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Zionism in biblical prophecy, part 4

Prior to 1948 the majority of Christians supporting Zionism believed that the Jews would repent and turn to Christ before they could “return” to the old land. When this did not happen, they thought this repentance would occur after 3½ years (i.e., about 1952). This was based on the belief that the war that broke out in 1948 was the start of a 7-year “Great Tribulation.”

By 1953, the belief was that surely the Jews would repent in 1955. This too failed to happen. After this, they began teaching that the Jews had to return first and that they would turn to Christ some time in the future. This is still the current belief.

As I showed in part 2 of this series, the law in Leviticus 26:40-42 makes it clear that God will “remember” His covenant only when they cease their “hostility” toward God. Does this mean they must first become devout Jews according to the standards of Judaism? That, of course, is their own belief. But from Jesus’ viewpoint, it is about reversing their hostility toward Himself. This hostility toward Him is one of the major themes of the New Testament.

Isaiah 12:2 says (literally), “God is my Yeshua… for Yah Yahweh … has become my Yeshua.” In other words, the Lawgiver, identified as Yahweh, was incarnated as the Son of God in earth and has therefore “become my Yeshua.” Hence, to be hostile to Jesus is to be hostile to Yahweh.

The point is that the law of tribulation in Leviticus 26 does not allow the exiled Israelites (of any tribe) to return to the land prior to the end of hostilities. So how is it that God allowed Zionism to succeed?

The answer is found in the fact that world Jewry, ever since 126 B.C., has included the nation of Esau-Edom (Idumea). They have two sets of prophecies to fulfill. God allowed Zionism to succeed in order to give justice to Esau, who had been deprived of the birthright through Jacob’s deception in Genesis 27.

Isaac’s Prophecy to Esau

After Jacob had secured the birthright from his blind father, Esau arrived with venison to feed his father and to receive the same birthright. But he discovered that it had already been passed to Jacob. He appealed for justice, and so we read in Genesis 27:40 KJV,

⁴⁰ And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

A yoke is a sign of servitude. Esau was to remain under Jacob’s “yoke” for an unspecified amount of time. But this condition was to be reversed “when thou shalt have the dominion.” I see this as a reference to the dominion mandate, which was one of the two main elements of the birthright along with the fruitfulness mandate. (See Genesis 1:26-28.)

Essentially, this prophesied that Jacob would have to return the birthright to Esau. Obviously, this was due to the deceitful and unlawful way in which Jacob had obtained the birthright. God could not leave such lawlessness unpunished, nor could God give Esau and his descendants genuine cause to accuse Him of injustice. Hence, Isaac’s long-term prophecy was fulfilled in 1948 when the British flag (“Union Jack”) was lowered and replaced by the Israeli flag. Jack is short for Jacob, and the British thus represented Jacob in this prophetic action.

The Jewish state, then, was established, not to fulfill the promises to the House of Israel, but to give justice to Esau-Edom. Edom thus received the birthright, and with it came the birthright name, Israel. In the long run, Edom will not be able to retain the name Israel, because it is not called to hold the birthright. The prophecy given prior to his birth shows that clearly in Genesis 25:23, which says, “the older shall serve the younger.”

Yet in the short term, the older was to break off the yoke of his younger brother in order to restore the lawful order that Jacob had violated through his deceit. So from the perspective of the law and prophecy, 1948 marked the time when the “dominion” passed from Jacob to Esau. In my view, this was to give Esau the opportunity to prove himself unworthy, so that he could be disinherited lawfully. It appears that Esau was given 76 years to hold the dominion, and, if so, the present conflict in Gaza could well be the beginning of the end of Esau’s dominion.

Esau’s Zionism

Jacob and Esau each claimed that the Old Covenant promise of inheriting Canaan belonged to him. Esau’s claim was based on the fact that he was the oldest; Jacob’s claim was based on the prophecy given while they were yet in the womb. They seemed to fight even before they were born (Genesis 25:22), and this too prophesied of a long-term struggle.

From Esau’s perspective, he was the victim of injustice, and so he “bore a grudge against Jacob” (Genesis 27:41, 42) and even sought to kill his brother. Nonetheless, Esau’s descendants (Edom) had to settle for nearby territory southeast of Canaan, even while coveting the Promised Land. The Edomites made an alliance with Mount Seir and later took over that land.

