Strap yourselves in, here goes another “ism.”
Around the world, the American church, and indeed America is seen as very pro Israel. This is called Zionism, and there is a primary verse Zionists use to defend their position. Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse;” To take advantage of this verse, you must interpret in a certain way. That way is to say that when God said “you” he really meant “them.” If you’ve read anything I have written on eschatology, this is something I bring up all the time. If the verse says something, and we have no reason to think it is using some sort of metaphorical or prophetical language, then there’s no reason why it cannot be taken literally. That’s the literal interpretation of the Bible that everyone loves so much. However, as with many hard and fast rules in theology, it seems it can be broken whenever the need suits. That’s how we got dispensationalism, and that’s why I don’t like “isms.” Truth is often trampled to support a position.
This verse is simple and straightforward. Throughout the whole thing, the whole promise, God is speaking directly to Abraham, person to person, “Man to man.” Speaking directly to Abraham, God says, “I will do this stuff to you and for you” there are no promises to the rest of anybody other than there will be a lot of them.
We must not forget the rest of this often used verse. “and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Don’t you see it? If you say that God is telling Abraham that he will bless those who bless the Jews, then you are contradicting the second half of the verse, because God says that all will be blessed through Abraham. That’s the Christian part of the promise, because certainly not every nation was blessed through the nation of Israel, other than through Christ.
Even if we take this verse to mean what most take it to mean, we still have one more snag. In Romans, Paul makes it abundantly clear that foremost, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, and secondly, Christians are co-inheritors of the same blessings, a recapitulation of the promises made to Abraham. Therefore, instead of being pro Israel, you should be pro-Christian. Israel was judged by Jesus when he returned to heaven and was seated at the right hand of God. Their nation was dismantled, people evicted, their temple destroyed, their land taken, and their national promises delivered to individual hearts. God judged the nation of Israel, and found that they had been in direct opposition to his plan. And the results are undeniable. Not 40 years after Jesus ascended into heaven, Israel was no more. And in my view, YHWH’s Israel still doesn’t exist, and never will.
So some read this and say “So you are anti-Israel?” Absolutely not, just as I am not anti any other country. That’s just another “ism.” How can I be against a country without being against every individual person therein. What if all the people in there are Jews or Black or Chinese, that would make me a racist. No, I am a full believer in what Paul said and what Jesus lived, in Christ, there are no Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, men or women. Again with the literal interpretation of the Bible, it says what it means. God sees no race, no sex, no age, only the heart, the thing that is on the inside. God does not bless the outside, but what is done on the outside.
It seems to me that Americans want to find every reason to defend their prosperity. So we cook up reasons, “God is blessing me because I give money to the church, God is blessing me because our country is good to Israel, God is blessing me because I am white, God is blessing me because my kids are home schooled, God is blessing me because I am a Republican, God blesses our country because it was founded by Christians.”
Those who say America is blessed are looking through colored glasses. America has done more evil in the world in the last hundred years than is even fathomable. Why won’t people understand that the United States of America is just another country who goes to war and strong-arms weaker countries to protect its interests and the interests of its wealthy. If you think America is blessed, then you were not in Iran when the US overthrew a democratically elected prime minister and started this forest fire we now call “The War on Terror.” If you think America is blessed, then you were not in Hawaii when a peaceful queen was ejected from her throne by businessmen willing to do anything to keep their fruit profits. If you still think America is blessed, than you weren’t in Israel when Western empowered Jews forcibly and violently evicted countless thousands of Palestinians from their homeland of a thousand years. The United States of America is not blessed, it is powerful. Possession of blessing and possession of power are not the same things, though if you are deluded just enough, you might think you have one when you really have the other.
I know the kind of crap I’m gonna get for this, so let's have it.
WiredForStereo
