From Abraham to Today: The Unbroken Story of Israel
“We are commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel?” American political commentator Tucker Carlson skeptically asked US Senator Ted Cruz this question in an interview in June.
The interview was filmed amid Israel’s 12-Day War with Iran and just days before the US intervened and targeted Iranian nuclear sites. Senator Cruz was explaining his unwavering support for Israel, rooted in the promise of Genesis 12:2–3 that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse it. The conversation quickly devolved to semantics: What exactly is “Israel”? Its borders? Its current government? A political entity?
Carlson’s query was timely, as the question of supporting Israel dominated the headlines amid heightened tensions.
For our grandparents, “Israel” was not a question. They witnessed the rebirth of the modern State of Israel, not as a new nation, but as the continuation of the Land of the Bible, the covenant Land of promise, the setting for most of Scripture and the home of the descendants of the people in its pages.
Yet among today’s flood of misinformation, one claim has gained traction: that modern Israel is not the Israel of the Bible—and therefore, Christians have no biblical obligation to stand with her.
Let’s examine that claim.
The Covenant Connection
God commanded Abraham (then Abram) in Genesis 12:1–3: “Get out of your country…to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
In Genesis 15:18, God specified the borders of the land He would give to Abraham, which, incidentally, is much larger than the borders of modern Israel. He made a covenant with Abraham in which He would give the land to Abraham’s descendants “as an everlasting possession” (see Gen. 17:7–8). God also reiterated these promises to Isaac and Jacob multiple times (see Gen. 26:2–5; 26:23–24; 28:12–15; 35:9–12; 46:2–4).
This covenant does not only extend to Abraham’s familial descendants but to the nation he fathered, the nation that God promised him. Balak, a Moabite king, sought the prophet Balaam to curse the nation of Israel. In Numbers 24:9, Balaam echoes God’s promise to Abraham: “Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.”
God made another covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai in which He gave the Israelites the laws to follow with the promise that if they obeyed, they would be blessed, but if they disobeyed, they would be cursed.
Israel disobeyed over and over. But God never cast them off. Woven throughout the Old Testament, God tells His people that they would face exile and punishment for their disobedience, but He would not reject them, destroy them completely or break His covenant with them (Lev. 26:44–45; Deut. 4:29–31; Deut. 30:1–6).
In Jeremiah 31:37 (ESV), He underscores that promise in no uncertain terms: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.”
God’s faithfulness runs like a golden thread throughout the Scriptures. And the nation of Israel is a picture of humanity as a whole: we are broken, fallen and disobedient, but God never gives up on His people, not because of our greatness, but because of His greatness. “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake…” (see Ezek. 36:22–23).
Ancient, Unbroken, Eternal Connection
Of course, modern-day Israel looks different from the Israel of the Bible. After living in exile for nearly 2,000 years, the Jewish people returned to their ancient homeland in 1948 to rebuild, although there has always been a constant Jewish presence in the Land.
The ancient Israel was a theocracy ruled by God and then a monarchy ruled by imperfect kings. Modern-day Israel is a full, free democracy—the only one in the Middle East—also ruled by imperfect leaders. It’s a diverse country with a population that is nearly three-quarters Jewish. They range on the religious spectrum but largely honor the commandments of the Torah (Gen.–Deut.) by observing Shabbat, eating kosher food and keeping the biblical holidays and other religious observances. They speak Hebrew, the language that their ancient ancestors spoke in 1,200 BC.
Even the Jewish people who have returned to Israel from the Diaspora (outside of Israel) can still trace their DNA clearly to the original Jewish people of the Levant. Moreover, they still retain their Jewish culture, heritage and traditions.
Evidence beneath Our Feet
This covenant connection is not just written in Scripture—it’s inscribed in stone, buried beneath the hills of Judea and stamped on the very coins of Jerusalem. The Land itself bears witness that the Jewish people’s roots here are ancient and unbroken.
Scratch the soil in Israel, and you will find archaeological evidence that this is Jewish land: the City of David archaeological site, the pilgrimage road that ancient pilgrims used to enter Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, coins inscribed with the word “Zion,” ancient mikvahs (ritual baths), historical records such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the list goes on with seemingly endless evidence of Jewish life in the Land.
These aren’t just relics. They are silent witnesses linking today’s Israel to the very people and places of Scripture.
Unbroken Line, Unshakeable Promise
From the biblical promises and ancient artifacts to the modern-day heritage, culture and traditions, how could the modern State of Israel be anything but the descendants of the nation that God promised to Abraham? Therefore, how could we as Christians do anything but bless and stand with the nation God called “the apple of His eye” (Zech. 2:8)?
This doesn’t mean that we blindly revere the State of Israel and its government as perfect. No nation is perfect. But this is the Land of the Bible, the heritage of our Messiah, a nation whose existence alone is a miracle after centuries of occupation, persecution and genocide at the hands of other nations.
This is the Land where biblical prophecies tell us that the Savior will plant His feet in the end times (Zech. 14:4). Don’t wait until then to be zealous for Zion.
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