Are the biblical Israel and the modern state of Israel the same?
I never thought I’d be asking this question in 2026. Let me state this question differently: Are the modern state of Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu and the biblical Israel under King David two distinct entities with no connection between them?
Of course, many centuries separate the two bodies called “Israel.” Yet, why should a doubt be raised whether Jewish people descended from Abraham and his offspring now residing in Israel are not the same?
When one fantasizes that the Israel of the Hebrew Scriptures no longer exists and has been replaced by the New Testament Church, that person has transformed modern-day Israel into a shell of its former self. This Christian belief is called “replacement theology.” I view this newly rendered Israel as a “phantom Israel.”
Replacement theology is the primary source of the mystification of Israel. Those who redefine biblical Israel into a spiritual Israel need to have their view of a shadow Israel demystified.
Kirk Cameron’s Bizarre Views on Israel
In a recent YouTube video from the messianic ministry, First Fruits of Zion, the podcast host Jacob Fronczak discusses Christian celebrity Kirk Cameron’s views on the modern state of Israel. In brief, Cameron questions whether the ancient nation of Israel and the modern Jewish state are identical. Several evangelical pastors, such as Andy Woods, and other scholars have astutely responded to Cameron’s misguided view on Israel.
The Promises to Abraham Are Meant ONLY for the Patriarch
As an example of Cameron’s baffling position on Israel, he maintains the blessings promised to Abraham apply ONLY to the patriarch, but NOT to his descendants. The former TV star appears to be wearing foggy lenses when he suggests the nation of Israel does not appear in the establishment of God’s covenant with Abraham, “And I will make of you a great NATION, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing (Genesis 12:2 ESV) (bold font added by author).
If Israel is not the nation promised to Abraham, according to Kirk Cameron, who is the nation God promised would come forth from Abraham? Could it be Edom or Turkey? Perhaps the nation God promised to the patriarch is Great Britain. I’ll let the reader answer this question.
Next, we spring over to the Book of Matthew to see how this former tax collector employed the messianic prophecy of Zechariah. We immediately detect the same issues we discovered in our previous investigation of Zechariah 9:9.
Famous statue in the centre of Bremen, Germany, depicting the donkey, dog, cat and cockerel from Grimm’s famous fairy tale The Bremen Town Musicians Darren Baker | Dreamstime.com
Did Jesus ride on one animal or two? Did He mount them separately or both simultaneously?
I like the common-sense approach to these questions that Louis A. Barbieri Jr. offers in the Bible Knowledge Commentary:
“Only Matthew mentioned a donkey along with the colt. A simple explanation of what some call a contradiction is that when Jesus rode the colt, the mother donkey naturally went along.” (Matthew 21:7 ESV) (Louis A. Barbieri Jr., Matthew, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, 1983, paragraph 21163).
Hence, Jesus entered the holy city with two donkeys, but He rode only one.
This explanation, offered by Louis A. Barbieri Jr., is full of practical wisdom. I’m ready to consider this dilemma solved. But life is never that simple.
It is unsurprising that, despite this straightforward explanation, Bible students want to argue other positions. In the rest of this section, we will indulge some of our contrarian friends.
Growing up in New Jersey as a seven-year-old was an East Coast dream. Swimming at the sunlit Jersey shore. Fishing in northern Jersey lakes. Strolling through New York’s Times Square. I was a dyed-in-the-wool Jersey boy.
No New Jersey summer was complete without the family visit to Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. Of course, I spent the day dogging my parents about when we would attend Steel Pier’s diving horses extravaganza.
Who wouldn’t be thrilled to watch a woman on horseback plummet 40 feet into a water tank?
The Roy Rogers Rodeo was another contender for my attention. At this Western round-up in New York’s Madison Square Garden, I fantasized I would become the first Jewish buckaroo.
Unfortunately, my parents were adamant that horseback lessons should take a rear saddle to my Bar Mitzvah preparations.
Every winter, my Mom and Dad would ferry my brother and me through the Lincoln Tunnel to attend the Barnum and Bailey Circus at MSG. I always looked forward to the clown acts, but loved the daredevil horseback stunts most.
