Like many American Christians I was taught to be a Zionist. Which is fine as a political arrangement, but probably would not have had much staying power were it not for the religious aspects of radial dispensationalism. Yeah, the Jews are a real issue, they won’t assimilate and they generally oppose Christendom, from their early murders of Christians to their more recent support of Marxism. So let them live in their own country, fine. Let them be our political ally, fine.
But I think Hebrews is clear, Christians should be Melchizedists. For Jesus was a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek trumps Aaron. The temple of the Holy Spirit, your body, trumps the temple in Israel (I Peter 2:5-9). Which is why the curtain was torn(Mark 15:38). Which is why the temple was destroyed in 70A.D.
The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek. Peter Paul Rubens. 1625. Oil on Wood. National Gallery of Art
“Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?” –Hebrews 7
Christians should be focusing on living holy lives as Hebrews 12 goes on to say, rather than rebuilding a temple for Israel, so that the Jews can be saved, the world can blow up and we escape on the clouds with our new buddies the real Jews. This isn’t a Star Wars Story, it’s real.
Being a Jew today isn’t really a thing. Oh sure they still have the funny hats, but what good is that? The records are gone, the tribes are gone and the temple is gone. Rebuilding a farce on a piece of dirt in Israel isn’t going to fix these problems. What good is a stone box without the Spirit of God? One day the high priest is going into the Holy of Holies not knowing if he will be struck dead or not and the next day Titus walks in and steals all the furniture.
God’s people are now the church(Romans 11). And like the true Israel in the Old Testament, the remnant, that membership is determined by faithful living. If you think you are a Jew and you want in, then you must go through Christ(John 14:6). The old way, the ethnic way does not work and it never did(Romans 9:6-12). And this presents an interesting problem in the way we work out our faith practically.
We seem to think ethnic Israel has a mandate for this earth as a people group, but the Church just floats around with personal faith that never does anything. Dispensationalism says ethnic Israel has a real temple but the Church just has a metaphysical temple. This is because there is no literal interpretation of these verses. There is either taking your faith spiritually, or realizing that we are Israel spiritually. Hebrews 12 is very clear which option we must choose. James 2 is clear. Our faith is not a metaphor, it should result in real actions on this earth. Ethnic Israel was a metaphor. It was a tale for our edification (I Corinthians 10). This was why Paul had to correct this error in I Corinthians 6:15. Your body is a real temple just like the Temple Solomon built. Your body is Holy Ground just like the Holy Ground marked out by those gilded stones.
Christianity is not just about a prayer you prayed, personally in your room, in your mind, which you keep to yourself. It’s about boots on the ground, a personal culture of doing what God says. And when hundreds and thousands and millions of people with the law written on their hearts come together, with strong personal faith, strong personal culture, that will make a real Christian culture, which is our calling. I almost said “Earthly culture” which highlights our problem. We hate this earth. We should hate the world and it’s system under the prince of darkness, but this earth is still God’s noble creation, though fallen. We are to redeem this entire fallen Earth through Jesus the Christ (Romans 8:19).
So get to work on something more holy than Zionism, Melchizedism, otherwise known as Christianity.