Should We Support Israel?
— Monday, January 12th, 2009 —
Last week I stood over the Valley of Armageddon, with Israeli warjets flying overhead and the sound of the Muslim call to prayer humming all around from the loudspeakers attached to the mosques below. It was a sobering moment, more sobering even than the images of explosions in Gaza seen on television round the clock.
Israel is, as always it seems, at war. So should Christians pray especially for Israel, for the Jewish people?
Dispensationalists have served the church by pointing us to our responsibility to support the Jewish people and the nation of Israel through a century that has seen the most horrific anti-Semitic violence imaginable.
We need not hold to a dispensationalist view of the future restoration of Israel (and I don’t) to agree that such support is a necessary part of a Christian eschatology (and I do).
Novelist Walker Percy pointed to the continuing existence of Jewish people as a sign of God’s presence in the world. There are no Hittites walking about on the streets of New York, he remarked.
There does appear to be a promise of a future conversion of Jewish people to Christ (Rom 9-11). The current secular state of Israel is not the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham; Jesus is.
Nonetheless, the state of Israel is important, indeed critically important. The nation is the guardian of post-Holocaust world Judaism. This does not necessitate that we support every political decision of the Israeli government (and I don’t). It does mean that we stand with Israel against every form of anti-Semitic violence.
We know that these are the kinsmen according to the flesh of our Messiah. There’s a reason, therefore, the Powers rage against them so. A Christian anti-Semite is a contradiction in terms.
18 Responses to “Should We Support Israel?”
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Would you mind explaining in a little more detail how supporting the Jewish people and the nation of Israel is a necessary part of Christian eschatology? How would you explain this to a Palestinian Christian?
Well said. Too often I find Christians automatically backing/supporting Israel regardless of their actions. I think blind support of any country, whether it be Israel or America, tends to make Christians look like uninformed/caustic fools. We need to remember to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. Thank you for writing this, Dr. Moore.
“Nonetheless, the state of Israel is important, indeed critically important. The nation is the guardian of post-Holocaust world Judaism.”
Why should Christians care to preserve post-Holocaust world Judaism and not, say, postcolonial Indian Hinduism? Both are false religions, right?
“It does mean that we stand with Israel against every form of anti-Semitic violence.”
Sure, Christians should never support aggressive violence against anyone - certainly not by Hamas fighters against Israeli civilians.
Phrased as the article put it, though, it seems to exclude standing with Palestinian people against anti-Palestinian violence. I doubt the Prince of Peace is jumping for joy over the corpses of Palestinian children.
And, if anything, that’s the point the Church needs to make clear: we don’t support violence and the thugs, whether they’re Palestinian or Israeli according to the flesh, who inflict it.
Thank you for speaking to this. It bothers me when Christians get so wrapped up in “watching what’s going on in the Holy Land” that they don’t focus on the war going on at home.
I was wondering if you could elaborate further on your comment that there “appear[s] to be a promise of a future conversion of Jewish people to Christ.” I agree with this in principle from the same section you mention, but I am curious in what form you think this may take. Do you see it as just a revival (or I guess an initial awakening) amongst Jewish people or do you see it as coming particularly in the form of some Jewish leader or event that brings Jews en masse to faith in Christ? Thanks.
Dr. Moore,
I think I mostly agree with you on this, but I do have a couple of questions:
“Nonetheless, the state of Israel is important, indeed critically important. The nation is the guardian of post-Holocaust world Judaism.”
Are you talking about Judaism as a religion? If so, why do we want to propagate that religion?
“We know that these are the kinsmen according to the flesh of our Messiah. There’s a reason, therefore, the Powers rage against them so. A Christian anti-Semite is a contradiction in terms.”
I’m wondering how this statement relates with Jesus’ words in Mark 3:31-35?
Thanks.
Dr. Moore, well stated view and reason for supporting Israel, even if not from a dispensationalist view!
“I doubt the Prince of Peace is jumping for joy over the corpses of Palestinian children.”
Of course not, but that doesn’t mean God is sitting on the fence, either. A simple perusal of, say, the book of Joshua, for instance, reveals that circumstances are usually more complicated than the position that war is always against God’s will.
Throw out your post-enlightenment presuppositions. They will taint your results 100% of the time.
Nice piece. Short, sweet, and to the point. I agree wholeheartedly!
“A Christian anti-Semite is a contradiction in terms.”!!!!!
Not supporting Israel does not make you an anti-semite although this is what seems to be implied. I see no reason why I should support a people group who behave in a way contrary to God- Israel is after all a secular state, not one based on biblical conditions set by God.
Our support should go first and foremost to our Christian brothers and sisters- the palestinians- who actually happen to be the ones under attack and not making any trouble for anyone! Christian arabs do exist and siding with the jews because they are ‘the people of God’ won’t get you any brownie points with God.
Jesus stands with the weak, the little and the poor always - gentile or Jew. The Hamas government in Gaza sent missiles into Israel and did not stop when an Israeli election was due - they wanted to provoke the Israeli government in order to encourage arab nations to fight on their behalf (knowing the immediate consequences to their own people) and the Israeli government (more than) obliged. Individual Israeli commanders took the lives of innocent, unarmed people in revenge for the Hamas government’s actions and will not be judged by their own government for their crimes. The bad men on both sides had their way and Jesus’ little ones were the ones who suffered - as is usual.