Evangelical Eyes on Israel

Waiting for Armageddon – This documentary was about evangelical Christians awaiting the end of the world, some of them so sure it’s coming soon that they tell their kids they’ll probably never get a chance to grow up. (So why even have kids, if that’s what you believe? Oh, well.) There was also a lot of focus on how these people expecting the Second Coming emphasize the role Israel plays, so they feel they have to support the nation. It’s very backhanded support, though, because they think all the Jews who don’t convert are damned anyway. They presumably think of Israel as a necessary pawn in God’s game of world destruction, but do they really care about it as a country? There was talk about how much money the evangelical crowd gives to Israel, with one man pointing out that this gives them control, so it might be better for Israel not to take it. The doomsayers also spoke about how important it is for the Temple to be rebuilt, with many predicting the destruction of the Dome on the Rock by earthquake or other means. There was even one guy who mentioned hoping a rogue missile would hit the Dome, not specifying whether he at least hoped it would be vacant at the time. It seems rather naive to think that the destruction of the building would cause the Muslims to give up all claims on the Temple Mount. What I want to know is why so many of the apocalyptic prophecies in the Bible can apparently symbolize other things, but the parts about Israel have to be literal.

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