My favorite horseback riding trick is known as Roman riding. A performer stands or balances on the backs of two horses driven abreast, taking hurdles or performing other stunts.
I was always convinced these dazzling skills only belonged in the three rings or a riding arena. Yet I was recently briefed that Jesus may have performed a daredevil balancing act when He paraded into Jerusalem on what some believe was two donkeys.
Messiah’s Unusual Entrance into Jerusalem
I recently encountered this dilemma surrounding Yeshua’s Triumphal Entry while teaching a seminar on the messianic prophecies in the Gospel of Matthew. I was expounding on Yeshua’s entrance into Jerusalem in fulfillment of the messianic passage in Zechariah 9:9, which reads:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey “ (Zechariah 9:9 ESV).
In Matthew 21:5-7, the gospel writer quotes from the Minor Prophet Zechariah to show how Yeshua’s jaunt into the holy city fulfills this prophecy:
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on” (Matthew 21:5-7 NIV11).
In the NIV and the KJV’s translation of Zechariah 9:9, the Messianic King rides into the holy city on two donkeys. In stark contrast, in most English translations of Zechariah 9:9, the Messiah journeys into a rejoicing Jerusalem on one donkey.
Unsurprisingly, a class member raised her hand to inquire about this quizzical discrepancy in the Matthew text. The student wondered, “Why does Matthew record two donkeys, a mother and a young colt? Didn’t Zechariah prophecy that the Messiah would ride on ONE donkey?
The student questioned further, “Matthew also recorded that Jesus sat on THEM. Did Yeshua sit on BOTH the mother donkey and her colt simultaneously?”
The picture this Bible student was portraying turns Yeshua’s entry into Jerusalem into quite a spectacle. Did He ride on the donkeys both at the exact moment or one at a time? I did not have an immediate response.
I knew my understanding of this passage required more research
I also encountered another quandry about the Triumphant Entry. Was Yeshua’s entry into Jerusalem actually “triumphant”?
Pastors often claim Jesus journeyed into Jerusalem to claim Himself as the long-awaited King of Israel. Initially, the Jewish crowds accepted Jesus’ victorious entry four days before Passover. But later in the week, the “same” crowds cried for Yeshua’s crucifixion.
Was Yeshua’s journey into the city of David a victorious military event? Did the crowd misunderstand Yeshua’s message in His memorable entry before His crucifixion?
I decided to do a deep dive into the messianic prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. Then, I would spring over to Matthew 21 to further investigate this possible biblical juggernaut. The results of my private investigation are found in this article.
Christians frequently ask me why Jewish people struggle with the image of a cross. My response is always the same, “It’s the history attached to the cross that gives Jewish people a reason to eschew this symbol sacred to Christians.” Who is responsible for this theological war waged on the New Covenant significance of the cross?
In the past 200 years, Christians have shouldered the sign of the cross in their wars on so-called infidels. Even today, followers of Jesus brandish the cross at political events. Onlookers are led to believe the Christian message is in full support of various civic causes-good and bad-when the cross is displayed at these protests.
Hence, there has been a war on the cross in ancient Christian history. This same confusion regarding the biblical significance of the cross is apparent when evangelicals glue the cross symbol to contemporary secular political aspirations.
To elaborate on this pressing question uttered by Jewish people, I authored an article in 2016. I used the subtitle “The Roots of the Problem of the Cross in the Eyes of Jewish People.”
In this short piece, l focused on the torrid history of the medieval Crusades. Recently I revised this composition and added additional insights.
In this revised article, I am mostly concerned with several parallels of the Crusader mentality leaking into modern evangelical Christianity’s political stance. The imagery of the cross as the vehicle of God’s spiritual redemption is distorted by a cadre of Christians. Sadly, these actions confuse many Jewish and non-Jewish people.
The Cross Appears Where It Should Not Be
For the past 5-6 years, the cross symbol has appeared at political rallies as a Christian stamp of approval of an event, a candidate, or a political ideology. Zealous Christians are hijacking the cross imagery for their purposes. In their patriotic fervor, the protestors seem unaware of the military stigmas attached to the cross from the Crusaders.
