The events that have unfolded since 7 October and Israel’s war in Gaza have once again highlighted the irrational nature of hatred towards Israel. Hamas’ barbaric acts against Israel have raised the question of how any human, made in the image of God, could conceive of such unimaginable violence. Just as shocking, but not entirely unsurprising based on past practice, is how the mainstream narrative so rapidly shifted from Israel being the victim to being the perpetrator. This has been accompanied by waves of anti-Israel protests, antisemitic incidents around the world, and many seeking to justify the most horrific acts perpetrated against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Once again, those who stand with the State of Israel attempt to find any earthly answer to explain the sheer magnitude of delusion and hatred, as observed not only throughout this conflict, but over thousands of years of antisemitism.
Countless historians and psychologists have written books attempting to rationalise or provide a human explanation for the Holocaust, and exactly why it is that Jewish people have been consistently scapegoated throughout history. However, believers in the God of Israel need to be reminded that the conflict is of a greater spiritual nature. It is not merely an earthly game of geopolitical chess, and this is why a definitive natural explanation has not been settled on. There is no conclusive natural explanation for the double standards, the consistent targeting of Jewish people throughout history and the nations’ obsession with this tiny sliver of land in the Middle East.
In seeking to provide a theological explanation, this article will discuss the spiritual roots of antisemitism, dating back to the fall of man in Genesis and God’s covenants with Israel, and how these relate to Satan’s delusional attempt to thwart God’s ultimate plan for redeeming creation. It will also correspondingly make the case for Israel’s central role in God’s redemptive plan and counter the popular narrative that God has rejected His chosen people – the very people whom God has tied to His reputation. This is why we have witnessed persistent Satanic hatred towards the Jewish people throughout history. As we will see, Satan is not only trying to stop the consummation of the New Covenant, but he is also trying to prove God as untrustworthy.
The woman and the seed
The roots of antisemitism and Satan’s attempt to destroy the Jewish people date back to the fall of man in Genesis. Following Adam and Eve’s rebellion in the Garden of Eden, God announced His plan to restore creation in what is often referred to as the ‘protoevangelion’.[1] In Genesis 3:15, God proclaimed to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”. This triggers the main storyline of the Bible and indeed all of human history. God declared that there would be conflict between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed – the coming Messiah who would bring redemption to the world. While the serpent would bruise the heel of the Messiah, the Messiah would ultimately crush the head of the serpent.
As Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser Jr describes the event, “While it is true, that it is found in a sentence that denounced the tempter of Eve in the Garden of Eden, yet it gave our first parents a glimpse, even if only an obscure one, of the person and mission of the one who was going to be the central figure in the unfolding drama of the redemption of the world. The “seed/offspring” mentioned in this verse became the root from which the tree of the OT promise of a Messiah grew, This, then, was the “mother prophecy” that gave birth to all the rest of the promises”.[2] Kaiser further notes that three battles are depicted here: “a personal one between the woman and Satan in that day, another between the posterity of both the woman and Satan in the future, and the final battle, presumably in the end times, that leads to a mortal blow to the skull of Satan by an as yet unnamed or unidentified male descendant of the woman”. [3] In this way, human history is defined by Satan, represented by the serpent, striving to thwart the eventual arrival of this male descendant of the woman. This promised one would ultimately crush Satan and his hold over this world, restoring creation to the Edenic state of affairs which God intended from the beginning.
Scripture subsequently continues to develop this basic storyline, tracing events affecting the line of the Messiah, who we later learn will descend from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the tribe of Judah and through the line of David.[4] Correspondingly, we see Satan’s attempts for the entirety of human history to wipe out the Jewish line and prevent the Messiah from being born, knowing that He would be the one who would ultimately crush him forever. Today, Satan is trying to prevent the eschatological events that will lead to this ultimate and final crushing – as Daniel 2:34 puts it, by the “stone not cut out from human hands.”
The Abrahamic, Mosaic and Davidic covenants
Understanding God’s covenants with Israel is critical to grasping the basic storyline of the Bible and God’s unfolding plan to restore and redeem creation. As David Herron describes, “Covenants are the building blocks of God’s purposes, and each one has a part to play in the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan. Understanding the framework that God chose to hang this story upon is critical to understanding God and his story. The framework he has chosen is Israel.”.[5] Hence, in our effort to understand why the world relentlessly pursues the Jewish people, it is critical to examine the biblical covenants with Israel, their ongoing relevance today and how they relate to God’s plan to restore creation through the promised seed from Genesis 3:15.
