Does the Bible Say Christians Must Support Israel?

I’ve literally heard dozens of Christian pastors preach that the Holy Bible demands our support for the modern nation of Israel. And every one of those preachers tells us that Genesis, chapter 12, informs us that we’ll be blessed if we do, but cursed if we don’t. Even the popular magazine, Christianity Today stated that “American Christians should be united in support of Israel.”¹ The following is what God told Abram² (Abraham), as stated in the Old Testament.

“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3, NRSV).³

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Of course no one wants to be cursed by God, but we must realize that this covenant — which is a promise for fulfilling a contract or agreement — was dependant upon Abraham and his descendants doing what God specified. Abraham did what was required and God’s promise began to be fulfilled. God continually contracted with later descendants of Abraham, but many broke those agreements and God then stopped protecting them. When they later repented, God welcomed them back and again provided protection and direction. This obedience seesaw of acceptance and rejection happened over and over throughout history.⁴

The last time the Jews broke their contract with God was when most rejected Jesus as God’s son and the promised Messiah and had him executed on the cross; God then opened the doors of the original promise to believing gentiles (all non-Jews). As the mixed Christian community grew, all believers were considered spiritual Israelites in God’s eyes, because they accepted his son’s knowledge and teachings and turned their lives around for the better. And if you and I follow our Lord’s standards, repent of our sins, and believe he is our savior, then we are spiritual Israelites too.⁵

So, God’s promise was to Abraham and his descendants (and later also to spiritual believers), but that promise does not extend to the civil government of the country called Israel, which was established by politicians in the 1940s. Although we should support the citizens in modern Israel who accept our Lord as their savior, there is no biblical reason to support the current civil government of that country.

Since modern Jews in the flesh do not accept our Lord Jesus as their Messiah — they are still waiting for one to arrive — they continue in an estranged relationship with God. These alienated Jews will again be welcomed back, if and when they realize the truth about Jesus and accept him as their King and Savior. But until then, God has withdrawn his protection from the Jewish people since their rejection and murder of Jesus Christ more than two thousand years ago.

The modern state of Israel was brought into existence by human political dictation, and there is a complex history attached to that newly created territory. Its origin was the outcome of Zionism, a political movement of mixed race European descendants with the ideology to gather Jewish people back to their historic homeland. That reasoning may sound Godly, but the movement was not a religious movement, only a plan for obtaining land deemed owed to the Jewish people. It was a form of repatriation for being persecuted, especially during World War II.⁶

What is Zionism?

We hear the term ‘Zionism’ a lot in the news today. There is a big difference between Judaism and Zionism. “Judaism is one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions which dates back to thousands of years. It is fundamentally a belief system rooted in faith, encompassing cultural, ethical, and religious aspects.” It is practiced by all serious Jews, a very diverse group who share a common religious and cultural heritage.⁷

Zionism, on the other hand, does not refer to a religion. It is a political ideology and movement specifically concerned with the establishment and continued support of a modern Jewish state in Palestine.⁸ Although this idea originated during the 16th and 17th centuries, the new State of Israel was only finally established in 1948.⁹

Being a Zionist only means supporting Judaism’s claim to Israel above any and all other claims to the land, even to the extent of eliminating other peoples to do so. It is not a religious movement, but only a political land grab disguised as restoring Jewish religious rights. While there are now many serious Jews in Israel, the Zionists are more interested in owning the land, than obeying God’s laws.¹⁰

Fundamentally, the modern State of Israel is a man-made creation, not one created or ordained by God. The current political leadership is not representative of God’s people any more than the priestly Jewish leadership was during Jesus’ time. And our Lord indicted those priests and scribes by saying the following statement.

“You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned,” (Matthew 12:34-37).

So, where did this term ‘Zion’¹¹ come from anyway? Well, Mount Zion was the southernmost hill in Jerusalem, which was conquered by David around 1000 BC.¹² But the most common usage of ‘Zion’ in the Bible is to refer to the future city of God in the New Age yet to come (Isaiah 1:27; 28:16; 33:5). Therefore it is understood to be a new heavenly Jerusalem (Isaiah 60:14; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1), where the Messiah will appear and dwell ‘at the end of days’, and where the messianic community will be built.¹³

Conclusion

Now, to answer the question posed in this article’s title — ‘Does the Bible Say Christians Must Support Israel?’ — the answer is, no. I agree with the following statement published in a respected non-denominational, conservative, evangelical Christian newspaper. “Christians are not under a biblical command to support Israel. However, they are under a biblical command to not be arrogant toward Israel. Whatever one thinks of Israel, Christians are absolutely under the biblical command to love Jews, just as they are commanded to love people of any race. Christians are called to love their neighbor and their enemies.”¹⁴

So, for now, it is best to separate God’s chosen spiritual people from the worldly political state of Israel. Spiritual Israelites — which can come from any race or place on earth — are very different from physical Israelites who only claim something through heritage. Even a pure-race modern orthodox Jew practicing their ancient faith is not a spiritual Jew in God’s eyes. But anyone anywhere who accepts Jesus Christ as their personal savior, repents of their past sins, and practices what our Lord instructed us to do, is a spiritual Jew and will enter the Kingdom of God.

