakes." (Romans 11:28)
What does he mean, 'but as touching the election, they are beloved for
the father's sakes'? He means that from among them there were the faithful,
and it is because of these that God has shown any mercy at all toward any
of them -- or anyone at all -- Paul being the chief example of this mysterious
grace and mercy! For these were the people who "murdered the prophets"
(Mark 23:31, 37) and who "denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired
a murderer to be granted unto [them]; And killed the Prince of life, whom
God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses." (Acts 3:14).
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- They have been cast out of this land by the hand of God
for the crime of murdering the Lord of Life, but in 1948 brought back like
thieves through the agency of men and their wicked devices and plans. Jesus
himself confirmed the prophets that they would be cast out. When Jesus
cursed the fig tree, symbolic of Israel, what were his words? "Let
no fruit grow on thee henceforward, for ever." The Israel of the Jews
was judged and sentenced. Jesus in his parable of the vineyard and hired
tenants (husbandmen), clearly states that "Therefore say I unto you,
The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing
forth the fruits thereof." (Matthew 21:43).
And it was!
Jan compares these nations, specifically THIS nation, to Egypt and "gentiles"
(abusing the language of the Jews from a former time and meaning in heretical
proportions) -- ie, "sinners" -- regarding the present Israel
as though it were esteemed in the eyes of God Almighty!
-
- The present Israel which is Anti-Christ, esteemed by
God??? Let's see who the Holy Spirit compares the present Jerusalem (until
the return of the Lord) ...
-
- "... the great city, which spiritually is called
Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified."
(Revelation 11:8)
Clearly Jan has it BACKWARD! Woe, that WE or any nation should go the way
of Israel!!!!
-
- Jesus said they would not see him again (that is, they
would have no blessing whatsoever; they were, ineffect, cursed) until they
said "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
-
- Israel, the Jews, have not done this by any stretch of
the imagination. They are more squatters on that land right now than any
Arab, for God never cast out the Arab or the gentile, but did cast out
the Jews. They are like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal,
sneaking back onto his lost inheritance and making a claim to it. The Jews
are NOT "his people." Rather, Paul reveals to us that God's focus
of mercy shifted from them to the gentile world....
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- "Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only,
but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee, 'I will call them (the
gentiles) my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was
not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was
said unto them, 'Ye are not my people'; there shall they be called the
children of the living God." (Romans 9:24-27)
-
- Though there is a time of restoration forthcoming for
a special remnant of Jews according to God's mercy and election (See Zechariah
chps 12-14), the Israel we see today is Antichrist, cursed, blinded to
the truth (Romans 11:29) and their existence in the land is a curse for
the whole world, even as declared by God...
-
- "And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome
stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in
pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against
it." (Zechariah 12:3)
THEY are the "children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2, 5:6,
Colossians 3:6)
- THEY are the children of wrath...
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- "... the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and
their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and
are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they
might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon
them to the uttermost." (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16)
THEY are the "evil workers" whom Paul also called "The Concision"
(Philippians 3:2)
-
- But Jan Willem van der Hoeven says of them....
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- May God prevent His people (speaking of unrighteous
Israel!) from going this way of the Gentiles!!!
On the contrary, would that they should go the way of the gentiles,
and be healed!!!!! For even now with God, it is better to be an ignorant
heathen who has not the knowledge of the law of God, than to be among those
to whom the irrevocalble oracles were first given, who have turned their
backs to God and their Savior; who, like their forefathers when released
miraculously from the bonds of Egyptian slavery, grieved God most terribly
in the wilderness with grumblings and sought to return to that slavery
over living in the presence of Almighty God Himself, in patient expectation
to his promises. There, he slew them all in the desert and not one passed
intot he promised land from that generation which saw Egypt. The lesson
has not been learned, and Christian Zionists/Zionism is encouraging the
children of disobedience to dig an even deeper hole for themselves.
-
- In the letter below you can clearly see just how the
Zionist mindset works among Christians who have no knowledge or understanding
of the passing of the first covenant and the significance of the new covenant
in relation to national Israel and the Jews. It is clearly a form of self-delusion
and brainwashing.
