‘They Were Duped’: Christian missionary statue to be removed from Israeli heritage site, but where will it go?

Statue with Jewish and Christian missionary symbols at Ein Keshatot heritage site in the Golan Heights, July 25, 2022. (Ellen Horowitz)

 

The LORD said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you.

Exodus 33:1-5 English Standard Version

Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

Deuteronomy 9:13 — King James Version

“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.

Nehemiah 9:16 — English Standard Version

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 7:51-60 — English Standard Version

For God So Loved the World

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 3:16-21 — English Standard Version

“The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

John 12:48 — English Standard Version

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’”?

Matthew 21:42 — English Standard Version

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

Acts 4:11 — English Standard Version

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

John 1:11 — English Standard Version

 

Isaiah 53 

English Standard Version

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

 

I love many Jews. One of my best friends in high school was the lone Jewish girl in that school. I’ve lived among, worked with, and for, visited, broken bread with, and had many wonderful conversations and times with Jewish people. I love Israel. Though I’ve never been there. It is one place I long to go. I probably will never make it in this life, but look forward to being in the New Jerusalem! I once had a very good friend I grew to love very much. A Jewish woman that had become a Christian. I even in a period of being lost and searching for the right place to worship and honor God, searching for a sound assembly of believers attended a Messianic assembly. Until I realized they could not break from thinking works and abiding by the Law was what was most important and the Lord Jesus Christ while spoken of and read and studied in the New Testament came in second to their long ingrained Jewish heritage. Exactly as it was in the first-century churches.

I have had many Jewish friends and have had some of the best times and conversations with them.

I love their hearts, the life in them, their humor, food, and love of life.

But they are a stiff-necked people. With scales over their eyes, they are blinded to the truth — exactly as the Scripture says they are with regard to the Lord Jesus, as the Christ, the Messiah. And their hearts are closed and darkened when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. That I cannot love though I love many who are like this.

Tragically, many will be lost due to their blindness and being so stiff-necked regarding the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thankfully, there will be an awakening among the Jews and many will be saved.

As we are taught by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile to those who faithfully believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and obey Him.

The following article is a very interesting one and one I sincerely hope anyone finding themselves here will contemplate what it all means, and come to learn more of what is taking place in God’s land, among God’s people.

Amazing the reaction the Lord Jesus Christ elicits among people. Mostly rejection and hatred, as the Bible tells us. I find it incredible the vehement reaction Jesus elicits in people — especially those that deny He is God, that He is fully truly God and fully truly man, fully truly the Christ, the Son of God. The Messiah!

Ken Pullen, A CROOKED PATH, Thursday, July 28th, 2022

 

‘They Were Duped’: Christian missionary statue to be removed from Israeli heritage site, but where will it go?

Following an outcry, a monument with Christian symbols, donated by an active missionary group, is being removed from the Ein Keshatot heritage site, but no one seems to know when or where in the country it will be relocated.

 

July 27, 2022

By Atara Beck, World Israel News

Reprinted from World Israel News

 

Many visitors to the Ein Keshatot national heritage site in the Golan Heights were perturbed by the sight of a monument promoting a Christian missionaary agenda that was donated by Curt Landry and his network of ministries.

The statue has three symbols: a menorah, a Star of David, and a fish – the latter being a Christian symbol. Engraved on a stone at the base are the words: “This symbol of the One New Man represents the friendship and brotherhood between Christianity and Judaism. Our shared love for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Yet the ‘One New Man’ theology in fact represents a merging of Christianity and Judaism and a blurring of the differences rather than a friendship between the followers of two different faiths.

“It’s so striking that they’re using the fish symbol together with the Star of David,” leading anti-missionary activist Rabbi Tovia Singer told World Israel News. (WIN).

“The Jesus fish is a very ancient symbol, much older than the cross, to represent Christianity. The fish symbol was used and continues to be used because the word for a fish is an acronym in Greek. The Greek word is ‘ichthys,’  which is an acronym for ‘Jesus Christ Son of God Savior.’

“Missionaries won’t use the term ‘Jesus Christ.’ Rather, they say ‘Yeshua’ in order to enable evangelism.

“So, the Jesus fish was an ancient Christian secret message, like a dog whistle, to convey that this is really Christianity, and it has become very popular in the last 40 years as the growth of the messianic movement emerged,” Singer explained.

“Blending the fish – which seems innocuous at first glance but actually conveys Jesus Christ and Son of God, meaning Divine and the only savior – with the Star of David is precisely what missionaries do to blur the distinction between Judaism and Christianity in order to lure Jews who otherwise would resist…

“And that lends itself directly to the One New Man or New Humanity theology that’s in the Book of Colossians [the 12th book of the New Testament written by the apostle Paul],” Singer said. “It’s designed to create a melding of Judaism and Christianity. But theologically, it’s Christianity.”

