To every Christian who considers themselves anti Zionist, I have one sincere question: How?
Not “how can you criticize an Israeli government?” Of course you can.
I criticize my own government all the time. Every democracy should encourage debate, criticism and accountability.
That is not what I am talking about.
I am asking something much deeper.
How can you follow Jesus while denying the Jewish people’s historic connection to the very land where He was born, raised, preached, died and, according to your faith, rose again?
Jesus was a Jew.
He was born to a Jewish mother, raised in a Jewish family, circumcised according to Jewish law, worshipped in synagogues, celebrated the Jewish festivals, made pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and lived His entire life as a Jew.
He celebrated Passover.
He celebrated Sukkot.
He celebrated Shavuot.
He observed Yom Kippur.
He prayed the same ancient prayers that Jews had prayed for generations.
He spoke primarily Aramaic, but He also knew Hebrew, the language of the Scriptures and of Jewish worship. The Hebrew I speak today has evolved over two thousand years, but it is still the same remarkable language that preserved the words of the Bible.
Every one of His first disciples was Jewish.
The earliest Church was Jewish.
Christianity was not born in Rome.
It was not born in Europe.
It was born in the Land of Israel.
Open your Bible.
God tells Abraham:
“I will give to you and to your offspring after you… all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession.”
Genesis 17:8
King David established Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The prophets spoke from Jerusalem.
The Temple stood in Jerusalem.
Jesus taught in Jerusalem.
He wept over Jerusalem.
He died in Jerusalem.
The most sacred events of Christianity all took place in the Land of Israel.
Jesus Himself said:
“Salvation is from the Jews.”
John 4:22
Not despite the Jews.
From the Jews.
The Apostle Paul wrote:
“The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
Romans 11:29
And he warned Gentile believers:
“Do not boast over the branches… remember that it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.”
Romans 11:18
The root is the Jewish people.
The root is Israel.
Every church you see in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Moscow, Lagos or São Paulo silently points back to one tiny country.
Israel.
Nazareth.
Bethlehem.
Capernaum.
The Sea of Galilee.
Jerusalem.
That is where your faith was born.
You are absolutely free to disagree with Israeli policies.
You are free to oppose governments.
So am I.
But denying the Jewish people’s indigenous connection to the Land of Israel is something entirely different.
It means denying the historical, geographical and biblical foundation of Christianity itself.
You cannot separate Jesus from His people.
You cannot separate the Gospel from the land in which it unfolded.
You cannot preach the Bible while erasing the nation that gave the world the Bible.
The roots of Christianity are Jewish.
The homeland of the Bible is Israel.
That is not politics.
That is not Zionist propaganda.
That is history.
And history deserves to be told truthfully.
by Nadav Peretz
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