The "eternal possession" belongs to the faithful of Israel,
who recognize Jesus as Messiah, not to the children of the flesh who squat
on the land. Or as Paul put it, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many
as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the
Israel of God." (Galatians 6:15-16).
-
- The UNisrael established by the United Nations is NOT
"the Israel of God." Paul clearly tells us who the Israel of
God is... "as many as walk according to this rule" -- and THEY
do not.
-
-
-
- This is not God's Way - Israel!
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- April 15, 2004
-
-
- Why, why does Israel always feel that it needs to run
to the United States to get that government's approval for nearly every
decision it wants to make? Well did the prophet of old address this issue
when he prophesied: "Woe to the rebellious children*," says the
Lord, "Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but
not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who walk to go down to
Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength
of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore the strength
of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and trust in the shadow of Egypt shall
be your humiliation." (Isaiah 30:1-3) The underlying reason for Prime
Minister Sharon's current political initiative, as one of his close aids
told me recently, is that Israel is tired of war, and its people want to
live and enjoy their lives in a time of peace like all the other Gentile
nations in a time of peace, in what they hope will be a largely Jewish
populated state. They are therefore willing to withdraw from and cede those
areas where too many Arab Muslims live, in the false hope that they will
finally be left alone.
-
- By thus looking for Gentile approval of its quest to
settle down like all other nations, these Israelis truly rebel against
the Lord their God. For He has promised, yes sworn, to give them their
land in its entirety as an everlasting possession, so that upon this land
they would be a light to the Gentiles, not an emulator of the ways of the
Gentiles!
-
- It is with this eternal purpose that the present political
initiative is at war. As Isaiah warns, "that they may add sin to sin"
and in rebellion to God choose by a majority to live like any other Gentile
nation!
-
- As we shall shortly see: This will not lead to peace
but to a horrible disappointment in spite of all the euphoria over the
outcome of Sharon's latest visit to Washington DC.
-
- God will not let this happen. He will not allow Jews
to be uprooted from His land that He promised to His people, and permit
this land to be given, against His divine Will and Purpose, to those who
after all their numerous acts of violence and massacres - like Amalek and
his hordes - intend to use it to amass as many Muslims as possible so as
to drive the Jews from what will remain of their land.
-
- So, as we have already seen in the fierce reaction of
nearly all the Muslim Arab states, all this maneuvering will certainly
not bring peace nearer. It has already united the Arab world as never before
against little Israel, and against President Bush and his policies towards
both Iraq and Israel. The sad result of this will be - also because of
the continual Arab-inspired European and Quartet pressures on the U.S.
government - that America will soon be forced to minimize its support for
Israel's demands and concerns in order to curry favor with a deeply offended
Arab world.
-
- And as the Israeli left leaps to express its understanding
of the inevitable slide back in support of the Arabs' demands - near total
withdrawal from all the "territories" - to Israel's shock and
disappointment the US will stay on the sidelines out of fear that it may
lose even more credit among the 43, mainly oil-rich Arab states.
-
- Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning Israel's trust in
Pharaoh and Egypt, as Israel today trusts in President Bush and the United
States: "Therefore the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame and
the trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your humiliation." (Isaiah
30:3)
-
- May God prevent His people from going this way of the
Gentiles!
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- Jan Willem van der Hoeven
Director International Christian Zionist Center
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-
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- An Attempt At Balance
Comment
From Lisa Croke
4-18-4
-
-
- Watching the events of our times unfold, I've developed
an unhappy habit of rolling my eyes when people passionately profess their
religion. I'm Jewish, raised in the reform tradition (liberal) and have
always loved theology. G-d has been with me since I can first remember
and I've always been interested in the multitude of ways people celebrate
and serve Him.
-
- That said, I think both of you are nuts. Jan because
he's essentially advocating genocide in the name of G-d, and you for making
the whole thing more complicated with muddled and unnecessary biblical
interpretations.
