Posted on November 21, 2024November 21, 2024 by Alexander F. Venter — Leave a comment

LEADERSHIP, PROPHETIC WORDS, AND POWER

My morning devotions have been in 1 & 2 Kings. I came to an interesting story in 2 Kings 8:7-15, about three people who were leaders. Here’s my meditation… speaking to leadership, prophetic words, and power. Read the story to get the full picture.

Briefly, pagan king of Aram (Ben-Hadad) was sick. He heard Israel’s prophet (Elisha) was in town (Damascus). So, he sent a court official (Hazael) with a huge gift, asking Elisha, “Will I recover from this illness?” The answer was, “yes… but he will die” (not from his illness). Then Elisha stared at Hazael and began to weep. When asked why he was weeping, Elisha said he spiritually saw how Hazael would attack Israel’s towns and massacre people. Hazael was surprised: how could he do that – he wasn’t the king of Aram? Elisha then gave him a personal prophetic word, “The Lord has shown me you will become king”. Hazael returned to the king saying, “you will certainly recover”. But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and covered the king’s face, so that he suffocated and died. Then Hazael became king.

Israel had true and false prophets who exercised (prophetic) leadership that influenced the king and the nation, for good or bad, depending on their truth or falsity. Elisha was a true prophet in the character and gifting of his mentor, Elijah. Pagan kings knew of him, having heard how God used him (2 Kings 8:4). They often wanted an ‘oracle’ from ‘the man of God’, e.g., “Will I recover from this illness?” Note, ‘the man of God’, like ‘prophet’ was a description, not a title as is used in some contemporary prophetic circles.

Kings in the ancient world knew the reality and power of the spiritual realm in personal and national affairs, unlike governmental leaders today, who generally dismiss it. But some are aware of spiritual power and how it can work in/through leaders, for good or bad. And they use it to wield political power for their purposes. For example, coopting religious leaders to legitimize and empower their rule. Spiritual leaders who allow that to happen to themselves are portrayed as false prophets in the Bible.

King Ben-Hadad recognized and sought the help of true (prophetic) leadership, evident in God’s authority working through Elisha. Hence, spiritual leadership that operates in the integrity of God’s Spirit will be seen and known, even by pagan presidents.

Power works by favours and gifts. Though this was the custom (Proverbs 18:16), Ben-Hadad ingratiated himself to Elisha through extravagant gifts, “forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus” (2 Kings 8:9). The temptation of material reward for a favourable oracle. This is reinforced by Hazael’s opening words, “Your son Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to ask…” For the king to call himself the son of the prophet could be, at best, acknowledging Elisha’s superiority – thinking in terms of power. Or it is self-humiliation, with false flattery, for favourable outcomes. The temptation of pride and power, a test of Elisha’s character. But Elisha simply answered the king’s question, ignoring the gifts, the power hierarchy, and the flattery.

Worldly leadership is power play, making deals and currying favour with those they perceive can influence outcomes. True leadership, in contrast, cannot be manipulated and controlled, because materialism, pride, and power have no hold on them.

Elisha said the king will recover, but disclosed to Hazael that the Lord had shown him the king would indeed die (in another way – implied). This revelation was a test of Hazael’s character. His name means, “one who sees God” or “God has seen”. What went through his mind? Did he see God in this? God certainly saw his heart. Our response in thoughts and feelings, to what God reveals, is a test of character.

What followed revealed Hazael’s heart. Elisha stared at him and wept. “Why is my lord weeping?” Hazael, on hearing what Elisha saw (he would butcher the Israelites, “dash their little children to the ground, rip open their pregnant women”), responded, “How could I accomplish such a feat?” He wasn’t the king with the power (power thinking), just a servant, “a dog” (self-humiliation). He had no sense of repulsion at the extreme acts of violence, nor empathy for Elisha’s tears for his people. Rather, Hazael saw no possibility to gain the power needed to do these acts. Leaders who lead by power have little or no empathy for others, for those in pain, especially perceived enemies. Leaders who have no empathy are dangerous – it’s a sign of psychopathic narcissism.

“The Lord has shown me you will become king”, was the final test of Hazael’s character. He returned to the king saying, “you will certainly recover”, but then promptly murdered him to fulfil the prophecy. “The Lord says I will be king! Activate it! Make it happen!” Elisha’s prophetic word implied that Hazael was not the legitimate successor. Indeed, an Assyrian inscription designated Hazael as “a son of nobody” – a commoner “dog” who usurped the throne. Leadership is not taken, it is given.

How should we respond to prophetic words? Test them with trusted leaders. Surrender them to God. Prayerfully wait in trust of God to fulfil them in his time and way. All ‘words’ are a test of character. How we respond to true and/or false prophecies will reveal pride, ego needs, psycho-emotional wounds, inferiority, superiority, ambition, material greed … I can go on. Prophetic ‘words’ are spiritual encounters by Holy Spirit or evil spirit that expose any of the above mentioned “holds” or “handles” that evil uses to lead through you. “The prince of this world” came to Jesus and found no “hold/handle” in him, to shake him and damage others through him (John 14:30). May we be like Jesus.

Leaders who grasp for power reveal the spirit that has formed them, driving them to use any means, even violence, to attain it. They image Lucifer, who grasped for power to be God, but was “cast down”, imparting death to humanity (Isaiah 14:12-15). The opposite is Jesus, “who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped”, but let go and emptied himself in powerlessness, in suffering service of others (Philippians 2:5-11). This is the Spirit of all true leadership that imparts God’s life to humanity.

Posted on November 8, 2024November 21, 2024 by Alexander F. Venter — Leave a comment

Leadership Reflections: A Lament for God’s Help

After the buildup of all the leadership failure I’ve been reading about this year, I saw an article this morning that ‘tipped me over the edge’. I wanted to weep and tear my clothes in lament. Perhaps, even, to put on sackcloth and ashes and publicly repent. However, here’s my reflection and lament for all who are interested. And please, read it all, and check my references via the hyperlinks of underlined words.

I am a leader. Specifically, a Christian Church leader, ordained as a pastor in January 1975. Fifty years in leadership. In my life-long human journey of ‘brokenness recovery’, I’ve sought to be faithful to Jesus, the true model of all leadership, including spiritual leadership. The way I lead, the way others lead, can commend or shame all leaders – by association – depending on how we lead. Why? Because leadership is about public trust, and therefore public accountability. We are given trust by those we lead.

What triggered this reflection was not only Donald Trump’s election triumph, which calls for its own reflection as some have done. It was yet another article by Julie Roys exposing the failure of Church leadership. Robert Morris, the (celebrity) leader of Gateway Church and former advisor to Trump, was accused of sexual abuse and resigned in June 2024. It shattered and scattered the mega church. The fallout has been enormous. The way the elders handled it has been seriously problematic. A class-action lawsuit by some members has been filed against the church.

So, this morning I read The Roys Report (TRR) on the investigation into Morris’ wealth: “How did Robert Morris obtain vast wealth to buy so many multi-million-dollar homes? TRR found Morris owns $8 mill, 370-acre ranch and $1.7 mill lake home. He also recently sold $3.5 mill mansion in Westlake and there’s the former $8 mill mansion in Colleyville”. Congregants are asking for ‘money back’ on their tithes.

This is a scandalous testimony of Christian spiritual leadership. I remember how, years ago, Morris’ popular ‘The Blessed Life’ teaching series, went far and wide in Evangelical-Pentecostal-Charismatic (E-P-C) churches. Even here in South Africa. As with most teachings, many simply believe what is taught, without discernment. This (the above paragraphs) is the fruit of his teaching, of his life and leadership. Morris did not start well – sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire between twelve and eighteen years old, when he was her youth pastor – and has ended his ministry in shameful disgrace.

This is but one story of multiple stories – of 100s, if not 1000s that have come to light. Check the TRR archives and see the unprecedented long list of reports over recent years of exposed leaders. And weep for, and with, the many, many more victims left in the wake of these so-called leaders. Many damaged and scarred for life. God have mercy! I mean that: God, please, have mercy and help us!

Abusive leadership – whether it’s spiritual, sexual, psycho-emotional, or financial abuse – is the result of flawed character. And the people pay the price. Followers of those leaders are victims of evil working through the leader’s brokenness in manipulative predatory behaviour. Two or three decades ago, E-P-C churches condemned the scandalous revelations of widespread sexual abuse in the Catholic priesthood. But we (they, E-P-C church leaders, I’m one of them) are no better. The cocktail of spiritual power (charisma) with moral malformation (character) is lethal in Satan’s hands. God’s name and integrity is maligned – we, leaders, represent God.

No wonder the massive movement out of E-P-C churches to ‘deconstruct faith’, in order to find some semblance of renewed integrity of Christian faith. All this is close to home as a Vineyard pastor – with Alan Scott’s spiritual abuse of false prophetic-apostolic leadership, first evident in Causeway Vineyard, then the full fruit in his heist of Anaheim Vineyard. And of Jackson Gatlin, a pastor at Duluth Vineyard, who has now confessed to sexual, spiritual, and emotional abuse.

For E-P-C leaders, our personal healing of unresolved brokenness (psych-emotional needs) and our spiritual formation toward Christlikeness (moral character), is seriously lacking. Or it’s non-existent. We mostly live and lead by ego needs, personality, titles, charisma, branding, platform, manipulation and control, not by the spirit and character of Christ. We must take responsibility for our ‘stuff’ through which demons work: the unresolved issues that catch up and unmask us for who we are. And therefore, the need for accountability. Unaccountable leaders, who are not genuinely accountable to other credible leaders, are dangerous. Don’t follow them!

E-P-C churches pray for revival – it’s part of our culture. It has intensified in recent years. God knows, we need genuine revival, seen in societal and structural change, not in the sporadic flashes of refreshing or renewal that is wrongly called revival (see Richard Lovelace). I believe God is sending revival. How so? What are the signs? The Asbury outpouring? No (as wonderful as that was). Revival is near, or has begun, because God is taking the wraps off Christian leaders who are duplicitous and deceitful, corrupt and abusive in their lives and leadership.

Peter says, “judgement begins at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17). And in the house of God, it begins with the leaders. We are held to a higher standard of judgement (James 3:1). God is exposing leaders. Some are dying under discipline, as in the days of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). God is jealous for his name, his integrity, in the Church, let alone in the world. By praying, “May your name (integrity, character) be made/kept holy, on earth as in heaven”, we pray judgement on those who flaunt his name in unholy and abusive ways. God answers our prayers.

Character matters. Character matters in leadership. Always. Why? Because it’s about integrity in holding public trust, truth, and justice. Look for character first, second, and third. Then look at beliefs, policies, competence, skill, practices, track record, etc. God can use a donkey or a corrupt king (president/prime minister) to speak and do his will, but that does not endorse the donkey or the king – let alone make them holy!

Jesus taught us to evaluate leaders by the fruit they produce (Matthew 7:15-23). Fruit reveals what has formed the person’s character (“heart”), seen in their words, attitudes, and behaviour (Matthew 12:33-37; Mark 7:20-23). Fruit does not lie, it (eventually) reveals who we really are, either true or false leaders.

Jesus taught about false shepherds of God’s people (John 10:1-21). They rob and destroy people’s lives – evidence that they’re actually thieves. A good leader lays down their life to defend the sheep from such robbers, to impart God’s quality of life to people. Hearing this, many said, “He is demonised, and raving mad” – the fruit of the blinding power of the false shepherds of Israel at that time. The truth sounds like madness and the madness of abusive leadership makes us believe it’s the truth.

Jesus was, in fact, referring to Ezekiel 34:1-10. After describing the characteristics of false shepherds (read them), Yahweh says, “I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.” This is exactly what God is doing.

I feel strongly in the face of injustice. I feel God’s fire burning in my bones, and I cannot keep quiet, as with Jeremiah (20:9, in the context of false prophets in his day). But, I process by prayer and writing. And my appeal is to God.

Lord, have mercy!
Lord, help us!
Keep us humble, utterly dependent on you.
May we have integrity with you and your precious people.
May we bring any hidden sin and brokenness to the light of confession.
May we receive the grace of forgiveness and healing.
Give us discernment of leaders, of the fruit of their character and doctrine.
Let us not be dazzled by gifting, personality, and success.
Deliver us from false prophets and leaders who end up destroying.
Have mercy on victims of leadership abuse – heal them, O God.
Make us like you, Jesus, good shepherds of your people.
May we lay down our lives in selfless service for the good of others.
Amen.

Posted on October 7, 2024November 21, 2024 by Alexander F. Venter — 1 Comment

Reflections on October 7 Anniversary

Please read the whole paper before responding.

