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Collision on the Road to Redemption:

Zionism, Jihad, and Evangelicalism
Through the Lens of Millenarianism
In the Bible we see an endless alternation of injustice
perpetrated by conquerors and injustice suffered by those
who are conquered: the inevitable fluctuations of fortune in
wars of conquest are not the random result of
circumstances but the result of a divine reaction to the
obedience or disobedience of the Elect.
- Johannes Jansen
Throughout history, the peoples of the world have seen cycles of hardship and
rebirth, misfortune and fortune the Dark Ages into the Renaissance, Egyptian slavery
into the Exodus it seems that this cyclical disposition is ingrained within the nature of
human civilization. This paper will argue that millenarian aspects of religions are merely
evolutionary adaptations to times of crises. These millenarian views provide a religions
followers with hope, and as a result, ensure a revitalization of the religions fundamental
roots. Through an examination of Zionism, Jihad and Evangelicalism, this paper will
attempt to understand the millenarian aspects of each faith and in conclusion, understand
the nature of this unprecedented collision of millenarianisms what Samuel Huntington
has described as a clash of civilizations.
Millenarianisms intended existence was for the sake of being an escape
mechanism. On a metaphorical level, millenarianism is a way to hope that the tides will
turn, a way to move from times of great misfortune to redemption. However, on a level of
literal interpretation, millenarianism is seen as a predicted turn of events - that great
cataclysmic tragedies will be followed by a long period of human redemption, unity, and
self-perpetuating bliss. This literal interpretation of millenarianism, in essence, is what

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keeps us bound to a continuous cycle of destruction and rebirth. In mans highly usual
attempt to control the fate of the world, men who have taken a literal interpretation of
millenarianism tend to work toward cataclysmic events in order to try to attain the
guaranteed subsequent prophecies the salvation of humankind. This very aspect of
human nature mans need to control his environment, a constant repetition of original
sin - is what keeps us bound to a loop between dark ages and golden eras.
Judaic Millenarianism and Zionism
While the roots of millenarianism lie in the ancient Zorastarian tradition, the
oldest known form of millenarianism today lies in the Judaic belief that a coming
Messiah will redeem the Jewish community (Ali 1). The initial manifestations of
Judaic millenarianism can be traced back to the Sicarii movement a Jewish resistance to
Roman occupation. The Sicarii believed that God would intervene only if the Jews with
high devotion in their hearts stood firm and did not shirk from the bloodshed that might
be necessary, (Ali 3). Hence, the zealotry of the Sicarii movement manifested itself as a
sort of Jewish terrorism a way for the oppressed Jew to battle the overwhelming
military strength of Rome. The Sicarii assassinated many Romans and Romansympathizers with their infamous cloaked daggers (Ali 4). However, as history unfolded,
the Jewish resistance would fail and eventually the Romans would send the Jews into
their long diaspora convinced that they would eventually return to their holy land under
the reign of their long-awaited Messiah.
In the late 18th century, the emancipation of European Jewry by Napoleon was
initially welcomed as a millenarian redemption. The Jews had suffered anti-Semitism in
Europe for centuries. The arrival of Napoleon who, at the time, represented the ideals of

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the French Revolution liberty, equality and fraternity was greeted by messianic
hymns composed in honor of the liberators. However, many Jews began to recognize
these liberators as a danger to Judaism, rather than a redeemer. The liberation of the Jews
in Europe would mean the assimilation of the Jews into European culture and a loss of
Judaic fundamentals. Instead, these Jews claimed that the redemption could not possibly
take place in Europe and would have to take place in the holy land. This, in conjunction
with a new rise in anti-Semitism following Napoleons downfall, was the spark that set
into motion the roots of Zionism (Rabkin 22).
As such, Zionisms modern beginnings can be traced back to secular and
reactionary roots. As Shlomo Avineri points out, Zionism is not a linear continuation of
the Jewish religious messianic quest. It is a modern and revolutionary ideology,
signifying a clear break with the quietism of the religious belief in messianic redemption
that should occur only through divine intercession in the mundane cycles of world
history, (Avineri 3). In fact, the forefathers of Zionism (such as Moses Hess, Leon
Pinsker and Theodor Herzl) all came from the secularized and sometimes assimilated
Jewish intellegentsia (Avineri 3). This is interesting because while these beginnings
of Zionism were inherently secular, they also took the fate of Judaism into their own
hands. Usually this would be a millenarian characteristic an attempt to achieve the
preconditions to redemption. However, in this case, the secular nature of the movement is
able to stay distanced from the religious and millenarian aspects by not setting up the
preconditions to redemption, but instead, by setting the stage for the eventual divine
intervention that would set the preconditions to redemption. This interplay between the
secular and millenarian foundations of Zionism is very complex. It can be described as an

