Friday, February 27, 2026
Zionism – “a political movement for the establishment and support of a national homeland for Jews in Palestine, now concerned chiefly with the development of the modern state of Israel.” (Source) Biblically “David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).” (Sam. 5:7), the first mention, of 153 times, in the OT that Zion is the city of Jerusalem. In the NT the word Zion is mentioned 7 times, of which most refer to the end of this present age, e.g. “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame” (Rom. 9:33), and “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels” (Heb. 12:22). Thus, the city of Zion for which all true believers of Christ await, is the heavenly New Jerusalem yet to come.
For the last 78 years, after Israel was reborn as a nation, after being non-existent for 2,000 years, that event fulfilled Jesus’ prophetic parable of the fig tree of Matt. 24:32–35. But it also started the political Dispensational Zionist movement in the evangelical church which is also part of the highly erroneous and unbiblical pre-tribulation rapture narrative authored by John Nelson Darby (1800–1882), then supercharged by the Dispensational, commentary-heavy, C.I. Scofield Bible.
It’s difficult to comprehend the mindset of a professing believer of Jesus Christ who allows him or herself to exchange the witness and testimony of Jesus Christ for the teachings of a mere man. And firmly embedded in that Dispensational belief resides the falsehood that unbelieving, Christ-hating Jews of Israel are still God’s chosen people, which has become sealed into the hearts and minds of US government leaders under influence of politically motivated Zionist preachers. But God’s word at 1Peter 2:9–10 reveals that any and all post-Calvary believers from all nations are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people … [and] are now the people of God”. The subtle result of political Zionism has exchanged loving honor for Christ, for the unbelieving, Christ-hating Jews of Israel. And that betrayal has produced much death.
What you will not hear taught in Dispensational Zionist churches is what our Lord Jesus said about and to the unbelieving religious Jews of His day. And if Christ were here today He would preach the same message from 2,000 years ago. So, let’s revisit what is rarely, if ever, taught in the churches today, and as you read the words of Christ remember, He doesn’t change, and that God gave Israel “a certificate of divorce” (Jer. 3:8), because centuries earlier Israel repeatedly prostituted herself to unbelief of God, to harlotry, to idolatry and rebellion without repentance.
Jesus said: “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! … you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves … Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! … Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? … I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth … O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! … See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ” (excerpted from Matt. 23:13–39). Said by God’s Son Jesus Christ.
And Israel, together with the world, will not see Christ again until He descends from heaven at the resurrection of the dead, John 5:28–29, for the rapture, 1 Thess. 4:16, “after the tribulation” (Matt. 24:29–31), “at the last day” (John 6:40), “at the last trumpet” (1 Cor. 15:51–52), when “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev. 11:15), then “every eye will see Him” (Rev. 1:7), and only then, unbelieving religious Jews of Israel will finally confess that Jesus Christ is LORD! Amen!
Israel’s rejection of Jesus is why He denounced them. Yet today Israel’s rejection remains which reveals Zionist’s false agenda who literally prefer unbelieving Jews of Israel to the testimony of Christ. That’s why our US government leaders, deceived by Christian Zionists, bow to whatever Israel wants which is more land. And deceived US leaders persuaded by Zionists lead the charge in giving Israel the land it covets regardless of its cold inhumane death to many. As a result Gaza lies destroyed. See video. This is not a proportional response to the Oct. 7, 2023 assault on Israel by Hamas terrorists. Personalize that video. Suppose that was your city, or your relatives whose lives now lie in ruins. A true Christian cannot justify such devastation. Where’s the discernment? Where’s righteousness? Where’s truth or defense of innocent murdered Palestinian Christians? Where’s the impartial love of Jesus? I’ll tell you where those true Christian virtues are: they’ve all been silenced to absolute death by deceived US leaders and evangelical Zionist leadership.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is an unbeliever of the gospel. Yet, political Zionism allows him to control the US narrative about Israel, heavily influencing our president and lawmakers, able to gain funding of billions of US tax dollars and weaponry. And for what? So that he and his IDF war machine can continue mass destructions, driving Palestinians from their homeland on which they’ve lived for centuries before Israel was even reborn as a nation? Yes! Many of our tax and Christian Zionist tithe dollars fund exactly that, to help Israel drive innocent Palestinians off their land. I tell you, before the One living true God, it’s criminal.
Jesus said “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” (Matt. 28:18–20). For true Christians that’s not optional. But Israel rejects the gospel. And Jesus clearly said “whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” (Mark 6:11). But Zionists ignore that as they flock to Israel unable and afraid to preach the name of Jesus because the religious Jews vehemently denounce Christ.
Yet Zionists continue sending unbelieving Israel millions of illegal tithe dollars to defend Israel regardless of her killing ways. Remember what constitutes a true Christian revealed by the Holy Spirit: “For he is not a Jew [true Christian] who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (Rom. 2:28–29). It’s we who’ve been born again by faith in Christ who are the true Jews God sought since Abram’s call. Yet, God hasn’t abandoned Israel any more than He’s abandoned anyone else, for He calls to “whoever believes in Him” (John 3:16), and like the Holy Spirit said, “if they [Israel] do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” (Rom. 11:23).
And contextually Christ said “I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (Rev. 2:9); and again: “Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you” (Rev. 3:9). God very clearly said “they are not all Israel who are of Israel” (Rom. 9:6), confirmed in that, Hagar and Sarah represent two covenants: “the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children…” (Gal. 4:24–25). Unbelieving Jews of Israel live under that bondage of OT law, but true believers of Christ “in the liberty by which Christ has made us free” (Gal. 5:1).
Political Zionism has murdered many, but “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them” (Rom. 1:18–19). [My bold emphasis] Many ministers suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And since Israel rejects the gospel, Jesus said to “shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them”.
Funding unbelieving Israel’s warring pursuit of land on which another people lived for centuries is criminal. Yes, the Land of Israel, by covenant, belongs to the descendants of Abraham, which doesn’t include unbelieving Jews of Israel, because “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29), and the warring pursuit of that Land before the return of Christ is on all counts an evil endeavor in this age! Only after Jesus returns will the descendants of Abraham possess the Land forever. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7). That equally applies to nations. And the day is coming when Israel will reap what she has sown because God “will gather all the nations [including the US] to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (Zech. 14:2). Then, Christ-hating Jews will reap what they’ve sown.
If you’re part of an organized Dispensational Zionist church, I invite you to faithfully search the truth and authority of God’s written word. Time is too short to allow yourself being led astray by elite-worded theologians and preachers who seek the praise of men rather than God, Rom. 2:29. In the days of the seven-year tribulation to soon come, I’m convinced by God’s word that many weak ministers compromised by their own choice to seek the praise of men rather than God, will lead many people to follow false christ’s who show great signs and wonders to deceive. If there’s not a sincere turning away from a lukewarm, culture-pleasing Christianity to true repentance and confession faith in Jesus Christ, it will fuel the great falling away which will be magnified in the days when all people of this world must make a choice as to whether or not they will accept “the mark of the beast” (Rev. 13:17) in order to be able to buy or sell for the very sustenance of life.
My second book “ON EAGLES’ WINGS” explains in detail how to know Christ and find God’s Bozrah sheepfold of safety and place of provision for the last 1,260 days of the great tribulation.
Marlin J. Yoder
