The Wittenberg Door (Updated)

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Prof. Michael Horton weighs in on President Obama’s statement that any Israeli-Palestinian peace accord “must begin with a return to the 1967 borders.” Jack Hayford, representing the dispensationalist camp, immediately reacted, saying, “We are living in a sobering moment in history that calls us, as believers in Jesus Christ, to take a stand with Israel. We could be people of the last hour … Israel is a land about which God says uniquely, prophetically, redemptively and repeatedly in the Bible, This is Mine. God refers to Israel as He does to no other land on Earth. Israel was raised up to be a light to the Gentiles.”

Horton counters with the Biblical view of the relationship between Old Testament Israel and the Church:

The way the Gospels, but especially Hebrews and Galatians, interpret these passages is to recognize that the Sinai covenant was temporary, conditional, and typological. It was a shadow of the things to come—namely, Christ and his kingdom. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus announces a “regime change” from the civil laws of the theocracy. Instead of driving out the enemies of God, the True Israel—those united to Christ—are to endure suffering for the gospel and to pray for their persecutors. God’s common grace is shed on the just and the unjust alike in this age. Having fulfilled its job, like a trailer for a movie, the old covenant is now “obsolete” (Heb 8:13). Christ’s ministry, far greater than that of Moses, fulfills the everlasting promise that God made to Abraham. Now, blessing has come from the Jews to the ends of the earth in Jesus Christ, the true Israel, the true and faithful Son of David, the true Temple … Through Christ, he has fulfilled this promise, bringing blessing to all the families of the earth. All heirs of this kingdom are “a holy nation,” living in the common nations of this age.

Especially given the legacy of Christian persecution of Jews throughout the medieval and modern periods, there is a special obligation of Christians to defend the common rights of the Jewish people to a flourishing existence.  Yet, by acknowledging that God’s promise of a temporal, geo-political theocracy and land were conditional and that this covenant now lies in the past, we are free to support our friends in Israel and Palestine in their pursuit of a stable peace that will doubtless require trust and negotiation on both sides.

Read the rest of Horton’s article here: “Biblical Foreign Policy?”. The open letter below, written in 2002, details what Horton explains in his article.

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An Open Letter to Evangelicals and Other Interested Parties:
The People of God, the Land of Israel, and the Impartiality of the Gospel

Initiated by Knox Theological Seminary

Signed by over 100 evangelical pastors, educators, and others

Israeli-Palestinian peace poster

Recently a number of leaders in the Protestant community of the United States have urged the endorsement of far-reaching and unilateral political commitments to the people and land of Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, citing Holy Scripture as the basis for those commitments. To strengthen their endorsement, several of these leaders have also insisted that they speak on behalf of the seventy million people who constitute the American evangelical community.

It is good and necessary for evangelical leaders to speak out on the great moral issues of our day in obedience to Christ’s call for his disciples to be salt and light in the world (Matt 5:13-16).It is quite another thing, however, when leaders call for commitments that are based upon a serious misreading of Holy Scripture. In such instances, it is good and necessary for other evangelical leaders to speak out as well. We do so here in the hope that we may contribute to the cause of the Lord Christ, apart from whom there can never be true and lasting peace in the world (John 14:27).

At the heart of the political commitments in question are two fatally flawed propositions. First, some are teaching that God’s alleged favor toward Israel today is based upon ethnic descent rather than upon the grace of Christ alone, as proclaimed in the Gospel. Second, others are teaching that the Bible’s promises concerning the land are fulfilled in a special political region or “Holy Land,” perpetually set apart by God for one ethnic group alone. As a result of these false claims, large segments of the evangelical community, our fellow citizens, and our government are being misled with regard to the Bible’s teachings regarding the people of God, the land of Israel, and the impartiality of the Gospel.

In what follows, we make our convictions public. We do so acknowledging the genuine evangelical faith of many who will not agree with us. Knowing that we may incur their disfavor, we are nevertheless constrained by Scripture and by conscience to publish the following propositions for the cause of Christ and truth.