Consider though, this English term ‘kingdom’ may be a bit misleading, as it directs our thoughts to a particular piece of real estate or territory, but the Old Testament meaning for that term points to a different idea, namely a concept of ‘kingly rule’.¹⁵ Therefore, the Kingdom of God would mean primarily the people, inclusive of those from the entire world’s population — or even a whole planetary system — rather than just a specific section of land upon or within this earth. This Kingdom of God will include a spiritual connection within us and shared amongst true Christians everywhere; it will be a spiritual realm over which our Lord reigns as king.

This is the reality for the true Christian and it is glorious. It isn’t by our success in this life or our politics or our ethnic background that we are elected to live in the coming new world; it is from the shed blood of Jesus Christ and our desire to change from physical desires to spiritual ones. How do we do that? The Apostle Paul gives us the answer. He said Jesus taught to: “put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness,” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Oh, what joy this can bring to every one of us! By truly belonging to the family of God we become the children of promise. We are the true Spiritual Israel. “What a comfort this is to the soul in the midst of any and every affliction.”¹⁶

Jesus’ birth upon earth was God’s way of providing the promised Messiah that would be physical Israel’s savior. The Jews were the first to be invited to be members of Jesus’ new way of life — through a spiritual process of love rather than just obeying the Mosaic Law. Our Lord combined all God’s commandments into just one new demand, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (Galatians 5:14).

When the Jewish leadership and most individuals rejected the Messiah, God decided to open the promises made to physical Israel to everyone. Anyone who accepted our Lord as savior and followed his teaching — whether a Jew or gentile — would now be considered spiritual Israelites as far as the promises were concerned. This meant that descendants would no longer be chosen for eternal life through physical birth, but become righteous for eternal life through a spiritual change of faith; they would be born again.¹⁷

Copyright © 2026, Ray Hermann
OutlawBibleStudent.org

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References & Notes

1. Moore, Russell, “American Christians Should Stand with Israel under Attack”, (Christianity Today, 7 October 2023), https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/october-web-only/israel-hamas-middle-east-war-christians.html
2. Abram vs. Abraham: both names refer to the same biblical character. The name Abram meant ‘exalted father’ and God changed it to Abraham, which means ‘father of a multitude’.
   MacDonald, William, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, (Ed.) Arthur Farstad, (Nashville TN: Thomas Nelson, 1995), p. 15.
3. All scripture is taken from New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989). Used with permission.
4. Hermann, Ray, “What is Spiritual Israel? Must we support Israel at war?” (The Outlaw Bible Student, OBS, 24 October 2023), https://outlawbiblestudent.org/what-is-spiritual-israel-must-we-support-israel-at-war/
5. Hermann, Ray, “Jews, Hebrews, Israel, & Zion: What is the difference – why the war?” (The Outlaw Bible Student, OBS, 19 January 2024), https://outlawbiblestudent.org/jews-hebrews-israel-zion-what-is-the-difference-why-the-war/
6. Roos, Dave, “What Is Zionism and Is It Fueling the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict?” (How Stuff Works, 17 May 2021), https://history.howstuffworks.com/world-history/zionism.htm
7. Tanjim, Nesif, “Exploring the difference between Judaism and Zionism”, (The Business Standard, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 7 November 2023), https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/exploring-difference-between-judaism-and-zionism-734718
8. Ibid.
9. Tesch, Noah, “Zionism”, (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 April 2015), https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zionism
10. Roos, Dave, “What Is Zionism and Is It Fueling the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict?” (see above).
11. ZION (Zi’ on): Transliteration of the Hebrew and Greek words that originally referred to the fortified hill of pre-Israelite Jerusalem between the Kidron and Tyropean Valleys. Scholars disagree as to the root meaning of the term. Some authorities have suggested that the word was related to the Hebrew word that meant “dry place” or “parched ground.” Others relate the word to an Arabic term that is interpreted as “hillcrest” or “mountainous ridge.”
    Brand, Chad, et al., (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2003), p. 1711.
12. Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies, (London: Martin Manser, 2009), “Zion, as a place”.
13. Brand, Chad, et al., (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (see above), pp. 1711-12.
14. Curcio, Lucas, “Does the Bible command Christians to support the State of Israel?” (The Christian Post, Washington, DC, ‘Voices Section’, 28 June 2025), https://www.christianpost.com/voices/does-the-bible-command-christians-to-support-the-state-of-israel.html
15. Grindheim, Siguard, “The Kingdom of God: The Great Unfolding Drama of Salvation”, (Word by Word, Logos/Faithlife, Bellingham, WA, 14 October 2023), https://www.logos.com/grow/hall-kingdom-of-god/
16. Noble, John-William, “What is Spiritual Israel?” (Servants of Grace, 20 August 2021), https://servantsofgrace.org/what-is-spiritual-israel/
17. Calahan, John, “Where is the fine line between natural and spiritual Israel?” (Never Thirsty, retrieved 14 October 2023), https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/where-is-the-fine-line-between-natural-and-spiritual-israel/