Israel

Originally published December 29, 2025, at https://allisraelnews.com/blog/theological-amnesia-when-the-church-forgets-israel 

Amnesia is a medical term describing someone who has a partial or total loss of memory. It is derived from a Greek word meaning “to forget.” Those familiar with the Hebrew Bible will recall the classic illustration of this in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon recorded for all posterity in the fourth chapter of Daniel’s prophecy. He temporarily forgot who he was, completely losing his sense of reason and identity, unaware of his royal status. Those with amnesia suffer from a loss of memory about who they are and what they have done.

While the overwhelming majority of Christian evangelicals are solidly supportive of the State of Israel and defenders of the Jewish people, there is a small but growing number of our tribe who have developed a case of theological amnesia when it comes to God’s present and future plans and purposes for the Jewish people. This is especially troubling in a day when antisemitism is on the rise all over the world in a magnitude which has not been witnessed since the days of the Nazi Holocaust. Adherents to this ideology are moved by a theological framework known as “replacement theology” which teaches that God has rejected the Jewish people due to their unbelief in Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah, He has replaced them with the church, and has revoked His covenant promises to them in the sacred scriptures. Advocates of this theological amnesia suffer from a forgetfulness of the plain teaching of the Bible, specifically as it relates to God’s everlasting promises to His chosen people, Israel.

The end result of this toxic theological concept is that its adherents see no future purpose for Israel in God’s economy and view the present and future Jewish state as having no more Biblical significance than any of the other almost 195 countries in the world today. And worse, it sometimes results in a latent and not so subtle form of antisemitism. After all, if God has, in fact, outright rejected the Jewish people and revoked His covenant promises to them, the logical end result is that they enjoy no special place or purpose in the unfolding of eschatological truth yet to be played out and fulfilled. When the church forgets Israel it lapses into a rationale that justifies the belief that if God Himself has rejected the Jewish people and set them aside we have no reason to come to their defense ourselves. In certain cases antisemitism is even seen as the adopted child of replacement theology.

One of, if not, the most repeated commands in the Torah (the Pentateuch also known as the first five books of the Bible) is the call to “remember.” Time and again throughout the pages of the Bible God calls on His covenant people to remember what great things He has done for them. When, upon the death of Moses, Joshua led the people through the Jordan River into the Promised Land their first stop was at a place called Gilgal. Here they built an altar and from time to time during the conquest of the land they would return to Gilgal in order to recommit their lives and to remember “so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever” (Joshua 4:24). Later, King David, the great shepherd, Psalmist and King declared, “If I forget you, oh Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you” (Psalm 139:5-6). For twenty centuries in exile from their promised land the Jewish people, displaced around the world in thousands of often hostile locales, still celebrated their Passover Seder each year to remember what God had done for them and with the eye of faith they looked forward to celebrating it again “next year in Jerusalem.” Attached to the doorpost of virtually every Jewish home is a mezuzah which they touch each time they enter and leave their dwelling as a reminder of God’s promises to them.

Amnesia is not an option for the Jewish people. One of the primary reasons the State of Israel miraculously exists today is because these chosen people have long memories and refuse to forget. Theological amnesia should not be an option for Bible believing evangelicals today as well. Tragic things can happen when the church lapses into a state of forgetfulness regarding God’s promises and purposes for Israel and the Jewish people.

Replacement Theology is a like a stool with three wobbly legs, three false premises that are flatly rejected in sacred scripture. It propagates the narrative that the people of Israel have been rejected, the purposes of Israel have been replaced, and the promises to Israel have been revoked.

PREMISE #1–THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAVE BEEN REJECTED

The first of these false premises is that God has rejected the Jewish people in this age of grace. It argues that this outright rejection by God is a result of the Jews’ rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as the long awaited and promised Messiah foretold by so many of their own prophets.

Repeatedly in the Bible God promised Israel the Land of Canaan as, in God’s words, “an everlasting possession.” Hear the Lord in His own words to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation—“I will establish my covenant between you and me…for an everlasting covenant…to you I will give…all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). His covenant is still “everlasting” and the promise of the land is still an “everlasting possession.” Once Abraham arrived in the land God repeated this promise, “All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever” (Genesis 13:15). To Jacob God said, “I will give this land to you and your offspring as an everlasting possession” (Genesis 48:4). In the Lord’s covenant with David the Lord promised that He would “appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them…and they shall be moved no more” (2 Samuel 7:10).  God continues saying to David, “Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Through the prophet Ezekiel God proclaims, “And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant..they shall dwell there forever” (Ezekiel 37:25). We could fill a book by repeating the promises from the Bible stating that the Jews have a relationship with their God “forever….as an everlasting possession.” Everlasting means everlasting. And, forever means forever. Except in the minds of the advocates of replacement theology.

While many of God’s promises to us in the Bible are conditioned by our own responses there are others which are strictly unconditional. One such promise is the one God gave to Noah to never again destroy the world by a flood. He placed a rainbow in the sky as a testimony to this unconditional promise. God’s covenant promises to the Jews regarding the land of Israel being “forever” and as an “everlasting possession” are unconditional ones as well. This covenant promise was never given on the basis of Israel’s conduct or character but was conditioned only upon the stated promises of God. Replacement theologians conveniently allegorize the text away from its original meaning but everlasting still means everlasting and forever still means forever, especially when, metaphorically speaking, these words emit from the lips of God Himself.

Replacement theology is built on the wobbly leg that God has rejected His people Israel.  But has He? Enter the Apostle Paul, a “Jew of Jews” trained at the feet of Rabbi Gamaliel, and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. In the years following his own conversion experience to Yeshua almost half of our New Testament flowed from his prolific pen. He left us the eleventh chapter of the Book of Romans to annihilate the premises of replacement theology.

His Spirit inspired defense of the faith begins with a rhetorical question—“Has God rejected His people?” (Romans 11:1).  This plain, yet pointed and poignant, question should move us to the edge of our seats as we lean in in anticipation of his answer. He does not disappoint.  Immediately, Paul, in the most definitive and emphatic way possible, blurts out—“BY NO MEANS!..God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:1-2). Just because some in the Christian world have developed a form of theological amnesia does not mean God has forgotten His people and His unconditional covenant promises to them.

We live in a world today where what men say has become more important than what God says.  Pick up the morning newspaper and you will find an opinion section but search as you will and you will never see a conviction section. In many minds today what men say and think has become far more important than what God is still saying to us through His word and by His Spirit today. At this point of the rejection of the Jews, the Bible could not be more plain or more explicit. Has God, as adherents of replacement theology contend, rejected His chosen people, the Jews? Again in the words of the great apostle, “BY NO MEANS!” Replacement theology doesn’t have a leg upon which to stand.

PREMISE #2–THE PURPOSES OF ISRAEL HAVE BEEN REPLACED

There is another leg to this stool. Replacement theology not only falsely teaches that God has rejected the Jewish people, it continues to suggest that the Jews have been replaced by the church in God’s eternal plan of the ages. It is one thing to be rejected and quite another to be told you have been replaced. This belief propagates the fallacy that God has retracted His promises as well as His future purposes for Israel and that they have been exclusively given to the church so that the church has now replaced Israel for all practical purposes. This reasoning removes Israel from any special role in God’s plan thus perpetrating the dangerous myth that Israel is no different and no more worthy of support than any other people groups on the planet.

