To expand on this a bit, one of the particular passages used for why Christians "must" support the current state masquerading as "Israel" is Genesis 12:2-3, in which God says to Abram, before his name was changed to Abraham: > "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." Therefore they see a danger in cursing Israel, since they are presumably Abraham's descendants, who inherit the promises made to him, and those who curse them will themselves be cursed. This, of course, ignores two important principles: 1. Inclusion in God's covenant with Abraham has ALWAYS been on the basis of sharing the same faith Abraham had, and not by birthright. Consider Ishmael and Esau as pointed out by Paul in Romans 9 and consider Christ's words to the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 3:8-9: > "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones." While there is definitely a generational inheritance aspect to the covenant of God, it is NOT an automatic and universal inheritance that disregards faith, and especially since messiah has come, it is not without submission to and faith in Jesus Christ. 2. Those unfaithful who were descended from Abraham by blood were specifically called by Christ "children of your father, the devil" in contrast to their claim of being children of Abraham. We see this very plainly in Jesus' teaching in John 8. Here he says to "those Jews who believed him" (verse 31): > "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Shortly thereafter, in verse 39, some unbelieving Jews answered him saying, “Abraham is our father," as though that should be the end of the matter. What is Jesus answer to this? He tells them they are no children of Abraham, and they prove it by their actions. > "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this." He goes farther, telling them who their true father is in verse 44: > "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do." So, the Jews who reject Christ, like the ones who put him to death, have no rightful claim to be called "children of Abraham," or heirs of the promises made to him. Rather, they are children of the devil, according to Christ himself, whom are later called "the synagogue of Satan" in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. True Israel, God's covenant people, is synonymous with the Christian church, firmly holding to the teaching of the Apostles and the Prophets, and none other. The rest are no sons of Abraham whatsoever, but are of their father, the devil.
Dikaios1517's avatar Dikaios1517
Dispensationalism, that's why. View quoted note → Dispensationalism is a way of interpreting the Bible that sees (among other things) the promises God made to Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, and 17 as properly belonging only to the Jews as an ethnic people, and therefore they are seen as God's true covenant people, while the New Testament Church is seen as an historical parenthesis. God will therefore eventually take up fulfilling his promises to his true covenant people, the Jews, once he is finished with his plan for the Church. This teaching is directly contradictory to the teaching of the Apostles, who expressly applied the promises made to Abraham to the New Testament Church. See Acts 2:39 as a repetition of God's promise in Genesis 17:7-8, but expanded to include "all who are far off," that is Gentiles who would come to faith in the Messiah. Likewise, Paul tells the church in Rome that they are children of Abraham by sharing in the same faith that Abraham had in Romans 4, especially verses 9-17. Paul repeats this teaching even more explicitly in Galatians 3:5-9, where he says: > "Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith--just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." The final nail in the coffin of the Dispensationalist's improper hermeneutic, in my opinion, is found in Romans 9, though. There Paul describes the nature of the relation of the Gentiles who are coming to faith in Jesus to those Jews who apostatize by rejecting him. The description is that of an olive tree, where the natural branches that reject Christ are cut off, while the wild branches (Gentiles) are grafted in. Into what? Into "Israel," as he calls it in verse 26. Gentiles who come to faith are grafted into Israel, God's covenant people, and Jews who reject Jesus are cut off. They no longer have any claim on the promises made to Abraham and no right to call themselves God's people whatsoever. In order to regain that claim, they must come to faith in the promised messiah, Jesus Christ.
View quoted note →

Replies (4)

“And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬
SuperDave 's avatar
SuperDave 2 months ago
Gal 3 supports those points, as well. It is those who are of the faith of Abraham who are the children of Abraham (v. 7). But the real kicker is that the promises were made to Abraham and his seed, meaning one, who is Christ (v. 16). It is Christ who inherits the promises, and anyone in Him are then Abraham’s offspring. Heirs with Christ according to promise (v. 29). By faith only and not by lineage or blood. Therefore, it is inappropriate for Christians to use Gen 12 (bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you) as justification for supporting the modern state that calls itself Israel. Anyone in Christ by faith, whether Jew or Gentile, is heir to the promises of Abraham. And, more to the point , if Christ as the heir is all that Israel is supposed to be, then you are blessed if you bless Christ, and cursed if you curse Christ.
That's not a bad interpretation from the NLT,. I still prefer more direct translations, rather than dynamic equivalent, though. Ephesians 3:6 NKJV — "...that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel..."
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28, KJV) Don' need no "new" KJV