For example, at the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol Building, both peaceful and militant evangelicals wielded the cross as they protested the national vote that elected Joe Biden as president. From a well-researched article on Christian nationalism from the Joint Baptist Committee, we learn:
One of the most ubiquitous symbols on January 6 was the Christian cross. Latin crosses are “the principal symbol of Christianity around the world,” according to the Supreme Court, and, as used on January 6 by the insurrectionists, one of the clearest displays of Christian nationalism.
Sword & shield with light-painting illumination
They [participants at January 6 event] erected an 8-foot wooden cross in Freedom Plaza (at the White House end of Pennsylvania Avenue) and another 8-foot tall cross at the Capitol that became disturbingly iconic after the crowd prayed around it
The Cross is Used to Send a Message It Should Not Give
I embrace the American freedom to express one’s political views. Nonetheless, I am stunned at how the flagrant use of the biblical symbol of divine pardon is thoughtlessly attached to extreme right-wing politics. For further information on the appearance of Christian symbolism at the January 6 event, click here.
How can the redemptive symbol of Christianity be conjoined with any form of partisan politics? Does any political group possess the authority to utilize the crucifix icon to support their cause?
The way I see it, when a political faction adopts the image of the cross in connection with their viewpoint, this action implies their perspective is THE authoritative Christian way of thinking. The message is clear: Any faithful follower of Yeshua (Jesus) will and should back any ideology that commanders the cross to bolster their outlook.
This misuse of the cross to support a secular political effort is reminiscent of the militant Crusaders who affixed the cross to their shields as they rampaged across Western Europe.
Need I say modern evangelical patriots are NOT determined to harm anyone as the Crusaders did. Nevertheless, when the cross is displayed at an event where government property is destroyed, attacks on law enforcement personnel take place, and anger is unleashed on dissenters, how is the redemption promise of the Messiah communicated?
My title, “The War on the Cross,” describes how the misuse of the cross by followers of the crucified Messiah clouds our salvation declaration. Rather than zero in on those who reject the good news of salvation, believers in Jesus need to discern how we can be the ones making war on the message of the death of the Suffering Servant.
It’s about time! Some evangelical superstar had to say something. We can no longer ignore the gorilla of extreme conservative politics running berserk in today’s evangelical Church. In Pastor Andy Stanley’s book, “Not In It To Win It,” the author boldly goes where most evangelical leaders fear to tread.
The pastor of North Point Church in Alpharetta, GA is exasperated over the current trend of evangelicals who align themselves with right-wing conservative elements. He raises eyebrows in his criticism of pastors, Christian podcasters, and leaders who “lined up behind their political party of choice and leveraged our sacred text to validate political talking points.”
Most importantly, Pastor Stanley recognizes this development is detrimental to the cause of bringing the good news of redemption to all people.
In past generations, Christians broke down our culture into those who know Jesus and those who don’t. Instead, a significant segment of evangelicals has divided our society politically into the Left and the Right.
A few months back, I was amazed listening to a message by modern-day “prophet” and evangelist Mario Murillo in which he stated the “enemy of the Christian is the Democrats.” Even Jesus did not designate the Romans or the Sadducees as enemies of His followers. Yeshua viewed His day’s political and religious parties as lost sheep in need of salvation, not ideological adversaries.
Evangelicals have turned a new corner where Jesus’ followers are intent on changing our world through endorsing political efforts, passing laws that reflect conservative principles, and supporting Right-wing candidates regardless of their ties to white Christian nationalism. Stanley points out that Jesus no longer changes lives in this revised evangelical era. Instead, Right-wing political activism is the key to the transformation of our broken society.
The past five years have been extremely challenging since I am not 100% on board with the angry tenor of evangelical conservative politics. I’ve witnessed ridicule and rejection from fellow evangelicals on social media because of my convictions.
Brotherhood in the Lord has been trumped by something or someone else. I sense my spiritual connection to certain Christians is no longer enough.
Nevertheless, I consider myself an independent who embraces the core tenets of conservatism.
We are not here to “win” elections, argues Stanley, but for a greater purpose: to radiate the love and compassion of Yeshua to bring non-believers to His redeeming power.