The Abrahamic Covenant
In Genesis 12:2-3, God called Abraham and asked him to go out from his father’s household into a land that He would show him. God promised Abraham that he would be made into a great nation, and that He would bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him, and through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. In doing this, God declared that the seed promised in the Garden of Eden would arrive through the line of Abraham.
In Genesis 15, God confirmed the unconditional nature of the land covenant with Abraham. During the covenant ceremony, God passed between the two animal halves alone, while Abraham was in a deep sleep.[6] Normally, both parties would need to pass through to cut the covenant, but by breaking with this convention, God was indicating this covenant was not dependent on Abraham’s performance – God would bring it to pass. Daniel Block notes that this procedure of ‘cutting a covenant’ reflects Near Eastern covenant-making traditions, whereby the participants would cut an animal in half and then walk between the two parts together. Block additionally explains that it is also mirrored in a custom dating more than a millennia before the time of Abraham, found in an 18th century BC text from Mari, involving a symbolic oath whereby the parties essentially declared that they shall die if they fail to keep their commitments in the agreement.[7] Thus, God was implying that if He failed to keep this promise, ‘may He be accursed and disposed of like these animals’.[8]
We later learn that the subsequent inheritors of these promises would be Abraham’s son Isaac and his son Jacob, and that the coming Messiah would be from the line of Judah.[9]
The Mosaic Covenant
Building on the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant was established at Mount Sinai following Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. This was centred on the law God revealed to Moses, to set Israel apart as God’s inheritance and to be a light to the nations. While the Mosaic Covenant included conditions, it did not alter the unconditional nature of the Abrahamic Covenant. As David Pawson puts it, “Ownership of the land was unconditional under the Abrahamic covenant, but the occupation of the land was conditional under the Mosaic…Israel’s calling was to be a visible demonstration to other nations of divine blessing on those who lived the right way and curse on those who lived the wrong way.”[10] Concerning the nature of the covenant, Pawson additionally elaborates on the fact this was “an additional covenant, concerned with the occupation of the Promised Land, which did nothing to modify the previous one. It would be the nearest Israel ever had to a national constitution and gave an extensive body of legislation, anticipating situations they would encounter when they reached their destination. The ownership of the land itself had already been settled in the Abrahamic covenant”.[11]
Hence, while the Mosaic Covenant and its associated blessings and curses could affect Israel’s ability to remain and prosper in the land, they did not annul the unconditional nature of the covenant with Abraham. However, to be a true light to the nations and remain fruitful in the land, Israel would need to demonstrate fidelity to God and walk according to God’s law.
Deuteronomy 4:25-31 summarises the covenant blessings and curses that would result based on Israel’s performance under the Mosaic Covenant, which would determine Israel’s ability to thrive in the Promised Land. In verses 29-31 we read what will occur while Israel is in exile resulting from the curses:
But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
As predicted in this passage, it was these curses and blessings that resulted in the cycles of exiles and restorations to land. This included the 70-year Babylonian captivity and destruction of the first Temple in 586 BC; and exile after the Roman siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70AD. However, God proclaimed that when these things came upon Israel, they would turn back to God and find Him, and He would never leave them or forget the covenant he swore to Abraham. As Joel Richardson explains, “While the Jews’ permanent residency in the land was contingent upon their obedience to the laws given in the Mosaic covenant, the Lord never reneged on the initial gift of His land to His corporate people Israel as made through the Abrahamic covenant.”[12]
As we have observed, Israel would ultimately return to the Lord and obey His voice, and He would remember the covenant sworn to Israel. We will later discover that the ending of these cycles of exile and restoration come to fruition through the New Covenant and work of the Messiah.
The Davidic Covenant
The Davidic Covenant is an unconditional covenant which additionally builds on the Abrahamic. Inherent in this covenant is the promise to David that the Messiah would come from his line and establish an eternal kingdom, further affirming the promise of the land to Israel and revealing that the coming Messiah would reign and rule from Jerusalem. In this way, the Davidic Covenant also builds on the promise to Abraham, adding a kingly dimension and reinforcing the physical nature of the promises to Israel. The promise is provided to David in 2 Samuel 7:10-17:
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies…. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son…..And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”
As we know, the Davidic monarchy was interrupted following the Babylonian exile, yet God promised to establish the throne of David forever and provide eternal rest from Israel’s enemies.
