“Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.” – Joshua 1:3
The October 7th, 2023, invasion of Israel by Hamas/Palestinians ignited the Middle East in war and the world with antisemitism. In a few short years, the streets of our cities have filled with Palestinian flag waving demonstrators and rioters. Chants of “Death to America” and “From the river to the Sea Palestine shall be free!” are not uncommon. There are those who want no more Israel, and no more United States of America. Recently, Democratic mayoral candidate of New York City Zohran Mamdani speculated and promised that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel visited the City, and he was the mayor, he would have the Prime Minister arrested for war crimes. [1]
In recent weeks, the war in the Middle East escalated to include Iran versus Israel. In peril of existential threat, Israel preemptively struck the territory of the ancient Persian Elamite nation in an attempt to eliminate those connected to attaining nuclear weapons. When the job seemed a little beyond the capabilities of Israel, President Trump, who has remained a staunch supporter and protector of Israel, ordered Operation Midnight Hammer to finish the job.
With the help of 7 United States B2 Stealth bombers in Operation Midnight Hammer, 14 30 thousand pound each GBU-57 MOP (I.e., Massive Ordinance Penetrators) bombs were delivered to “obliterate” (according to President Trump) the “hidden” underground nuclear facilities in Iran. President Trump announced to the nation that the mission was flawless. But some speculate what was done didn’t go far enough. [2]
The conflict in the Middle East hasn’t just disrupted the geopolitical environment internationally, but it has had a divisive impact on conservatives in the States. Candice Owens won the Antisemite of the Year award from an advocacy group. [3] Her conversion from Protestant to Catholic has greatly impacted her views on Israel. Another opponent, though from a different perspective, is Tucker Carlson. Carlson seems more motivated by a staunch resistance to the United States being embroiled in a Middle East war. He has vocally opposed any involvement by America in hostilities between Israel and Iran. His greatest fear is United States military boots on the ground and then an escalation that would tap and drain an unstable United States economy. Tucker is not altogether wrong about a salivating military industrial complex and its proponents who would like nothing more than to fill their pockets with war related wealth. But Carlson, it seems, is not so much antisemitic as he is a patriot looking out for the welfare of his country.
Ron Cantor an Op-ed contributor for The Christian Post, in an article entitled An open letter to Tucker Carlson from an Israeli Messianic Jew, references an interview Carlson did with Senator Ted Cruz.[4] In the article Cantor expresses consternation at the inability of Cruz who, though a supporter of Israel, was ill-prepared to respond to some of Carlson’s bullet points about not feeling obligated to support Israel. In the article Ron Cantor ably refutes some of the “Theological errors” Carlson made in his conversation with Senator Cruz.
The main question that Carlson raised to Cruz, and that Cantor felt was left inadequately if not altogether unanswered, is addressed in the article. That question is, “Is the modern nation of Israel biblical Israel?” The article starts out with the Abrahamic Covenant, “an everlasting covenant,” as the root connecting modern day Israel with Biblical Israel (cf. Genesis 12:2-3; 17:7-8; 26:3-4; 48:4). The article references numerous prophetic promises of God to place Israel in a Promised Land (e.g., Ezekiel 36:24; 37:21-24) through a migration from the north to the southern Land where Israel is today (Jeremiah 16:14-15).
Cantor points out the miraculous return of Jews to the Land, verified by DNA, 2000 years after repeated persecutions. He points out that if Israel today is not the Israel of the past, it is “one of the most remarkable coincidences in history.” He points out the fallacy of replacing “Israel” with the “Church” since the Church did not come out of the north as Jeremiah 16:14-15 stipulates. The Church was and has not been regathered from all over the world to the Land of Israel. The Church does not fulfill the promises of God made to the descendants of Israel.
At the doorstep of the Promised Land God mapped out the Land that would be Israel’s. From the beginning of the conquest God told general Joshua, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses” (Joshua 1:3 and Deuteronomy 11:24). God very specifically states, “From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory” (Joshua 1:4). These are the true and only valid borders stipulated by God and they are for Israel not for the imaginary Palestinian people. The word “Palestinian,” does not even occur in the Bible.
