In the midst of the ongoing wars surrounding the nation of Israel, a question has been popping up among many Christians. The question is related to various passages in the Old Testament that speak about blessing Israel.

In Genesis 12, in the context of God calling Abraham to follow him into a land which God will give him, he promises Abraham that he will become a great nation and anyone who blesses them will be blessed and anyone who curses them will be cursed.

This nation, which is called Israel after Abraham’s grandson, Jacob whose name was changed by God to Israel, took possession of the land of Canaan. This is the land promised to Abraham and that promise was fulfilled through the conquest led by Joshua in about the 13th century BCE.

After Israel first took possession of the land under Joshua, it experienced multiple conquests by foreign powers. The Bible records many of these events—particularly the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles—and describes them as acts of divine judgment for Israel’s disobedience. Later changes in control, such as Greek, Roman, and Islamic conquests, are not recorded in Scripture.

In 1948, the modern State of Israel was established, marking the first time in nearly 1900 years that Jews had sovereign control over the land. Many Christians interpret this event as a fulfillment of biblical prophecies about God’s restoration of Israel, though interpretations vary across theological traditions.

God did promise to restore his people, and the New Testament, especially the book of Hebrews, interprets these promises as being fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Many Christian traditions understand this fulfillment to be spiritual rather than political, with the Church (composed of both Jews and Gentiles in Christ) seen as the continuation of God’s covenant people. However, some traditions maintain that God still has future plans for a the nation of Israel.

The question is, are we expected to “bless” Israel as it currently exists?

The biblical statement that “those who bless you will be blessed and those who curse you will be cursed” (Genesis 12:3) was originally given to Abraham and is interpreted in the New Testament as being fulfilled in Christ and extended to all who are in Him—Jew and Gentile alike. From this perspective, the promise is no longer tied to a specific geopolitical nation but to the people of God in Christ.

So, while it is in the spirit of Jesus’ teaching to bless all people, there is no biblical justification for blessing Israel at the expense of the oppression of other people. While we can side with Israel for personal or political reasons, my view is that there is no biblical command or promise related to blessing the modern nation of Israel in particular.

Gavin Ortlund released an excellent video explaining this concept really well if you want to dig a bit more into it. If you want to discuss it further, please reach out and we can talk more about it.