Recently Senator Ted Cruz was interviewed by Tucker Carlson. In that interview the Senator claimed we—the United States—have a biblical responsibility to support the modern nation of Israel. Carlson asked pointedly where this was in Scripture. When Senator Cruz admitted he didn’t know the exact reference Carlson interjected it’s found in Genesis 12 (“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse”). Such is modern discourse, with its aim for “gotchas”. At this Senator Cruz doubled down and claimed we are commanded by the Bible to support the modern government of Israel.
With Israel’s current conflict with Iran and the current state of biblical understanding in our world today, many wonder if this is a sign of the end times. Is prophecy being fulfilled? Should we, as Christians who worship the God who reveals himself in the pages of Scripture, must we support the modern nation of Israel? Is this required in the Scriptures? Since Scripture is our only infallible source of faith and doctrine, what do the Scriptures actually teach? Consider Matthew’s Gospel.
Matthew begins with the words, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ”. The word for “genealogy” is “genesis”—the beginning of Jesus. Matthew does not mean the Son of God has a beginning for he is the eternal God. There was a beginning, however, of the life and times of Jesus, for in time God took on the form of a human, and therefore the human part of Jesus has a beginning while the divine Son of God is eternal.
Matthew continues, for he’s writing “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Here a pattern begins to emerge. The origin of the people of Israel is Genesis 1:1 and the call of Abraham in Genesis 12. This pattern continues to form in Matthew’s Gospel. Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, has a dream in Matthew 1 that results in him taking his small family to Egypt. In Genesis 37 Joseph had a dream that resulted in his family ending up in Egypt. At this point you should be fully aware of the pattern emerging.
In Matthew 2 the wise men from the east came looking for Jesus. These Gentiles—men from other nations—were looking for the blessing of Abraham, for God promised Abraham his offspring would bless all the families of the earth. In Genesis 12:1–2, this was the high point of those promises: “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”.
Just as Pharaoh killed babies in Exodus 1–2 so as to prevent the arrival of a deliverer, so Herod kills children in Matthew 2, also to—perhaps unwittingly—prevent the arrival of the Deliverer. Thus Jesus, with his parents, fled to Egypt. Interestingly, Matthew then cites Hosea’s statement that God called his son out of Egypt (Mt 2:15). This was not a prophecy, for God did, in fact, call Israel out of Egypt. Matthew indicates this was prophetic for it foreshadowed God calling Jesus out of Egypt and to the land of Israel. Thus in a greater way God calls his Son out of Egypt. In chapter 3 Matthew tells how John the Baptist warned the people of coming judgment, just as Moses and Aaron had warned Pharaoh of coming judgment.
Then Jesus is baptized, passing through the water, just as Israel passed through the water out of Egypt. In Matthew 4 Jesus faced 40 days of temptation, resisting every single one. In the wilderness he remained faithful in every way. After fleeing Egypt Israel faced 40 years of wandering—temptation—in the wilderness, and failing in nearly every way. After doing what Israel would not, that is, after remaining faithful to his Father, Jesus calls his disciples, just as Moses appointed rulers over the people in Exodus 18.
Then in Matthew chapters 5–7 Jesus ascends a mountain where he gives the “Sermon on the Mount, proclaiming God’s holiness and his expectation of his people. Echoes of Moses receiving the law on Mount Sinai are self-evident. The significant difference between Jesus and Moses and just as much, between Jesus and all the prophets, is rather than declaring “Thus says the Lord” Jesus simply spoke. The only person in history who ever said “Amen” to his own declarations is Jesus. Every time he said, “Truly, truly I say to you” he’s saying, “Amen, amen, I say to you”. Amen is what one said to affirm what was said by another. Jesus, however, did not speak on behalf of God. He spoke as God himself.
By showing how Jesus repeated Israel’s own history, Matthew is indicating Jesus is the True Israel. Whereas the nation who descended from Abraham was largely unfaithful, Jesus, the true descendant of Abraham, did not. Jesus is the very embodiment of the nation of Israel. This is why Paul, led by the Holy Spirit, performed some grammatical jiu jitsu in his letter to the Galatians:
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.