Once again, enter the Apostle Paul. Continuing in Romans 11 he provides a word picture of the olive tree to reveal God’s own views on the relationship of Israel and the church. In scripture, the olive tree represents Israel herself. Building on this imagery, God gives a clear and strong word to the church—“If some of the branches were broken off and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree do not be arrogant about the branches. If you are, remember IT IS NOT YOU WHO SUPPORT THE ROOT BUT THE ROOT THAT SUPPORTS YOU” (Romans 11:17-18). This is a clear and present warning to anyone who in their spiritual “arrogance” (Paul’s word) thinks that God has rejected Israel and replaced her with the church. The branch does not replace the tree. In fact it is the root that supports the branches.

The root of this olive tree represents the unconditional covenant God made with Israel, His purpose for them. The olive tree with its broken branches is Israel, the Jewish people. The wild branches grafted into the tree represent the fellowship of believers known as the church. When a branch is grafted into a tree it becomes one with something much larger than itself sharing the same root with the trunk of the tree. Note again, it is not the branches that support the root. But it is the root that supports the branches. The church is not substituted for Israel but supplements her by being grafted into her trunk and finding life there. As Paul warns there can emerge an arrogance, a type of spiritual superiority, within the ranks of those who believe they have replaced Israel in God’s economy.

There is one more false premise being propagated by advocates of replacement theology. For them, it is not enough to believe that God has rejected the Jewish people and replaced them with the church, but, they contend that God has also revoked His promises which He had previously given to them.

PREMISE #3–THE PROMISES TO ISRAEL HAVE BEEN REVOKED

The final leg on this stool called replacement theology, like the previous two, can not bear up under the weight of scripture. This last leg is the teaching that God has actually revoked His covenant promises which He repeatedly had made to Israel. To advocate that God has taken back His unconditional promises to His chosen people is the most arrogant of all its false claims. It is one thing to teach that God has out right rejected His own people upon whom “He has set His love” (Deuteronomy 7:7) contending that He has swept them away and replaced them with the church, but replacement theology is not finished yet. It logically concludes that if we believe the Jews are rejected and replaced then it must follow that God’s exclusive promises to them have been summarily revoked. 

The main issue with this concept is that it is an attack not only on the trustworthiness of God but on scripture itself. Since replacement theologians insist that these unconditional promises God gave to the Jews are actually conditional and based upon their behavior and therefore revocable, it brings us to ask if God Himself, through His infallible word, the Bible, might have an opinion on this. Again, enter the Apostle Paul. He has a direct and specific word from the sacred text at this very point.

Has God revoked His promises to His people, the Jews? Paul could not be more explicit when He emphatically states—“THE GIFTS AND CALLING OF GOD ARE IRREVOCABLE” (Romans 11:29). God’s gifts and His special calling to the Jewish people are irrevocable, especially when it deals with ownership of the land of Israel. This “calling” is not determined by their own obedience or performance. These precious promises are bestowed upon them as an “everlasting possession.”

Promises made are always appreciated. But the promises that are kept are what mean the most. It is one thing for someone to make a promise and quite another to keep it. We all, in one way or another, can attest to the validity of this truth. The Bible is replete with promises God has made to the Jews….and to us…and He has a perfect record of not just making promises but keeping them. Whether we keep our own promises or not is based on the content of our character.  An unrepentant, repeated, thief may appear in court before a judge and promise to never steal again. But his untrustworthiness, based on his past years of recurring behavior, does not attest to his sincerity. How can we trust God with His unconditional promises made to us throughout the Bible? Because of His character and the fact that the Bible declares that it is “impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). His word is His bond and when He makes these unconditional promises to Israel “everlasting” means just what He says. And, “forever” means just that—forever!

Baseball, known as “America’s pastime,” provides many real life lessons. In baseball terminology, “Three strikes and you are out!” Replacement theology steps up to the plate to bat saying God has rejected the Jews. When confronted with the Word of God the umpire yells, “No…Strike one.” Next, it digs in a little more and insists that God has replaced His chosen people. The umpire’s call is “Not so…Strike two.” Finally, it swings for the fence with the insistence that God has revoked His promises to Israel and the Umpire of the Universe, with a raised right arm, shouts, “Strike three, you are out!” When placed along side the teachings of the Bible replacement theology strikes out and does not have a single leg upon which to stand.

When the church forgets Israel and God’s unconditional promises to the Jewish people it can lead to an arrogant sense of superiority which can lend itself to antisemitism. Antisemitism is a hatred for the Jewish people simply because they are Jews. Sadly, the church has a rather blemished record of this down through the centuries. As the years unfolded and the church began to separate herself from Judaism, some of the early church leaders began to label Jews as “Christ killers.” This advanced the notion that God had abandoned them for good. These antisemitic attitudes became more institutionalized by theologians and church councils which ultimately resulted in Jews being forced into ghettos, enhancing the idea that their wanderings were a sign of divine rejection. This hostility toward the Jews then became magnified during the time of the Crusaders as they set out on their quest to “cleanse” the world of the perceived enemies of Christ. En route from Europe to free the Holy Land they decimated one Jewish community after another along the way. A few centuries later the reformers added fuel to the fire. This blatant antisemitism reached its zenith when the church helped place Hitler into power and His Third Reich began its orchestrated elimination of one third of the world’s Jewish population. 

At this writing antisemitism is on the rise across the world in a way not witnessed since the days of the Nazi Holocaust. Replacement theology is founded upon the premise and presumption that ignores God’s enduring promises to Israel. It’s real danger lies in the potential of future fueling of the fires of antisemitism. When the church openly teaches God’s rejection of the Jews, His replacement of them with the church, and His revocation of the promises previously given to them, the potential of a creeping disdain for the State of Israel arises and, in many cases, for the Jewish people themselves. “Never again” has been the continuous cry of the Jews since the Holocaust but now this cry is being drowned out by the current and alarming rise of antisemitism all over the world. It is time for Bible believing evangelicals to be bold, not silent, and to heed the admonition of the prophet, “For Zion’s sake we will not be silent…for Jerusalem’s sake we will not be quiet” (Isaiah 62:1). It is time to proclaim from every pulpit the truth that replacement theology is in diametric opposition to the clear teachings of the Bible and to make the cry, “Never Again,” our own.

If replacement theology is an affront to God’s Word, antisemitism is an affront to God’s own heart. Repeatedly, in the Bible God proclaims His love for the Jewish people. During the wilderness wanderings, in their journey from Egypt to Canaan, Moses reminded the Jewish people, “It was not because you were more in number…that THE LORD SET HIS LOVE on you and is keeping the oath…that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and has redeemed you” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). Later, during the time of their captivity in Babylon, Jeremiah reminded them of the words of the Lord Himself, “Yes, I HAVE LOVED YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE” (Jeremiah 31:3). Despite their rebellion and, at times, their near apostasy, God never stopped loving the Jews with what He called, “an everlasting love.” 

Antisemitism is a wicked and vile sin because it is directed at a people whom God loves and to whom He has given precious and everlasting promises. Scripture forbids antisemitism on many fronts, not the least of which are that God’s covenant with the Jews still stands and His love for them still endures. The words of Genesis 12:3 still ring true, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” Never forget—antisemites hate what God loves!

