The
Executive Committee of the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations
(UMJC) distanced itself from John Hagee’s doctrinal position with regard
to the salvation of Israel as expressed in his book, In Defense of Israel.
In this book he states that Jesus never offered Himself as Messiah to the
Jews, and that He is only the Savior of the Gentiles. For several years
now he has been advancing the idea that Jews are saved without Jesus since
they are in a covenant relationship with God. He says that all efforts
to evangelize Jews are failing miserably. This unbiblical stance has aroused
considerable support for John Hagee among orthodox Jews, but at the same
time it has elicited the antagonism of Messianic Jews and most of the evangelical
Christians. The UMJC posted the following article to their website www.umjc.net :
On
November 28, 2007, the Executive Committee of the Union of Messianic Jewish
Congregations issued the following statement concerning certain doctrinal
positions espoused in the recently published book, In
Defense of Israel, by Pastor
John Hagee:
As
Messianic Jews we appreciate the support for Israel and the Jewish community
that many Christians have shown in recent years. This remarkable change
in Jewish-Christian relations corrects centuries of Christian anti-Semitism
and promises to bear much fruit in the coming years. In particular, we
recognize the important work that Pastor John Hagee has accomplished in
rallying thousands of Christians to this cause. At the same time, we must
note serious concerns about some of Pastor Hagee’s doctrinal positions,
particularly as expressed in his recent book, In Defense of Israel.
These teachings contradict biblical doctrine, undermine the testimony
of Jewish followers of Jesus, and weaken the cause of Christian supporters
of the Jewish people.
Hagee
argues that Jesus is not the Messiah of the Jews, but rather the Savior
of the world. The premise that Jesus is not Messiah not only ignores
numerous passages in the New Testament, but also undermines the very claim
that Jesus is Savior. The New Testament opens with the words, “An account
of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham”
(Matthew 1:1, NRSV). (John 1:41 and 4:25 state that the words Messiah and
Christ are equivalent, respectively the Hebrew and Greek terms for “anointed
one.”) If Messiah, son of David, is not Israel’s king, then whose king
is he? Matthew connects the Messiahship of Jesus to his descent from Israel’s
greatest king, David, and the father of the Jewish people, Abraham. At
the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) Peter proclaimed to “Jews from every nation,”
“Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God
has made him both Lord and Messiah . . .” (Acts 2:5, 36). As a result,
thousands of Jewish people acknowledged Jesus as Messiah that day. By the
end of the 1st century there were multiple thousands of Jews
who acknowledged Jesus as Messiah. Were they wrong?
Paul
speaks of the Jews who accepted Jesus in his own day as a remnant that
served as a reminder and anticipation of God’s unchanging purposes for
all Israel (Romans 11:1-6, 16). How about today? There are hundreds of
Messianic Jewish congregations around the world, comprising thousands of
Jews who acknowledge Jesus as Messiah. We represent Paul’s great statement
regarding the return of the Jewish people to the Messiah: “What will their
acceptance be but life from the dead?” Yet, Hagee ignores these realities
and the foundational Biblical truths they reflect.
Hagee’s
book also weakens the cause of Christian Zionism to which he has devoted
so much of his life’s work. If his theology is so clearly aberrant on the
Messiahship of Jesus, why should thinking Christians accept anything he
says in support of the Jewish state? But the extreme interpretations that
he advocates are not necessary to build the case for support for Israel
and the Jewish people. We affirm that Christians can proclaim faith in
Jesus as Messiah and also support for Israel without diminishing either.
To
teach that Jesus did not come as the Messiah for the Jews is ultimately
anti-Jewish. Jesus becomes the savior of the world, but with no particular
relationship to the Jewish people. If Jews want to respond to him as savior
they have to leave Israel and its messianic hope and become part of something
universal. In contrast, when we declare Jesus to be the Messiah of Israel,
we do not invalidate Israel or the Jewish people. Yes, Jews need to respond
to Jesus, as do all people, yet in this response they discover that he
is distinctly Jewish, distinctly relevant to them, and very much part of
the Jewish story (en of article by the UMJC).
