What is Israel?

Some of you may have seen the viral interview by Tucker Carlson and Tedd Cruz not long ago. The interview went off the rails when Cruz claimed as a Christian, he was commanded to bless the state of Israel but couldn’t cite the Chapter or verse.  

Tucker a Christian as well provided the chapter and verse, Genesis 12:3 which states:

“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Tucker hit back and asked what is Israel? Cruz seemed shocked that a Christian would believe it doesn’t mean Israel the current state. To put it simply Israel were the people, and a land was promised to them, the question needs to be answered who is Israel now and where is the land?  

The idea that Israel doesn’t mean the land is not a controversial position and has never been for the past 2 thousand years of Christianity. This article could be a book, but I will attempt to streamline it for readers. 

The main denominations such as Catholic, Mainline Protestants, Lutheranism, Presbyterianism and Anglican agree or heavily lean towards the Church as receiving the promise, as in the Church is Israel and Christians now being the heirs of Abraham receive eternal life in heaven not a piece of land in the world. Ted Cruz’s position is a new concept becoming mainstream in the 19 century and then implemented into the controversial Scofield study bible, funded by Zionist groups which researchers claim included the infamous Rothschilds.

The Scofield bible wrongly manipulated scripture to favour non-Christian jews and diminish Jesus’s covenant. The Scofield bible was a commonly used study bible within the early American evangelical and Baptist churches and has bled out into mainstream Christianity over time. To believe the Ted Cruz position you would have to ignore much of the New Testament which includes Jesus’s own words. 

 Paul warned us about a group of false teachers called “Judaizers” who were teaching the Christian gentiles to follow old Jewish law, elevating their status over the Christian gentiles. I believe the Christians today who push that the Abrahamic covenant is still active for the Jews are those same Judaizers. You can read about Judaizers in Acts 15:1-5, Galatians 2:11-14, Galatians 5:2-12, Paul refers to them as dogs and mutilators of flesh in Philippians 3:2-3. 

Only a few days ago the state of Israel bombed a Christian Church killing three worshippers and injuring the priest. You must ask yourself; would God bless those who bomb Churches? 

For non-Christians it’s great that Jesus has already described who Israel is in a short parable which is easy to understand. To help non-Christians the landowner is GOD, the tenants are the Jews, the servants are the Prophets, the son is Jesus, the vineyard is Jerusalem/Israel, and the new tenants are Christians which the promise was given to them. 

Matthew 21:33-43 

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. 

35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 

38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 

40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 

41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” 

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: 

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]? 

43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[b] 

Some Christians believe the land promised to the seed was fulfilled within Joshua 21:43-45 

43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. 44 The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. 

The promises were made to Jesus and his followers not to the Jews as it states in Galatians 3:16 

16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 

In Galatians 3:28-29 Paul says Christians are the heirs to Abrahams promises and not the Jews who reject Christ. So, if you were to still believe that the land of Israel is owed it would be to the Church and not the ones who rejected Christ in the current state of Israel. 

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

 

You can see the pattern continue in Romans 2:28-29. 

28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose [a]praise is not from men but from God. 

In Hebrews 8:6-13 it states a new covenant has been created for the house of Israel (The Church) and not to the modern country Israel Jews, as they deny Jesus as their God. It also states the old covenant is obsolete and vanishing away.  

6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins [a]and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 

13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. 

As mentioned earlier these Judaizers will attempt to attach the old Abrahamic covenant to the New Covenant, Jesus warned about this in Luke 5:36-39. 

36 Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one [a]puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, [b]and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, [c]immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is [d]better.’ ” 

You will also hear Judaizers talking about “Gods still protecting Israel (the country)” you would have to call Jesus a liar to make this claim, Jesus said in Matthew 23:37-39 the Jews house is left to them desolate and they will not hear from him again until they say he is Lord. Why would God contradict himself by giving Jerusalem to a people who he said would be left desolate until they accept Christ? 

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” 

The way these Judaizers manipulate Christians is using their ignorance of the word. Most Christians who believe Israel the land and promised to the Jews do not read the bible for themselves, they often use buzz words such as “Jesus is only talking about the Pharisees, not all jews” Jesus is talking about all jews of the promise that rejected him, not just the Pharisees.  

In Matthew 8:10-12 Jesus says the sons of the kingdom which means Jews who reject him will go to hell and many will come from east and west which means gentiles, and sit with Abraham, Isaak and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven in their place. 

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 

This doesn’t mean ALL Jews will go to hell but only the Jews who reject Christ, so then why would as the Judaizers claim Jesus is protecting and helping the country of Israel who rejected and still reject him today? You should reject such Christians who peddle this lie, this isn’t just false teaching, but it diminishes Jesus’s covenant and robs Christians of their inheritance through Christ. 

Going back to the original verse in Genesis 12:3

“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

This is about the Church and NOT the modern state of Israel. Jerusalem is no longer in this world; New Jerusalem is in heaven as described in Revelation 21:2 

2 Then I, [a]John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Israel is the Church of Christ and Jerusalem is not a city in the middle east but in Heaven. The Jews are no longer the chosen people, Christians are! It states it in 1 Peter 2:9-10 

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 

In closing if somebody shows you scripture from the Old Testament claiming a promise or a prophecy relates to Gods chosen it is most likely a promise to Christians who are now the chosen according to God, not the ones who reject him. Or it was already fulfilled. The covenants were broken when the Jews ignored Gods voice.

Exodus 19:5-6

⁵ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. ⁶ And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Sam Shamoun does a greater job then I in describing this, I urge anybody interested to watch him un-brainwash a Zionist Christian. 

I’ll leave some verses and ask yourself does modern day Israel please God? 

Luke 19:41-44  

41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” 

John 8:44  

44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 

Revelation 2:9  

9 “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a [a]synagogue of Satan. 

Thessalonians 2:14-16  

14 For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are [d]contrary to all men, 16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. 

John 18:36  

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” 

If this article is well received I’ll do others concerning Christianity,

JESUS IS KING!

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