There is a final word for our evangelical friends. If God were to break His covenant promises to Israel how can we have any confidence or trust that He would not break His promises to us received by faith through the new covenant? Silence, in the face of replacement theology and its adopted child, antisemitism, is not golden. There is a cure for replacement theology. We must take God at His word and know that what He promises He will perform. “Never again” should be our own cry. Never again will we, the church, stand by in silence as we watch demonic antisemitic forces seek the destruction of a people God loves with “an everlasting love.”

And, a closing word to all our Jewish friends. While a small segment of the Christian faith today may have fallen victim to this theological amnesia, the vast majority of almost 700 million evangelicals across the world have not. Or, to quote the words of the Apostle Paul…”By no means!” We are with you. We have long memories. And we are not suffering from the sickness of amnesia with its accompanying forgetfulness. We remember. We are here. We are with you. We are wise enough to realize that if the “Saturday people” can be destroyed then the “Sunday people” are next on this demonic agenda. As Naomi once said to Ruth we say to you, “Your people shall be our people…and your God our God” (Ruth 1:16). We have your back. We are not going away…not now…not ever! Am Yisrael Chai is our cry…as well as yours. The people of Israel live!

Originally published December 10, 2025, at https://allisraelnews.com/blog/the-white-rose-an-enduring-symbol-of-evangelical-support-for-the-jewish-people 

Dateline: Munich, 1942. The year marked the height of conflict during the Second World War in the European theatre. The German war machine had marched with little resistance through Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, Yugoslavia, Greece and now was in control of most all of continental Europe. Munich was the epicenter. It was the capital of the movement being the very city were the Nazi party had been established and had deep roots. This beautiful Bavarian city with its magnificent and world known city center was now the center of German propaganda. Located just a few minutes by rail from Dachua, by the year 1942 all the Jewish synagogues in the city had been completely destroyed and mass deportations of the Jewish populous was being carted off daily to Auschwitz and other extermination camps in Germany and Poland. 

Hans Scholl was a young medical student at the University of Munich.  He had been a proud member of the Hitler Youth movement in his earlier years. But now, becoming increasingly aware and outraged by the Nazi crimes upon the Jewish people and by being burdened by the almost total silence on the part of any resistance from the German people he immersed himself in the resistance movement. Joined by his younger sister, Sophie, a handful of other students and one professor, he began to print and distribute anti-Nazi leaflets across Munich and southern Germany condemning the Nazi regime, the accelerating mass murder of Jews, and the silence and moral blindness of the German public. Moved by their deeply Christian convictions they sought to sabotage Hitler’s war machine and come to the aid of the Jewish population in any way possible. They spoke openly and boldly about the Holocaust, not in the confines of safety in its aftermath, but in the very days when it was happening all around them. Hans, Sophie, and their colleagues were discovered, captured, tried by the Nazi People’s Court and executed publicly by guillotine in Munich on February 22, 1943.

The group’s symbol was a simple white rose. It signified safe houses for Jews and was emblematic of their efforts to speak the truth boldly in the face of the most brutal and sadistic danger the world had ever witnessed. Today the white rose is honored throughout Germany and Israel as a sign of heroic resistance to any and all forms of tyranny and the new rising tide of antisemitism manifesting itself across  much of the world. The White Rose Resistance now famously acknowledges the sacrifices of these young Evangelicals and the need to speak boldly even when it might be unpopular, dangerous and costly. Hans, Sophie and their friends remind us that resistance does not always come from the powerful and prominent but ordinary people, like you and me, who are moved and motivated by conscience and a deep resolve to speak the truth.

The story of this White Rose Resistance reached the heart of a beautiful Jewish lady in Atlanta, Georgia. Linda Selig founded a world wide organization now known as the White Rose Society which has become a beacon of hope to Jewish people everywhere. Annually, they honor “non Jewish individuals who stand with the Jewish people.” In so doing they keep alive the light of those in Munich over eighty years ago who instead of cursing the darkness lit a light in the midst of it. Among recent recipients of the White Rose Award are Dr. Stuart Bell, past president of the University of Alabama, whose heroic efforts protected the Jewish students on his campus and disallowed any of the antisemitic protests that were popping up on campuses across America from taking place there. Others like Nikki Haley, former Governor of South Carolina, and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham have also been inducted into the White Rose Society.

Recently, it was my own high honor to receive the White Rose at a ceremony hosted by President Isaac Herzog and held in the President’s home in Jerusalem. The other recipient was my long time friend and now U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. Grand Rabbi Y.A. Korff, spiritual leader of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, expressed his deep appreciation for the long time support of Evangelicals for the state of Israel and the Jewish people. He related to the assembled crowd a rabbinical axiom that instructs us in Hebrew “Chashdeihu v’ Chabdeihu.” In his own words, “Chashdeihu means to suspect or to not trust. Chabdeihu means to honor and respect. On the surface this appears to be a dichotomy, seemingly a conflict. After all, how can you be suspicious of someone and trust and respect them at the same time? But the two words are not in conflict for Chashdeihu, being suspicious, comes before we know someone and Chabdeihu, honoring with respect, comes after we know someone. Many years ago when the Christian, and particularly the Evangelical, community began to come to the fore in publicly expressing their support for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, there was a lot of Chashdeihu, suspicion. We were asking ourselves, 'Who are these people? What is their agenda? Can we trust them?'  As the years have passed we have come to know Evangelicals like Ambassador Huckabee and Dr. Hawkins. You have become close friends. We now know you. And, in our close friendship the Chashdeihu has become Chabdeihu, honor and respect, and deep gratitude for your faith and support.”

President Herzog, in his comments, related the story of a visit his late grandfather, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, had with President Harry Truman, himself an Evangelical and a Southern Baptist. During the Rabbi’s visit to the Oval Office in the late 1940’s President Truman confided in him that he had only cried three times in his life.  Once, when his mother died. Once, when his best life long friend died. And, the other time was when Chief Rabbi Herzog said to him, “Mr. President, God put you in your mother’s womb to save the Jewish people.” And those who know history know how in Israel’s most critical moment of declaring their statehood and fighting their War of Independence it was an unwavering President Harry Truman who stood firmly and faithfully by their side.

In receiving the White Rose, Ambassador Huckabee expressed how we Evangelicals read a Jewish book, the Bible, and how we could not love it without loving the Jewish people.  He continued, “We worship a Jewish Messiah, and we could not love Yeshua without loving the Jewish people.”  

It was my privilege to remind the President and the distinguished crowd of Jerusalemites that the most repeated command in the Torah is “to remember.” King David said, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember you may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth” (Psalm 137:5). The first thing Joshua did when he led the children of Israel into the promised land was to stop at Gilgal and build an altar to which they would return repeatedly to remember what great things the Lord had done for them. During two thousand years of the diaspora, exiled from Jerusalem, Jews met with family and friends all over the world to remember their exodus from Egypt and to share their Passover meals with the hope that it would be celebrated “Next year in Jeruslaem.” Jews keep a mezuzah on their door posts which they touch each time they enter or leave their homes to remember the promises of God to them. The very existence of the modern state of Israel is because the Jews can not afford to have amnesia. They have long memories.  And, we Evangelicals do as well. We remember the words of Genesis 12:3 and the promise from God to “bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse her.” It is for this reason that we join Isaiah, the Jewish prophet of old, in proclaiming, “For Zion’s sake we can not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake we will not be quiet” (Isaiah 62:1).

