Hanegraaff defends Sizer

There has been a long growing list of notables rushing to defend Stephen Sizer against allegations of anti-Semitism. You can track them all at his blog where he has kindly catalogued them for his readers' benefit. I guess word travels fast and they've surprised the good vicar with a cheery word on his behalf. One recent defender is Hank Hanegraaff who writes:

"I recognize him [Sizer] as a gifted exegete and a much needed voice respecting unnecessary roadblocks erected on the path to peace in the Middle East. He consistently and even-handedly warns against the grievous sin of turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism as well as the abomination of turning a blind eye to a Zionist theology that divides people on the basis of race rather than uniting them on the basis of righteousness, justice, and equity..."

And this:

"Moreover, I find it wholly ironic that courageous men such as Dr. Sizer are uncharitably charged with anti-Semitism while precious little is said respecting the unbalanced perspectives of Christian Zionists who communicate that directly following their own glorious rapture a numberless multitude of Jews will be slaughtered in a bloodbath that they say will exceed even the horrors of the Holocaust. Indeed, those who dare question their notion of a pretribulational rapture followed by a Holy Land holocaust, in which the vast majority of Jews perish, are shouted down as peddlers of godless heresy. The ultimate pejorative phrase has even been coined for those who deny the heart of their Zionist eschatology. They are dubbed “replacement theologians” and are said to be guilty of spreading “the message of anti-Semitism.” Indeed, popular dispensationalists are blunt in their denunciations: “Replacement theologians are now carrying Hitler's anointing and his message.” Little wonder then that this charge is now being gratuitously directed at Dr. Sizer."

My guess is that Hanegraaff's real problem is with Scripture and not with Zionism or the rapture doctrine (Jer 31:36; Amos 9:14-15; Zech 2:8, 13:8-9). Note that even good friend Dr. Norman Geisler has taken Hanegraaff's eschatology to task HERE and HERE. Et tu Brute?

But Hanegraaff can be excused for coming across as a little emotional and throwing a bit of mud while defending his friend Sizer. After all, others have similarly attacked him and mutual friend Dr. Gary Burge for their understanding of Zionist and Israeli misdemeanors. The problem for Sizer, Hanegraaff and Burge is that a lot of criticism has come from non Zionist observers who can spot anti-Israel bias miles away:

"Hanegraaff and Burge both claim they are not anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian, but neutral in supporting peace and justice. Between being anti-Zionist, demonizing Israel, white-washing human rights abuses by Palestinian rulers in Gaza and the West Bank, and indoctrinating students to support Palestinian Arabs against Israelis, their claims of neutrality appear to be little more than posturing."

Other bloggers have noted the tendency for Sizer to obsessively focus on Israel while ignoring other Middle East issues that have affected Christians. At one point he even wrote favorably of the victorious Morsi (Muslim Brotherhood) in the Egyptian elections. That was despite several documented statements Morsi made about taking Jerusalem for Islam and destroying Israel; and we all know how pleased the Egyptians are with Morsi now.

Since the anti-Semite allegations, Sizer has half-heartedly tried to address that imbalance by posting the odd Christian-problems-in-the-Middle-East article that doesn't directly bash Israel. But his passion is to point out the failings of Zionism and Israel's hegemony. Even now he's promoting his anti-Zionist materials by having his "Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions" translated into Chinese.

Guess that makes him pretty "gung ho" about something, even if he denies it's anti-whatever!

Further reading:

Turning Churches Against Israel

UK Jews complain to Church of England over ‘anti-Semitic’ vicar

Stephen Sizer & anti-Semitism (Anglican friends of Israel

Anti-Israel Peace Industry Exposé

Bruce Bawer's article (linked below) is a worthy read.

I note some Christians within prophecy circles have been chiding their pretrib dispensational brothers and sisters over their "excessive" support of secular Israel - whatever that means. I read where one person claimed that Israel uses Christian Zionists for its own political agenda. Another soon-to-be-published author recently accused Zionists of misinterpreting Gen 12:3 and claimed that secular Israel has no rights to the land because of its unbelief.

Both individuals are under the impression that true Israel is composed of believing Jews and Gentiles, and that the land rightly belongs to them. They don't like the sharp "dispensational distinction" between Israel and the church, although I've yet to come across compelling rebuttals. Others, far more capable than I am, have consistently dealt with this issue.

But here's the thing; Israel has been made the scapegoat for most problems in the Middle East by both the media and several activist churches - as Bawer capably notes. The issue really isn't that "Occupier Israel" has "stolen" some land - the problem is that it exists. Israel's neighbors don't want Israel living anywhere in the region, or elsewhere for that matter.

It's that simple!

Both the media and some churches have portrayed Israel as an apartheid nation which oppresses Palestinians. But, while Israel may certainly not be perfect, it is far from being the oppressive regime the anti-Israel lobby claims it is. We can look to Hamas and the P.A. for oppression of its own people AND Christians. In fact, if we make unbelief a disqualifier for ownership or occupancy of the land then what do we do with Israel's neighbors?

Christians should support Israel because its people haven't had a safe homeland for nearly two millennia. In that time the Jews have been repeatedly persecuted and threatened with extinction. That is still the case! We should support Israel because God loves them (Zec 2:8, 12: 3,9; Rom 11:28-29) and will ultimately win the nation back into fellowship with Him. They also deserve to be defended.

Here are some excerpts of Bawer's article:

Perusing these friends-of-Palestine websites, one discovers certain phenomena over and over again – among them a staggering naivete and sentimentality, a colossal ignorance of history (or a remarkable determination to block it out), and a reflexive, vicious hatred of Israel and, yes, Jews.

And:

The websites of several of the Christian friends-of-Palestine organizations note the dramatic decline in the number of Christians in Palestine over the last couple of generations. A typical plaint: “Christians are the minority in this land where the faith was born. Many Palestinian Christians are suffering and leaving the country.” The implication is always that Israel is at fault. At none of these sites is there any mention of the fact that the number of Christians is declining across the Muslim world, and for one reason only. “Christianity ‘close to extinction’ in Middle East,” read a December 23 headline in the Daily Telegraph. No religious group, the Telegraph noted, is more persecuted around the world than Christians, and their chief oppressors are Muslims, thanks to whom “between a half and two-thirds of Christians in the Middle East have left [the Muslim world] or been killed in the past century.” It’s a phenomenon on a massive scale – but one that the mainstream media rarely report on, and one that all the smug, self-satisfied Christians who profess to fret endlessly about the Palestinians don’t show any sign of giving a damn about.

Read the article HERE

See also:

The Palestinian Authority's Inconvenient Truths 

Addendum:

Here's an interesting article by Moriel Ministries:

The Reality and Demography of Christians in Israel and the Middle East