Today marks October 7, the day of Hamas’ genocidal attack on Israel, killing 1139 civilians, taking 251 hostages. It resulted in Israel’s war to exterminate Hamas in Gaza. We saw what ensued – except if you refused to see the live-streaming on social media and news outlets – the destruction and death in Gaza by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in the name of self-defence.

Six months later Prof. Goldberg, specialist Holocaust and genocide researcher at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, concluded, “Yes, it is genocide”. The title of an article he wrote on 17 April 2024 in Hebrew to Israelis, translated and published in English. He could not remain silent. For a Jewish-Israeli Holocaust researcher, publicly calling it collective genocidal punishment of Palestinians, is like a Hebrew prophet speaking truth power – to Netanyahu and his right-wing messianic government.

Giving the legal definition, he details examples of internationally recognized genocides in recent history and explains why what Israel has done (is doing) is genocide. “It is so difficult and painful to admit it, but despite all that, and despite all our efforts to think otherwise, after six months of brutal war we can no longer avoid this conclusion. Jewish history will henceforth be stained with the mark of Cain for the ‘most horrible of crimes’ which cannot be erased from its forehead. As such, this is the way it will be viewed in history’s judgment for generations to come.” Very strong words. History will tell.

The IDF uses AI (artificial intelligence) systems in selecting targets and carrying out assassinations. “The fact that the military allowed, for example, the killing of 300 innocent people and the destruction of an entire residential quarter in order to take out one Hamas brigade commander shows that military targets are almost incidental targets for killing civilians and that every Palestinian in Gaza is a target for killing. This is the logic of genocide”, says Goldberg.

(That’s now happening in Beirut, Lebanon: mass civilian massacre, children included, to kill one Hezbollah leader with 2000-pound US bunker bombs. Imagine if it were the other way round: if entire Israeli residential blocks were wiped out to get one Israeli leader, if Tel Aviv was flattened like Gaza with over 40,000 dead? The outrage would’ve been deafening. The response might well have been nuclear bombs, plunging the whole world into the darkness of death.)

He goes on to say, “It is genocide because the level and pace of indiscriminate killing, destruction, mass expulsions, displacement, famine, executions, the wiping out of cultural and religious institutions, the crushing of elites (including the killing of journalists), and the sweeping dehumanisation of the Palestinians – create an overall picture of genocide, of a deliberate conscious crushing of Palestinian existence in Gaza. In the way we normally understand such concepts, Palestinian Gaza as a geographical-political-cultural-human complex no longer exists. Genocide is the deliberate annihilation of a collective or part of it – not all of its individuals.”

Goldberg rejected all the push-back in a later interview (11 July 2024), stating “this is exactly what genocide looks like”. How blind are those who will not see, he emphasises. The causes are collective Israeli trauma, a victim mindset with distorted reality (IDF censors what Israeli public sees), dehumanising Palestinians as animals in Apartheid Israel (‘the elephant in the room’), IDF officers and soldiers gloating over the destruction of “the Amalekites” (a must see documentary), the war crimes treatment of Palestinian prisoners (e.g., anal rape) in a network of torture camps, empowered by the ideology of Netanyahu’s ethno-Jewish-nationalist Zionism: “From the sea to the river will be under Israeli sovereignty” (Likud Party Charter of 1977, on which they came to power). It’s ethnic cleansing, a long-term project – now the opportunity to complete it. All enabled by the US, the UK, and EU.

Gaza has been the most widely known live-streamed genocide in history, yet the most denied. The Zionist logic is, “Nothing justifies what Hamas did on Oct 7, but Oct 7 justifies everything the IDF has done since”. This ‘logic’ is ideological immorality.

The growing number of international Jewish and Israeli commentators and citizens are speaking loud and clear. “Not in my name”. “It’s genocide”. “Don’t justify it with the holocaust, that’s an insult to holocaust survivors” (survivor Stephen Kapos). These Jews all reject with contempt the Zionist labels of ‘antisemitic’, ‘self-hating Jews’, ‘leftist terrorist supporters’. They are, in fact, loving Israel by speaking truth to power with moral clarity in the dust of (ideologically) distorted reality. They believe, one day, history will vindicate them. God sees all of it. God knows. God will judge. We will all see.

Personally, I want it to be known where I stand, for integrity of conscience.

A) I stand by what I said on 29 December 2023, my summary response to the crisis as a follower of Jesus. Reading this, one will see I’m not “one-sided”. I stand for justice.

B) Before and since that paper, my journey has been ongoing grief, lament, prayer and protest in the courts of heaven. More so as things have unfolded. I weep with Messiah over Jerusalem/Israel/Palestine for not knowing what brings peace (Luke 19:41-43). I weep with Jesus over the devastation of death (John 11:35), reversing it in reconciliation and resurrection, breaking down the dividing walls of hostility, making peace (Ephesians 2:14-17). I pray Jeremiah’s words daily, “My head is a spring of water, my eyes a fountain of tears! I weep day and night for the slain” (9:1). God, hear our cry! God, have mercy! God, intervene! In your judgements, remember mercy (Habakkuk 3:2).

C) In my search for reality (undistorted), for moral clarity (biblical truth and justice), I listened to Jewish voices – Israeli and international – from the first sparks of Zionism to the history of settlement in the land (with radically divergent narratives of conflict and conquest), to the current crisis (many say it’s not war, it’s genocide). My list of names, notes, comments, tweets, references, hyperlinks, is now numerous. I would love to quote many of them for all to read, to see what Jews/Israelis say, those who are not under the blinding spiritual power of Netanyahu’s ideological racist Zionism (whites under Apartheid in South Africa know that power). I became convinced that “yes, it is genocide”, not only by the many voices and experiences of Palestinians – with appeals from Palestinian Christians – but by the likes of Prof Goldberg. I too cannot be silent. I must speak up and stand for justice.

D) I lament the silence of my fellow Evangelical, Charismatic, Pentecostal pastors. “The issue is complex, emotive, divisive, it’s better not mentioned publicly”. But if we keep silent, false beliefs fill the void. The call of spiritual leadership is to pastor people by discipling them in following Jesus with his worldview/beliefs: To live God’s kingdom (justice, Matthew 6:33) as Jesus did, in daily life, in all socio-political-ethical issues that arise (e.g., human sexuality, migration, etc). How do we think through and disciple people to respond biblically to the Middle East crisis? That’s been completely clouded by Christian Zionism (birthed by Dispensationalism in the 1840s), which amounts to uncritical support of the modern state of Israel: “the fulfilment of prophecy of God’s people”. Many books show how Christian Zionism is not biblical theology, rather an ideological legitimization of Israel in what it does. Pastors should lead and disciple their people to respond in keeping with Messiah’s kingdom ethics.

E) I cannot escape the simple truths of the King of the Jews: weep with those who weep, be peacemakers in society, seek justice, renounce violence to bring peace, do not take an eye for an eye, but love your enemy. Messiah taught what all the Hebrew prophets preached, summarised in Micah 6:8: “What does the LORD require of you (Israel)? Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” Those who dismiss this as politically irrelevant and unworkable, think again. If we follow Jesus in his way of peace, which he offered to Israel under Roman oppression, things will be very different.

On this day, the anniversary of October 7, what do we see?

Sadly, we see trauma etched into the Israeli mind forever. The remaining hostages are still not free. We see Gaza reduced to rubble with over 42,000 killed, 70% of them are women and children, with untold numbers under the rubble. We see 128 journalists and over 1000 health workers murdered. In late April it was estimated Israel had dropped over 70,000 tons of bombs on Gaza, surpassing the combined bombing of Dresden, Hamburg, and London in WWII. How much more since April? Compared to Hiroshima, Gaza is 60% smaller. But Israel has dropped six times more bombs on it compared with the atomic bomb dropped by the US in WWII – that is 14.4 tons of bombs per square kilometre of Hiroshima versus 219 tons per square kilometre in Gaza!

We see the IDF operation in the occupied West Bank leaving 742 dead, 163 children included. We see ongoing periodic rockets fired on Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen, and Iran, with Lebanon bombed and invaded in the south, leaving more than 2000 dead. Sites in Yemen, Syria, and Iran have been bombed. We see the world teetering on the edge of a full international conflagration, if sane heads don’t prevail. The need for de-escalation, ceasefire, negotiations, is greater than ever before.

God help us! God have mercy! God intervene!

Posted on September 18, 2024October 3, 2024 by Alexander F. Venter — 1 Comment

CHURCH, POLITICS & POWER

The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa asked me to write an overview of Church and Politics: Christian engagement with power, political parties, and leaders. Here is my summary understanding as a follower of Messiah Jesus.

Old Testament: Creation Design and The Fall

God rules creation, but delegated authority to his human image bearers to rule on earth. We image God as we use our given authority to govern for good, doing the will of God on earth as in heaven. Genesis 3 shows how Adam & Eve were deceived by spiritual evil into rejecting their vocation to rule under God, with the idea of being like God. Human sin has always been the idolatry of self – pride and power – to be God, ruling without God. The result is exile under the rule of evil. To the degree human government is unaccountable for its God-given authority and power, not using it in service of genuine societal good, they image evil, doing the will of Satan on earth as in hell.

In Genesis 11, God scattered/exiled the one united people, in prideful rebellion against God, into nations. And assigned angels over the nations to rule via the human governors (Deuteronomy 32:8). These spiritual powers – the gods/idols of the nations – became corrupt in self-worship, seducing earthly rulers with ideas of power. God judged them for not ruling with justice for the oppressed poor (Psalm 72 & 82). Judgement of ‘the powers’ is the rise and fall of nations, empires, kings, governments, political parties. The New Testament calls them “principalities and powers”: spiritual and earthly rulers, the authorities and powers of this dark world, against which Christ-followers do battle (Ephesians 6:10-12). The powers work via ideologies (ideas/beliefs), incarnated in policies and practices, that legitimize and empower the idolatry of corrupt character in leadership and society.

But God raised up prophets to hold ruling powers (kings, princes, officials) accountable to his rule. They too became corrupt in uncritical support and blessing of governors, prophesying falsely to keep them in power – court prophets. Yet, God always had his true prophets who kept a critical distance from power, to be their prophetic conscience – wilderness prophets. They held rulers accountable to the justice and truth of God’s good governance. So, there was a separation of power – kings and prophets and priests – for accountability in the use of authority. The true prophets and priests who faithfully represented God’s kingdom, standing up to misuse of power, were persecuted and killed. False prophets and priests prospered by the favor of the governing system. Lord Acton said, “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Only sound moral character can be entrusted with (God-given) power to be used for the genuine good of society and creation.

New Testament: New Creation and The Tension

John the baptiser and Jesus of Nazareth continued the true prophetic tradition. John challenged King Herod for his adulterous relationship with his brother’s wife. So, Herod imprisoned and killed John. When Jesus heard King Herod wanted to kill him, he publicly called him “that fox”, saying that Herod was a sly, deceiving, predator of his own people (Luke 13:31-32). More examples can be cited. They both stood for justice for victims of power-politics, speaking truth to power with such moral clarity and authority, that the powers killed them. But they did this within a new reality.

The new dawn of the promised new creation – within broken creation – began in Messiah. God’s rule was/is present in Jesus, confronting human sin, spiritual and national powers (idolatrous ideologies and practices), liberating people into God’s kingdom. It’s the paradox of God’s future kingdom already present but not yet ending all evil by taking over national government. That will happen when King Jesus returns to establish his (political) empire over all the earth (Psalm 2:7-9). We see the ‘already’ and ‘not yet’ tension of God’s rule in Jesus, making his followers dual citizens. First, of God’s kingdom: we live heaven’s rule on earth (Philip 3:20 cf. Matthew 6:33, “seek first God’s kingdom righteousness”). We do that as, second, citizens of our nation.

Christians are “the salt” and “the light” in tension with political-spiritual powers (Matthew 5:13-16). Salt was a preservative, a flavourant, and a sign of God’s covenant (Numbers 18:19). Our presence restrains the spread of sin/evil, making society and the state palatable to God (salt doesn’t dominate food, nor is it absent from it). The Church is a sign of God’s covenant rule, stinging the conscience of the state when they do wrong, and supporting them in doing good. If we lose our “saltiness”, our prophetic witness, we are “thrown out and trampled”; i.e., God judges us along with the powers and the nation (Isaiah 26:5-6 cf. Luke 14:34-35). “The light” exposes and drives back the darkness of lies, power-politics, corruption, injustice – as we model God’s future society already present in the power of God’s Spirit. We are (called to be) the light of salvation and hope of the nation.

