Should Christians Pray For and Support the Modern State of Israel?
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This is a Bible study I gave to a group of young people in a Baptist church in the city of Allen, Northern Samar, the Philippines, on October 6, 2024. It’s a composite of articles already on this website.
God’s Promise to Physical Israel to Live in the Land Was Contingent on Obedience
Christian Zionists claim that God’s promise to give the land of Canaan to Israel was an unconditional promise for perpetuity. They believe God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 applies to the modern nation of Israel. They believe unless we bless the modern State of Israel, we will be cursed! God curse Christians?! They believe if America doesn’t support the modern state of Israel in every way, it will be cursed! Is Genesis 12:3 talking about people who call themselves Israel today? Wasn’t that promise to Abraham’s seed dependant on their obedience to God’s commandments? God’s warnings to Israel in the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy tell me the latter is true.
- Leviticus 18:26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
Leviticus 20:22 Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.
Leviticus 26:14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
32 And I will bring the land into desolation: (the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD) and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
Deuteronomy 4:23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
25 When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
(17-62 Many curses.)
63 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
(Also read the rest of Deuteronomy 28.)
- Deuteronomy 30:16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
Orthodox Jews are also against Zionism!
“Zionism is the transformation of Judaism, from religion, from subservience to God, into a material concept of nationalism. This is unacceptable to the ones who want to serve God. In order to create this nationalism, they are removing God from the equation.” — Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss Quoted from https://www.rt.com/op-ed/524455-neturei-karta-rabbi-weiss-israel/
The State of Israel that was established by the United Nations in 1948 is an Endtime deception. The only true Israel today are those who confess faith in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Romans 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
Romans 9:25,25 is quoting from Hosea 1:10 and referring to the Gentiles! If they have become God’s people due to their faith in Christ Jesus, that also means they have become part of spiritual Israel!
Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them,Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
God’s promise to bless Abraham’s seed included the Gentiles!
- Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith (in Jesus Christ) are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Galatians 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
If you support Israel’s right to live in that land in the Mideast at the expense of the Palestinians who have lived there for generations, ask yourself this: Are those people who call themselves Israelis and Jews believers of Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, their Messiah? If not, they are disobedient to the commandment of God!
- 1 John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ,
John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Israel today is not only the gay capital of the world, (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-731595) it’s also the rape capital of the world (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/9/everything-is-legitimate-israeli-leaders-defend-soldiers-accused-of-rape), and also the pedophile capital of the world.(https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/tens-of-thousands-of-pedophiles-operate-in-israel-every-year-637393 )
Israel is the Church & the Church is Israel
The Church did NOT replace Israel, the Church is a continuation of Israel! Dispensationalists call the theological conviction that the Church has superseded the nation of Israel assuming their role as God’s Covenant people, “Replacement Theology.” It’s also called, “Supersessionism.” These terms are both misnomers in my opinion. The correct theological term is, “Covenant Theology.” The Church, the ones God called-out of the world, have always been God’s covenant people. When Stephen gave his speech to the Pharisees, he called Israel during its time after the exodus and before entering the promised land the “church in the wilderness.”
- Acts 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Are the Jewish unbelievers in Christ Jesus God’s covenant people today? Absolutely not. Can they become God’s covenant people? They sure can. I’ve met many brothers and sisters in Christ who were raised Jewish.
Romans 11:26 “And so all Israel shall be saved” Explained in Context
Romans 11:26 is often quoted by Christian Zionists as one reason for their support of the modern nation of Israel. All Christian Zionists are Dispensationalists whether they know it or not or whether they call themselves that or not.
Dispensationalists, Futurists and Christian Zionists teach that Paul is prophesying that the entire modern nation of Israel will be saved. But did Paul really mean that?
First of all, let’s read carefully what Romans 11:26 says:
- Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
In Romans 11:26, Paul is quoting from Isaiah 59:20 which says:
- And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
This is a Messianic prophecy that was fulfilled at the time of Jesus Christ!
Let’s see how Dispensational Christian Zionist preachers interpret Romans 11:26:
John MacArthur of Grace Community Church says:
“All Israel must be taken to mean just that—the entire nation that survives God’s judgment during the Great Tribulation.”
John MacArthur calls himself a “leaky dispensationalist. He is breaking at least three rules of proper Bible interpretation. He is reading into Romans 11:26 what isn’t there! The context is not about God’s judgement during a time of great tribulation. He’s not using any of the preceding verses in Romans 11 to get the context. And he’s not using Scripture to interpret Scripture by quoting Isaiah 59:1.
- Isaiah 59:20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
MacArthur’s dispensational bias tells him Romans 11:26 must be a future end-time event. And if we let him explain further, he will probably tell you that this happens after the Church is raptured.
Dispensationalists wrongly divide the Word of truth because they break the principles of hermeneutics.
Interpretation of Bible Scripture is known as hermeneutics. It’s derived from the Greek word ἑρμηνεύω, hermēneuō, meaning to “translate, interpret”. Hermeneutics is the theory and methodology of interpretation of biblical text.
There are several principles of basics hermeneutics, but the four most important ones are:
- Let Scripture interpret Scripture. Scripture is always the best interpreter of other Scripture.
- The meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph must be derived from the context.
- Interpret the Scriptures knowing that the goal in interpretation is not to discover hidden, secret truths or to be unique in your interpretation. In other words, read out of Scripture using the method called “exegesis”, to read out of, and not put your own ideas into Scripture using the method called “eisegesis”, reading into Scripture what is not there.
- Do not create a major doctrine from a single Scripture.
All false interpretation of Scripture is the result of breaking one or more of these principles!
Let’s read verses Romans 11 before verse 26 to determine the context:
- Romans 11:3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
God told Elijah that though most of Israel broke God’s covenant, there was still a remnant left, 7000, who continue to keep the covenant. And Paul applied that to his day as well. The remnant will turn to Christ and be saved just like the gentiles.
Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they (the people of Israel) stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
In other words, that Israel may see how God has blessed the Christ believing Gentiles that they might want what the Gentiles have, namely Christ.
- Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
The “fullness of the Gentiles” means the salvation of the Gentiles.
- Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Meaning Israel will be saved just like the Gentiles are saved, through faith in the Deliverer, Jesus Christ! Paul was not talking about an end-time event. When he says all Israel, he’s speaking about the Jews, the elect that are saved, but he’s also speaking about the spiritual Israel the Gentiles that are included and together that makes up all of Israel, and so this is how all of Israel will be saved.
In light of what the Bible says, can you now with confidence answer the question in the title of this article? Should Christians pray for and support the modern State of Israel?
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