Christian Zionism - New Life Tabernacle of Chattanooga

among other religious sects on the globe.’ 378 Through biblical analysis and
historical corroboration, Tris insisted the Jewish people were a ‘scattered
nation’, ‘Scattered over the world … like a spider’s web mysteriously interwoven
with the nations by golden threads, and closely identified with the very
sentiments of our own hearts.’ 379 Following Darby’s dispensational distinction
between Israel and the Church, Brookes went on to write, Israel and the
Church. In it, he challenged the notion that God’s purpose was for Jews to be
converted and incorporated in the Church, an approach he insisted history
had shown to have largely failed. Furthermore, he insisted, Old Testament
promises concerning Israel could not be spiritualised nor had they been
fulfilled in the Church. 380 Interestingly, the book was published by D.L.
Moody’s publishing company.
In 1891 Brookes wrote Till He Come, in which he presented a futurist
premillennial scheme through which ‘the Jews will be literally restored to their
land.’ 381 In his journal, The Truth, he urged Christians to show love and
compassion toward the Jews, referring to the pogroms of Russia and
Romania and restrictions placed upon them in Germany. He called upon
Christians to support the return of Jews to Palestine and repudiated the anti-
Semitism prevalent in Europe and in America. 382 ‘All Jews, except those who
have become utter infidels, confidently expect to be restored to the land of
their fathers, and it is most important to show them that their hope is founded
upon Jehovah’s immutable covenant, and that it shall be fulfilled by the
coming of Messiah.’ 383 Committed to not only a literal return to the Land but
also a literal return to the Lord, Brookes supported independent missionary
work among the Jewish people, notably with Arno C. Gaebelein and Ernst
Stroeter who founded the Hope of Israel Mission in Chicago in 1894. 384
378 Rausch, op.cit., p217.
379 Ibid., pp217-218.
380 James H. Brookes, Israel and the Church, (Chicago, The Bible Institute Colportage
Association, n.d.).
381 James H. Brookes, Till He Come, 2 nd edition (New York, Fleming H. Revell, 1895), pp1-
2.
382 Rausch, op.cit., p223.
383 James H. Brookes, ‘How to Reach the Jews’ The Truth, pp135-136, cited in Rausch,
op.cit., p224.
384 Arno C. Gaebelein also became Cyrus Scofield’s biographer.
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