Roots of (Warlike) Christian Zionism: Armageddonism and Politics

[Laura]

http://poweredbychrist.homestead.com/Armageddonism.html

by Dave MacPherson

First, let's get something straight. Many conservative evangelicals in America are not longing for the "world's end" or "judgment day" or a "millennium" or an "antichrist" or even the "second coming."

Although these phrases are in their theology books, the same books emphasize what they are waiting (and would almost die) for: the "any-moment pretribulation rapture" which is expected several years ahead of the second coming and most assuredly BEFORE a future "great tribulation"!

Hal Lindsey, the big rapture guru of the late 20th century, ended his bestselling book "The Late Great Planet Earth" with the word "MARANATHA" which pretribulation rapturists know is a code word for their rapture. And the same literal removal from earth at any moment lurks in Lindsey's other writings.

Tim LaHaye, the current rapture tycoon whose "Left Behind" bonanza has left even Lindsey behind, knows how to milk the rapturized masses. After his 1992 pro-rapture book "No Fear of the Storm" was published, it was revealed that he had sloppily omitted 48 words when airing a brief 19th century document - hardly good publicity! After sales slowed down, it was re-issued as "Rapture Under Attack" (with the same 48 missing words) and appeared to the public to be a new book. But not even the title change seemed to help things, and merchandiser LaHaye knew it was time to come up with some other titles that could further his rapture obsession.

And Jerry Falwell never seems to miss an opportunity, when preaching, to remind his audience that he most certainly believes in the "pretribulational rapture" view.

I can almost believe that the middle name of many Christian Right leaders is "Rapture"!
When checking pre-19th century prophetic development, one finds that "dispensational" thinking as well as Christian Zionistic roots had been in existence long before the emergence of pretribulation rapturism. Even the prophetic word "rapture" had been in print well before the 19th century - but always in reference to only an after-the-tribulation coming and never to a pretribulation coming.

Many are still unaware that the pretrib rapture idea was first publicly aired in the fall of 1830 in "The Morning Watch" (hereafter: TMW), a little-known quarterly journal published by the Irvingites (followers of famed London preacher Edward Irving) from 1829 to 1832 in Britain. Not only was this innovative publication years ahead of John Darby and his Plymouth Brethren colleagues, rapturally speaking, but in it we find shocking militancy that can be observed today in Christian Zionist preachers like John Hagee and Jerry Falwell.

As early as the September 1830 issue of TMW (pp. 510-514) a writer declared that only worthy Christians (which he labeled "Philadelphia") would be raptured before "the great tribulation" and less worthy ones (labeled "Laodicea") would be left on earth.

The September 1832 issue of the same journal (pp. 6-7) saw "Jews" as well as the less worthy Christians left behind.

But the March 1833 issue (p. 147) said that only "the Jews" would be excluded from the rapture.
So within a short period of time the Irvingites, while following the same Scriptures, revealed their innate anti-Jewishness by switching from a "church/church" dichotomy to a "church/Israel" dichotomy after convincing themselves that only "the Jews" would deserve a future tribulation!

After their adoption of an escapist view that no organized church had ever taught before 1830, the same early pretrib rapturists, feeling superior, began exhibiting some vices that often come to powerless persons who suddenly obtain power - vices like pride, hatred and persecution of others, playing God, and so on.

Sounding like Hagee and other warlike warmongers, TMW expressed even more delusional, rapture-inspired fantasies:

The September 1830 issue (p. 514), looking ahead to the hoped for "great escape," declared that the raptured believers would then collectively become "the victorious ministerer of the great tribulation" upon those left behind!

In March of 1832 the same Irvingite journal (p. 3) taught that the "vials" of wrath in the book of Revelation "shall be poured out by the risen [raptured] saints"!

And TMW in September 1832 (p. 27) went even further and announced that the collective group of raptured ones will "wield the thunders of its power against the dragon [Satan] and his angels, and cast them down from heaven"!

Note that these fanatics were more than willing to be the "chosen ones" to pour out tribulation and wrath on those not worthy to be "chosen": the Jews.

(I'm glad to report that Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina is now the only North American institution that contains a complete set of every issue of "The Morning Watch." I recently gave SEBTS my 35-year collection of rare material including those issues and Robert Norton's valuable 1861 book.)

