A shorter, edited version of this article was recently published at The Federalist.
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Some months ago, the Christian doctrine of “ordo amoris” (the order of loves) made its way into mainstream discussion after J. D. Vance invoked it in an interview on the immigration issue. Now, something similar is happening with another Christian doctrine, God’s covenant with Israel, after a Ted Cruz interview with Tucker Carlson. The issue is this: Is the modern nation-state of Israel theologically and prophetically significant? Who are the covenant people of God today? Cruz invoked Genesis 12:3 to claim we are biblically obligated to support Israel if we seek God’s blessing – and we will be cursed if we do not support Israel, militarily and otherwise. But is that really so? Is the modern-nation state of Israel the subject of Genesis 12:3?
The question is not as straight-forward as it might seem. After all, the apostle Paul says in Romans 9:6, “not all who are Israel are Israel.” So what is Israel? Who is Israel? And do Christians really owe support to the modern nation-state of Israel no matter what? This was the crux of the issue between Cruz and Carlson.
Cruz’ views have been shaped by a school of theological thought called Dispensationalism. While Dispensationalism does not enjoy nearly the widespread acceptance it once had among American evangelicals, it is still very popular and has certainly made its mark on American foreign policy. Dispensationalism is a relative novelty in terms of church history – it only traces back as far as the 19th century, when it was first systematized and promoted by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren. Its popularity is a distinctly American phenomenon, accelerating especially after modern nation of Israel was established in 1948. Dispensationalism became hugely influential through study Bibles (Scofield and Ryrie especially), end times charts, and the Left Behind book series. As a theological system, Dispensationalism is defined primarily by maintaining a sharp distinction between Israel and the church. God has distinct plans for Jews and Gentiles. He has an earthly people, with land promises (Israel) and a heavenly people with spiritual promises (the church). In Dispensationalism, the church is a kind of “plan B,” a parenthesis unforeseen from the perspective of Old Testament prophets. Dispensationalism is a form of Zionism, holding that the Jews are the key to God’s purposes, and it is vital for Israel to be in the land promised to Abraham.
Dispensationalism was a significant departure the more historic view of Israel’s relationship to the church, known as covenant theology. Covenant theology has been most fully developed in the Reformed tradition and teaches that old covenant Israel stands in fundamental continuity with the new covenant church. The Bible tells one story, from beginning to end; God has one people sharing a common salvation; and the unity of God’s saving plan is found in Christ who unites Jew and Gentile in himself. Covenant theologians claim the church is the new and true Israel – the “Israel of God,” as Paul puts it in Galatians 6:16. Covenant theologians point to passages like Romans 4 and Galatians 3 to demonstrate that those who trust in Christ are the true children of Abraham.
The real point at issue between Dispensationalism and covenant theology is precisely the question Paul seeks to answer in Romans 4. Paul opens the chapter asking about Abraham’s fatherhood. Who are the children of Abraham? Paul answers in verses 11-12: Abraham is the father the circumcised who have faith in Jesus (Jewish believers) and he is the father of the uncircumcised who have faith in Jesus (Gentile believers). Together, all believers form the one family of Abraham. In this way, Paul explains, the promise of Genesis 12, that all the families and nations of the earth would be blessed in Abraham, comes to pass. Abraham becomes the heir of the world, just as God promised – the father of a worldwide, multinational family of faith. In other words, the song many of us learned in Sunday school (Cruz excepted, apparently) is exactly right:
Father Abraham had many sons.
Many sons had Father Abraham.
I am one of them, and so are you
So let’s just praise the Lord!
If believers are the family of Abraham, then it follows believers are also the true Israel.
Galatians 3 deals with the same issue even more explicitly. In 3:16, Paul says the promises were spoken to “Abraham and his Seed….He does not say, ‘And to your seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.” In other words, Christ is the promised Seed of Abraham, and so all the Abrahamic blessings are found in him, and in him alone. Jesus is the true Israel. All God promised to Israel is found in him. The Seed in view in 3:16 is probably not just Christ but totus Christus, head and body, Christ and those who belong to him by faith. The point is that there one Messiah and one Messianic people, one true and perfect son of Abraham and one family of redeemed sinners in him.
