I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3
First of all, we support the right of Israel to have their own homeland. The Jewish people as a result of their collective sin have been dispersed and persecuted throughout the nations. Having a place, they can call home is a wonderful thing. They have a right to this earth like any other people group and for anyone to call for their destruction is a truly evil thing. Matter of fact no one who tries to destroy them will ever succeed. The fact that the Jewish people are still here after countless attempts to destroy them is a Divine miracle in itself.
Nevertheless, we are opposed to the dangerous theology that result in many Christians blindly supporting the actions of the Jewish states.
The verse typically used by these Christians is Genesis 12:3, where God told Abraham that He will bless them that bless him and curse those who dishonors him. And in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. The first thing we must understand is that Abraham was a friend of God. Bible says in Romans 4:3-5, " 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."
James 2:23, " and the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God."
Abraham was a righteous man and a friend of God. As a result, the Lord blessed him, protected him, promised to bless those who blessed him and curse those who curse him. When God said through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. He was prophesying the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ though whom, all humanity will have access to God and thus the fulfilment of the promise given to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, "the seed of the woman who would destroy the serpent's head."
In Deuteronomy 28, God through Moses warned the Israelites of the reality of the covenant, the blessings and curses. If they remain faithful, God will bless them and protect them from their enemies, but if they rebelled and become disobedient the reverse will be true, they will be cursed and overcome by their enemies.
In the course of time, the Jews came to believe they were special no matter what, by their own merits. So they came to believe God would bless them no matter what. Through ought the Bible we see them rebelling against God, while waiting on Him to deliver them. A perfect illustration of that belief is found in the Book of Samuel. Israel was in rebellion against the Lord and the philistines came to battle with them. One thing to notice is that when a nation or people are in rebellion with God, they will have no peace with their neighbors.
So, Israel came to battle against the Philistines and were defeated. So, in 1 Samuel 4 they went and get the Ark of the covenant from its place and brought it to the battle, thinking that having the symbolic representation of God amongst them, despite their sinfulness would be the key to victory. The Ark was carried by the sons of the high priest Eli, wicked men already warned of judgment by God. The end result? The ark was captured, the two sons of Eli perished with a huge number of Israelites in the battle. The lesson? There is no blessing in disobedience.
Ezekiel 33:24 -26
“Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’
Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land?
You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife; shall you then possess the land?
Here we find the Jewish people who were facing the judgments of God looked back to Abraham. And they concluded because Abraham was blessed, "Abraham was one man and yet he got the land, surely we who are many will receive it." But God said, this is not the case. Again, Abraham was a righteous man, he obeyed God and He blessed him, gave him victories. But the Jews at that time were wicked, practiced all manner of wickedness and relied on the sword, on violence.
One look at the nation of Israel now and you easily see it is a wicked nation just like other nations. Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1988, the state recognizes foreign same-sex marriages. Israel is considered the most LGBTQ-friendly country in the Middle East, with Tel Aviv recognized as a global gay-friendly, city. Wikipedia.
Modern Israel "rely on the sword," not on God. They do all these wicked things like any other nations. Are they blessed by God? Will Christians be blessed by supporting such wickedness?
But the greatest sin of the Jewish nation is the rejection of the very blessing God promised to Abraham. Let's go back to Genesis 12:3.
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3
The Jews rejected the "One through who all the families of the earth would be blessed." They rejected the source of all blessings, "the Desire of all nations," The Messiah, The Prince." As a result the Jews as a people were cut off from the Vine of God's special blessings and the curse pronounced in Deuteronomy has followed them since throughout the centuries. Are Christians blessed for supporting a nation in darkness ?
John chapter 8. They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did
In a conversation with Jesus, the Jews claimed to have Abraham as father, but Jesus refuted the notion and said, " if they were Abraham's children, they would do the works of Abraham, they would do works of righteousness." If they were Abraham's children, they would be obedient to God and would have accepted Jesus as Messiah. If they were Abraham's children, they would receive God's blessings and those who blessed them would be blessed. But Jesus made it plain, by not doing the works of Abraham, they were not his children and were not entilted to his blessings.
While we are to support the Jewish people's right to exist, we must recognize they are a people in darkness, spiritual darkness. And someone in spiritual darkness will do evil things, will rely on the sword and promote wickedness. While as Christians we are to support all people's right to live in peace, we cannot blindly support anyone, less we become partaker with them in wicked acts.
The best way we can support the Jewish people, the nation of Israel is by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. To call them to repentance, to call them out of the darkness of modern Judaism. The Jews are wasting their time waiting for a Messiah, when He has already come, wasting their time to build greater Israel. Because the Jews have ignored the fact that the Messiah has already come, they are in danger of being used by Satan to start religious wars with the Muslims, over Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, land etc. that would lead to countless deaths and sufferings. And woe to us Christians who would support such carnage in the name of waiting for a blessing but instead would receive a curse.
Those who are preaching support for the current nation of Israel no matter what they do are leading Christians to support all manner of evils and are also doing a disservice to the Jewish nation by supporting them in a life of darkness. Christ is the light of the world and all who reject Christ are in darkness, including the current Jewish state.
Being a physical Jew, born of the flesh means absolutely nothing and there is no special blessing in supporting the current nation of Israel. Israel has rejected the true blessing, Jesus Christ. The best way to support the nation of Israel is to bring them back to the true blessing, the Lord Jesus Christ and to show them the way to become the true Israel of God.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:29
Comments