The “Palestinians” as a group of people were concocted by the Romans as an afront to Jews. It is a derivation of the name “Philistines,” who were perennial adversaries and thorns in the flesh of God’s people. King David finally defeated the Philistines in the Tenth century BC (1 Samuel 13-14). The “Palestinians” were resurrected by the Romans to goad and rub salt in the wound of Jews who had just unsuccessfully rebelled against Rome between 66-70 AD. In 70 AD the uprising was finally put down by Rome. What better way to compound the pain of Jews who had just been defeated, lost their holy city of Jerusalem, and watched their precious holy Temple disassembled and burned to the ground. The Jew was dispersed from their Holy Land to a vagabond existence throughout the world.
A small remnant of Jews fled to Masada and resisted the Romans until finally defeated between 73-74 AD. If used to be that Israel Defense Force soldiers would take their oath of allegiance at Masada saying they would rather die that be taken captive by their enemies. Today I believe they have adopted more of a Samson strategy that says, “If we are going down, then we will take as many of our enemy with us as possible” (cf. Judges 16:28-30). Israel and the Jew have learned throughout their existence to live with the threat of annihilation. Such a threat comes from the leader of demons. But such a persistent existential threat has served to strengthen Israel. Her neighbors, especially those like the Hamas, Hezbollah, Egypt, Jordan, and most recently Iran, have learned firsthand the tenacity and might of a nation backed by God.
God’s hand has always been and still is, on His people. No matter where they travelled, they prospered. When the Black Plague covered Europe, they, of all people-groups, remained largely unscathed. This was because of the dietary and cleanliness aspects of the Law of God Jews observe. Consequently the people of Europe persecuted Jews and associated their health to magic, sorcery, or some other means. God’s people were continuously and mercilessly persecuted, and often times the so-called “Church” was the culprit.
God’s people continued to prosper, and they continued to be persecuted from the envious and jealous around them. Few remembered that God had blessed the world and fulfilled His promise to Abraham by providing a Savior/Messiah and the word of God’s revelation through this people (Genesis 12:1-3; Romans 9:1-5). Despite persistent persecution and even a holocaust, God’s people with God’s help (even though many of them would deny it), kept their heads above water. They persevered until the hearts of the world were moved by a Nazi “Final Solution.” God worked to open the door to the reentry into the Promised Land by His people on May 14th, 1948. It’s a miraculous story that is blasphemed by those who would shortsightedly and heartlessly set it aside and replace “Israel” with “the Church.” In many ways and by many people the enemy of our souls continues to try and extricate Israel from the Land given to them by God.
“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not!” (Romans 11:1a). God’s word on His people stands strong to this day. To this day those who bless Israel are blessed and those who curse Israel are cursed. Iran is a national object lesson on the cursing end of that promise. The United States, though it has become more and more divided in its support of Israel in recent times, we are still an example of a nation that, because of our support of Israel, has been and is blessed.
Is Israel perfect? Far from it. They are presently blinded (Romans 11:25). Their bones have rattled together and been clothed with flesh. All we wait for now is one day for the breath of God to enter their souls and given them spiritual life (Ezekiel 37). They are growing according to God’s plan toward a national revival (Ezekiel 37:6). God always fulfills His promises. And His promise is that one day “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).
That salvation of all Israel will happen when the clouds are parted, and Jesus returns with His bride the Church to this earth (Matthew 24:29-31). Jesus “Faithful and True,” will one day return (Revelation 19:11-16). Only then will there be a perfect government on this earth, a kingdom that will last one thousand years! (Revelation 20:4-6). When He returns He will arrive on the Mount of Olives. He will split that ancient mount in two. It will open a gusher of “living waters” part of which will flow into the Dead Sea and bring it to life again (Zechariah 14:1-9). But best of all, when Jesus returns at His Second Coming, the Bible says, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for Him as one grieves for a first born” (Zechariah 12:10). It’s at this time in history when His-story about His people will be fulfilled, “And so all Israel will be saved.”
Those who bet against Israel are betting against God. Do I really have to remind you of the record of those who have opposed God? God is pitching a shutout. God could not have endorsed His people In His Land any clearer when He say:
- Jeremiah 31:35–37 (NKJV) – Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): 36“If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.” 37 Thus says the Lord: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the Lord.
Barring a cataclysmic upheaval that alters the sun and moon, sea, and nature itself, God will support His people Israel.