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evolution of Jewish millenarianism. Judah Solomon Hai Alkalai reinterprets the
traditional view of the preceding of the ultimate messiah, son of David, by a temporal
messiah, son of Joseph, by suggesting that this terrestrial messianic forerunner should be
understood not in terms of an individual but as a constituent assembly which would lay
down the institutional framework that could carry out the political work of the
redemption, (Avineri 3). In a sense, while most forms of millenarianism attempt to
destroy old orders in an attempt to cause the cataclysmic preconditions to redemption, the
new and evolved Judaic millenarianism attempted to create a new order that would
eventually, through divine intervention, spiral toward deliverance. This new millenarian
view is less meddlesome and destructive than past views. In addition, its reactionary
attributes (to anti-Semitism and the Holocaust) provided the necessary moral groundwork
to achieve the necessary political leverage to gain acceptance from the international
community. To quote Alkalai, the redemption will begin by the efforts of the Jews
themselves; they must organize and unite, choose leaders, and leave the land of exile,
(Avineri 3). The Jews themselves had not only assimilated into the modern world, but
their millenarianistic views had also adapted in a way that could coexist with secularism.
Therefore, when Shlomo Avineri describes Zionism as a revolutionary break with the
Jewish religious messianic quest, he would be better off describing it as a revolution
within the overarching idea of millenarianism - for the first time in history, a
millenarianistic ideology, Zionism, could successfully balance human action with the
awaiting of divine intervention. This indeed, was a revolutionary concept.
Samuel Mohilevers address to the First Zionist Congress recognized the innate
complexities of religious-political movements. However, he also prayed for the success

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of this new revolutionary millenarianism: [let us] not stumble with [our] tongues, God
forbid, to speak against our Holy Law or in opposition to the secular governments that
rule over us, (Avineri 4). One can instantly see the intricate balance lying within
Zionism: respect the Holy Law, but also respect the nature of the modern world. This, in
its essence, was the key to the success of Zionism. In its most basic form, Zionism is
indeed a compromise between millenarianism and secularism.
It should be quickly noted however, that although Zionism as a whole is a
carefully balanced ideology, its followers fall along a spectrum of secular and
millenarianistic perspectives. Often considered the father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, a
political Zionist, envisioned an extremely secular Israel that would be dominated by
German literature, French theater, and Italian opera and would arise out of an appeal
to the international community (Avineri 5). Meanwhile, labor Zionists such as David Ben
Gurion, were motivated by a commitment to start afresh and were convinced that
rather than Israel arising out of an appeal to the international community, the Zionists
would succeed through a class struggle in Palestine (Reinharz 138). Religious Zionists,
such as Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook devoted themselves to the regeneration of
traditional Judaism, while Cultural Zionists, such as Ahad Haam hoped for a revival
of the national ethos through Hebrew language and literature (Reinharz 138).
Meanwhile, literal interpretations of millenarianistic prophecies contained two
polar opposite strands. Revisionist Zionists such as Ze'ev Jabotinsky called for the
resettlement of the entirety of Eretz-Israel while many others such as Judah Leib Zirelson
were dumbfounded to learn that men boast that they are able to bring salvation to the
House of Israel, and believed Israel would be reinstated only through divine intervention

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(Rabkin 149). In other words, these Jews believed that when people usurp a messianic
prerogative, they commit a grave transgression against divine will. (Rabkin 163). In the
Zionist case, its millenarian aspects tended to manifest itself as predominantly antiZionist rather than ultra-Zionist (or Revisionist).
These many perspectives of Zionism add up to a very complex ideology an
ideology of whose success rests not on its core principles, but on the balance of the many
perspectives it contains. Zionism has indeed evolved from a collision of religious
principles based on millenarianism and a political reaction to anti-Semitism and the
Holocaust into a religious-political ideology that has successfully incorporated aspects of
secular and modern society into its complex and delicate framework. In this sense,
Zionism has been a great success.
Islamic Millenarianism and Jihad
The rise of Islamic millenarianism was born of quite different roots than that of
Zionism. In the Islamic case, it was the civil wars that followed the death of the Holy
Prophet which gave rise to millenarianism in Islam, (Ali 13). In other words, in Islam,
the roots of millenarianism were a response to internal divisions rather than a reaction to
external oppressions. Additionally, in the midst of this growing despondency, a yearning
arose for the restoration of the golden age of Islam, (Ali 14).
Further analysis will lead to the conclusion that Islamic millenarianism adapted
some unique characteristics that distinguish it from Judaeo-Christian millenarianisms.
Firstly, in Islam, messianism does not mean spiritual rebirth of a society, rather it
entails [the] creation of a universal kingdom of God on Earth, (Ali 14). Secondly, it
is not confined to any particular land or region. It would mean the betterment of the

