Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday addressed a Christians United for Israel (CUFI) summit in Jerusalem and encouraged Christian Zionists around the world to stay the course in their defense of the Jewish state.
A little encouragement for Christian Zionists from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and let’s face it, we are in need of some positive gestures from Israel at times, it really does help.
Netanyahu reiterated the amazing turn of events that the presence of Israel-loving Christians in the Jewish state represents after centuries of Christian persecution of Jewish minorities.
“Your presence here today represents a profound transformation in the relationship between Christians and Jews,” said the prime minister. “This transformation has its roots in the 19th century when the early Christian Zionists came to the Land Israel and when they began exploring the land of the Bible, when they began to yearn for the Jewish restoration in this land, the restoration of our numbers, the restoration of our sovereignty.”
Netanyahu noted the Christian Zionism actually preceded modern Jewish Zionism, and acted as a stepping stone for the reestablishment of Israeli sovereignty. In the same spirit as those 19th century Christian Zionists, Netanyahu said leaders like CUFI Director John Hagee are continuing to hold Israel aloft in both prayer and advocacy.
“Time after time, through thick and thin, you have stood shoulder to shoulder with our state, and I have come here tonight to thank you for your unwavering friendship,” said Netanyahu. “I salute you, the people of Israel salute you, the Jewish people salute you.”
The summit was attended by 1,000 Christian delegates and led by Hagee, who took the opportunity to reaffirm his support and the support of tens of millions of American Christians for Israel.
Here are some of Hagee’s comments from the summit:-
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Tags: Christian Life, Israel
March 10th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Truly it’s great that there are those who challenge anti-semitism.
But CUFI are kooks: as far as I can tell they don’t believe in evangelism to Jews, and therefore essentially deny the gospel. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
When the Israeli Prime Minister encourages them, he’s not doing it because he believes in Christian Zionism, it’s because he knows that this group is a powerful opinion-former among some groups in the US. And on this particular occasion, he seems to have met them in order to snub Barack Obama.
Really, this is not something to be celebrated, even (especially?) for those Christians who don’t believe in supercessionism. Stick to the Calvin Smiths of this world rather than the John Hagees.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Totally agree Philip. I personally find Hagee quite wierd. And your “snub” comment looks on the mark as well. Not sure about the denial of the Gospel, I’ll have to investigate.
Still I’ll glean what positive I can from it.
ps I’ll always stick with Calvin
March 10th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Members of CUFI are “Christians” and “Zionists”. Our Jewish Friends know that we are Christians, what we believe and our relationship with Jesus Christ. They are intelligent people, they disagree, and we don’t need to tell them of our beliefs with every interaction. No is denying our beliefs, simply recognizing that our role in comforting Israel and the Jewish people is more than evangelizing at every turn. As for the kook comments: each of us has our own pecularities!!! enjoy the diversity, don’t mock it!!
March 10th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
I don’t believe that 24-hour evangelism is a requirement of Christianity.
On the other hand, and please correct me if I’m wrong, I understood that John Hagee thinks Jews and Gentiles have different means of salvation. He doesn’t believe in the universality of ‘repent and believe the good news’. In other words, no evangelism necessary.
Indeed we are all diverse. It looks like you weren’t too offended, but I apologise if it was insensitive.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I agree with Philip. It’s not that Hagee and CUFI don’t evangelise. Hagee has a dual-covenant theology based on extreme dispensationalism which says that there is no need for Jewish people to believe in Jesus. He also wrote that Jesus did not come to be the Jewish messiah. Whilst he’s said he’s been misunderstood, he hasn’t republished the book and continues to behave the same way. A particular concern is that he shuns Jewish believers in Jesus (both in Israel and the US) who are never part of his events. Hagee is basically a false teacher and sadly gives Christian Zionism a bad name – there are plenty of other people and organisations that take a more balanced approach but they don’t have as high a profile.
March 23rd, 2010 at 12:16 am
Wake up American Christians. The country of Israel is pure evil. If you dont care about Muslims, at least defend fellow Christians! They are abuses, spit on, called godless filth and the goverment does nothing to stop it. This is a country of vampires that have given nothing back to the USA for the trillions of dollars it has sucked out of our country. The same rabbis that murdered Jesus wouldnt hesitate to do it all again if they got the chance. What a bizzaro world we live in when everyone in power pledges their undying devotion to a foreign country that routinely uses one of the worlds most technically advanced armies in the world to kill civilians. shame on all of us for being such dumb sheep.