Of Mike Huckabee And His Lies

One of the more cringey picks by President Trump for his second administration was that of Mike Huckabee as the US Ambassador to Israel. The former Arkansas governor was doubtless selected because he was a staunch Zionist who favored US support for Israel, but such a selection was contrary to the purpose of an ambassador, who is to represent the nation he is being sent from, not the nation he is being sent to.

Huckabee’s record as ambassador has featured the expected Zionist slurping for Israel, but he has been more critical of their actions against Christians in the Middle East than expected.

On September 15^th, Ambassador Huckabee spoke in Jerusalem at The City of David Foundation, an organization dedicated to Israeli tourism, during their inauguration of The Pilgrimage Road. During the speech, of which there is a video and an official transcript, Huckabee goes full Zionist with grave insults to the Church and Christian religion:

What an honor to be here for this incredible ceremony, Mr. Prime Minister, Secretary Rubio, all of the wonderful people who made this possible by their generosity, contributing to something that is historic and something that is a living memorial of what God has done. It was 4000 years ago here in this city, on Mount Moriah, where God chose His people. He not only chose a people, but He chose a place, and then He chose for the people in this place a purpose. The people were the Jewish people. The place was Israel, and the purpose was to be a light to the world, and to show that we don’t have to look for God, because He is looking for us. And that is what so separates the long history of why this city is so important. It’s also a reminder to us that this little bitty sliver of real estate on the vast planet Earth is the most contested piece of land in all of human history, not because of just those who want it, but because of those who don’t want the Jewish people to have it.

The purpose of the Israelites in the Old Testament was to be the light of the world because they were practicing True Religion as it was revealed in that era. Most of the Old Testament depicts their failures to live up to that expectation. Christ would take on the title, “the light of the world” (John 8:12) and charge his disciples with being “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), so apart from Christ, the Jews have no claim to being a light to the world. It is functionally denying Christ to transpose His words onto a people who rejected Him. Moreover, he makes the story of Mt. Moriah about the Jews rather than about the Messiah, which is the significance of Isaac being substituted in Genesis 22.

But tonight, something is extraordinary that we celebrate – for 3000 years ago, David established his kingdom here, and 2000 years ago, the world, through the Romans decided we’ll get rid of the Jews. And they destroyed this place, and they scattered the Jewish people across the planet.

Huckabee omits that it was God’s judgment to rid the Jews from Jerusalem in 70 AD, and the precise reason for that judgment, which would have been a ripe opportunity to present the Gospel, was their murderous rejection of Christ. It was not “the world” that wanted to “get rid of the Jews” but the divine punishment for their behavior,s which led to the fall of Jerusalem.

Huckabee proceeds to make overtures to dispensational teaching that it was a divine decree that the Jews returned to the promised land after two millennia, despite Genesis 49 asserting that the scepter of Judah was departed to Christ thereby transferring all divine right of Jewish sovereignty onto their King (Genesis 49:10). He further makes reference to Trump’s movement of the embassy to Jerusalem and Miriam Adelson, a notable Trump donor.

After falsely asserting the eternal land promises, he proceeds to further mock the Scriptures:

And tonight, this is a celebration of the history of [Jerusalem]. There is a verse in the New Testament in Luke, verse 40 of chapter 19, and it says this, “If the crowds keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” If the crowds don’t acknowledge it, the stones were crying out. Tonight, the stones are crying out. The crowds may say it, but the stones, absolutely and 100% validate that the Jewish people not only belong here now, but they have belonged here for 4000 years, since the time God said to Abraham, this is yours, take good care of it, and you’ll be a blessing to the people around the earth and even to those of us who aren’t even Jewish. He says, “Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed.” And I come here tonight because I’d rather have a blessing than a curse.

Huckabee abuses Luke 19:40, which is about the triumphant entry of Christ, the sole sovereign of the Jews, to mean that the rocks are crying out in praise of The City of David Foundation’s tourism ceremony. He then further misapplies the promise of Genesis 12, disregarding the unambiguous Scriptural claims that “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29). It cannot be unstated that America (and the West) has suffered decline since it “blessed” Israel and many Christians have rightfully articulated that America is under God’s judgment. Moreover, Middle Eastern wars, often promulgated by Israel, have destroyed Christianity where it had survived centuries of Islamic rule.

The viral clip that circulated of the speech came towards the end:

[Jerusalem] is yours. And those of us who are not Jewish, we thank you for giving all of us a foundation of morality and decency and civilization upon which our own faith is built, for without yours we don’t have one. As I often tell my Jewish friends, you can be Jewish, you don’t need me. But I cannot be who I am in my faith without the debt of obligation that I owe to you, for having listened to God and been willing to be obedient to Him, when He called you to this place as His people for his eternal, everlasting purpose. And I salute you and join you tonight in the celebration of this wonderful, magnificent, incredible reminder that God never has been finished with Israel, and He never will be. This is the eternal home that He has chosen. God bless you all.

Huckabee thanks the modern Jews, to whom he is speaking, for giving the world “a foundation of morality” which “our own faith is built.”

First, God is the origin of all morality and gave mankind “a law which is written on the hearts of men” (Romans 2:15), so the morality was not dependent on the giving of the Torah. Though the Law enumerated this morality, it did not come into being at Mt. Sinai but was present in the garden.

Second, Huckabee asserts the claim that the Christian religion is dependent on Judaism, a statement he makes towards his modern Jewish friends. The core problem with this assertion is that it conflates modern Jewish sects with ancient Judaism, of which there is little connection other than the label. There is neither a sacrificial system nor does Israel abide by the moral law laid out in the Torah, as Tel Aviv’s homosexuality rivals Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, every form of immorality plaguing the West was sponsored in no small part by Jewish interests. The communist revolutions and the Great Replacement were both spearheaded by one group. Even Dennis Prager has acknowledged that Jews were central to “every ‘ism but Nazism.” Certain sects have notable practices that tie to the law, but these are akin to the pharisaical practices which Christ rebuked as contrary to the law. Whereas Christianity is the True Religion and a continuation of the faith of the Old Testament Israelites, Judaism post-first century is an aberration. Therefore, Christianity is not dependent on Judaism, but rather Judaism is dependent on its rejection of Christ.

Conclusion

Zionism leads Christians to a veneration of Jews that is neither rooted in Scripture and ultimately dishonors the Church, the Bride of Christ, of whom it is charged with being the “light of the world.” The Church has always been the “true Israel of God” and the “nation of priests.” To assert otherwise is to contend that the Church was unanimously wrong since its inception. Throughout history, theologians have argued that the displacement of the Jews was an especially harsh judgment from God,  far exceeding the Babylonian exile, so for Zionism to promote and establish the Jewish state without repentance is to rebel against the judgment of God, ultimately impeding their conversion to Christianity. This rebellion has correlated with the decline of the West, not its blessing from blessing a modern nation-state bearing the name Israel.

Mike Huckabee is neither representing America nor providing a Christian witness to the Jews in Jerusalem, but instead, he is loving them on their way to Hell.