In short, Jesus and his followers were not apolitical: disengaged politically, as if God’s kingdom had not come or was only ‘spiritual’. Nor were they politicised: enmeshed with the powers, as if God’s kingdom was taking over government. They were prophetic: critically engaged in the issues and the power structures, as witness to God’s kingdom come. So, we recognise the state’s given authority and submit to it (John 19:11, Romans 13:1f). We pay taxes (Mark 12:13-17, Romans 13:7). We pray for leaders for good governance for “peaceful” society, as we model the “knowledge of the truth” to dysfunctional governments (1 Timothy 2:1-3). But, also, we resist and disobey at the point of state injustice and corruption (Acts 4:18-19), and/or totalitarian rule (Revelation 13).

Church History: Enmeshment, Separation, and Engagement

The Church-State relationship from Jesus and his first followers changed when Emperor Constantine became a Christian (311). Christianity became the state religion: enmeshment of Church and Empire. Constantine’s ‘Christendom’ was a form of theocratic nationalism with Church leaders as the court prophets. It is ‘kingdom now’ theology in various forms, policies and practices, through history, to this day. Any attempt to not only influence but take over national government ‘for the kingdom’, is dangerous triumphalism, as in Christian Nationalism, Reconstructionism, Dominion Theology, the ‘Seven Mountains’ teaching, etc. Remove ungodly leaders and policies and replace them with godly ones. The Bible must rule. That’s not theology, but ideological legitimisation of political power. Jesus rejected it as idolatry (Luke 4:5-8). These beliefs produced the evil of Apartheid by a ‘Christian government’ in a ‘Christian Nation’ with ‘Christian Education’. Thus, the Church (its leaders) in a multi-party democracy should not identify itself with any one political party, nor have a Christian political party (like Islamic, Hindu, or Jewish party). Both are theologically and politically wrong – the domination of “the salt” – with bad fruit in history. ‘Christian’ attached to a political party politicises and destroys the Church’s prophetic witness, as it was with Apartheid.

The Church-State relationship further changed (partly in reaction to the above) in the separation of Church and State with the Anabaptists and Pietists (17^th century onwards, also the Enlightenment of the 18^th century with the split of religion and politics). They believed, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:17), meant the state had authority in socio-political affairs and the Church in spiritual-religious matters. Thus, they were apolitical, as in “don’t mix religion and politics”. It is forms of ‘kingdom not yet’ theology and praxis that, in effect, says, “Involvement in socio-political issues brings a political spirit into the Church, so stay separate and be holy till Jesus comes to save us. Just pray for leaders and be good Christians and preach the gospel. God will take care of the rest”. This is escapism from civic responsibility, handing the nation on a silver plate to the ruling powers, political and spiritual. Total loss of “saltiness”!

We must recover the kingdom-in-tension theology and praxis of Jesus and his followers. We are in the world but not of the world (John 17:14-17): in critical detachment for prophetic engagement as witness to God’s rule already come in principle and power, and yet to come in fullness and finality when Jesus returns. This does not mean individual Christians cannot become politicians in a calling to serve God in the political arena. And Christians in their own capacity should vote in elections and participate in socio-political processes (mentioned below). Church leaders must guide them in their choice of where and how to serve, for their own integrity and witness in party-power-politics. The Church, as Church, is the community that worships the one God revealed in King Jesus, doing justice and mercy in the world, a sign to all the Caesars/Presidents that Jesus is Lord and they are not. We are a sign to principalities and powers that this is the way to be human, with dignity and value as God’s image. But sadly, the Church is often more a mirror of the powers, made in their image, than a prototype model of God’s future but already present society.

The role, therefore, of the Church in the nation for Christians and The Church:

Prayer: the spiritual battle of the powers behind.
Presence: active participation in society and politics as good citizens in our nation, living out our ‘heavenly citizenship’, doing “good works” (Matthew 5:16).
Proclamation: preaching the good news of God’s saving truth and justice in Jesus.
Prophesy: boldly speaking truth to power for the good of the nation.
Protest: enacting prophetic truth in various ways like marches, conscientious objection, civil disobedience, and non-violent resistance of all kinds.
Peace-making: intervening in conflict and division to make peace based on justice.

I recommend a recent publication (2024) by Tom Wright & Michael Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian political witness in an age of totalitarian terror and dysfunctional democracies.

Posted on April 9, 2024October 3, 2024 by Alexander F. Venter — Leave a comment

Voting in the South African Elections – Guidance as a Christ-follower

I’ve been asked for my view as a Christ-follower on how to vote in the South African (SA) elections on 29 May 2024. I write in my personal capacity. In A to D, I give brief practical guidelines. E & F gives the biblical/theological motivation and reasoning for background reading.

A. Where are we at, as a nation, in terms of our socio-political-economic situation?

Let me be blunt. We’re (still) in a mess. The 10-year Jacob Zuma rule (2009-2018) raped the nation. SA is broken & impoverished. We hoped Cyril Ramaphosa’s rule (2019-2024) would prosecute corrupt officials as per the Zondo Commission findings, and defeat corruption, nepotism, mismanagement, and regain political confidence & economic growth. That hasn’t happened. The political will to make it happen is not there, for various reasons. The ANC (African National Congress) is responsible for the mess – a failed state. Will SA become a gangster state controlled by criminal syndicates? The result is complete broken public trust, a credibility vacuum that all the new political parties are trying to fill. We’ll have an unprecedented three pages of parties on the ballot sheet. Who will you choose? All this is beside the lack of a just and equitable resolution of long-standing issues such as the land, crime & violence, the crises of infrastructure, energy, water, poverty, unemployment, and job creation, with regular emigration resulting in a radically reduced tax base.

B. What do we do? How do we respond to the above context?

People in general, let alone Christ-followers, respond in various ways. Moan and groan. If privileged, we can emigrate or withdraw into a ‘safe’ enclave and live past our societal reality as far as possible. Or give up. Live in denial. Become corrupt. Resort to violence. Or turn to God, rising with faith and hope to engage our socio-political context as citizens of SA. Believers know God is still ultimately in control, with plans for a preferred future for our land and people. God’s will is for the good of our nation to be realized by a critical mass of people of good will. That comes down to our worldview and beliefs, which motivate our response to reality. It raises for Christ-followers…

C. What are our guiding beliefs re the Church-State relationship, as in biblical teaching?
(I answer this in E & F below. Though it should come before what now follows – beliefs always precede and determine practice – I place it later due to length).

D. As followers of Jesus, how do we decide for whom to vote?

Evaluate the political parties and their key leaders by the following order of criteria. We must pray, then vote (don’t abstain or destroy your ballot paper) and work for “just and righteous” rulers; i.e. for credible, accountable, ethical, competent governance, for peace and prosperity in society as Paul taught in 1 Timothy 2:1-6. The criteria for leaders and rules are found in 1 Samuel 8, Psalm 72 & 82, Isaiah 28:6, 32:1-2. Righteous rule and justice for the poor feature highly. And note God’s judgement on leaders who fail. God will hold all authority accountable, sooner or later.

Character: Most important. What is in the heart, what has formed our character, comes out in our attitudes, words, and behaviour (Matthew 12:33-37, 15:16-20). That is the fruit of a person’s (and the political party’s) life and leadership, showing who they are for better or worse. The ‘Big Three’ tests of character for leaders/rulers are money, sex, and power: who is trustworthy & safe with material resources (not corrupt), and with people (relational integrity, or use & abuse), and with political power (re their unmet ego needs)? Use this to evaluate the top-tier leaders of political parties in terms of character. The Zondo commission has shown the ANC is morally bankrupt, endemic with corruption. Check their list of candidates: if there are any implicated in wrongdoing/corruption, do not vote for them. That applies to all parties. The bible shows how spiritual powers work in/through leaders & parties via a) corrupt character for evil or ethical character for good, AND b) in their ideologies and power structures for good or evil. Discern the powers behind leaders & parties, for better or worse, then vote accordingly.
Beliefs, Values & Policies: It’s NOT what leaders SAY their policies are, it’s what they actually DO – their track record. What they give time, energy & money toreveals what they believe and value. Don’t be deceived by right sounding rhetoric. Discern & reject populist rhetoric for votes. Compare the party manifestos against each other, and against the lifestyle and behaviour of their leaders, and their policies and implementation, or lack thereof. Many parties mouth and promise similar things. It comes down to balancing the weight of trust and credibility in their track record and implementation, against the degree of ideological loyalty we give to leaders and their values & policies. In a liberal democracy such as ours, no one party has all the ‘right’ values & policies – it’s a very mixed bag of compromise with the lessor of evils. You can google the list of parties, each with their manifestos & policies, to inform yourself.
Skill & Competence: Leaders and parties must also be evaluated by their competence & skill in governance. This is seen, again, in terms of track record of actual delivery on policy and promises. The crisis of incompetence & mismanagement, beside corrupt character in leadership, is choking SA to death. The poor suffer the most. Those in power enrich themselves. What must we do? PRAY AND VOTE THEM OUT OF POWER! If the national, and especially local government (where we feel it most) is incompetent and corrupt, don’t curse them at dinner tables, don’t resort to violence by burning tyres, libraries, schools, and trains… VOTE THEM OUT OF POWER. Vote for the next most likely competent and least corrupt party.
A strategic vote: If you find the above in one party, you vote from positive conviction. But it’s a mixed bag – no one party satisfies all the above criteria – for various reasons. Thus, a strategic vote is in order, being “wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16). By common analysis, the ANC will again win the election, but with a reduced majority. We need a stronger opposition to hold the ruling party accountable and work constructively on issues of common good for SA. We need a real balance of power, with a credible coalition of opposition. Voting for a small splinter party won’t make much difference. A strategic vote is a compromise of ‘the lessor of evils’, as it is said, to hold the ruling party accountable for the sake of good governance in SA.

E. Guiding beliefs re the Church-State relationship, as per biblical teaching.

The Church-State relationship shifted in Church history from ‘separation-in-tension’ with Jesus and the Early Church; to ‘enmeshment’ of Church & State with Constantine (4^th Cen onwards), called Christendom; to ‘radical separation’ of Church & State by Anabaptists & Pietists (17^th Cen onwards), being apolitical (above politics). Viewed from Jesus’ Kingdom message & ministry, called Kingdom Theology, we can map these beliefs and positions on a spectrum or continuum:

Kingdom now: The Kingdom has come in Jesus, so Christians are called to rule & reign in life (Rom 5:17). That is interpreted as socio-political engagement to not only influence government & society, but to Christianise the nation. Take leadership of ‘the seven mountains’ (main spheres) of society. We must remove ungodly policies and implement godly policies. The Bible must rule. This is Church-State enmeshment – Old Testament (OT) theocracy with ‘court prophets’ – in forms of triumphalist Christendom, as in Dominion Theology, Reconstructionism, Christian Nationalism, Christian political parties. This belief produced the evil of Apartheid by a ‘Christian government’ in a ‘Christian Nation’ with ‘Christian Education’. Forming a Christian political party (like Islamic, or Hindu, or Jewish party) is well-meaning, but theologically wrong. “Christian” attached to a political party totally politicizes the Church’s witness in the public mind, as it was with Apartheid.

Kingdom not yet: The belief that Jesus taught separation of Church & State: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:17). Pietists (also Baptists & Puritans) interpreted it to mean the Church belongs to God and the socio-political arena belongs to the State. God ordained governmental institutions to rule the nation with authority in socio-political matters (Romans 13), and the Church with authority in spiritual-religious affairs. So, Christians must be apolitical, “don’t mix religion & politics”. Church involvement in socio-political issues can bring a political spirit into the Church. So, we keep holy, separate, till Jesus establishes his Kingdom on earth. So, just pray (for leaders) and be good Christians and preach the gospel. God will take care of the rest. You can vote but it’s between you and God. This is escapism from civic responsibility, handing the nation on a silver plate to whatever (spiritual & political) powers rule at the time.

Kingdom-in-tension (now & not yet): In the gospels, Jesus & his first followers had a relationship of ‘separation-in-tension’ with society & the powers, the Jewish & Roman authorities. God’s Kingdom already came in Jesus, in principle & power; but not yet in fullness & finality as it will when he returns. This sets up a tension of ‘dual citizenship’. Being in the already Kingdom, we are “citizens of heaven” (Philip 3:20), witnessing to God’s rule on earth to the degree we do his will as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10). The not yet means we remain citizens of society till we die, or Jesus comes. We are in the world but not of the world (John 17:14-18). Therefore, be responsible SA citizens, but with full allegiance to President Jesus, seeking first his government of righteousness/justice in all things (Matt 6:33). It means we engage with the state & society for the common good – not with/for party-political allegiance – but with/for prophetic witness to Kingdom justice. John the Baptist and Jesus, like OT wilderness prophets, modelled this consciousness, this theology & praxis. Not like the court prophets who ruled through, in collusion with, the political powers of the day.

