Monday, September 9, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

 

It is the 9th of September 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A happy Monday- we head to the mailbag as we usually do on Monday’s and today we have a question from Jesse in St. Joseph Michigan- St Joe’s on the banks of Lake Michigan- down south, not far from South Bend Indiana and that super overrated college with the movie about the kid football player who was offsides.

But St. Joseph- nice looking place. I found a 5 bedroom place- 4500 square feet for 799…

So, Jesse went down the rabbit hole online of “Zionism,” which, ironically, of all the things I would tell you NOT to go down a rabbit hole online- that stuff can get pretty nasty pretty fast.

And this word has had so many connotations and historical references we do well to step back and ask: what is this? Out, like the Hebrews “Manna?”

Zion, of course, is a reference to Mt. Zion- one of the two hills of ancient Jerusalem. Fun fact: it was mislabeled by the historian Josephus and not properly recognized as the easternmost hill until the 19th century- when, we shall see- interest in things related to the ancient land of Israel.

“Zionism” is, first and properly, a movement supporting a Jewish national state in Palestine.

While there has been a connection to the land, it has been interrupted by exile and foreign military leaders, leading to a diaspora. The call for a Jewish nation-state is less theological in its context, as it was a political cause that matched all the other nationalist causes of the 19th century. The Germans wanted a state, the Italians wanted a state, and the Jewish people wanted a state. The problem, of course, was, since the exile and diaspora, Jews lived in pockets around the world- and some, like those in Eastern Europe, had been historically mistreated.

It was Theodore Herzl, the Austrian journalist, who advocated for a national homeland after first thinking the best model for the Jewish people was assimilation. Fearing anti-semitic attacks like the ones in Eastern Europe (not to mention the ones in Western Europe to come), Herzl called the first “Zionist Congress” in 1897.  

The movement was in the minority for much of its infancy- with Jewish people either indifferent to the idea of moving back to the ancestral land or strictly opposed to it as they believed they could NOT inhabit the land until the Messiah came.

In the aftermath of World War I, the British made the “Balfour Declaration” to support the creation of a Jewish home state- and if you heard my weekend show on Israel and Palestine, you might remember this as the beginning of some of the mess.

Tel Aviv, named after a place in a novel by Herzl, would become the capital of the new Jewish state, and much of the last century saw bloodshed over the rights to the historic land at the end of the Mediterranean.

Amongst the new Jewish groups were a right-wing and a left-wing- the right interested in self-defense and autonomy- these are the predecessors of today’s IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), the “left” forming kibbutzes, forming communal bonds and with the support from among others, Baron Rothschild. It was the fear of these on the Jewish Left that sparked new waves of anti-semitism, blaming a cabal headed by Rothschild as the secret society running the world. The protocols of the Elders of Zion and other things promoted in America by noted bad guys Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh fueled American anti-semitism.  

The progress made from 1979 and the Camp David Accords through the 90s and the Oslo Accords seems to be eroding in front of our very eyes. Add to that growing anti-semitism across the political spectrum, the war with Palestine (Lord Come Quickly), and we may need to update our plans based on 1948.

Nonetheless, “Zionism” is a big tent, but probably best understood as a 19th-century nationalist movement with supporters today who have differing opinions as to whether or not their nation can coexist with another.

And while there are different opinions as to the future history of the ethnically Jewish people amongst Christians- most are in accord that salvation will come through Christ for both Jews and Gentiles.

I have received a lot of questions, but I honestly love them- so keep them coming.

 

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary and a great reminder of our heritage from Hebrews 11:

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised;  who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 9th of September 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who knows Mt. Zion as a place in Wisconsin and a place in the delightful film the Straight Story; he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man whose favorite Zion is a DB on the Trojans with his brother WR and Return Man Zechariah- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.