1. The Gospel offers eternal life in heaven to Jews and Gentiles alike as a free gift in Jesus Christ
   (Rom 6:23). Eternal life in heaven is not earned or deserved, nor is it based upon ethnic descent or natural birth (Luke 3:8; Eph 2:8, 9).
2. All human beings, Jews and Gentiles alike, are sinners (Rom 3:22-23),and, as such, they are under God’s judgment of death (Rom 6:23). Because God’s standard is perfect obedience and all are sinners, it is impossible for anyone to gain temporal peace or eternal life by his own efforts. Moreover, apart from Christ, there is no special divine favor upon any member of any ethnic group; nor, apart from Christ, is there any divine promise of an earthly land or a heavenly inheritance to anyone, whether Jew or Gentile (Rom 3:9-10). To teach or imply otherwise is nothing less than to compromise the Gospel itself.
3. God, the Creator of all mankind, is merciful and takes no pleasure in punishing sinners
   (Ezek 18:23, 32). Yet God is also holy and just and must punish sin (Exod 34:7). Therefore, to satisfy both his justice and his mercy, God has appointed one way of salvation for all, whether Jew or Gentile, in Jesus Christ alone (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).
4. Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man (John 1:1, 14),came into the world to save sinners
   (1 Tim 1:15). In his death upon the cross, Jesus was the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, of Jew and of Gentile alike. The death of Jesus forever fulfilled and eternally ended the sacrifices of the Jewish temple (Heb 9:11-12; 10:11-12). All who would worship God, whether Jew or Gentile, must now come to him in spirit and truth through Jesus Christ alone. The worship of God is no longer identified with any specific earthly sanctuary. He receives worship only through Jesus Christ, the eternal and heavenly Temple (John 4:21, 23; 2:19-21).
5. To as many as receive and rest upon Christ alone through faith alone, to Jews and Gentiles alike, God gives eternal life in his heavenly inheritance (Rom 1:16; John 1:12-13).
6. The inheritance promises that God gave to Abraham were made effective through Christ, Abraham’s True Seed (Gal 3:16). These promises were not and cannot be made effective through sinful man’s keeping of God’s law (Rom 4:13). Rather, the promise of an inheritance is made to those only who have faith in Jesus, the True Heir of Abraham. All spiritual benefits are derived from Jesus, and apart from him there is no participation in the promises (Gal 3:7, 26-29). Since Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the Abrahamic Covenant, all who bless him and his people will be blessed of God, and all who curse him and his people will be cursed of God (Gen 12:3; Gal 3:7-8). These promises do not apply to any particular ethnic group (Gal 3:22; Matt 21:43), but to the church of Jesus Christ, the true Israel (Rom 2:28-29; Phil 3:3). The people of God, whether the church of Israel in the wilderness in the Old Testament (Acts 7:38), or the Israel of God among the Gentile Galatians in the New Testament (Gal 6:16),are one body who through Jesus will receive the promise of the heavenly city, the everlasting Zion (Heb 13:14; Phil 3:20; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:9-14; Heb 11:39-40). This heavenly inheritance has been the expectation of the people of God in all ages (Heb 11:13-16; 12:22-24).
7. Jesus taught that his resurrection was the raising of the True Temple of Israel (John 2:19-21). He has replaced the priesthood, sacrifices, and sanctuary of Israel by fulfilling them in his own glorious priestly ministry and by offering, once and for all, his sacrifice for the world, that is, for both Jew and Gentile (Heb 8:1-6. See further Heb 4:14-5:10; 6:13-10:18). Believers from all nations are now being built up through him into this Third Temple (Eph 2:19-22; 1 Pet 2:4-6), the church that Jesus promised to build (Matt 16:18; Heb 3:5-6).
8. Simon Peter spoke of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus in conjunction with the final judgment and the punishment of sinners (2 Pet 3:10-13). Instructively, this same Simon Peter, the Apostle to the Circumcision (Gal 2:7),says nothing about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel in the land of Palestine (Cf. Acts 1:6-7). Instead, as his readers contemplate the promise of Jesus’ Second Coming, he fixes their hope upon the new heavens and the new earth, in which righteousness dwells (2 Pet 3:13).


Ancient Near East (from the ESV Study Bible) (click to enlarge)

