Should Christians support the nation of Israel?

On the other hand one could be overly worried or return fire through various kinds of initiatives in order to try to 'fight our corner' in a political way. But the Bible does not ask us to do this. But here are a few ideas how we could and should react:

Sadly not. In fact, various groups of Christians have, again and again, stood up to support Israel and the settlements of Jews in biblical 'Israel', partly through financial support, partly through collaboration with conservative Jews. In this way, a powerful movement (Christian Zionism) was formed.

Such initiatives may be well meant. But now we see, how easily they can back-fire and become counterproductive. They achieve the opposite of what they intended and give lots of ammunition to those who oppose the Christian faith. These opponents can now point out (sadly, not wholly without basis) that Christians are trying to 'help' fulfilling the prophecies. First through their support, at the time, for the establishment of the State of Israel, and now through their desire to provoke an 'Armageddon'.

3) ‘I will turn the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel, and will build them, as at the beginning … it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good that I do unto them; and they shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it’ (33:7, 9). Is this true of modern Israel? Not at all! It has fought four wars with its neighbours and continues to be a target for terrorism, trade embargoes and negative media reporting. It survives by a blend of clever diplomacy, cutting edge technology, and military skill and ingenuity, as well as a security wall that straddles its territory.

So the answer is ‘no’. Israel today is the result of man’s efforts to achieve his ends though there is little doubt God has allowed it in a providential way for the working out of His own perfect will.

So "Solomon finished the house of Jehovah, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of Jehovah, and in his own house, he prosperously affected." And then Jehovah appears to him again and confirms what he has done. "I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice.'' And so He not only says this, but "now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there for ever: and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually." Now I take that as it plainly means. You will tell me, Well, the Gentiles are there now; some of the most wicked of the Gentiles are there now. But faith can wait. It need not be in a hurry. "He that believes shall not make haste," and, therefore, as sure as God has spoken it, Jerusalem will be recovered — not by foolish crusaders, not by the power of man, but by the power of God. He means to have the glory to Himself. The whole idea of the crusades was a fundamental mistake from beginning to end, and arose from Christians fancying that they were Jews, taking the place of God's people and, consequently, denying Israel's place. The greatest enemies the Jews had were those same crusaders who fought against the Turks. The place of the true Christian is the very contrary. We ought to be the shelter of the Jew; we ought to be a sort of city of refuge to the Jew, till the day comes for the Jew to enter upon his heritage. We ought always to plead the rights of Israel as we know the wrongs of Israel. We ought to mourn deeply the unbelief of Israel; but, at the same time, we ought to protect them and show them all kindness "for the fathers' sake." The Church of God can afford to do so. If we were an earthly people, we might be a little jealous of those who are going to be put in the highest earthly places; but the heavenly people have no need for it. And that is what delivers Christians from foolish vanity in competing with the Gentile, and from jealousy as we think about the Jew.

You do not well to be angry if those who enjoy eternal life and peace in believing desire the same for others who are either insensible to their misery, or intensely sad, as I trust some of Israel are in their present desolation under the evident judgment of God. I admit that Jews might try to spread their Judaism or Gentiles their heathenism, and that Christians ought to compassionate efforts so futile for those who have faith. It is however no question of any right of ours, but of His authority who commanded His servants to preach the good news to every creature. It is one of the many points of contrast between the law and the gospel.

We live in deeply interesting times, and all God’s governmental dealings with the world have Israel in view. But it is only in CHRIST that Israel can be blessed.

No Christian should envy such a prospect: alas! that one should speak of a feeling so unworthy in a believer's heart. Are we not blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ? Let us rejoice that Israel are yet to be blessed on earth, and to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.

1) ‘Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, when I will turn the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it’ (30:3). Does the modern state of Israel compare with this? No, it is a Jewish state only — the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel are missing. But God does not fall short when He fulfils His promises so we can be sure that they will be included (Ezek. 20:33–38).[4]

We could add more examples. Take the return of Israel after more than two thousand years of non-existence as an independent nation. There have always been Jews in the country of Israel, but as an independent nation, they had ceased to exist long ago. However, God had announced they would return to their country, and much more, which has not yet been fulfilled. We should be careful not to be dragged into an 'Israel-o-mania', which is quite out of place. But that Israel should return to their old country as a people has been announced by God even before they ever entered the country for the first time (Deut.28-30). He said that He would lead them into this country, but that they would be unfaithful and would be dispelled from Canaan, but in the end He would bring them back. But He adds they should have to repent (Deut.30:1-3), and that is what is lacking until now. Ezekiel speaks of this in chapter 37, where the prophet is seeing a valley full of dead bones, which come together, covered by flesh and skin, but there is no breath in them. This state is also described in Isaiah 18, where God is seen sitting back as it were, looking at the people who are coming back from all parts of the world, but then the tribulation comes.

The prophetic word lights up the dark, thereby proving its divine origin. For example, if you mention the people of Israel, you will get all kinds of commentaries, but never what is said by the prophetic word. Why are so many people in our civilised world anti-Semites? The answer is, because of the Bible. The Jews are the living proof for the truth of the Bible, as one believing general expressed it when Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, an agnostic and friend of Voltaire, the great mocker, asked him, Defend your Christianity, if you can, in one word. You know what this born-again general said? Sire, Israel! The survival and return of Israel as a nation is a proof of the truth of the Bible. That is why there is so much anti-Semitism in this world. Satan says, If I can destroy that people (as he tried to destroy Jesus and His eyewitnesses), I can prove the Bible is not true! This is, in my opinion, the only reason for anti-Semitism. Satan, who is the opponent of God, is also against His earthly people. To come a little closer home: If we as Christians, give a clear testimony for our Lord, we will also encounter the resistance of Satan. However, if we adapt ourselves to the world, our testimony is ruined and Satan satisfied! Young people, that is his design at present - to take the power out of our testimony for the Lord Jesus. In the world of today it is: Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Jesus - everything is okay, but never try to stand up for the Lord Jesus! Then Satan will also stand up against us. In our time it is his great object to make us worldly-minded and thereby to ruin our testimony, so that our light does not shine any more.

The Bible has been telling us, for the best part of the last two millennia, that the people of Israel will return to that land (refs…). For almost 1,900 years (since the Jews were defeated by the Romans in AD 70 and dispersed across the globe), the fulfilment of this prediction seemed to be a pure impossibility. That changed in 1948 when the world saw the foundation of the state of Israel in the Middle East. This event is not the final fulfilment of these prophecies, but it shows us that this is far less improbable than was always thought. Bible scholars have often predicted this event, the return of the Jews to Palestine – even before 1948.