-
- I don't want to get into a debate over Paul (My least
favorite apostle you may as well call the religion "Paulianity".),
but it was he who took the religion to the masses not Jesus the Jew
who preached to other Jews. Jesus never said "let eat them shell fish!"
or "Covenant, schovenanant. Unlike my Father, I have a human body
and circumcisions hurt!" Paul did that (with better grace), and while
he brought monotheism to the idolaters and cultists, he completely alienated
the Jews. Ironically (or not?), the Essene Judaism Jesus preached is now
widespread; back then, it was just an inclusive Jewish group.
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- Paul emphasizes this "new covenant", but you
surely know that the covenant is not Israel, but everlasting life. Unfortunately,
eternal life seems to mean more to Christians than deeds and good works
- the Divine importance of which Christ spent much more of his brief time
on earth attempting to impart.
-
-
- Then there's this:
-
- "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham,
are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is,
They which are the children of the flesh, these are NOT the children of
God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." (Romans
9:7-8)
-
- I read this and see it through an Old Testament interpretation,
and it seems to make the exact opposite point about "race":.
-
- . "Neither because they are the seed of Abraham,
are they all children: (If "children" means, "Children of
Israel," then yes, not all the seed of Abraham get Israel only
those descendant from Issac.) In Isaac shall they seed be called. (Not
Esau's decendents, nor handmaiden Hagar's one-day Muslim descendants. Just
Isaac. Also known as "Israel.")
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- That is, They which are the children of the flesh (just
any old decedant of Abraham like Hagar's kids.), these are NOT the
children of G-d; (Right. Only Isaac's/Israel's kids get the milk and honey.
And then only if they behave. We'll discuss that below.); but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. (I agree with you on this interpretation.
Biblically, anyone can be a "Jew." You just have to be monotheistic.
And circumcised. Sorry boys.)
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- You seem to be saying that the Zionists are wrong to
believe Israel is eternally promised to Jews. True. G-d kicks the Jews
out all the time. You get three warnings and then bring on the wrath.
-
- And yes, there is change. Here's one for you: Biblically,
Arab lives aren't worth much. G-d's always "delivering" them
to the Israelites. But in the past 5,000 years, Arabs have found G-d, they're
monotheistic. And I don't think He's going to tolerate this brutality against
his people for much longer.
-
- His people. The Muslims, and the Jews, and the Christians.
Hey, at this point, I'm willing to bet G-d would claim any human who agrees
to spend his or her life serving their fellow man as "Chosen."
While you call the Christian Zionists a joke, you claim the highest absurdity
for yourself. G-d means the Christians to have Israel? Sorry friend, but
your folks have got to be in worse trouble with the Man than the Jews and
Muslims. Your hands may be clean this decade (if you discount GW Bush and
his bunch as frauds), but in G-d Time, you really don't have room to talk
about carrying out any holy promises. And you worship a human as the Lord;
that is really, really against the rules.
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- Besides, Christians don't get Israel, they get Heaven.
So relax.
- Best wishes,
- LC
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-
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- Reply From Alton Raines
To LC
- 4-18-4
-
- Your interpretation of Paul regarding the seed is rooted,
even stuck in the Old Covenant "type" and "shadow,"
which is inferior and doesn't reflect the truth Christ brought. Just as
you still see circumcision as the literal disection of the foreskin of
the penis, and not, as Paul and Christ taught, was a symbol of the circumcision
of the heart towards God and away from sin and this world.
By no means am I saying Christians today should occupy the physical land
of Israel as an inheritance! My point was simply that if one were to be
completely non-spiritual in understanding, as Christian Zionists and Zionist
Jews are today, one could easily make that very claim to the physical land
of Palestine. Christ brought a new reality. He showed us that Israel, as
a kingdom, was a type and shadow, a symbol, of something else -- the Kingdom
of God. Just as real, but not of this world. Not "heaven" as
in the abode of God, but a forthcoming Kingdom on earth ruled by the Lord
himself, even from Jerusalem, from the thone of David, but whose government
will be from the divine. This is what all the prophets foretold. The Jews
foolishly believed they were the "natural" inheritors of the
estate. And the truly wicked among them conspired to destroy the one and
only inheritor, Jesus of Nazareth, to whom the Father gave "all things."