As we left the President’s home that evening and walked out into the chill of a Jerusalem night we were greeted by a bright and beautiful full moon suspended in space flanked by a dazzling array of millions of stars twinkling against the backdrop of a dark sky. Immediately the words of Jeremiah came to mind, “If the fixed order of the sun, the moon and the stars departs from me….then Israel will cease to be a nation” (Jeremiah 31:35-38). As long as the stars and the moon are in their place running in clock like precision and as long as the sun still rises in the morning Jerusalem is safe in the arms of HaShem.

I now proudly wear a white rose pin on my coat lapel as a constant reminder of the sacrifice of my younger Evangelical brothers and sisters who “for Zion’s sake would not be silent.” The White Rose remains the enduring symbol of the unwavering Evangelical support for the Jewish people. We Bible believing Evangelicals are not going away … not now…not ever. Am Yisrael Chai! The people of Israel live!

Originally published November 20, 2025 at https://allisraelnews.com/blog/from-the-river-to-the-sea-why-is-attacking-israel-touching-the-apple-of-gods-eye-a-terribly-dangerous-thing-to-do-an-evangelical-explains 

Antisemitism is on the rise all over the world. America is now following many European cities in electing Muslim mayors many of whom have been vocal about their feelings toward the Jewish state and the Jewish people. 

The evening news brings repeated videos of antisemitic protests on many of the most well known and once respected college campuses in the western world.

There is a common thread woven throughout each of these rallies. 

There are always scores of professionally printed large posters accompanied by their loud and repeated chants, “From the river to the sea…Palestine must be free!” The not so subtle implication of this message is that the state of Israel must be extinguished from the earth. 

Its present boundaries consume that land that is west of the Jordan River and east of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Thus, these radical calls are indicating the desire is to see the total elimination and annihilation of the Jewish state with one replaced by the Palestinian population…hence their battle cry, “From the River to the Sea…Palestine will be free.”

This should come as no real surprise to anyone who has been knowledgeable of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the last many decades, especially dating back to the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. 

In fact, the very charter of the Palestinian people makes this plain. 

The Palestinian National Charter, sometimes called the Palestinian National Covenant (1968), includes several references to the complete rejection of the legitimacy of the State of Israel and in more than one place calls for its elimination as a political entity. 

It blatantly rejects a two state solution and in Article 9 states that an armed struggle is the only way to eliminate Israel.

The chant, “From the River to the Sea,” is not simply an appeal for Palestinian recognition but at its core there is the not so subtle message that there is no room for a Jewish state in our modern world and particularly one in their ancient homeland.

Sacred scripture carries with it a stark warning for those who so blatantly seek the destruction of the Jewish people.

God promises a blessing in the Torah to those who seek to bless Israel and a severe curse to those who curse them (Genesis 12:1-3). 

History is replete with the fate of those like the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Romans, the Germans and many others who have been so brazen as to challenge this promise. 

God refers to these chosen people of Israel as “the apple of His eye.” 

During their years of wandering in the wilderness the Bible says “He kept them as the apple of His eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10). 

In the Psalms, King David cried out to God to “Keep me as the apple of your eye” (Psalm 17:8). 

And Zechariah, in his prophecy to the people of Judah 2,500 years ago, warned, “He who touches you touches the apple ofGod’s eye” (Zechariah 2:8).

The repeated Hebrew term translated “the apple of God’s eye” is an idiom used metaphorically in scripture to describe the pupil of the eye, its center, the iris which lets in light. 

When we look closely into someone’s eyes their pupil serves as a sort of mirror reflecting our own image back at us. 

The Bible declares that the Jews, His chosen people, are so precious to Him that they are metaphorically reflected in His own eyes which is to say they are the apple of His eye. 

If it were possible for you to look into God’s eyes you would see His people whom He loves and anyone who touches Israel touches the apple of God’s own eye. 

Those with such bitter antisemitic vitriol are not simply seeking to do away with Israel but in so doing are sticking their finger in the eye of God. 

History has proven it is a dangerous thing to poke God in the eye!

The strong stand against any form of antisemitism and especially the visible and vocal support of the state of Israel by evangelicals like me is wrought with questions in some circles and can seem to some as a complex and complicated phenomenon. 

It is not lost on me as I pen these words that many of our own Jewish friends are skeptical of our support and for several reasons, some justified and most not. 

For those so small in number among the nations who have fought and sacrificed so much for a place to call “home” the keeping of their Jewish heritage and identity is, rightfully, of utmost importance. 

History has recorded many attempts down through the centuries of persecution at the hands of the church and blatant forced attempts at conversion which has led to skepticism on the part of some Jews to any acceptance of Jewish support. 

Understanding the unconditional and even enthusiastic support of evangelicals for the state of Israel still feels, for some, an uneasy and unhealthy alliance.

Who are we evangelicals anyway? 

We number over 60 million in the United States and about 600 million world wide. 

The word “evangelical” is derived from a Greek word appearing in the Christian Bible which means bearers of good news. 

We are not Roman Catholics although a small percentage of those in the Roman church may identify as such. 

We are not mainline Protestants although a minute and diminishing number of them call themselves evangelicals.

Evangelicals are Christians who adhere to a more literal interpretation of both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles (Old and New Testaments) believing that all scripture is divinely inspired and as Solomon proclaimed we believe that “every word of God is pure” (Proverbs 30:5). 

We hold to an eschatological hermeneutic insisting that God is still in covenant relationship with the Jewish people, especially as it relates to the land of Israel, which the Almighty has given to them as an “everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8).

Consequently, to hear that all the land of the Bible “from the river to the sea” belongs to someone other than the Jewish people is not only offensive but a direct assault on the integrity and trustworthiness of Scripture itself. 

Evangelicals take at face value the promise that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel (Genesis 12:3) as well as the warning that those who touch Israel are in actuality touching the “apple of God’s own eye” (Zechariah 2:8).

In our day of overt and open antisemitism running rampant in the streets of our cities and neighborhoods what is our relationship, as evangelicals, to the Jewish people? 

When it comes to the Jews, our guide, the Bible, is extremely specific and particular as to why we support the Jews in times such as this with such conviction and commitment. 

As scripture unfolds we find it is because there is a particular promise…to a particular people…in a particular place…for a particular purpose.

THERE IS A PARTICULAR PROMISE

Promises made to us are always appreciated. 

But it is the promises that are kept that mean the most. 

It is one thing to make a promise and often something quite different to keep it. 

Most all of us have been the recipient of broken promises in one way or another. 

The Bible is replete with promises God Himself has made. 

And, He has a perfect record of keeping all His promises. 

Whether we keep our promises to one another or not is based on our own character. 

How can we trust God’s promises to us? 

It is because of His character and the fact that it is “impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18).

There are two types of promises we find in the Bible. 

There are those that are conditional in nature and others that are unconditional. 

For example, God promises to “forgive our sins” (1 John 1:9). 

But, in the same verse there is an “if.” 

“If we confess our sins…”. 

We find conditional promises in the Hebrew Bible as well. 

One of the of often repeated ones is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 — “IF my people…will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways THEN I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.”

However, there are promises in the Bible that are unconditional and their fulfillment has nothing to do with our own performance. 

Every time we see a multicolored rainbow arching across the horizon it is a reminder of God’s unconditional promise that He will never destroy the world by a flood again (Genesis 9:13-16). 

There are no “ifs” or “thens” in unconditional promises. 

God's particular promise to Israel, given to the Jews alone, is emphatically unconditional. 

