The International Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem is to be held this year [2008] on 5th October.  Details can be found here.

It would seem churlish to have reservations about any call for prayer.  However, the resolution includes the following affirmations:-

RECOGNIZING… that G-d [sic] has kept his word to Abraham and His descendants and settled them in their homeland again, according to the word of the prophets (Amos 9:14-15), (Ezekiel 36: esp. v.24).

RECOGNIZING… that we have a biblical mandate according to Psalm 122, and many other Scriptures to seek the good and prosperity of Jerusalem, until the Lord makes her a praise in all the earth.

These seem to represent an understanding of Psalm 122 (especially v6 – “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”) and a view of the place of Israel in biblical prophecy which is rather problemmatic.

Fortunately, I think that the call for prayer can be willingly complied with within the terms of the following ‘affirmation’ –

AFFIRMING…that G-d’s [sic] love and intended blessing is for all nations and peoples, and that we have goodwill and love for all mankind, including all inhabitants of the Holy Land, and desire peace in this entire region.

But this has prompted me to get a bit of orientation on the question of Christian Zionism.

The idea that God has a continuing purpose for Israel over and above his purposes for his church is not a new one.  The prospect of a great revival that would lead to the turning of many Jews – as well as Gentiles – to Christ was held by many of the Puritans and their followers within the pioneer missionary movement (this is documented in I.H. Murray’s The Puritan Hope, and I’ve written about it here).  However, the idea that this entailed a largescale resettlement of Jews in their homeland, and, for example, the rebuilding of the temple, was popularised by Edward Irving, taken up in the dispensationalist teaching of C.I. Schofield, and continued in the writings of latter-day ‘students of Bible prophecy’ such as Hal Lindsay.

Christian Zionists believe that because it is God’s will that the Jewish people should return to Palestine, it is incumbent on Christians to support this by their prayers and actions.

A noted critic of Christian Zionism is Stephen Sizer in his book Christian Zionism: Road-map to Armageddon? .  See http://www.sizers.org; http://stephensizer.blogspot.com.  See also the website Challenging Christian Zionism.  Various reviews of Sizer’s book can be seen here.

David Pawson, who takes a non-dispensationalist line, has written a response to Sizer (also criticising a similar view taken by John Stott) in his book Defending Christian Zionism.  Pawson’s book is reviewed here.