Jer. 30:1-11, Why is an Unsaved Nation in the Land Today?

I was talking with a brother in Christ recently who told me he had been in conversation with another brother who questioned why the United States should be supportive of Israel in the current conflicts with Iran and Lebanon.  I know there are a growing number of Bible believing Christians who have raised this question. 

It used to be that support of Israel was pretty consistent.  But these days there is often a conflict between the political and Biblical beliefs of evangelicals.  One issue in this had to do with differences with Prime Minister Netanyahu and belief that his leadership was faulty.  Another comment was that Israel today is not the Israel over which Christ will rule in the future.  Not having been part of the conversation I am guessing he meant that Israel today is very secular and not submissive to Christ or believing in Jesus as their Messiah.  Another reason for this kind of approach is that the Israel today was given the land by human governments, through the UN and decisions made in the late 1940’s.  The thought is that when Israel returns to the land it will be God’s doing and not man’s.  That is an interesting argument, and in fact is held by a major sect of Judaism today, the Satmar Hasidic faction. 

Since I was not part of the conversation between these two brothers I am not able to comment on the specifics of their discussion.  But as my friend shared this with me I did sense that one issue might be a misunderstanding of Gen. 12:1-3 (“I will bless those who bless you”) and Psa. 122:5 (“May they prosper who love you”).  Those passages do not call on the “friend” of Israel to determine whether Israel is deserving of their support.  That is God’s responsibility.  If I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, which I do from time to time, I understand that almost certainly there will be no peace generally until Messiah’s reign.  I still pray, assuming that God will answer that prayer as He sees best, which is a pretty good assumption!

Another thing that people might not understand is the order of events that the LORD revealed through His prophets in the Old Testament.  Jer. 30-31 and Ezekiel 34 are two major passages that yield the same understanding of this order.  Using Ezekiel: there is the regathering of the nation (34:11-15) followed by judgment on Israel (34:16-22) and then the rule of David (Messiah”, covenant of peace, showers of blessings and the time of “Our God … My People” (i.e. the saved nation, 34:23-31).  In Jer. 30:11 the order is the saved nation, preceded by “I will not make a complete end of you,” which is preceded by Israel’s correction and punishment.  Jer. 30:12-24 fleshes out in the same order: Israel’s correction (30:12-15), the full end of the nations (30:16-17), and then the saved nation (30:18-Ch. 31; note that this salvation involved the New Covenant, 31:31-34).

The point is that the regathering to the land must happen before the time of chastening and salvation.  Thus, today, we should not be surprised by the presence of the people in the land who are still unsaved, and actually quite secular.