Way back in the unfolding chapters of the Torah God made this particular promise to Abraham saying, “Get out…to a land I will show you…I will make you a great nation and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). 

Later He enlarged this promise specifically stating that He was deeding to the Jews the land from the river to the sea and even beyond as an “everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:7-8). 

And God has kept that promise. 

The Jews are title holders to an “everlasting” covenant regarding the land of Israel solely based on God’s promise and not on their own ability to perform.

This particular promise is unconditional and irrevocable. 

The debate today is centered around who has right to that tiny bit of earth’s crust between the river and the sea. 

Evangelicals know that the Bible is clear. 

The land was given by God Himself to the Jewish people as an “everlasting possession.” 

Recorded human history as well, not simply the Bible, is on the side of the Jews. 

A myriad of archeological discoveries too numerous to mention all validate the reality that King David established the city of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish people three thousand years ago. 

Descending the Mount of Olives on a donkey down Palm Sunday Road to the enthusiastic shouts of Hosanna from the people, Jesus declared, “If the crowds keep silent, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). 

Visit the excavations taking place in the City of David today and with every turn of the archeologist’s shovel the very stones of ancient Jerusalem are crying out. 

No honest or serious historian can deny that the Jews occupied Jerusalem for many centuries before the fall of the city at the hands of Titus and his Roman legions in 70 A.D. 

Then, after being scattered and dispersed across the world for almost two millennia and seeing literally one third of their entire world population annihilated in the German holocaust, they miraculously returned in the middle of the 20th century to establish, completely rebuild, and repeatedly defend their ancient homeland. 

History, as well as sacred scripture, stand firmly on the side of the Jews.

One of the greatest of all tangible truths that the Bible is true is the way prophesies are made and fulfilled and the way promises are made and kept throughout its pages. 

The most obvious ones are the particular promises God has made to His chosen people, the Jews. 

If you are looking for proof that the Bible is true, take a trip to Israel and observe first hand the miracle of a people dispersed among the nations for two thousand years who have returned to their land of promise, made the desert bloom once again, and who against all odds have risen to become a world power…just as God promised. 

No wonder we call it “the Promised Land!”

THERE IS A PARTICULAR PROMISE…TO A PARTICULAR PEOPLE

Who are these particular people to whom this particular promise has been given? 

Hear the Lord, in His own words to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation— “TO YOU I will give…all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). 

This promise to this particular people was affirmed through the pen of the Psalmist David echoing God’s word — “TO YOU I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance” (Psalm 105:11). 

And, in David’s song of thanksgiving recorded in the first book of Chronicles, he challenged the people to “Remember His covenant forever, the word that He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant that He made with Abraham, His sworn promise to Isaac, which He confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, TO YOU I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance” (1 Chronicles 16:15-18). 

To whom does the land of Israel, from the river to the sea, belong?

In a day when what men say is becoming more important to many people than what God says this is a debatable matter. 

But, those who believe the Bible is God’s word of truth, it is not up a second’s worth of debate.

Unquestionably, this particular promise is given to a particular people….this land belongs to the Jews and it is given, not for a period of time, but as an “everlasting” possession.

God loves Israel and He chose the Jewish people for His own purpose.

Moses, the great emancipator declared, “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set His love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you…” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8).

While evangelicals have a long history of dedicated support of the people of Israel there is a present danger of a creeping virus infecting some of the younger generation of evangelicals stemming, in many cases, from the more reformed theological crowd of evangelicalism. 

This infection is popularly called replacement theology. 

Simply stated replacement theology is built upon three assumptions. 

One, that God has rejected Israel. 

That, in essence, He has retracted the promises He once bestowed upon them. 

Two, these retracted promises have now been given exclusively to the church so that the church has replaced Israel in God’s design due to the Jew’s rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as the Jewish Messiah. 

This reasoning removes national Israel from any special role in God’s plan. 

Consequently, in the eyes of those adhering to this theology, Israel is no more worthy of our support than any of the other almost 195 countries across the world. 

Finally, replacement theology adheres to the reasoning that the promises of God in the Bible are conditional and therefore revocable at any time.

Since this reasoning is based more on what man thinks within the set system of his own reasoning and what man may say about the particular matter, it seems to conveniently lay to the side the plain teaching of God’s own word. 

While the replacement theologian says, God has rejected Israel, replaced it with the church, given to the church the previous promises bestowed on Israel, and finally, insists that these previous promises are conditional and therefore revocable, it bodes to ask if God might have an opinion in the matter. 

And, if so, does He have a specific word about it in the sacred text? 

For example, what does God say in His infallible word about the idea that He has rejected His chosen people Israel. 

He could not be more plain and presents the question Himself through the pen of the inspired Apostle Paul, “I ask, then, has God rejected His people? By no means!…God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:1-2). 

For most Bible believers what God clearly says is more important than what man thinks and says.

What about the idea that all these promises God once gave to the Jewish people are retracted and given to the church? 

In the eleventh chapter of the book of Romans God uses the imagery of the olive tree to present His views on this matter of the relationship of Israel and the church in this dispensation of grace. 

When mentioned in the Bible, the olive tree is used as a symbol for Israel herself. 

Anyone who has visited the lands of the Bible has stopped for awhile in the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the famed Mount of Olives. 

There we witness some ancient and gnarled olive trees, actually dating back two thousand years to the time of Christ.

They witnessed His agony in the garden the night before His crucifixion. 

The same trees are still there after all these centuries, still standing upon their firm and deeply imbedded roots, still extending their branches for shade and still producing olives. 

Using the imagery of this olive tree God has a clear and strong message to the church—“If some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree do not be arrogant about the branches. 

If you are remember it is not you who support the root but the root that supports you” (Romans 11:17-18). 

This is a clear and present warning to anyone who, in their arrogance, thinks that God has replaced Israel and rejected them. 

This root of the olive tree represents the covenant God made with Israel, the root representing His promises, the olive tree representing Israel and the grafted branches representing those in the church. 

The Bible emphatically reminds us that the church “does not support the root” but the root supports the church. 

The church is not substituted for Israel but supplements her being grafted by grace into her trunk.

Finally, replacement theology teaches that God’s promises can be revoked and nullified. 

Again, God’s word is clear at this point. 

It makes crystal clear that “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). 

God’s choice and calling of the Jews and His promises to them related to the land are irrevocable, not determined by their performance, but by His own promises and bestowed upon them as “an everlasting possession.”

Replacement theology is built on a premise and presumption that ignores God’s enduring promises to Israel and its real danger lies in the potential of fueling the fires of antisemitism. 

In some cases antisemitism is the adopted daughter of replacement theology. 

When the church begins to pridefully see herself as the new Jerusalem and labels the Jews as rejected by God Himself it has the potential of lending itself to a creeping disdain for the state of Israel and for the Jews themselves. 

This has many modern ramifications not simply in theological debate but in political perspectives and policies as well. 

Anti-Christian Zionists believe they have a license to outwardly oppose the existence of a Jewish state believing they have been given a pass because, as they contend, God has abandoned His own covenants with the Jewish people.

If Replacement theology is an affront to God’s word, then antisemitism is an affront to God’s own heart. 

He repeatedly states in scripture that He loves the people of Israel. 

Evangelical believers join the Psalmist in praying, “If I forget you oh Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy” (Psalm 137:5-6). 

Yes, “It was not because you were more in number…that THE LORD SET HIS LOVE ON YOU and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because THE LORD LOVES YOU and is keeping the oath…that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you…” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). 

