In conservative American Christianity, many Christians and churches give near-unconditional support to the modern state of Israel.
Why is this happening? Why do Christians feel such an unparalleled, strong obligation toward a foreign nation? Why Israel and not China, Zimbabwe, or France? Some people suggest that Christians have been persuaded by political lobbying, media influence, or pro-Israel advocacy groups.
While those influences certainly exist, they do not explain the true source.
The primary reason for such strong Christian support for Israel is theological, not political.
More specifically, it is rooted in a system of biblical interpretation called dispensationalism.
The Forgotten Influence of Dispensationalism
Many Christians today have never even heard the word “dispensationalism,” yet they have inherited many of its assumptions. Even people who strongly hold the tenets of dispensationalism are not even aware of it! Many assume it is simply the clear teaching of the Bible, and what is universally held by Christians.
In the twentieth century dispensationalism became one of the dominant theological systems within American evangelicalism.
At its core, dispensationalism teaches that God has two distinct peoples with two distinct programs:
- Israel
- The Church
According to this view, God’s promises and covenants to ethnically Jewish people — and by extension the modern state of Israel — remain strictly separate from His promises to Christ and his Church. In that view, God has entered into an everlasting, unconditional covenant whereby Jewish people/Israel is vouchsafed by God a promised land (Israel), great prosperity, blessing and global authority/power. This has not been fulfilled yet, so the anticipation is that this is still to be fulfilled in our future.
This sharp distinction between Israel and the Church is the main foundational assumption that shapes how dispensationalists view Jewish people today, the state of Israel and modern current events.
The Abrahamic Covenant and Modern Israel
The key biblical text is Genesis 12:3 where God made a promise to Abraham:
“I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.”
Dispensationalists generally understand this promise as applying first to Abraham, then to his son Isaac, then to his grandson Jacob (who was renamed “Israel” by God), and then by extension directly to all ethnically Jewish people today, and ultimately to the collection of Jewish people in the modern state of Israel.
The practical conclusion often becomes:
- Bless Jewish people/the state of Israel and God will bless you.
- Oppose Jewish people/the state of Israel and God will oppose you.
- America must support Israel politically and militarily. It’s an honor for even Americans to join the IDF to fight with “God’s people.”
- We must strongly avoid criticizing or in any way opposing Israel’s actions, since God Himself is backing their efforts.
Genesis 12:3 has often been transformed into a foreign policy principle: nations prosper when they support Israel and are judged when they oppose Israel. Period.
As a result, many Christians have come to view support for Israel not merely as a political preference but as a biblical obligation.
Is the Modern State of Israel the Same Thing as Biblical Israel?
This is the crux of the whole matter.
When God made promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, did he ultimately have in mind a future secular democratic nation established in 1948?
The answer is…No. The modern state of Israel contains believers, unbelievers, secular Jews, atheists, Muslims, Christians, and people from many different backgrounds. Its government is a political institution like every other government in the world, not the ultimate eschatalogical fulfillment— the Hope of the World!
God made his promise/covenant with Abraham who was a faithful follower of God. The covenantal blessings were not secured to all of Abraham’s physical children, but only to the ones who were faithful to God, as Abraham was.
The New Testament makes it crystal clear that the covenant is ultimately, completely fulfilled in Abraham’s One descendant— Jesus, the Messiah, and then by extension to everyone who genuinely follows Jesus (Christians).
Galatians 3:16, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.”
Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
So, who or what is the true Israel today? It is Jesus Christ and Christians (Jewish and Non-Jewish believers in Christ).
When we bless Jesus and his faithful followers (Christians), then God will bless us. If we curse or oppose Jesus and his faithful followers (Christians), then God will oppose us.
Even if one believes God still has future purposes for ethnic Jews, it does not automatically follow that every action of the modern Israeli government is just and should be supported by Christians. The Bible is full of times where God himself criticizes the nation of Israel, her kings, priests, prophets and national policies. The true prophets definitely rebuked Israel more than they defended her. In fact, a definitive feature of true prophets throughout the Biblical era was that they were critical of Israel, hated and oftentimes killed by them.
If criticizing and opposing Israel’s government was not forbidden for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jesus, or the apostles, why should it be frowned upon today? Christians should be the first ones to stand up in support for Jewish people and the state of Israel— when they are doing what is right — but if they are acting corruptly, then Christians should be the first ones to stand up and say something as well.
Romans 2:8-11, “…but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.
Loving Jewish People Is Not the Same as Supporting Every Policy of Israel
One of the unfortunate consequences of this discussion is that disagreement is often treated as hostility. Disagreeing with dispensationalism does not in any way make you anti-semitic.
A Christian may:
- Love and serve Jewish people.
- Oppose antisemitism.
- Support Israel’s right to exist.
- Pray for peace and safety for its citizens.
- And still believe that Jewish people should be treated the same as any other ethnicity of people.
- And still believe that the Israeli government, like every government, should be evaluated biblically.
Christians regularly criticize and oppose their own American government, as well as other nations around the world. Israel should be no different.
There is one nation, or one people, that God has a special eye on, that Christians ought to have fierce allegiance to, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of all Kings, and his people— the Church. Even there, the Church still deserves criticism when it is called for, as well as opposition when she opposes Christ Himself and his laws. But the real, Biblical way to understand Genesis 12:3 is this, “I will bless those that bless (Jesus and His people) and I will curse those who curse (Jesus and His people). So, let’s bless, obey and follow Jesus and show no partiality to any ethnic group or political nation.
Brother Lee 