CHRISTIANS UNITED FOR ISRAEL AND THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

Bernard Pyron

Matthew 24: 15 says "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of
desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,
(whoso readeth, let him understand) then let them which be in Judae
flee into the mountains."

The Holy Place could be the Temple, which the dispensationalists
take to be the literal Temple in Jerusalem, which they claim is to
be re-built soon.

But Paul says in I Corinthians 3: 16 that "Knew ye not that ye are the
temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man
defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the temple of
God is holy, which temple ye
are."

Some claim that Matthew 24: 15-16 deals with an earlier timeline,
that of the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. What the early fullfilment of the
abomination
of desolation might have been in 70 AD is not clear. Remember, that
at
Christ's crucifixion death the veil of the Temple in Jerusalem was
torn, (Matthew 27: 51),
signifying that God was through with the Jewish Temple building.

So, Matthew 24: 15-16 is a prophecy for the end times. Since the
holy place
is the temple, which is the hearts of the believers, then what could
enter
into the hearts of the true Christians that would be an abomination?

The abomination of desolation is the renewal of the Jewish system of animal
sacrifice after 2,000 years. That would be a slap in the face of
Christ since
he died once and for all to pay for our sins. It would be an
abomination
in the hearts of Christ's true followers. It would not make the true
Christians desolate, but would do so for those who carried out the
animal
sacrifices, and for those within the so called Christian Churches who
have supported physical Israel and the build up to renewal of animal
sacrifices.

Paul says if anyone defiles the temple of God which is the
true Christians, God will destroy him. CUFI, Christians United for
Israel, had better look out, because they are set to support the build
up of physical Israel (Paul distinguishes between spiritual Israel and
physical Israel - I Corinthians 10: 18) toward re-establishing the
animal sacrifice
system for forgiveness of sins.

 Look at the abomination of desolation. Its found in Daniel 11:31,
Daniel 12: 11, Matthew 24: 15, and Mark 13: 14. Matthew 24: 15 says
when you see the abomination of desolation, then in verse 21 "For then
shall be great tribulation, such as was not since he beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

Mark 13: 14 says "But when ye see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not (let him
that readeth understand)..."

The abomination that causes desolation is something that stands or
happens where it ought not to happen. What could it be?

Hebrews 7: 27 says "Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to
offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's:
for this he did once, when he offered up himself."

Hebrews 10: 12 confirms that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself in man's
flesh once and for always in saying "But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;"

The Old Testament system of animal sacrifice was a type or metaphor
pointing to Christ's once and forever sacrifice on the cross for man's
sins.

To renew the Old Testament animal sacrifice by the new Sanhedrin
would be to insult Christ who died once for our sins. It would be an
abomination to the Lord and to his people to renew Jewish animal
sacrifices for sin in Jerusalem.

On http://www.lamblion.com/articles/prophecy/Jews-Israel/Jews-17.php
it says "On October 13, 2004, the Sanhedrin Council of the Jewish
nation was reconstituted for the first time in 1,600 years. The
ceremony took place in the Israeli town of Tiberias, located on the
western shore of the Sea of Galilee. This was the site of the council's
last meeting in the year 425 AD.

Then at http://www.beliefnet.com/story/214/story_21456_1.html
it says "In a donated apartment concealed among the narrow streets of
the Jerusalem suburb of Nahlaot, 13 Orthodox Jewish men meet every
Tuesday to debate matters of Jewish law. They are the management team
of a larger developing Sanhedrin, or religious court, in Israel.

And they plan to sacrifice sheep on the Temple Mount on the day before
or one month after Passover, which starts at sundown April 2. Either
date is permissible under Jewish law. "If the government will not
resist," said Rabbi Dov Stein, 68, a member of the group, "we will do
it."

Deborah Pardo-Kaplan in Religion News Service says "For these Jews, the
sacrificial Passover offering is not their redemption per se, yet it is
vital to the process." This is the old works salvation.

The renewal of animal sacrifices is something done by the Talmudic
leaders. But the extreme form of dispensationalism followed by
Christian John
Hagee and his organization CUFI exalts physical and unsaved Israel
over spiritual and saved Israel. This can also be a part of the
abomination of desolation, and it is done by those claiming to be
Christian evangelicals. Hagee does not try to convert the Jews he
addresses, leaving them without Christ who they must have to be saved.

