HOW DO WE VIEW THE MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL?
HOW DO WE VIEW THE MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL?
I believe this is one of the most important articles I've ever written in my life, especially considering the current geopolitical affairs. I highly encourage you to pause what you are doing to read through to the end of this article!
Some Christians denounce & attempt to de-legitimize the current political state of Israel.
Other Christians view it as the Messianic Kingdom.
Like most things, the truth is usually found somewhere in the middle of extreme positions.
In this article, I will attempt to explain my view of the modern state of Israel and an argument as to why, which can hopefully help many Christians find a healthy Biblical view of the modern state of Israel.
DEFINING TERMS
First, I want to define some terms so that we can stay together throughout the remainder of the article.
NATION
The term nation can refer to something as small as a single ethnic group such as the Cherokee Native Americans, or it can refer to something as large as the United States of America containing over 300 ethnic groups defined within a single geopolitical boundary. A nation does not need to have geopolitical boundaries to be termed a nation. So there's a slight difference in the way historians define a nation in comparison to the way current international law defines a nation. The modern state of Israel is very unique in the sense that it meets both of these definitions.
SOME TYPES OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
1. Kingdom – ruled by one person
2. Theocracy – ruled by God or gods
3. Democracy – ruled by the collective people
4. Aristocracy – ruled by the wealthy class
MESSIANIC KINGDOM
The final earthly kingdom established by Messiah in which He will restore Jerusalem, the land promised to Abraham, the Jewish people, resurrect the righteous, and rule over all nations in peace, justice, and prosperity for 1,000 years that will continue into eternity and the age to come.
(Some Christians disagree with me on my view of the Messianic Kingdom.) But I think this is the only view of the Messianic Kingdom that is congruent with all of the Hebrew prophets, Jesus's teachings, the New Testament Apostles, and the Revelation of John. My view is also the most accepted view among religious Jews. In Christian eschatology I would be considered as pre-millennial.
DANIEL 7:13-14
[13] As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence.
[14] He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.
If you would like more information on the Messianic Kingdom, I would highly encourage you to watch the free movie on YouTube titled "The Gospel of the Kingdom // Official Documentary."
THE THEOCRATIC ROOTS OF ISRAEL
Okay, let's get started. The initial nation of Israel established by God on Mount Sinai was instructed by God to be a pure theocracy. Yahweh was to be the ruler of this nation.
After some time, its government had a shift and it became less theocratic as Israel wanted a king like the other nations. But it still remained a theocracy with three delegated positions of king, prophet, and priest. These three delegates were still in full submission to the rule of Yahweh.
ISRAEL UNDER OCCUPATION
In time, the nation of Israel was destroyed by Assyria and Babylon, but then the Jewish people regathered back to the land promised to Abraham and built a second temple for worship. Israel became even less theocratic during this Second Temple period as it was always occupied by a foreign nation such as the Persians, the Greeks, or Romans.
It was less theocratic in the sense that they no longer had the true delegated position of a king since they were occupied with rulers loyal to the foreign reigning governments.
This is when rabbinical Judaism was growing to help try and bring some form of ethnic government & religious organization during this period with no true Jewish king.
THE PROMISE OF A COMING THEOCRACY
But we know the Jewish people will never have a true theocracy again until the prophesied Jewish King, Son of David, Son of Man, takes the throne. This Messiah-King—who we now know is Jesus Christ—will take the throne of this Jewish Kingdom and rule from Jerusalem over the whole world in His eternal kingdom.
THE MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL IS NOT A THEOCRACY
So this leads into my most important point of viewing the modern state of Israel. The modern state of Israel is NOT a theocracy.
The fact of modern Israel not being a theocracy even shines in its founding documents. During the drafting of the Declaration of Independence in 1948, Israel's founding leaders were divided between religious Jews and secular Zionists. The first draft contained a direct reference to God. The secular Jews were not okay with this, and a compromise was made changing the phrase to "Rock of Israel."