The prophet Amos was inspired to close his book with the encouraging exhortation, “I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,’ says the LORD your God” (Amos 9:15). That is what we see in our day. This was not fulfilled in the return from captivity because as alluded to earlier, though Israel would return to the Land, in 70 AD they would be dispersed one last time. Today Israel is in the Land, and despite persistent attacks by her neighbors, Israel has defeated all opponents. The Bible speaks of future conflicts worse than anything we have seen thus far (e.g., Psalm 83; Ezekiel 38-39; Revelation 16:16). But in all these conflicts either God will empower Israel to victory themselves or He will Himself intervene to protect them. Israel isn’t going anywhere.
Ron Cantor’s open letter to Tucker Carlson is an open letter to all those who would write off Israel and discredit her. It is also a powerful argument that Israel, though not all that she should be, is a nation that all Christians should support. Israel is a nation that the United States of America should continue to support.
Cantor then gives nine reasons why we should bless Israel. I summarize those reasons as follows:
- The Jewish people are God’s instrument through whom we have received the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
- It is through Israel that God sent Jesus, a Jew, “sone of David, son of Abraham,” to be Savior of the world (Matthew 1:1).
- The blindness of Israel and Jews was in part to open the door for the Gospel to go to the Gentile non-Jewish world (Romans 11:11-12).
- It was Jewish Apostles that embarked on the first stages of fulfilling the Great commission (Acts 1:8).
- The Jewish Apostle Paul, called to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, exhorted the Gentile community that they owed the Jew a debt of gratitude because of all the spiritual blessings God has provided to us through them (Romans 15:25-27).
- Jesus is returning to modern day Israel, to “Zion”! Therefore, we should seek the preservation of the holy city of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:10; 14:4).
- Cantor writes, “The Jewish people were a womb of prayer that brought Jesus into the world – people like Simeon and Anna (see Luke 2:25-28). These two were prototypes mentioned in the Bible and represent tens of thousands of Jewish people like them who were praying for the Messiah to come. God is looking to the Church to be a womb of prayer that will intercede for Israel’s salvation – that they will recognize Jesus as their Messiah.”
- The Bible instructs us to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; ‘May they prosper who love you.” (Psalm 122:6). “We are called to be watchmen on her walls (Isaiah 62:6-7).” We need to be praying for the salvation of Israel generally, and Jews in particular.
- Lastly, Cantor reminds us that God will curse those who curse Abraham’s seed, i.e., his descendants. God will bless those who bless Abraham and his seed descendants (Genesis 12:3).
Ron Cantor closes his open article to Tucker Carlson with some personal truth. “Tucker, you would not be a Christian today and may be sacrificing your children to false gods, except fo the contribution of the Jewish people. I hope this helps you see why the Bible clearly and explicitly commands Christians to bless Israel and the Jewish people.” I would only add that my prayer is that all people would support Israel and Jewish people, especially people who call themselves Christians!
I believe it is Biblically sound truth that we should support Israel and Jewish people. I believe that is especially true for those who have come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. I am a supporter of Israel and the Jewish people. So was the Apostle Paul. But Paul did not mince words when it came to the gospel or “good news” from God that ALL people, including Jewish people, much accept if they are to be saved from their sins and spend eternity with the God of all creation.
There is only one gospel. That gospel speaks of salvation from sin as a gift of God’s faith received by faith. That faith is birthed and matures through God’s gift of the word of God. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Therefore, in closing I share straight undiluted from the word of God what the Jewish Paul once Saul of Tarsus was powerfully inspired by God to proclaim as the message and means of God’s great salvation from sin:
- Romans 10:1–21 (NKJV) – Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
My hope and prayer are that, if you haven’t done so already, you will call on the name of Jesus right now and be saved. Admit your sins to God. Ask His forgiveness. Receive His promise of forgiveness by faith in Jesus and He will give you spiritual life. If you know Jesus, I pray you would share this message with your Jewish friends, with all your friends. Time is short. God has brought the message of salvation down to our level. There’s no excuse for anyone not to be saved. The only thing between eternity separate from God and eternity with God, is you. Support Israel. Share the gospel with Jewish people. Share the gospel with all people. And worship at the feet of the Jewish Messiah King Jesus. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
[1] https://www.foxnews.com/media/flashback-nyc-mayoral-candidate-zohran-mamdani-vowed-arrest-netanyahu-he-visited-city
[2] https://watch.org/node/132411
[3][3] https://www.jns.org/advocacy-group-names-candace-owens-antisemite-of-the-year/
[4] https://www.christianpost.com/voices/an-open-letter-to-tucker-carlson-from-an-israeli-messianic-jew.html