Evangelical Christian support for Israel is so significant that Ron Dermer, Israel’s former Ambassador to the United States, publicly suggested that Israel should place more attention on building connections with Evangelical Christians than on American Jews. Numbering six hundred million worldwide, Evangelicals who advocate for Israel, also known as Christian Zionists, have an impact in Israel ranging from intercessory prayer to increasing tourism in Israel, to speaking up in their own countries in defense of Israel and the Jewish people.
Christian Zionists support the truths of God’s biblical covenants bequeathing the ancient, ancestral Land to the Jewish people. God has not changed His mind. In demonstrating our solidarity with the Jewish people and the State of Israel, we affirm that God indeed chose the Jewish people as His own and entrusted Israel to them. Thus, the name, “Holy Land.”
Today there are others laying claim to Israel although God made eternal, unbreakable covenants to the Jewish people through Abraham’s son Isaac. Furthermore, in ancient times God specifically placed the Jews in the land of Israel to replace idolatrous and immoral people who had taken up habitation in the land. This history is readily available in the Bible, the world’s oldest book, and highly esteemed among Evangelical Christians.
A separate yet immovable record of Jewish history rests in massive archaeological evidence which supports and proves Jewish history in, and attachment to, the land of Israel. Secular history also supports the right of the Jewish people to their homeland based on the Balfour Declaration and the general provisions of Article 22 of the League of Nations Covenant.
Growing numbers of Evangelical Christians from around the world flock to Israel each year to visit the land of the Bible which, of course, boosts Israel’s economy. Many Evangelicals travel to Israel also providing hands-on help to the needy in Israel, among them Holocaust survivors. God told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you…” Most any Evangelical who has traveled to Israel can give a personal testimony of how God has, indeed, blessed them for their support of His chosen people.
But there is more to the story than Evangelicals just wanting to be blessed. God made it clear that the Jewish Nation of Israel is His and will never be forgotten. Israel was and will continue to be, prominent in the history of the world. Such historic and miraculous manifestations of this truth could not be more evident than on May 14, 1948, when, after two thousand years, God restored Israel as a nation in one day along with her original Hebrew language. This is another sign to Evangelical Christians that God has not forgotten Israel and the church has not replaced Israel as is proclaimed in the faulty teachings of Replacement Theology.
Israel’s modern history is consistent with the Bible’s depiction of end times prophecy which has not been missed by Evangelicals. Because some worry that Evangelicals look forward to such prophecy unfolding because of the effect it will have on the Jewish people, it is clear that the entire world will be impacted, not only the Jewish people. There is no anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment by genuine Evangelical Christians although well-meaning but misguided teachings have crept into the thinking of some.
The younger generations of Christians have waned in their zeal for Israel and the Jews. Yet, many evangelical ministries are already reaching out and addressing the need for millennials and Generation Z. Sadly, polls have shown that support for Israel is lessening but then so is church attendance. However, Baby Boomers in large numbers are resolute supporters of Israel.
As such, former Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer is correct in his assessment. Perhaps Israel should intensify a welcoming outreach to Evangelical Christians and embed understanding in the hearts of younger generations as to why Israel matters.
