Author’s Note
Fear… I write far too often about how it manipulates us, how it bends our imaginations, and how it quietly pulls us away from the very purposes God has for us. Perhaps that is why Scripture repeats the command “Do not fear” so insistently — because fear is the seedbed of so much cruelty.
What follows is a modern example of what happens when a people allow fear to erase the humanity of others from their very souls. When fear becomes a virtue, violence becomes imaginable. When fear becomes a worldview, neighbors become enemies. And when fear becomes a god, it demands sacrifices God would never ask of us.
Is Zionism Biblical?
Many Christians have been taught that the modern State of Israel (founded in 1948) is the direct fulfillment of Old Testament promises to Abraham’s descendants and a sign of end-times prophecy. I have written about this before here and here. But a careful reading of Scripture shows this is not the case.
Ancient biblical Israel was a theocratic nation under the Mosaic covenant, centered on the Torah and the Temple. The modern State of Israel is a secular, liberal democracy that does not claim to be under that covenant or governed by Torah law. More importantly, the New Testament redefines the people of God around faith in Jesus Christ, not ethnicity or national borders. Galatians 3:28-29 states that in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile… you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” The Church, believers in Jesus from every nation, is the “holy nation” and “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9-10). Jesus Himself said His kingdom “is not of this world” (John 18:36). Equating a modern political state with biblical Israel confuses ethnicity and geography with spiritual reality in Christ.
The 144,000 and the 12 Tribes in Revelation: Not Proof of “Two Chosen Peoples”
Some Christian Zionists point to Revelation 7, where 12,000 people are sealed from each of the 12 tribes of Israel (totaling 144,000), as evidence of a distinct future role for ethnic Israel separate from the Church. They argue this shows God maintains two peoples with two different destinies: national Israel on earth and the (mostly Gentile) Church in heaven.
However, the number 144,000 is highly symbolic: 12 (representing the tribes of Israel and the apostles) × 12 × 1,000 (a figure of vast completeness). The unusual listing of tribes (omitting Dan and Ephraim, tribes associated with idolatry) further signals symbolism rather than a literal census of modern ethnic Jews. Right after this vision, John sees “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language” standing before the throne, the same group washed in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:9-14).
Throughout church history, classic theologians have echoed this biblical reality. Justin Martyr called Christians ‘the true spiritual Israel.’ Augustine declared that ‘the true Sion is the Church of Christians’ and that believers in Christ — not ethnic descent alone — constitute the sons of Israel. John Calvin taught that God has always had one covenant people, now gathered from every nation in Christ. God’s people are not defined by bloodlines or borders, but by faith in the promised Messiah.
The New Testament consistently teaches one people of God in Christ. There is not a separate plan for ethnic Israel apart from faith in the Messiah. The Church is the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless all nations through Abraham’s offspring, who is Christ (Galatians 3:16). The New Jerusalem itself has 12 gates for the tribes and 12 foundations for the apostles, one unified city for one redeemed people (Revelation 21). This undercuts any claim that modern political Israel automatically inherits special biblical status or immunity from moral accountability.
Settler Violence as Pogroms: Including Extreme Brutality Against Christians and Muslims
This section includes graphic descriptions of crimes against unarmed people.
Israeli settlers and even some Israeli officials have described repeated rampages in the West Bank as pogroms, organized or mob-style violence aimed at terrorizing, injuring, and displacing an ethnic or religious minority, often with authorities failing to intervene effectively.
The brutality frequently goes far beyond property damage. Documented incidents include sexual assault of unarmed Palestinian men (sometimes in front of their families), explicit threats to rape women and kill children, beatings of women, girls, the elderly, and other non-combatants, and killings of unarmed civilians. In attacks such as those in the northern Jordan Valley and similar communities, masked settlers have bound and sexually assaulted men, stripped them, and issued direct threats of rape and murder against women and children to force residents to flee.
In one recent case in Khirbet Humsa (northern Jordan Valley, March 2026), masked settlers bound and severely sexually assaulted a man — stripping him, zip-tying his genitals, and parading him — while beating family members (including women and girls) and issuing threats to rape the women and murder the children if residents did not leave. Similar patterns of intimidation, humiliation, and violence against vulnerable people appear across multiple communities.
