I respect J. Denny Weaver’s teaching and scholarship, but “On Jerusalem, Leave Prophecy Out of It” (Blog, Jan. 1) is a bridge too far. Weaver rebukes evangelicals who justify the actions of Israel by stating that they fulfill biblical prophecy. He writes: “Since the Bible doesn’t make predictions about things impossible for the original reader to grasp, we shouldn’t judge actions and policy today on the basis of this failed idea of predictions.”

Biblical prophetic books have two authors, human and God. Scripture articulates this in 2 Peter 1:20, which states that all Scripture originates in the mind and heart of God. The prophet addresses his own situation; God has a larger purpose and audience. Jesus saw the Old Testament as full of witness to himself and his mission. In Luke 24:25 he explains to his Emmaus Road companions that the Old Testament prophecies spoke of him.

I understand Weaver’s rebuke to evangelicals who lift biblical references out of their context to form a unified prediction of events today. But does he believe the regathering of the Jews and the rebirth of Israel were predicted (Isaiah 66:8, Ezekiel 36, Jeremiah 23), whether or not the prophets understood fully what they were writing? Denying this, or simply failing to state it, seems scripturally unfaithful and gives comfort to enemies of the Jewish people and their movement to create a nation. Surely we want to stand against Christianity’s bloody history of anti-Semitism and with the Jews.

Ken Y. Reed
San Jose, Calif.