Galatians 3:16 ESV
The word “offspring” is a collective noun. It’s the word for seed. You can have one seed and you can have two seeds, but you can also have a bag full of seed—singular. Though it’s written in the singular it’s a collective noun and is actually plural. You don’t have a bag full of just one individual seed. Grammatically it’s singular but it’s understood to be plural. Paul, under inspiration of the Spirit, says when the promises to Abraham were made, God had a particular offspring in mind: Jesus. Yes, the nation of Israel was Abraham’s offspring, too, but the promises were always pointing to a particular offspring: Jesus. We see this in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV
All God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus. Because the new covenant God promised Israel and Judah is fulfilled in Jesus, all who are in him are included in those covenant promises! In Ephesians 2 Paul reminded his Gentile readers at one time they were “separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise” yet in Christ “you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:11-13). How? He creates “in himself one new man in place of the two” (2:15).
Being the True Israel, the recipient of God’s covenant promises, the one on whom rests the entirety of the new covenant, all who are in him are also recipients of those promises. Paul wrote to the Galatians that “in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham” comes to the Gentiles (Galatians 3:14). This promise was the one to bless all nations through his offspring. He further says, “it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). This is why he says,
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Galatians 3:27-29 ESV
Because Jesus is the True Israel, the promised Offspring, all who in Christ are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. The aim of God’s covenant with Abraham was not merely a kingdom or even lots of physical descendants, but that the nations would be blessed through him. This is why focusing on a tiny little strip of land the size of New Jersey misses the point! Notice how much bigger God intended for the promise of land to be!
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Romans 4:13 ESV
Abraham and his offspring were not promised a tiny bit of land, but the entire world. Through Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed. Through faith in Christ we are Abraham’s promised offspring, heirs according to God’s promise. Because Abraham’s offspring exist in every single nation on earth, God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham.
Back to my original question. In that interview I mentioned, Tucker Carlson asked Senator Cruz directly if God’s promise concerning Israel meant the modern nation-state of Israel. He said it does. But does it? We’ve seen Abraham’s true offspring are those who share the faith of Abraham. What is that faith? Jesus explained:
Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.
John 8:56 ESV
Abraham looked forward to the day of Christ. To share the faith of Abraham is to believe in the Lord Jesus. The promised descendants are all those who trust in Jesus. Do we have a God-given responsibility to support—unconditionally—the modern state of Israel? No, for the True Israel of God is Jesus. We have a God-given responsibility to support Jesus! We must, unequivocally, without hesitation, without wavering, unconditionally support Jesus! To say this another way, we must take up our crosses and follow him. We must seek first his kingdom above all other kingdoms, but! This does not require a political position on the modern nation of Israel.
One can argue the modern nation should exist and one can believe they have a right to their ancestral homeland. Jewish folk were forcefully removed from that land by ancient Rome and one could argue their return to the land is good and right, but this does not mean we must support whatever they do. One can believe a nation should be free to exist without the constant threat of terrorist attack while also rejecting the abuses of power that are evident in the treatment of Palestinians. When it comes to the modern nation, the rise of the nation of Israel in 1948 does not signal God’s plan for keeping his covenant with an ethnic group for all the promises of God find their Yes in Jesus, the True Israel. All who are in Christ are the promised heirs of Abraham. God’s plan is fulfilled in Jesus!
This frees us to support our brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, regardless of cultural expression, regardless of economic status. We have more in common with a believer who is a card-carrying member of the Communist party in China than we have with our non-Christian neighbor who lives next door to us and votes exactly like us. Though we speak a different language and have a very different understanding of economics and the role of government, we and the Chinese Christian worship and serve the Lord Jesus. We have more in common with a Palestinian Christian living in Gaza than we do with a non-Christian member of Congress.
We aren’t united because of similar economic policies or skin tones. We aren’t united because of shared views of international trade agreements or music preferences. We aren’t united because of similar educational backgrounds or income levels. We aren’t united because we cheer for the same sports teams and listen to same kind of music. As followers of Jesus we are united because of the True Israel, Jesus. We are united entirely because of Jesus and nothing else! In the words of Paul,
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV
We are united together in Christ, regardless of nationality, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of political or economic views. There is only one kingdom that will last forever, and it is the kingdom of Christ. Rather than looking at the news headlines and think that we must support a particular nation, one that will inevitably be crushed by the stone cut from a mountain but by no human hand, along with every other nation on earth—including our own (Daniel 2:45), let’s keep an eye on the news while maintaining our unconditional loyalty to the King of kings and all who are found in him.
As citizens of the kingdom that will last forever, our loyalties are to that kingdom, first and foremost. As the apostles Peter and John declared, we ought to obey God rather than men. This doesn’t mean we are free to ignore the rulers God has placed over us. It means our ultimate loyalty is not to any particular nation on earth, but to God’s holy nation, his royal priesthood, his people for his own possession. Though we, the church, were once not a people, now we are the people of God, for we are in Christ, the True Israel.