A Christian Zionist Perspective
John R. Houk
© June 19, 2016
I am proud to proclaim I am a Christian Zionist. It is my
whole hearted belief that the Land of Israel is the God-given land of the Jews.
God declared this the land promised to the Twelve Hebrew Tribes named roughly
after the sons of Jacob.
Jacob had his name changed in the period of time he was
travelling with his wives and (at that time) eleven sons to throw himself on
the mercy of his twin brother Esau from whom Jacob stole his birthright by
deception. So Jacob was alone and for theological reasons I am not qualified to
extemporize got into a wrestling match a “Man”. Note that the “M” is
capitalized:
Genesis 32:22-30 NKJV
22 And he arose that night and took his two
wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford
of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the
brook, and sent over what he had.24 Then Jacob was left
alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now
when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his
hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And
He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
27 So He said to him, “What is your
name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be
called Jacob, but Israel;[a Literally Prince with God]for you have struggled with God and
with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your
name, I pray.”
And He said, “Why is it that you ask
about My name?” And He blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel:[b Literally Face of God] “For I have seen God face to
face, and my life is preserved.”
God Almighty blessed Jacob as the father of a nation that would be named
after him – Israel.
It is true that I am
a devoted Christian rather than Jewish. That too often means Observant Jews do
not trust my Christian motives. This is largely due to Antisemitic persecution
conducted by Christians at the behest of Christian rulers and clergy willing to
make the Jewish people a vilified scapegoat for Jesus’ death on the Cross. Even
it is true to hold all Jews accountable due to the jealous actions of the
Sanhedrin leadership of the day, then we should hold all Jews accountable that
the Father raised His Son from death to life glorified in the same glory he
possessed after emptying Himself of His Divine attributes at His incarnated
birth in Mary. Incidentally the “Man” who wrestled with Jacob is thought by
many Bible believing Christians to be the pre-incarnated Jesus.
I have shared these
introductory thoughts because of an awesome article by Vic Rosenthal that I
found at Israpundit which is operated by Ted Belman. The title is the best
introduction to the Rosenthal essay: “I
am a nationalist, Zionist, tribalist and hawk.”
The thing is while I
was reading this essay I began to think the same definitions and details he was
applying to himself, could also to me as well. Although I absolutely concur
that Israel is for the Jews, the reasoning can apply to my thoughts about the
USA. In the case of Zionist – I am a Christian Zionist. Rosenthal applies “tribalism”
to protecting the borders of Israel as a Jewish State non-Jews (and Muslim haters of Jews and Israel in
particular) and Israel culture is Jewish in faith, history and language. I
apply tribalism to protect U.S. borders from immigrants hating the “out of
many, one” melting pot that has made America a nation and to protect our
culture based on the Christian faith (ALL Denominations), Western heritage and
the English language.
JRH 6/19/16
******************
I am a nationalist, Zionist, tribalist and hawk.
June 19, 2016
Here are ten things
I believe:
1) ‘Israel
is the Jewish state’ has a concrete meaning: the owners of the land of Israel
are the Jewish people, not all its citizens.
2) Arabs
who live in Israel should have full civil rights, but they should understand
that they are living in someone else’s homeland. It’s natural and correct that
the flag, national anthem, primary language and other symbols are those of the
Jewish people.
3) It
is not a civil right to call for the destruction of the state or the murder of
its people.
4) Israel
should not welcome non-Jewish migrants.
5) Everyone
in Israel should have freedom of religious worship and be able to visit their
holy places. But the government of Israel should be sovereign over every inch
of the land of Israel, in particular the Temple Mount.
6) Everyone
should be able to follow their own religion or lack thereof without coercion.
But the official religion of the state of Israel should be Judaism.
7) Israel
and the Jewish people have an absolute right to defend themselves.
8) Collective
guilt justifies collective punishment.
9) Nobody
has the right to try to kill Jews or Israelis, even if their means are
ineffective.
10) There
should be a death penalty for murderous terrorism.