God’s particular promises are given to His own particular people whom He loves….not on the basis of their own performance but based on His irrevocable calling and His unconditional promises.

THERE IS A PARTICULAR PROMISE…TO A PARTICULAR PEOPLE…IN A PARTICULAR PLACE

The promise God gave to the Jews of an “everlasting inheritance” is assigned to a very specific piece of real estate. 

Repeatedly in scripture it is referred to as “the land of Canaan.” 

This Biblical term refers to the land previously inhabited by the Canaanites who were named after Noah’s grandson, Canaan (Genesis 10:6). 

It contains much of what we know today as Israel, the West Bank, as well as parts of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. 

Its broader mention is “from the river of Egypt to the Eurphates” (Genesis 15:18). 

In essence, this land is the physical sign of God’s covenant with the Jewish people. 

What we know today as the land of Israel is a particular place which God gave to a particular people in fulfillment of His particular promise.

Way back in the unfolding chapters of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible known as the Pentateuch) God made a promise to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, saying, “Get out…to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation…and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). 

Five chapters later the Lord enlarged on this promise stating, “I will establish my covenant for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants…also I will give you and your descendants after you the land…as an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:7-8). 

God repeated this promise to Abraham’s son, Isaac, and to his son Jacob as well, “The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants…and in you and your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 28:13-14). 

And, what God promises He performs.

The Jews have had an interesting relationship with this particular parcel of land. Israel became a world power under the kingships of David and Solomon. 

But, they began to follow after other gods. 

Repeatedly God warned them He would not tolerate the worship of these other gods and warned His people saying, “You will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you…you shall find no rest” (Deuteronomy 4:27).

True to His word the divided kingdom was scattered and exiled first by the Assyrians, then by the Babylonians, and finally by the Romans following the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. 

For the next almost 2,000 years the Jews lived as an often despised and persecuted people without a land to call their own. 

Against all odds and through uncounted pogroms and persecutions these chosen people managed to maintain their identity as for generation after generation they sat at their Passover tables in a thousand exiled and isolated places always holding to the hope that they would celebrate their future feasts by saying to one another…“Next year in Jerusalem.”

God did not forget His people and promised them through the prophets that there would come a day when He would regather them from the four corners of the earth, bring them back into their own land and reestablish them from the river to the sea so that they would become “a light to the nations” (Isaiah 42:6). 

Through His prophet Ezekiel, He declared that He would “take you from among the nations, gather you out of all the countries and bring you into your own land” (Ezekiel 36:24).

What God so long ago promised He performed and my generation has been blessed to witness it with our own eyes. 

Never in human history has a nation been reborn in such a fashion as was Israel in 1948. 

God was true to His word given through the Prophet Isaiah, “It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people…assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:11-12).

On Christian pilgrimages to Israel today we can walk the streets of Jerusalem and see Russian Jews who fled violent pogroms, dark skinned Ethiopian Jews some believe to be descendants of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Sephardic Jews from the surrounding Arab nations and North Africa, and Ashkenazi Jews with their black coats and long beards from Eastern Europe all blending together, just as God promised, into one Jewish state, God’s own chosen people, reestablished once again in their own “Promised Land.”

God’s unconditional promises still stand. Journey outside tonight and look at the full moon suspended in space in all its radiance and flanked by billions of bright and twinkling stars all running in clock like precision. 

Get up early in the morning and watch the majestic sun of our solar system rising faithfully in the east as it does every single day. 

And when you do remember the words of Jeremiah, “Thus says the Lord who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and stars by night…the Lord of Hosts is His name; If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever” (Jeremiah 31:35-36). 

The sun, the moon and the stars speak to us daily validating God’s promise of the land of Israel to the Jewish people as “an everlasting possession.” 

After all, if God broke His covenant promises to Israel what hope do we evangelicals have that He would not break His new covenant with us and the hope of eternal life through faith in Yeshua, our promised Messiah?

Evangelical support of Israel is not going away…not now…not ever. Evangelicals worship a Jewish Messiah and we can not love Him without loving the Jewish people. 

Evangelicals read a Bible that is a Jewish book and we can not love it without loving the Jewish people. 

Regularly in our churches we “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). 

And, we confidently join the prophet in affirming, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep quiet; for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be silent” (Isaiah 62:1). 

Evangelicals believe God has given a particular promise…to a particular people…and we believe they have a particular place in which God has deeded them the land.

Evangelicals stand with the God of the Bible and His chosen people the Jews…now…and forever!

THERE IS A PARTICULAR PROMISE…TO A PARTICULAR PEOPLE…IN A PARTICULAR PLACE…FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE

Today the world is seeing the benefits of this particular people reassembled in this special land.

God had promised that in and through the Jewish people “all the nations of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). 

And, in fact, they have truly become a “light to the nations” as Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 49:6). 

When I was a child we would often hear of one of our peers who had contracted polio and was consigned to spend their days confined to the trappings of an iron lung. 

Then the Jewish physician, Jonas Salk, discovered a cure for polio and children in every nation were blessed. 

Time and space does not permit the listing of Jews too numerous to mention like Michael DeBakey who developed modern heart transplant procedures. 

If you have ever choked on a piece of food and someone performed the Heimlich maneuver on you, you can thank a Jew, Henry Heimlich, for perfecting this technique that has saved untold thousands of lives. 

This list goes on and on in the arts and the sciences with Jewish composers such as Mendelssohn and Gershwin, Bernstein and Berlin and physicists in the vein of Albert Einstein. 

While Jews make up only 0.2% of the world population almost one quarter of all Nobel Prize Laureates are of Jewish descent. 

The next time you use google to search for an answer on your computer you can thank a Jew, Sergei Brin for inventing it. 

And when you go on Facebook today to check up on your family and friends remember it was a Jew, Mark Zuckleberg, who made it possible. 

Add to all this the rapid advance of artificial intelligence and if you look far enough you will find Jews continuing to bless the world and being a light to all the nations of the world.

But there is a deeper purpose in God’s choosing of the Jews and keeping His promises to them. 

There is one prophecy yet to be fulfilled. 

It is the coming of the Messiah to planet earth to set up His kingdom of peace and reign from the throne of David in Jerusalem. 

Or, for us evangelicals, the second coming of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus. 

At that time as we read in the prophet Zechariah, God will “pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy so that when they look on me, on him whom they pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

The most repeated command that God gave to the Jews, and to us, in the Hebrew Bible is the command to remember. 

Dozens of times this is mentioned in sacred scripture. 

The Psalmist made his plea, “If I forget you oh Jerusalem let my right hand forget its skill, let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you” (Psalm 137:5-6). 

For centuries in exile and at thousands of Passover meals they remembered Jerusalem with the benediction, “Next year…in Jerusalem!” 

The Jews do not have the luxury of forgetfulness. 

Amnesia is not an option for them. 

They place a mezuzah on the door post of their homes and touch it each time they enter or leave as a reminder of God’s promises. 

The state of Israel exists today because the Jews have long memories. 

They realize these particular promises are given to them for a particular purpose which ultimately will usher in the long awaited Messiah when “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).

And speaking of memories, Zalli Jaffe, long time president of the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem once stated, “To speak of evangelical support of Israel without mentioning the name of Dr. W.A. Criswell would be like speaking of the blood circulation system through your body without speaking about the heart.” 