The key takeaway points I gained from “Not In It To Win It” (NIITWI), in addition to my observations, are as follows:
*Evangelicals have shifted the focus from sharing the good news to supporting political causes
*Evangelicals have opted to cancel fellow Christians who do not align with their conservative political viewpoint
*Evangelicals are placing their trust in political activism to change America’s culture more than the power of the Messiah Jesus
*Evangelicals have little issue aligning themselves with Right-wing politicians and talk show media stars who have the reputation of being white nationalist and even antisemitic
*Evangelicals have revised the Christian message as one bent on saving America rather than Americans.
*Evangelicals have no biblical basis for espousing the idea God made a covenant with America.
In Matthew 3:2 the prophet John the Baptizer in the New Covenant admonished his fellow Jewish seekers, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Today many evangelicals have revised John’s call to prepare oneself for the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. Today Matthew 3:2 has been revised to say, “Vote, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”
Normally, Scripture Solutions focuses on biblically related topics. But since Christian denominations like the Presbyterian Church of the USA has delved into the Israel bashing business, this website must respond to these Christian attacks on Israel’s legitimacy.
Zionism Unsettled Booklet Cover
In the booklet Zionism Unsettled published formerly available in the store on the PCUSA website, we find a map of Israel/Palestine that has been used by Israel’s critics to demonstrate how Israel has slowly taken over the territories allotted to the Palestinians. Consequently, the resulting map shows a disappearing Palestine from 1946 to the present. But this map is a distorted representation of the history of the land of Israel especially as it relates to Arab inhabitants within the land.
On page eight of Zionism Unsettled, the composers of this booklet, the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the PC, includes the disappearing Israel map with a caption of which I will quote in part,
The inexorable expansion of Israel control over former Mandate Palestine is, by now virtually complete. Fully half the population within this land area is not Jewish. For Israelis committed to the principle of the Jewish state, the ovulation issues poses a demographic threat to the ethno-religious character of the state. Palestinians are faced with the prospect of, at best, second class status in a state that classifies them as outsiders, and, at worst, deprivation in isolated enclaves without autonomy or self-determination.
By now the controversy surrounding the Jews for Jesusvideo “That Jew Died for You” has simmered down. Still the strong negative reaction by the Jewish community to the JFJ evangelistic effort remains a stain on Jewish-Christian relations.
At the release of the video prior to Holocaust Remembrance Day, a Jews for Jesus press release, explained the video seeks “to help redefine the conversation and reshape views of Jesus and His relationship to the Holocaust.”
The intentions of JFJ in the production of this video were honorable and aimed to initiate conversation among Jewish people regarding Christianity’s relationship to the murder of six million Jews under the evil Nazi regime.
David Brickner, Executive Director of JFJ offered his public commentary on the video, “The horrors of the Holocaust and the 6 million who died has gnawed at the consciousness of Jews for over 60 years. We want Jewish people to understand that the sufferings inflicted at the hands of the Nazi’s were in no way based on the teachings of Jesus (underlining mine). In fact, he suffered and died on our behalf to show us the love of God.”
Oddly, the majority of Jewish people do not think the teachings of Jesus are responsible for the horrors of the Holocaust. Rather, the Jewish community is more concerned with the antisemitic attitudes of Eastern European Christians prior to and during World War II that helped fuel the racist ideology behind the Holocaust. (more…)
Apr 4, 2014
Posted by Scripture Solutions on Apr 4, 2014 | Comments Off on Not All Israel Is Israel Part 3
The controversy over God’s continuation of Israel as a viable nation despite their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah looms large in the Christian church.
Most followers of Jesus are not even aware of the various Christian theologies regarding the Jewish nation. Yet when uninformed evangelicals are exposed to such anti-Israel beliefs such as Replacement Theology (the view that Israel is no longer God’s elect people but replaced by the Church), these Christians are conflicted over what they are hearing and what the Bible teaches.
As a representative of Replacement Theology (though he prefers the term “Fulfillment Theology”) Gary Burge, New Testament professor at Wheaton College, in his book Whose Land? Whose Promises? the author states, “Abraham can become the father of many nations because when Gentiles share in Abraham’s faith, he becomes their father too (Romans 4:16). Physical lineage, therefore, has been spiritualized into a lineage based on faith (emphasis mine). The ‘land of Israel’ is likewise spirtualized now to include the entire world” (pg. 182).
