Christian Zionism - New Life Tabernacle of Chattanooga

fulfilment can be reconciled with the futurist claims of dispensationalists.
Neither Scofield nor Schuyler English footnote either passage. However,
Scofield, like many dispensationalists since, 856 bases his belief in a third
restoration on Ezekiel 37 and the vision of the valley of the dry bones. 857
Following the publication of the Balfour Declaration, for example, a CMJ
editorial of 1918 was one of the first to assert that a Jewish State would be
the fulfilment of Ezekiel’s vision:
‘We believe we are actually seeing that come to pass which was
prophesied by Ezekiel (ch. 37) viz., the movement amongst the “dry
bones” of Israel, bone is uniting with bone ... The uniting element being
the possibility in the very near future of their being allowed to organise
a Jewish State in their own God-given country of Palestine.’ 858
With the benefit of hindsight, Lindsey also elaborates on this, using capitals
for emphasis in case his readers miss the plot:
‘Ezekiel 37:7-8 ... is phase one of the prophecy which predicts the
PHYSICAL RESTORATION of the Nation without Spiritual life which
began May 14, 1948 ... Ezekiel 37:9-10 ... is phase two of the
prophecy which predicts the SPIRITUAL REBIRTH of the nation
AFTER they are physically restored to the land as a nation ... The Lord
identifies the bones in the allegory as representing “the whole house of
Israel.” It is crystal clear that this is literally predicting the restoration
and rebirth of the whole nation at the time of Messiah’s coming
[Ezekiel 37:21-27].’ 859
It is difficult to conceive how such an entirely futuristic interpretation would
have brought comfort to the Jewish exiles in Babylon to whom Ezekiel was
sent to minister, yet this and similar passages provide the motivation for the
restorationist movement today.
Bridges for Peace and Exobus, for example, both use the term ‘fishing’
to describe their outreach to Jewish people, based on Jeremiah 16:16, ‘“But
now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch
them.”’ 860 Zionists use this passage as a ‘carrot and stick’ reminding Jews
that the verse goes on to warn how God will also send hunters, ‘and they will
856 Lindsey, Late, op.cit., p51.
857 Scofield, Scofield, op.cit., fn. 1, p881.
858 Kelvin Crombie, ‘CMJ and the Restoration of Israel’ Shalom, 1, (1998). See also Anne
Dexter, ‘The Eternal Covenant, Part 3, Exile and Restoration,’ Shalom, June (1989),
pp10-11.
859 Lindsey, Road, op.cit., p180. Emphasis in the original.
860 Patricia Golan, ‘On Wings of Faith’ Jerusalem Post, 13 January (2002).
187