In
essence, the report claims that in September of 2005, before the prominent,
108-year-old, ultra-orthodox Jewish rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri died, he wrote
a small note that he requested be sealed until after his death. In the
note, it is claimed he named Jesus Christ as the Messiah. The note was
reportedly signed by him, Yitzhak Kaduri, in “the month of mercy.”
Says
the report: “A few months before Kaduri died...he surprised his followers
when he told them that he met the Messiah.”
Kaduri’s
son, Rabbi David Kaduri, confirmed that in his last year, “his father had
talked and dreamed almost exclusively about the Messiah and his coming.”
“My
father has met the Messiah in a vision,” he said, “and told us that He
would come soon.”
The
most striking thing about Kaduri’s manuscripts, other than naming Jesus
as the Messiah, says the report, were the “cross-like symbols painted by
Kaduri all over the pages. In the Jewish tradition, one does not use crosses.
In fact, even the use of a plus sign is discouraged because it might be
mistaken for a cross.”
Naturally,
the note continues to be contested by those in the orthodox community unwilling
to believe that the elderly Kaduri was physically able to write it, even
though the rabbi was famed for his intelligence.
Source:
Staff of Israel Today.
First,
the Lord Jesus will snatch away the saints (1 Thess. 4:16-17; Luke 21:36)
to receive their reward at His Judgment Seat (2 Cor. 5:10) and then to
judge and rule the world with Him (1 Cor. 6:2; Rev. 5:9-10). During the
tribulation period He will pour out judgments upon the God-rejecting people
of the world who refused to accept Him as Messiah and Savior (Matt. 24:21).
At the end of the great tribulation, a remnant of Israel and the nations
will be saved (Zech. 12:10; Matt. 24:29-30). After this, the millennial
reign of Christ will be established on earth (Rev. 11:15; 19:11-15; 20:4).
The
catching away of true believers in Israel and the nations will be a big
shock to the whole world. Those people who were aware of the promise of
the rapture will know exactly what has happened. From the viewpoint of
the traditional Jewish marriage, orthodox Jews will know that the Bridegroom
has come for His bride. To the bride it will be an escape from a particularly
dark time of impending judgments upon an evil world, as was also the case
during the time of Noah and Lot, when true believers escaped God’s judgments
(Matt. 24:37-39). In the end time, a similar situation will prevail:
“Then
two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken
and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know at what hour your
Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known
at what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed
his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of
Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him” (Matt. 24:40-44).
The
sudden disappearance of millions of Christians will be a big shock to nominal
believers, since they have completely rejected this promise of intervention
by God. To the Jews it will also be a shock when Messianic believers suddenly
disappear from their midst. Those who will truly realize what has happened
will accept Jesus as Messiah. In this revival, 144 000 Jews will be saved
and become powerful witnesses of the Messiah (Rev. 7:2-8). Large numbers
of people among the Gentiles will also be saved (Rev. 7:9-17).
At
the same time, the Antichrist will appear on the scene as an impostor who
will deceive most people to accept him as the true Messiah. He will pretend
to be the one who saved Israel and the Gentile nations from a threatening
world war, and also from a major economic collapse that would have been
caused by this war. Because of this, Israel and the nations will immediately
accept him as the promised Messiah (John 5:43; Rev. 13:3-4).
Jews
and Gentiles have a last chance to take notice of the clear way
in which the Lord Jesus reveals Himself in His Word as the Messiah and
Savior of the world. If they don’t accept these divine facts they will
be the objects of His wrath (cf. 1 Thess. 1:10). The coming of Jesus was
for the fall and rising of many in Israel and in the world, and
for a sign which will be spoken against (Luke 2:34). To those who believe
in Him He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25), but to those who
reject Him He will be the Judge who will cause their final downfall by
condemning them to the everlasting lake of fire (Acts 17:30-31; Rev. 20:11-15).
Let
us rather be among the wise virgins who are preparing for His soon return.
There is a terribly high price to be paid for spiritual foolishness.