Centuries later, the Assyrians deported the House of Israel north along the shores of the Caspian Sea. This history was noted by C. S. Lewis in his books, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. His books are allegories of church history. In this case, the “voyage” found people who were invisible—that is, the “lost tribes of Israel.” But I digress.

Ezekiel 35 is a prophecy “against Mount Seir” (vs. 2) and “all Edom” (vs. 15) for rejoicing when Israel and Judah were taken captive and removed from the land. Ezekiel 35:10, 11 says,

¹⁰ “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the Lord was there, ¹¹ therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you showed because of your hatred against them…”

The two nations and lands in question are Israel and Judah. The Edomites seemed to believe that they would never return from exile, giving them the opportunity to fulfill Isaac’s prophecy to Esau. But God did not like their “anger” and “envy” and “hatred.” Though the Israelites themselves never returned, the Judahites were allowed to return after 70 years in Babylon, so that the Messiah could be born in Bethlehem of Judea, according to the prophecy in Micah 5:2.

Again, we read in Ezekiel 36:5.

⁵ therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.”

This implies that Edom received assistance from “the rest of the nations” in appropriating “My land.” It is hard to say if this took place during the Babylonian captivity, but it seems to fit quite well with what took place in 1948 when the United Nations assisted the Zionists in appropriating that land for themselves.

The UN had actually established a Jewish homeland, not a Jewish state, but the Zionists went beyond this mandate. Instead of establishing a place where Jews and Palestinians could live together in peace, the Palestinians were driven from their homes, farms, and villages, and crowded into “temporary” refugee camps such as Gaza. After 75 years of oppression and mistreatment, we now see the eruption of violence from Gaza.

Malachi 1:2-4 is another prophecy of Edomite Zionism.

² “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob’ ³ but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” ⁴ Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins,” thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.”

When God stated, “I have hated Esau,” He was protecting Esau’s rights as the hated firstborn son, according to the law in Deuteronomy 21:16. This strengthened Esau’s case in the divine court, ensuring that Jacob would have to return the birthright to his older brother at some point. For this reason, Edom was able to say, “We will return and build up the ruins.” God did not contradict this, but says, “They may build, but I will tear down.”

Edom’s Zionist aspirations, then, are temporary, yet very real. If the Palestinians had been aware of this prophecy—and had believed it—they might have submitted to the harsh rule of the Edomite state called Israel. Their lives would have been difficult but much more bearable. But they did not understand what God was doing, nor did they understand the justice of God toward Esau on account of Jacob’s deception.

True Zionism (Sionism)

While the church continues to expect a mass conversion of Jews to Jesus Christ, their expectation is based on the belief that the Jews are the Israelites and that Zionism fulfills the prophecies that were actually given to the lost tribes of Israel. Furthermore, when the prophecies speak of “the return” in carnal terms, they fail to see that returning to God cannot be accomplished by a change of address. If a carnal man moves to a new location, he is still carnal.

The prophets record the words of the Lord often saying, “Return to Me.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=return+to+me&t=NASB95#s=s_primary_0_1

It is always an appeal to repent, not to change one’s address. Malachi 3:7 asks, “How shall we return?” The answer is found in ceasing to rob God (vs. 8) and to cease being “arrogant against Me” (vs. 13). Nothing here is said about changing one’s address. Zionism was necessary in the plan of God to accommodate Esau’s plea for justice. True Zionism is a return to God and to a state of righteousness.

The New Testament establishes Mount Sion (Hermon) as the place of Sonship, for it is where Jesus was transfigured and where the divine pronouncement was given, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 17:5). As Christians who rally around His Majesty, King Jesus at Mount Sion, we have a different mountain (Hebrews 12:22 KJV). Mount Zion is in Jerusalem, which is the prophetic equivalent of Mount Sinai in Arabia (Galatians 4:25). That was the Old Covenant Mount, of which Jesus said in John 4:21,

²¹ … “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.”

We have a better mountain in which to worship God, for we are to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Those who think that a third temple will be built in Jerusalem, where all will go to worship God in the age to come, will be disappointed. The book of Hebrews speaks of better things, and we ought to align ourselves with those New Covenant changes, so that we can truly put on the mind of Christ.