There are two ways for a nation to receive the blessings of God:
- Through faith
- By blessing the nation of Israel
Number one is obvious. Number two should be obvious were it not for a lot of false doctrine floating around for the last fifteen hundred years.
If we exegete Genesis 12:2-3 properly, this is the conclusion of the matter of receiving God’s blessings by blessing Israel:
“And I will make of you [Abraham and his descendants] a great nation [Israel], and I will bless you [Abraham] and make your name great [through your descendants], so that you will be a blessing [to all generations]. I will bless those [Gentiles] who bless you [Israel], and him who dishonors you [Israel] I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth [Jews and Gentiles] shall be blessed [through Christ who will come from you].”
Senator Ted Cruz made this point when he was asked about his support for Israel. He stated:
“As a Christian growing up in Sunday school, I was taught, from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I want to be on the blessing side of things.”
Senator Cruz was savaged by such ‘Christian’ luminaries as Tucker Carlson, who was unfamiliar with this passage (or at least how to interpret it). I hear that Tucker once claimed that he wrestled with a demon one night.
He obviously lost that bout.
Many of those who reject this passage as having anything to do with the modern-day nation of Israel claim God was only talking to Abraham and not his progeny.
The problem with this ridiculous argument is that this promise was repeated by Isaac when he blessed Jacob (Israel) instead of Esau (Genesis 27:29).
“May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”
For those who are unfamiliar with Biblical history, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) were Abraham’s progeny.
When Balak attempted to get Balaam to curse Israel, he instead blessed them by saying the following:
“May those who bless you [the nation of Israel] be blessed and may those who curse you be cursed” (Numbers 24:9).
Sounds an awful lot like the same promise to Abraham.
In their Biblical ignorance, the ‘Israel is the church’ folks want to claim that modern-day Israel is not the same as the Israel in Genesis. They further compound their error by making the ridiculous argument that God has rejected the nation of Israel forever.
The Biblically ignorant then proceed with their ‘mental gymnastics’ when they are confronted with Romans Chapter Eleven.
“I ask then, Did God reject his people [Israel]? By no means!” (Romans 11:1).
And again:
“Again I ask, Did they [Israel] stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all” (Romans 11: 11).
Despite Israel’s lack of faith, God has not rejected his people forever. Clearly, the ‘Israel is the Church’ group are making things up.
They would like to accuse those of us who bless the modern-day nation of Israel of being political. That is projection. This false allegation testifies against them.
(By the way, there are good political reasons to bless the modern-day nation of Israel without Scripture. Preserving Western Civilization against the pagan Muslims being chief among those reasons).
In the spirit of indicting our detractors, I would like to level a few of my own accusations against the “Israel is the Church” crowd:
- You are taking the Lord’s Name in Vain by twisting what God and his Prophets have said (Exodus 20:7). You need to repent.
- You are being disobedient to the Lord (when you allegorize Scripture that was meant to be taken literally) by adding and subtracting from God’s Word (Deuteronomy 4:2).
- You will be proven to be liars (Proverbs 30:5-6).
- You are arrogant (Romans 11:17-24). When you read these verses, pay particular attention to the “you also will be cut off” statement.
- You will likely miss the rapture (which you mock anyway) and experience the joys of the Great Tribulation (22:18-19).
If you think the final point is too harsh, please consider that much of the Book of Revelation has to do with the modern-day nation of Israel and Satan’s attempt to eradicate it. The Church is nowhere to be found after Chapter Three.
A ‘Christian’ must add or subtract from what the Apostle John recorded when he claims, “Israel is the Church.”
Monkeying around with God’s Word is a big ‘no-no’ according to Revelation 22:18-19.
The “Israel is the Church” crowd are the ones who are being political. They are rejecting Scripture because they just don’t seem to like the Jews.
This is strange because Paul said,
“For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings (in you all families of the earth shall be blessed — Genesis 12:2-3), they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.” (Romans 15:26-27).
Most Christians understand that the nation of Israel is in complete rebellion against God.
But guess what, so is the rest of the world (including many of his ‘churches’).
Especially those churches that like to twist Scripture and create doctrines out of their own imaginations.
Satan wants to destroy the modern-day nation of Israel. The fact that the world hates the modern-day nation of Israel, and we all know the world belongs to Satan, testifies against all who are anti-Israel (or anti-Zionist).
The modern-day State of Israel belongs to God.
Satan is certainly thankful for the false doctrine of ‘replacement theology.’ Those who get in bed with Satan, by falsely castigating Israel, are putting their eternal souls at risk.
God is going to deal with the nation of Israel. He is going to fulfill all his promises to his tiny nation to bring a remnant of them to repentance.
And it’s going to be ugly.
Anyone who gets in His way, especially those who are just parroting Hamas talking points, is making a big mistake.
Possibly an eternal one.