Dr. Criswell was for a half century the pastor of the historic First Baptist Church in Dallas, which, through the decades, has been counted among Israel’s dearest friends and strongest evangelical supporters. 

Criswell was my own pastoral predecessor in the Dallas pulpit and was like a father to me in many ways. 

He is remembered fondly by many as one of the first “friends of Zion” who vocally and visibly appeared after the establishment of the modern Jewish state in 1948. 

He was the first evangelical to visit Israel immediately after the end of the War of Independence. 

On that initial visit he had a chance encounter with Israel’s founder and first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion. 

The two developed a life long friendship lasting until Ben Gurion’s own death. 

A forest of ten thousand trees in the Galilee bears his name as well as his name being inscribed on the wall of the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem commemorating his love and loyalty to the Jewish people and the state of Israel.

In the fall of 1995 — and well into his eighties — he wanted to make one last trip to the land he loved. 

My wife, Susie, and I took him to Jerusalem for this final journey. 

It was in the days of the Russian Aliyah which saw an enormous infusion of one million Russian immigrants to Israel in the span of a decade. 

It brought a tremendous challenge to the nation’s infrastructure resulting in the immediate need of well educated Russian medical doctors and learned university professors resorting to cleaning toilets in hotels to make a living. 

Accomplished Russian musicians from the great symphonies of Moscow and St. Petersburg played their instruments on Jerusalem street corners for small amounts of change tossed into the hats placed at their feet.

One night after dinner a small group of us were strolling along the street mall on Ben Yehuda in the heart of Jerusalem. 

It is lined with street vendors, coffee shops, cafes, jewelry stores and other places of commerce that nightly attracted both locals and visitors from across the world.

I suddenly noticed that Criswell had gone missing from our small group. 

Walking briskly back down the street I began to search for him. 

And there he stood near the bottom of Ben Yehuda Street before an aged violinist stroking his violin the the mesmerizing tune of the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah. 

Hatikvah in Hebrew means hope…expressing the hope and prayers of every Jewish exile for two thousand years longing for Jerusalem. 

As I approached the two old white haired men I noted that Criswell had tears running down his cheeks as he stood in awe of the old violinist playing what Criswell viewed as the fulfillment of Bible prophecy he had preached and believed all his life and now had lived to see its reality. 

To this day when I think of him that is the picture that is etched in my mind and speaks volumes of the fact that the regathering of the Jews from the four corners of the earth is proof positive that what God promises…He performs.

The next time you hear or see the words “From the River to the Sea” let it be a reminder to you that it describes the land that God owns and has given to the people of Israel as an “everlasting possession.” 

And, it will do us all well to also remember that when you touch Israel you are touching “the apple of God’s eye.” 

And He still takes that rather personally.

Evangelicals stand with God’s people because we believe God’s word and remember that these particular promises are for a particular people who live in a particular place and they arefor a particular purpose…to point people to the God of the Bible.

It is a good reminder to all of us that God does not base the fulfillment of His promises on Israel’s own performance but on His own promises. 

And, by the way, evangelicals should be reminded that we will not get to heaven by our own performance, trying so hard to do right and to do good, but for us, and everyone, it is solely “by grace through faith alone” that we inherit eternal life and one day find our own place in the coming of the New Jerusalem.

Finally, to our Israeli friends — we are not going away…we will not keep silent…not now…not ever! 

Am Yisrael Chai!

Originally published August 5, 2025 at https://allisraelnews.com/blog/why-evangelicals-support-israel 

Nine months following my own arrival into the world the modern state of Israel was born on May 14, 1948. Gathered together with Israeli pioneers in the Tel Aviv Museum, David Ben-Gurion, who would become Israel’s first Prime Minister, pronounced, “We hereby declare the establishment of the Jewish State in the land of Israel.” Then, to the mesmerizing strains of Hatikvah, which would become the new state’s national anthem, the group of founders and observers began to sing together as their minds were filled not only with the euphoria and jubilation of the moment but also with the still seared scars of the recent horrors of the Holocaust and a thousand pogroms which had been propagated upon them in hundreds of places.  Israel and I have grown up together…through childhood…adolescence….young adulthood… and now into an age of maturity and experience.  

Fifty years ago I made my first journey to Jerusalem. From the moment I set my foot on the tarmac at the old airport at Lod I had the mystical sense that I had come “home.” Across this past half century and after almost one hundred return trips that feeling has never left me.  I love the Jewish state and I love the Jewish people. To say that “some of my best friends are Jewish” is not for me some type of condescending, racist attempt of self promotion or self justification. It is the honest truth as many Jerusalemites I’ve come to know and love across these past decades can readily attest.

The support of Israel by evangelical Christians like me is a complex and complicated phenomenon. It is not lost on me as I pen these words that many of our Jewish friends are skeptical of our support and for several reasons, some justified and some not. For those so small in number among the nations who have fought and sacrificed so much for a place to call “home” the keeping of their Jewish identity and heritage is, rightfully, of utmost importance. History has recorded many attempts down through the centuries of persecution at the hands of the church and blatant forced attempts at conversion which has led to skepticism on the part of some Jews to any acceptance of Christian support. Understanding the enthusiastic and unconditional support of evangelicals for the state of Israel still feels for some an uneasy and unhealthy alliance.

It is at this very point that a definition of an “evangelical” is in order. Who are “evangelicals?” After all, they number almost 100 million in America and when Africa is added into the mix they account for almost a half billion people worldwide. Evangelicals are followers of Jesus Christ. The very word derives from a Greek word appearing in the Christian Bible which means bearers of good news. They are not Roman Catholics, although a very small percentage of Catholics may identify as such. They are not main line Protestants, although a minute and diminishing number of mainline Protestants identify as such. Evangelicals are unashamed followers of Yeshua, believing that He is the promised Messiah. They adhere to a more literal interpretation of scripture believing that both the Hebrew and Christian Bible (Old and New Testaments) are divinely inspired and as Solomon proclaimed, they believe “Every Word of God is pure” (Proverbs 30:5). They hold to an eschatology that insists that God is still in covenant relationship with the Jews especially as it relates to the land of Israel which the Almighty gave to the Jews as “an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). Evangelicals of my own bent outright reject any form of replacement theology which suggests that the promises God gave to the Jews are now bestowed upon Christians. It is true that the essence of evangelical commitment is faith in Christ and in His life, death, burial and resurrection. I often share with my Jewish friends who wish for me to not speak of this gospel that they are asking me to do something I would never think of asking them to do. That is, I would never ask a Jewish friend to stop being a Jew and I would hope they would not ask me to stop being a Christian for the sharing of our faith is the essence of our own spiritual experience. In the end I do not ask my Jewish friends to convert to my religion because I feel I have converted to their’s in my own belief that Yeshua is the promised Messiah. In the end we must ultimately leave this discussion with the words of the Torah, “Shall not the Judge of the whole earth do what is right?” (Genesis 18:25).

Why do evangelicals support the state of Israel? Evangelical support of Israel is multi-faceted and finds its roots in four areas; historical certainties, political concerns, theological considerations, and Biblical convictions. This list is not by any means exhaustive but provides a bit of a road map into evangelical thought and the motivation behind their unqualified, unwavering, and unconditional support or the Jewish homeland.