The prophets continued to expand on the Davidic Covenant, promising one from the line of David to rule from Israel forever, also linking the promise to the restoration of the land to Israel, as promised to Abraham. For example, in Jeremiah 33:17-18:
For this is what the Lord says: ‘David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.
Ezekiel 37:24-28 also reinforces this, and links the coming Davidic king to Israel’s ability to dwell in the land securely and follow God’s commandments:
My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.
This shows that the fulfilment of the Abrahamic Covenant will also be accompanied by a literal, earthly reign of the coming Messiah from Jerusalem, connected with the promises of eternal kingship to David. As shown in Ezekiel’s prophecy above, this will be attached to the everlasting covenant that leads to God setting his sanctuary in the midst of Israel. It will cause the nations to recognise that God is the one who sanctifies Israel. In this way, Israel’s eternal endurance is literally attached to God’s very reputation and trustworthiness. It is also linked to the ability of Israel to walk according to all of God’s rules and statues, fulfilling the Mosaic Covenant and ending the cycle of blessings and curses.
As we have seen, the seed vs seed conflict is developed throughout the Scriptures by virtue of the covenants. Israel was called to be a nation set apart, from whose seed the promised Messiah would arrive. Once the Messiah arrives, He will set up an eternal kingdom from Jerusalem, the land will be restored and promises to Abraham fulfilled. As we will see below, the New Covenant will lead to the ultimate and simultaneous fulfilment of these covenants.
The New Covenant
The New Covenant is the means through which the aforementioned covenants find their ultimate fulfilment. It will not be dependent on Israel to bring this about, but on God. As Richardson puts it, “The new covenant is the culmination and grand capstone of all the other covenants. The new covenant does not replace the Abrahamic or Davidic covenants; instead, it builds upon and establishes them. It is through the new covenant that the Lord will give His people Israel a new heart and a new spirit so they can receive the unconditional promises made in the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants”.[13]
Many Christians today associate the New Covenant with Yeshua’s first coming and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all individuals who accept Yeshua into their lives. However, what they often miss is that the ultimate consummation of the New Covenant will occur at Yeshua’s second coming when all of Israel is restored and saved. The New Covenant is not a new concept – it is present throughout the Hebrew prophets as the means through which the promises to Israel will be fulfilled. It is not just a promise to individuals for salvation, but rather its ultimate fulfilment requires the salvation and restoration of all physical Israel.
What we see in the following New Covenant passages in the Hebrew Bible is that the land restoration is intertwined with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all of Israel and the law being written on their hearts. This allows Israel to fulfil not only the Abrahamic but also the Mosaic, ending the blessing/curse cycle and allowing Israel to be a true light to the nations as God intended. This demonstrates how integral the land promise to Israel is to the New Covenant. It is an aspect of the New Covenant which is rarely mentioned in the Church today, but is key to grasping the reason the land is subject to so much controversy today.
We read in Ezekiel 36:22-23:
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
In this passage God links His very reputation with that of Israel’s endurance and restoration. He proclaims that Israel will be vindicated for the sake of His Holy name and so that the nations will know He is the Lord. Hence, even if Israel has profaned the Lord’s name with their conduct among the nations, He will still restore Israel and enable them to be a light, for His own name’s sake. God’s very reputation and vindication is connected to Israel. Hence, Satan’s pursuit of Israel is also his attempt to prove God as untrustworthy or a liar. This also demonstrates the implications for those who hold to replacement theology – is God really trustworthy if He has reneged on such unequivocally strong statements concerning Israel?
For God to be vindicated in this way, Israel will also need to walk according to the Lord’s commandments and thus become a true light to the nations. As Block describes, ‘The people’s salvation is accompanied by the rejuvenation of their land. Yahweh will cause it to yield its bounty for the welfare of the people once again”.[14] Additionally, Block explains that “the verses carry the restorative activity of Yahweh to their logical conclusion. Yahweh’s reputation is not rehabilitated simply through Israel’s occupation of their homeland; it depends also on the quality of their life in the land”.[15]
God will bring this obedience about through the outpouring of his holy spirit under the New Covenant, as we see continuing in Ezekiel 36:24-29:
I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanliness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.And I will deliver you from all your uncleanliness.
