In the last couple of years, attention has increasingly shifted toward Israel and the ongoing war. Yet for many, the deeper issues behind the conflict remain unclear. Conversations are often reduced to headlines and opinions, without a clear understanding of what is really at stake.
There are several ways to view what is happening—through political, social, or humanitarian lenses. While each of these perspectives has its place, they are not the focus of this post. Instead, we will zoom in on the biblical and spiritual perspective, and why, as believers, we should be paying attention.
Scripture cautions us against approaching such matters in ignorance. The apostle Paul writes, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited…” (Romans 11:25). This verse alone reminds us that God expects His people to seek understanding—especially concerning matters tied to His redemptive purposes.
BIBLICAL ISRAEL
The story of the Bible is, at its core, a story of redemption—God restoring mankind after the fall. When man sinned and was separated from God (Genesis 3), redemption was not an afterthought. God already had a plan in place. That plan—to bring forth a Messiah who would save the world—required God to set apart a people for Himself, through whom His redemptive purposes would unfold. At that point in history, there were no people known as Hebrews or Jews. God began with one man.
Scripture tells us that God called Abram, a man living in Ur of the Chaldean’s, a culture steeped in idol worship (Joshua 24:2). God commanded him to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household, and to go to a land that the Lord would show him (Genesis 12:1). Abram obeyed. Together with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, he embarked on a long journey that eventually led them to the land of Canaan—the land God had promised. It was there that the Lord entered into a covenant with Abram—a covenant God guaranteed by Himself. As revealed in Genesis 15 and 17, this covenant included several key elements:
- The promise of a specific land—Canaan
- The promise of numerous descendants
- A change of name from Abram to Abraham
- A specific seed through whom the promise would come—Isaac, not Ishmael
- The sign of the covenant: circumcision
- Blessing to all nations through Abraham
Scripture is explicit that this covenant was described as “everlasting” (Genesis 17:7). In other words, it was not temporary, conditional on time, or subject to expiration. For the purpose of this post, we will narrow our focus to two critical elements of this covenant: the specific seed through whom the promise would come and the promise of the land of Canaan.
The Seed of the Promise
God told Abraham—an old man with no children—that He would give him a son, and that through this son would come a great multitude of descendants (Genesis 15:4–5). This promise, however, did not come with an immediate fulfillment. Years passed, and still, no child. In a moment of human weakness and reliance on worldly wisdom, Abraham agreed to a plan suggested by his wife Sarah. He took her servant Hagar in order to build a family through her. In the ancient world, this kind of arrangement was culturally acceptable—something similar would later happen in Jacob’s household when Leah and Rachel gave their servants to him when they were unable to conceive. But cultural acceptability did not make it God’s plan.
Hagar conceived and gave birth to a son, Ishmael (Genesis 16:15). Ishmael would later become the forefather of the Arab people. Yet, important as Ishmael was, he was not the child of promise. God later appeared to Abraham and made His intentions unmistakably clear. The promise would not come through Hagar, nor through human effort or shortcuts, but through a son born to Sarah herself. God said, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned” (Genesis 21:12; cf. Genesis 17:19). And so, Isaac—the long-awaited son—was born, not by human planning, but by divine promise. Isaac fathered two sons—Jacob and Esau. Though Esau was the firstborn, it was Jacob who, in God’s sovereignty, became the heir of the promise. Later, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, marking a turning point in his identity and calling.
Israel had twelve sons, who would go on to become the twelve tribes of Israel. Through these tribes, God raised a nation for Himself. He revealed His law to them, taught them how to walk in His ways, and called them to live as a people set apart for His purposes (Exodus 19:5–6). God entered into covenant with them, showing patience, faithfulness, and grace. Yet again and again, Israel broke those covenants. Still, God did not abandon His plan, nor did He revoke His promises. Through this nation, the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, would unfold. It is through Him that we are redeemed from God’s wrath and receive the gift of salvation—by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 5:9). In Him, God’s plan of redemption, set in motion from the very beginning, comes to fulfillment.