We, who believe on Jesus, are, "joint heirs with Christ" in all
things.
Peter doesn't mince words. He delivers the whole kingdom right into the
hands of every believer (the spiritual and the material). He takes the
labels once reserved for Israel and applies it to all believers (most of
whom at the time of this writing were gentiles):
-
- "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which
in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had
not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9). Peter,
also, of course, was a Jew.
-
- Additionally, we do not worship a Man, for Jesus is not
merely a man -- though born of a woman, according to the will of God, he
was fully God. Jews have difficulty with this because, as the Word says,
"in seeing they shall not see, in hearing they shall not hear, lest
they understand, turn and be forgiven" fullfilling the prophecy of
Elijah against them, that they have ears which have closed up, eyes which
cannot see -- their hearts are hardened. From the beginning, the Creator
of heaven and earth announced that he would be born of a woman and take
on the tent of human flesh, even saying of him through the prophets,
-
- "(Speaking of Jesus) Who being the brightness of
his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things
by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down
on the right hand of the Majesty on high: Being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than
they. For unto which of the angels said he (The Father) at any time, 'Thou
art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?' And again, 'I will be to him
a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?' And again, when he bringeth in
the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, 'And let all the angels of
God worship him.' And of the angels he saith, 'Who maketh his angels spirits,
and his ministers a flame of fire.' But unto the Son he saith, 'Thy throne,
O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre
of thy kingdom.'" (Hebrews 1:3-8 - quoting several OT prophets regarding
the Messiah/Christ)
God the Father said of God the Son, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever." Likewise, Jesus tried to unstop the ears of the Jews in
his teachings, explaining,
-
- "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus
asked them, Saying, 'What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?' They say
unto him, 'The son of David.' He saith unto them, 'How then doth David
in spirit call him Lord, saying, 'The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou
on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool'? If David then
call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word,
neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions."
(Matthew 22:41-46)
We do not worship a mere man, but Christ, whom God, according to the prophets,
commanded worship of him, upon his entering this world and forever more.
This same Jesus, who suffered and died as the pascal lamb of sacrifice
for this sins of man, who was raised from the dead, glorified, deified
and ascended to heaven "until all his enemies be made his footstool."
-
-
-
- Comment
From Brent Sauder
4-18-4
-
- It is frightening to see Christians such as Jan turning
their hearts towards Israel 'the land' and Israel 'the Jews' when that
issue was settled so clearly in the New Testament record. But, just like
the Pharisees, they have taken their eyes off the heavenly (spiritual)
things and placed them on the earthly, materialistic things.
-
- People like Jan are interested in power in this world
system, unlike Christ, and his followers, who relenquished any claim to
this world-system and age, preferring, as scripture says, "a better
country." Some people wrongly interpret this to mean some pie-in-the-sky
heaven, but Christ made it clear he was speaking of his literal Kingdom,
here, ruling and reigning -- "thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven." Heaven was not made for man. The Kingdom
to come is the future abode of the redeemed of God, in the resurrection.
- I certainly have nothing against the Jewish people, but
as a Christian I recognize their present circumstance with God, and it's
not a good one! And it won't be until they recognize Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior. Until they do, what possible union has light with darkness?
Why should Christians involve themselves with the deeds of a people who
are "enemies" of the cross, blinded by God and in a state of
curse?
-
- What Paul taught us was that 'Jew' didn't mean anything
to God over anyone else. Even John the Baptist told the priests not to
puff themselves up by invoking the name of Abraham, because God could make
children of Abraham from stones! The promises were broken by the people,
not by God. God is fulfilling all his promises to the faithful of Israel
today. And they are all who have accepted Jesus as Messiah, whether Jewish
by race or non-Jewish. Israel is more than a plot of land, it is a people.
And they have always been people of faith, not a race. Jan has raised that
plot of land, even a racial/religious politic, to a level it does not deserve.
The outcome will be only disasterous.
Brent
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