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whole mankind, (Ali 14). In this sense, rather than the Judaic millenarianistic view that
the State of Israel would act as a role model for societies throughout the world, Islamic
millenarianism sees the Messiah (or Mahdi) as creating a universal and all-encompassing
Kingdom.
Islamic millenarianism took its roots among Shias, a party of Muslims that sided
with Ali, the son-in-law of the Holy Prophet, (Ali 14). For centuries, the Shias lived as a
persecuted minority under a Sunni Empire. As a result of this psychological climate of
growing frustration and pessimism, the Shia community created an elaborate
ideological network for ultimate redemption for their followers, (Ali 15). Like most
millenarian views, this Islamic millenarianism was born out of a basic need for hope in a
time when none existed.
However, there is another key difference between the Shia Mahdi and the JudaeoChristian Messiah. While the role of violence is unclear in the Christian tradition, the
Shia points out in unmistakable terms that the appearance of the Mahdi would be
accompanied by a holy war (Jihad) (Ali 15). However, it is important to note that a
believer can undertake Jihad in more than one way, He could do it by pen, tongue, heart
or sword. Jihad becomes a collective duty of the community only when it is being
conducted with the sword, (Ali 52). In fact, the original notion of Jihad was merely the
idea that it was a just war. The idea of Jihad as a war against unbelievers for their
disbelief arose under Imam Shaffi who said for the first time (in the 8th century) that it
is the duty of the Islamic state to be always at war against unbelievers, (Ali 52).
However, Jihad and Islamic fundamentalism in its modern form did not begin to
arise until the end of the 19th century and was not generally recognized until the late

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1970s (Jansen 13). In its modern form, Islamic fundamentalism is a reaction to the
hardships faced by the Muslim world. In one way, it can be explained by Ralph Lintons
concept of nativism [a way] to describe the amalgam of feelings expressed by
someone who senses that his world, his culture and his way of life are being threatened
by another culture, (Jansen 16). In this view, Islamic fundamentalism is the idea that
when things do not go well, leaders come forward who can explain the communitys
misfortune: if the community had respected its ancient values, things would not have
gone wrong. Decline and disaster are caused by neglect of the old ways (Jansen 20).
This, in its essence created an Islamic totalitarianistic manifestation of Islamic
fundamentalism the need to reinstate shariah as not only religious law, but as political
law in the Islamic world. Under this perspective, once the shariah is applied in its
entirety, many think, Islam and the Muslims will return to their ancient glory and get the
better of their enemies, (Jansen 20).
However, another manifestation of Islamic fundamentalism is through the modern
version of Jihad. Under this manifestation, it is argued that the Muslims were forced by
the overwhelming power of colonialism and imperialism to abandon their shariah, and
that the decline this has caused is thus the fault not of the Muslims, but of those
colonialists and imperialists, who after all are enemies of God and His religion, (Jansen
21). Under this view, many will welcome any anti-Western action since any weakening
of the West contributes directly or indirectly to the implementation of the shariah,
(Jansen 21). In this way, use of force or violence for a noble cause becomes even more
valid when one realizes that the straight path for believers is constantly threatened by

