Are conservatives turning on Israel and should we bless the Jews?

JPN Reply:

Hi,

Yeah, antisemitism is rising fast around the world. I live almost as far from the Middle East as you can get, yet when I turn on the news at night, one of the very first stories is often about Israel. And not normally in a positive way. It is very true as you have noted, and very sad, that some prominent 'conservatives' like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens have been very outspoken recently against the nation of Israel, and the Jews in general in some cases. I used to listen to both of these two off and on, and generally enjoyed what they said. Today however it seems that there is almost a compulsive obsession to speak against Israel and the Jews by these two (and some others). Candace especially has made some outrageous claims recently calling Israel a 'demonic nation' and blaming the Jews for the assassination of JFK amongst other things. Both claim to be followers of Christ yet I wouldn't personally listen to either on anything anymore. Tucker said in the interview with Ted Cruz that he was a Christian and Candace, as of 2024, now says she has 'gone home' and is a Roman Catholic. She likes to say 'Christ is King' yet we know from scripture that not all who say 'Lord, Lord...' are even known by the Lord (Matt 7:21-23). 

God is the ultimate judge of a person's salvation but we are still called to recognize people by their fruits (Matt 7:15-20). So what I can say is that this constant anti-Israel hatred is not coming from the Spirit of God. Which begs the question, what spirit is it coming from? Because this is very much the prevailing spirit in the world at the moment, stirred up by the enemy, and we know from scripture that this has been prophesied to increase in the last days leading to the return of Jesus Christ. In the interview with Ted Cruz, Ted said he supports Israel stating a Biblical mandate to bless Israel. Tucker objected to this. So it is good to see where this is from and whether it still applies. This means we have to dig quite a bit deeper.

I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you 

The basis of the Abrahamic covenant was first given by God to Abram is the following passage:

Gen 12:1-3  The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.  (2)  I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  (3)  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

This is the verse that Ted Cruz in his interview with Tucker Carlson alluded to for the basis of being a blessing to the nation of Israel (even if he wasn't sure of the exact reference). So the question is, who does this apply to? And was it reiterated or elaborated upon in scripture? We see this promise throughout scripture in connection with the physical descendants of Abraham, the nation of Israel. For example:

• As well as the blessing for Abraham, it was part of Isaac's blessing upon Jacob (Israel):
  Gen 27:29  May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you."
• It was given directly from the Holy Spirit, through the infamous Balaam, for the nation of Israel. Balaam was commissioned to curse the nation of Israel, but when the time came the Holy Spirit came upon him (Num 24:2) and instead he gave this blessing which again shows God's heart and intention to bless those that bless the nation of Israel, and curse those that curse that nation:
  Num 24:8-9  "God brings him out of Egypt, He is for him like the horns of the wild ox. He will devour the nations who are his adversaries, And will crush their bones in pieces, And shatter them with his arrows.  (9)  "He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, And cursed is everyone who curses you."
• We see this same principle in other scriptures like:
  • The blessing for those that bless Israel: Psa 122:6  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they prosper who love you.
  • The curse for those that oppose Israel: Zec 2:8-9  For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "... whoever touches you (God's people Israel) touches the apple of his eye - I will surely raise my hand against them...'

  • The hand of God watching over His people Israel because of His promises given to Abraham: Psa 105:6-14  O descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.  (7)  He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.  (8)  He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,  (9)  the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.  (10)  He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:  (11)  To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.  (12)  When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it,  (13)  they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.  (14)  He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings.

Prophetic application still to come

Now what evidence is there that this principle of God blessing those that bless Israel and cursing those that curse Israel, still applies in our day? Prophetically speaking, we see that this is the very basis upon which God judges the nations at the end of the age:

• Joe 3:1-2  In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,  (2)  I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.  
• The equivalent New Testament passage to Joel 3 is in Mat 25:31-32 where again we see that the nations are judged according to how they treated Jesus' 'brethren' (which in context of Jesus' coming back to Israel and the Mount of Olives, is the Jews): 'When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.  (32)  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.... (40)  The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

• Even in the Mosaic law that outlined in advance all the blessings and then curses that would come upon the nation of Israel for their disobedience, spoke of the time they would be regathered in the last days back into their land:
  Deu 30:1-5  When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations,  (2)  and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,  (3)  then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.  (4)  Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.  (5)  He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.

