Podcast

The transcription discusses the concept of New Jerusalem and its association with the State of Israel and the Second Coming of Christ. It explains that the idea of New Jerusalem comes from the book of Revelations, which describes a future world that will be destroyed and rebuilt. Dispensationalism is mentioned as a key term associated with New Jerusalem, which divides history into different time periods and focuses on the transition to the Kingdom Age of peace and prosperity. The establishment of Israel as its own state is seen as a crucial event in bringing about the Second Coming. This belief is rooted in Zionism, which sees Jews as a national people waiting to return to their homeland. American evangelicals support Israel because they believe it will fulfill biblical prophecies and hasten the Second Coming. However, this perspective has received criticisms, such as using sacred elements to justify national policies and potentially having anti-Semitic beliefs. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. Revelations chapter 21, verses 1 through 4. This is a passage from the apocalyptic first century text called Revelations, also known as the Apocalypse of John. In this text, a man named John has a vision. It's not only of the present world, but of a far future. In this future, the world will be destroyed and rebuilt. What is this new world? What is New Jerusalem? For centuries, people have been trying to answer this question, and for centuries, people have been trying to predict when this happens. They've been trying to figure out what will happen in the world that brings New Jerusalem and this era of peace and prosperity. In this podcast, we're going to be discussing how New Jerusalem is associated with the State of Israel and the Second Coming of Christ. Hi everyone, Josh here, and welcome to the Rouse Podcast. I hope all your weeks are going well. Today's podcast is titled The Second Coming and Israel. We're going to be discussing the belief of how the State of Israel is essential to bringing the Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of New Jerusalem. In my study, we're going to be defining the key terms like Dispensationalism and Zionism and how they're associated with New Jerusalem. Then we're going to be looking at Zionism in contemporary politics. In order to understand Zionism, we must first learn about Dispensationalism. A key term to understand that's associated with New Jerusalem is the term Dispensationalism. What exactly does it mean? Scholar Johnston R. Bair described it as being a refined system of biblical interpretation that divides sacred history into several, usually seven, dispensations, eras during which God relates to his covenant people in distinct ways. Most dispensationalists suggest we are currently in the Church Age, the Sixth Epoch, which will give way to the culminating Kingdom Age or the millennium of peace and righteousness promised in Revelation. Essentially, dispensationalists have divided history into what's typically seven different time periods in which God interacts with his people in different ways. Currently, in modern times, we are in the Church Age, and many of these dispensationalists are focused on what happens between now and the Kingdom Age. We learned a little about the Kingdom Age when we read the Apocalypse of John. For those of you who don't quite remember, the Apocalypse of John, also known as the Book of Revelations, was a Judeo-Christian text. It was a really crazy one that involved a crazy number of combinations, the stars falling from heaven, and then a dragon showing up. On top of all the craziness that happens and the thirds of people who die, there is a promise of there being a light at the end of the tunnel, where God redeems the world and New Jerusalem is established. This promise of peace and prosperity is the Kingdom Age that dispensationalists are referring to. However, most dispensationalists are less concerned with aspects of this Kingdom Age and more so with what needs to happen to get to this period of peace. This is where they look towards a mixture of both Old and New Testament passages that they believe seemingly predict this transition between right now and the Kingdom Age. There's a handful of key events that need to unfold, the first of which is called the Rapture. This is basically when Jesus comes back, the second coming, to take Christians to heaven and spare them from God's judgment on earth. The next is God's judgment on earth. And for seven years, there's going to be plagues and earthquakes. During all of this, the Antichrist figure we learned about will show up and rule the world. At the end of these seven years, Christ will come back and fight and defeat the Antichrist figure in the Battle of Armageddon. Then, after the battle, Jesus will come back and rule the earth, which is essentially the Kingdom Age. However, one key event that is believed to need to happen to kickstart all of this is the establishment of Israel as its own state. A common word associated with the establishment of Israel as its own state is Zionism. What is Zionism? I'm sure all of you have heard this term in some sort of fashion in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The word Zionism itself stems from the belief that Jews aren't just a religious or ethnic group, but a national people living in temporary exile and waiting to return to their homeland of Israel. Basically, it's believed that Jewish people are like the Israelites we read about in class and will be re-established in Israel. Zionism goes farther back than the temporary