Most believers appreciate the historical significance of the land of Israel. 

They know about God’s promise to Abraham as he walked out the land. They know and love all the great stories—Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Esther, David, a baby born in Bethlehem …

But what about the modern nation of Israel? Is this land important? Is God still working among the Jewish people? Should believers be concerned about this tiny country in the Middle East?

1 – Israel Matters to God

The first thing we have to keep in mind when we think about Israel is how very important this people and this land are to God. He set His plan in motion nearly 4,000 years ago. He began by choosing Abraham and his descendants, He gave them a specific portion of the earth, and He determined that He would use them to bless the whole world.

It’s obvious that God called this nation to be His people in a unique way and that He refers to this land as He does to no other land on earth (Joel 1:6; Zechariah 2:5–7; Genesis 35:10–15). Even before God makes His covenant with Abraham, He declares that those who stand with Israel will be blessed and those who do not will be cursed—for He is raising up Israel to be a light to the Gentiles.

The Lord’s covenant with the people of Israel is an “everlasting covenant” and the land He is giving them will be their “everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:7–19; 48:4). In the New Testament, the apostle Paul goes into great detail in Romans 9–11 about God’s ongoing commitment to the people and the land until “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).

2 – Israel Has a Covenant with God

The second thing we need to keep in mind is that God is completely committed to this people and this land. In the original covenant God established with Abraham, He declared, “I will give you a people and a land, and through this seed the nations of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 17:2–8).

In the covenant God established with Moses, He gave His people a revelation of the Law that leads to Christ and redemption through the blood of the Lamb (Galatians 3:19–29).

Then in the New Covenant established by God through Christ, Gentiles are now grafted in and included with the people of God. “For the time will come that I will take My Law and I will make a new covenant with you, and I will put My Spirit within you” (Jeremiah 31:31–33; Ezekiel 36:27).

This shows us that when we receive the Lord, whether Jew or Gentile, we spiritually inherit the Jewish legacy. We are one family! Remember the words of Jesus Himself, speaking to the woman of Samaria: “Salvation is of the Jews.” So as believers, if we are to be consistent with the whole of Scripture, we cannot turn our backs on the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

3 – Israel Has Promises from God

The Scriptures make it clear that the Lord is deeply committed to the land and people of Israel:

Leviticus 25:23 – The land belongs to God alone and is under His control.

Deuteronomy 32:43 – The Lord Himself will make atonement for the land and people.

2 Chronicles 7:20 – The Lord will uproot those who forsake Him from His land.

Psalm 85:1–2 – The Lord has shown His favor to the land and forgiven His people. Isaiah 8:8 – Israel is the land of the Messiah, “God with us.”

Jeremiah 2:7 – Jerusalem was destroyed because the people defiled the land.

Ezekiel 38:16 – The nations will know the land belongs to God.

Joel 1:6; 2:18; 3:2 – The land belongs to the Lord.

Hosea 9:3 – God will scatter the people from the land.

Zechariah 9:16 – God will save His people, like jewels in the land.

Genesis 17:7–8 – God committed the land to Abraham and his descendants. 

Ezekiel 37:21–28 – God is eternally committed to the land and His people.

4 – Israel Is Under Attack by the Enemies of God

The nation of Israel is surrounded by hostile nations on every border. The top leaders of Iran, the largest Islamic republic in the region, openly boast that they intend to completely annihilate Israel. Their threats to wipe Israel off the map are echoed by extremist Islamic voices in Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and Turkey and Gaza. 

When Israel turned Gaza over to the Palestinians in 2005 as a step toward establishing peace in the region, the Palestinians immediately turned it into a staging ground for continuing their terrorist missile attacks on Israel.

Even the worldwide media targets Israel. Despite the fact that the international community overwhelmingly accepted Israel as a nation in 1948, and that Israel has never initiated or perpetuated hostilities at any time with any other nation, virtually every media news report on conflict in the Middle East since then has portrayed Israel as an evil aggressor. 

All of this animosity and antisemitic rhetoric is not merely political. We are seeing spiritual forces greater than humanity at work. The attacks being leveled by these principalities and powers seek to destroy not only Israel, but us as well—for this spirit of the world is against “all that is called God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

5 – We Have Been Called to Stand with Israel by God

Perhaps one of Satan’s greatest schemes in these last days to keep the Church in the dark about the importance of God’s eternal covenant with the people and nation of Israel in the last days. The Scriptures tell us that a time is coming when all the nations of the world will turn against Israel (Zechariah 12:1–14). We see this happening now before our eyes. If this truly is the last hour, we want to be found standing with Israel! (Luke 19:13; Matthew 25:13)

At the very end of time, the Scriptures tell us that all the forces of evil will unite to come against two witnesses (Revelation 11). There is no doubt that throughout history the “two witnesses” that have stood with God have been His people—the Jews and the Christians—now eternally grafted together – as one new man! 

But even if the Lord tarries, it is crucial that all believers understand we are to stand with Israel because God stands with Israel. He honors those who honor Him. And He loves those who love what He loves. 

I will bless those who bless you, 
and whoever curses you I will curse; 
and all peoples on earth 
will be blessed through you. 
Genesis 12:3