J. C. Ryle was the revered 19th century Anglican Bishop of Liverpool....and author of the classic book that evangelicals once held in high esteem....Holiness. We are more into Jonathan Cahn and Eric Metaxas today. Ryle was second in influence in England only to Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He died in 1900....eight years after Spurgeon. I recommend that you listen to anything you can find on his sermons and writings.
Let me digress a little bit. There is a significant disparity today in the way that evangelicals perceive the state of Israel. Some believe that 1948 and the miraculous beginning of the modern state was prophetic. Some cannot see what all the fuss is about. J. C. Ryle wrote these words about the Jews in 1867....."They are a people reserved and kept separate by God for a grand and special purpose. That purpose is to make them a means of exhibiting to the world in the latter days God's hatred of sin and unbelief, and God's almighty power and compassion. They are kept separate that they may finally be saved, converted and restored to their own land. They are reserved and preserved, in order that God may show in them a platform, to angels and men, how greatly he hates sin, and yet how greatly he can forgive, and how greatly he can convert. Never will that be realized as it will in that day when....'all Israel shall be saved'."Ryle for one thought it obvious....astoundingly obvious I would describe it as....that the Jew is still even around considering their unbelief....and how the world hates them so....it is evidence that God has preserved them for a purpose. The Christian today can believe what they choose to believe on this....but if they see nothing biblical in today's state of Israel...there is a very serious caveat that they should at least hear. If they stand back and wash their hands of Israel....then that would in effect be cursing Israel....and any Christian should be aware of that warning from Genesis 12:3.
This is not an easy issue to navigate. It is not telling America to automatically fight in defense of Israel....that is the reactionary charismatic attitude....but it is telling us to obey God....."Come on Special Dog....are you saying to defend Israel or not?' The more important issue is for us not to elevate ourselves above what God has blessed us with. From what I hear around me....we are doing just that....'We are Christians....and they are just rebellious Jews.' If we watch them fall....while our churches are mostly whitewashed tombs...and our praise clanging cymbals....all the while patting ourselves on the back on how our doctrine is so pure....then we risk being cursed along with the rest of the world in the coming judgments.
We as a nation are to do what is right.....not what is expedient. If what is 'right' means defending the state of Israel....then we must do it. You see....this is not a political issue....it is a heart issue. Before this recent war the Israeli culture in the news was that of Tel Aviv nightlife...and gay pride parades....and political division on individual rights. That is pretty much the same as here in America. If we were to be attacked would we wash our hands because we are not God's people?
All of this in a way is moot....because war is coming....because Jesus Christ is coming. The time will come when all of us believers know this....may God in His mercy....and to His glory alone....have us discern this sooner to that day rather than when it happens!
