israel today > Debate & Prophecy > As a Christian do I have to be a Friend of Israel?

Debate & Prophecy

Thursday, June 29, 2006

As a Christian do I have to be a Friend of Israel?
The question asked in this headline must be followed up by this question: “To what extent must a friend of Israel approve of everything that the State of Israel does?”

The people of Israel are not the chosen people, am segula, because they are better or more perfect than all other peoples. On the contrary, it was because they “were the fewest of all peoples,” that “the Lord your God has chosen [them]” (Deuteronomy 7:6,7). This is why God will save Israel “for [the sake of His] holy name,” not because Israel has earned salvation (Ezekiel 36:22-25).

In addition, we have the biblical principle of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, that non-Jewish Christians have been grafted in to the same olive tree of God that also sustains Israel. In other words, the Gentile Christians receive their calling from the same root that also chose Israel. Thus, Jews and Christians belong together because they are supported by one and the same root.

Sadly, many churches have theologically distorted this New Testament principle. They do not want to accept that Jews and Christians are equally dependent on the same root. In practice, this often manifests as churches condemning Israel whenever its actions vis-à-vis the Palestinians fail to reflect “Christian” love of one’s neighbor. Yet, when their own governments act in a similar way, they call it self-defense. Anyone who sees the splinter in his neighbor’s eye usually fails to notice the log in his own eye (Matthew 7:3).

The fact that Jews and Christians belong together is something Israel’s enemies are well aware of even if many Jews and Christians don’t believe it. The enemies of Jews and of Israel are also enemies of God. Psalm 83:2-4 says: “Thine (God’s) enemies make an uproar; and those who hate Thee…conspire together against Thy treasured ones. They have said, ‘Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.’” It seems as if the Iranian president has been quoting this Psalm.

These people are also enemies of true Christians. The Islamic slogan, which is sometimes seen on Palestinian flags, says: “On the Sabbath we kill the Jews and on Sunday the Christians!” This proves that Jews and Christians are supported by the same root because they are persecuted by the same enemy. Acting out of fear of the Moslems who have become more violent and radical, some Christians compromise their theology to avoid becoming victims of Islamic violence.

(More in israel today from June 2006)

Back to Debate & Prophecy