What Does the Bible Really Say About Supporting Israel?

📸 Gage Skidmore [Ted Cruz; Tucker Carlson]

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Have you heard the claim? That the Bible commands Christians to support Israel?

It’s a claim made recently by Senator Ted Cruz in an interview with Tucker Carlson. But is it true? Does the Bible actually command us, followers of Jesus Christ, to support Israel?

Let’s go back to the source. Genesis 12:3:

“And I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. And through you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

This is a promise made specifically to Abraham and his physical descendants. It does not spiritually apply to the church, as some wrongly claim in replacement theology.

In the context of Genesis 12, God is forming a literal nation from Abraham. The statement, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you,” is a covenant tied to Abraham’s physical lineage and how others treat them. The church, that came over 2,000 years later, is not in view here.

Genesis 12:3 is not a spiritual command to Christians, but a covenantal promise to a chosen nation that has endured against all odds, preserved by God’s faithfulness to His promise to Abraham.

In fact, the survival of the Jewish people can only be explained by God’s faithfulness to His promise to their patriarch Abraham in Genesis 12:3.

• It should be noted that several times God made it clear that His promise to Israel does not depend on their righteousness, but on His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deuteronomy 7:7–8; 9:4–6; Leviticus 26:42; 2 Kings 13:23).

That being said, through faith in the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, all people can be adopted as sons and daughters of God and receive the spiritual blessings given to those in Christ (Galatians 3:26-29; Ephesians 1).

But Genesis 12:3 itself is not that promise; it is a foundational pledge to Abraham’s descendants through whom the Messiah would come.

A shepherd boy (David) kills a giant (Goliath) who sought the annihilation of Abraham's descendants.

What does it mean to bless or curse Israel?

In Hebrew, barak means to show favor, to act in kindness, to give benefit. To curse, qalal or arar, means to dishonor, to treat with contempt, to bring harm.

So when God says He will bless those who bless Israel, He is saying: “Those who seek their well-being and preservation as a people, I will bless. But those who seek their harm or destruction, I will hold accountable.”

Like all nations, not every individual Jew is righteous, but as a people, God's promise to Abraham still stands.

Did God keep His promise? Just look at the stories:

• Balaam, hired to curse Israel, forced by God to bless them, then judged. (Numbers 22–24; Numbers 31:8)

• Haman, who plotted their annihilation; he died by his own scheme. (Esther 3–7)

• Goliath, who mocked their army and their God; fell by a boy’s sling. (1 Samuel 17)

• The Assyrian army, destroyed for their threats and pride. (2 Kings 18–19)

Those who blessed Israel?

• Melchizedek, honored forever. (Genesis 14:18–20)

• The Hebrew midwives, given families of their own. (Exodus 1:15–21)

  
  

• Rahab, spared and grafted in. (Joshua 2:1–21; Joshua 6:22–25; Hebrews 11:31)

• Ruth, once an outsider, became the great-grandmother of David. (Ruth 1:16–17; Ruth 4:13–17)

In each of these true stories, and many others in the Old Testament, God kept His promise. He blessed the people who blessed Israel, and He cursed those who sought their harm as a people.

But now we need to ask an important question: What about today?

Since Jesus has come and brought the New Covenant, and because the Bible doesn’t command Christians to support the modern nation of Israel, how should we understand our connection to the people of Israel now?

Rahab’s scarlet cord marked her faith and led to her deliverance (Joshua 2:18–21).

Why would a Christians stand with the people of Israel Today?

1. Because God revealed Himself through them. The Law. The prophets. The covenants. The Bible itself all came through Israel (Romans 9:4–5). To forget them is to forget where our faith began.
   

2. Jesus was born a Jew (Matthew 1; Luke 2). He observed Jewish festivals, taught in Jewish synagogues, and lived among the Jewish people.

   
   

   Although many rejected Him, He forgave them, even while suffering on the cross.

   
   

   After His resurrection, He restored His Jewish disciples who had denied and abandoned Him, and He gave them power and authority to take His good news to the world. The very first followers of Jesus were Jewish.

   
   

   So how can anyone claim to love Jesus while showing contempt for the people and nation through whom He came into the world?

   
   

3. Because God's plan is not finished with Israel. Paul teaches clearly in Romans 11 that Israel has not been cast away. He calls their rejection a temporary hardening, and he warns Gentile believers not to become arrogant.

   
   

   In fact, he says that all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26). That doesn't mean every person in modern Israel is right with God, but it does mean that God's covenant with them stands.

   
   

4. In a part of the world where many governments are openly hostile to the West, Israel stands out as a stable ally that shares America’s core values of freedom, law, and open debate.

   
   

   While not perfect, Israel upholds civil liberties such as equal voting rights and legal protections, including the rights of women and the freedom to live without fear of government persecution. These freedoms are not commonly found in many neighboring countries.

Final Thoughts:

We must not twist Scripture to say what it does not say. The Bible does not command Christians to support the modern nation of Israel, politically or in any other way. That claim, no matter how passionately argued, simply isn’t found in the text.

Our attitude toward Israel should not be shaped by pressure, guilt, or political agendas, but by biblical understanding and spiritual gratitude.

We are not required to support everything the government of Israel does. But we can still value the Jewish people for their unique role in redemptive history and in God’s future plans. And we certainly don’t need to misuse Scripture in order to justify showing compassion and offering prayer and support for them.

No, Christians are not commanded to support Israel. But given who the Jewish people are, where our faith began, and what God has said about them, it is both unnatural and spiritually dangerous for anyone claiming to follow Christ to speak harmfully or wish harm upon Abraham’s descendants.