We've just had a glimpse of vengeful and power-crazy fanaticism within the very earliest pretrib rapture group. But where in the Bible did those deluded Britishers find support for such "rapture rage"? And where are the followers of Christ commanded to pick up a sword and conquer or convert non-believers with it - or even support such sword-bearers? Why have so many Christian Zionists, who seemingly give more attention to governments than to their Gospel, turned the Great Commission into the Great Commotion?

Many of the above historical details are in my 300-page book "The Rapture Plot," the most complete and documented history of the 176-year-old pretribulation rapture merchandised today by Hagee, LaHaye, Falwell, Lindsey, Swaggart, Van Impe etc. for their pet agendas - an escapist view never taught by any church for 1800 years! If you don't have time for my book, I invite you to read my internet items including "Pretrib Rapture Diehards," "Deceiving and Being Deceived," "Famous Rapture Watchers," "Thomas Ice (Bloopers)," "Appendix F: Thou Shalt Not Steal," "The Rapture Index (Mad Theology)," and "Pretrib Hypocrisy."

All of my royalties, by the way, have always gone to a nonprofit corporation and not to me or anyone else. Interested in obtaining my unique "Plot" book? Just call 800.643.4645 or visit online bookstores. (Type in "Scholars Weigh My Research" on Google etc. to read endorsements of it by leading scholars.)

Do Hagee and his fellow preachers really love Jewish persons as much as they say they do? Then why do they pervert Scripture to try to get themselves raptured off earth before their future and final "tribulation" instead of wanting to remain on earth during that period to minister love to ALL of earth's citizens?

Hagee stated on July 19, 2006 that "The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West...." Which Bible verse inspired him to utter this - the one that says "Love ye your enemies" or the one saying "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord"?

It would appear that Hagee, Falwell and other pretrib rapture merchandisers and Christian Zionists are trying to identify with the predicted group whose love will "wax cold" (a la Matthew 24:12) during what Hagee etc. see in the future as earth's darkest days!

 

[Vulcan59]

An article on Zionist and Zionism published at the Postil Magazine.

Zionists and Zionism

One of the core projects of present-day Zionists is to build the Third Temple on the area that is also very sacred for Muslims, and where their third holiest mosque stands (Dome of the Rock).

But first, we must properly understand what we mean by “Zionism.” As Peter J. Miano has rightly pointed out, the drive to return Jews to the Levant as their proper homeland is a very old Protestant project (going back to the 17th century), for Protestants largely believe that the Jews are the chosen people of God and must be treated with deference; and that as Christians are simply “add-ons” to this Godly race. This also means that God needs the Jews to do what He wants on earth; without them God is handicapped. Thus, it is the job of “Christians” to help Jews fulfill the will of God by assisting them in every way possible.

In other words, Zionism is not a Jewish “invention”—rather, it is a Protestant undertaking which the founders of Israel successfully harnessed to achieve their end of establishing a Jewish state. The vast majority of these Protestant Zionists live in the United States, and thus the power-base of Zionism is America—it is not Israel. Protestantism has always been about “Judaizing” Christianity; that is its logic. This is why Martin Luther, for instance, severely edited the Bible to make it more like the Torah, which he believed preceded the Christian Bible, so that the current Jews are therefore regarded as the very same ones as ones in the Old Testament. This notion of priority is what gives Protestant Zionism its justification: God made a promise with the Jews and God does not break His promise. This radically alters traditional Christianity (Catholic and Orthodox) and the New Testament in which Christians are now God’s Chosen People.

Israel, the Red Heifer, and the Messiah

Zionists and Zionism One of the core projects of present-day Zionists is to build the Third Temple on the area that is also very sacred for Muslims, and where their third holiest mosque stands (Dome of the Rock). But first, we must properly understand what we mean by “Zionism.” As Peter J. Miano has

www.thepostil.com

 

[Mark7]

Corinthians 2:9: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

I think Paul was possibly talking about the Wave here. The Rapture is the way it is understood today. A materialist interpretation of being lifted up and going away up high, to somewhere else. Up and away from anyone else who could use some help - as the article says.
The first will be last and the last will be first. Someone mentioned on Twitter about how we in the West all grew up on the tooth fairy, easter bunny, and Santa Claus.

Is it me, or are there tons of lessons of all types just bursting out of current events? No free lunch lesson?