Historical Certainties 

In the modern debate over the land of Israel and especially its eternal capital of Jerusalem, evangelicals understand that history stands firmly on the side of the Jew. Apart from the Bible and its numerous validations of this point many extra Biblical indicators including a multitude of archeological discoveries validate the fact that King David established Jerusalem as the Jewish capital three thousand years ago. No serious historian would deny that the Jews occupied Jerusalem for hundreds of years until Titus and his Roman legions destroyed the city in 70 A.D. Then, after being dispersed for almost two millennia and seeing one of every three Jews in the world annihilated in Hitler’s ovens during World War II, they returned to reestablish, completely rebuild, and repeatedly defend their ancient homeland. History is on the side of the Jew.

Evangelicals appreciate these historical certainties and quietly played a part behind the scenes in various and sundry ways particularly with the establishment of the modern state.  The first nation to recognize Ben Gurion’s declaration of the new state of Israel in 1948 was the United States of America. History records that among others working behind the scenes of President Harry Truman’s recognition of Israel was an evangelical Baptist pastor in Texas named J. Frank Norris. Norris was the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Fort Worth which had for decades been recognized as one of the largest and most influential churches in the country. Late in 1947 Norris began a letter exchange with Truman laying out the scriptural, ethical, and moral grounds for the legitimacy of the establishment of a Jewish state. Basing his arguments on biblical texts like Deuteronomy 30:3-5 in the Torah Norris persuaded Truman, himself a Baptist, that God was in covenant relationship with the Jews and that the Bible foretold of the reestablishment and regathering of the Jews from the ends of the world to Jerusalem. After several exchanges Truman invited Norris to the White House to participate in a conference specifically related to Israel and the Middle East conflict. Norris’ persistent and persuasive communication with the leader of the free world resulted in the United States de facto recognition of the new Jewish state within minutes of Ben Gurion’s proclamation. The list of evangelicals supporting Israel goes on and on including the British colonel, Orde Wingate, whose deep evangelical faith during the years of the British Mandate motivated him to the task of training the Israeli armed units who became the forerunners of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). All this is not to mention the multitudes of evangelicals like the Ten Boom family in Holland who hid and saved Jews during the dark days of World War II sacrificing their own lives in the process. Many of these evangelicals are remembered as “Righteous Gentiles” at Yad Vashem, the memorial to the holocaust in Jerusalem. The Holy City is also host to the Friends of Zion Museum, which tells their stories in an engaging interactive manner and has become one of the most visited museums in Jerusalem.

These historical certainties and thousands of others like them add weight and bring validity to the explanation of evangelical support of the modern state of Israel. Evangelicals support the state of Israel because of plain historical and factual certainties. History is on the side of the Jews.

Political Concerns

While not a primary driving force of evangelical support of Israel, political concerns in the region do play a part. Many evangelicals view Israel as a key ally in the Middle East and appreciate the fact that it is the only democracy in that entire part of the world. Evangelicals have shared values with the Jewish state particularly as it relates to the rule of law and religious freedom. In a region that is daily front page news around the world due to its conflicts and wide spread instability these political concerns play a significant role in the commitment evangelicals embrace towards the Israeli people. Common values and interests on issues such as opposition to radical Islamic extremism strengthens the bond between evangelicals and the Jewish people. The infamous events on the dates of September 11, 2001 and October 7, 2023 have solidified this bond. It is for these political concerns that evangelicals see Israel as a resilient and democratic nation, always in threat of its very survival, and for these reasons deserving of their support. 

Theological Considerations

If we were to trace back the evangelical’s historic support of Israel we would find the most significant reason rooted in their interpretation of scripture of both the Hebrew and the Christian Bible. Evangelicals believe in a literal interpretation of Biblical prophesies. For the most part they have adhered to an eschatology that is dispensational in nature acknowledging that God divides history into a theological framework of distinct periods or dispensations.  Because of this view many evangelicals see the regathering and the reestablishment of the Jewish state with its capital in Jerusalem as a significant marker in God’s own divine plan of the ages. Hence, they believe the promise related to Israel and the Jews found in Genesis 12:3-“I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you and in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” Evangelicals see a Biblical mandate to “comfort” God’s people Israel (Jeremiah 40:1). They also appreciate the reality that in these days God has raised up Israel and made her  “a light unto the nations” (Isaiah 42:6) through literature, the arts, science and innovation. Theological considerations far to numerous to mention here play an important role in the continuing support of Christian evangelicals for the state of Israel.

Biblical Convictions

Being rooted in a conservative Biblical hermeneutic is the leading issue in the unwavering support Israel continues to receive through the generations from evangelical believers. One of the greatest tangible proofs that the Bible is true is the way prophecies are made and fulfilled and the way promises are made and kept within the pages of holy writ. And, the most obvious of these prophesies and promises are the ones God has made and kept with His chosen people, the Jews. Evangelicals are well known for adding to the Israeli economy by their taking millions of people to the Holy Land annually. They know that if you are looking for proof that God will keep His promises a trip to Israel and an observance of the miracle of a people dispersed among the nations for almost two thousand years who have returned to their promised land, made the desert bloom again, and against all odds re-emerged as a world leader is proof positive. Evangelicals primarily support Israel because of their strong Biblical convictions.

Way back in the unfolding chapters of the Torah God made a promise to Abraham saying, “Get out…to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation…and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). Next the Lord enlarged this promise by giving them a land saying, “I will establish My covenant for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants…also I will give you and your descendants after you the land…as an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:7-8). God repeated this promise of the land to Abraham’s son Isaac and to his son Jacob as well, “The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants…and in you and your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 28:13-14). And God kept His promise.

Israel became a world power under the kingships of David and Solomon. But, they began to follow after other gods. God repeatedly warned them He would not tolerate the worship of other gods by warning, “You will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you…you shall find no rest” (Deuteronomy 4:27). True to His word the Jewish people were scattered after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

For two thousand years they lived as an often despised and persecuted people without a land to call their own. Against all odds these chosen people maintained their identity and lived generation after generation with the constant hope that they would celebrate their annual feasts “next year in Jerusalem.” God promised them in scripture that there would come a day when He would regather them from the four corners of the earth, bring them back into their own land and reestablish them as a nation. He promised, “I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all the countries, and bring you into your own land” (Ezekiel 36:24). And what He long ago promised He performed…and, I have been blessed to witness this within my own lifetime. Never in recorded human history has a nation been reborn in such a fashion. Two and a half millennia earlier through the Prophet Isaiah God had promised, “It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people…assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:1-12).

On Christian pilgrimages to Israel today evangelicals walk the streets of Jerusalem and see Russian Jews who fled persecution and pogroms, dark skinned Ethiopian Jews some believe to be descendants of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Sephardic Jews from the surrounding Arab nations, and Ashkenazi Jews with their black coats and long beards from Eastern Europe all blending together, just as God so long ago promised, into one Jewish state, God’s own chosen people.  No wonder evangelicals call it the “promised land.”

Evangelicals primarily are staunch supporters of Israel because of their Biblical convictions. After all, if God did not keep His covenant promises to Israel what reason do we have to believe that He would keep His covenant promises to us?

Evangelical support of Israel is not going away…not now…not ever. Evangelicals worship a Jewish Messiah and we can not love Him without loving the Jewish people. Evangelicals read a Bible that is a Jewish book and we can not love it without loving the Jewish people. Regularly in our churches we “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). And, we confidently join the prophet in affirming, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep quiet; for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be silent” (Isaiah 62:1). Evangelicals stand with the God of the Bible and His chosen people the Jews…now…and forever!