It’s been over a month since the horrific attacks of Hamas on Israel. The unprecedented protests against Israel in favor of Palestine are telling of the times we are in. What is shocking is the number of Christians who are voicing their opposition to Israel simply because they are a pagan nation, to use the words of some. So how should Christians react to the attack on Israel? Should we support Israel? Should we remain indifferent? Should we even pray for the nation, or should we just say that this is God’s judgment for their sins? The real question should be, what does the Bible say?
Paul’s letter to the Roman believers shows that God is not done with Israel. Here are just some passages.
Romans 9:3-4 “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.”
Romans 10:21-11:2a “But of Israel [God] says, ‘All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.'” 11:1 “I ask, then, has God rejected His people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.”
Romans 11:11-12 “So I ask, did [Israel] stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!”
Romans 11:15-16 “For if [Israel’s] rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.”
Romans 11:25-29 “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob’; 27 ‘and this will be My covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ 28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
From Romans 9:4 saying that the covenants, the Law, and the promises belong to Israel to Romans 11:29 saying that these things are not revocable, Paul is clear that God is not finished with Israel. The prophets agree.
In Ezekiel 20, God recounts through the prophet the number of times Israel had rebelled against Him but He spared them for His Name’s sake.
Ezekiel 20:14 “But I acted for the sake of My Name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.”
Ezekiel 20:22 “But I withheld My Hand and acted for the sake of My Name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.”
And He promised to do it again in the future. Though it is a prophecy and doesn’t pertain to now, we’ll still look at it.
Ezekiel 20:36-38 “As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. 37 I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”
Ezekiel 20:42-44 “And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers. 43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for My Name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.’”
These things haven’t happened yet. Some say the prophecy was fulfilled in 1947, but verse 38 says that God will purge the rebels and transgressors from Israel and won’t let them enter the land of promise. Obviously, this prophecy isn’t fulfilled. The nation of Israel today has not fully embraced the Torah and has participated in many transgressions. It is said that Tel Aviv has the largest annual gay pride parade in the world. So where does that leave us today in support for Israel as a nation? Let’s look back at what Paul said in Romans 11:11-24.
Paul says that Gentiles were grafted in to make Israel jealous, but he warns us not to be arrogant against the natural branches. He further warns Gentiles that Israel was broken off because of disobedience and that we too can be broken off because of our disobedience. So much for once saved, always saved. We could really have a full study of Romans 11, but the point is that God is not finished with Israel. They are His chosen people. When He returns, He will restore Israel and those who believe in Him will be grafted back in.
So why are some Christians so opposed to Israel? It’s simply because the nation as a whole is unbelieving. It’s what Paul warned us about. Don’t be arrogant against the natural branches. And arrogance it is. How quickly some Christians forget that they were once unbelievers, so they treat unbelievers harshly. The Messiah warned us about this in the parable of the unforgiving servant. It’s found in Matthew 18:21-35. The king settles the debt of one of his servants by forgiving the large sum. The servant then went out and punished another who owed him a lesser debt. This is how some Christians treat Jews, and it started early in church history.
Some Christians hold the Jews responsible for the “murder” of Yeshua (Jesus). Never mind the fact that His sacrifice was His alone to make.
Philippians 2:6-8 “[Yeshua], though existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be grasped. 7 But He emptied Himself—taking on the form of a slave, becoming the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. 8 He humbled Himself—becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Throughout church history, you can see how poorly the Jews have been treated. And it still goes on today, from replacement theology to outright rejection of Jews unless they repent and believe.
I’ve encountered two schools of thought regarding Israel being a pagan nation today. One says that the church is now Israel because Israel is a pagan nation. The other says the church is not Israel because Israel is a pagan nation. Both come to their respective conclusions based on the status of Israel in regard to salvation rather than the promises of God throughout His Word. As we have seen, God is not finished with Israel yet.
Rabbi Michael Skobac from Jews for Judaism posted this video on YouTube asking, “Has the Church Replaced Israel?” While I don’t agree with Mr. Skobac about Yeshua being the Messiah, he makes some excellent points about verses that have been used to say that the church has replaced Israel. For this reason (and others), he rejects the New Testament entirely. From a whole-Bible-believing point of view, it is clear that Israel is God’s chosen people and that Gentiles are grafted into Israel. The church does not replace Israel. The verses the rabbi shares are used out of context or inappropriately by Christians to say that they are now Israel. If that were true, then God would be unfaithful to His promises and no one should put their trust in Him. That puts the whole Christian religion in limbo. I think the rabbi would agree. But it is simply not the case. Israel is the chosen nation of God.
Let’s look at it from another point of view. We know that the attack by Hamas is satanic. It is evil in all of its forms. We know that Satan hates the people of God. Do you think that Satan has forgotten who those people are? If Israel has been replaced, then why would Satan even care about Israel? Revelation 12 tells of the devil, called the dragon, accusing the people of God before the throne of heaven before he is thrown down to earth. Verse 13 says that the dragon “stalked the woman who had given birth to the male child.” This speaks of Israel from whom the Messiah came. The devil has followed the Jews trying to kill them throughout the years. History tells of many countries that either banished the Jews or killed them for living there. The Holocaust is the most notable extermination of the Jews. To note, Hitler used Martin Luther’s book “Of the Jews and Their Lies” as the reason to kill all the Jews. The words of the father of the Reformation became the catalyst for Hitler’s evil. But, I digress.
Revelation 12 goes on to say that the dragon was prevented from harming the Jews because they were protected, so the dragon “went off to make war with the rest of her offspring.” This is speaking of the Gentiles who have been grafted into Israel. And verse 17 goes on to say that they are “those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua.” There is a growing movement in Christianity that says we are not to keep the commandments of God because they are just for the Jews, but we are to keep the commandments of Christ only. Revelation 12:17 says otherwise because it is directly referencing the “other children” of the woman (Israel).
So, to those who say we shouldn’t care what happens to Israel because they are being judged by God, or to those who call Israel a synagogue of Satan and are getting what they deserve, I would say you are out of the will of God. Proverbs 24:17-18 says, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, or let your heart be glad when he stumbles, 18 or Adonai may see it as evil in His eyes, and turn His wrath away from him.” How much worse will it be if you rejoice when Israel falls, or be glad when they stumble since they are the chosen people of God?
And let’s not forget the black Hebrew Israelites. They believe they are the true Jews and say that the nation of Israel is the synagogue of Satan. I haven’t seen any condemnation of Hamas coming from them. Some have even rejoiced. So again, I would ask, did Satan forget who Israel is? If you are the true Jews, why didn’t Hamas attack only black people? For that matter, why haven’t the black Hebrew Israelites announced to Hamas that they are attacking the wrong people? Because they think the nation of Israel is getting what they deserve. This is not a biblical position and anyone who holds to it is not of God.
Israel belongs to God. As Ezekiel 20 says, God will remove the rebels and transgressors from Israel when He restores the land. If this is the beginning of that prophecy coming true, God’s Will be done. As believers, we should not rejoice over that. We should mourn for any that do not come to repentance to Him.
Romans 11: 1-5 says there is always a remnant of believers in Israel and Romans 11:25 says that “a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” That time is coming short. Today is the day of salvation. Pray for Israel. Pray for peace. Pray for the salvation of the lost.
Shalom.