 

[Mark7]

An article on Zionist and Zionism published at the Postil Magazine.

The article reminds me of this from the Book of Revelation about some of the congregations or churches getting their candle snuffed out:

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Keeping in mind that Revelation was channeled by the Lizzies, It is prophetic in a way that cannot be properly understood without some sort of key perhaps.

 

[Nienna]

This also means that God needs the Jews to do what He wants on earth; without them God is handicapped.

Sounds like a fairly mediocre god., doesn't it. I mean, if a god needs humans to do things for it, it must be a very minor god.

 

[Puma]

Christian Zionism in action. Now they have a new enemy: Muslims

"Israel should turn the Gaza Strip into a parking lot next week, they should destroy everything. Take a big missile and destroy that Dome of the Rock mosque so we can rebuild the Third Temple and it will be the beginning of the coming of Jesus."

Christian Zionist leader, Greg Locke, calls for the razing of all of Gaza and the bombing of the historic Al Aqsa Mosque in Tennessee (USA).

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725393321202237641

 

[seek10]

An article on Zionist and Zionism published at the Postil Magazine.

Israel, the Red Heifer, and the Messiah

Zionists and Zionism One of the core projects of present-day Zionists is to build the Third Temple on the area that is also very sacred for Muslims, and where their third holiest mosque stands (Dome of the Rock). But first, we must properly understand what we mean by “Zionism.” As Peter J. Miano has

www.thepostil.com

Zionists and Zionism

One of the core projects of present-day Zionists is to build the Third Temple on the area that is also very sacred for Muslims, and where their third holiest mosque stands (Dome of the Rock).

Interestingly, similar(but slightly opposite) drama happening in India for last 75 years, whose origin is 500 years back, when muslim ruler destroyed "supposed" Ram temple and build a Masjid (called Babri Masjid).

During the 500+ years of Muslim rule, thousands (LOT more than that) of temples were destroyed in India, but the "obsession" over this site goes back to dreams of the few common people ( say "Fan" in "fanatics"), who took the mantle of restoring the Rama Mandir over Babri Masjid, went in to "soap opera" of conflicts during the last 150 years. It never got then necessary traction until late 1980's during the time of political turmoil (old guard of Nehru-Gandhi family became weak) of "realignment" and led to destruction of the Masjid ( in 1991/2). Still, It took another 30 years to bring any meaningful consensus between Hindu's and Muslims to build anything over it.

The obvious question is who benefits from all these "time bombs" of building projects over some thing that is controversial claiming antiquity, When the 80% of the people are secular? You know the answer.

These Zionists seems to be in this "Fan" club, but they happen to control entire globe through economy/media and every other thing that happens on this planet. "We all" are the ultimate losers in this drama.

 

[Debra]

I’m noticing an interesting trolling trend happening on Facebook, and it’s aimed at tricking the Christian evangelical right-wingers to LOOK, and hopefully read some factual historical background on which “Team” they are backing.

Geez, some of them are getting pretty crafty, and this one gets two thumbs up from me:

I know a lot of members here ARE far more informed and may know of the Lavon affair, but here’s a bit of info, from wiki, for a refresher;
“The Lavon affair was a failed Israeli covert operation, codenamed Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the summer of 1954. As part of a false flag operation,[1] a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence to plant bombs inside Egyptian-, American-, and British-owned civilian targets: cinemas, libraries, and American educational centers. The bombs were timed to detonate several hours after closing time. The attacks were to be blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian communists, "unspecified malcontents", or "local nationalists" with the aim of creating a climate of sufficient violence and instability to induce the British government to retain its occupying troops in Egypt's Suez Canal zone.[2] The operation caused no casualties among the population, but resulted in the deaths of four operatives. The overseer of the operation allegedly informed the Egyptians, after which 11 suspected operatives were arrested. Two committed suicide after being captured, two were executed by the Egyptian authorities, two of them were acquitted at trial, and the remaining five received prison terms ranging from 7 years to life in prison.”

Lavon Affair - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Possibility of Being]

This article goes a further down the history though it deals more on the political angle than religious. It's long.

