Thursday, February 22, 2007

The Unpardonable Journalistic Sin

“In the year 2002,” an Open Letter impugned those who embrace the verbal inspiration of Scripture and share His love for Israel with the phrases: “a serious misreading of Holy Scripture”; “false claims”; “[compromising] the Gospel”; “bad Christian theology”; and “a violation of the Gospel mandate” (R. Fowler White, Ph.D., Knox Theological Seminary; R. C. Sproul, Ph.D., President & Ligonier Ministries, first and second signatories respectively), An Open Letter to Evangelicals and Other Interested Parties…, 2002). This Open Letter is reminiscent of the inaccurate, undocumented, and inflammatory “yellow” journalism of the 1890s when newspaper giants Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst competed for market share. In January of 1887, Hearst’s foreign correspondent telegraphed: “Everything is quiet. There is not trouble here. There will be no war. I wish to return.” Hearst is alleged to have replied, “Please remain. You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war.” In the months that followed, as Hearst repeatedly committed the unpardonable journalistic sin of misquoting a source, America found herself at war. But in matters of more apocalyptic consequence, this Open Letter commits the unpardonable journalistic sin of misquoting God:

The Open Letter states: “The entitlement of any one ethnic or religious group to territory in the Middle East called the ‘Holy Land’ cannot be supported by Scripture.” However, the “Source” indicates otherwise:
He said unto him [Abram], I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. … to thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18).
The LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. … And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God (Genesis 17:1-8).
… I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee [Jacob] will I give it, and to thy seed (Genesis 28:13).
For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again [turn back] the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it (Jeremiah 30:3).
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place,and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God… And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that theyshall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul (Jeremiah 32:37-41).
… Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel (Ezekiel 11:17).
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel. … And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever (Ezekiel 37:21-25).
Saith the LORD … I will bring again [turn back] the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God (Amos 9:13-15).
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. … And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation (Zechariah 2:10-13).

… and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. … Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified (Isaiah 60:16-21).

The Open Letter states: “The worship of God is no longer identified with any specific earthly sanctuary.” But the “Source” has announced a future earthly sanctuary over twenty times (Ezekiel chapters 41 through 49). And He is very specific about this tabernacle and where it will reside: the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel … and bring them into their own land … I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore (Ezekiel 37:21-28).

The Open Letter states: “… all who bless him [Jesus] and his people will be blessed of God, and all who curse him and his people will be cursed of God. These promises do not apply to any particular ethnic group, but to the church of Jesus Christ, the true Israel.” But the “Source” is very specific regarding these promises and the particular persons or ethnic group to which they apply:

Now the LORD had said unto Abram … I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee (Genesis 12:1-3).
And his father Isaac said unto him [Jacob], Come near now, and kiss me, my son. … Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee. (Genesis 27:26-29).
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel. … Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee (Numbers 24:5-9).

And the authors of the Open Letter are detached from reality in attributing Israeli culpability for “the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” If Israel’s enemies would lay down their arms, there would be peace, but if Israel would lay down her arms, there would be NO Israel:

On Sabbath morning, April 27, 2002, a terrorist infiltrated the community of Adora and broke into the Shefi family home. He burst into the children’s room where he found the mother, Shiri, trying to protect her three small children – Danielle, 5; Eliad, 4; and Oriel, 2. The terrorist certainly saw the fear in their eyes. He shot them all. Daneille was killed on the spot; her mother and two brothers were wounded (Target: Israeli Children, [Israeli] Ministry of Education).

JERUSALEM, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Israeli Hani Avrahami phoned her husband to check that he was safe as he travelled through the West Bank on the way to the army base in which he served as a reserve soldier. But instead his killer answered the call. 'We are now slaughtering your husband,' said the voice that answered Yossi Avrahami's mobile telephone…. Vadim Novesche had been married only a week to his wife Irina when he was killed by the mob. She too, was trying to reach him by phone in the last moments of his life. ``I said 'Vadim?' and they hung up the phone,'' she said.

After using the unpardonable journalistic sin of misquoting God to strip Israel of every covenant, promise, and blessing, the signatories of the Open Letter, with verbiage consistent with the UN, EU, WCC, Oslo Accord, and Road Map to Peace (sic), cast their lot with the world. And as a consequence, they recklessly impugn Israel and those who love her with complicity in a “vicious cycle of atrocity and displacement,” “violent seizure and occupation,” and “a divine mandate to conquer and hold.” Sadly, the Open Letter blesses those who curse Israel and curses those who bless Israel.

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