In this passage, God describes how He regathers Israel from exile, as foreshadowed in Deuteronomy 4, and provides Israel with the means to truly fulfil their calling as a light to the nations through the outpouring of the Spirit. This will provide them with a new heart of flesh that will allow Israel to walk according to His commandments. It will also simultaneously lead to the land promises of Israel being fulfilled, as promised to Abraham. Ezekiel links the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Israel to the land restoration. It is no wonder Satan is so determined to drive the Jewish people away from the land. Their eternal regathering and restoration is a precondition for the consummation of the New Covenant, which as we know, will result in the reign of Messiah from Jerusalem and the destruction of Satan.
We also previously saw in Ezekiel 37:24-28 that God linked the New Covenant with Israel being set in the land forever and the coming of the promised Davidic ruler. This further illustrates that the New Covenant is the means by which the Abrahamic Covenant is ultimately fulfilled, including the land promise. Additionally, by giving the Israelites a new ‘heart of flesh’, the Israelites are also able to walk according to the law as God intended, bringing the Mosaic covenant to fulfilment and ending the cycle of blessings and curses, with no more exiles from the land. They will dwell in the land securely forever, under the rule and reign of Messiah. It will be God who brings this about, as promised, and it is not dependent on Israel’s actions
In Jeremiah 31-31:40, God similarly promises He will write the law on Israel’s hearts, and even links Israel’s restoration as a nation to the maintenance of the fixed order of the universe. Again, we see God tying His very reputation to Israel:
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of hosts is his name:“If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.”
In Zechariah 12:10-14, we also read the God will pour His Spirit on Israel and, cause them to “look on him, who they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn”. This further connects all the previous passages and the land restoration to Israel’s national acceptance of Yeshua.
Evidently, Israel’s national salvation and restoration will occur at the consummation of the New Covenant and return of Messiah. This again explains why Satan is striving to wipe out the Jewish people – the salvation and restoration of all Israel are the very preconditions to Messiah’s return and Satan being crushed. That is why as we move closer to the last days, the sheer magnitude and tenacity of Satan’s schemes against the Jewish people will escalate even more. Correspondingly, the delusional hatred of the nations against Israel will only increase, as we are witnessing today.
Paul and Yeshua’s ‘untils’
In the New Testament, Paul and Yeshua further expand on the conditions preceding the return of Yeshua and New Covenant fulfilment. We see that Israel’s national salvation and the end to the partial hardening will result in the end of this age. This provides further evidence of why Satan is so determined to destroy Israel and correspondingly provide a roadblock to Messiah’s return.
The partial hardening and the times of the Gentiles
In Romans 11:25-26, Paul addresses the idea that Israel has fallen beyond repair by not corporately accepting Yeshua as their Messiah at His first coming.
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”.
Paul explains that rather than being rejected by God, a partial hardening has come upon Israel. However, this state of affairs will only last until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and then all of Israel will be saved. ‘Until’ implies this is a temporary state, as does a partial hardening. There is still a future where all of Israel will achieve a national salvation. This is not merely referring to the remnant of Messianic believers throughout history, but Israel as a nation, as a political entity, at the time of Yeshua’s return. As Darrell Bock puts it, ‘Two points cannot be missed here. 1. Israel has to be Ethnic Israel here because of the contextual contrast to the Gentiles and the image of being reconnected for this non-Gentile group; 2. The crucial term until tell us that things as they are now will once again change, and that change anticipates the grafting in of natural branches Paul has been discussing leading into this point. Partial and permanent hardening is not the fate of Israel. A reversal of that hardening is coming’.[16] This reinforces the notion that the ‘until’ implies a temporary condition which will culminate in the salvation and restoration of ethnic Israel, before the return of Yeshua.
