 | The Reverend Amy Baumgartner is the Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, 525 N. Broadway, Wichita, KS. Amy was ordained at First Presbyterian Church of Wichita, Kansas in June 2008. She earned a Masters of Divinity from Denver Seminary. Before attending seminary, Amy graduated from Ball State University with a degree in Landscape Architecture and worked several years for an architectural firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. You may contact Rev. Baumgartner by email AssociatePastor@firstpresbywichita.org, or by phone at (316) 263-0248. |
Religion
2012-11-19 10:07:51
Israel and Judaism: is it a biblical thing?
Q- We have a relationship with Israel, whereby whatever (to a point) they get involved in, the U.S.A. government backs them. Is it a biblical thing?
A- The earlier settlers of what would become the United States of America came to this new land from Europe to be able to exercise religious freedom. Their beliefs were based upon the Bible. The majority of the Bible is the story of God’s people, the Jews, who God promised land in what is known today as Israel. So, there is a similar thread that links both Israel and the United States. This common heritage is a major reason why the United States has historically supported Israel.
In addition to that heritage, Christians will lift up several Biblical verses to support the close relationship with the current country of Israel: Genesis 12:3 relates God’s promise to bless Israel’s friends and curse its enemies; Genesis 12:5-7; and 13:14-15 state that God promised the land (that is now Israel) to Abraham and his descendants forever; and 1 Kings 8:33-34 speak that the blessing of salvation will be extended to all peoples and nations through the Temple. Similarly, Jesus in his ministry indicated that his first priority was to extend salvation to the Jews; however, salvation was extended to other nations (for example, see John 4). Non-Jews are encouraged to be thankful to the Jews for our salvation because our blessing of salvation was originally through our common ancestor Abraham.
With biblical support for protecting Israel, there are Christians who would point to lack of faith within the modern country of Israel is a reason not to support Israel. Essentially there is the belief that modern day secular Israel has given up its status as God’s chosen people because of the lack of adherence to God’s laws. There are some Christian streams who view the Church as “replacing” Israel as God’s chosen people. In contrast to this idea, there are other Christians who believe that God will deal with the Jews and the Church differently at the end of the age and that the Jews remain as God’s chosen people (and the Church is viewed as God’s “other” chosen people). New Testament scriptures can support both positions.
While the situation between the United States and Israel is not as definitive as some may desire, it is my belief that like the Psalmist, we should continue to pray for peace in Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).
