Christian Zionists are men and women who simply believe the Bible regarding the covenant God made with Abraham some 4,000 years ago. Through the reading of the Scriptures, these men and women were persuaded to support the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Some have given their lives, others have invested their time and funds to help God’s Chosen People return, rebuild, and restore the Holy Land, and still more have prayed and interceded for the Jewish people and stood in the gap for Israel.
Across the eons of time, Gentiles have helped the Jews: the daughter of Pharaoh saved Moses, Rahab helped the spies escape from Jericho, King Cyrus freed the Israelites from captivity and allowed them to return and rebuild the walls and Temple in Jerusalem, King Ahasuerus granted Esther the right to save her people from slaughter by the wicked Haman. There was a multitude—those we call “righteous Gentiles”—who saved lives during the Holocaust and still others today who see and meet the needs of the Jewish people in Israel.
But because of centuries of suffering and persecution at the hands of those who claimed to be Believers, many Jewish people believe that Christians do not care about them—or worse. When a Jewish member of the Knesset destroyed a New Testament publicly, he said it was a book that led to mass murder. Of course, we know that the Bible teaches no such thing, but it has been used as an excuse for great atrocities against the Jewish people.
I remember so well my mother walking into the room where I was watching Dr. Billy Graham on the television. She turned it off and said, “Jesus is dead. Don’t dig him up. Christians hate Jews. Christians kill Jews.” Her grandfather was burned to death inside his synagogue in Russia by a mob shouting “Christ killers!” Many members of her family perished during the Holocaust. These bitter experiences colored her thinking—not to mention the regular physical abuse she suffered at the hands of my church-going father.
There must be a different message sent to the Jewish people—a message of love and understanding from Christians—and that is what the Jerusalem Prayer Team is doing every day. Through the Friends of Zion Museum, through our humanitarian outreach to poor Holocaust survivors, and so much more, we’re showing true Christian love in action.