Jesus taught we are salt & light (Matt 5:13-16). Salt doesn’t dominate food. Nor is it absent – it flavors and preserves. This echoes “the salt of the covenant” (Lev 2:13): our prophetic presence makes society & government palatable to God by restraining moral decay through righteous actions (human nature defaults to sin & corruption). If good people do nothing, evil triumphs. Our ‘saltiness’ stings the conscience of the state & society with ethical accountability. Then we don’t come into God’s judgement, “thrown out and trampled underfoot”, having “lost (our) saltiness” (Luke 14:34-35). “Trampled underfoot” is from Isaiah 26:6, the anarchic violence of the oppressed poor.
Light does not banish all darkness. Nor does it allow darkness to reign. Light pierces the darkness, exposing disorder & wrongdoing, showing the way of living God intended. By proactively doing “good works”, the Church shines like “a city on a hill”. We model to the powers God’s alternate society, as witness to his Kingdom in principle and power, anticipating the day when all darkness will be fully and finally banished. The Church is, has always been, God’s end-time NOTICE to all national & local governments: “Your rule is temporal, you’re accountable to God, your end is coming”.

Jesus’ way is not the above two either/or, now/not-yet polarizations, with their practices. He holds opposites in tension: BOTH critical detachment AND prophetic engagement of Church & State. We work with the powers when they do good and speak truth to them when they do injustice, non-violently resisting them. This applies in constitutional democracies in a multi-party state. It doesn’t mean individual believers cannot pursue a calling in politics or be a member or leader of a political party. That is needed in the political arena. We’re called to serve in all spheres of life, it all belongs to God. But the Church (a Church) must not publicly align herself with a political party, for integrity of witness, even if it’s a ‘Christian party’. If we do, we are co-opted by ideological-political power, thinking the party promotes our agenda. The Church must equip/disciple believers in/for political engagement of whatever kind, as a presence for justice advocacy in the context of moral-ideological-spiritual battle. Thus, we must be BOTH the proactive light of truth & justice AND the reactive salt of conscience (whistle-blowers) inside and outside politics and parties.

F. What then, as Christ followers, is our practical role in society & the state?

Pray: First and foremost, our role is prayer. Don’t underestimate its power as our primary means of working with God in unfolding hispurposes. Daniel’s 21 days of persistent prayer & fasting caused war in the heavenlies, shifting the powers behind empires (Dan 10). Paul says, “First of all, pray for all people, for presidents and all in authority”, for good governance and peaceful society (1 Tim 2:1f). Pray for competent character leaders to be elected as “God’s servants for your (society’s) good” (Rom 13:4). Pray for proper accountability, for corruption to be exposed and defeated, for God to discipline and remove corrupt leaders from power. Pray for a genuine revival.

Presence: We pray our living; we must also live our praying. Our presence, as active participation in society, is being the answer to the prayers we pray. Our presence & participation in all spheres of society, modelling good citizenry, will be the critical mass of change. God would have saved Sodom if he found just 10 righteous people there (Gen 18:32). Therefore, pay taxes (Rom 13:6-7), submit to and respect authorities for the common good (1 Pet 2:13-14), and “do good works” both as (local) Church and individual believers at all three levels of social engagement: mercy ministry (relief of poverty, hunger, etc.), justice advocacy (working with root causes, engaging policies and political structures), and community development (skills training, job creation, upliftment, etc.).

Proclaim: In our doing, we are the good news. But we also proclaim it. We preach the gospel, which is not ‘just’ personal spiritual salvation. The gospel is the power of God for wholistic salvation. It is God’s truth to/in all of life as God intended life to be lived. That truth, if known, sets people free (John 8:31-32). Always be ready to give reasoned answers to all who ask about the truth we speak (1 Pet 3:15). So, proactively proclaim God’s truth: gossip the gospel! We’re called to disciple and teach the nation(s), in the fierce ideological-spiritual battle over truth, in a secular post-truth world.

Prophesy: Our role in society is not only to be the truth (being truthful in all we do and say), but to fearlessly speak truth to power when needed. The Church must prophetically challenge and call local and national authorities to account, for good governance, for the sake of society, for the voiceless (the poor & marginalized). Christ-followers stand in the tradition of Jesus and the Hebrew prophets, who lived and spoke the truth in self-sacrificing martyrdom. That defeated the evil powers behind the people and political systems that perpetrate wrongdoing. Christians should be, especially in political parties and in business, the ultimate whistle-blowers. Jesus’ light/truth shone so bright, exposing the darkness, people had to either repent and join him, or kill the light!

Protest: We speak truth to society and power as God’s prophetic community in forms of protest when needed. At times, Jesus and the prophets enacted their message in public demonstrations (e.g., Mark 15:11-18). We submit to government, but when they do wrong and refuse to see reason and change, we disobey them, submitting to the consequences. At certain points, on certain issues, “we must obey God rather than human beings” (Acts 5:29). Prophetic protest can take the form of marches, conscientious objection, civil disobedience, and non-violent resistance of all kinds.

Peace-making: We are called to be peacemakers for all who cry for justice, where there is hatred, hostility, division. We don’t ‘keep the peace’ but intervene to make peace based on justice. Jesus’ Beatitudes teach our role in society: be dependent on God, humble, merciful, justice-seeking, pure in heart, peacemakers… that WILL result in believers being persecuted (Matt 5:3-11).

Posted on January 2, 2024January 5, 2024 by Alexander F. Venter — 3 Comments

2023 MIDDLE EAST WAR – AN OVERVIEW RESPONSE OF A CHRIST FOLLOWER

This is an unreferenced overview of a longer summary of my response.

How do we/should we respond to the horror of what happened on 7 October 2023 (10/7) in southern Israel and now the war in Gaza and other Palestinian areas?

I respond consciously as a follower of Jesus, from his worldview of God’s kingdom come in his ministry, death, and resurrection. In offering this guidance to think through and respond to the Middle East crisis, I don’t speak for any church, denomination, or organisation.

Our first response as followers of Jesus is to weep and lament.

Soon after 10/7, people began asking me for my response. I repeatedly said, “Jesus wept.” Why? This shortest verse in the Bible shows Jesus weeping with those who weep in the pain and loss of death. The Middle East crisis is very emotional and divisive. We first turn to God and lament the evil that has taken place, weeping with all who weep, processing emotions. We lament for humanitarian reasons: each life is sacred. Lament is the power of prayer that protests in the courts of heaven, invoking God’s justice and salvation. We leave judgement to God, The Judge of all, including the spiritual powers that drive the conflict.

We cannot keep silent – but we must speak from silence.

We cannot and must not keep silent in the face of the evil that has taken place. It must be condemned. But, we must speak from the silence of listening, learning from all sides of the conflict to discern truth. Then, when we speak, we echo silence, and people hear truth. The divisive nature of this war clouds how we see and hear. Words and names trigger us to label people ‘for’ or ‘against’ to secure our existing narrative. We must sift the information, video clips, disinformation, and propaganda, to distinguish truth from the political ideologies and legitimizing theologies at work – the spiritual powers that condition our thinking.

Give disclaimers – define terms, draw distinctions and degrees.

A responsible response requires disclaimers, defining terms and making distinctions. Truth is the first causality of war. Thus, we give disclaimers like “to the degree this has been fact-checked and verified as true…” To be nuanced is not being ‘neutrally balanced’ or ‘politically correct’, it’s to account for our assumptions. So, we define the ideologies and theologies behind the conflict, and distinguish between key ideas and groups, such as: Jihadist Islam and moderate Muslims; Hamas and Palestinians; Judaism and Zionism; Israelis and the Israeli government; anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism (my summary paper has the details). By conflating/equating these, we stereotype ‘the other’ and treat them accordingly.

Resist the pressure to take sides – side with truth, justice, peace-making.

The pressure to take sides has split the world into pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel. It’s not a matter of, “are you for us or for our enemies?” (Joshua 5:13-14), but are we on God’s side? To side with God in the conflict is to side with truth and justice, as Jesus said, seek first God’s kingdom and his justice. We oppose injustice no matter who perpetrates it. Morality cuts both ways. Jesus and the prophets were not neutral regarding truth and error, right and wrong. What Hamas did on 10/7 was evil. For Palestinians, Israel’s destruction of Gaza to exterminate Hamas is genocidal collective punishment. So, in siding with God, Jesus taught his followers to hunger for justice, make peace, reconcile relationships, transcend “an eye for an eye” by non-violent resistance of evil, as in doing good and loving one’s enemies.

Discern the powers behind – the justifying ideologies and theological legitimizations.

Holy War? Just War? Or Non-violence? We must define and distinguish between these three traditional theologies to see how each side uses them to legitimize what they’re doing. For Hamas, it’s holy war to exterminate Israel. Israel uses just war to legitimize their actions to destroy Hamas. When Israel’s Netanyahu compares Hamas to the “Amalekites”, he invokes Old Testament holy war. Many Christians support Israel on a just war (even holy war) basis. Jesus ended Old Testament holy war in his sacrificial death to defeat evil. He renounced violence, the Law of Just Retaliation (“an eye for an eye”, Matthew 5:38-42), as a means of settling conflict. Jesus lived and taught self-sacrificing non-violence to defeat evil, bringing his reconciling kingdom into places of pain, division, and conflict.

Liberation Theology. A political theology that uses fixed Marxist categories of social analysis to legitimize the liberation of the oppressed, with a ‘just revolution’ to overthrow the oppressor – by force if necessary. To the degree it is used to legitimize the Palestinian struggle for justice with the use of violence, it serves the ideological powers of Hamas.

Dispensationalist Theology – Christian and Jewish Zionism. Many evangelical Christians support Israel from an underlying dispensationalist theology: God deals with humanity in dispensations, first Israel, then the church, then Israel in the end-times. This gave birth to Christian Zionism, which preceded Jewish Zionism, the ethno-nationalist ideology behind the establishment of Israel in 1948. This theology teaches two people of God in two covenants with two destinies. Jews are God’s chosen people of the Abrahamic covenant with the destiny of the land. Christians are the church of Jesus’ new covenant with a heavenly destiny, raptured into heaven before the Anti-Christ and the tribulation. So, for Christian Zionists, Israel is key to God’s purposes: every event that happens in the Middle East is interpreted as end-time fulfilment of unfulfilled prophecies. The result is uncritical support for Israel and Netanyahu’s far-right Zionist coalition. They label those who don’t support Israel, “replacement theology” Christians – anti-Semites. Besides misinterpreting scripture, it demands loyalty to Israel, giving no room for nuance or critical engagement. That’s a sure sign, among others, of dispensationalist Zionism being in service of ideological power.

So-called Replacement Theology. Traditional theology doesn’t use “replacement”. Christian Zionists use it of their critics, saying Reformed covenant theology teaches the church has replaced/superseded Israel as God’s people. The New Testament uses “fulfilment” in Christ. Paul warned Gentile Christians not to be arrogant regarding Jews, thinking they’ve replaced Israel, calling Jews “Christ-killers”, etc. It’s anti-Semitism, the seeds of the Jewish holocaust. To the degree such ideas are used by Christians to criticise or reject Israel, and/or to support the Palestinian cause, it’s in service of the ideological powers that divide and rule.

Jesus and Apostolic Kingdom Theology

Traditional covenant theology teaches one people of God in one covenant with one destiny, fulfilled in Messiah. “Covenant” is a subset of “kingdom of God”, which was Jesus’ mission of fulfilment and lens of interpretation. He didn’t abolish (replace) Torah and the Prophets but fulfilled them (Matthew 5:17). He fulfilled ALL God’s promises (2 Corinthians 1:20), including the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants in the “new covenant” of his kingdom, sealed in his blood. It redefined the people, land, city, and temple, transcending the territorial faith of Judaism. God’s people are all who believe the gospel of God’s kingdom come in Jesus. They are Abraham’s children, heirs of the promises. Circumcision is of the heart, not the flesh. Unbelieving Jews are distinguished from believing Israel: they’re cut off and Gentile believers are joined to believing Israel. There will be a revival of ethnic Jews at the end of the age when all Israel will be saved. But that doesn’t imply return to the land. The holy land is God’s kingdom come in Jesus, with the inheritance of the nations, the earth. The temple and its sacrificial system, which ended in AD 70 as Jesus predicted, was his body and ministry of the kingdom. God’s Jewish-Gentile people, the church, is now the temple in which he dwells. The city is transcended in the heavenly Jerusalem, “mother” of believers, while “present Jerusalem is in slavery (to sin) with her children” (Galatians 4:24-26, Revelation 11:8, 21:2).

The church doesn’t replace Israel but fulfils her calling and destiny in Messiah Jesus. We recognise modern Israel’s right of existence as restorative justice after a long history of suffering injustice. We don’t see Israel as the fulfilment of unfulfilled promises, but evaluate her on the basis of justice, as we do all nations. The only way (politically) to guarantee peace and security for Israel is to also guarantee peace and equality for Palestinians. Thus, we support a negotiated two-state solution, each within agreed secure borders.