But in some parts of the patriot movement, among those who take on
aspects of Christianity, the argument that saved Christians are
spiritual Israel and the unsaved Jews are not God's chosen people
has become disorted into an anti-Jewish crusade. An Anti-Jewish
doctrine, along with Christian Identity and the Sacred Name
Movement, has hijacked parts of the patriot movement. I know, the
ADL will say Remnant Christians are "anti-semetic in saying we are
Spiritual Israel, not unsaved Jews, regardless of whether we
really are or not. But we should not displease the Lord by our
racism. Dispensationalism and Christian Identity are both forms of
racism. Classical dispensationalism teaches that being a Jew is all
that is necessary to qualify one as being a member of God's chosen
people. Christian Identity claims they are "chosen" because somehow
they are from one of the lost tribes of Israel.

The dispensationalist celebrities have taught that physical Israel
is still God's chosen people. They hold up physical Israel and
in so doing they are giving up their own position in Christ as
members of spiritual Israel. I Peter 2: 9 says we Christians, not
Jews who do not accept Christ, are "...a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people..."

In giving up their position in Christ to Jews who do not accept him,
the dispensationalist Christian Zionists are doing something similar
to selling one's birthright. Paul says in Romans 9: 13 that God
hated Esau. Why? Because Esau sold his birthright (Genesis 25: 33).

Remember Paul taught that there is a spiritual Isreal made up of all
the spiitual seed of Abraham, which includes everyone who is in
Christ,
and there is Israel after the flesh, who have rejected Jesus Christ
(I Corinthians
10: 18, Galatians 3: 29, Romans 9: 6, Romans 11: 26).

The political nation of Israel, the Jewish Talmud, Kabballah and the
Zionist movement are all physical Israel.

Here is a link to one web site dealing with the issue of the Jewish
renewal of animal sacrifices:
http://www.templeinstitute.org/archive/08-04-05j.htm

Sue Patterson and Randy Maugans of The Threshing Floor did a
series of broadcasts on the Abomination of Desolation in early
2006. The web address for their series is:
http://threshingfloor.onevoicemm.net/weblog/?m=200602&paged=1

The earlier shows in the Abomination of Desolation series are
toward the bottom of the page.

The excerpts below are from:

http://www.mediatransparency.com/story.php?storyID=116

"Think of CUFI as a Christian version of American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC)," the powerful pro-Israel lobby, Hagee told
The Jerusalem Post in an interview a few days before the early
February summit. "We need to be able to respond instantly to
Washington with our concerns about Israel. We must join forces to
speak as one group and move as one body to [respond to] the crisis
Israel will be facing in the near future."

A post-meeting report at The John Hagee Ministries website pointed out
that Christians United for Israel had put together a National Board
consisting of Hagee as National Chairman, Dr. Jerry Falwell, Gary
Bauer, president of American Values, and Pastor George Morrison of
Arvada, Colorado. "In addition to a National Board, twelve Regional
Directors were authorized over at least four states. The Regional
Directors will appoint State Directors who will appoint City
Directors," the website noted

A report in the San Antonio Express-News pointed out that CUFI was the
"first-of-its kind umbrella organization embraced by the local Jewish
community."

Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg of San Antonio's Congregation Rodfei Sholom
attended the meeting and called it a historic gathering. Scheinberg
told the San Antonio Express-News that "It's the first nationwide
effort I know of to unify evangelical leaders in support of Israel.
These leaders who participated speak for millions of people. This
organization has phenomenal potential in supporting, defending and
advocating for Israel."

Pastor Hagee and Rabbi Scheinberg go way back. In a story entitled
"Our Jewish Roots" published in JHMagazine, Hagee tells of a June 1978
visit to Israel where he "went ... as a tourist and came home a
Zionist." When he returned home he decided to organize "A Night to
Honor Israel." According to Hagee's account, Rabbi Scheinberg "pressed
the Jewish Community into taking a chance and extending its hand in
mutual friendship."

Hagee's apocalyptic vision
In 1998, Hagee teamed up with Christian filmmakers Peter and Paul
Lelond to make "Vanished in the Twinkling of an Eye," a "docudrama,"
about the aftermath of the rapture. According to a description of the
film at Yahoo! Movies, "Hagee appears periodically to relate the on
screen action to the Word of God so that he might explain how each
scene is prophesied by Bible, and how one might avoid being one of
those left behind." (For an evangelical perspective on the movie, see
here).

