Armageddon?
A response to recent (Christian) responses in the news to the Israel-Gaza conflict
As promised I am departing in this post from strict biblical interpretation of Revelation to respond to the news/current events in light of my recent post, Seven Myths about the Book of Revelation (myths #1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 are all at issue, though I will specifically address them later).
End times prophets pull out their notes
When the war with Ukraine got started, there were a few rumblings among the Bible prophecy pundits about Russia’s aggressiveness as a potential sign of rising hostilities pointing to the coming end predicted in the Book of Revelation.
Now, with the Israel-Gaza conflict in full swing, those pundits, especially preachers, have jumped in with both feet, not only in their predictions of Armageddon but in their arm-in-arm support of political Israel as a biblical mandate, including the raising of money and the egging on of Israeli and US defense forces to respond forcefully to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.
I recently told a friend that as a Jesus follower I have no bone in this fight, besides praying for peace, comfort for those suffering, and my friends—I have Jewish friends (and I have a Jewish heritage), I have Palestinian Christian friends, I have some friendly acquaintances with a few Palestinian Muslims, and I know American Christians living in Israel; I grieve for all of them at this time in their suffering and uncertainty. Revelation itself calls believers out of the world’s way of doing things to identify with the crucified and risen Jesus alone, not to participate in the world’s violent ways.
What are those ways as we see them expressed currently?
I accept that nation states (and wannabes) will do what they do to defend themselves, to press their advantages, and to negotiate with other states and parties a way to ultimately bring a cessation of hostilities, so they can plan for the next round—the endless cycle of human rivalry, violence and death from millenia past (clue: this is one aspect of what I see happening in the book of Revelation).
The initial brutality of Hamas against Israelis and the quick rise of world wide anti-Jewish calls to violence, difficult to watch and hear about, are realities that have never disappeared in the almost ninety years after the same thing began in Nazi Germany (with the German Lutheran church silently going along). The hatred against Jews just went underground for awhile only to come back with a (literal) vengeance.
I have also observed (from afar and in nine visits to Israel), a security-obsessed modern state of Israel that has put deterrents in place—a wall, military outposts, a missile defense system—that have worked to curb violence, but have also been detrimental to the lives of everyday Palestinians (i.e. not corruptly wealthy ones) in the West Bank and Gaza—those living in Israel are much better off and largely live at peace, even participating fully in national politics.
Politicians and militant groups have seemingly forced Israel to such defensive measures with their tactics, including terror. Yet even when “peace” has seemingly been at the door in the past thirty years, both sides have acted to press their advantage to the point of ending the potential agreement—Palestinians call for more concessions and Israel builds more settlements (and both secure millions in aid from countries around the world in the meantime). In some cases, even assassinations take place (like Yitzhak Rabin by an ultra-orthodox Jew). The cycle starts again.
I watch with curiosity and even fascination at times, but my view is that all of this violence is the result of deep-seated rivalrous hatred that will likely never be overcome as our reality currently exists apart from divine intervention. In a future post will address my views more clearly as God handing us over to our own sin.
My interest at the moment is the response of some Christian groups to these realities.
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Armageddon?
A recent Substack post by Lee Fang not only caught my interest, but the reporting itself was engaging and as far as I can tell accurate.
I do not believe that the main actors in this story would disagree with anything Mr. Fang had to say or report about them.
Fang simply reports what he observes and when he interviews people he asks open-ended questions and reports the responses.
The title? “Televangelists Invoke Holy War to Push for Weapons for Israel, Strikes on Iran”
I encourage you to follow the link and read the whole post.
In that post, Fang details the results of travels to Texas and to Washington, DC, to follow up stories about Christian preachers who are calling the events in Israel triggers for “The End Times.” Fang sets his main attention in the piece on Pastor John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, John Hagee Ministries, and Christians United for Israel, as well as Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church, Dallas. Both Hagee and Jeffress are evangelicals, and both have world-wide reaches as church-based televangelists. In the video, Fang also includes soundbites from a number of US Congressmen/women and Senators.
Today I will respond to John Hagee’s comments and Jeffress in a later post.
Fang quoted Hagee several times from his speech during a gathering in San Antonio called “A Night to Honor Israel” on October 23, responding to the Hamas attacks:
“The righteous rage of America must be focused on Iran.” “Let me say it to you in plain Texas speech … America should roll up its sleeves and knock the living daylights out of Tehran for what they have done to Israel. Hit them so hard that our enemies will once again fear us.”