Conclusion: Defeat the powers – be God’s people, be peacemakers.

Peace-making. To be God’s people is to be peacemakers, intervening in non-violent ways to break the cycle of violence, seeking a negotiated peace based on (relative) justice.

Presence. Peace-making is bodily presence. If Israeli and Palestinian believers crossed the divide, the wall of hostility that Jesus destroyed in the cross, they could repent, reconcile, and unite as Christ’s one Body in the land. They would then have authority in real terms to intervene to make peace, and thousands of international believers would join them.

Praying. We make peace by prayer and intercession, our most powerful weapon of warfare to defeat the powers behind, because we address the sovereign God, ruler of the nations.

Prophesying. We do peace-making by proclaiming the good news of the Prince of Peace. And by speaking truth to power, fearlessly challenging injustices on both sides of the divide.

Protesting. We do peace-making by public protest, as and when required. Like Jesus and the prophets, we act out the truth we speak as and when needed for all to hear. Discernment is needed when it comes to public protests, so that we’re not in service of ideological powers.

May the Lord have mercy and bring shalom to Palestine and Israel.

Posted on January 2, 2024January 6, 2024 by Alexander F. Venter — 1 Comment

2023 MIDDLE EAST WAR – A SUMMARY RESPONSE OF A CHRIST FOLLOWER

ABSTRACT (brief description of this paper, which is an expansion of my overview):

How do we/should we respond to what happened on October 7 (10/7) and the war that has followed? Process it emotionally. Examine what happened, including the context and causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sift the tsunami of information, disinformation, fake news, and propaganda, discerning truth by listening to all sides. Discern the underlying ideologies and legitimising theologies, the ‘powers behind’ that form the thinking, speaking, acting. Resist the pressure to take sides, pro-Jewish-Israeli or pro-Palestinian-Hamas. We side with Jesus – the mind of Christ – applied to the crisis. Hence, this is an exercise in biblical social and political ethics: we evaluate and decide based on truth and justice, which morally cuts both ways. We don’t decide based on prophecy: modern Israel is the fulfilment of unfulfilled promises, with the implications that follow. Rather, we challenge legitimising theologies and ethics of war with the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, with their interpretation of Israel, prophecy, the land, temple, city, and the end-times. The resulting response is Jesus’ call to be peacemakers and reconcilers who bring God’s kingdom into the crisis, thereby defeating the spiritual-political powers that ‘divide and rule’. Christ followers respond with/by the power of the gospel of God’s kingdom come in Messiah Jesus, the Prince of Peace, or the lack thereof, depending on the degree of our ideological capture to either side. This paper is a summary of a comprehensive referenced manuscript.

OUTLINE:

Weep – lament before God.
Don’t remain silent – but speak from silence.
Give disclaimers – define terms, draw distinctions and degrees.
Don’t be pressured into taking sides – side with truth, justice, peace-making.
Discern the powers behind – the justifying ideologies and legitimizing theologies.
Holy War? Just War? Or Non-violence?
Liberation Theology.
Dispensational Theology – Christian and Jewish Zionism.
Replacement theology.
Jesus’ kingdom theology and the apostles’ interpretation.
Conclusion – Be God’s people, be peacemakers.

INTRODUCTION

I respond to the horror of 10/7 (7 October 2023) and its destructive aftermath as a follower of Christ (meaning Messiah/King). Jesus’ worldview of God’s kingdom come in his ministry, death, and resurrection, is my reference. I offer this summary as guidance to think through the Middle East crisis. I don’t speak for any church, denomination, or organization.

Soon after 10/7, people began asking me for my response. I repeatedly said, “Jesus wept.” Why? The context of this shortest verse in the Bible (John 11:35) is human death and grief. Jesus, as a man, weeps with all who weep in the pain and loss of death. But he gives hope, bringing reconciliation and resurrection out of the darkness and devastation of death for those who believe, seen in the story of John 11.

OUR FIRST RESPONSE AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS IS TO WEEP AND LAMENT

What happened on 10/7 and what has followed is horrific. It’s very emotional. If we don’t process our feelings, we explode over others or implode within ourselves. So, we first turn to God and weep with the victims of such evil. We lament for humanitarian reasons because every life that is lost is sacred. Every person killed is made in God’s image, precious to God, precious to a mother, a father, a family. God, in Christ, weeps with those who weep.

Lament is the power of prayer that protests in the courts of heaven, invoking God’s justice and salvation. The Judge of every person, nation, and spiritual power (Psalm 82), will avenge perpetrators and vindicate victims (Deuteronomy 32:35-36). Paul says, don’t take revenge, but to “leave room for God’s wrath… it is mine to avenge” (Romans 12:19).

WE CANNOT KEEP SILENT – BUT WE MUST SPEAK FROM SILENCE

When Hitler invaded Poland, a reporter said, “he ripped the lid off hell”. Hamas did it again on 10/7 when they massacred Israelis and took hostages. Hell has broken out in Gaza, in its death and destruction at the hands of Israel going after Hamas. We cannot keep silent – either way. Evil is not selective. Neither can we be. But, we must speak from the silence of listening, learning, discerning… truth. Then, when we speak, we echo silence. Not selective righteous anger. Nor hateful vengeance. But truth. I could only respond with more words than “Jesus wept” after weeks of prayerful processing of my emotions and thoughts, listening, and learning from all sides of the conflict, discerning truth.

The emotive nature of this war and the divisive views of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, clouds how we see and hear. Words, names, news outlets, etc, trigger us to label people “for” or “against”, then we hear what they say via that label. Or we switch off (please read this entire paper before deciding). In so doing, we secure our narrative and reinforce our prejudice: “don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up”. Our views are formed by valid information, disinformation, and propaganda, on divided sides of social identities, political ideologies, and legitimizing theologies. They are the “the powers behind” that the Bible speaks of – to be discerned, challenged, and defeated. They condition us into group thinking and loyalty, blinding us to truth, to reality on the other side. The first casualty of any war is truth. Everything must be fact checked and verified. To discern truth, we hear all sides, establish facts, and examine underlying justifications – political and theological. Truth is inconvenient, but it sets us free (John 8:31-32). We follow truth over tribe.

GIVE DISCLAIMERS – DEFINE TERMS, DRAW DISTINCTIONS AND DEGREES

Memes, short statements, and Bible verses don’t do justice to the complexity of the war and its causes. There is so much ‘static’, mixed truth, and bias when sifting through all the news, video clips, views of experts, etc. Thus, a responsible response requires disclaimers, defining terms and making distinctions. To be nuanced is not to be ‘neutrally balanced’ nor ‘politically correct’. It is to use words precisely, accounting for our assumptions and reasoning.

For example, ideologies are sets of ideas and beliefs (political, economic, cultural, religious) that give group identity by rationalising and legitimizing group interests, over against other groups. When group interests clash, ideological war begins, leading to material conflict if a just peace is not negotiated. Signs of ideological conditioning and capture are conformity to group thinking, divisive solidarity, irrational defensiveness, rigid prejudice, and the violence that erupts. People and public protests that use violence to make their point reveal their ideology is a spiritual power. Ideologies are ‘isms’ (Marxism, Nazism) that become totalitarian if not confronted by truth and justice (as the Hebrew prophets did). They are “the gods” that God judges (Psalm 82), “the rulers and authorities” (Ephesians 6:12) behind nationalist political, economic, cultural, and religious systems. The battle is not against “flesh and blood”, but against the evil spiritual forces that use systems and the people within them.

Religious theologies (Jewish, Christian, Islamic) can legitimise socio-political ideology and racist-national identity. White Christian Nationalist theology undergirded Apartheid in South Africa. It was unbiblical, heretical, evil. Theologies can kill. History shows ideological powers rise and fall. Sooner or later, God judges and disciplines them. The same applies to the Middle East war: what are the powers that drive each side? Christ followers must discern ideological powers and their legitimizing theologies and defeat them. To the degree we’re conditioned by them and under their power, we fail to recognise them. We only discover that in the ‘dialogue of opposites’, seeing reality from the other side of the divide. We must decisively break with ‘the powers’ to prophesy to them, to enforce the defeat they’ve already suffered at the nail-pierced hands of Jesus (Ephesians 2:14-16, Colossians 2:15).

To do this we must also draw distinctions, as in distinguishing between Islam, Muslims, and jihad. What drives Hamas is jihadist ideology. They exist to irradicate Israel as their charter states – seen in their 10/7 attack. They’re part of fundamentalist militant Islam in contrast to moderate Muslims. By conflating them, we treat all Muslims as evil, feeding Islamic phobia and hatred. Hamas is the political organisation representing Palestinians, but only in Gaza. Not all Palestinians are, or support, Hamas. Some Palestinians are Christians, to whom we must listen, and learn from their experience in Palestinian territories.

We must distinguish between Judaism, Israel, and Zionism. The ideology behind the state of Israel is Jewish Zionism, the founding ethno-nationalist ideology of modern Israel. Christian Zionism legitimizes it, teaching modern Israel is the fulfilment of unfulfilled prophecy (more below). Biblical Israel was a theocracy; modern Israel is a liberal democracy. Ultra-Orthodox Jews don’t recognise the modern state of Israel, saying Torah teaches God exiled Israel in AD 70 and only Messiah can re-establish Israel as a theocratic state. They reject Zionism and oppose Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestinian territories. To be anti-Zionist is not to reject Israel’s right to exist, but to be critical of Israel’s governing ideology. That does not mean you’re anti-Semitic, which is racism, discrimination against Jews because they are Jews, which led to Hitler’s holocaust of 6 million Jews. Also, you can disagree with aspects of the Jewish faith (which some call anti-Judaism) without being anti-Semitic.

We must also distinguish Jews (ethnicity, 15 mil. worldwide) and Israelis (citizens, 7 mil. Jews and 2 mil. Arabs). Israel is divided. Half of Israelis (in Peace Now and Democratic Movement for Change) oppose Netanyahu and his far-right coalition of religious Zionists. They have reduced the powers of the Supreme Court so they can appoint their own judges and build more illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied territories – a means of ethnic cleansing. Again, it’s not anti-Semitic to be critical of Israel’s government for unjust policies. In fact, it’s loving Israel to speak truth to power, as Hebrew prophets did (and were killed). Jewish critics of Zionism and Israel’s government (like Noah Harari, Gideon Levy, Gabor Mate, Norman Finkelstein, Ilan Pappe, etc), are called “left wing socialists”. Jews who label them “anti-Semites” because they examine the context and causes of the conflict, and mourn the death of Israelis and Palestinians, reveal their Zionist ideological capture.

If we don’t define words, draw distinctions, and recognise nuances, we conflate/equate the concepts. We generalise and stereotype ‘the other’, labelling and treating them accordingly. That further blinds us, reinforcing our existing ideological conditioning and prejudice.

RESIST THE PRESSURE TO TAKE SIDES – SIDE WITH TRUTH, JUSTICE, PEACE-MAKING

The pressure to take sides is enormous, either way. Legitimizing theologies enable groups to claim God is on their side. If you don’t side with them, you’re against God. If God is on our side, we can kill our enemies in his name, believing they are God’s enemies.

Joshua asked a man with a drawn sword, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” The man replied, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence (Joshua 5:13-14). So, the question is, are we on God’s side? Taking God’s side is to let God be God, not playing God. It means siding with (God’s) truth and justice. This is exactly what King Jesus said, “Seek first God’s kingdom and his justice” (righteousness, Matthew 6:33). Then God will act and provide – trust him.

If you’re not “pro-Palestinian”, you’re labelled “pro-Israel”, and vice versa. The pressure to take sides does not allow for nuances, only condemnation of ‘the other’, which feeds hateful divisions. Then you can’t speak truth to ‘the powers’ on your side: you become a court prophet blessing and legitimizing them. To side with God is to oppose wrongdoing, not matter on which side it is. We don’t have to justify which is the greater evil so that we can take the ‘better side’. Neither do we have to equate ‘the one is as bad as the other’ (moral equivalence) to be ‘neutral’ or ‘balanced’. Evil is evil, sin is sin, no matter the degree or agency. Morality cuts both ways. The Hebrew prophets, including Jesus, were not neutral or balanced when it came to truth and error, right and wrong, good and evil.

