John Hagee’s “In Defense of Israel”
Thank you for your e mail.
While I appreciate John Hagee’s support for Israel, he is clearly theologically misguided.
Some months ago prior ‚ to his book being published we were aware of where he was going and Mike Oppenheimer (a Jewish brother in discernment ministry) and I discussed it and considered some action. The problem is that John Hagee officially denies that he is dual covenant and he seems to accept the basic tenets of the New Testament faith.
To begin with Mr. Hagee is way out of his league in that he plainly does not to comprehend the Jewish Messianic expectations ‚ of the time of Jesus; Ha Moshiach Ben Yosef (Messiah Son of Joseph, aka Ben Ephraim, the suffering servant of Isaiah 52 & 53 prefigured by Joseph in The Book of Genesis), and Ha Moshiach Ben David, Messiah Son of David, the conquering King prefigured by David.
He also plainly does not understand the Jewish background of John 10 among other passages.
1. There were miracles of healing blindness that only the Messiah would be able to do in Jewish thought of The Second Temple Period. They also believed that Messiah would reveal Himself at Chanukah. (The Feast of Dedication in John 10). In John 10 (and John 5) , contrary to the assertions of John Hagee, Jesus did publicly complain about disbelief in Him after witnessing Messianic miracles even though these are not the key to faith in Him (but rather hearing The Word of God).
At some points Jesus did play down the miracles. But ‚ in John 10, The Jewish Feast of Miracles Jesus pointed to them openly and publicly as evidence of His Messiahship (John 10:22-26).
John Hagee is dead wrong. At Chanukah , the Jews were expecting a warrior-priest Messiah in the character of the Macabees to get rid of the Romans as the Macabees did the Selucids. On Palm Sunday/Pesach they expected a Kingly Messiah like David to depose the Romans ‚ at the triumphal entry by making a right inside the East Gate and ‚ kicking The Roman legion out of the fortress Antonio. Instead, He made a left turn and got rid of the Kenneth Copeland’s and Benny Hinns of the day.
It is His purpose as the ‚ Son of David in His 2nd Coming to set up Kingdom Dominion. His 1st coming was to atone for sin.
2. ‚ John Hagee ‚ is additionally wrong about most Jews not rejecting Him as Messiah (Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22, Luke 17:25, John 1:12, Matthew 21:42, Acts 2:31& 36 in Peter’s kerygma ‚ ; Christ = Messiah).
To claim that Jesus never openly proclaimed Himself as Messiah is silly. He did it both privately (John 4), and when the time was correct, publicly (Matthew 23:10).
Mr. Hagee does not again understand the Jewish Festal background ‚ in the the Gospels and how Jesus fulfilled them. He could only openly reveal His Messiahship by the prophetic agenda in the Hebrew Holy Days of Leviticus 23 ‚ & 24, specifically at the High Pilgrim Feasts. ‚ The times when Jesus (Yeshua) played down His Messianic identity is because it was not the appropriate time or place. The Jews rightly believed Messiah would reveal Himself at Chanukah and Passover in Jerusalem, not ‚ at another time elsewhere such as in Galilee.
Again, the level of ignorance exhibited by Mr. Hagee is astounding. It is not his obvious ‚ ignorance of the Jewish background of the Gospels that is the main problem, but rather that in writing a book he misrepresents himself as having an expertise where he has none.
He is a doctrinally confused man who is misleading others and such an irresponsible book does more to harm the cause of opposing the error of replacement theology and of enlightening the church about the prophetic purposes of God for Israel and the Jews than it does to assist it. I am sad that a good friend of Israel with what I believe is a sincere love for the Jews has frankly made himself look like a theological charlatan in the eyes of any serious conservative Evangelical scholar.
I agree his book demands refutation. I am planning to record a ‚ CD addressing his book when I am next in The USA in January. Having said that, the definition of a heretic from the Greek “heraseis” or Hebrew “kopher” is one who forms a schism based on a serious false doctrine.
There are avid supporters of Israel who indeed are proven heretics such as Malcom Hedding (leader of International Christian Embassy), and there are certainly heretics within the Messianic Movement (Mark Kinser), and we openly say so.
The problem with John Hagee ‚ appears to be ‚ rather ignorance, and a ‚ misguided zeal that has rendered him doctrinally delusional. ‚ Because he is not in denial of any basic tenet of biblical Christianity however, and because he claims not to be “dual covenant”, I would not personally describe him as ‚ heretical. I ‚ plan to publicly challenge much of his wrong doctrine. But I do not plan to attack him as a heretic as I have, for instance, Malcom Hedding because ‚ I do not think he has gone quite that far. But he is skating dangerously close to the edge of it.
I would like to see perhaps Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Messianic Jewish Bible expositor and theological author who lives in Texas near John Hagee, try and straighten him out.
I trust this helps.
In Jesus,
Jacob Prasch
Moriel
Hello Jacob,
Thank you for taking this letter.
I am very disturbed about a book and TV commercial that has been recently ‚ put out by John Hagee.
If you have not heard, John Hagee has ‚ authored a new book titled ” In Defense of Israel.”
In this book he makes the following quotes…(I am still in the process of confirming these as fact and should have this finished today – 11-20-07)
If God intended for Jesus to be the Messiah of Israel, why didn’t he authorize Jesus to use supernatural signs to prove he was God’s Messiah, just as Moses had done? (p. 137) Jesus refused to produce a sign ” ¦ because it was not the Father’s will, nor his, to be Messiah. (p 138) If Jesus wanted to be Messiah, why did he repeatedly tell his disciples and followers to “tell no one” about his supernatural accomplishments? (p. 139) The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah; it was Jesus who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews. (p. 140) They wanted him to be their Messiah, but he flatly refused. (p. 141) He refused to be their Messiah, choosing instead to be the Savior of the world (p. 143) Jesus rejected to the last detail the role of Messiah in word or deed. (p. 145)
He has also produced a TV commercial that just about floored me.
You can view this TV commercial here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8khCJTDD44&feature=PlayList&p=
DBFEBF932AE60F1B&index=92In TV commercial he claims that his book proves with scripture that…
- The Jewish people as a whole did not reject Jesus as Messiah
- That Jesus did not come to earth to be the Messiah
- That Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be the Messiah
- So how can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered.
There are 11,687 views of this single TV commercial. There are other copies of the commercial on the site, one with 4,815 and another with 5,527 and yet another with ‚ 7,751
This TV commercial alone has seriously damaged the gospel and defamed Christ to the world with over 25,000 people already based upon the views on You Tube.
In light of his words, he is of antichrist as spoken in 1 John 2:22
1John 2:22 (KJV) ‚ Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
And I find his words to be that of a heretic as defined below…
Heretic
HER’ETIC, n.
1. A person under any religion, but particularly the Christian, who holds and teaches opinions repugnant to the established faith, or that which is made the standard of orthodoxy. In strictness, among Christians, a person who holds and avows religious opinions contrary to the doctrines of Scripture, the only rule of faith and practice.2. Any one who maintains erroneous opinions.
I seek your opinion from a Messianic ministry in what Hagee is claiming.Do you have any articles pertaining to Dual Covenant or can ‚ you offer help in refuting these lies? ‚ Although Hagee adamantly denies dual covenant, it appear he is twisting scripture and is writing some mutated form of DC theology.
I plan on writing an article exposing these lies as we are called to do in Jude 3.
Again, thank you for your time in this matter of contending for the faith.
In His Service,
Ray
Prophezine