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fetna (who are forced to defect from the faith under pressure) and munafiqune
(hypocrites), (Ali 57).
In this model, Islamic millenarianism is unlike Zionism in that it does not seek to
coexist with the surrounding powers, but instead, for Islam to establish its divine system,
it is inevitable that these material powers be destroyed and the powers that administer the
system that resist the divine may be annihilated, (Ali 57). However, it is important to
recognize that like within Zionism, Islamic fundamentalism contains more than one
perspective. From one perspective, all wars waged for reasons other than the defense of
Islam or elimination of tyranny are illegal from the point of view of Islam, (Ali 59). This
statement however, as most in theological discourse, is up for interpretation.
However in recent times, it seems there have been countless accounts of Islamic
millenarian movements. In 1979, Juhayman al-Otaibi claimed to be the Mahdi and
utilized 1,500 followers to seize the Grand Mosque in Mecca. After the Saudi
government attacked the Mosque to expel the insurgents however, the proclaimed Mahdi
was killed and this latest millenarian movement ended (Ali 208).
Why however has Islamic fundamentalism failed to embrace a balanced ideology
in which religious fundamentalism can coexist with liberal secularism? The answer to
this question can be described in Marxist terminology: the elite have become
dangerously estranged from the masses, (Jansen 95). Unlike the Zionist case in which
the Jews sought the recreation of a Jewish State, in the Islamic case, the Muslims seek to
purify current Islamic states. This, as can be seen throughout the course of history is a
much more difficult task - it is not easy to enlist the moderate in an army that has to
fight and die for moderation, (Jansen 116). Therefore, a failed reform must be replaced

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by a radical revolution. As such, this radicalism tends to be exhibited in the ideology of
Islamic fundamentalism. While Zionism required the moderation of diplomacy to be
successful, Islamic fundamentalism required radicalism to become militarily successful.
After understanding this nature of Islamic millenarianism, it is not difficult to
understand the nature to which Zionism and Jihad are conflicting. Although Zionism, at
its core, does not seek to be an expansionary ideology, its very existence is seen as a
threat to Jihad the need to bring the world into a renewed Golden Age of Islam. As
such, these two have come to a boiling point. Unfortunately, the pot has already boiled
over and, in conjunction, a new actor has arisen out of the midst of this conflict
Christian Evangelicalism. Indeed, the collision of Zionism and Jihad has brought about
the beginnings of a clash of civilizations.
Christian Millenarianism and Evangelicalism
Although Christian evangelicals do not necessarily always prescribe to a
particular eschatological, millenarian or millennial view, it is well known that it is a
highly visible element within the evangelical subculture. Partially, the resurgence of
Christian millenarianism can be attributed to influences of modernity, secularism and
Darwinian teachings. In an effort to restore Christianity to its fundamentals,
millenarianism projects that prior to Christs return, the world must embrace Christian
fundamentals.
In addition, it is known that our current President, George W. Bush, received 40%
of his votes from this highly influential American demographic (Mead 36). For this
reason, it is important to examine the millennial views that many of these politically

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influential evangelicals profess. In the case of Christianity, millenarianism can be broken
into three distinct groups: amillenialism, premillenialism and postmillennialism.
Postmillenialism, popular in the evangelical subculture during the early 19th
century, holds that the kingdom of God is primarily a present reality; it is here in earthly
fashion, (Erickson 55). In addition, this view holds that Jesus Christ will return
following the conversion of all of the nations to Christianity. As a result of this millenial
importance of conversion, evangelicalism gained its early millenarian roots. .
Evangelicalism is based on the concept of evangelism, or proselytizing in attempt to
convert non-Christians to the Christian faith. As a result, this postmillennial view was
appealing under the evangelical framework, as it provides reason to believe that the work
of evangelicals is also bringing about the second coming (Erickson 56). However,
another tenet of postmillennialism, the expectation of a millennium in which peace
gradually increases throughout (as more people convert to Christianity), was the silver
bullet that would effectively transform evangelical postmillennialism into the current
predominant premillennialistic and amillennialistic views (Erickson 56). As we know, the
early 19th century was followed by the Civil War, and massive immigration of nonChristians into America events that seemed to contrast the predictions of the
postmillennial framework.
Amillennialism takes a less literal view of millennialism. Firstly, it holds that the
idea of millennium is merely atemporal, and does not in fact mean 1000 years.
Moreover, amillenials believe that the second coming will inaugurate the final age of man
there will be no transitional period, no earthly, personal reign of Christ, no
millennium, (Erickson 74). However, while the amillennials hold that Christs return is

