British watchers of the Ted Cruz interview with Tucker Carlson may have been surprised to learn that the Bible endorses support for the political leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu. Cruz, keen to explain to Carlson why he supported regime change in the Middle East, treated him to a bit of his backstory:
“Growing up in Sunday School I was taught from the Bible”, said the Texas Senator and Trump ally, “Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective I want to be on the blessing side of things”.
“We are commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel?” Carlson replied incredulously. “Define Israel” said Carlson. “Do you not know what Israel is?” asked Cruz, assuming it was totally obvious that the modern State of Israel founded in 1948 is the exact same thing as the theocracy in the Bible. Carlson tried again: “Is the nation God’s referring to in Genesis, is that the same as the country run by Benjamin Netanyahu right now?” “Yes, yes”, replied Cruz.
I’m not a Bible scholar, but modern Israel really doesn’t appear to be the ethno-state of the Bible
This might seem strange to British ears but many American Christians — and some in Britain — do see the modern state of Israel and as the successor to the Biblical nation. “Dispensationalism” as a system of theology, was invented (or codified depending on your view) in the 1800s and seeks to divide history into different “dispensations” of time in which God relates to people differently. But one of the most noteworthy viewpoints is that “The Church” and “Israel“ are completely distinctive things. If true, God still has big plans for the nation founded by David Ben-Gurion.
By contrast, theologians in the Reformed tradition see no further significance for any state calling itself “Israel” today, and point to passages in the New Testament like Romans 11 which talks about branches being broken off an olive tree and “a wild olive shoot” being “grafted in among the others”. This is an example, they say, of how the Jews rejected the messiah, lost their historic birthright to be the people of God and Gentiles became part of God’s people instead. They view all the unfulfilled promises made to Israel in the Bible as promises that belong to The Church, and see the idea that the modern state of Israel is what Genesis 12 is referring to, as bizarre.
In the passage quoted by Cruz in which God tells Abraham that he will bless “Israel”, it contains the line: “and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” which makes sense if you see the historic state of Israel as a means to bringing God’s blessings to both Jews and Gentiles, but is rather harder to understand if we’re talking about the nation ruled by Netanyahu.
Modern Israel is 73 per cent culturally Jewish, but when asked if people actually believe in God, 65 per cent say they are either “not religious” or “convinced atheists”. There is a significant Muslim minority, and about 10 per cent are orthodox Jews. I’m not a Bible scholar but this really doesn’t appear to be the ethno-state of the Bible.
But perhaps this is literally about names? When the modern state was founded in 1948 there was a discussion about different things to call it, with “Zion” and even “Palestine” mooted. If something other than “Israel” had been chosen as a name for the new country, would Cruz’s Sunday School teacher have been so sure?
