A week into one of the most severe crises the Middle East has seen in years, Israel is getting an influx of support from an unusual source. More than 3,400 evangelical Christians have arrived in Washington to lobby lawmakers as part of the first annual summit of Christians United for Israel.

Link: BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Evangelical Christians plead for Israel

The pastor of the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, is John Hagee, “a long-time fervent supporter of Israel.” 

In common with many American evangelicals, he believes that God gave the land to the Jewish people and that Christians have a Biblical duty to support it and the Jews. His latest book, Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World, interprets the Bible to predict that Russian and Arab armies will invade Israel and be destroyed by God. This will set up a confrontation over Israel between China and the West, led by the anti-Christ, who will be the head of the European Union, Pastor Hagee writes. That final battle between East and West – at Armageddon, an actual place in Israel – will precipitate the second coming of Christ, he concludes.

In a BBC TV interview, Pastor Hagee said that after a nuclear war, God will remake the earth like the Garden of Eden. Only for true believers in ‘End Time’ theology, of course. The rest of us will have gone to hell.

If you have broadband and Real Player or Windows Media Player, you can watch a video about this.