We condemn Hamas for their barbarous 10/7 massacre of 1400 Israelis, taking 240 hostages (including women and children). We can list all their atrocities, to the degree they’ve been verified as factual. However Hamas justifies them, it is evil. Jesus wept. And we condemn Israel’s destruction of Gaza, displacing 1.9 million, killing 21,672 (70% are women and children), with over 7000 missing under rubble, and over 56,000 injured (as of 29 December 2023). To the degree these are verified as factual, the justifications by the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) don’t make it (morally) right: “In our right to exterminate Hamas we warned everyone to leave. They are unfortunate collateral damage of human shields for us to destroy Hamas in tunnels under civilian buildings. Hamas is to blame”. For the Palestinians in Gaza, it’s genocidal collective punishment. They’ve lost everything. Jesus wept.

It’s demonic to use a child as a human shield. It’s also demonic to bomb a child to kill a killer – killing a child, on average, every 15 minutes. And to smash a child’s skull in a kibbutz, or by bombs in Gaza, moves one beyond good and evil into the rule of gods and demons. Their “blood cries out to God from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). Crying out to God for justice is a biblical theme. God always hears and answers, sooner or later (Exodus 22:21-24). Jesus said, “Will not God bring about justice for those who cry out to him day and night?” (Luke 18:7).

To “seek first” God’s rule of righteousness is to side with truth and justice in any situation, to intervene to make peace, to reconcile, heal, and restore. Whenever I hear, “Pray for Israel”, I say, “YES, but pray also for Palestinians”. Because people are dying, hatred is deepening, and we’re called to be peacemakers – like Jesus. Applying his teachings to his Jewish followers in the context of brutal Roman occupation, we learn his response (a sample from Matthew 5):

“Blessed are the meek, they will inherit the earth” (5). Not just ‘the land’, Psalm 37:11.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice (righteousness), for they will be filled” (6). The cries for justice from both sides of the divide – God is The Judge of all.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, they will be called children of God” (9). They express God’s nature/character, whose Son reconciles human relationships with God and each other. Hebrew shalom (peace) is God’s wellbeing based on right relationships.
“You’ve heard it said, ‘Do not murder’; but I say, if you’re angry with your brother or sister, you are subject to judgement… go and reconcile with them” (21-24). Unresolved anger leads to hatred and name-calling which murders dignity long before the body.
“You’ve heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’; but I say, don’t resist an evil person” (38-42). Jesus teaches ways of response that don’t damage the person in return. If we follow theLaw of Just Retaliation (Exodus 21:24-25) we will all become blind and toothless, unable to see how to respond in non-violent ways that defeat the evil behind the perpetrator(s). We will then take a head for an eye, a body for a tooth, which is happening. And evil triumphs. Distinguish between people (God loves) and the evil (God hates) that works through them and the systems they create.
“You’ve heard it said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy’; but I say, love your enemy and pray for them…” (43-47). Strict Pharisees, Zealots, and Essenes taught love of “neighbour” as your own kind (Jews) and hatred of “enemy” as the other (Romans). Israeli right-wing religious parties and Jewish settlers do the same today. Jesus defined “neighbour” as anyone in need, even your enemy (Samaritans, Luke 10:29-37). Jesus’ “love your enemy” was from Torah: “Do not hate… love your neighbour… the foreigner among you” (Leviticus 19:17-18, 34; Exodus 23:4-5, Proverbs 25:21-22). This was the governing law in Israel as witness to the nations of God’s rule. Christ-followers must continue to live this ethic as witness to a world divided by enmity – Jesus offers peace and reconciliation based on (his) justice. How can this become a political ethic?

DISCERN THE POWERS BEHIND – THE JUSTIFYING IDEOLOGIES AND THEOLOGICAL LEGITIMISATIONS

We all think, speak, and act based on underlying ideas, beliefs, and assumptions. They must be examined and evaluated (our justifying ideologies and legitimising theologies) to decide on a biblical-ethical response to the Middle East crisis. We look at theology and violence, Liberation Theology, Christian Zionism, Replacement Theology, and Jesus and his apostles’ teaching on Israel, prophecy, the land, temple, city, and the end-times. Essentially, it’s about how we interpret scripture. I can only give very brief explanations in this summary.

Holy War? Or Just War? Or Non-violence?

These are the three traditional views on the use of violence. There is also violence that does not justify itself as either just or holy. We must define and distinguish them to know how they’re used to legitimise what has happened and continues to happen.

Holy war is an ideology of death motivated by a religious cause. We can kill others in God’s name because our enemies are God’s enemies. To the degree this theology drives groups to violence against civilians, they are terrorists by modern international law. Holy war in Islam is jihad (Arabic), meaning ‘struggle’ against ungodliness in oneself and others (moderate Islam). Using violence to ‘struggle’ against Allah’s enemies is radical Islam (e.g., Hamas). They shout Allah Akbar, “God is great”, as they murder enemies. Holy war theology in the Old Testament (OT) ended in Jesus’ war against evil by self-sacrifice, which defeated ‘the powers’ on the cross. He renounced violence to achieve that end. Christians have also used holy war theology at times, e.g., to legitimise the 11^th century Crusades.

Just war is a political-ethical theory seeded by Aristotle (4^th cen. BC) and developed by Augustine (5^th cen. AD Christian theologian). It took the ancient Lex Telionis, Law of Just Retaliation, “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”, to a new level: the right of self-defence to conduct war under certain agreed conditions. But only “as a last resort”, after all non-violent ways have failed. In Israel’s right to self-defence, Netanyahu and his government justify the IDF operations in Gaza to “exterminate” Hamas as just war. However, he compares Hamas and Iran to the “Amalekites”, invoking holy war (1 Samuel 15:2-3). Commentators cite IDF violations of international law with Gaza reduced to a human catastrophe. Many Christians use just war to support Israel. Some use holy war, as in Netanyahu’s “Amalekites”. As we have seen, Jesus rejected the Lex Telionis, transcending it in the law of love.

Non-violence (also called pacifism) is the use of peaceful means, not force, to bring about socio-political change. Violence only begets more violence. Killing is the problem, not the solution. Non-violence pursues negotiation for peace-making based on justice. Most peace treaties in history were based on compromise, on relative justice. Pursuit of absolute justice perpetuates conflict indefinitely. Jesus taught and lived non-violence through self-sacrifice, as the means to defeat evil. He taught his followers the same: lay down your life, don’t take up the sword or you will die by the sword (Matthew 26:52). Tertullian (2^nd cen. theologian), famously said, “The Lord in disarming Peter, thenceforth unbelted every soldier”. Christians did not serve in the Roman army for the first two centuries after Christ.

Liberation Theology

This theology turns the biblical theme of liberation into a socio-political ethic of activism for the oppressed. A novelty in church history, it began in Latin America in mid to late 1960s via Catholic theologian, Gustavo Gutiérrez, among others. They used the Marxist categories of social analysis, “oppressor” and “oppressed”: God takes the side of the oppressed to liberate them from the structural sin and systemic evil of the oppressor, by violent ‘just revolution’ if necessary. This legitimized revolutions in Latin America and elsewhere. The Catholic Church (Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI) rejected the ideological framework of Liberation Theology while affirming the wholistic (biblical) liberation of God’s kingdom come in Jesus Christ. Palestinian Christians are now a small minority, but to the degree Liberation Theology is employed to legitimize their struggle for justice, with the use of violence to free Palestine, it serves ideological powers – as in Hamas and Hezbollah.

Dispensationalist Theology – Christian and Jewish Zionism

Christians, generally, sympathise with Jews. They are against anti-Semitism, which is racism. They support Israel as a Jewish homeland in her right to a secure existence, as justice after a long history of suffering. While affirming the recovery of the Jewish roots of our faith, they don’t interpret the political developments in Israel as fulfilment of end-time prophecy. They evaluate what happens based on justice, having the same concern for Palestinians, who’ve also suffered since the conflict began. Thus, the only way (politically) to guarantee peace and security for Israel is to also guarantee peace and equality for Palestinians. So, they would, generally, support a negotiated two-state solution, each within secure borders.

Some evangelicals (Pentecostals/charismatics included) support Israel as the fulfilment of unfulfilled promises: modern Israel, founded in 1948, is key to God’s purposes being fulfilled for Christ’s return. That means supporting Israel as God’s chosen people and nation. If we don’t, we’re against God’s purposes and are (seen as) anti-Semitic. Underlying this ‘Israel theology’ is dispensationalism, which began in the 1830s. John Darby, an Anglo-Irish leader in the Plymouth Brethren, taught dispensationalism from his interpretation of Daniel’s final ‘week’ (seven years) in 9:24-27. He was inspired by Margret MacDonald’s vision (1828) of Christians raptured into heaven before the Second Coming. A pre-tribulation rapture must take place before the Anti-Christ rules for seven years, then Jesus will return to Jerusalem to establish his millennial kingdom. God deals with humanity in dispensations: in short, the dispensation of Israel up to Christ’s first coming, then the church dispensation from Christ to the rapture, then back to Israel for the last seven years and into the millennium.

This theology was unknown in church history before Darby. It spread through the Scofield Reference Bible. Most reputable evangelical scholars rejected it as unbiblical. It birthed Christian Zionism, which preceded and supported Jewish Zionism in the late 1800s. Jews must return to Palestine to (re)build their homeland for God’s end-time purposes to be fulfilled. Zionist politicians in Britain motivated the Balfour Declaration in 1917, for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people… it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”. That was achieved in 1948, but it led to the ongoing conflict. The history of the conflict is painful and complex – Jewish and Palestinian versions of the history are worlds apart. There are facts of history, interpretations of the facts, and ideological revisions of history. Facts and truth can be – and are – known.

Christian Zionism teaches two people of God: Israel and the church. Each has their covenant and destiny. Israel has the Abrahamic covenant for an earthly destiny: the holy land and the millennial kingdom. The church as the “new covenant” for a spiritual destiny: the rapture and ruling from heaven. The Abrahamic covenant is eternal: possess the land God promised in Genesis 15:18-21. If we bless Israel (Abraham’s seed, Genesis 12:3), God will bless us. If we oppose Israel, God will curse us. The prophecies of Israel’s return to the land are applied partially to the first exile (5^th/4^th BC) and fully to modern Israel, bypassing Jesus and the New Testament (NT) interpretation of the promises. God turned back to his chosen people in 1948, marking “the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”, more so in 1967 when Jerusalem was liberated from Gentile control (Luke 21:24). That’s when “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). Hence, some leading dispensationalists said the rapture would take place in 1988, a generation after 1948. Then it was revised to 2007, 40 years after 1967. Other dates that were predicted have come and gone. No rapture, no Anti-Christ.

The fruit of Christian Zionism is, a) finding end-time prophetic fulfilment in every event that happens in the Middle East; b) uncritical support for Israel and the present government with its ethno-nationalist-religious Zionist ideology; and c) labelling Christians who don’t support Israel as “replacement theology” Christians – in other words, anti-Semites.

A full study is needed to do justice to dispensational Christian Zionism. But, beside misinterpreting scripture, it leaves no room for nuanced critical support of Israel, demanding loyalty – a sure sign that it’s in the service of ideological power.

So-called Replacement Theology and traditional Covenant Theology

I say “so-called”, as traditional theology doesn’t use “replacement” of Israel. Christian Zionists use it (and “supersessionism”) of their critics, saying Reformed covenant theology teaches that the church has replaced/superseded Israel as God’s chosen people. “Replace” and “supersede” are not in the Bible and reputable evangelical scholars don’t use them. They use the NT “fulfilment” of God’s promises in King Jesus (more below). This is different to both replacement theology and Christian Zionism – though my personal experience is that Christian Zionists only hear “replacement” when one talks of “fulfilment”.

However, we humbly acknowledge there has been ‘crossover’ in traditional theology from respect for ethnic Jews and biblical Israel, to arrogance and presumption, even labelling Jews “Christ-killers”. Paul warned Gentile believers against such attitudes of “conceit”: God joined us to believing Israel, not the other way round – we’ve not replaced Jews (Romans 11:17-21). If we believe that God abandoned the promises made to the Jews and replaced Israel with the church as his chosen people, we develop anti-Semitic attitudes that lead to acts of racism. For example, Martin Luther’s ‘anti-Judaism’ attitude (critical of Judaism, seeking to convert Jews to Christ) in later years crossed into anti-Semitism. He made it racial against “the Jews” in his treatise, On the Jews and their Lies. This treatise is seen historically as the seeds of the German Lutheran church’s support for the Shoah (Jewish holocaust).

Thus, to the degree Christians use replacement theology to criticize or reject Israel, and/or support the Palestinian cause, it is in service of the ideological powers that divide and rule. We must distinguish between this kind of replacement theology and covenant theology that teaches there has always been only one people of God, in one covenant, with one destiny. The biblical covenants were added to and fulfilled in subsequent covenants: the Abrahamic covenant (people and land), in the Mosaic covenant (Torah and temple), in the Davidic covenant (Messianic Son), and in the promised “new covenant” of Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36. They’re all fulfilled in/by Messiah Jesus in his ministry, death, and resurrection, with the destiny of God’s eternal kingdom, where God’s will is done on earth as in heaven. Jesus taught his followers to pray and live that reality of Kingdom come (Matthew 6:10).

