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Why Support Israel?

 

The place of Israel in prophetic history has been debated for centuries.  It's not my purpose here to defend my view that Israel still has prophetic significance because I've done that elsewhere.  So, with this presupposition in mind, I ask, "why should Christians support Israel today"?

 

If you live in a western nation, you should hope that your nation supports Israel for the sole reason that the west needs a friend in the Middle East.  Recent times prove that what happens in the Middle East will affect your nation. 

 

The Bible gives one important reason why
Christians should support Israel.  The foundation to this discussion goes back to the day when God called Abraham out of Ur to become the father of Israel.  God promised Abraham that Israel would be a great nation in Genesis 12:1-3.  Exodus 19:6 states the God's original intention for Israel was for it to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation who would represent Him to the nations of the world.  Because Israel has consistently failed in this respect, many people believe God has given up on Israel.  If you take God's promise to Abraham at face value, you'll know that's not the case.

 

Ezekiel 36:22 and 23 states the reason why God has not rejected Israel and why He still supports Israel.  The NIV reads as follows.  "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.  I will show you the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations.  Then the nations will know that I am the Lord', declares the Sovereign Lord, 'when I show myself holy through you before their eyes'".   

 

Due to their disobedience to their God, since 70 A D Israelis have been banished to the nations of the world.  As Ezekiel states here, while living in these nations Israelis have routinely profaned the good name of God by living a life apart from Him, and, by failing to be the priests to the nations they were meant to be.     

 

Ezekiel tells us that it's not for Israel's sake that God will do "these things".  In context, "do these things" refers to God restoring Israel to His original purpose, which He will do for His name sake, not for Israel 's name sake.  In other words, He made a promise to Abraham that Israel would be a great nation.  For the sake of His name; for the sake of His credibility, He will keep this promise.  He never revokes a promise. (Romans 11:29)  If He did, He'd defame His own name and who could ever trust Him after that. 

 

We should take God at His word.  There's no need to do some kind of theological gymnastics and twist His words around to mean something they were never meant to mean.  If God promised Abraham that Israel would be a great nation, a great nation Israel will be.

 

We don't support Israel for their sake or because Israelis are any better than the rest of us, because they're not.  We support Israel because we uphold the good name of our God.  We support Israel because of God's sovereign choice to show Himself holy to the nations of the world through Israel, as Ezekiel predicted.  When Jesus returns to earth and restores Israel to His original purpose, He will rule the nations from Jerusalem, thus demonstrating to the nations that He in fact is the Lord, just as Ezekiel predicted.         

 

I know I buck the social and political trend these days by supporting Israel.  I also know that this trend will evolve into world wide hatred towards Israel that has never been seen in history, as the Bible also predicts.  Still, as seen in the book of Revelation, I'd rather uphold the good name of our God than suffer the unprecedented judgments of God on those who war against Israel.    

 

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