The Promised Land
Another key element of God’s covenant with Abraham was the promise of the land of Canaan. In Genesis, God told Abraham that the land where he had settled would one day belong to his descendants. He also revealed that, for 400 years, his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land—but God promised to rescue them and bring them back to inherit it (Genesis 15:13–16). This prophecy was fulfilled when the Israelites were delivered from Egypt and, under Joshua, entered and took possession of the Promised Land (Joshua 1:1–6). However, Israel’s repeated disobedience led to periods of judgment. They were eventually taken into captivity in Babylon, where they lived for 70 years (2 Chronicles 36:20–21). Later, under leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah, they returned and attempted to rebuild their nation. Despite these efforts, continued disobedience left them under the rule of successive empires—the Persians, the Greeks, and finally the Romans during the time of Jesus. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, persecution scattered the Jewish people across the world. Ironically, this dispersion played a crucial role in spreading the gospel to the Gentiles, fulfilling God’s larger plan for the nations (Acts 8:1–4). For thousands of years, the Jewish people did not live in their land. To many, it seemed as though once God had accomplished His plan of salvation through them, He no longer needed them. It even appeared that the promise of the land had been forgotten, overtaken by history and circumstance. But is that really the case?
SCRIPTURE’S POSITION ON MODERN ISRAEL
Scripture tells a very different story. God has not forgotten His people. If He had, He would have had to forfeit the everlasting covenant He established with Abraham—something Scripture makes clear is impossible. God is a covenant-keeping God, faithful to the end (Psalm 105:8; 2 Timothy 2:13). There are numerous prophecies pointing to the regathering of Israel as a nation (Isaiah 11:11–12; Ezekiel 36:24). In 1948, Israel was re-established, and Jews from across the world began returning to the land promised to their ancestors. This was met with resistance from the surrounding Arab countries and resulted in war breaking out against Israel. Seven Arab countries against one small Israel country that had no an established military personnel, as impossible as it seemed, Israel emerged successful against the Arabs and were able to reconstitute themselves as a country. This brought to fulfillment the prophesy from Ezekiel 36:24. God himself is bringing to pass the prophecies written in his word.
Over the years, many Christians have questioned Israel’s relevance today—after all, salvation has already come through Jesus. Some point out that the Jews crucified Jesus, or that many still do not accept Him as the Messiah. Yet, it is through the Jewish people that God has given the world knowledge of Himself and His Word. Through them, the truth of God has been preserved and revealed through the scriptures—even to those of us far removed from Him (Romans 3:1–2). The Bible, at its heart, is a book about Israel. That should give us a pause and reconsider our thoughts about Israel. Also, many Christians have claimed that today’s Israel is not the biblical Israel. Citizenship in modern Israel is determined simply by being a Jew. I believe that, in an attempt to sow confusion, Satan uses various ideologies to discredit the legitimacy of the Jewish people, casting doubt on whether they are truly the Israel of the Bible. Yet, if someone is a Jew, they inherently have the right to return to the land of Israel. In this light, we should ask ourselves this question: Did God discard a people He used to bring redemption to the whole world? This question leads to an important reflection for every believer: Why should Christians care about Israel? Among the many reasons, I share 5 reasons why.
1. God is not done with Israel.
God’s redemptive plan for the whole world involved Israel, through whom the Messiah came. When Israel rejected the Messiah, the door of the gospel was opened to the Gentiles—people like us. Romans 11 explains that Israel’s hardening was not the end of the story, but part of God’s divine purpose, so that we Gentiles could be grafted in. We were once wild olive shoots, outsiders to the covenants, yet by God’s grace and mercy we were grafted into the rich root. And when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, God will once again turn His attention to Israel.
2. We owe it to the Jews
After the fall, humanity was separated from God. In the riches of His wisdom, God chose the nation of Israel as the vessel through which He would reveal Himself to the world. He gave them the Law—a Law that ultimately pointed to and was fulfilled in Christ. Jesus Christ became the hope of eternal life for all humanity. Our knowledge of God, the Scriptures, and our union with Christ came to us through the Jews. Even the promise given to Abraham makes this clear: those who bless him—and by extension his descendants—would themselves be blessed. It is therefore at the heart of God to honor a people through whom the gospel was first entrusted and then extended to the whole world. We honor the Jews because of their calling. In the same way, we do not worship or venerate Mary, the mother of Jesus, but we honor her because of her calling—to bring forth our Messiah.
