After a conversation with a dispensationalist friend a few weeks ago about Christian support for the nation-state of Israel, the question has been swirling around in my mind once again.

Having grown up in a Messianic Jewish, dispensational home, I was always taught that the Israelis were righteous defenders of the land God rightfully gave them, and Palestinians were all terrorists who wanted the Jews destroyed. Over the fifteen-or-so years that I have been paying attention to world events, my perspective has become more nuanced and less religious.

Yet so much commentary on Israel and Palestine is hopelessly biased and frustratingly shallow. Without attempting a grand analysis of the history of the most controversial strip of territory in the world, I’ve decided to write a couple of posts about the issue of Christian support for Israel.

My next post will be words of caution to my dispensationalist friends who offer unquestioned support for Israel. The following post will expound a Christian case for qualified support of Israel on pragmatic grounds. In short, these posts will be: why dispensationalists shouldn’t support Israel, and why Reformed folks should.