Photo: nealnyc
On a day in which 30,000 Jewish people gathered in Jerusalem’s Western Wall Plaza to receive the priestly blessing, an article in the Jerusalem Post yesterday described 4000 Christians meeting on the shores of the Dead Sea and claiming to be fulfilling Bible prophecy.
According to the JP article by Josiah Daniel Ryan, the 4000 were a contingent of thousands of Christians who have once again come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.
Were these people fulfilling prophecy? Ryan writes, “Around 4,000 gathered on the moonlit beach of Ein Gedi to worship “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” and to fulfill an ancient Hebrew prophesy penned more than 2,500 years ago by the prophet Zecharia, which they say predicts that people from every nation will someday join hands with Jews to celebrate Succot.
The prophesy is from the 14th chapter of Zechariah and says, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain” (Zech 14:16-17).
The article went on to say that a worship leader of the group encouraged them to say, “Tonight I am a part of the fulfillment of the prophecy.” Other participants picked up the idea and one was quoted as saying, “What’s happening tonight was written.”
The “Succot/Tabernacles” celebration is an annual event by many Christians and is their way of not only of affirming their faith in Jesus as Messiah, but also solidarity with Israel.
Ryan went on to observe that some in Israel have mixed feelings about accepting the support. For example the well known anti-missionary rabbi, Tovia Singer, is quoted in the article as saying that while he appreciates the boost to the local economy, most of the Christians who are in town for the festival want nothing more than to win conversions.
“They have not come to pray for Jews but to prey on Jews,” said Singer. “On one hand it’s a very good thing to have them here, but the problem is that there is a price to pay because these evangelical Christians also come from denominations deeply involved in Jewish evangelism.”
My interest in the article is not to judge the motives or faith of those followers of Christ who are presently in Jerusalem affirming their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Neither do I want to detract from an appropriate sense of love for the people who gave us our Bible and Messiah (Romans 9:1-5). The issue is whether it is misleading for followers of Christ to express such spiritual solidarity with the Jewish people at this point in history, or to claim a partial fulfillment of what Zechariah predicts.
In context, the Tabernacles/Succot celebrations Zechariah foresees happen after God brings Israel to their knees to mourn their prior rejection of the One they have pierced (12:10); after a conquering Messiah returns to the Mount of Olives (14:4); and after the conquering King rescues a remnant of a repentant nation of Israel. It’s at that point that Zechariah says, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zech 14:16).
In other words, there are serious issues of timing—not for praying for the Peace of Jerusalem, and not for seeking the salvation of any Jewish or Gentile person—but rather, there are serious issues of timing as far as showing solidarity (providing spiritual assurance) to any nation or individual who has yet come to their knees before the Messiah Zechariah foresees.
It’s one thing to affirm that God has a plan to bring people from all over the world to celebrate the feast of Succot at some point in the future. It’s another thing to say, “This is that”— which was predicted.
Spiritual peace between Jew and gentile is a wonderful part of what it means to share a faith in the Messiah who died for all of us (Eph 2:13-14). But it is not a political or spiritual solidarity that can be rightly celebrated…together… today… by those who disagree about whether Zechariah’s Messiah has already come and gone– with a promise to return.
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