By Dan Price from his FB page.

     I’ve been pondering why there is such a divergence in Christians’ polar opposite opinions regarding Israel, the current war against Hamas and other Islamic elements. Here’s where I’ve landed in my observations. Please note that I will be making generalizations, knowing that there are always exceptions, but the exceptions will likely be in the very small minority.

   1) If you believe in pre-millennialism, i.e. there will be a physical reign of Jesus Christ on the earth (from Jerusalem) for a 1,000-year period after this current age comes to an end, then you probably openly support Israel in this battle against Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Iran, etc. 

   2) If you hold to an a-millennial position, then you likely self identify as “pro-Palestine/ian” or part of the “Free Palestine” movement. 

   3) If you hold to the pre-millennial position, then you would likely accept being called a “Biblical Zionist” or “Christian Zionist” (as opposed to a Secular Zionist).

   4) If you believe that pre-millennialism is a heresy (i.e. you believe that a-millennialism is the proper way to interpret scripture), then you would accept the term (or maybe use it yourself) of an “anti-Zionist”.

   5) If you do not believe that Replacement Theology/Supersessionism/Fulfillment Theology/etc are proper ways of understanding the Bible, then you probably support the pre-millennial viewpoint. See #1 and #3.

   6) If you hold to Replacement Theology/Supersessionism/Fulfillment Theology, et al, then you probably support the a-millennial view. See #2 and #4.

   7) If you fall into categories #1, #3 and #5, then you probably see the current Israel/Hamas war as primarily religious or spiritual in nature, i.e. the system of Islam versus Israel (and pretty much every other religion or faith).

   8) If you fall into categories #2, #4 and #6, then you probably look at the current war as an issue of land rights and “justice”. I.e. Israel versus Palestinians.

     Essentially then, among Christians, this is—at its root—a battle between two theological understandings of Scripture, i.e. pre-millennialism versus a-millennialism. The pre-millennial view sees modern Israel as one of the continuing fulfillments of biblical prophecy, such as the current regathering of Jews in the land of Israel. The a-millennial view is that the church has inherited or is fulfilling God’s promises to Israel, so that a modern national state of Israel is theologically irrelevant.

     So, the bottom line is that it mostly comes down to whether one believes that Revelation 20 is literal…or not. I do not know of a middle ground. It truly is the biblical “controversy of Zion”.

What do you think?

 

Dan Price lives in Israel and ministers to the Druze.