The “us” in the quotation appears to be America.
I listened myself, and I do not think I am overstating to say that Hagee is calling for the US to join Israel in an overwhelming military response to the situation. For Hagee it is a Christian duty to ally with national Israel against all their foes. Modern Israel is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and it is incumbent on Christians to support Israel as a result, including all of their claims to land. Hagee suggested that eliminating Hamas from Gaza and implementing a one state Israel solution will result in peace. The remaining Palestinians will “have to figure things out themselves.”
A good portion of the Night to Honor Israel (about 30 minutes) was taken with a speech from Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who roused the crowd of Israeli flag waving Christians to join Israel in their military response to destroy Hamas. He told the crowd, “the Jewish state is the vanguard of civilization,” and suggested that radical Islamists are coming first for the “Saturday people [Jews]” then for the “Sunday people [Christians].” However true that statement may be, the call from a Jewish diplomat and a Christian preacher to support an allied military response by Christians and Jews together belies a theological reading of Scripture that is distinctly physical and literal—and sees current political realities in a one-to-one relationship with ancient lines of power.
I was aware that this Christian nationalist sentiment existed in the evangelical church, but I have not actually heard this hard-hitting call to arms until now (an intriguing element is that this form of Christian nationalism is extremely pro-Jewish, even Zionist, as opposed to the very anti-Semitic fascistic Nazism that manipulated German Christians in WW2).
The question for me is, Where does this ideology come from?
Apparently from the Bible.
I listened to an entire sermon that John Hagee preached this past Sunday—“Israel: God’s Prophetic Clock”—and after listening, Hagee’s political (and military) sentiments become clear (my myths #1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are all on display in this sermon!). For Hagee, the Bible contains an elaborate time-line of events prophetically pointing to events of today (this view is usually called “premillennialism Dispensationalism”). In this view God preserves national Israel (=the modern state of Israel founded in 1948) until after “the rapture,” when they too will return to God and preach to the nations. We Christians will no longer be around, having been delivered from the great tribulation. As such it is essential for Christians to do all in their power to preserve the Jewish people who will carry God’s torch in the Tribulation.
This view relegates virtually all of Revelation to our current time period; its words are largely irrelevant for the past 2000 years. The current church is the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, the “lukewarm” church.
For Hagee, the final great battle of Armageddon is a ways off since the rapture has not yet occurred, but current political events centered around Israel involving Iran (ancient Persia), Russia, China, and probably the Western powers, point toward the impending end. I will go more into Armageddon in the post on Jeffress and at some point in my own series on Revelation.
From Hagee’s perspective, Christians getting on board with this Bible prophecy timeline is the key to interpreting the Bible. We are on the verge of the end times today. Armageddon awaits.
My initial reactions
I am a conservative Bible believing follower of Jesus who takes all of Scripture as the written word of God. I also understand there are legitimate differences in the interpretation of Scripture, especially with respect to eschatology (the study or understanding of last things). If I look past the teaching on Revelation and other eschatological passages, I have much to agree on with John Hagee: He preaches faith in Jesus as the one who died for our sins. He preaches holy living. He preaches hope for the future. I can agree with these things and I am sure much else.
What I do not agree on is Christian involvement in violence or incitement to violence, especially based of Revelation.
To incite “holy” violence in the name of God turns my stomach.
My entire series on the Sermon on the Mount suggested that Jesus rejected violence as a response to human violence and hate in whatever form it comes. “Love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you.” “Turn the other cheek,” etc. To respond to violence with violence is only to enter into the human cycle of rivalry, violence and death that does not end.
Jesus offered the answer to break that cycle.
And Jesus was not just addressing personal piety; he was describing the Kingdom of God: to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness is not the encouragement of violence but its renunciation.
My response to violence as a Christian is the admonition of Jude to his flock:
“But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, expectantly awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Show mercy to those disputing, and save them, snatching them from fire, and show mercy to them with fear, hating even the clothes spotted by the flesh” (Jude 20-23).
Jude did not call for a response of violence to enemies, but of love and mercy.
Jesus would agree—all the way to the cross.
There is much more to be said. Stay tuned.