Yeshua uses similar ‘until’ language to describe His second coming. In Luke 21:24 Yeshua describes the temporary state of affairs characterised by the ‘times of the Gentiles’:
They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Again, the implication is that this will be temporary until deliverance comes to Zion. We see from these passages that there will come a time when this situation will be reversed, and the veil will be lifted from Israel. This links the end of the ‘times of the Gentiles’ with Israel’s national acceptance of Yeshua and Yeshua’s return. As we know, this will also coincide with a cessation of Satan’s hold over this world, again demonstrating why he is so relentless in pursuing Israel.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord
This ‘until’ and temporary state of hardness is further reinforced in Luke 13:34-35, when Yeshua laments over Jerusalem and states, ‘Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”. Yeshua is indicating that His second coming and corresponding restoration of Israel will not occur until Israel receives Him as their Messiah, which as we saw previously, will happen by virtue of the New Covenant outpouring of the Spirit and national repentance. Yeshua’s language here is not entirely new, but rather is a call back to Jeremiah 17:7 and Psalm 118:26. As Bock notes, “The language from Jeremiah points to exilic-like judgement for covenantal unfaithfulness, something rejecting a sent Messiah would represent. However, the introducing of ‘until’ makes the point that the judgement is not permanent but something can be reversed, much as in Romans 11. The passage from the Psalm 118:26 looks at a welcome reception for one God has sent, a reversal of the current attitude of rejection. It seems to hold out hope that the current rejection of Jesus can change and with it the declared judgement on the nation would end”.[17]
Again, we see why Satan is so relentless in destroying the Jewish people. Yeshua and Paul tell us Israel’s acceptance of Yeshua will precede Him setting up His kingdom. Satan is thus on a delusional march to destroy the inevitable. Israel’s endurance as a nation and their ultimate acceptance of Yeshua will end Satan’s hold over this world and lead to Yeshua setting up His millennial kingdom from Jerusalem. It is this state of affairs that Satan is currently trying to prevent, as he has throughout history.
The controversy of Zion
As we have seen, the phenomenon of hatred towards Israel continues even after Messiah’s first coming and indeed will intensify in the lead up to His second coming, which will result in Satan’s ultimate destruction. We see in the world today a striking level of double standards and unjustifiable hatred towards Israel. The disproportionate focus on Israel often appears irrational and delusional. For instance, there are many ongoing conflicts in the world today, including in Yemen, Syria, Ukraine and Armenia/Azerbaijan. However, none of these conflicts have provoked people around the world to congregate on the streets and chant genocidal slogans against a specific nation. Why does this sliver of land in the Middle East attract so much controversy?
Zechariah 12:1-3 tells us this is to be expected, particularly as we approach the last days:
The oracle of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.”
The Bible indicates this will only escalate in the last days, culminating in the surrounding nations gathering to attack Israel in the battle led by Gog of Magog in Ezekiel 38:1-6:
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armour, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.”
However, God will ultimately destroy these armies:
Ezekiel 38:21-23: I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
This will lead to the ultimate restoration of Israel, as shown in Ezekiel 39:25-29:
Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.
Hence, it should not come as a surprise that as history progresses, we will see the controversy of Zion further intensify and escalate, leading to the ultimate eschatological battle, with God intervening on behalf of His chosen people and destroying Satan’s hold over this world. This is why hatred of Israel is only escalating – it is the serpent continuing to pursue the seed and attempt to prevent this final destruction of his hold over the world.
We also see this same phenomenon described in Revelation 12, where Satan pursues the woman who gave birth to the Messiah. However, she flees to the wilderness for 1,260 days – what many believe is the final three and half years of the great tribulation. However, when the earth ultimately helps the woman, the dragon (which represents Satan) became furious with the woman and goes off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on “those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus”. The latter likely refers to the rest of the Church, the Gentile believers, who hold fast to Yeshua and stand with Israel.
God’s judgement on the nations
And what becomes of those nations and peoples who are not aligned with God’s will for Israel, who not only treat Israel with arrogance but seek to disrupt God’s physical land promises to Israel?
Joel 3:1-3 is one passage that lays out the judgement to come for those who are unaligned with God’s plans for Israel:
For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
Some scholars have suggested Yeshua is likely referring to this same event when outlining the sheep and goat judgement in Matthew 25:31-46. Notably, this occurs in the context of the Olivet discourse and judgement of the nations. Richardson explains, “The context of this end-time prophecy is “Judah and Jerusalem.” But specifically, “the Valley of Jehoshaphat” is a reference to the Kidron Valley, which runs along the eastern edge of Jerusalem. The name Jehoshaphat, a variant of Jehoshaphat, actually means “Yahweh judges.” In the gospel of Matthew, as Yeshua sat on the Mount of Olives looking down at this valley, he harkened back to this prophecy of Joel’s and spoke of the time when He will judge all the nations: “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:31–32)’. [18]
If it is indeed Israel that Yeshua is referring to as his Jewish brethren who were hungry, sick and imprisoned, then the implications for those nations and peoples that have aided and abetted antisemitism throughout history are stark. Whether the Jewish people are being referred to here or not, the principle remains. During centuries of persecution culminating in the Holocaust, the Church stood by and did not help Yeshua’s brethren when they were hungry, sick and imprisoned. We cannot allow history to repeat itself, yet many in the Church are turning a blind eye to hatred of Israel or even abetting it. Yet justice will be served when Yeshua returns to judge the nations. This is yet another reason why Satan is trying to destroy the state of Israel. The nations and peoples who join in the persecution of Israel are simply puppets in his failed scheme.
