Genesis 12:1-3 tells us, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I WILL BLESS THEM THAT BLESS THEE, AND CURSE HIM THAT CURSETH THEE: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”  What an incredible blessing the Lord promised Abraham.  He would be the father of a great nation.  A special nation.  We read later in Genesis 15:5-6, “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”  Abraham, who was childless at this time, believed what the Lord told him.  We call that “Simple Faith.”  Because of that simple faith, the Lord declared Abraham to be righteous! 

Let’s also consider the words of the Lord to Abraham in Genesis 22:17-18, “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”  Abraham’s family would be as numerous as all the stars in the sky and all the sand on the beach. Through that nation, all other nations would be blessed or cursed, depending upon their treatment of that nation.  That nation, of course, is Israel. 

Let’s briefly look at the Lord’s attitude towards Israel.  We read in Deuteronomy 7:6-8, “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”  The Lord does not love Israel because they are a holy people.  They are a holy people because the Lord loves them. 

Some today question if the promises God made to Israel have been nullified due to her eventual rejection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Some reason that due to Israel’s rejection of the Lord Jesus, God has replaced her with the Church. This teaching is called Replacement Theology.  RT reasons that the covenants made to Abraham and Israel are done away with and applied to the Church in the New Covenant of the New Testament and are now being fulfilled more so in a spiritual sense rather than a physical one.  The problem with this view, is that many passages throughout the Bible indicate that God is not finished with Israel. Consider the immutability of God’s covenant with Israel in Genesis 17:7, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an EVERLASTING COVENANT, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” The Lord certainly knew of Israel’s future failures when He established His covenant with Abraham.

Romans, chapter 11, speaks much about the Lord’s past and future dealings with the nation of Israel.  Let’s read verses 1-5, “I say then, HATH GOD CAST AWAY HIS PEOPLE? GOD FORBID. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” 

Seeing the Lord has not done away with His people, we can see that the Lord’s promise to His people is still in effect.  Yes, the United States (and every country) should be supportive of the nation of Israel.  We do not support any sinful activity, but we should support their right to be a sovereign nation and acknowledge that they are God’s chosen earthly people.  To this day, I believe the Lord has greatly blessed the USA because of our continuing support for Israel.  Of course, that could change at any time.  May we consider this in our prayers and pray intelligently about this. 

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.” (1 Timothy 2:1-3).  (CC)  (575.4)