why christians are not "pro-Israel"

In several of the comments, I've heard zionistic undertones. The story of the Christian hanging an Israel flag outside his window made me very queasy. Now rather than wading into the politics of this issue (e.g. is killing innocent civilians in Lebanon going to bring long-term peace etc.), I want to address a very important theological point. And as you can see, my conclusion is going to rub some people up the wrong way. However, I'm going to try and show how my position comes from the Scriptures in a very clear way.

1. Israels election and the promise of the Land
Surely, we might argue, the bible talks emphatically about Israel's election as God's special people. Among so many promises, one of the foundational promises to Abraham is that he would become a great nation. Again and again, God promises his people: I'm going to give you a Land, and it's going to be big and beautiful; you'll have peace, everything you need - trust me!

The specific promise of the Land in Josh 1,3-4 is breathtaking in its scope:
"Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wolderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea towards the going down of the sun shall be your territory."
According to God, not only Lebanon belongs to his people, but also (at least parts of) modern Syria, Jordan and Iraq! Surely God honours his promises - God does not lie!

These arguments are clear and powerful.

But my post says: why Christians are not "pro-Israel". Stood against these clear promises of God in the bible, perhaps this sounds like a weird liberal idea, as if you could bet your bottom dollar that this "false teaching" comes from a bunch of theologians who aren't all that keen on clear biblical teaching.

But here's my main point: a pro-Israel stance denies the ministry of Jesus.

2. Israel's transformed worldview
In the first centrury A.D., in Israel, the Jewish worldview was transformed over a remarkably short period of time. It is difficult to express just how fundamental and shocking this change was. Judaism at that time was under pressure. Every few years a charismatic figure would lead a small revolt against the Romans. God had graciously called them back from exile, and the temple had been rebuilt, yet there was a sense in which the Jews felt that they were still in exile. They had still experienced horrific persecutions after the exile (e.g. under Antioches IV Epiphanes ca. 164 B.C.), and the Romans were really in charge - Herod was just a puppet-King - Israel is not "at peace".

Godly Jews recognised that it was important to protect the identity of the people - and in a sense, because they felt under pressure, they were encouraged to be more faithful, and their identity became more clear.

Into this situation of hope for God's freeing of Israel - and the sense that Jews should do something about it, and that keeping the faith and keeping the identity were important, spoke Jesus. The New Testament is filled with the language and symbols of 1st century Judaism. Yet - and this is very key - the language and symbols were used in a totally different way. The worldview of 1st century Jews, when they put their faith in Jesus, was transformed:

2.1 Temple
The temple was the focal point of Jewish religious and national identity. The temple was "God's house", the place where God dwelt. God's "Shekinah" glory/presence was in the holy of holies. Here was the place of atonement for sin, where sacrifices could be brought, as God's gracious means of sustaining the covenant with people who are not sin-free. The temple symbolised: God is with us.

But Christians filled the language of the temple with new meaning: Jesus said that worship would no longer be in the temple, but "in spirit and truth" (Jn 4:21); the fellowship of believers are the temple of the living God (2 Cor 6:16; 1 Cor 6:19). Jew and Gentile Christians have been joined together (Eph 2:14) to become a holy temple where God's Spirit lives (Eph 2:21-22). God is with us, in us by his Spirit.

2.2 Torah
The Torah (law) was central to Jewish religious life. Although there were differences of opinion about the exact interpretations, that a Jew should faithfully keep Torah was universally agreed. After all, the man who keeps Torah is like a tree planted by streams of water (Ps 1:3).

Jesus spoke into this situation with wonderful clarity. He says that we should keep Torah (Mt 5:17-20), but that it's not about ceremonial washings and fussy rule-keeping which in fact is often a cover-up for hypocrisy (Mk 7:1-23). Rather, keeping Torah is about wanting to please God from the heart (Sermon on the Mount - Mt 5-7!), and Torah is actually about loving God and your neighbour (Mt 22:36-40; Ja 2:8). Christians have now been set free from the Torah of sin and death (which only provokes to sin), so that we, with God's Spirit in us, keep the Torah of liberty (Ja 1:25; 2:12) - a fulfillment of God's promise of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31, where his law is written on our hearts, and his Spirit enables its keeping.

2.3 Land
The Land was the place which God had promised his people to live. Combined with the promise of a large geographical land, was the promise of peace and prosperity in the land, which of course included freedom from enemy oppression. Many Jews believed that the way to realise this freedom was not to "let go and let God" (a rather presumptious faith), but that they were to act as God's agents of change (in the knowledge that the battle belongs to the Lord). The kingdom of God would come - the new era where God would rule Israel, and there would be peace and prosperity under his King.

Jesus came with a message which subverted this national hope. The kingdom of God would not be big and brassy, but rather like a mustard seed which grows quietly (Mt 13:31f). It would come through the death of the King, rather than his might, an example which should be followed by those who belong to his kingdom (1 Peter 2:21f).

Rather than commanding his (jewish) disciples to renew the nation and free it from the oppression of the Romans, he commands them to make disciples of all nations. The "go and take the land" has become "go and take the world!"

The hope of the Christians is not for a restored Israel, but for a heavenly dwelling (2 Cor 5:2). The author of Hebrews makes this transformed understanding of the Land explicit: the promised land is what Joshua knew and hoped for; we now hope for "his rest" (Heb 3:18-4:1)

2.4 Religious identity
Briefly, the Temple, Torah and Land all define Jewish identity, and more specifically, important markers of this in practice were circumcision as a sign of belonging to the covenant people, and animal sacrifice as a way of atonement.

The new covenant people required neither circumcision or sacrifice. Baptism became a marker of belonging to the people, and the sacrifice motif was applied in two very clear ways: Jesus the High Priest has sacrificed himself for us, once for all (Heb 10:10). And we, offer ourselves (strictly metaphorically) as living sacrifices in his service (Rom 12:1f)

To summarise:
Jerusalem temple >> we are his temple
Torah >> we are dead to Torah and keep the royal Torah, from our hearts
take the Land - hope for the Land >> evangelise the world - wait for his rest
circumcision >> baptism
many sacrifices >> Jesus' sacrifice

3. Christians are not pro-Israel
There may be some Jews who still have not believed in Jesus, and who want to promote their nation. But this is not a tenable position for Christians. To say that Israel has a right to the land and that we should support a military solution is to live as though the New Testament was not written; yes: to live as though Jesus did not come.

4. Christians are not anti-Israel
It's important at this point to say that Christians are not anti-Israel. It doesn't mean I am pro-Lebanon, pro-Hisbollah or even pro-British or US. Although we are to honour our God-given leaders (Rom 13), our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20). We should not cheer when bombs fall on Haifa, or when they fall on Beirut. Cheering for bombs has satanic origins.

5. A short word concerning the political situation
It seems to me that the current bombardment of civilians in Lebanon is an atrocity which will only lead to the swelling of Hizbollah's ranks and popularity. Christians should pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Haifa, Beirut, Baghdad, London, New York etc etc without prejudice. We should also (peacefully) do all we (politically) can. Israel should disarm and repent and believe the Messaiah, Jesus. Hizbollah should disarm and repent and believe the Messiah, Jesus. This conflict makes me sad and angry. Christians are certainly not pro-Hizbollah, but they are certainly not pro-Israel. If I see a Christian with an Israel flag, I think I'll be sick, right there, on the street. It's sub-Christian, it denies the gospel, and it glorifies war.