Why Every Christian Should Support Israel

Foreign conflicts are complicated. Multiple interests are involved, the Western worldview is not always shared by the parties involved, and the information we receive is generally curated to push us into one camp or another. On top of that, tragedy abounds in war. There are always innocent people killed, maimed, or orphaned. When a country engages in a conflict, there needs to be strong and compelling reasons to support the tragedy and loss that will ensue. This is particularly true when dealing with a country where we have no citizenship or stake.

The easy position is to oppose conflict no matter the circumstance. We can wash our hands morally of all of the suffering. We oppose it. It is the warmongers and the military-industrial complex pushing the wars. We want a cease-fire. That sounds so peaceful. Make the fire cease.

In actuality, this should be our baseline position. If we have no other information, then we should be opposing conflict. We should support peace, and the burden of proof rests on the party pushing us toward conflict. This is a heavy lift as we do not have access to perfect information. Thankfully, we know enough to see that Israel matters to all Christians, this conflict is different from others around the world, and there is a sizeable spiritual warfare component that goes beyond an international dispute.

Why Israel Matters

In the West, we have been blessed with abundance. For generations, we have had more freedom and prosperity than the world has ever known. Because we have grown up with this, it is our natural tendency to fall into an Amero-centric view of the world and the Bible. We consider ourselves God’s new chosen people because we have experienced His blessings more than any other people, ever. But make no mistake, every person not ethnically Jewish, who considers themselves a follower of Christ, has been grafted onto the vine of Israel.

¹³ Now I am speaking to you Gentiles…

…¹⁷ But 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, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.

-Romans 11:13-18

It doesn’t matter where in the world a Christian lives or is from; there is an inexorable tie to the nation and the people of Israel, for we have been grafted onto it. An attack on Israel is an attack on our vine. If people are calling for the destruction of Israel, then they are calling for our destruction.

Now, there can be a distinction made between the current Israel state as a political organization in the region and the Jewish people. In Jesus’ time, there was no nation of Israel. It had been enveloped inside of the Roman Empire. Before the modern state of Israel, the Jewish people had been dispersed throughout the world. But trying to separate the nation of Israel from the Jewish people is making a distinction without a difference.

Jewish people have been oppressed and mistreated to different degrees in every nation where they have resided. The country of Israel is the only Jewish nation on earth. It is the only place where the Jewish people can have a guarantee that the government will not turn on them and start oppressing them. It is also meant to be a place where any Jew around the world can escape persecution and become a citizen.

Nearly half of the world’s Jewish population lives in Israel. It is still a nation of God’s chosen people.

If Israel were to be destroyed, that would mean death to millions of Jews and the exile of those who survived. Remember, that means the death and suffering of millions of other branches on the vine to which we have been grafted.

Also, Israel is important because it points to Jesus. Jesus did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-18). Also, Jesus said He was “sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matthew 15:21-28). This is confirmed by Paul, who writes, “the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16).

Jesus came as a completion of the promise made to Israel. The existence of Israel points to the promise, and the promise points to the fulfillment of that promise, Jesus, just as the law points to the fulfillment of that law, Jesus. Israel directs our attention to God’s people and God’s laws. This inevitably brings us to Jesus.

Why This Conflict is Different

Not too long ago, the Russian military marched into Ukraine. Everywhere I looked, there were Ukrainian flags and signs saying “Pray for Ukraine.” At church, the pastor prayed for the people suffering in Ukraine. Almost two years later, I still see the flags and signs on an almost daily basis. It has become part of the background noise of everyday life. There is nothing wrong with this. If somebody is spurred to pray for Ukraine, or if they have a firm conviction about the conflict, they should follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to pray for Ukraine and push prayer for that nation.

That, however, is only a territorial dispute at its base. Russian leadership wanted to annex portions or all of Ukraine and fold it into Russia. There are other complicating factors regarding NATO, Putin, etc., but essentially, Russia wanted to expand into a neighboring sovereign nation, and that is what they attempted to do.

The current conflict in Israel is not the same. There was no attempt to gain new land or expand a territory. The goal, stated and shown by actions, was to murder as many innocent Jewish people as possible while raping and torturing those they did not kill.

This goes beyond a simple territorial dispute. Treaties, agreements, and cease-fires work when there is a level of understanding between the parties, even though they disagree. The Ukrainian war will probably end with some territorial concession to Russia along with other conditions and guarantees that a new invasion would not be possible.

That is not possible in this situation. There is no agreement or cease-fire possible when one of the party’s stated goals is the destruction of the other and the annihilation of its citizens.

This is also not an uprising of citizens against the government. It is not an insurgency for several reasons. Firstly, the people of the Gaza Strip have had self-governance since 2007. There is not an occupying force that they have had to rise against.

Also, Israel is a democracy with elected positions and anti-discrimination laws. Any nation that has such a large ethnic majority will face charges of discrimination against those in the minority. No country is perfect, and there can always be bad actors found who discriminate or marginalize those they can. But Israel, as a democracy with laws protecting non-Jewish citizens, can punish those bad actors and elect individuals dedicated to protecting all of its citizens.

An insurgency’s goal is to destabilize the government to be able to take control. The attack on Israel came against non-military, non-government people. There was no possibility of the attack resulting in a destabilized government. The people who attacked knew this. They attacked, grabbed hostages, and retreated. They knew that the Israeli government would respond, so they took hostages with the hope that it could provide them with some protection from the retaliation that would come. They probably also knew that the government, which has been fractured in recent elections, would unite because of the tragedy, and that is precisely what happened. This is the exact opposite of the goal of an insurgency.

Not being a territorial conquest nor an insurgency leaves only the possibility of simple terrorism. The attack on Israel was absolutely terrorism, but there was nothing simple about it. It was a coordinated attack designed to murder as many Jewish people as possible. It goes beyond terrorism against a nation and is directed towards a people group. It just so happens that the people-group that the terrorism is against are God’s chosen people and the vine to which we have been grafted.

A Spiritual War

It is not a coincidence that the stated goal is the destruction of God’s chosen people. Not everybody who opposes, criticizes, or disagrees with the Israeli government is engaging in spiritual warfare against God. But there is a spiritual warfare component involved when the death of the Jewish people is the goal.

The lack of support for Israel in this conflict is clear evidence that there is a spiritual battle raging against God’s people, Israel, and, thus, against us.

The whole world came against Russia when it invaded Ukraine. That was an international dispute about borders and territory. This is an attack against innocent civilians with the express purpose of murdering as many Jews as possible. Yet, there are many out there justifying it. And many of us are silent about the murder of God’s chosen people. We don’t have enough information, or we don’t want to seem like we are pro-Jew and anti-Muslim.

We have forgotten which vine we have been grafted to. Through Jesus, we are family. And it is through the Jewish people that the King of Kings came and blessed the whole earth.

Most of us are not in a position to physically help Israel in this battle. But we can dedicate ourselves to praying for Israel. Not only that God would protect them, but also that the people of Israel would come to know Jesus as the coming king and long-awaited messiah. Also, those of us in positions to lead our churches in prayer need to be praying with our congregations for Israel. Help other Christians to know that a spiritual war against the Jewish people is part of a coordinated attack against us.