Adventures with Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson is in the news again, this time for suggesting that Sharon's brain hemorrage is God's judgment on him for giving land to the Palestinians.

On the one hand, I understand Robertson's position. Does the Bible indicate that God strikes people down when they violate His will? Sure. There's Ananias and Sapphira, Uzzah, Nebuchadnezzer (insanity for a while), the prophet who stopped at someone else's house on the way home....

Does Joel 3:2 condemn those who divided up God's land a long time ago? Sure. Does Ezekiel 47 foretell boundaries to Israel that would include Gaza and the West Bank? Sure.

But... You knew there was a but coming.

I don't think Robertson knows that this is true of Sharon. And I suspect even if he did know, this is the kind of thing he should keep to himself. Maybe it's a theoretical discussion for a class or coffee shop: "So do you think this is God's judgment..."

But perhaps the biggest reason why I think Robertson is wrong is that there are problems with his understanding of biblical prophecy. If we are to take OT prophecies about Israel's land literally, then shouldn't we take the OT comments on Davidic kingship literally? As Christians, we don't. For us, Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of Israel, the permanent anointed one. But Jesus was not the kind of king--or at least is not yet the kind of king the OT had in mind. The Davidic rule the OT had in mind was an earthy king who would rule an earthly kingdom. Maybe in the millennium, but that's not modern day Israel.

Similarly, the temple Ezekiel prophesies about in conjunction with its comments on the restored land of Israel can never be fulfilled literally. Why? Because Hebrews indicates that the glory of the LORD can never return to an earthly sanctuary (cf. Ezek. 43:4). There will be no temple in the eschaton (cf. Rev. 21:22), for Christ has made atonement in the true, heavenly sanctuary (cf. Heb. 8:1-2; 10:14).

Paul does indicate that all Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:26), and it is clear that he is referring to ethnic Israelites who were currently hardened (11:11, 25). So Paul predicts that most ethnic Jews will convert in the end times. He also speaks of a man of lawlessness setting himself up in the temple (2 Thess. 2:4), something very difficult when there isn't one currently standing. Can we take these comments "spiritually" when Paul probably meant them literally. The NT certainly does this with the OT, but did God intend us to interpret the NT this way as well (we often have without realizing it, I think)?

In any case, it is not clear to me that there are any end times prophecies in the Bible regarding the land of Israel. And even if there are, it is not at all clear that now is the end times, despite the fact that people have been saying it's the end times for a couple hundred years now.

In the end, Pat Robertson simply doesn't have the prophetic authority, in my opinion, to claim the death of any individual as God's judgment on him or her. Who knows the mind of God? If it had been Billy Graham, Robertson might have said it was Satan tormenting him. It just shouldn't be done.

And even more importantly, foreign policy decisions should not be made on the basis of supposed interpretations of prophecy. A tweaked Micah 6:8 seems a much better guide: "He has showed you, O nation, what is good and what the LORD requires of you: to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God."