Christianity and Israel – Linked From
the Beginning
One of the
most significant issues that any Christian should address is why so relatively
few believers and / or their places of worship will publicly acknowledge their
support for the Nation of Israel. Some
might see this as a politically charged issue. Others might “not want to take
sides against the Palestinians”. Still
others might not be aware of the history of the Middle East and might feel
unprepared to take a position one way or the other. I believe that our Bible provides sufficient
information that should encourage all Christians to both acknowledge and
support efforts to aid and protect Israel.
History:
The first
eleven chapters of the first book of our Bible, Genesis, tell us of the
Creation; Adam’s fall; and generations of man’s sinful and violent decline from
God’s favor. (Chapters 1-6) In His
Grace, God determined to give man another chance by flooding the earth and
“starting over” through Noah and his family. However, after generations had
passed, man refused to listen to God and even began to worship idols. (Chapters
6-11, Joshua 24: 2) After these 2,000
years of man’s disobedience, God determined to give mankind another chance to
gain His favor and return His love.
In Genesis
Chapter 12: 1-3, the LORD made the foundational covenant with Abram (later
Abraham) that set the course for both the creation of the Nation of Israel and
more importantly, the pathway for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
Bible record states:
“Now the Lord had said unto
Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's
house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee
shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Outcome:
Note that one
key part of the Covenant required Abraham to have the faith to believe God, and
willingly leave the only life he knew, just as we Christians were to believe
Him for our salvation. Another key part of the Covenant was that the LORD had
chosen the land that would later be
called Israel’s “Promised Land”. In fact, when Abraham questioned the LORD as
to how he would truly know that the land would be his, the LORD “officially”
deeded the land to him. (Genesis Chapter 15)
Many Christians have not realized that according to our Bible, the
LORD Himself gave the often-disputed land in the Middle East to be the Homeland
for Israel.
Also note in
the scripture above that the LORD told Abraham that He would make a “great
nation” (Israel) through him. Through
Abraham’s son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob (later re-named Israel by God –
Genesis 35: 9-12), and Israel’s 12 sons, over a period of centuries the Nation
of Israel was created. The LORD’s promise continued to develop when the people
of Israel were redeemed from the slavery of Egypt and led across the Red Sea by
Moses. But to fulfill the next phase of God’s Plan to redeem man in general, the
LORD would call upon Israel to be His “kingdom of priests, and an holy nation”
to teach the rest of mankind (Gentiles) God’s standards for moral behavior.
(Exodus 19: 1-8) The Scripture also
records that all the people of Israel agreed to accept this Covenant. (Verse 8)
The Bible documents
that Israel was unable to keep their commitment to that covenant. In fact the
Nation’s difficulties themselves in trying to live up to God’s moral standards were
described over centuries. Even so, as
Christians today we can understand their human frailties and the strength of
the impulses of sin that they faced.
A third
major point in the Abrahamic Covenant related to the strength of the LORD’s
commitment to Abraham and his future generations. When the LORD said: “I will
bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee…”, He laid advice
for us to follow even today. History has proven that throughout the Bible and
extending through today, people and nations that interacted with Israel were
blessed or cursed, based on the nature of those interactions.
Regarding
the curses, consider what happened to Pharoah and Egypt, even as Israel
was being redeemed as a nation after centuries of slavery. (Book of Exodus
Chapter 14) Consider also what happened to Haman, a descendant of Israel’s
enemies the Amalekites, who sought to take advantage of his position to destroy
the Jews of his time. (Book of Esther Chapters 3 – 8) As another aspect of
history, consider what happened in the Year 1492. At that time Spain was a major world power
and had defeated the Moors, ending 800 years of Muslim rule over them. People
in the United States remember that special year, having been taught from our
history lessons as the year that “Christopher Columbus discovered America”. Seldom recognized was Spain’s royal edict
that year, the Alhambra Decree, that sought to expel all Jews from that
country. See: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spain-announces-it-will-expel-all-jews
. Spain was never again a world power after that decision.
Regarding the
LORD’s blessings, we know that the greatest of these was the sacrifice
made by our Lord Jesus 2.000 years ago when He took our sins and the sins of
all mankind and their consequences onto His body; He suffered and shed His blood
and died; then He defeated death and was resurrected. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4;
Romans 10: 9-13). His actions on our behalf opened the door to our eternal life
as well as other blessings in this earthly life. This is the Gospel of His
Grace.
Earlier
historically, our Bible also tells of the blessings to the woman Rahab in
Jericho. She protected Israel’s spies as they were on an intelligence mission to
support Israel’s attack on her city. Her faith in Israel’s God led to her
salvation and saving the lives of her family. (Book of Joshua, Chapters Two and
Six)
Another
example is of special relevance to Americans. In May 1948, when Israel declared
its Independence, in the midst of significant opposition President Harry S.
Truman was the first world leader to confirm the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish
state. See: https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/recognition-israel
Although he
was regarded by most as having no chance to win a full term in that year’s Presidential
Election, he was blessed by having what was regarded as the greatest upset
victory in U.S. history. Truly a blessing!
The fourth
major point that I want to emphasize is critical to each of us individually…and
all of us collectively. When the LORD said to Abraham: “in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed”, He was looking ahead to the time when our Lord Jesus
would be born through Abraham’s descendants in the Nation of Israel. Especially
for Christians, but also potentially for the rest of humanity, there could be
no greater blessing than to be redeemed from sin, and receive salvation to
eternal life through our Lord Jesus.
There is no
question that Israel today is not the Nation envisioned by the LORD in Exodus 19:
1-8, several thousand years ago. The Scripture of Romans 11: 25 says: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of
this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in
part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”
By reading that entire chapter and the previous one(s), we learned that although
Israel rejected our Lord Jesus as their prophesied Messiah and demanded His
crucifixion, God has not cast them aside. He used Israel’s fall from His Grace to
provoke them to jealousy as He turned directly to the Gentiles to offer us salvation
through the Lord Jesus. (Romans 11:11) God will end the “blindness” of His
Chosen People Israel after “the fulness of the Gentiles be come
in”. That time is known only to God, but
will be characterized when the complement of the Gentiles in the Body of Christ
is complete. That will be the time of what is frequently called the “Rapture of
the Church”. (1 Corinthians 15: 51-54; 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18)
These
collective events reinforce the link between Christianity and Israel. History
documents our interdependence, and how God views the importance of both Jews
and Gentiles in furthering His Plans for the salvation of mankind.
Dr. W. A.
(Bill) Robinson
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