A biblical and theological issue is at the heart of a major geopolitical crisis. This fact was brought to light during the recent discussion between Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Tucker Carlson. When Tucker challenged Cruz on his vehement support for Israel, Cruz explained, “Growing up in Sunday School I was taught from the Bible, ‘Those who bless Israel will blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed.’ And from my perspective, I want to be on blessings side of things.”
A version of the view articulated by Senator Cruz is held by many Christians in America, and this conviction is at the root of widespread support for the present-day nation-state of Israel. When Israel goes to war, the American evangelical rallying cry is, “Stand With Israel!” Many of these Christians would say they stand with Israel on biblical and theological grounds. But is this warranted?
I, too, stand with Israel, but perhaps not in the same manner as most of my fellow evangelicals.
I stand with Israel in Iran as they flee their homes in Tehran to avoid the bombs and missiles of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). And with the ones choosing to stay behind.
I stand with Israel in Damascus and other areas of Syria as their nation has been handed over to Islamic State (IS) fighters in suits and ties with new branding.
I stand with Israel in Nigeria as they suffer continuous attacks at the hands of jihadists with the most recent attack last week slaughtering approximately two hundred, including women and children.
I stand with Israel in Israel as they endure physical assaults including spitting, physical harassment, damage to property and cemeteries, and the disruption of worship services.
How could I say that Israel is trying to avoid the bombs of the Israeli Defense Forces? How could Israel attack Israel?
I can say this because, according to the Bible, the Israel of God is the people of God, those who are Jews inwardly. The people of God are not synonymous with any one nation-state even if this nation is called “Israel.” The apostle Paul explained that one is not a child of God due to ethnicity or religious rituals but by faith. Romans 2:28-29: “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” See also: Romans 9:6-8; Galatians 3:24-29; Galatians 6:12-16.
But what about Abraham’s physical offspring? Don’t they still inherit the promises of the Abrahamic covenant? Not all physical descendants inherited the promises of the covenant. In Genesis 25 we see the example of Esau (and, therefore, the Edomites) who did not receive the promises although he was a physical descendant of Abraham.
But even if heredity isn’t the only factor, wouldn’t it still be a necessary requirement? The Old Testament gives us examples of non-Jews as “Israel.” Ruth the Moabite claimed God’s promise to Abraham when she declared, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God (Ruth 1:16). Exodus 12:48 teaches that “a stranger” shall be “as a native of the land” by keeping the Passover and the males of the household were to be circumcised.
Male circumcision was a requirement for covenant membership but even that was not enough. Jeremiah 9:25-26: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh–Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
Having a “circumcised heart” was to be righteous by faith. Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” One must share the faith Abraham had in order to share in the blessings of covenant membership. Again, Romans 2:28-29: “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.”
The question for the present-day nation state of Israel is: do they have the faith of Abraham? The faith of Abraham was in the promise of the seed (Genesis 17:7) and the seed of promise is Jesus, the Messiah. Galatians 3:16: “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring.” It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ. And Galatians 3:29: “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
According to John 8:39-44, Jesus made it clear to the Jews of his day that not all of them were Abraham’s children due to disobedience and unbelief: “They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.’ They said to him, ‘We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.”
The Jews of Jesus’ day did not receive the Messiah. What about today? The true Israel of God are the people who have faith in God and his promised seed, Christ Jesus. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. Those citizens of the state of Israel who are Christ’s are members of Christ’s church, the true Israel. Those who are not in Christ, are not.
Paul makes it clear that the Church is Israel in Ephesians 2. Gentiles were once without Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (v.12). But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (v.13). Acts 2:38-39 explains that the “far off” are the Gentiles. Being brought near is to be brought into Israel.
How? “For he [Christ] himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances” (Ephesians 2:14-15). Therefore, “You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but are fellow citizens with the other saints in God’s household (Ephesians 2:19). Now that Christ has fulfilled the law and broken down this wall, Gentiles are free, without submitting to the Mosaic Law, to be fellow citizens of Israel.
Paul teaches in Romans 11:17-24 that unbelieving Jews have been broken off from the olive tree (God’s people) and Gentile believers are new branches grafted into the tree among the other branches. By faith, Jewish and Gentiles believers are united to Christ and members of God’s people. We receive the blessings of the covenant promised to Israel in Jeremiah 31:31, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” In Luke 22:20, Jesus said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” When those who are in Christ receive communion, we are declaring that we are recipients of God’s forgiveness through Christ’s blood through the new covenant.
Those who are a new creation in Christ, Abraham’s offspring by faith, can be found all throughout the world. They represent a multitude of ethnicities and people-groups. In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek for all are one Christ Jesus.
Some might say, “Yes, we know the difference between ‘spiritual’ Israel and the state of Israel. But doesn’t Paul admit that God has not rejected Israel in Romans chapter 11? That God is not through with Israel? This is why we care so deeply about what happens to Israel.”
Yes, God has not rejected Israel. If ethnic Jews do not continue in their unbelief (Romans 11:23), they will be grafted back into their own olive tree. However, Paul makes clear in Romans 10:1-4, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Paul’s strong desire was for the salvation of his fellow countrymen. He wanted them to be “in Christ.” If Christians are passionate about the nation of Israel, we ought to be passionate like Paul. We should be zealous for the salvation of the Jews just as we are zealous for the Gospel to be received by all people-groups of the world, including the people of Iran. This looks very different than vociferously cheering on a secular government entity as they drop bombs on an enemy.
But what about the current war between Israel and Iran? How can we justify the fact that Iran has a nuclear program and is lobbing missiles into heavily populated areas of Israel? I don’t justify any of it. And I have not seen evidence that Iran even has the intention of acquiring nuclear weapons. Benjamin Netanyahu has proclaimed that Iran is months away from nukes for thirty years now. And I have not seen evidence that Iran was behind two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump, as Netanyahu claims.
Christians ought to be far more passionate for the welfare of the true Israel than for the modern secular nation-state called Israel. The people of God are located all throughout the world, and they often suffer due to the foreign policy decisions made by those under the sway of neoconservative ideology and the political donations of the military industrial complex.
If American evangelicals “stood with” our fellow believers in the nations targeted for regime change as strongly as we “stand with” the nation of Israel, we could have prevented a lot of suffering. We could have possibly persuaded our politicians to pursue peaceful, diplomatic solutions rather than forcibly removing the leaders who actually provided a measure of protection to Christians. Their removal has resulted in far worse conditions for these communities.
I stand with Israel: those who have been circumcised inwardly, Abraham’s offspring in Christ, the sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ. Our brothers and sisters in Christ live in Syria, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. They can be found in both predominantly Muslim areas and within the nation of Israel.
I stand with Israel, Abraham’s offspring by faith in Christ, but I do not necessarily stand with or against Israel, the secular nation-state.