  And note that it goes on to say that God would curse the nations that treated the sons of Israel poorly:
  Deu 30:7  The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.

So yes, we see this principle throughout scripture and even in passages still to be fulfilled. There are of course objections to this:

But the nation of Israel is currently in unbelief...

Some look at the current nation of Israel and think that God cannot still be keeping His word to them, as they have for the most part rejected Jesus as the Messiah and are in unbelief. Again, the unfaithfulness of man doesn't nullify the unconditional promises of God! (Rom 3:3-4). In fact God has even told us in His word that the initial regathering of Israel from all the nations would be in unbelief. But God said He would do it for His name's sake, not because of Israel's goodness (let God be true and every man a liar!) Note also the order given in this passage where God first regathers them back to their own land before cleansing them and giving them a new heart. This last part is still to come.

Eze 36:22-27  Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone.  (23)  I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.  (24)  'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.  (25)  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  (26)  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  (27)  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

What if I don't like the Israeli government's decisions?

Others, like Tucker Carlson, have a problem with Israel's government and their actions against Gaza. Let me just say that supporting Israel doesn't mean that you always agree with all the decisions made by their government. But do we ever always agree with any government? Do we agree with what the US government has done with its wars? Vietnam? Iraq? Afghanistan? But let me say something specific concerning the decisions that Israel, and their government on behalf of their people, have to make. They have to make life and death decisions for their nation. They are in a fight for their survival as a nation and always have been since their reestablishment in 1948. And this is by far the hardest neighborhood in the world to live in! Look at the following map that shows the nation of Israel (if you can see it) and the surrounding Islamic nations:

Yep... Israel is a tiny nation surrounded by countries that are 80-100% Islamic. And the Lord put them there! Muslim belief is that Islam will conquer the world and bring all into submission unto Allah. That is their goal. There are peaceful Muslim countries but the Middle East especially has a high percentage of Jihadi groups like Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, the Muslim brotherhood, Hezbollah and Hamas to name a few. The founding charter of Hamas for example contains these words of Muhammed:

"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews , when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." 

The charter also contains this quote:

"Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors." 

So can you imagine the shame, when you are meant to be the final and only true religion who brings all others unto submission, to have a thriving Jewish state right in your backyard that won't believe or submit to your god? And then when you try to show the superiority of your religion by defeating this tiny nation militarily, you end up losing every war against them despite your overwhelming size and numbers! Yes, it is an ongoing cause of shame for them. The God of the Bible has said that He will show His name amongst the nations through His restoration and protection of Israel (Eze 36:23, 38:23). So He uses His tiny little nation of Israel to show who the true God is! 

So what about a two-state solution?

There are currently 53 Muslim states in the world and one Jewish state. The Jewish state, Israel, has a tiny total size of 20,770 km². This is roughly the size of the state of New Jersey or for our UK friends, the size of Wales. But the UN and many nations of the world think there should be another Muslim state and that Israel should be forced to divide their small nation even further to make this happen. So the nations around the world are currently in the process of recognizing Palestine and pushing the 'two state solution'. The problem is that neither Israel nor the 'Palestinians' want a two-state solution. The goal of the 'Palestinians' and those supporting them, is stated in their chant 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'. This is not the chant of peace or a 'two-state solution'. It is a 'one state solution' with no Israel at all. Their desire is that all the land between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean sea will be Palestine and ruled under Islamic law. It is the goal of Hamas as shown in their charter above. 

