1903 JEWS AND THE END TIMES?

I want to delve into a hard issue for the church.

The last few weeks I have been watching the documentaries from net flix.

I mentioned that most [if not all?] are done from the liberal perspective- which I’m okay with.

But it is important on all issues to see both sides.

One of the things they dealt with was the history of the church and anti Semitism.

Yes- the Christian church has had a long history of treating the Jewish people badly.

Why?

As a Protestant- those of you who have been reading my posts for a while- well you realize that I’m not in the ‘normal’ category of Protestantism.

Many of the subjects I hit on are going against the strain of what we normally view as American Evangelicalism.

I often reference the Pope- in a good way- or talk about our Catholic brothers and sisters- well- as brothers and sisters!

So- I realize I have rubbed many the wrong way.

So- this subject of the treatment of the Jewish people has seen extremes- and in the American Evangelical church- much too much of the ‘end times’ stuff- in my view- is missing the boat.

As we read the New Testament we see Jesus and the disciples [all Jewish by the way] living at a time when the Roman govt. ruled over the Jewish people- and the Jewish people were waiting for their ‘salvation’ by means of a Jewish Messiah who would come and deliver them from their oppressors.

Much of their understanding of salvation was tied in to a national deliverance.

When you read the prayers/praises of both John the Baptists dad- and also Mary’s praise [called the Magnificat] you see a strong sense of national deliverance.

They speak about God sending the Messiah to deliver the people form their oppressors.

Okay- in this milieu we have Jesus and his guys living and believing that the ‘salvation’ of God is near.

It was only natural for the disciples- especially those who we call Zealots [Simon- not Peter] to think that this whole salvation story was about God restoring natural Israel back to a place of prominence once again- no more Roman rule type of thing.

But we see an interesting thing with Jesus- he keeps making statements that seem to lead the disciples away from seeing things this way.

‘My kingdom is not of this world- or my men would fight’

‘Put up the sword- those who live by it will die by it’

And the verse I quoted the other day ‘see all these buildings- temple- there will not be one stone left upon another’.

He basically is rejecting the nationalistic idea of him being the Messiah who would redeem Israel in a nationalist way.

He’s showing them that his purpose is different- it’s salvific for sure- but not in the way they perceive.

Okay- I’m beginning to realize I won’t be able to cover the whole thing in this post.

Maybe I’ll do a few more like this in the next few days.

The point is- I want you to see that God’s purpose for our Jewish friends- our Muslim friends- for all races and ethnic groups.

His purpose is not to pit one side against the other.

It’s not about Jesus defending one side- at his second coming- and actually leading that side in a real war- where he shoots people- or kills them with a sword!

No- these scenarios- which prevail in the End Times books you see at Wal mart.

These ‘narratives’ if you will- go against the entire grain of the teachings of Jesus.

This is why you see me so negative at times- against the Evangelical church.

Many Protestants- well meaning people- have such a negative view of the historic church- that they reject the ancient church’s position on these things.

For the most part- the historic church took a position called A-Millennialism.

Basically it’s a kind of spiritual way of seeing all these things.

God’s kingdom is not seen thru the eyes of natural war- but thru the eyes of a heavenly kingdom.

I think that’s the correct position- for the most part.

But most American protestants believe that this position is just one of the many ‘doctrines of the Whore of Babylon’ see what I mean?

Okay- lets end there- think on some of this stuff- read the New Testament with this in your mind.

Why does the Apostle John refer to natural Jerusalem as ‘spiritual Sodom and Egypt’? [Revelation]

Was his intent to be anti Semitic?

No- he was showing us that God’s concern was for all people groups- no longer was it about a nationalistic thing- a type of salvation that the disciples at first were thinking of.

As I end this post- I want to make sure that all my friends- Jews- Muslims- all- understand that my position is that God loves us all- and he’s not in the business of backing any side- militarily.

I hope to show you this in the coming days.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.