Vol. H-0004 July 1999 H-0007

PREAMBLE

We, the delegates to the Third International Christian Zionist Congress, have assembled in Jerusalem this 29th day of February,1996. This Congress coincides with the 3,000th anniversary celebration of the Jewish presence in Jerusalem, the Holy City of God. Confident in the favour of God upon our endeavours, we have convened for the following purposes:

To join the celebration of "Jerusalem 3,000";
To pray for the peace of Jerusalem and to declare our firm position on the future status of the city;
To demonstrate Christian concern for Israel and the Jewish People;
To commit our fervent efforts to instruct and persuade Christians and men everywhere of the revealed truths pertaining to Israel and the Jewish People in the Testaments of God an enlightened by the Holy Spirit;
To deliberate on the positions and measures which we must take to assist Israel and the Jewish People in facing the challenges before them, particularly in response to the Agreements and final-status talks with the Palestinian Arabs, the bi-lateral talks with Syria, and the need for continuing Aliyah;
To express our deep concern with and to seek to address the increasing threat posed by ....Islam to Israel, to Christian minorities in the Middle East and to the world, while offering compassionate prayer for those millions of people now in the Islamic faith, and
To determine the priorities for Christian Zionist efforts in the future.

AFFIRMATION OF CHRISTIAN ZIONISM

After careful consideration and prayer, we join with one heart and mind to declare and decree our firm belief that:
1. The Bible is the inspired Word of God and is the basis of our faith as Christians following the teachings of our Lord and the Apostles and the source of our motivation as Zionists.
2. God the Father, Almighty, chose the ancient nation and people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to reveal His plan of redemption for the world. They remain elect of God, and without the Jewish nation His redemptive purposes for the world will not be completed.
3. Jesus of Nazereth is the Messiah and has promised to return to Jerusalem, to Israel and to the world.
4. It is reprehensible that generations of Jewish People have been killed and persecuted in the name of our Lord, and we challenge the Church to repent of any sins of commission or omission against them.
5. The scattering of the Jewish People throughout the centuries of the Diaspora was ordained by the Lord as corrective, as were previous exiles, and redemptive, bringing the knowledge of the one true God of Israel unto the Gentile nations.
6. The modern Ingathering of the Jewish People to Eretz Israel and the rebirth of the nation of Israel are in fulfillment of biblical prophecies, as written in both the Old and New Testaments.
7. Christian believers are instructed by Scripture to acknowledge the Hebraic roots of their faith and to actively assist and participate in the plan of God for the ingathering of the Jewish People and the restoration of the nation of Israel in our day.
8. The Lord in His zealous love for Israel and the Jewish People blesses and curses peoples and judges nations based upon their treatment of the Chosen People of Israel.
9. Concerning Jerusalem: It is the Holy City of the Jewish People and those of biblical faith. At the time appointed by God, Messiah will return to sit on the everlasting Throne of David in Jerusalem and will reign over a ll the world in righteousness and peace.
10. According to God’s distribution of nations, the Land of Israel has been given to the Jewish People by God as an everlasting possession by an eternal covenant. The Jewish People have the absolute right to possess and dwell in the Land, including Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Golan.
11. Christians should oppose all forms of discrimination and prejudice (anti-Semitism) against the Jewish People and the Jewish State and should seek to be a comfort and a friend to them.
12. God’s choice of Israel was a means to reach the world with His a love, Word and redemption. Therefore, fulfilling the Great Commission is vital and flows out of our commitment to Israel.

