Pre-Millenarian Politics??

Dr. David Hocking, “It is clear from the Biblical evidence that the modern State of Israel is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.”

Jerry Falwell said in 1981: “To stand against Israel is to stand against God. We believe that history and scripture prove that God deals with nations in relation to how they deal with Israel.”

Dr. John Walvoord wrote in 1967, “The fact that the rise of Asia has occurred in our twentieth century with so many rapid and unexpected developments is another evidence that the world is moving toward its final climax and the end of the times of the Gentiles. In Asia, as in other parts of the world, the stage is being set for the final drama in which the kings of the east will have their important part.” [THE NATIONS IN PROPHECY by John Walvoord, pp. 142, Zondervan Publishers, Grand Rapids, Ml, 1976.]

The lead story on the January 5, 2006, edition of The 700 Club was Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s hospitalization for a severe stroke. After the story, Pat Robertson said that Sharon’s illness was possibly retribution from God for his recent drive to give more land to the Palestinians. He also claimed former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s 1995 assassination may have occurred for the same reason… According to The Associated Press, Robertson spokeswoman Angell Watts said of people who criticized the comments: “What they’re basically saying is, ‘How dare Pat Robertson quote the Bible?’” ["Robertson suggests God smote Sharon: Evangelist links Israeli leader's stroke to 'dividing God's land'", January 6 2006, CNN.]

Dr. Thomas Ice believes, “Perhaps the strongest case for America in Bible prophecy can be made from a statement found in Ezekiel 38:13.”

Dr. Thomas Ice is quoted in an article on the Pre-Trib Research Center’s website as saying,”Any time Israel becomes involved in a war in the Middle East many people, including some non-Christians, want to know if it is in any way related to Bible prophecy. My answer is always “yes and no.” “Yes,” since just about any geo-political event involving Israel relates to Bible prophecy in some kind of stage-setting way. On the other hand, “no,” since almost all end-time Bible prophecy relating to Israel will not start to be fulfilled until after the rapture, during the seven-year tribulation period. Every time something happens in the Middle East relating to Israel it certainly causes me to wonder even more, “Isn’t the rapture about to take place?”

Hal Lindsey wrote and published in 1970, The Late, Great Planet Earth became one of the best selling works of non-fiction in that decade. Coming on the heels of the Six-Day War, the book fueled the popularity of Dispensationalism and its support of ethnic Jews as the “chosen people of God”. It has since been published in 54 languages, has reported sales of over thirty-five million copies, and is still in print. Many of Lindsey’s later writings are sequels or revisions and extensions of his first book.

In precise and deliberate language, flavored with a rich, deep Texas drawl, John Hagee asserted that a growing majority of evangelical leaders do not preach “replacement theology, which teaches that the Church has replaced Israel” and the Jews “have no future in the plan of God.” The vast majority of evangelicals, rather, teach that “the Christians have a Bible mandate to be supportive of Israel and the Jewish people without a hidden agenda.”
True to that interpretation, Hagee said, “I do not target Jews for conversion.”
Nonetheless, he stressed, “If you come into my church [of your own volition], you are asking to hear my witness of Jesus Christ and you’re going to get it, wide open.”

John Hagee said, “The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West… a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation [...] and [the] Second Coming of Christ.” (July 19, 2006, Washington D.C.)

On July 31, 2006 Paula Zahn Now featured a segment on “whether the crisis in the Middle East is actually a prelude to the end of the world, “marking the third time in eight days that CNN has devoted airtime to those claiming that the ongoing Mideast violence signals the coming of the Apocalypse.” Jerry Falwell was interviewed claiming, “I believe in the premillenial, pre-tribulational coming of Christ for all of his church, and to summarize that, your first poll, do you believe Jesus coming the second time will be in the future, I would vote yes with the 59 percent and with Billy Graham and most evangelicals.” [CNN still fixated on Apocalypse predictors. Media matters for America. Aug 1, 2006]

Tim LaHaye said, “The rise of China to become a dominant world political force during the past decade has enormous significance from a prophetic point of view. Many students of prophecy believe it signifies a trend that world geopolitical conditions are shaping up for the worlds last great conflict described over nineteen hundred years ago by the Apostle John when he wrote Rev. 16:12.”

Tim LaHaye is certain that “confronted by overwhelming forces from Russia and forsaken by her friends, Israel will turn to God, and He will do for modern Israel what He did for ancient Israel. As the God over all forces, He will deliver Israel from the hands of the oppressor. As certain as it is that Russia and her Middle East hordes will come down against Israel, so certain is it that God will destroy the invading forces and deliver Israel supernaturally.

Tim LaHaye said, “The Sovereign Lord will intervene at a climatic time in world history and instantly solve one of its greatest problems by completely eliminating Russia and their Muslim allies.”

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For the record, I disagree with these guys. Of these men that I have known personally I have nothing but good things to say about their character and ministries. Concerning a faithful commitment to the Great Commission, I join these men in preaching the Gospel of Christ. But I disagree with them hermeneutically and politically. My hermeneutic is covenantal and my politics are conservative, currently finding a home in the Republican Party. I believe that we Christians are “believing Israel”* and “believing Israel”** has always been by faith in Christ alone. Thus I support the nation Israel as a democracy in a strategic location in the Middle East, but I believe that the nation Israel that exists today is not the Israel of the Bible.

Concerning politics, I agree with a different pre-millenarian (different than those quoted above) on this issue although I am an amillennialist. I wish that some pre-millenarians would consider the fact that Dispensationalism has driven the quotes above — and that should be alarming. I am fully aware that not all pre-millers would agree with the above quotes, but it would help a great deal if more pre-millers would speak biblically concerning these issues as Dr. MacArthur does.

And before any of you pre-millers cry foul, I am also preparing a list of ridiculous political quotes made by Christian Reconstructionists. As an Amillenarian, I am glad that I am not in either one of those extremes.

May the Church continue to advance the spiritual kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the gates of Hell cannot prevail against her!

*Calvin’s Institutes. II.x.20.
**Galatians 3:29