3. The Church Has Not “Replaced” Israel
Over the years, a doctrine known as replacement theology has taken root in some Christian circles. It teaches that the Church has become the “new Israel of God,” and that the promises originally given to Israel—including the promise of the land of Canaan—have now been transferred to the Church and spiritualized. This view could not be further from the truth. Scripture, particularly Romans 11, makes God’s position unmistakably clear. Romans 11:15 asks, “If their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” Israel’s temporary rejection was never final, nor was it a cancellation of God’s covenant. In fact, the Church is explicitly warned against arrogance toward the Jews. Paul anticipates this very attitude in Romans 11:19–21: “You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either.” And the hope remains. Romans 11:23 assures us that “if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.” The Church did not replace Israel; we were grafted in by grace—and God is not finished with the natural branches.
4. The Jews Are the Family of Jesus
At first glance, one might say that since Jesus died for all humanity, all who come to Him by faith are now His only family. This is partly true. Scripture tells us that those who do the will of the Father are His mother, brothers, and sisters. However, it is important to note that even in glory, Jesus continues to identify Himself with the Jewish people. In Revelation 5:5, the risen and glorified Christ is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And again, in Revelation 22:16, He declares, “I, Jesus… am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” Even in His resurrected body and eternal reign, Jesus does not detach Himself from His Jewish lineage. He still identifies with the Jews—and that matters.
5. Jesus Is Coming Back to Israel
After Jesus died and rose again, He ascended into heaven. As His disciples stood watching, angels appeared and asked why they were gazing into the sky. They declared that “this same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9–11). When He returns, He will not come as a suffering Lamb, but as the enthroned King. Scripture tells us He will rule the nations with a rod of iron (Psalm 2:9; Revelation 19:15). His reign will be established in Zion—Jerusalem—where the Lord has chosen to place His name (Psalm 132:13; Zechariah 14:4). And when He appears, all the peoples of the earth will see Him (Revelation 1:7). Jesus is coming back to reign from Israel!
A Case against Hamas
Hamas, by definition, is an Arabic acronym meaning zeal or strength, but in Hebrew, the word carries the meaning of violence. In its own covenant statement, Hamas openly declares its agenda: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam obliterates it, just as it obliterated others before it.” Their goal is the annihilation of Israel. Let me add this disclaimer at this point, Hamas are Palestinians but not all Palestinians are Hamas. For the purpose of this post, I am talking about Hamas the terrorist organization.
Biblically, hatred toward Israel originates with Satan. Revelation 12 describes a dragon seeking to destroy a woman and her child. Faithful interpretation shows that the woman represents the nation of Israel, chosen to bring forth the Messiah, while the dragon represents Satan, attempting to destroy them both. Yet God remains sovereign and fully in control, promising to protect His people (Revelation 12:6, 12:17). Hamas’ agenda is rooted in violence and hatred, but Scripture reminds us that God will not allow His purposes for Israel to be thwarted. As followers of Jesus, we must not be swayed or confused by the frenzy of media narratives. It’s easy to get lost in the noise. Instead, search the Scriptures, seek the heart of God, and align yourself with His truth.
CONCLUSION
That said, it’s important to recognize that because many Jews have historically rejected Jesus, some Christians have labeled them “the synagogue of Satan” based on the sins of some, using this as a reason to dismiss or disregard the Jewish people altogether. Yet we must remember: the Israelites were not chosen in the Bible because of their righteousness, nor because they had earned God’s favor. They were chosen according to God’s sovereign plan (Deuteronomy 7:7–8), and He used them to accomplish His purposes. Our human minds struggle to understand how God can still love the people of Israel today, despite their rejection of Him. But Scripture is clear—God’s love endures even when His people reject Him (Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 11:28). This should remind us that God’s ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8–9). We should be careful about trying to “correct” Him. Instead, it is far wiser to align ourselves with His will, trusting that His judgments are true, righteous, and perfect. I therefore urge all believers of Jesus Christ to re-evaluate their stand on matters Israel and see if it aligns with God’s heart.
At the heart of the Israeli-Arab conflict lies jealousy over God’s promise.