Heirs of God’s Promise - Spiritual Israel, Not Physical Israel
(written several years ago)
By supporting the religious state of Israel with over 3 billion dollars a year, the United States, a nation based on separation of church and state and religious freedom, has become party to a holy war. This demonstrates the ignorance of the Bible by the majority of supposed Christians in America. They have been brainwashed by ignorant, yes men clergymen and duped by politicians and corporate media false propaganda into equating support of Israel with patriotism.
According to the Bible, God, in the ancient past, chose Israel to be His people for carrying out his plans for all mankind, not just the Israelites. The physical nation of Israel was, for Christians, a stepping stone. From a Christian’s perspective, whatever promises God made for a promised land for the Israelites have been superseded by the coming of Jesus Christ, the promised Jewish Messiah who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about God’s Messiah for not just Israel, but the whole world and indeed perhaps the whole Universe: God promised Abraham his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Now, whoever accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior is a citizen of Spiritual Israel.
Jews are stuck in the Old Testament because they reject Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, but for Christians (both messianic Jews and non-Jews) who understand Old Testament prophecies and accept Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, the idea of a Jewish nation-state is nonsense. The veil of the temple separating the most holy place, where only the high priest could enter, was ripped in two when Jesus died on the cross. Now, Jesus is our High Priest, and the Jewish priesthood and sacrificial system for atonement for sins, and thus the temple, are obsolete.
Jesus said, "the kingdom of God is within you". Luke 17:21. Paul said, "...if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29. This means that all Christians have become heirs to the promises God made to Abraham in the Old Testament book of Genesis: "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations". Genesis 17:4. According to the Bible, ever since the Gospel was taken to the Gentiles, physical Israel has been irrelevant.
I left the Marine Corps in December 1983 because I did not believe our support of Israel was justified, and was aware that a war in the Persian Gulf over oil, at a time when Reagan had ripped Carter's solar panels off the roof of the White House, was likely. I did not want to have to possibly fight in a war I did not believe in resulting from our lack of a consistent foreign policy, including several billion dollars aid per year for Israel. So I did not re-enlist.
Israel may have a right to exist (perhaps the United Nations could debate this), but it does not have the right to U.S. tax dollars to support its existence. If I were Jewish, I certainly would not want to live in Israel. How can Israel, a tiny island in a sea of Arab countries, find any peace? It is hypocrisy for the U.S., a nation based on separation of church and state, to support the religious state of Israel.
For Christians, God has a chosen people: followers of Jesus Christ, both Jew and Gentile. God’s nation is the body of Christ - Spiritual Israel.
There is no royal bloodline or title deed for any "chosen people". Regardless of whether or not anyone is descended from David or any other Bible figure, or from an amoeba, it matters not. God's chosen people are those who accept Christ as Lord and Savior. And the only holy real estate on Planet Earth is in the bodies/flesh of members of the Body of Christ. Jesus, author of the Old Testament, stated "the kingdom of God is within you" and "my kingdom is not of this world". Therefore, for any Christian believer to argue or think that Palestine is the "holy land" or that the nation of Israel deserves support of Americans is nonsensical. The only Israel that matters, from a Christian perspective, is Spiritual Israel: true Christians. Consider how ridiculous it would be for the U.S. and Britain or the U.N. to create a homeland for Christians or any other religious group in some part of the World. It's absurd because Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. already are spread around the world. So why should Americans support the religious state of Israel with billions per year in military and other aid? Why do Jews, already welcome around the world, require a Jewish "home land"? Why must they have that particular piece of real estate? I wish they'd simply walk away from it, recognize it was a bad idea, and let there be peace in the Middle East. But, only Jesus could change their hearts to have such an attitude.
Mark Young
Sources:
https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/book/e/49/t/spiritual-israel#An-Amazing-Fact
The Temple of God
https://www.pinnacleofprophecy.com/program-archives/e/2e90489a-3c05-4b97-843d-bb026e842297 (The lesson starts at 34:40 minutes)
Bible Study Guides - 27 Lessons
https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/read/c/2/t/bible-study-guides
Is the Hamas/Israeli War Fullfiling Bible Prophecy? - 10/15/23 by Pastor Chuck Baldwin
https://libertyfellowshipmt.com/News/tabid/56/ID/4445/Is-The-HamasIsraeli-War-Fulfilling-Bible-Prophecy.aspx
Politics and Zionism with Pastor Chuck Baldwin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D70TStAXJYI&t=1394s
Discussion About Israel on@thedenofdissent Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4HImhrmC7U