This way the document could be nuanced. Religious Jews viewed it as a reference to God (Deuteronomy 32:4), and secular Jews viewed it as a reference to the Jewish people's enduring heritage.
COMPARING ISRAEL TO OTHER NATIONS
America uses more religious language than Israel, as America's founding documents have several references to God, including the Declaration of Independence referring to God as Creator and Supreme Judge. And America is NOT a theocracy either.
Even the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is not a full theocracy, and it includes a religion in the title of its state. The only two nations that are considered to be full theocracies today are the Christian Vatican City and the Islamic Republic of Iran governed under Shia Muslim law.
To be a theocracy, a nation has to be in absolute full submission to the rule of a god.
ISRAEL’S CURRENT GOVERNMENT
Israel's current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is NOT a theocratic king the way that Solomon or David was. He is an official that has been elected to the position by a secular democratic republic government.
But he is in relation to Israel's previous kings in the sense that he is the leader of the current Jewish nation in the land that was promised to Abraham.
I reiterate, as this is my most important point, modern Israel is NOT a theocracy.
Biblical prophecy tells us that it cannot and will not become a theocracy as the Messianic Kingdom without the Messiah. So all of the religious Jews are in desperate prayer for the coming of their Messiah to turn their nation into a theocracy and into the Messianic Kingdom prophesied in the Bible, restoring Jerusalem to better than her former glory in the reign of David.
Religious Jews are praying for their Messiah to come, and Christians are praying for their Messiah to come again. Both with the same objective: to establish the Biblically prophesied Messianic Kingdom. This request has a position in the Lord's Prayer:
MATTHEW 6:10
May your KINGDOM COME SOON. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
ETHNICITY IS NOT ENOUGH
Jewish people will not be able to inherit this Messianic Kingdom on ethnicity alone without receiving their Messiah. The only way to enter into this future Messianic Kingdom is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
ROMANS 3:25
[25] For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.
So the modern state of Israel clearly cannot be the Messianic Kingdom since it is not yet ruled by Messiah. It also does not have the same form of government as the previous Biblical Israel. So that places this modern state somewhere in between.
CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN ISRAEL
Now the modern nation of Israel is the same nation as the Biblical nation of Israel. It is the same people group, ethnic Israelites, and it is in the same land, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
So it's the same Biblical Israel in the sense of being the same people, on the same land, with the same religious views. But it is not Biblical Israel in the sense of having the same theocratic government.
The only major change in the modern state of Israel is the form of government. The people, the land, and the religious views are the same as before—which is miraculous considering 2,000 years have passed since they lived there!
There was a time when Israel existed. There was a time when it did not exist. And there is a time when it exists now. This is the same continuance of the same people, in the same land, and the same religious views.
ISRAEL AND THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM
So this modern state of Israel is not the Messianic Kingdom. But does it have any relationship at all to the Messianic Kingdom?
Yes, it most definitely plays a role in God's plan of redemptive history heading towards Christ's Eternal Kingdom.
There are over 70 references in the Bible to the prophesied return of the Jewish people back to the land promised to Abraham in the latter days. Below is one of the most iconic ones:
ISAIAH 11:11-12
[11] In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people—those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt; in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Elam; in Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands.
[12] He will raise a flag among the nations and assemble the exiles of Israel. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth.
These prophecies will need to be fulfilled in their fullness before & during the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom. This regathering of the dispersed Jewish people is a necessary step in the progress of the final redemption of the world through the Messianic Kingdom.
JEWISH SALVATION IN THE LATTER DAYS
Apostle Paul writes in his book to the Romans in chapter 11 that during this time of the regathering, a significant number of the Jewish people will come to salvation in Jesus Christ. Zechariah mentions this as well:
ZECHARIAH 12:10
[10] “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn."