***
These ten
propositions mark me as anti-democratic, even racist and fascist to many,
doubtless including the two former Defense Ministers who recently made speeches decrying what they believe is
decay in Israel’s collective morality and accusing the Netanyahu government of
being responsible for it.
Their judgments
would be even harsher if I told them that I understand and identify with the
act of Sgt. Elor Azaria, who shot and killed a wounded Arab stabber who
(despite Azaria’s legal defense) probably posed no danger to him or others, as
well as the idea that no terrorist should survive his attempted act of
terrorism.
It wouldn’t help if
I admitted that I agree with the decision of Culture and Sport Minister Miri
Regev to deny government funding to an Arab theater group that produced a play
presenting a terrorist murderer in a positive light. Or that I think there
needs to be a Basic Law (the Israeli equivalent of a constitutional amendment)
that defines and protects the concept of a Jewish state, just
as there is one for the idea of a democratic one. Or that I view ‘settlers’ as
people with the same rights as any other citizens, including the right to not
be kicked out of their homes.
Since the end of the
Second World War, ‘enlightened’ people in the West have believed that
nationalism was responsible for the horrors of the 20th century,
and have created international institutions like the UN and the EU to
counteract it. They believe further that tribalism, the belief that one ought
to give a higher priority to the welfare of one’s own people than that of
others, is racism and should always be condemned in the strongest terms. It is
considered an overriding principle of universal morality that one is obligated
to treat every other human equally, regardless of their relationship.
These principles are
always justified by arguments about human rights and morality, although some
cynics suggest that they were encouraged by the psychological warfare
department of the Soviet KGB in order to weaken the enemies of the
nationalistic and tribalist Russians.
Those who think they set the tone of moral discourse in Israel, like the
former defense ministers and 99% of our journalists, writers, artists, lawyers,
judges and academics are committed to this universalist morality.
There is nothing
inherently more true about the universalist view than the tribalist one.
Arguments for one or the other must depend on the expected outcomes. The
Western argument against tribalism is that it leads to war and genocide, while
universalism produces peace and cooperation.
But exactly the opposite
is true in today’s world.
Let’s look at the
European Union as an example of a universalist project. Because of its
universalist stance toward the outside – liberal rules about granting asylum,
for example – and the erasure of border controls inside it, European states are
in the process being destroyed by uncontrolled hostile migration. Those that do
not adopt a tribalist policy and close their borders will not survive.
This is because
universalism is a form of unilateral moral disarmament. It is practical
only if everyone practices it. And tribalist Muslims do not. So while
the EU may be effective in preventing another war between France and Germany,
it can’t protect its member states against subversion by those who spit on its
moral principles.
Israel is another
example. Surrounded by tribal societies which have been marinating in hate for
the Jewish state for decades, it cannot afford to open its borders to Gaza. And
it can’t accept the assurances of the PLO that a Palestinian state in highly
strategic Judea and Samaria would be a peaceful neighbor.
But not only would
it be counter to Israel’s survival to adopt universalist principles, it would
violate the conception of a Jewish nation.
This idea of a
people connected to a land – even when the land was ruled by others and Jews
were a minority in it – has maintained the Jewish people as a nation since
biblical times, a history as long or longer as any other distinct people on
earth. Nothing is more fundamental to Judaism than the relationship between
God, the Jewish people and the land of Israel.
I find it ironic
that the same people who insist that “all religions must be respected” and who
defend the aspirations of all kinds of ethnic groups – including
‘Palestinians’, who have one of the weakest claims of all to be considered a
nation – object so strongly to Jewish nationalism.
I think that if
there were to be a referendum today, the great majority of Israelis would agree
with the ten propositions above.
Actually, we have
such a referendum at least every four years. It is called an election, and I’m
confident that the next one will result in a government that is even more
nationalist, tribalistic and hawkish than the present one. And that will be a
good, moral thing.
_____________________
Introducing Israel - a Jewish State
John R. Houk
© June 19, 2016
___________________
I am a nationalist, Zionist, tribalist and hawk.
© 2005-2016 by Ted Belman. Some Rights Reserved. All views expressed here are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of the site owner or the rest
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