Does the Bible Require Christians to Support Modern Israel?
By Joel Settecase
Introduction
I want to address recent conversation between Tucker Carlson and Senator Ted Cruz. Maybe you've seen it. It's everywhere right now. The controversy comes from what Senator Cruz claims is his biblical rationale for supporting Israel.
In the clip, Cruz says he learned in Sunday school that “those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed.” When Carlson presses him on where that’s found in the Bible, Cruz responds that it’s from Genesis, but he can't provide the specific reference. Carlson challenges Cruz's interpretation, asking if modern-day Israel—the political state led by Benjamin Netanyahu—is the same Israel referred to in Scripture.
What’s going on here? Both of these men claim to be Christians. I have no reason to doubt their sincerity. But they clearly disagree over something that has divided Christians for centuries: what is the status of Israel? Are the Jewish people still God’s chosen people? Has the church replaced or fulfilled Israel? Has Jesus fulfilled the promises? Is there a remnant of Israel that still counts as Israel? Or is God done with national Israel entirely?
I’m not going to resolve all of that here, but I do want to give you a biblical framework for understanding who the people of God are and how Scripture shapes our attitude toward modern Israel.
Blessing Israel in Genesis 12:3
Ted Cruz referenced Genesis 12:3, which says: "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." That’s God speaking to Abraham. Not Jacob. Not Israel. The name “Israel” doesn’t even appear there, because Jacob (later renamed Israel) wasn’t born yet.
So the blessing and cursing isn’t addressed to “Israel” per se, but to Abraham and his descendants. But who are the true descendants of Abraham?
Abraham had multiple descendants—Isaac and Ishmael, and later other sons after Sarah died. But Scripture shows that it’s not just biological descent that matters. Isaac, not Ishmael, was chosen. Jacob, not Esau. The child of promise, not merely the child of the flesh. God’s promises are about fulfillment and faith—not just lineage.
Here’s the controversial claim: Genesis 12:3 is not ultimately about modern Israel. That promise is fulfilled in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:8 makes this explicit: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’”
Paul calls that promise the Gospel. It’s fulfilled in Christ, who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. So while the "seed of Abraham" can refer to the physical children of the man, as well as the nation of Israel, in the most powerful sense it refers to Jesus Christ, the true seed of Abraham, as well as his people—believers, or the church.
Genesis 12:3 points forward to Jesus Christ and the church—everyone ever saved by Jesus, all over the world.
That is why, when Cruz applies that promise to the modern state of Israel, he misses the mark.
Who Are the True Descendants of Abraham?
Romans 9:5 tells us that Christ came from the Jewish people “according to the flesh.” Today’s Jewish people are genetically connected to that lineage, and that is significant. But Scripture goes deeper than ethnicity.
Romans 2:28–29 says, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly… But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.”
The true Jew is the one who shares the faith of Abraham. Gentile believers like me—and maybe like you—are grafted in to the olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17, 24). God has taken away hearts of stone and given hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). He has made us children of Abraham, as it is written: "Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham... And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:7; 29).
So while Jewish people today are physical descendants, the heirs to the covenant promises are those who believe in the Messiah. That means Jewish believers and Gentile believers together form the people of God.
What About the Land Promise?
Another argument is that God promised the land to Israel and hasn’t fulfilled that promise. But Scripture says otherwise.
Genesis 15:18–21 outlines the land boundaries. Then Joshua 11:23 says, “So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses.”
Joshua 21:44–45 adds, “Not one of the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.”
Yes, some of the original inhabitants remained, but God still gave the land. Israel’s failure to drive them out was part of God’s testing and discipline.
And no—the “river of Egypt” is not necessarily the Nile (Genesis 15:18). It more likely refers to a wadi marking Judah’s southern border. The land promise was fulfilled.
So Should Christians Support Modern Israel?
That’s not the same question as whether God fulfilled His promises. I’m not saying Israel shouldn’t be in the land today. There's a principle of conquest and continuity—nations often retain land they’ve taken.
What I am saying is that we shouldn’t base support for modern Israel on Genesis 12:3. The Abrahamic covenant has been fulfilled in Christ and subsumed under the New Covenant.
That means if you believe in Jesus, you are a child of Abraham, spiritually. Whether you are Jewish, Gentile, or otherwise.
That also means we don’t need to draw hard ethnic lines. The dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles has come down in Christ (Ephesians 2).
So Cruz’s argument that we should support Israel because of Genesis 12:3 doesn’t hold up. Instead, we support the Church—the spiritual descendants of Abraham. And we evaluate national Israel like any other nation: through the lens of justice, righteousness, and biblical principles.
And for the record, yes—I do support Israel. And we ought to love the Jewish people (I love them so much I married one!). When the modern government of Israel does what is right, I believe we should support them. They are the longest-running democracy in the Middle East and an important ally in the region. Many Jews in Israel are believers in Jesus. But there are also many Christian Palestinians. They too are my brothers and sisters.
We can support Israel wisely—without offering untethered, unconditional support based on an outdated application of Genesis 12. We can act with biblical wisdom and Christian clarity.
This article was adapted by ChatGPT from a live teaching video for this format.
🎥 Watch the full teaching video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQBJXAUmKJ4
📣 Pastors: Bring me to your church for a Defend Your Faith Weekend. We'll train your people in biblical apologetics, presuppositional reasoning, and confident evangelism: https://thethink.institute/forchurches