Though the regathering of the Jewish people has begun, there are still several things that need to take place in order for Messiah to return to the Earth and establish His kingdom and dominion over the Earth.
REVELATION 11:15
[15] Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
A SIGNPOST IN GOD’S REDEMPTIVE TIMELINE
I'm not going to go into the specifics of these end-time events, as this post is about the modern state of Israel, which directly includes the Biblical prophecies of the regathering of the Jewish people into the land promised to Abraham in the latter days.
So the modern state of Israel is a monumental mark in God's timeclock of redemptive history. Historians mark the official beginnings of the Zionist movement in the 1890s. Since then, there has been a miraculous progression of the regathering of the Jewish people back to the land promised to Abraham, and Biblical Israel has been reconstituted as a nation.
THE MIRACLE OF ISRAEL’S SURVIVAL
How any Christian can say that the regathering is not a work of God and is not in relationship with Biblical prophecy in God's plan of redemption—I am confounded.
The survival and regathering of the Jewish people is nothing short of miraculous. They have survived 2,000 years of persecution, exile, and attempts at annihilation—yet preserved their faith, ethnicity, and hope for the Kingdom and land promised to them by their God.
In just a few decades since their establishment as a nation, they have become the dominant superpower in the region. A piece of land the size of New Jersey, and a people settled just mid-last century, have victoriously defended their people and land in the face of fierce enemies desiring their annihilation. To say this has taken place without supernatural intervention is just ignorance.
No other people group in the history of the world has done something even remotely as miraculous as this. To deny that God is with these people, and that God is fulfilling His promises—both punishing them by exile and regathering them in the land—is ignorance of historical fact.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
If you desire to learn more about the prophetic narrative of the regathering of the Jewish people before and during the return of Messiah, I would love to suggest the book titled “The Key to the Middle East” by Derek Prince.
Derek Prince, one of the most renowned and influential Bible teachers in history, lived in Jerusalem during the reconstitution of Israel as a nation-state. His thorough knowledge of Biblical prophecy takes you through the scriptures and real-life events playing out in his experiences during the birth of the nation.
This book is one of the most influential books I've ever read in shaping my Christian faith and understanding of God's plan of redemption for humanity!
CONCLUSION: A CHRISTIAN VIEW OF MODERN ISRAEL
To conclude my view on the modern state of Israel as a Christian: the modern state of Israel is not the Messianic Kingdom and it is not a theocracy, but it is a miraculous work of God and a milestone in the progression of God's plan of redemptive history and fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
The modern state of Israel and the present-day Jewish people need to be recognized as a milestone in redemptive history and fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. God's not through with the Jews!
With that being said, there's no requirement—or even encouragement—that a Christian has to support the policies and decisions of the Israeli secular government apart from policies that directly influence:
Protecting the Jewish people
Protecting the land promised to Abraham
Assisting relocation for the Jews dispersed in the nations
These three things are directly related to Biblical prophecy.
Even with those three factors of Biblical prophecy, it's fine to have plenty of disagreement in which policies and tactics are best. That's what makes a democracy a democracy: the encouraged open dialogue of politics.
ALIGNING WITH GOD’S PLAN
My personal view is that I want to be of assistance to God and His plans. He has explicitly stated He will have the Jewish people regathered safely into the land originally promised to Abraham, and He will use the saved Jewish people through the Messiah to establish an eternal Kingdom and bring salvation to all nations at the end of the age. This will also include Gentiles believers as well of course.
So anytime I have a decision whether or not I can be aligned with Biblical prophecy, I'm going to choose to align myself with God's desires and modify my behavior accordingly.
In other words, I actively support the regathering of the Jewish people to live in a safe nation in the land promised to Abraham. But I would not consider myself nationalistic. I'm not a nationalist for the USA and I'm not a nationalist for Israel. I'm a patriot for America and have pledged my allegiance to the future Messianic Kingdom!
May Jesus Christ come back & reign forever! Maranatha!
