Bible Study Blog: Israel, Palestine, Prophecy, and History: Whose Land Is It Anyway?

Key question: Should Christians unconditionally support the State of Israel?

1. Is the establishment of the State of Israel a fulfillment of biblical prophecy?
2. Does Scripture guarantee Jews full access to the lands of Palestine, nullifying all contrary claims to the land my non-Jewish persons, including Palestinian Christians?
3. Jews were dislocated from the holy land against their will, and later dislocated from other lands throughout the world where they had settled. Does this give Jews the right to retake their ancestral lands?
4. Shouldn’t Palestinians, who object to Jewish rule, relocate to other nations which are ruled by Islamic governments?
5. Is military action on Israel’s behalf “God’s foreign policy”?

Background video: History of Israel-Palestine Conflict by History on Maps

Christian Zionism 

A politically mobilized strand of Christian fundamentalism committed to preserving Jewish control over all historic Palestine to ensure the realization of the movement’s own end-times hope. 

Key verses:

Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Joel 3:20-21 “Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. ²¹ I will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty, for the LORD dwells in Zion.”

“That for the first time in more than 2,000 years Jerusalem is now completely in the hands of the Jews gives a student of the Bible a thrill and a renewed faith in the accuracy and validity of the Bible.” (Christianity Today, July 1967).

Christian Zionists argue that prophecy has been fulfilled in the establishment of the State of Israel, including:

Ezekiel 38:8 After many days you shall be mustered; in the latter years you shall go against a land restored from war, a land where people were gathered from many nations on the mountains of Israel, which had long lain waste; its people were brought out from the nations and now are living in safety, all of them.

Jeremiah 30:3 For the days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors and they shall take possession of it.

Questions for Discussion:

1. What historical events took place in the generation following these prophets’ ministries?
2. What problems do you see in interpreting these prophecies as being fulfilled in our time?

What else does the Christian Zionist worldview hold about Israel and the end times?

1. The Rapture will occur briefly after the Jews repopulate their homeland. The idea is that a faithful “remnant” of true believers will be removed from the earth, leaving the established church and non-believers to face the judgment of God during a seven-year tribulation period.
2. A seven-year peace agreement will be made between the Antichrist and the State of Israel. The Jerusalem Temple will be rebuilt, and blood sacrifices will resume. 
3. The Antichrist will break the agreement after 3.5 years, and demand that everyone worships him and receive his mark on their foreheads. Christians and Jews will be persecuted.
4. Armies of the world including Iran, Libya, Sudan, Turkey, and Russia, will declare war on Israel. This will culminate in the Battle of Armageddon, when the armies of the world will muster at Megiddo and launch a massive attack on Jerusalem.  

https://alwaysbeready.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Bible-Prophecy-Timeline-Charlie-Campbell-2019.pdf

Practical implications of Christian Zionism

• Palestinian Arabs have no right to reside within the Holy Land.
• The un-raptured / apostate church will be replaced by Jews who worship and offer sacrifices Jerusalem.
• The Two witnesses of Revelation consist of one Jew (OT) and one Christian (NT) who will be put to death in Jerusalem.
• “When we support Israel, we are supporting the only nation that was created by an act of God. We are declaring that the Bible is true…. Yet if we touch Jerusalem, which is prophecy, America will lose the blessing of God and America will tragically lose the war on terrorism.” Mike Evans of the Jerusalem Prayer Team.
• Extremism, on any side or a conflict, ends with the devaluing of human lives.

Questions for Discussion:

1. What do you think of the Christian Zionist worldview, and its end-times timeline?
2. Does God’s command to the ancient Israelites under Joshua to drive out the inhabitants and take possession of Canaan still stand today?
3. How do you reconcile those who claim absolute rights to the Holy Land with Mosaic Laws, including: Leviticus 19:33-34 “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. ³⁴ The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”
4. Do you agree with Mike Evans’s assertion that the present state of Israel was created by an act of God?
5. Is it a matter of justice that there be a Jewish state?
6. Did the imperial powers, in establishing a Jewish homeland, fulfill biblical prophecy by establishing the Jewish state, or are they inducing the fulfillment of another biblical prophecy, by which “nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (cf. Matthew 24:6-8)
7. Which biblical Law takes precedence: to possess land or love the neighbor as yourself?

Additional resources to understand Christian Zionism from Christian Zionists:

Eight Biblical Reasons to Stand With Israel Today 

What Is Israel's Role in End-Times Prophecy?

Christians United for Israel - an interdenominational Christian Zionist advocacy group with membership exceeding ten million.

The Jerusalem Prayer Team - another Christian Zionist organization