Just as Israel is under attack from every conceivable angle, Christian Zionism is also coming under increasing attack. There is a real attempt by Satan to try and bring division between Christians and between Christians and Jews. Sadly, much of this new surge of attacks is coming from confessing Christians. They are calling Christian Zionism ‘heresy’ and a ‘false belief’ and are saying that we are acting against God; in some cases they question our Christianity altogether. This is a demonic attack that must be countered with the full force of God’s Word.
Christians can unwittingly become mouthpieces of Satan. We read in Matthew how Peter became such a thing.
‘From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’ (Matthew 16:21-23).
Peter was no doubt a follower of Jesus. A few verses before this, Jesus said: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
So there was no doubt that Peter was a man of God who would be used to do great things to advance the Kingdom. But in that moment, when he thought he was saying the right thing, Peter was actually going against the will of God and being a mouthpiece of Satan.
We are currently witnessing an increase of attacks against Christian Zionism coming from Christians. These voices are being amplified by the likes of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens who are themselves both profess to be Christians. They are willing to platform Christians who are anti-Israel to the core. And they are spreading false views about Israel, Christianity, the Bible, and God Himself. It is extremely dangerous.
This week, a prime example of this deception came by way of Tucker Carlson’s interview with Mother Agapia Stephanopoulous, a nun who seemed to care more about defending Hamas than she did the Word of God. However, we won’t get into the many other lies and distortions, or the fact she said she would vote for Hamas. We want to focus on just a few of the points she made against Christian Zionism.
Mother Stephanoppoulous, who is Orthodox Christian, said that Christian Zionists are “following a Christianity that is not the Christianity of the Holy Land. It’s not the Christianity of a Catholic or an Orthodox or a traditional Christian. It’s a heretical belief.”
Heretical? Us? Please.
Christian Zionists are most often times the Christians who take a literal view of the Bible. We read the Bible for ourselves and take God at His Word.
When God said to Abraham that He would give the land to him and his descendants forever, we believed Him: “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8).
We also believed God when He said, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
We continued to believe God when He clarified, repeatedly, that the promises were not only to Abraham, but to all of his descendants forever, we believed Him: “For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” (Genesis 13:15).
And when God declared that Israel would be His people forever, we once again believed Him: “For the LORD will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance” (Psalm 94:14).
In fact, we believe every time that God has singled out the Jewish people as His chosen nation, for “You are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6).
However, despite God being quite clear about these things, Tucker Carlson and Mother Stephanoppoulous seem to think that us believing what God said actually goes against Jesus. Why? Because we believe Jesus is coming back a second time.
Tucker asserted that what Christian Zionists “are arguing is that Jesus coming the first time wasn’t enough.”
This shows a woeful lack of Biblical understand from Tucker. In the interview he questions Senator Ted Cruz’s Christianity, calling him a ‘so-called Christian’, because Ted Cruz believes in blessing Israel. But Tucker, who himself professes to be a Christian, has no idea that Jesus is going to return.
The second coming of Christ is not a secret doctrine, it’s the view held by the vast majority of Christians. Believing in this undeniable Biblical promise is not denying the completed work of the Cross. The first coming was to bring salvation to mankind (John 3:16), but when Jesus returns a second time, it will be to establish God’s kingdom on earth. And He is establishing it in Jerusalem, the city of God, that was given to the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance.
Mother Stephanoppoulous, seemed to agree with him, however, saying that “in a way it’s denying the Messiah.”
She went on to explain how Jews rejected Jesus and how “Christ superseded the law. He said, there’s something more than that, I am the law. I fulfill the law and the prophets.”
She’s made a subtle change to what Jesus actually said. Jesus said: “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)
Clearly, Jesus Himself said he did not supersede or abolish, but fulfil. This is a key error of Replacement Theology, the false view that the Church has replaced Israel.
Mother Stephanoppoulous then claimed that because Jews have rejected Jesus and still keep the law, they have been rejected by God. Another false claims that goes against Scripture.
Paul insists in Romans 11:1-2a: “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.”
Romans 11:28 states that in relation to the gospel, the Jewish people are considered enemies, but in relation to God’s choice, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
The Jewish rejection of the gospel is for the benefit of the Gentiles. We are now grafted in and should not boast over those who currently cannot see. Also, this rejection is not permanent, it is only temporary until Christ returns.
“What if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not!” (Romans 3:3-4).
God’s covenant with Israel is not nullified by the lack of faith of the Jewish people. Throughout history there have been times when men have failed God but God has been faithful to those men. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful.” (2 Timothy 2:13)
God not only promised to preserve Israel as a nation for eternity, but He made this promise time and time again. One of the best verses to explain this is Jeremiah 31:35-37 which says:
Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for light by day
And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
36 “If this fixed order departs
From before Me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the offspring of Israel also will cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”
37 Thus says the Lord,
“If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.
If you look out of the window and you see that the sun is still shining, then you should know that God’s promise to preserve the nation of Israel is still in effect.
The Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. Christians who are at odds with God’s Word are in a very dangerous position. They need to ensure that they are not being the mouthpieces for Satan because they refuse to submit to the authority of God’s Word.
The attacks against Christian Zionism, particularly from people who profess to be Christians, is the most dangerous attack on our beliefs. It can lead Christians to turn against God.
And as Proverbs 6:19 says, “The Lord hates… one who sows discord among brethren.”
Christian Zionism is not a new theology, it is the default Biblical perspective. False teaching is trying to divorce God from His people, both Jews and Christians. Those who speak such falsehoods are being mouthpieces for Satan. And as Jesus rebuked Peter when he was in error, we too much rebuke those who are acting against God’s divine will.
