Few questions create more tension for believers today than this one: If I believe the Bible, do I need to support the modern State of Israel? The confusion usually comes from blending two different things together—biblical Zionism and modern Israeli politics.

Biblical Zionism is simply the conviction that God’s covenant promises to Israel—including the land—are real, enduring, and not cancelled. From Genesis 12:1–7, where God promises Abraham a land, to Psalm 132:13–14, where He chooses Zion as His dwelling, to the prophets who foresee Israel’s restoration and the nations streaming to Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2–4; Ezekiel 36:24–28), the land is woven into the covenant story. You cannot remove the land from those promises without reshaping the character of God and weakening our confidence in His faithfulness. (If you’d like a fuller explanation of this, see my previous post on biblical Zionism.)

At the same time, Scripture is clear that the Jewish people remain beloved because of God’s covenant faithfulness. Paul writes that “as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers” and that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28–29). That means Christians cannot be indifferent toward Jewish suffering or silent in the face of antisemitism. To follow Israel’s Messiah while harboring contempt for the Jewish people is a tragic contradiction. We are called to honor, pray for, and stand against hatred directed toward the Jewish people.

The reemergence of the modern State of Israel in 1948 was therefore no small event. After nearly two thousand years of dispersion, the Jewish people returned in large numbers to their historic homeland and reestablished national life in the land promised to Abraham. For many believers, this development felt like a tangible first fruit of God’s faithfulness—a visible sign that He has not abandoned His people or forgotten His promises. It captured the imagination of Christian writers and deeply influenced twentieth-century theology, prompting renewed reflection on Israel, the land, and the reliability of Scripture.

And yet, important as it is, the modern state is not the fullness of the prophetic hope. The prophets describe not only return to the land, but transformed hearts, universal peace, and the manifest reign of the Messiah (Isaiah 2:2–4; Ezekiel 36:25–28; Zechariah 14:9). That day has not yet arrived. The modern State of Israel may be a significant development within God’s unfolding purposes, but it is not the consummation of those purposes.

This is where the difficulty lies. Supporting the Jewish people, opposing antisemitism, and affirming God’s covenant faithfulness are not identical to endorsing every policy of the modern State of Israel. The state is a political entity governed by fallible leaders, just like every other nation. Scripture never teaches that any present-day government is beyond moral evaluation. In fact, the prophets regularly rebuked Israel’s own kings when they acted unjustly (Isaiah 1:10–23; Micah 3:9–12).

So believing the Bible does not require uncritical political support for the modern State of Israel. It does require resisting antisemitism in all its forms, affirming that God has not rejected His people, and recognizing that His purposes for Zion remain part of the redemptive story moving toward Messiah’s reign (Romans 11:29).

In short, biblical Zionism is about God’s faithfulness to His covenant and His people. The modern State of Israel may be seen as a significant and even hopeful development in that larger story—a first fruit, not the harvest. Supporting a contemporary government is a matter of political discernment. But standing with the Jewish people, who remain beloved because of the fathers, and trusting in the God who keeps His promises—that is a matter of biblical faithfulness.