Even though Evangelicals are being singled out as the main supporters of Israel within the Christian community, there are many who support the predominant LRC position on Israel. Here’s why we shouldn’t support Israel’s attack on Iran, argued from a Biblical perspective.
GENESIS 12:2-3 (NLT)
I will bless you and make you famous and you will be a blessing to others.
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.
All the families on earth will be blessed through you.
Keep in mind that the “you” being referred to here in Genesis is the family and descendents of Abraham.
Everybody likes shortcuts. Everyone, to some extent, is lazy. Genesis 12:2-3 allows Christians to form their position on Israel by memorizing that second sentence above, or some similar translation of it. Their understanding requires no real thought, just memorizing God’s promise to Abraham. Yes, Christians are going to press the Easy button at times too. For this same reason, Christians default to supporting the state of Israel because that’s the faster way to gain acceptance within the Christian community. “Supporting” Israel has become the ultimate virtue signal for Christians.
I don’t argue with the premise that God will bless those who defend Israel. I believe God’s word, just like the defenders of Israel do. The definition of “Israel” is what divides the Christian community. That is the key argument one must address when talking to Christians.
WHO/WHAT is ISRAEL?
Maybe we should start by asking who Israel is not? Go back to the first sentence quoted above from Genesis. Do we really think that “you will be a blessing to others” refers to the country of Israel or even Jews in general? What blessings from God have they brought us? Go to the third sentence now. Do families around the world really feel like they’ve been blessed by their association with the country of Israel or the Jews?
Second, God loves both his children (defined as Christ followers) as well as those who do not believe in Jesus. Jews, unless Messianic, are non-believers. In John 8:42-44, Jesus calls ALL non-believers “the children of the devil”. I’m sorry; but, according to the Bible: No, we are not all the children of God. The majority of Israeli citizens are thus “children of the devil”. So, we should ask ourselves “Does God really want us to support or bless children of the devil”?
Third, Romans 11 refers to the tree which represents the family of Abraham. God prunes the branches of Christ-denying Jews from that tree. Yet, he still loves the people of the pruned branches, even though they are no longer living in the tree of Abraham. We non-Jewish Christians are grafted into the family of Abraham. The true “Israel” is this tree of Abraham. God does want those pruned branches to return to the tree. But, becoming children of the devil makes those pruned branches tools of the devil. Jews have been pruned from the tree of Abraham and as such, are no longer part of Israel. Israel is not a nation-state in the Bible, nor is it the Jewish people. Israel is represented by the living tree of Abraham, in both the Old and New Testaments.
Dispensationalism comes into play because it provides a framework for describing how God’s relationship to us has changed over the ages. It’s not necessary for understanding this argument. However, observing how God’s relationship to us has changed over the different eras (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Judges, Kings, and finally the Church age), can help one understand the true meaning of “Israel” today.
The Old Testament, in several places, refers to Israel as God’s Vine (e.g., Isa. 5:1–7; Jer. 6:9; Hos. 10:1). And, in John 15:1, Jesus says “I am the true vine”. Jesus’ point being that he is the true Israel of God.
So, instead of defining Israel to be either the country formed in 1948 or the Jewish people around the world, this interpretation defines Israel to be “Jesus Christ and all who are united in him by faith alone”.
HOW DO WE LOVE THE NATION OF ISRAEL?
What kind of relationship does God want Christians to have with people who are living the one and only unforgivable sin? Do we rationally think that God wants us supporting “children of the devil”? Or, would loving them be closer to what God commands? Anyone with children knows how challenging it is to raise them. How best to show them love? It’s not as simple as giving them what they ask for. Yet, this is the predominant message from Evangelical Christians towards Israel.
STILL NOT CONVINCED?
Regardless of which definition of Israel you accept, our position relative to the country of Israel should still be the same. Let’s say you still believe God is referring to the country when he tells us to bless “Israel”.
OK. I know that God loves me. But, do I think he blesses or shows his love for me by enabling my sinning? Will God bless Israel through the bullets we send them to assassinate children, the fourteen bombs a day to drop on Gaza for over a year, bulldozers to raze the homes/hospitals/businesses of non-Jews, aircraft to facilitate taking more land in Syria, or votes in our Congress to provide muscle for the only apartheid nation left in the world?
We do not honor, nor obey, God by appeasing the country of Israel. Even if I were to ignore all of the evidence and accept that today’s country of Israel is still within the tree of Abraham, I’ll never believe that God wants me to help facilitate genocide as a way to bless the children of the devil.