“ARMAGEDDON LOBBY” HOW CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS INFLUENCE US POLITICS - Eurasia

Despite the fact that during the bombing of the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops not only hospitals and

eurasia.ro

Dec 17, 2023

Despite the fact that during the bombing of the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops not only hospitals and mosques, but also Christian churches were destroyed, many people who call themselves Christians and are not ethnic Jews actively support Israel’s actions. Where did this phenomenon come from?

The fact is that Zionism as a Jewish political movement arose at the end of the 19th century, but similar ideas appeared much earlier. And, paradoxically, they were born in a Christian environment.

The Birth of Puritan Zionism

Some of the first supporters of the immigration of European Jews to Palestine were the Puritans. This Protestant sect arose at the end of the 16th century and became quite influential in England and then in the American colonies. They showed considerable interest in the role of the Jews in eschatology, or end-time theology.

For example, John Owen, a 17th-century theologian, MP, and administrator of Oxford, taught that the physical return of Jews to Palestine was necessary to fulfill end-time prophecy. And in 1621, Sir Henry Finch wrote a sermon calling for support for the Jewish people and their return to their biblical homeland.

One of the most influential branches of Christian Zionism has been dispensationalism, a system of interpretation that uses information from the Bible to divide history into different periods of administrations or dispensations and views the biblical term “Israel” as designating the ethnic Jewish nation established in Palestine.

Dispensationalism was originally developed by the Anglo-Irish preacher John Nelson Darby in the 19th century. Darby believed that the God-ordained destinies of Israel and the Christian church were completely separate, with the latter to be physically “caught up”—raised up to meet Jesus—before the period of upheaval predicted in the Apocalypse called the Great Tribulation.

According to Darby, the Great Tribulation will begin after the construction of the Third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. During the Great Tribulation, according to this teaching, 144 thousand Jews will convert to Christianity, and this will reveal to them the true intentions of the Antichrist. Thus, they will become the epicenter for the conversion of all non-believers who were not raptured.

It is these 144,000 converted Jews who will face the Antichrist in the final battle known as Armageddon and defeat the Antichrist. After this battle, the seven years of tribulation will end and Jesus will return to imprison Satan and establish a thousand-year Messianic kingdom on Earth.

Although absurd and not mentioned in the Bible, the concept of Christians being physically transported to heaven on the eve of Armageddon was enthusiastically accepted by some churches in England and especially in the United States.

Darby’s approach to Christian eschatology coincides with similar developments in Jewish eschatology, namely the ideas of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalisher and the creation of a new branch of Jewish messianism. Its representatives believed that Jews should actively work to hasten the coming of their messiah by immigrating to Israel and building the Third Temple on the site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located.

Darby himself traveled throughout North America and a number of other countries to popularize his ideas, meeting with several influential pastors throughout the English-speaking world. Among them was James Brooks, the future mentor of Cyrus Scofield, who later disseminated this concept, and his interpretation was published in large numbers in the United States and is known as the “Scofield Bible.”

Another figure influenced by Darby’s doctrine was American preacher Charles Taze Russell, whose church later gave rise to several different sects, including Jehovah’s Witnesses (an organization banned in the Russian Federation). Decades before the founding of modern political Zionism, Russell began preaching—not only to Christians but also to Jews in the United States and elsewhere—the need for mass Jewish immigration to Palestine.

Russell wrote a letter to Edmond de Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild banking family, as well as Maurice von Hirsch, a wealthy German financier of Jewish origin, in 1891 about his plan to settle Palestine. He described his plan as follows: “My proposal is that the rich Jews buy from Turkey at fair value all of its property rights in these lands: that is, all state lands (lands not owned by private owners), provided that Syria and Palestine will be established as free states.”

The book by Theodor Herzl, considered the founder of Zionism, “The Jewish State” was published only in 1896.

American preacher William E. Blackstone, who was greatly influenced by Darby and other dispensationalists of the era, also spent decades promoting Jewish immigration to Palestine as a means of fulfilling biblical prophecy. His efforts culminated in the Blackstone Memorial petition, which called on then-President of the United States Benjamin Harrison and his Secretary of State James Blaine to take action “for the return of Palestine to the Jews.”

Signatories of the petition included bankers J. D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan, future President of the United States William McKinley, Speaker of the House of Representatives Thomas Brackett Reed, Chief Justice Melville Fuller, the mayors of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston and Chicago, editors of the Boston Globe, New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune, as well as members of Congress, influential businessmen and clergy.

