About Jesus  -  Steve Sweetman

Blessing Israel

Genesis 12:3 reads:

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

Although the above statement was spoken to Abraham, the common consensus among Evangelical Christians these days who hold to a Futurist view of prophecy is that the pronoun "you" also refers to Israel.  That being the case, God would bless those who bless both Abraham and Israel and curse those who cursed Abraham and Israel.  If this is your understanding of Genesis 12:3, you probably believe that you and your nation should bless present-day Israel if you and your nation expect an appropriate blessing from God.  What, then, does blessing Israel look like?   Both John the Baptist and Jesus help answer this question.  

John the Baptist said this in Luke 3:7.

"John said to the crowds [of Jews] coming out to be baptized by him, 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?'"

Jesus said this in Luke 12:56.

"Hypocrites!  You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky.  How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?"

Is calling the Jews a brood of vipers and hypocrites, blessing Israel?  Is warning Israel of God's wrath, blessing Israel?  It is my impression that many Evangelical Christians would not consider what John and Jesus said a blessing.  I would differ with that.

If Jesus and John the Baptist were alive today, you can bet that they would be speaking the same message to Israel as they spoke two thousand years ago.  If that is indeed the case, then, we might want to include the message of Jesus and John in our Israeli blessing package.      

Israel has not yet repented as both John and Jesus admonished.  Israel, is thus, under the wrath of God, until such time that Jesus Himself will bring the nation to its knees.  Until then, it is our Biblical mandate to follow in the steps of Jesus and John.  We expose Israel's sins and call the nation to repentance and faith in their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.