STATEMENTS AND RESOLUTIONS

1. Because of the sovereign purposes of God for the City, Jerusalem must remain undivided, under Israeli sovereignty, open to all peoples, the capitol of Israel only, and all nations should so concur and place their embassies here.
2. As a faith bound to love and forgiveness we are appreciative of the attempts by the Government of Israel to work tirelessly for peace. However, the truths of God are sovereign and it is written that the Land which He promised to His People is not to be partitioned. It is our moral sense that Israel and the nations err in according favour and status to the current leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization and in placing in their hands land and people that are precious to God. It would be further error for the nations to recognize a Palestinian state in any part of Eretz Israel.
3. To the extent the Palestinian Covenant or any successor instrument calls for the elimination of Israel or denies the right of Israel to exist within secure borders in Eretz Israel, it should be abolished.
4. The Golan is part of biblical Israel and is a vital strategic asset necessary for the security and defense of the entire country. no bilateral or multilateral agreements with Syria should give consent to, either expressly or by implication, Syria’s continued occupation of Lebanon and oppression of its Christian community.
5. Israel has the clear and lawful right to defend itself.
6. Regarding Islam, we express the following concerns with Muslim attitudes towards Jews and Christians out of a sense of compassion for the millions of people who believe that they follow in the faith of Abraham by way of Islam, and with a commitment to intercede for them, that the Spirit of Truth will reveal to them the true nature of the faith of Abraham:
A. We are convinced from a biblical standpoint that the Muslim concept of "Allah" is an anti-Jewish and anti-Christian distortion of how God revealed Himself to the Patriarchs, Kings and Prophets of Israel, and how God has revealed Himself through our Lord. We find these attitudes have their source in the portions of the Qur’an which accuse Jews and Christians of having falsified the revelation of God given in Scripture.
B. Those elements within the Islamic faith which promote hatred of Israel and of Jewish peoples bring spiritual bondage, evil and confusion upon themselves, their followers and their nations. Christian compassion demands that all Christians actively seek to free them from any such hatred towards Israel and the Jewish People.
C. The Islamic claim to Jerusalem, including its exclusive claim to the Temple Mount, is in direct contradiction to the clear biblical and historical significance of the city and its holiest site, and this claim is of later religio-political origin rather than arising from any Qur’anic text or early Muslim tradition.
D. We condemn that radical view now ascendant within Islam which, by its own tenets, advocates violence and Jihad (holy war) as a legitimate means to spread the Islamic faith and advance the Islamic world view. We find the most pernicious expression of such radical views is the belief that a Muslim who sacrifices his very life to kill a Jew receives the reward of instant entry to Paradise. The practice of such beliefs poses an increasingly unacceptable peril to Israel and a grave threat to both the Muslim and non-Muslim peoples throughout the world. These threats must be opposed and challenged by all.
7. While Gentile believers have been grafted into that household of faith which is of Abraham (the commonwealth of Israel), replacement theology within the Christian faith, which does not recognise the ongoing biblical purposes for Israel and the Jewish People, is doctrinal error.
8. Regarding Aliyah, we remain concerned for the fate of imperiled Jewish People in diverse places, and seek to encourage and assist in the continuing process of Return of the Exiles to Eretz Israel. To this end we commit to work with Israel and to encourage the Diaspora to fulfill the vision and goal of gathering to Israel the greater majority of all Jewish People from throughout the world.

PLEDGE

We recognize that in making and declaring this Proclamation, we engage fully in matters of great weight and concern to the nations. As Christians we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as our self. Bound by His Divine love, we are yielded to a ministry of reconciliation which years to reconcile humankind to our Creator and people to each other. Therefore, we make this Proclamation with a sense of purpose and destiny, and with pure conscience, knowing that the mercies of our Lord are ever toward us and are available to all men everywhere, and that He will perform all that He has promised to do. Therefore, we pledge the unwavering commitment of our lives and resources to accomplish the goals and purposes set forth herein.

APPENDIX

We rely on the following specific Scriptures, among others, as the basis for our firm beliefs:
Affirmation 1: Deuteronomy 8:3; Psalms 119:103, 105; Matthew 4:4; Acts 2:42; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16.
Affirmation 2: Genesis 12:1-3; Romans 11:1-2; Romans 11:28.
Affirmation 3: Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 53; Psalms 22; Romans 15:1.
Affirmation 4: Luke 24:47.
Affirmation 5: Joshua 16:1; Luke 21:24; Romans 11:28-30.
Affirmation 6: Jeremiah 23:3,7,8; Jeremiah 31:8-10,23; Amos 9:13.
Affirmation 7: Psalms 80; Isaiah 40:1; Isaiah 49:22-23; Isaiah 60:10-12; Romans 11:17, 25.
Affirmation 8: Genesis 12:1-3; Joel 3:1-3; Matthew 25:36.
Affirmation 9: Isaiah 2; Isaiah 11; Jeremiah 3:17; Zechariah 14; Revelation 2:26-27.
Affirmation 10: Genesis 17:1-8; Joel 3:1-3.
Affirmation 11: Isaiah 40:1; Zechariah 2:8; Matthew 5: 1-12.
Affirmation 12: Genesis 12:1; Romans 9:4-5.

Knowing The Times©™
Note From The Editor:
Although we at KTT were not able to be present when the Affirmation Of Christian
Zionism was drawn up and signed, we agree with the document herein.