“When Michael El-Kohen was on Morningstar Ministries, he talked about this in his interview,” Singer continued, referring to Michael Elk, who immigrated to Israel using the last name El-Kohen, presented himself as an Orthodox Jew and ensonced himself in the community…

“The reason they’re so interested in converting Jews is they believe the Jews alone, through conversion, will bring Jesus’ Second Coming.”

Furthermore,”what’s going on in Israel doesn’t go on in any other country in the world. Meaning that nowhere else in the world are synagogues working with missionaries. Jewish community centers don’t have a working relationship with evangelical Christians. It’s only going on here in Israel. We have the evangelicals so deeply ensconced in government…and that clout only exists in Israel. They’re targeting us.”

Money talks

The missionary organizations are pro-Israel and donate serious money to worthy causes in the country as well as providing political support, including in Judea and Samaria. Many have turned a blind eye to their missionary activities because of this support.

“One of the reasons I made Aliyah [immigrated to Israel] more than three years ago is that I realized the problem is such a cancer,” Singer said. “I came on a speaking tour to Israel and saw the situation.”

Another reason that missionaries have had success in the Jewish state – there are roughly 200 messianic “synagogues” across the country – is that most Israelis have no understanding of Christianity and are unaware of the the symbolism, including a seemingly innocent carving of a fish. However, some visitors to Ein Keshatot who saw the monument did comprehend the meaning behind it and protested to the Golan Regional Council.

Ellen Horowitz, a writer and consultant on the Israel-Evangelical relationship who lives in the Golan Heights, investigated the situation and told WIN what she discovered.

She asked the artist, Sam Philipe, who is known for his sculptures of biblical and New Testament figures, why the enormous area around the statue had been cleared of all rubble, and “he said it’s going to be a parking lot.”

“So, the first thing visitors to the national heritage site will see is a messianic symbol,” she said.

Most Israelis do not grasp the Christian symbolism, she said. Also, “Curt Landry is giving a lot of money all over the place in Israel, and obviously it increases his influence…he gives a lot to the IDF, to hospitals – all good causes, but he’s definitely an active missionary.”

‘They were duped’

Horowitz believes that the Golan Regional Council members were tricked into accepting the statue as a gift, unaware of the “sinister” scheme.

“They now recognize there’s a missionary intent behind the sculpture. They were duped. There’s a real toxic agenda behind it, to break down the barriers between Judaism and Christianity.

“It’s a convoluted mess. It was very good people in the Golan Heights – religious, secular, across the political spectrum – who pressured the Council.

“But even if they had put up a friendlier, kinder, gentler monument, the collaboration between the Council and a missionary organization is there,” she lamented.

Horowitz becomes incensed by people who accept money from those who “cross red lines” and allow “a blatant affront to the Jewish people and to Torah and to the Land of Israel.

“That’s really what’s happening here. When something so wrong like this happens, people have to be honest and transparent and say, ‘You can’t go there Mr. Landry, Rabbi, Pastor – whoever you are. You’ve just crossed a red line that cannot be crossed.’”

‘Historic, continuing threat’ to Jewish continuity

B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem has been fighting against missionary activity in the Land of Israel since 1888. Alan Schneider, the organization’s director, told WIN:

“Proselytism targeting Jews, including through attempts by missionaries to disguise themselves and their faith as Jewish, represents one of the major historic and continuing threats to the continuity of the Jewish people and its religion, Judaism. Jews are broadly united in seeing such practices – including when accompanied by ostensible acts of support for vulnerable and needy Jewish populations – as hostile.

“Unfortunately, Curt Landry is among those promoting a ‘Messianic Judaism’ in which Jews effectively adopt Christianity. Over recent years, some professed friends of Israel, utilizing both largesse and deceptive tactics, have overseen an alarming escalation of efforts to infiltrate and win converts in Israeli Jewish communities. The public placement, next to the ancient synagogue at Ein Keshatot, of a Messianic monument tied to Landry is just one especially brazen signal of this intensified evangelism.”

Looking for a ‘suitable’ location

WIN asked Council spokesperson Limor Holtz on Tuesday where the statue would be relocated.

“I don’t know where the new location is, it’s yet to be determined” she said,” adding that “it was not the Golan residents who were bothered by it…

“We didn’t have a full understanding of what the statue means when we got the request to put it there, but for now it’s covered.”

In fact, while the statue has not yet been removed, it was completely draped for some time, as seen on photos sent from observers on Tuesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, however, the engraved base with the writing about One New Man is uncovered and clearly visible.

It will be up to those in collaboration with the artist and the donor to find a location, but “not a heritage site,” Holtz said. “I cannot speak on behalf of anybody else, but I noticed there were conversations about getting a new location that everybody is going to be happy about.”

Asked whether it could be problematic to put it anywhere else in the country other than at a church or some other Christian site, she said , “I’m not sure. We’re still looking into it.

“We didn’t know until a few days ago that somebody got offended by it, and now we are looking for a place that’s going to be suitable for everybody. It will take a little time, but I guess a solution will be found.”