politics we hear about it today. In fact, it goes all the way back to the 16th century. Back then, the Bible could only really be interpreted by the Catholic Church. In regard to the Jews, ancient Israelis, and biblical prophecies, they were vastly different from the prophecies we hear from the dispensationalist perspective we have today. In the 16th century, the Church believed that the earthly kingdom mentioned in Revelations was metaphorical for the Church itself. The prophecy about the Jews returning to Israel was about Jews converting to Christianity and returning to the Church. However, after the Reformation, it was more widely believed that anyone could interpret the scriptures, not just a priest like St. Augustine. With so many people being able to read the Bible and interpret it passages for themselves, it was only a matter of time before there would be more literal interpretations of the prophecies laid out in Daniel and Revelations. This essentially led to the Zionist perspective we see today. Zionism has a strong influence on the American evangelist's ideas surrounding Israel and its establishment as its own state. A cool article that I found that focused on the evangelical perspective in America was Israel and Contemporary Evangelical Christian Millennial Thought. This article examines the reasons why evangelicals support Israel. Motivated by messianic imagery, evangelicals believe that through the support of Israel as its own state, it will accelerate and bring to light the prophecies regarding the Second Coming. This article also explores what evangelicals think of Jewish people and how they factor into the end-time prophecies. The end of this paper focuses on the evangelical hopes of the Temple being rebuilt. Many evangelicals believe that it's important for a Jewish commonwealth to be established in Israel in order to prepare the way for Jesus' return. Since it's critical for Israel to be established as its own state, many believe that it's America's job to make this happen. American evangelicals often turn to the verse Genesis 12, verse 3. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Evangelicals believe that if America supports Israel, the country will be blessed. This belief doesn't just apply to America, but to Latin American countries too. In 2018, after a country moved its embassy to Jerusalem, Sarah Angelina Solis, Guatemala's ambassador to Israel, stated after a country moved its embassy to Jerusalem, I feel this is a gift from God. I know that a lot of blessings will come after this decision. This is a promise in the Bible, in Genesis, and I don't think, I'm sure, many blessings will come for Guatemala. Basically, many evangelicals believe that it's in their governor's best interest to support Israel. However, there's a couple of criticisms that can be made about this Zionist perspective. The journal article, Christian Zionism, Prophecy and Public Opinion, by Ronald R. Stockton addresses many of these criticisms. One of the biggest is that many sacred elements of Christianity are essentially being used to justify secular or national policies. Another criticism is particularly relevant in recent news, and it's that it essentially excuses violence and even glorifies the violence done by the nation of Israel. Another criticism of Zionism is that it may have some anti-Semitic beliefs regarding Jewish people themselves. It's believed that some evangelicals believe that Jewish people and Christians under two different covenants. While Christians are under a new covenant under Christ, it is believed that Jewish people are still under the old covenant. You might recall when we first learned about God's covenant with Abraham. For those of you who don't remember, essentially, God promised Abraham that if his descendants, the Israelites, would follow him, they would be blessed. You might also recall under this old covenant that the Israelites would experience oppression and suffering through many Judeo-Christian texts due to idolatry and disobedience of God. It is believed by many evangelicals that the Jews are still under this old covenant. However, one issue that stems from this belief is that it implies that it was in God's will for the Jews to suffer throughout history. This belief essentially states that because they rejected Christ as the Messiah, they will be punished. It's also prophesied that they will suffer further and be punished for worshipping the false Messiah figure, the Antichrist. Throughout this podcast, we learned more about how the establishment of Israel is associated with biblical prophecies that tell of the second coming of Christ and the creation of New Jerusalem. These beliefs stem from biblical interpretations from the 16th century. I hope through this podcast, you were able to gain a better understanding of Zionism itself, as I'm sure many of you have heard it in association with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also hope that this podcast helped further your understanding of many evangelicals and their support of Israel. There's a couple of people I would like to thank. I'd like to thank scholar Jonathan Ardbear, as his paper provided me with a clear definition of dispensationalism. I'd also like to thank Ronald R. Stockton for his excellent paper analyzing Christian Zionism. I'd like to thank Yaakov Ariel and Tom Jibb for their articles about Zionism in the US and Latin America. Lastly, I'd like to thank Maud Afandi-Selly for his paper on American Christians and the State of Israel. This is Josh. Thanks everyone for listening and for an awesome class this year.