Although some rabbis were included among the signatories, the majority of American Jewish communities opposed the contents of the petition. In other words, the main goal of Zionism, even before it became a movement, was widely supported by the American Christian elite.

Moving on to modern times.

Modern takeoff

Yet for the first half of the twentieth century, Christian Zionism was not very widespread or influential in the United States.

But then evangelist Billy Graham, who had close relationships with several presidents, including Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, enters the picture. Finally, dispensationalism enters the mainstream of American political discourse with evangelical preacher Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority in 1979.

Another prominent dispensationalist with great political and literary influence was Hal Lindsey. Ronald Reagan was so moved by his books that he invited Lindsay to speak at a National Security Council meeting on nuclear war plans and made him an influential consultant to several members of Congress and Pentagon officials.

The Republican Party to this day relies heavily on Christian Zionists for both cash and votes. They have a profound influence on party ideology.

Christian Zionists in the United States now have many names. Some call them the “Armageddon lobby”, others call them “Christian AIPAC” (American Israel Public Affairs Committee).

There are about 20 million Christian Zionists in the United States, and they sponsor the migration of Jews to Israel from Ethiopia, Russia, Ukraine and other countries. That is, in fact, there are more of them than there are ethnic Jews around the world, although not all Jews support Zionism.

During the administration of George W. Bush, and especially in the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the administration was also heavily influenced by Christian Zionists in the form of neoconservatives. During a 60 Minutes interview in October 2002, Jerry Falwell even stated, “I think we can now count on President Bush to do the right thing for Israel every time.”

Falwell was referring to President Bush’s actions in April 2002 when he turned a blind eye to Israeli actions in the West Bank during Operation Protective Wall. Falwell met with President Bush several times during his first term specifically to discuss US support for Israel. According to him, the president’s views on Israel coincided with his own.

Christian Zionists also helped unseat Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, who suggested it was being done to benefit Israel by the Jewish lobby. And the Apostolic Congress and the Americans for a Safe Israel group actually thwarted Bush’s plan to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians by bombarding the White House with petitions.

In the United States there is also an organization called Christians United for Israel, which was created in 2006 by Pastor John Hagee and has more than seven million members. Its members include former CIA chief and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Vice President Mike Pence and famous hawk John Bolton. They were all quite active during Donald Trump’s presidency.

During a speech in Kansas in 2015, Pompeo openly stated that he believed in the “Christian Rapture,” and in an interview said that as a Christian he believed that “God chose Trump to help save Jews from the threat of Iran.”

It was the Christian Zionists who lobbied for Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and its sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. First Baptist Church of Dallas pastor and Trump supporter Robert Jeffress led a prayer for peace in Jerusalem during the relocation of the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv on May 14, 2018. He called it “a significant event in the life of your people and in the history of our world.”

Another structure from the United States called “Proclaiming Justice for the Nations” also lobbies for the interests of Israel. At the end of October 2023, they began to call for the resignation of the UN Secretary-General for his criticism of Israel’s actions towards the Palestinians.

As we can see, the issue of supporting Israel has a longer and more complex history than even its creation in 1948.

While many Jews deny even the very statehood of Israel, calling it a violation of the Talmudic commandments (for example, the Hasidic movement “Naturei Karta”), among the followers of Christian denominations there are ardent supporters of Israel, including the rationale for any actions of its government, including repression of the Palestinians.

And, of course, American Protestants play a huge role in this, linking the fate of Israel with their eschatological worldview. And among them are influential political figures who make decisions on US foreign policy.

Most recent achievement:

House Passes Antisemitism Hate Speech Bill Curbing Free Speech

Rep. Lawler leads a sizable bipartisan effort for the State to embrace IHRA's broad working definition of antisemitism that could curb speech.

nationalfile.com

Free speech is coming to an end as Congress passes H.R. 6090, or the “Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023,” a resolution for the federal government to put in stone an absolute definition of “antisemitism.”

The bill, introduced by US Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and cosponsored by several other representatives, including Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Max Miller (R-Ohio), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Kean (R-N.J.), Shelia Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) and Shontel Brown (D-Ohio).

Guess Sen. Mike Johnson may well belong to the group:

Speaker Johnson Launches House-wide Effort to Crack Down on Antisemitism on College Campuses “We will use all tools available to us to address this scourge”