JESUS AND APOSTOLIC THEOLOGY

“Covenant” is part of the biblical theology of God’s kingdom – Jesus’ mission, message, and ministry. The OT promise is now NT fulfilment, in which we live, awaiting the consummation of the kingdom in Jesus’ return. The kingdom was their worldview, the lens of interpreting both the Hebrew Bible and “the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3). Hence, we follow their interpretation of prophecy, Israel, the land, temple, city, and the end-times, e.g., Matthew used “fulfil/fulfilled” sixteen times of Jesus in his gospel to Jewish readers.

Jesus, the Jewish King, brought God’s kingdom to Israel – most leaders and people rejected him. He saw those who believed as people of the kingdom, the remnant of true Israel. He chose twelve apostles as patriarchs of the renewed Israel of the new covenant, who will sit on thrones judging Israel (Luke 22:20, 29-30). They didn’t replace Israel but were believing Jews who, with King Jesus, fulfilled Israel’s call and destiny. All the promises and covenants were not only fulfilled but transcended and universalised in Christ’s kingdom come.

The promised “new covenant” (Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36) was fulfilled in Jesus’ kingdom, sealed in his blood sacrifice (Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25).
The Davidic covenant is fulfilled in the Messianic Son (2 Samuel 7 cf. Psalm 2:6-7). Jesus inherits not only his father David’s kingdom – land in the Middle East – but “the nations” and “ends of the earth” (Psalm 2:8). The earth is holy, belonging to God (Psalm 24:1).
The land in the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 15:18-21) was interpreted as: “Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, through the righteousness that comes by faith” (Romans 4:13). “The land” inheritance is “the earth” (Psalm 37:11 cf. Matthew 5:5). In the prophets, the land becomes the new earth with new heavens (Isaiah 65:17f, 66:22f), the ultimate destiny of God’s people.
Circumcision in Abraham’s “everlasting covenant” (confirming the land as an “everlasting possession”, Genesis 17) marked God’s chosen people. It symbolised circumcision of the heart, as Moses said (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6). That was fulfilled in Messiah’s death and resurrection (Colossians 2:11-12). So, “the Israel of God”, the true Jew, is defined by that inward circumcision of the Spirit by faith (Galatians 6:12-16, Romans 2:25-29).
So, God’s people, the children of Abraham, are defined by faith in God’s promises fulfilled in Messiah, who is “the seed” of Abraham (Galatians 3:16). All believers are “children of God… neither Jew nor Gentile… if you belong to Messiah, you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29). Paul is emphatic: all God’s promises are “yes” and “amen” in Christ – he fulfils them all (2 Corinthians 1:20). In Romans 9 to 11, Paul quotes the prophets to distinguish between believing Israel (children of faith, “the remnant”, 9:27) and unbelieving Israel (ethnic Jews who reject Jesus).
The Mosaic covenant Torah was fulfilled in Messiah – he didn’t come to abolish or replace the Law or the Prophets (Matthew 5:17). Jesus’ kingdom teaching was the Messianic Torah that Moses prophesied (Deuteronomy 18:17-19), which fulfils and enables all that God required of Israel and the nations, for his will to be done on earth as in heaven.
The Mosaic tabernacle and later temple were interpreted as Jesus, the real temple in which God dwelt (John 1:14). He forgave sins (Mark 2:5-6) based on his “once and for all sacrifice” that ended sacrifices for sin (Hebrews 9:12-14). He predicted, a) true worship of God will not be linked to a holy mountain or temple (John 4:21-23), b) the temple will be destroyed (AD 70, ended the sacrificial system), c) the temple of his body will die and rise again (John 2:19-22). The apostles taught that believers – the church in which God dwells by his Spirit – is the restored temple (Ephesians 2:19-22). It fulfils Ezekiel’s (47) vision of a universalised new temple flowing with living water. Ultimately, the temple is “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb” that fills the new earth (Revelation 21:22).
The city of Jerusalem, Israel’s capital, was the place where Messiah must die (Luke 9:30, 13:33-35). Everything moved toward Jerusalem. After the cross everything moved from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:6-8). Jesus predicted Jerusalem’s destruction along with the temple. For Paul, “the present city of Jerusalem… is in slavery with her children”, while “the Jerusalem above is free… our mother… of the children of promise” (Galatians 4:23-28). Abraham looked for this city, the heavenly Jerusalem to which we come to worship (Hebrews 11:10, 12:22). The last NT reference to earthly Jerusalem is “Sodom and Egypt, where the Lord was crucified”, while God’s people look to “the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband” (Revelation 11:8, 21:2). Thus, the city is spiritually universalised.

This evidence from Jesus and his apostles shows how “holy” (people, land, temple, city) has been transcended beyond locality and territory, fulfilled in the universalised and heavenly reality of God’s kingdom, already come in Messiah.

The question arises: does this mean that Israel (ethnic Jews) has no place in God’s purpose for humanity in salvation history? No, not at all. In Romans 9 to 11, Paul uses the olive tree image to affirm Israel’s role in God’s plan. God’s people – Abraham and his descendants (of promise) – are the olive tree. “Natural children”/“natural branches” (9:8, 11:21) that did not (do not) believe are cut off. Hardening of the Jewish heart allowed wild branches (believing Gentiles) to be grafted into (believing) Israel. However, “for the sake of the patriarchs”, God’s calling on Israel remains (11:28-29). Ethnic Jews will respond when Gentiles have “fully come in”. It means, “natural” Israel will repent and turn to faith in Messiah Jesus at the end of the age – as do all who enter God’s Kingdom (10:12-13). God will graft them back in, “and so all Israel will be saved”, Jews and Gentiles, the one olive tree (11:25-26). Thus, Paul’s view of Israel is ‘subtraction and addition in fulfilment theology’, not replacement theology. He does not indicate that the end-time regrafting depends on Israel’s return to the land. Jews come to faith in Messiah Jesus anywhere – and they are – to enter the promised kingdom.

Texts that might indicate otherwise: “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24), could mean an end-time restoration of the city (thus, the land) to Jewish control. Most scholars say Jesus was referring to the end of the age when the gospel has been preached to all Gentiles (Matthew 24:14). Matthew placed Jesus’ words to Jerusalem, “you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’” (23:39), after his triumphant entry (21:9). Again, it could imply Jews in a restored Jerusalem. But, in Matthew’s placing, it referred to Jesus’ Second Coming when Jews who believe will welcome him as Messiah (Zechariah 12:10) and those who did not (do not) believe, will be damned.

What is clear:
1. The OT prophecies of return from exile to the land were fulfilled between 538 – 445 BC.
2. And completed in Jesus calling Israel to “repent and believe” (Mark 1:15), which meant: return to God (exiled from God) and enter the kingdom (the Promised Land). Beside Israel being ruled by Rome, Jesus saw her in slavery to sin and Satan (John 8:33-47). Also, Paul saw Jerusalem (Israel) “still in slavery with her children” (Galatians 4:25). Thus, Jesus fulfilled the OT promises of “the return” by leading a new exodus into the new land of the kingdom, with a new Shepherd, by a new covenant (Ezekiel 34, 36 cf. Jeremiah 31).
3. So, the olive tree, “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16), is already a restored theocracy under King Jesus, ruling at God’s right hand. The timing of the kingdom’s consummation on earth is in the Father’s hands (Acts 1:6-8). Our priority is to take the gospel of God’s kingdom in the Spirit’s power to all nations, including Israel, so that the end may come (Matthew 24:14).
4. This doesn’t mean that God can’t work sovereignly to give Jews a homeland as an act of historical reparative justice. But we should not make it ‘holy’, as in ‘the chosen nation’ of prophetic fulfilment, endorsing whatever they do. We evaluate modern Israel like any other nation (e.g., Palestine), based on God’s justice and truth, needing Christ’s gospel.

CONCLUSION: DEFEAT THE POWERS – BE GOD’S PEOPLE, BE PEACE-MAKERS

Peace-making. To be God’s people in this situation – in any context of division and conflict – is to do what Messiah Jesus did. The “war of the Lamb” is to “wage peace” in self-sacrificing non-violence while others wage war with violence to resolve conflict. Peace-making does not take sides, the more moral or the lessor of two evils. It sides with truth and justice against wrongdoing to defeat the evil behind. Continued violence will not lead to peace but will sow seeds of deeper hatred to reap a greater harvest of violence – we’re on the edge of a third world war. To make peace means to intervene in non-violent ways to break the cycle of violence. It seeks negotiated peace based on (relative) justice, involving forgiveness and compromise, with assurance of security for both sides. If a side refuses to negotiate peace, rejecting all efforts to that end, till a ‘victory’ of annihilation by one or other side, then death triumphs. God historically allows that as an ultimate form of judgement. But that does not morally justify the supposed ‘victor’. God will hold all concerned accountable.

Presence. We do peace-making by incarnation, by the bodily presence of God’s reconciled people in the context of the conflict. Imagine if Christ-followers from both sides – Israeli and Palestinian believers – crossed the divide that Jesus destroyed in the cross when he tore down the wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14-16). They could free each other from ideological capture by coming together to tell their stories, pray, repent, reconcile, and decide on a united response as Christ’s one Body in the land. They are first citizens of God’s kingdom before citizens of Israel or Palestine. Their loyalty is first to King Jesus and his rule, and to one another as brothers and sisters, above their nationalities and respective governments. This would recover the authority of the gospel of the Prince of Peace. Reconciled Israelis and Palestinians, the “one new humanity” under Christ’s government, will show the “rulers and authorities” on both sides God’s “manifold wisdom” (Ephesians 3:9-10). That enforces their defeat in King’s cross (Colossians 2:15). Instead of being a copy of society, of the ideologies that ‘divide and rule’, believers will be a model of God’s reconciling kingdom. They will have real authority to speak truth to both sides of power. Like Jesus, they put their bodies on the line in united non-violent action to make peace. Christ-followers around the world, equally divided by the ideologies and their theological legitimizations, will see their example and support their peace-making as the one pierced Body of Messiah in the Middle East.

Praying. We do peace-making by prayer and intercession, which includes lament, our first response to the conflict. Prayer is our greatest weapon as Christ-followers because it deals directly with the God who rules the nations, the judge of all spiritual powers. Daniel 9 & 10 show the mysterious power of prayer (repentance, fasting, intercession) in defeating the spiritual powers that oppose God’s kingdom purpose. Prayer opens the way and empowers the bodily presence of all who work for peace. We must “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6) and for the peace of Gaza. Pray for shalom, for negotiations to end violence and engage in reconciliation talks for a sustainablepeace based on right relationships (justice). And pray for all who suffer and have suffered tremendous pain and loss.

Prophesying. We do peace-making by proclaiming the truth of the good news of the Prince of Peace. Don’t lose sight of the power of the gospel, let alone that of prayer. Having spoken to God, we speak to people. To prophesy is to preach the hope of salvation and lasting peace in King Jesus. Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ, as we courageously proclaim it (Romans 10:17). Imagine if, out of this enormous pain on both sides, multitudes turn to faith in Jesus. The entire area will change for humanitarian good. To prophesy is also to fearlessly speak truth to power on both sides of the divide. Not to confront wrongdoing and injustice is to enable evil to destroy. Our authority in confronting the powers is effective to the degree it has lived integrity in an incarnate life of the gospel of peace. By focusing on end-time prophecy, as many dispensational Christians Zionists do, we cease to be prophetic. Christ-followers stand in the tradition of the Hebrew prophets – fulfilled in Jesus – who lived and spoke the truth in self-sacrificing martyrdom, which defeated the evil behind the people and political systems that perpetrate wrongdoing.

Protesting. We do peace-making by public protest, as and when required. The prophets, Jesus included, acted out their prophetic message from time to time, in forms of public demonstration so that political-spiritual powers, and society at large, could see the truth God was speaking through them. It generally included a call to repentance to avoid coming judgement. Christ-followers who join secular organised public marches, even if for a just cause, are in danger of siding with partisan ideological power, unmasked when the protest becomes violent. So, we must differentiate between a pro-Israel march and an anti-Semitism protest; between a pro-Palestinian march and protesting Israel’s destruction of Gaza, killing over 21000 to kill Hamas killers. Imagine if all believers, Israeli and Palestinian, refuse to use violence, refuse to serve in their military formations. This civil disobedience, in Jesus’ name, refusing to be servants of ideological power – of unjust policies, of violent enforcement – will confront and disarm the evil behind. There are ways we can protest for justice in service of the peace-making process without partisan support for ideological powers.

May the Lord have mercy and bring shalom to Palestine and Israel.

