Brothers and sisters, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem have issued a public statement which expressed stern disapproval of Christian support for Zionism and less forthrightly but still unmistakably, the very existence of the State of Israel.
This is not unusual.
Sadly, the "Apostolic" churches in Jerusalem are deeply invested in Replacement Theology and all kinds of other un-Biblical nonsense, including man-made traditions that their communities, both inside the Holy Land and outside of it, have been observing for so long that they've talked themselves into believing these traditions are more authoritative than the Bible itself. In fairness, this is no different, and certainly no worse, than what the Orthodox Jewish leadership has done by elevating their own man-made traditions above the Bible.
Moreover, the tone of this statement is also not unusual. These guys take themselves very seriously, and they seem to think everyone else should too.
In a way, their insistence on thinking themselves to be important because they're the traditional churches in the Holy Land is comparable to France insisting on believing that it is important because it has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. In both cases, the present iteration of a certain institution is trying to point to the status it believes it inherited from a previous iteration, even though the previous iteration only got that way in the first place because of a confluence of events and circumstances that was purely accidental in the first place and not very relevant at the present time in any case.
That having been said, you might be surprised to hear this, but I think they raise a valid point in this post. They say their communities have been here, maintaining a Christian presence in this country, for a long time, and so they have a valid right to speak up about this issue. I agree with that. But the point of disagreement is that they seem to think they're the ONLY ones who have any business speaking up on behalf of the Body of Christ in this country, and that is most certainly not the case.
Once again, however, fairness compels me to point out that they are, in part, speaking out because of a valid concern that the sheep of their flocks, both here in Israel and also in surrounding countries, could come in for some serious abuse by other factions if they do not give some rhetorical pushback against the Jewish State. Therefore, they also feel the need to speak out against leaders of Arab Christian communities who publicly support Israel.
I believe the specific individuals they are referring to in this statement, who are supporting Christian Zionism, are the leaders of Bethlehem Baptist Church. But there are also a handful of other Arab Christian clergy from mostly Protestant but also Greek Orthodox churches who are becoming more and more bold in speaking out in support of the State of Israel and even encouraging young Arab men and women in their congregations to volunteer to serve in the IDF.
The opposition of the "Apostolic" church leadership to this is understandable, given their previously mentioned devotion to Replacement Theology as well as their historic association with the cause of Arab Nationalism, which is another one of those "traditions" that they've been honoring for so long, they've talked themselves into believing it's even more important than the Bible itself.
Needless to say, the leaders of these "Apostolic" Churches would never dream of even acknowledging, much less taking seriously, the Messianic Jewish community in Israel, so I don't think this letter is addressed to us.
However, I DO think the leadership of the Jewish Believer community in Israel ought to respond to this letter. Candidly, the Jewish Believer community has more business speaking up on these issues than these "Apostolic" church leaders do. Maybe this could start by reminding the leaders of these "Apostolic" churches that all the original "Apostles" were all Jewish men, as was James, the little brother of Jesus, who was the first "Bishop" of the churches here in Jerusalem, whom the current "Apostolic" church leaders all claim to be the descendants of.
I have a lot more to say about this letter, but I kind of want to know what everyone else thinks. Please speak up in the comments section of this blog, and share it with others who might also have an opinion and/or a stake in this discussion. If you want to respond to the leadership of these "Apostolic" churches directly, their contact information is publicly available and easy to find with a simple internet search. I think the issues raised by this letter, including the attitude of the people who signed off on it, are long overdue for a public discussion.