Journal: Conservative Theological Journal
Volume: CTJ 06:19 (Dec 2002)
Article: The Rise of Anti-Semitism: “The Rustling of the Leaves”
Author: Mal Couch

CTJ 6:19 (December 2002) p. 282

The Rise of Anti-Semitism:
“The Rustling of the Leaves”

Mal Couch

President, Tyndale Seminary

One can tell that fall is around the corner when the cold winds blow and the leaves begin to rustle. There is a chilly theological wind blowing that is coming in the form of a denial of the Abrahamic Covenant right of Israel to own the holy land.

This denial is slowly coming to the fore among progressive dispensationalists (PDs). While they would disavow this charge, the facts are that they are becoming more and more disinterested in supporting the right of the present generation of Jews to live in their ancient land. On the one hand, they claim to continually maintain the prophetic fulfillment of Christ’s physical return, and the Jewish people’s conversion and restoration to their territorial roots. That conviction seems weak at best. On the other hand, the PDs voice of support is now shifting. It is coming in the form of criticism against the Israeli people and their present defense of their very existence.

This criticism is now coming from some evangelical leaders of large seminaries, that used to be firmly dispensational, but are now shifting in their tacit support and love of the Jewish people!

The other source of denial is not new. The amillennialists have always denied or ignored the literal claims of the Abrahamic Covenant to a literal, historic return of the Jewish people to the land, but it seems more recently this voice is finding an opportunity to grow stronger.

A most recent example is the publication of The Israel of God by O. Palmer Robertson (P&R Publishers, 2000). The book represents warmed over amillennialism with its usual poor arguments, but with a newly created agenda of blasting the present Jewish generation for their claim to the land. Coming very close on the heels of that criticism is a (kind of) support for the Palestinian people’s claim to the holy land. In Robertson’s discussion, he often

CTJ 6:19 (December 2002) p. 283

works smoke and mirrors! In the same paragraph (1) he seems to purposely get mixed up in his discussion the old covenant (the Law) and the prophetic promises of the Abrahamic Covenant that gives with perpetuity the land to the descendants of Abraham. (It is from the Abrahamic Covenant that we get the expression “the promised land.”) But also, (2) he appears to overlook the fact that it is a sovereign God who has made firm, literal promises to restore His earthly people to the land. For the most part, he simply argues against the Jewish claim to the land from the current political crisis.

Below is a clear example of how Robertson mixes the Old Testament biblical...