9. The entitlement of any one ethnic or religious group to territory in the Middle East called the “Holy Land” cannot be supported by Scripture. In fact, the land promises specific to Israel in the Old Testament were fulfilled under Joshua
   (Josh 21:43-45). The New Testament speaks clearly and prophetically about the destruction of the second temple in A.D. 70 (Matt 24:1-2. See also Mark 13:1-2; Luke 21:20-24). No New Testament writer foresees a regathering of ethnic Israel in the land, as did the prophets of the Old Testament after the destruction of the first temple in 586 B.C. (Luke 21:24). Moreover, the land promises of the Old Covenant are consistently and deliberately expanded in the New Testament to show the universal dominion of Jesus (Exod 20:12; Eph 6:2-3; Gen 12:1; cf. Rom 4:13; Psa 37:11; Matt 5:5; Psa 2:7-8),who reigns from heaven upon the throne of David, inviting all the nations through the Gospel of Grace to partake of his universal and everlasting dominion (Acts 2:29-32).
10. Bad Christian theology regarding the “Holy Land” contributed to the tragic cruelty of the Crusades in the Middle Ages. Lamentably, bad Christian theology is today attributing to secular Israel a divine mandate to conquer and hold Palestine, with the consequence that the Palestinian people are marginalized and regarded as virtual “Canaanites” (Deut 20:16-18. See also Lev 27:28-29). This doctrine is both contrary to the teaching of the New Testament and a violation of the Gospel mandate (Matt 28:19). In addition, this theology puts those Christians who are urging the violent seizure and occupation of Palestinian land in moral jeopardy of their own bloodguiltiness. Are we as Christians not called to pray for and work for peace, warning both parties to this conflict that those who live by the sword will die by the sword? (Matt 26:52) Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring both temporal reconciliation and the hope of an eternal and heavenly inheritance to the Israeli and the Palestinian. Only through Jesus Christ can anyone know peace on earth.

The promised Messianic kingdom of Jesus Christ has been inaugurated. Its advent marks the focal point of human history. This kingdom of the Messiah is continuing to realize its fullness as believing Jews and Gentiles are added to the community of the redeemed in every generation. The same kingdom will be manifested in its final and eternal form with the return of Christ the King in all his glory.

Of all the nations, the Jewish people played the primary role in the coming of the Messianic kingdom. New Testament Scripture declares that to them were given the oracles of God (Rom 3:2), the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises (Rom 9:3-4). Theirs are the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and from them, according to the flesh, came Christ (Rom 9:5). Salvation is, indeed, of the Jews (John 4:22). While affirming the Scriptural teaching that there is no salvation outside of Christ, Christians should acknowledge with heartfelt sorrow and grief the frequent oppression of the Jews in history, sometimes tragically done in the name of the cross.

But what are we to make of the unbelief of Israel? Has their unbelief made the faithfulness of God without effect for them? (Rom 3:1-4) No, God has not completely rejected the people of Israel (Rom 11:1. See further Rom 11:2-10), and we join the apostle Paul in his earnest prayer for the salvation of his Jewish kinsmen according to the flesh (Rom 9:1-3). There always has been and always will be a remnant that is saved (Rom 11:5). While not all Israel will experience the blessing of participation in the Messianic kingdom (Rom 9:6), yet Jews who do come to faith in Christ will share in his reign throughout the present age and into eternity. In addition, it is not as though the rejection of some in Israel for unbelief serves no purpose. On the contrary, because they were broken off in unbelief, the Gospel has gone to the Gentiles, who now, through faith, partake of the blessings to the fathers and join with believing Jews to constitute the true Israel of God, the church of Jesus Christ (Rom 11:11-18).

The present secular state of Israel, however, is not an authentic or prophetic realization of the Messianic kingdom of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, a day should not be anticipated in which Christ’s kingdom will manifest Jewish distinctives, whether by its location in “the land,” by its constituency, or by its ceremonial institutions and practices. Instead, this present age will come to a climactic conclusion with the arrival of the final, eternal phase of the kingdom of the Messiah. At that time, all eyes, even of those who pierced him, will see the King in his glory (Rev 1:7). Every knee will bow, and every tongue will declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9-11). The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever (Rev 11:15).

In light of the grand prophetic expectation of the New Testament, we urge our evangelical brothers and sisters to return to the proclamation of the free offer of Christ’s grace in the Gospel to all the children of Abraham, to pray for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and to promise all humanitarian sympathy and practical support for those on both sides who are suffering in this current vicious cycle of atrocity and displacement. We also invite those Christian educators and pastors who share our convictions on the people of God, the land of Israel, and the impartiality of the Gospel to join their names with ours as signatories to this open letter.¹

Advent

In the Year of our Lord 2002

Soli Deo Gloria

Signed by over 100 Evangelical pastors, educators, and others

1 Signatories are updated periodically. Those who wish to add their names as signatories to this Open Letter may do so by contacting us by letter at Knox Theological Seminary, 5554 N. Federal Hwy., Ft. Lauderdale, FL, or by e-mail at DeanofFaculty@knoxseminary.org. Due to the potential for various abuses, names will be added as signatories only after receipt of 1) correspondence (letter or e-mail) granting permission to attach said name and pertinent identification to the Open Letter; and 2) a phone number for verbal confirmation. Individual signatures do not necessarily imply institutional endorsement. For further study on the contribution of the Book of Revelation to biblical eschatology, see The John-Revelation Project under the Faculty Forum on this web site.

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