Thus, according to Galatians, the blessing of Genesis 12 comes upon those who bless Jesus, and the curse comes upon those who curse Jesus. Because there is only one Seed, there is no other place to find the promised blessing. God’s plan was to use Abraham’s family to bring the promised Seed into the world, and through that Seed, God would form the one worldwide family promised to Abraham. There is neither Jew nor Greek in Christ (3:28); those who are united to Christ are the true Israel, the true Jews, the true family of Abraham. Paul finishes off the argument in verse 29 in the most definitive way possible: “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Of course, that raises the question: Gentiles can be incorporated into Abraham’s family by faith, but what about the natural descendants of Abraham who rejected (and continue to reject) Jesus as the promised Christ? How can we say God keeps his promises if the actual flesh and blood descendants of Abraham are cut off from their own Messiah? Paul wrestles with that question in Romans 9-11. Without going into all the details, Paul makes several key points. He explains, as already noted, that “not all who are Israel are Israel” (9:6). This answers Cruz’ argument that “Israel” must refer solely to modern day Jews. Carlson did not articulate everything that needed to be said in the interview, but he knew instinctively that we cannot equate the Israel of God with the modern nation-state called Israel. Paul goes on to explain that there was a partial and temporary hardening of Israel. This hardening was necessary in God’s saving plan – by rejecting and crucifying Jesus, salvation for the nations was accomplished. Jews have been cast off and will remain cast off so long as they remain in unbelief. But they will not be cast off forever.
In Romans 11, Paul explains that there is one covenant people existing in history, represented by the olive tree in his metaphor. The new covenant did not entail planting a new tree, but a pruning out and grafting in process of the one covenant tree already established. The natural branches, children of Abraham after the flesh, are broken out of the tree if they do not believe in Jesus – and that happened en masse in the first century. Gentiles, the wild olive branches, can be grafted into the tree by faith. There is one tree, one people, one covenant, one family. But the identity of that family is determined by faith. So long as the fleshly descendants of Abraham remain in unbelief, they are broken-out branches. But Paul anticipates a day when they will be grafted back in, which means they will be brought to faith in Jesus.
Consider some other clues. In Matthew 3, John the Baptist warns those who boast in descent from Abraham that Abrahamic blood does not make them immune to judgment; they must repent and bear good fruit or else they will be cut down in judgment. In John 8, the Pharisees boast that Abraham is their father, but Jesus says they are children of the Devil. If they were truly Abraham’s children, they would share Abraham’s faith and rejoice in Jesus. In Romans 2, Paul says true Jews are those who have the Spirit. In Revelation 2, we find some who claim to be Jews are not, and their synagogues have become synagogues of Satan. In Ephesians 2, Paul shows that believing Jews and Gentiles are now one people. Gentiles who used to be “aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise,” have now been “brought near by the blood of Christ.” Describing this new covenant Jew/Gentile unity in the church, Paul says Christ “has made the two one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation…to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace…Now therefore you [Gentile believers] are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:14-22). In 1 Peter 2:4-9, Peter takes several titles and descriptions of old covenant Israel and applies them to the Jew/Gentile church – the church is God’s chosen people, his royal priesthood, his holy nation (2:9).
Some Dispensationalists accuse covenant theologians of holding to “replacement theology” – the church has replaced Israel. But that’s not quite right. Old covenant Israel has been transformed into a new Israel we also call the church. The church is not the replacement of old covenant Israel, but the fulfillment of old covenant Israel and the promises God made through the prophets. The New Testament continually appeals to Old Testament prophecies to explain what is happening in the mission and ministry of the church (e.g., Isaiah 49:6 in Acts 13:47, Amos 9:11-12 in Acts 15:15-17, etc.). The church is not a Plan B or a parenthesis in the plan of God; the church is the full realization of God’s saving plan for the nations. The church is Israel expanded, transformed, matured, and renewed. The only way Jews and Gentiles can be saved is by trusting in Jesus as the sin-bearing Messiah and entering into his body and bride, the church. If Jews have some promised blessing not available to Gentiles, or if Gentiles receive some blessing not also given to Jews, then the unity of our salvation in Jesus is disrupted. In Christ we all have the same promises, the same salvation, the same status, the same glorious inheritance. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1, all the promises of God are “yes” and “Amen” in him.
