David Pawson – Friend of Israel

Yesterday evening I heard of David Pawson’s passing on to glory earlier in the day. Alongside the sadness of another much-loved Bible teacher leaving us, memories started flooding back of David’s teaching and the great help it has been to me, as well as to very many others.

I had the privilege of working at Anchor Recordings for some years and thus had ready access to much of David’s teaching, which had been recorded faithfully in his churches and at conferences.

A highlight for me was attending his one-day seminar titled ‘A Preacher’s Legacy’ in October 2010 – when he was 80 years old. He led us through several sessions on exegesis of scriptures and sermon preparation, and then completed the day by preaching an evangelistic sermon. His passion for preaching was still so strong that when he finished the sermon his audience rose spontaneously to give him a standing ovation. It was a very special occasion.

As well as being an enthusiastic Bible teacher and preacher, David was a friend of Israel. In his memoirs he admits that at first he travelled there just to see the land of the Bible. But in 1967 he ‘sat glued to the television screen’ throughout the Six-Day War and started to gain more of an interest in the people. That interest started to emerge in his ongoing Bible teaching.

In 2008 he wrote and published a book titled ‘Defending Christian Zionism’ responding to Stephen Sizer and John Stott who had written against Christian Zionism. David believed that Christians need a very clear understanding of the Bible to gain a correct perspective on the conflict in the Middle East.

Perhaps his most important work on the topic is the book ‘Israel in the New Testament’. He developed that text over a long period as he was invited to the ICEJ Feast of Tabernacles celebrations in Jerusalem year after year to teach on the subject. You can hear him talk about the book here: www.davidpawson.org/resources/resource/1200 

And you can order the book from our online shop here: www.cfi.org.uk/israel-in-the-new-testament

At the age of 86, David was our main guest speaker at the Christian Friends of Israel Annual Conference held in Eastbourne in 2016. The conference theme was ‘Israel and the New Covenant’. David spoke alongside his friend Werner Oder, describing what he called the Five Crucial Covenants, as well as the main conference theme of the New Covenant. Recordings of those talks are available in a CD set through our online shop here: www.cfi.org.uk/israel-and-the-new-covenant

David speaking at the CFI UK conference in 2016

David will be greatly missed, but his teaching will live on in video, audio and written form. Praise the Lord!

Robin Lane

Christian Friends of Israel UK