Israel and Jerusalem Part 3

This will be the last article in this series of short musings of mine concerning the modern nation of Israel. In this one I want to challenge the modern evangelical notion of what it means to “Bless Israel”. As I have already pointed out in my first article on this, we hear half the verse from Genesis 12;3 when God was talking to Abraham he said, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you”. And that first half of the verse is used so frequently, it has become mundane. The Bing dictionary defines the word “Mundane” this way.

1.) ADJECTIVE lacking interest or excitement; dull.

Indeed, when Christians decide it is proper and sound to rip a verse apart in two in order to support a doctrine, that technique is for the dull of hearing, and the lack on interest for the truth. God also promised another blessing to Abraham that Christians have seen the fulfillment of for 2000 years. As I did before, let’s put the other half of the verse back in Genesis 12;3.

“And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Why would Christians want that half neglected and pushed aside? Is it not exciting to know we are living the fulfillment of that promise to Abraham?  After all, we know Paul tells us in Galatians 3;16 that Christ is the promised descendant to bless all nations of the entire world.  If you say these promises to Abraham is not part of the gospel since the Church was not even here, look at verse 8 in Galatians 3. Paul says this; And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed”.

The entire book of Galatians is very good at explaining where we stand in the new covenant and the blessings in Christ that are in the covenant. The Jews then were tempting the Galatians and teaching them another gospel which may very well be much like what some evangelicals such as John Hagee are teaching today. Verse 29 in chapter 3 Paul tells us that if we are Christ’s then we are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. So, who are Christ’s? Paul tells us in verse 27. All who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ. The he says there is no Jew or Greek, bond or free, male or female, but all are one in Christ. We are extremely blessed that Christ came and fulfilled that promise to Abraham. Knowing that through Christ the promise of our blessing were fulfilled, then why would anyone want to find another way to receive the promised blessing?

Out of curiosity I typed in my search box “How to bless Israel” to see what I would find. One site resulted with these Five Ways to Bless Israel (and Bless Yourself) – The Bottom Line, Ministries (tblfaithnews.com)

Blessing Israel is a simple and effective way to bless God, as well as bless yourself. Here are five ways you can do this:

Pray and proclaim Scriptures over Israel. The Bible exhorts us to intercede for Israel. Some passages to pray are Psalm 17:8-9, Jeremiah 31;10,1st Samuel 12;22, and the Psalms of Ascent (Psalm 120 through Psalm 134).

Give to Israeli charities. There are many well-known NGOs that care for the poor in Africa, South and Central America, and Asia, but I had no idea where to sow alms into Israel. When I asked The Lord, He led me to an in depth article written by Charisma Magazine that thoroughly outlines some of the most prominent pro Israel  organizations.

Invest in Israel financially. Secular financial experts are taking note of Israel as a rising star in the global market. Israel’s currency was recently listed as a safe haven for investments in the face of an uncertain economic future. With Israel soaring in technology, military equipment, medicine, and start-up businesses, what a wonderful opportunity for Christians to “put their money where their mouth is” and at the same time anticipate reaping the material blessings they sow into Israel.

Pray that your government supports Israel. The current US administration’s stance on Israel is dismal to say the least. No previous president since Israel’s founding has done more to strain relations or to make allies of Israel’s most hostile enemies. This has extremely serious consequences for the United States.

Speak up for Israel. Antisemitism is fashionable again. When I’ve spoken up for Israel or the Jewish people, I’ve sometimes drawn fire even from friends on social media. Jesus is a Jew. When we see Him in heaven, He will still be the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5;5). When we stand before Him, “the King will reply, ‘Whatever you did for the least of these brothers, you did for Me'” (Matthew 25;40).

Do you, like me, notice something missing? Does “Preach the gospel to Israel and the Jews” not even make the top 5 ways to bless Israel? How are we blessing non-believers if we won’t even consider preaching the gospel to them? As Christians we pray for all nations of people, we pray for our enemies, or should, and we should speak up for all who are oppressed by this wicked world. As far as investing in Israel, go for it. You might make a big profit or you might loose a fortune, either way that is not they way God’s word says we will be blessed as Christians. We have already been the people fulfilled in that promised blessing. The 5th way this website says to bless Israel is the one we might run across the most. The “antisemitism” accusation gets thrown around when everything else fails. It’s not antisemitism to always correct false teachings and doctrine. Romans 1;16 The Gospel is the power of God to salvation, don’t be ashamed to say that. In Christ is where the promise to Abraham to be blessed is fulfilled, not in a few suggestions laid out by someone who doesn’t even consider teaching them Christ and His gospel to be even in the top 5. When we’re told we should “Stand with Israel”, I agree in a secular sense. I suppose we should also stand with Canada if Russia attacks Quebec, but “standing with Israel” is not the plan God had in mind to fulfill the promise to Abraham and it’s not how Christians receive that promise of blessing.

How do we “Bless Israel”? Here’s 5 ways I thought of while typing this piece. (1.) Romans 10;13 through15. Preach and teach the gospel! How can they believe on Him who they have not heard?  (2.) Be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks why we have this hope in us. 1st Peter 3:15. (3.) James 2;18, Show Israel our faith by our works. If we know Jews are in unbelief how is our silence going to show them the path to salvation? (4.) Love our fellow man. How is it showing love for the Jews if we refuse to teach them the gospel? (5.) Rebuke these false teachers and preachers who are teaching telling the world the Jews already have a covenant with God and our “blessing Israel” does not include the Gospel of Christ. 

Blessing Israel is Loving them as we Love ourselves. On the two great commandments we hang all the law and prophets as Jesus said. Love God with all our heart and soul, and likewise love our fellow man as we love ourselves. Loving the Jews as we love ourselves is blessing Israel because in that we fulfill the law of Christ.