by Alan Langstaff

I still remember going to Israel for the first time in the summer of 1971. I fell in love with the nation and land of Israel, and I said when I returned to Australia (where I was living at that time) that Israel was one place I would like to live in. But the Lord never opened that door, and instead, my family and I ended up in America instead; although across the years, I have been able to visit Israel again a number of times.

That first visit to Israel consolidated my support and affection for Israel. An understanding of the place of Israel in God for the world’s end. I have to confess I support Israel, I stand with her in these end times, and I pray for her regularly.

THE WORLD TODAY

It is quite remarkable to see the way that people respond to Israel and Jews today. After the Second World War, there was much sympathy for Jews, especially as people discovered the events of the Holocaust. But that has changed, and a new generation has risen up that is Antisemitic. We see this especially on college campuses. The attitude towards Jewish people is completely different now. Even political parties have changed.

THE CHURCH’S RESPONSE

The attitude of the Church is varied. The Roman Catholic Church has had a long and complex history of conflict. The prevailing view was that the church took the place of Israel in God’s plan for mankind and that many promises made to Israel in the Bible are fulfilled in the Christian Church, not in Israel.

In more recent times, the concept of “replacement theology” has increased, and modern Christian leaders like R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur and many more call it a false doctrine.

ARTICLES REGARDING ISRAEL

It is interesting to note the number of articles (and television programs) that speak about this subject.

Take, for example, the March 2026 edition of Decision magazine, the magazine that is part of the Billy Graham ministry. That edition devoted half of that magazine to a look at “Replacement Theology” with articles responding to what it calls “The Damaging Doctrine of Replacement Theology.”

WHY I BELIEVE IN ISRAEL

As I have already mentioned, I am one who supports Israel, and there are, amongst others, three reasons why I do.

REASON # 1 – GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

When Israel started at the time when God called Abraham, as recorded in Genesis chapter 12, God gave a promise to him: “I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great!”

Now, none of the promises of Genesis chapter 12 are conditional. God said He would do it. God is faithful to carry out what He declared for Abraham and the nation that God brought forth to live under the Abrahamic Covenant. God is faithful, and because I believe God is faithful, I believe that Israel still has a place in God’s plan for the end times.

REASON # 2 – ISRAEL TODAY

Israel today is a historic miracle. No other nation has existed like Israel, 2000 years without a homeland and spread out throughout the world. Suddenly, in 1948, it became the modern state of Israel. 

What is more, they still speak the language that was not lost during those 2000 years in the wilderness.

No other nation or group of people has ever achieved such a miracle. It is absolutely amazing that this has happened. But it did. Israel was raised up again and has become a great nation. 

REASON # 3 – ROMANS 9-11

Behind it all is the authority of the Bible, particularly the passage in Romans 9, 10, and 11. Here, Paul, the great theologian of the church’s foundation, describes Israel’s place in God’s plan. He argues that Israel’s rejection, which concerns Jesus’ first coming, is not a total rejection two thousand years also.

When I came across a Christian believer who believes the church has taken over the promises first given to Israel, I simply asked, “Have you read what Paul had to say in Romans 9, 10, and 11?” I remember such a person saying to me, “I wish those chapters were not in the Bible.” But they are, and we can’t ignore them. There in Romans, Paul likens us to a tree. Israel has been broken off from that tree. But Israel is now grafted in again, for we all ultimately belong to that one tree – Jesus. God still has a purpose for Israel, and that is why I am for Israel. 

A CLOSING THOUGHT

In Luke 21:24, Luke relates the record of Jesus teaching about the destruction of Jerusalem (which happened in AD 70). In the midst of this, Jesus declares:

“And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (NKJV)

So for 20 centuries, Israel had no homeland. Then it all changed. In 1948, the United Nations made a Jewish state to be created, and in May 1948, there was the Israeli declaration of independence. President Harry Truman was the first world leader to recognize Israel.

The establishment of the nation of Israel is miraculous, unique in all of history, that a nation without a homeland should return to its land again and speak the biblical Hebrew language.

So why do I say “I am for Israel”? Because I believe it is consistent with what the Bible teaches and what Jesus prophesied about the future.

Yes, “I am for Israel.”

Let us pray for Israel as it faces ongoing conflict.