In a piece for The Texas Observer written in December 2003, Lou
Dubose, the former longtime editor of that publication, and the
co-author with columnist Molly Ivins of "Bushwhacked: Life in George
W. Bush's America" and "Schrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of
George W. Bush," called Hagee "a pre-millennial dispensationalist,
whose theology focuses on selected apocalyptic passages of the book of
Revelations."

Dubose explained:

In order for Christ to return, by this interpretation, certain
biblical prophecies must be fulfilled: The Temple must be rebuilt for
a third time on the Temple Mount; the anti-Christ must manifest
himself and be defeated by Christ, who will then keep the Devil bound
for 1,000 years of peace; the biblical kingdoms of Israel -- Judea and
Samaria -- will be united; and the Jews, having done their part, will
either convert or perish ("The Righteous Brothers: Over the top with
Tom DeLay" December 5, 2003).

However, in their 2004 book "The Hammer --Tom DeLay: God, Money, and
the Rise of the Republican Congress," Dubose and Jan Reid point out
that Hagee seems to have switched up on the
Jews-will-convert-or-perish part of his vision -- a concept that many
Jews find particularly troubling, and managed to finesse the issue so
Jews don't wind up getting Left Behind:

[Hagee] cuts Jews in on Christian salvation. His theology includes a
loophole for Jews, or to borrow a phrase from Liberation Theology, "a
preferential option" for the Jews. Unlike his dispensationalist
brethren, Hagee allows that Jews can be saved from eternal damnation
because they're covered by the First Covenant between God and his
people. The get into Heaven by what might be called a grandfather
clause.

(In a piece posted at JPost.com dated March 2, 2006, Hagee "denied" a
recent report in the Jerusalem Post that he "embrace[d] the 'dual
covenant' theology." In a statement to the Post, Hagee said that he
doesn't "believe or teach Dual Covenant." Hagee pointed out that he
had "made it a practice for 25 years not to target Jews for
conversion" at the "Night to Honor Israel" events. If Jews "inquire
about our faith at a later time, we give them a full scriptural
presentation of redemption," he added.)

The Hagee/DeLay/Netanyahu connection
Hagee's political druthers and religious vision were on full display
at the 2002 edition of "A Night to Honor Israel." The keynote speaker
at the event was Texas Rep. Tom DeLay, the then majority leader of the
House of Representatives. In full pre-indictment swagger, DeLay
praised "President Bush's moral clarity," and reiterated his
opposition to giving up land to the Palestinians.

"I've stood on the Golan," DeLay said. "When I looked to the
southwest, I don't see occupied territory. I see Israel. I've walked
on the streets of Jerusalem. I've been to Judea and Samaria."

The Texas Observer reported that "At the climax of the evening, Hagee
presented a giant cardboard check for $1.5 million to the President
and CEO of the United Jewish Communities," to be used for [the
relocation of] Russian Jews to Israel. Hagee believes that bringing
Jews to Israel will help to fulfill the biblical prophecy of 'the
beginning of the end.'"

Instead of the Book of Revelations, talk of statecraft -- radical
Christian Republican-style -- dominated. Together Hagee, DeLay, and
[former Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu [via a video feed
from Israel] hit similar points: Jerusalem belongs to Israel; the west
bank belongs to Israel; the Temple Mount belongs to Israel; the U.S.
Embassy should be in Jerusalem not Tel Aviv; Yasser Arafat is a
terrorist with whom one cannot negotiate; and unconditional support
for Israel is the only option. As Hagee repeatedly noted, "Israel is
the only nation on earth created by a sovereign act of God."

Hagee, the author of a number of books including "Attack on America
--New York, Jerusalem, and the role of Terrorism in the Last Days,"
and "The Beginning of the End -- The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin
and the Coming Antichrist," recently penned a non-fiction book called
"Jerusalem Countdown -- A Warning to the World," which has already
landed on best-seller lists.

The new book posits that "biblical prophecy is playing itself out
daily in the Middle East," Agape Press, a Christian-based news
service, reported. "Hagee says Iran's new president, coupled
with...[the] victory by terrorist-backed Hamas in the Palestinian
elections, paves the way for an impending war in the region."

Bernard

Momma Doggie