Critically, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have faced repeated criticism for standing by during many of these attacks, failing to intervene effectively, or even providing passive or active support in some cases. Israeli human rights groups and UN reports document a systemic pattern of impunity: the vast majority of investigations into settler violence are closed without indictment, and convictions remain extremely rare. Even when Israeli officials and senior IDF commanders publicly condemn the violence as contrary to Israeli values and security interests, accountability on the ground has been minimal.
This violence has targeted both Muslim villages and Christian communities. In 2025–early 2026, UN OCHA documented thousands of settler attacks resulting in hundreds of injuries (including to children), deaths of unarmed Palestinians by settlers, and the displacement of entire communities.
- Targeted attacks on the Christian village of Taybeh (the only entirely Christian village in the West Bank): Repeated settler raids have included setting fires near the historic 5th-century Church of St. George, burning vehicles and homes, painting hateful graffiti, and seizing land. These incursions have escalated sharply since mid-2025 and continued into 2026, with Christian leaders repeatedly condemning the violence and the frequent failure of Israeli authorities to intervene.
These acts, burning homes with families inside, sexually humiliating and terrorizing civilians, beating the vulnerable, and driving out both Christians and Muslims, with authorities often looking the other way, directly contradict biblical commands to love neighbors, protect the stranger, defend the oppressed, and reject injustice (Proverbs 31:8-9, Isaiah 1:17, Matthew 25:31-46).
Even If Modern Israel Were Biblical Israel… They Have Abandoned Jesus
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that someone still insists the modern state is the Israel of the Old Testament. Even then, its dominant religious and cultural reality rejects the very Messiah the Old Testament points to. The vast majority of Israeli Jews do not accept Jesus as the promised Savior. They do not follow His commands to love enemies (Matthew 5:44), seek justice and mercy (Micah 6:8, echoed in the Sermon on the Mount), or treat the stranger as one’s neighbor (Luke 10:25-37).
Jesus taught that true obedience is shown in how we treat the vulnerable, not in land claims or national power. When settlers burn homes, destroy livelihoods, sexually humiliate and terrorize families, and drive out Christian and Muslim neighbors at gunpoint, that is the opposite of walking in the ways of the One who said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). A nation that claims biblical heritage while rejecting the heart of the New Covenant cannot claim to be “walking in His ways.”
A Libertarian Christian Perspective on U.S. Foreign Aid
As Christians who also value liberty and limited government, we must recognize another layer of complicity: American taxpayers are involuntarily funding these realities through massive U.S. military aid to Israel, currently around $3.8 billion per year, primarily in weapons and defense systems. While this aid is officially designated for Israel’s security, it effectively subsidizes the broader apparatus that enables settlement expansion and provides little accountability when soldiers stand by during pogrom-style attacks.
Forcing citizens to support foreign conflicts, occupations, or violence through taxation contradicts both biblical principles of justice and the libertarian commitment to non-aggression and voluntary consent. Christians should prayerfully call on our government to end this unconditional aid, prioritize peace and the protection of the innocent, and allow the people of the region and our own nation to pursue justice without entangling alliances that entangle our consciences and wallets.
Conclusion: A Call to Discernment and Love
As followers of Jesus, we are called to discernment, not blind allegiance to any earthly nation or political movement. Prophecy is not a permission slip for injustice, and no modern state, whatever its history or claims, is exempt from the moral demands of Scripture.
God’s true people have always been marked by love, not violence; by mercy, not oppression; by justice for the vulnerable, not the seizure of their land and homes. Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). That love must extend to Jew, Muslim, and Christian alike in the Holy Land and to all who suffer.
Let us pray for peace in the region, for the protection of the weak, and for the repentance of all who commit or enable violence. May we reject every form of tribalism that excuses cruelty and instead embody the kingdom of God: a kingdom not built on swords or flags, but on the cross and the love that overcomes evil.
May the Prince of Peace grant us wisdom, courage, and compassion in these days.
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