Jesus does make it sound as if the church will take Israel’s place in Matthew 21, in explaining the parable of the wicked vinedressers. Jesus says to the Jewish leaders, “the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people bearing the fruits of it” (21:43). But the taking-and-giving transition described here is not one of simple replacement; it is the same pruning-and-grafting process Paul describes in Romans 11. Jesus is saying those Jews who reject him and kill him will be judged. This judgment will culminate with the destruction of their temple, which Jesus prophesied in Matthew 23-24, and which took place in 70AD. The kingdom will belong to any and all who receive Jesus as King and follow him with an obedient faith.
What does all this mean for the modern nation-state of Israel? Whatever we think about the future God has promised for Israel (and as indicated, Romans 11 seems to suggest that Jews will be grafted back into the covenant tree at some point in the future), there is no sense in which the re-establishment of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people in 1948 fulfills prophecy. There are no promises or blessings given to Israel under the new covenant that are not also given to Gentiles. But more to the point, so long as most Jews living in the land today reject Jesus, their presence there in no way indicates God’s covenant blessing or the fulfillment of a covenant promise. The modern nation of Israel is a secular state. It rejects the gospel. It does not adhere to God’s law in meaningful way; abortion is legal, while evangelism is not. The vast majority of Jews living in Israel today are broken out branches, not connected with Christ or the covenant people of God in any way. As Paul says, “concerning the gospel, they are enemies” (Romans 11:28) – enemies with a future, yes, but still enemies for now.
Cruz is simply wrong. What he was taught in Sunday School, I am sorry to say, misled him. There is no sense in which Christians, or America, owe the modern nation of Israel unconditional support. This may require a difficult and shocking paradigm shift for many American Christians who think of Israel as she currently exists as worthy of our unconditional support, but it’s a paradigm shift that absolutely must happen. If we want the blessing of Genesis 12, we must bless Christ and his church. Why should we bless a nation that rejects God and his covenant, his Son and his Son’s bride? Why would we think God requires us to bless those who hate him, who are hostile to his church, who deny his gospel?
We simply must get this issue right. Too much is at stake. Bad theology has consequences, even political consequences. Bad theology about Israel could get a lot of young Americans killed if allowed to run unchecked. Bad theology could trigger World War III. If Dispensationalism produces blind loyalty to the nation-state of Israel, it is, frankly, a threat to American well-being and security. While most Dispensationalists are faithful and generally orthodox believers who have done much good, their misguided view of God’s covenant and biblical prophecies have had, and could continue to have, disastrous results.
Dispensationalism produces misplaced allegiances and misallocated resources. America in general, and American Christians in particular, have poured massive resources into the nation-state of Israel for almost 80 years. We have nothing useful or beneficial to show for it. Imagine if those resources had all been put to work for the true Israel of God, the church, and her mission! Cruz and others like him fear America will be cursed if we do not continue to send billions of American dollars to Israel in aid packages, if we don’t give them the highest level of support in their wars, if we do not provide them with military help whenever it might be needed, but this is a false threat. Israeli lobbying agencies have taken full advantage of Dispensationalism’s Zionist commitment, using this flawed theology to manipulate American politicians and steer American policy in directions they favor. This is the antithesis of “America first.”
The weird obsession with Israel has to end. Recently, an aide to Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that America is “next to Israel” in terms of national greatness. Florida Congressmen Randy Fine claimed the first time he shook hands with Netanyahu, he did not wash his hand until he could touch the heads of his children. Many evangelical American political leaders have boasted, “I stand with Israel.” This is bizarre, unbiblical, and horrifically misguided. American politicians should do what is best for the citizens of their own country, not modern Israel.