And it should be noted that from Israel's point of view, a 'two state solution' has effectively been tried when the government of Israel used its own IDF to forcibly evict all the Jewish settlers from Gaza in 2005. The Jews were literally dragged out of their homes and settlements in Gaza, with the area handed over to the 'Palestinians' for them to govern. So what has happened in the last 20 years of this '2 state solution' test? Well, the 'Palestinians' promptly voted in a terrorist organization called Hamas in 2007 and the aid money flowing in was used to build extensive terror tunnels and rockets. And in the 20 years since 2005 there has not been a single year when rockets haven't been fired from Gaza at the cities of Israel. An AI search gives a total of 24,575 rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel between 2005 - 2023, giving an average of 1,294 rockets per year. Again, this is just rockets fired from Gaza. Imagine living under those conditions where on average 3-4 rockets are fired upon your country per day for 20 years! And then we have the invasion and massacre of Oct 7 2023 which was the final straw for Israel. Any doubts about the intentions of those living in Gaza were then laid bare. So given the last 20 years and what it led to on Oct 7th, Israel now knows conclusively that they cannot allow the terrorist organization Hamas to remain in power. War is never nice or desired and though Israel would rather live in peace (and do so with many other surrounding countries), peace is unfortunately not an option when living next to a terrorist organization that lives for your destruction. 

Where is this going?

We know from scripture where all this is going. Firstly it involves great difficulty and tribulation for Israel. There is a very bumpy road ahead for them and Jews in general. In the end every nation will come against Israel (Zech 14:1-4) But it is followed by the time when Israel will once again believe in their Messiah and be the head of the nations with the Messiah ruling from Jerusalem. This is part of the 'greater riches' that their reconciliation with their Messiah brings as scripture says:

Rom 11:11-12  Again I ask: Did they (Israel) stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.  (12)  But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!

Rom 11:15  For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

Rom 11:26-27  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.  (27)  And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."

And I love this passage for it speaks of the blessing for Israel in the coming day (as well as showing that she shall be regathered from all the nations, planted back in their own land, and NEVER uprooted again!)

Amo 9:11-15  In that day I will restore David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be,  (12)  so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name, " declares the LORD, who will do these things.  (13)  The days are coming, declares the LORD, "when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.  (14)  I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.  (15)  I will plant Israel in their own land, NEVER AGAIN to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the LORD your God.

So how do we bless the Jewish people?

The reality is that the Jews have few friends in this world. Satan has always sought their destruction. He is currently 'the god of this world' and its worldly system doesn't stand with or support the Jews. So Bible believing Christians should be their friends. Again, it doesn't mean with agree with everything but we know from scripture that God still has an incredible plan that He is working out for that nation, in accordance with the Abrahamic covenant, promises and prophecies in the Bible. So how could we bless them?

• First and foremost we can pray for their salvation. Scripture tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the best way for true shalom (peace) is through the Prince of Peace, Jesus! So we should pray that more and more Jews would see that Jesus is their Messiah.
• We can pray for their protection from God as they need it. We can pray for wisdom for their leaders. It is difficult times for Jews in all lands as antisemitism arises... and it is very difficult times for the nation fighting wars on many fronts. They need wisdom amongst very difficult decisions! 
• The Lord may lead you to give to some ministry or organization supporting Israel and its people. I recently gave to an organization called 'So Be It' which has Jewish believers doing street evangelistic ministry in the heart of Israel. But there are many good ways and ministries through which we can give to bless them.
• And in a world that is increasingly turning against the Jews, we can proclaim God's future blessing and promises towards His covenant people (Isa 62:1). And if you know any Jews you can tell them of your support. 

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I hope that helps. This topic matters because God's promises, power and character are at stake. But He will prove Himself faithful and trustworthy once again to those that He has called. May God bless!

Jer 31:35-36  This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD Almighty is his name:  (36)  Only if these decrees vanish from my sight, declares the LORD, "will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me."

PS - You also asked if there are other resources on the site already to read. Yes, you could look at the following:

Series on Ezekiel 34-39

Various Q & A on Israel

The Uniqueness of Israel