Posted on August 1, 2023August 8, 2023 by Alexander F. Venter — Leave a comment

3. HUMAN IDENTITY: Paul on New Creation Identity

This is the third of three talks – the notes for the video recording of Talk Three

3. HUMAN IDENTITY: Paul on New Creation Identity

PAUL ON (CHRISTIAN) IDENTITY:

His earliest letter (AD 48), Galatians, is about identity: SON/DAUGHTER OF GOD.

The Galatian believers had been deceived: acceptance in Christ was conditional on one’s ‘works of righteousness’, a return to legalistic Judaism. Paul confronts and corrects them by teaching we are unconditionally accepted and justified in Christ by grace and faith. That comes with a new identity.

Paul’s climactic statement is Galatians 3:26-29, recalling Jesus’ baptism: In our baptism, on confession of faith in Jesus, we are clothed with Christ, i.e., we take on a new identity that transcends previous ‘labels’:

1) Cultural: “neither Jew nor Gentile” – racial reconciliation – neither white nor black.

2) Social: “neither slave nor free” – class reconciliation – neither master nor servant, rich nor poor.

3) Sexual: “neither male nor female” – gender reconciliation; it does not mean that our sexual-gender identity is removed in Christ, and nor does Paul’s statement justify non-binary identity as some use it to mean. Nor is our ethnic identity removed – it is transcended in Christ. People from every language, tribe, and nation will still be identifiable in heaven, as we see in John’s vision of God’s people around the throne (Revelation 7:9).

“Clothed with Christ” means we are heirs with Christ as God’s sons & daughters (Galatians 4:1-7).

THAT is our new identity, no longer a ‘slave’ – to sin, to the Law, to identities – but a ‘child of God’. Because “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts that calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So, you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:6-7).

Paul expanded on this a few years later (AD 52) in his letter to the Corinthian followers of Jesus.
He explains our identity as God’s NEW CREATION. So, in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21:

“From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view” – through the above identities.

“We no longer even regard Christ in this way” – as Jewish, male, rabbi – rather as The Messiah.

“Therefore, anyone in Messiah is a new creation, the old has passed, the new has come” – therefore, all the labels/identities we carry, that people gave/give us, that we ourselves choose, are transformed and transcended in Christ. We see ourselves and others as God does in new creation. The old labels through which we see and relate are passing away. The new has come.

God identifies us as his “Beloved” son/daughter… as “a new creation” (v.17), as “reconciled” with God (v.18), as “ambassadors of Christ” (v.20), as “the righteousness of God” (v.21).

Paul expanded on this later (AD 60) in Ephesians 1:3-14: Our SEVENFOLD IDENTITY ‘IN CHRIST’.

We are “blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ” (v.3). Paul then lists seven spiritual ‘blessings’ in Christ, which constitute our new identity.

I am chosen in Christ (v.4): ‘known and chosen’ by God before the creation of the world.
I am holy and blameless in Christ (v.4): ‘set apart for God’ as his ‘saint’, i.e., made righteous in Christ, without guilt or shame or blame.
I am predestined in Christ (v.5): ‘marked out before-hand’ by God for his eternal purpose.
I am adopted in Christ (v.5): ‘into God’s family… I am God’s son/daughter’, with all the privileges of “grace, which he freely gives us in his Beloved” (v.6, his Agapetos Son).
I am redeemed in Christ (v.7): ‘bought out of slavery with a price’ – the ransom that Jesus paid for our redemption and freedom, through his precious blood.
I am forgiven in Christ (v.7): ‘forgiven & cleansed of all sin’ (but, we keep clean and forgiven by walking in the light and confessing any sin we commit, 1 John 1:4-9).
I am sealed in Christ (v.13-14): ‘marked by the indwelling Holy Spirit’, who is God’s ‘down-payment’ that guarantees my full inheritance as God’s beloved daughter/son. Our full inheritance is the future resurrection of our bodies to rule and reign with Christ.

HOW TO LIVE INTO THIS IDENTITY IN CHRIST:

Decide that it is true. God knows better about you than you do! We hold onto lies about ourselves that we carry since childhood. Jesus said that if you “hold to my teaching, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).

Choose to believe it! Faith is a choice. God is more trustworthy that your feelings or what others say about you. He declared you his ‘Be-Loved’… trust him… believe it!

Confess and speak it over you many times a day. This is how, practically, you receive and make it subjectively real. Speak God’s truth over you, over your mind, emotions, body, and relationships. Memorise and learn by heart Paul’s sevenfold identity and repeat it often.

Keep rebuking all internal voices and external messages that come at you in your mind, emotions, body, relationships, encounters with others, social media, etc. Resist anything that challenges your ‘new creation’ identity in Christ as God’s Beloved daughter or son.

Embrace your ‘Be-Loved-ness’! To be ‘Beloved’ is to be loved… to allow yourself to be loved. We don’t easily receive love due to our experience of (conditional) ‘love’ that has hurt us and broke us. We hold people, even God, at arm’s length, for self-protection. Consequently, we don’t know how to receive unconditional love. We fear pain, manipulation, and rejection. We cannot be vulnerable and trust and embrace true love. So, we have to learn to allow God to love us… in the silent whispers of our heart, through our times of prayer and scripture meditation, through caring others God has placed in our lives, and through being with him in creation.

From Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved. Hear these words from God in the centre of your being:

“I have called you by name from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. You are my Beloved, on you my favour rests. I have moulded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother’s womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness, and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch over you. You know me as your own, as I know you as my own. You belong to me.”

Posted on August 1, 2023August 8, 2023 by Alexander F. Venter — Leave a comment

2. HUMAN IDENTITY: Found in Jesus’ Human Identity

This is the second of three talks – the teaching notes for the video recording of Talk Two.

HUMAN IDENTITY: Found in Jesus’ Human Identity

NEW CREATION – (re)identified in/through Messiah Jesus – the Kingdom Story:

The New Testament reframes human identity in New Creation, in the gospel of God’s Kingdom. Paul’s language is “in Adam” and “in Christ”: all who are born “in/of Adam” are “sinners”; all who are born again (from above) “in/of Christ” are “saints” and “new creations” (1 Corinthians 15:22; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Jesus brought ‘Kingdom identity’ to humanity in his own humanity as God’s son – in his conception, water baptism, ministry, death & resurrection. We find our identity in Jesus’ human identity.

JESUS’ IDENTITY:

1) ‘Illegitimate’ conception: He was conceived before his mother’s wedding – deeply scandalous. Thus, he was known as a ‘mamzer’ (illegitimate/‘bastard’), suffered rejection. He had identity issues, as in “who’s my father?” This dogged him in his ministry (John 8): they asked him, “Where is your father?” (John 8:19), “Who are you?” (John 8:25), “We are not illegitimate children” (John 8:41), “Aren’t we right in saying you’re a Samaritan? (John 8:48, a half-breed). Jesus embraced God (“Abba”) as his real Father (Luke 2:49).

2) Identity confirmed and affirmed at his baptism: “You are my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). All that Jesus dared to believe as he grew up – in his 30 years of formation in Nazareth, that God was his real Abba and he was his son – was declared and confirmed from heaven. “Beloved” is Agapetos, an intense term of endearment, belonging, affection, and intimacy.

More than that, God declared, “You are my Beloved, in whom I am pleased”. The last phrase is also translated, “in whom I delight”, and “on whom my favour rests”. Thus, in Christ, YOU are God’s Agapetos daughter/son, his dearly loved one, in whom he delights. God delights in you! He’s pleased with you! His favour rests on you! Do you believe this about yourself? Do you receive it?

3) Tested by Satan: Matthew 4:1-11, The devil questioned Jesus’ identity as God’s beloved son, tempting him to use his newly confirmed identity in… and to shift his identity towards….

a) Doing (Matthew 4:3). To speak his own words, not the words of Abba – even to do miracles to meet human need. Jesus only spoke and lived by every word from God’s mouth, “You are my Agapetos Son”.

b) Performing (Matt 4:5-7). To be spectacular and heroic, for acceptance and popularity – by presuming on God – getting God to back him up, even to perform for him.

c) Power (Matthew 4:8-9). To have all the power and be in control – to be defined by power and ownership.

Are you tempted to find your identity in any or more of these three? How do you resist that?

Because Jesus knew he was loved – before he did any ministry for God – he was deeply secure in Abba’s love. Therefore, he could love and give his life away in love… NOT to impress or please God, or to prove anything, or to be accepted and popular, or to feel good about himself, or to gain power, etc.

As followers of Jesus, “in Christ”, we too need to know and live from our identity as ‘Be-Loved’. “He brought me into his banqueting house and his banner over me is LOVE” (Song of Solomon 2:4).

Posted on August 1, 2023August 7, 2023 by Alexander F. Venter — 1 Comment

1. HUMAN IDENTITY: Creation Design & The Fall

This is the first of three talks given at Freedom House Church, in Salt Rock, South Africa. These are the notes for the video recording of Talk One.

HUMAN IDENTITY: Creation Design & The Fall

HUMAN IDENTITY

Definition: Identity is our sense of self, in relation to others, decided and formed in a mix of beliefs, values, culture, personality, gender, ethnicity, social status, achievements, and even hurt/pain.

Process: Identity is given, but also formed, and/or chosen, and even imposed (if one accepts it).

The Question is: Who are you? Post-modern confusion (dysphoria) is not knowing who we are. We identifying with what we feel/sense about ourselves, what we think others think of us, and so on.

Way of the world: ‘Self-identifying’ – the basis of ‘expressive individualism’, i.e., to be my authentic self, and thus to be happy, I must self-identify as I choose, as suits me, and be free to live it out.

Biblical view of identity: ‘God-identifying’ – the basis of ‘fulfilled personhood’, i.e., God identifies us in creation and in new creation, to fulfil our true nature and destiny as God intended for us.

FIRST CREATION – Identified in/through Creation Design – the Genesis Story:

1^st Human identity: Genesis 1:26-27, “let us make ha adam (the human) in our image and likeness”. Human identity is God’s image – to reveal God’s likeness as his image-bearers.

2^nd Sexual identity: Gen 1:27, “male and female created he them” – man or woman image-bearers.

3^rd Personal identity: Gen 2:20,23; 3:20, “he named them…” – names identify the person; they call forth and describe the nature and purpose of the person (“Eve” = “living”, mother of all living).

It has been the same, in the same order, throughout history. The wife first says to husband, “we’re going to have a baby!” Then, “it’s a girl (or boy)!” And then, thirdly, “her (or his) name is….”

That means: “Let US (Trinity) create ha adam in our image” = we’re born and identified in relationship, by relationship, for relationship. Mom + Dad = me! Gabriel Marcel said, “The ‘I’ is the child of the ‘We’”, i.e., community defines personhood. The individual (individualism) does not define community. We are defined by those to whom we belong, by those who love and form us for life.

This is embodied in the Semitic idea of naming and the use of names.

1) “Simon bar Jonah” = Simon the son of Jonah: we are known by those who whom we belong.

2) Names embody identify and call forth (prophetically) the nature and destiny of the person. “You shall call his name Yeshua, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21). God changes names of people if needed, ‘Jacob’ to ‘Israel’ (Gen 32:27-28). What does your name mean?

‘THE FALL’ RESULTS IN BROKEN IDENTITY – human rebellion against God:

Man’s identity. Genesis 3:17-19, his ‘bent’ (identity) will be toward work (the earth): he was taken from the earth and ‘in pain’ he will toil the earth to bring forth food. Thus, male identity since ‘The Fall’ of humanity in the garden has traditionally been: Provider, Protector, and Procreator.

Woman’s identity. Genesis 3:16, her ‘bent’ (identity) will be toward man (her husband): she was taken from the man and ‘in pain’ she will bring forth children for the man. Thus, female identity since ‘The Fall’ has traditionally been: Wife, Mother, and Home-maker/keeper.

Creation design identity reversed: now broken and illegitimate identity, not derived from our being (being God’s image), but from our doing (doing work, performing, achieving, etc).Biblically, ‘being’ precedes ‘doing’, which is natural outflow of being. To find our identity in our doing is broken creation, having to be the protector, provider, procreator, etc. It is ‘The Fall’ from “Simon bar Jonah” to “Simon the fisherman”, from “Alexander son of God” to “Pastor Alexander”, or “Apostle…”, “Doctor…”.

To be known (called and identified) by our doing, as in our achievements, position, title, social class, etc, is false identity. To find our identity in our ministry, or work, or in what others say or don’t say about us, is a disaster waiting to happen. Jesus rejected titles, dress codes, preferential treatment, positions of prominence, etc, as a means of identity and honour in his Kingdom (Matthew 23:5-12). That is the way of the world, not the way of Jesus.