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imminent, they are also less preoccupied about the details of the end-times (Erickson 75).
The amillennials are ready for the second coming, but not overly concerned about when it
will occur.
Premillennialism on the other hand, was another system that filled the
eschatological vacuum left by the failures of postmillennialism. Considered one of the
more popular views among evangelicals, premillennialism posits that the peaceful
millennium has not yet occurred, and hence, we are pre-millennial. Instead,
premillennialism proposes that the earthly reign of Christ is established by His second
coming, (Erickson 91). Additionally, premillennialism does not rely on a gradual growth
toward this second coming, but instead states that it will be preceded by cataclysmic
events (or great tribulation) on Earth (Erickson 92). As a result, and in combination
with evangelical political influence, premillennialism has become greatly entangled with
global politics.
Although there is some disagreement as to the interpretation of Revelation among
the factions of premillennialists, the general understanding is that in the millennium
Israel will be restored to the land of Palestine, (Erickson 103). In addition, Israel will
turn to Christ and be saved, (Erickson 103). However, there is often concern that this
focus on Israel within Christian eschatology will allow Israel [to] retain such a
significant place in Gods plan and program that it virtually displaces the church as the
primary object of Gods working, (Erickson 106).
In addition, certain factions within premillennialism, such as the posttribulationist
view, believe that there are sign or indications of the nearness of the Lords coming,
(Erickson 147). The dispensationalist and prettribulationist views propose that the second

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coming and the great tribulation must be preceded by the rapture, an event in which the
Christian believers ascend to heaven prior to the cataclysms on Earth. However, in this
posttribulationist view, the rapture occurs after the great tribulation, and therefore, the
second coming can be predicted by the presence of cataclysmic events on Earth (Erickson
146).
This premillennial, pretribulationist view is particularly interesting in the scheme
of evangelicalism and international relations. Firstly, it provides hope for a religious
people that may be stuck in particularly harsh times. Throughout history, there have been
numerous occasions upon which Christians anticipated the imminent coming of Christ
based on correlations between world events and the prophecies of Revelation. The Black
Plague, the Crusades, the World Wars, and numerous other catastrophic disasters have
led Christian millennialists to believe that the end-times were near. For example, the
politics of the early 1980s can be described as apocalyptic in a particular and restricted
sense politicians and preachers invoked the spectre of a world Communist dictatorship
that would threaten America with either enslavement or apocalyptic destruction,
(OLeary 173).
Today however, the fervor seems to be especially intense. For the first time in
millennia, the Jewish people have been restored to the State of Israel a precondition to
the second coming in some views. In addition, Hal Lindsey, a famous evangelist
recounted a comparison between current American military strategy and biblical
millennialism: After my talk, one officer told me that various Pentagon officials had
independently come to the same conclusions I had reached regarding the future of the
Middle East with virtually no knowledge of what the Hebrew prophets had predicted

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2,000 to 3,000 years earlier, (OLeary 175). In fact, many have drawn the correlation
that the Arab nations are the descendants of the infamous Gog and Magog, the evil
ruler and land (respectively) that will descend upon and attack Israel in the end-times.
Obviously, with recent events, it would seem that this interpretation is very real in the
present day. However, there is one major problem with this view it is merely an
interpretation.
Conclusion
As with all millenarian views, the interpretation of prophecy can often be a game
of guesswork. As stated above, Gog and Magog has sometimes been correlated with
Arab states, however, in past times, has been correlated with Persia and Russia as well. In
fact, the Muslim millenarians have sometimes interpreted Gog and Magog as the
ancestors of the Ashkenazi Jews that have migrated back to Israel in recent times. All in
all, it seems that the prophecies of most millenarian views are ambiguous enough to be
interpreted in a large variety of ways. This scholar proposes however that while
prophecies may predict future events, they may not predict any specific events in
particular. Instead, the proposition is that prophecies project occurrences in human
history that tend to repeat themselves death, despair and war followed by peace,
happiness and prosperity. Enemies will always collide, and prophecy can always provide
an explanation as to why one side is right, or divine, and why it will ultimately be
triumphant. In the eyes of history however, all of these conflicts share the same roots a
cyclical repetition of common human events that the prophets probably experienced in
their own biblical times.

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It is obvious that the constant reappearance of millenarianistic ideologies
throughout history is the result of some ingrained characteristic of human civilization.
Shaukat Ali describes the recurrence comprehensively: The crux of this crisis is to find
satisfactory explanations for sufferings and evil in human life. Both secularism and
religion are loaded with explanations, but compared to religions, solutions of secularism
are weak and inadequate, and when ever evil and suffering make life miserable and
insufferable, men are often seen seeking asylum with religion and trying to rejuvenate its
effectiveness as a weapon to fight sins, rampant waste and other inequities of life, (Ali
209). In other words, millenarianism is the escape mechanism of human history. The
cyclical nature of history spirals out of control in all directions we spiral into depression
and spiral into revolution the force that reverses these uncontrollable spirals and starts
the whole process all over again is that of millenarianism. For better or for worse,
mankind will continue to spiral through the cyclical nature of time this is why the
prophets have such credibility and millenarianism has gained such popularity.