Why the Division over Israel?

Embracing the paradox of equality and the blessing on Abraham’s descendants

Descent to unimaginable depths

During this year’s Holocaust Memorial, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Holocaust survivor, Tova Friedman shared some of her harrowing memories, recalling the screams of some of the women taken to the camp. She described being beaten savagely simply for fidgeting. Her mother caught her eye, imploring her not to cry – she didn’t; powerless, refusing to show her pain was a way of rebelling against the horror inflicted upon her. She recalled how, aged just five-and-a-half, despite not actually knowing what being Jewish really meant, she was fully aware that being both a child and Jewish equated with death.

Yet, despite the world knowing for eighty years about the unimaginable depths to which humanity descended in enacting the genocide of the Jewish people, anti-Semitism is flourishing across the globe. The ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel since the October 7 pogrom has only served to both highlight and enhance it.

Even within the Church, Christians are divided on whom we should support and be praying for. Some churches have openly spoken against Israel and the ‘genocide’ it is inflicting on the people of Gaza; a significant minority staunchly defend Israel’s actions; the majority seem to avoid the topic, cautious of the heightened feelings it arises, and wanting to sweep any division under the carpet.

Even within the Church, Christians are divided on whom we should support and be praying for.

Yet why should this be? Why should the Church be so divided on such a matter? Why do good, well-meaning, bible-believing Christians come to such different conclusions?

Whilst propaganda, media influence, and genuine care for those suffering (on both sides) play a huge part, it also comes down to two theological factors, both of which must be fully taken into account.

A source of blessing

Within the Bible, there are two clear themes regarding the distinction between Jew and Gentile.

First, the Old Testament – the Jewish Scriptures – has, from Genesis 12 onwards, a specific focus on Israel and the descendants of Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham, echoed, through the line of promise, to Isaac and Jacob too. God made it clear that He had a purpose for this people group – and it was one that would bless the whole world.

God told Abraham that “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. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen 12:2-3) These verses, which have echoes throughout the Old Testament in particular, demonstrate that our actions towards Abraham’s descendants have a reciprocal impact. They indicate that there appear to be consequences regarding how we act and speak towards the Jewish people – and, by extension, many would contend, towards the Jewish state.

Neither Jew nor Gentile

Second, we find in the New Testament, particularly through the apostle Paul, teaching that the distinction is no longer material. We are poetically and strongly exhorted in Galatians 3:28 to know that, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Rather, as Paul goes on to say, as Christians, we inherit promises made to Abraham: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Are the Jewish people somehow particularly special to God, “the apple of His eye” (Ezek 2:8); or does this distinction no longer hold – are we all indeed equally precious to Him?

It is this seeming dichotomy that has allowed for the divergence in opinion. Are the Jewish people somehow particularly special to God, “the apple of His eye” (Ezek 2:8); or does this distinction no longer hold – are we all indeed equally precious to Him?

Holding both truths

What many Christians fail to appreciate, however, is that BOTH are true. Hebraic thought is fully able to hold both truths at the same time, as it does in many other contexts. Christians have down the ages frequently argued and split over divisions that would have been rendered unnecessary had we been able to grasp this concept.

Some splits, of course, were perhaps unavoidable. Others were avoidable. For example, Calvinists and Arminians divided over whether salvation is determined by God’s choice (‘the elect’), or by individuals’ free will – yet a thorough reading of the Bible makes it clear that both are true at once. God does choose specific people for specific tasks – yet it is in our own capacity to choose how to respond to His calling.

In the same way, God called His ‘chosen’ people for a specific task – to bring light to the Gentiles. The main fulfilment of this calling was through the life, sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus (Yeshuah), the Messiah, born a Jew, into a Jewish context. But it is not a call that has since been revoked – no scripture indicates such a thing (Jer 31:35; Rom 11:28-29). Surprisingly, for example, Jewish people, in proportion to their numbers, have made a significant impact on advancements in society, with 22% of Nobel Prize winners being Jewish, despite being only 0.2% of the world’s population.

Thwarting God’s purposes

So, we have established that it is true that all are special to God; in Christ, indeed, there is no Jew or Gentile. Yet, at the same time, there remains a specific calling for the Jewish people.

In Christ, indeed, there is no Jew or Gentile. Yet, at the same time, there remains a specific calling for the Jewish people.