In Isaiah 60:12-14, we also read that the nations that afflicted Israel will end up bowing at her feet, and they will call Israel the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel:
For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. The glory of Lebanon shall come to you; the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
What an incredible reversal of fortunes for Israel. It should bring us great comfort to know how this ends, with those who formerly oppressed Israel now serving her.
Implications for believers today
Christians today need to recognise that the so-called Middle East conflict, as well as thousands of years of antisemitism preceding this, are underpinned by spiritual warfare. There is no other explanation for the disproportionate focus on Israel and endurance of antisemitism through the ages, which are still being felt acutely today. This is why it is every Christian’s duty to stand with Israel. We cannot serve Satan and God at the same time. There are self-professing Christians who support the Palestinian cause in the name of social justice, failing to condemn atrocities such as the events that took place on 7 October. These Christians are only adding to the veil and hardening which Paul described. Additionally, replacement theology, the view that the Church has replaced Israel, continues to prevent the Church from holding an accurate, biblical view of Israel. This leads Christians to lack moral clarity on the current events in Israel and God’s plans for Israel.
Christians who oppose Israel oppose God’s covenants, which means they are standing in the way of Yeshua’s return and ultimately the redemption of creation itself. They claim to be a part of the New Covenant, yet fail to grasp that the New Covenant is tied to a specific land and people. They oppose the consummation of the very covenant they claim to be partakers in.
Additionally, in Romans 11:17-24, Paul gives the Gentile Church a specific warning not to be arrogant towards Israel, the natural branches, lest we ourselves be cut off: “For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you”.
In Isaiah 62:1-5, God gives us a blueprint for how we should view Israel in these last days, explaining his very own heart for the Jewish people:
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendour in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
We must join God in prayer and stand with Israel, knowing that its very salvation and restoration is connected to the restoration of creation itself. Yeshua will return and set up a very Jewish kingdom from Jerusalem. We must be ready to align ourselves with God’s purposes in the last days. Importantly, we must recognise that hatred of Israel is motivated by Satan trying to prevent this state of affairs. Hence, the issue is a lot simpler than most people think.
While even in a natural sense, standing with Israel is simply the right thing to do morally and politically, we must also recognise the spiritual dimensions at work. This will help us remain steadfast and prayerful in our support for Israel. Simply by standing with Israel we are making a statement that we are on God’s side, not the side of the devil. We must make a choice, and we cannot afford to hold a Laodicean view on this matter. Yeshua will judge us on how we treated his family.
[1] Protoevangelion means first Gospel in Greek.
[2] Walter C. Kaiser Jr, ‘The Messiah in the Old Testament’ (Zondervan Publishing House 1995), p 36-38.
[3] Ibid p 41.
[4] Genesis 12:2-3, 21:12, 26:3-4, 28:14-15, 49:8-12, 2 Samuel 7.
[5] David Herron, Covenants: God’s Building Blocks of Redemption, February 2021, https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-teachings/covenants-gods-building-blocks-of-redemption/.
[6] Genesis 15:10-21
[7] Daniel Block, Covenant – The Framework of God’s Grand Plan of Redemption, (Baker Academic 2001), p 87.
[8] Ibid 90
[9] Genesis 49:10.
[10] David Pawson, Defending Christian Zionism (Anchor Recordings 2013) p 74.
[11] Ibid p 47
[12] Joel Richardson, When a Jew Rules the World (Winepress Media 2015), p 40.
[13] Ibid p 45.
[14] Daniel Block, The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 25–48, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997–), p 357–358.
[15] Ibid 357.
[16] Darrell L Bock, ‘Israel’s Future as a Nation and Reconciliation, in The Future Restoration of Israel: A response to Supersessionism, Stanley E.Porter and Alan E. Kurschner, (McMaster Divinity College Press, 2023), p 97.
[17] Ibid p 99.
[18]Joel Richardson, When a Jew Rules the World (Winepress Media 2015), p 214.
For Zion's Sake 
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