The modern nation of Israel should not be treated as theologically “special” because it isn’t. Modern Israel has no claim on the promises made to Abraham because modern Israel does not share Abraham’s faith. We need to purge Dispensational influences from our political calculations. Only then can we begin to make sane, wise, and rational decisions about how to relate to modern Israel. If we are going to put American blood and treasure on the line for some cause on the other side of the world, it better be for a good reason, not for Dispensational falsehoods. As a sovereign nation, Israel has a right to defend herself just like any other nation, and she should be held to standards of just warfare like any other nation. But America should be very wary of getting overly entangled with Israel. Why not let Israel fight her own wars? Don’t we have enough problems back home to keep us occupied? If we are going to prioritize a people in the Middle East, I would like to see us take an interest in protecting the dwindling and vulnerable Christian population there from persecution.
All of this is the straight-forward teaching of Scripture, grounded in a very broad tradition of Christian theology. The whole claim here is that Jesus is the true Semite, the true Israelite, the true Jew, and in union with him, all believers, Jew and Gentile, can experience God’s gracious salvation and become a single covenant family. The entire Old Testament bears witness to Jesus as the promised Savior and King; in other words, the Old Testament is Christian. We do not have to Christianize it; it is always and already about Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 24:27, 44ff). This is what Dispensationalism misses. Modern Judaism must be considered an idolatrous faith and the modern secular nation of Israel is in no sense God’s covenant people. Unbelieving Jews do not worship the same God Christians worship because, as Scripture teaches, if you reject the Son, you also reject the Father (Matthew 10:33; 1 John 2:23; cf. Galatians 4:8-10, which compares returning to Judaism as equivalent to returning to paganism). We should not be singling out modern Israel for uniquely favorable treatment. While some people will regard this as anti-Semitic, that’s not really a coherent charge. I do not advocate any malice or hostility towards ethnic Jews. I’m just saying we do not owe this particular nation special treatment. I don’t think America owes Mongolia any special favors or support either, but that does not make me “anti-Mongolian.” Unbelieving Jews, whether they live in the land of Israel or not, are no different from other unbelievers. Love them. Evangelize them. But don’t build your politics around giving them special treatment. And drop the non sequitur that criticizing America’s foreign policy towards Israel automatically entails “anti-Semitism.” Anti-Semitism and Zionism/Dispensationalism are not the only options; historic covenant theology provides another, much more biblically grounded approach. It is true there are real anti-Semites out there who must be opposed (Paul warns about this precise sin on the part of Gentile Christians in Romans 11:17-22) but opposing Dispensationalism’s view of modern Israel does not equate with anti-Semitism. Modern Israel as a nation should be evaluated the same way as any other nation – according to a biblical worldview and biblical law.
Note at the same time this perspective does not mean we should become pro-Palestinian. Muslims have been a thorn in the side of Christians for a long time. Christians have a long history of conflict with Muslims. We have to be honest about the potential threats radical Muslims pose to us. Most terrorism in the world today is Islamic. Islam, like Judaism, is a false faith, and has often been a very pernicious one, especially given its penchant for religious violence. Frankly, I don’t trust Iran with a nuclear weapon and do not want them to have one. If America could extricate herself altogether from the mess that is the Middle East, that would be wonderful (whatever happened to energy independence?). What the Middle East needs more than anything is a constant stream of Christian missionaries bringing the gospel and planting churches. Only Jesus can bring true and lasting peace to the Middle East. But obviously it’s not exactly a hospitable mission-field right now. Any American political or military involvement in the region should be based on what truly serves American interests – not the interests of the military-industrial complex, or Congressmen getting fat donations from pro-Israeli lobbyists, but the genuine good of the American people. Perhaps a strong case (that does not depend on Dispensationalist influence) can be made for America continuing to support modern Israel in various ways to hold nations like Iran in check, but that case has to be made on its own terms.
The true Israel of God is not located on a strip of land in the Middle East. The true Israel is not launching missiles at Iran or hiding behind an Iron Dome. The true Israel is not headquartered in Tel Aviv. The true Israel is gathering to worship the Triune God at a church near you this Sunday. The true Israel finds her identity in the preaching of the gospel, the waters of baptism, and the celebration of the Eucharist. The true Israel is the body and bride of Christ – a blood-bought, Spirit-filled communion drawn from every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. The Israel of God advances her mission not with tanks, jet fighters, and machine guns, but by declaring Jesus to be the promised Prince of Peace and embodying his kingdom in lives of service, wisdom, and love. Want to stand with Israel? Great, take your stand with Jesus and his church!
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