And it is because of this specific calling that we, as Christians, have a particular responsibility to pray for and support the Jews. Now, as we all know, it is when we have a particular spiritual purpose to fulfil that we will see most opposition. The enemy seeks to attack and thwart God’s purposes and will endeavour to oppose any significant attempts to further His Kingdom.

In Revelation, we see this captured in poetical imagery, “The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born” (Rev 12:4). This particularly speaks of the attempts by Herod the Great to kill Jesus, yet it is also a picture of both the Jewish people throughout history, as well as the Christian Church and the faithful servants within it who seek to follow His ways.

We can see through history how the enemy has tried to annihilate the Jewish people at each stage of them fulfilling the eternal plan God had set out for them:

•     Pharoah enslaved them, which could have prevented them leaving Egypt;
•     The Amalekites endeavoured to destroy them following the Exodus, to prevent them entering the Promised Land;
•     During the exile, Satan attempted to annihilate them once more through Haman, to prevent the full return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple;
•     The Greeks attempted to destroy the Jewish faith and identity;
•     Herod tried to destroy Jesus Himself – as did the Jewish leaders and Roman overlords 33 years later.

Through miracles, providence, and leaders in the right place at the right time, God brought them through. There then followed centuries of living across the world, scattered among the nations, where Jews both flourished and faced terrible persecution and pogroms, depending on the local circumstances.

Existential threats

Then came possibly the worst trial of all – the Holocaust. Satan, seeing the way the wind was blowing, with evangelical Christians leading the charge to restore the Jews to their homeland, wanted to prevent the restoration of Israel – as this would signal the last era before Christ’s return. Six million Jews were killed. But it didn’t prevent the rebirth of Israel.

For a while there was widespread sympathy for the Jews, in the West at least. Yet Israel faced one existential threat after another – with the wars of 1946-47, 1967 and 1973 – when Israel was attacked by its Arab neighbours, hellbent on its destruction.

Such widespread anti-Semitism would indicate that the return of our Lord may well be near – and that in siding against Israel, even some Christians are supporting the enemy’s purposes in trying to thwart that.

Following a gradual normalisation of affairs between Israel and many of its neighbours, the enemy sought to unleash hell once again on October 7, 2023 – desperate to destroy the country from where Scripture predicts the return of the Messiah, and Satan’s ultimate destruction. For the prophets predict that when Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4), very specifically, the children of Israel will “look on … the One they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him” (Zech 12:10).

Yet now, support for the Jewish state is more equivocal. Rampant anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism across Europe mean that Western leaders also seek to pacify their most vocal anti-Israel voters, with measures such as Labour’s partial arms embargo to its ally.

Such widespread anti-Semitism would indicate that the return of our Lord may well be near – and that in siding against Israel, even some Christians are supporting the enemy’s purposes in trying to thwart that.

Biblical truths in tension

Yet, as always, we must hold in tension the other clear scriptural truths – all humans are created and loved by God, equally; and, all human beings, whatever their race or background, are capable of both great good, and great evil.

Even the terrorists of Hamas, mocking and scaring their hostages, some of whom they had tortured and starved, as they were sent home with certificates of their time held ransom in Gaza, are people that God would love to turn to Him, to repent and know His love. The innocent children caught up in a war that meant nothing to them are as valuable in Gaza as they are in any country caught up in conflict across the world (most of whom are ignored by the world’s media and activists).

Even the terrorists of Hamas... are people that God would love to turn to Him.

Israel has managed to effect substantial victories against Hezbollah, and even forced Iran to scale back its efforts. Yet the war against Hamas is likely to rumble on. With thousands of mostly (though not all) terrorist prisoners released in exchange for hostages, and a population ravaged and hardened by war, Hamas will be strengthened in spirit, if not in military capability, continuing the threat to Israel.

God loves all people. As Christians, we are called by both Old and New Testaments to care for the poor, the weak, those in distress – whatever their race (Luke 10:29-37). The reason that God calls on us to bless Abraham’s descendants is that, since they are called to God’s particular purposes (to be a light to the Gentiles, bringing us Jesus and the first apostles, and the setting for Christ’s return, and also to be used by God to show Him to the world, in the right time – Ezek 39:27), they are in particular danger, as history reminds us.

Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem – and be ready to protect and stand up for our Jewish neighbours, near and far, as the enemy continues to ramp up his campaign against them.