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FAQ - God's Plan The "British Israel" Identification |
The revival centres are completely opposed to racism. Some have tried to link the British-Israel identification to a racist agenda. These people are, in our view, completely misled and have little real understanding of God's plans or purposes. We believe all human beings have been created in the image of God and have equal value in God's sight.
We believe salvation is equally open to all human beings and note, by way of example, that in our own church more than half of our membership is from black ethnic backgrounds. Our assemblies have representatives from all major ethnic groupings. Our church members share fellowship with other members from all ethnic groups and also intermarry between those groups. Anti-Semitism is just another form of racism and is equally rejected by the Revival Centres as abhorrent. In the Bible (Galatians 3:26, 28-29) we read: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus." ... "There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then
are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." The real difference between human beings is between those who have not been "born again" and those who have. The former are yet "dead in their sins", the latter are the "new creation" and children of the living God. This difference is not to be the cause of some kind of feeling of superiority - but an occasion for Christ-like compassion for the lost. We hold forth the answer of Jesus Christ - you must be born again.
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But isn't the British Israel identification racist? The British-Israel identification draws together Biblical and historical clues to identify which peoples represent the fulfillment of God's promises to the Old Testament nation of Israel. As can be seen in other areas of the site (e.g. what we believe) we believe the British peoples form part of the literal fulfillment of these promises. If it is not these people, then it is someone else. Many churches identify instead the people in the modern nation of Israel as the fulfillment of Bible promises that God would not cast away his people. We disagree with the identification, but, for the purpose of discussion, note that this still means that they believe there is a people, somewhere, that fulfill God's national promises. So do we. Some have attempted to suggest that: 1. God has not made national promises, or if He did that they no longer apply; 2. the very idea of God having a national plan is somehow racist; 3. People, like the Revival Centres, who suggest a link between the Old Testament nation of Israel and the British peoples, are therefore racist. Let's look at each in turn. 1. Has God made national promises and do they still apply Even a cursory reading of the Bible will readily answer the first part of this question. God made promise to Abraham: "that in blessing
I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed
as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies"
(Genesis
22:17). God further said to King David: "And thine
house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee:
thy throne shall be established for ever" (2
Samuel 7:16). Do these national promises still apply? Were they conditional or unconditional. This is important because in just about every case where a conditional promise was made, the person / people receiving the promise failed to meet the conditions. However, some promises made by God are unconditional. The promises made to Abraham were because he had done something (not if ). The promises to David were confirmed in this manner: " Once have I sworn by my holiness that
I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and
his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever
as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah."
(Psalm
89:35-37). 2. Does this make God racist? Certainly not! A definition of terms would be good here. If we mean did God set apart a people with whom He would deal directly, in the first instance, then the answer is indeed "yes". If we mean does God think other peoples are inferior then the answer is "no". In fact, we read in the Bible that God chose Israel not "because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people" (Deuteronomy 7:7). His intention for Israel was that they would be a blessing to all the families (nations, ethnic groupings etc.) of the earth, not that they would form some kind of 'master race'. There had to be a nation in which Jesus would be born so that there would be someone who would understand why He had come. In fact, people did not even realise they had a need for a Saviour until the Law was given through Moses. The Law had to be given to someone. God chose Israel. The Law exposed sin and paved the way for an understanding that there needed to be a Saviour. God used Israel as the vehicle to bring the Saviour into the world. God also has other plans for Israel and these are set out in detail in the Bible. It is abundantly clear from the Bible that Jesus died for everyone. It is also clear that this opening of God's grace to all (planned all along) came about because of the rejection of Jesus by His "own" people: "he came unto his own and his own received him not" (John 1:11). During His earthly ministry He said: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24). By the end of His earthly ministry and even after the church had been in existence for over 3 years, all of His disciples, and even the Apostles, assumed the message of Jesus, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit, was for the people of Israel only. It is not until we read of the events in the House of Cornelius (Acts 10) that we see the broader picture of God's plan coming into view. God had His plan all along, but aspects did not become clear, even to the Apostles, until God's time was right. Way back in Genesis God had said to Abraham and then reiterated to his grandson Jacob that in his descendants would all the families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:3; 28:14). Now through the coming of Jesus, and specifically the happenings in the house of Cornelius, a clear part of that blessing is revealed. By the time the Apostle Paul (who called himself the 'apostle of the gentiles') is writing to the church in Galatia he is reminding the people that: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28) But does this mean God has no other purpose now
for his people Israel? Again we will let the Apostle Paul speak:
"I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid..."
(Romans
11:1). A few verses later Paul speaks of a future for
Israel in these terms: "Now if the fall of them be the
riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of
the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?" (Romans
11:12). This is post-Christ and obviously refers to something
that was still to come. While it is easily demonstrated that the Revival Centres are not racist in practice (see the comments in the column to the left), some have suggested that the British-Israel identification itself is a racist ideology. This can be discussed at three levels: First, God did choose a nation (however identified today). As discussed above, God had His own purposes in mind, including blessing to all families (ethnic groupings) of the whole world, both through the coming of Jesus and also through things yet to happen. Whether that nation can better be identified with modern day Israel, or with the British peoples is a matter of debate for some, but the fact remains that, however identified, there are yet national fulfillments to come (Romans 11). Second, God did not imply other races or peoples were inferior, but He had to start somewhere. He started with Israel. Third, because some misguided people have taken the identification of Old Testament Israel with Britain as implying some kind of racial superiority does not mean that we, or the Bible, imply such a thing. Quite simply, they are wrong. In our teaching we endeavour to put across a Biblical understanding of God's promises to Israel and our identification of their modern fulfillment. Paul the Apostle, in Romans 11, noted the difference between the promises and position of the Christian compared to the position of those living only under the national promises. As Jesus said to a ruler of Israel, Nicodemus, in John 3, "you must be born again". This is the absolute necessity that transcends all ethnic considerations.
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Statement
on Racism