The key concept to focus on from Burge’s theology is, “physical lineage . . . has been spiritualized into a lineage based on faith.” Israel is no longer a physical nation, according to the Wheaton professor, but has become a spiritual entity that one enters into by faith in Christ not by physical heritage through Abraham. If the physical seed has been “spiritualized” then the “physical” is no longer relevant, hence the physical nation of Israel is moot to God’s spiritual program.
The glaring mistake Burge makes is twofold: first, the physical lineage of a member of the nation of Israel never implied the individual within the nation has a relationship with God, and second, within the physical nation of Israel there has always existed a spiritual remnant of Israelites who remained faithful to God. These two truths do not redefined the nation of Israel, but describe the reality of a spiritual remnant within the physical Jewish nation.
In contrast to Gary Burge’s fulfillment theology which pushes aside God’s plan for the physical nation the Apostle Paul teaches that Israel still exists as a nation even after the first coming of the Messiah. In Romans 9:3-4a Paul pleads, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” To Paul, “those of his own race” are “the people of Israel” quite alive and not replaced by or fulfilled in the New Testament church. (more…)
Mar 20, 2014
Posted by Scripture Solutions on Mar 20, 2014 | Comments Off on Not All Israel is Israel Part 2
To many students of the Bible Paul’s comment in Romans 9:6 that “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (NIV) sounds very strange. Is Paul saying the part of Israel that is “descended from Israel” is no longer part of the nation known as Israel? Then that would mean the only people who are actually Israelites are Jewish people who believe in Yeshua as Messiah and the “not all who are descended from Israel ” group are no longer members of the Jewish nation. Yet if you follow that logic, any examples of the NT apostles addressing the segment of the Jewish nation who have not accepted Yeshua as Messiah as still “Israel” makes no sense.
Check out these examples from the New Testament:
Acts 2:22: “Fellow Israelites, listen to this:
Acts 2:29: “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.”
Acts 2: 36: “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
Acts 3:12: “When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you?”
Acts 3:17: “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.”
Acts 4:10: “then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.”
No wonder Christians are befuddled by Paul’s reference to two Israel’s in Romans 9:6.
Twelve Tribes of Israel
In light of Paul’s head-scratching use of the phrase, “”not all who are descended from Israel are Israel”, Christian theologians come up with explanations that confuse the issue even more.
My favorite explanation is the one that states unbelieving Israel has been replaced by the Church. This is called “replacement theology.” In this theological system, “Israel” that accepted Yeshua is none other than the Church. Rather than create clarity, Replacement Theology (aka disguised as Fulfillment Theology or Transformation Theology or Promise Theology) contributes more fuzzy thinking since the reader of the New Testament is forced to think “Church” when he reads the term “Israel”. Try to think “Church” in reading Romans 11:26, “and in this way all Israel will be saved.” Thanks, but no thanks. (more…)
Mar 11, 2014
Posted by Scripture Solutions on Mar 11, 2014 | Comments Off on Christ at the Checkpoint Position Paper by Israeli Messianic Jews
1. The Word of God: the Tanakh and the New Covenant Scriptures together, are the one true, infallible, and unalterable standard of truth and life for all believers. As Yeshua our Messiah declared, “Your Word is truth” (John 17:17) and “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Therefore we affirm that “all the promises of God are ‘Yes’” and ‘Amen’ (not abrogated) in Yeshua (II Cor. 1:20), and that “the gifts and calling of God” for His chosen people, Israel, “are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28b-29 in context). “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew!” (Romans 11:2). Rather, “to them belong [present tense!] the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises” (Romans 9:4).
2. The Messiah Yeshua’s calling for His Body — in the Land of Israel and throughout the world — is to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19) by proclaiming “repentance for the forgiveness of sins…in His name to all nations” (Luke 24:47). Every movement or activity which does not promote or which, on the contrary, distracts us from that central purpose and calling is not of God, no matter what biblical or spiritual language may be used to describe it. Yeshua never commanded, or even suggested, that His followers were to “bring in” the Kingdom of God on earth. Yeshua Himself promised to establish His Kingdom upon His return (Matthew 25:31, 34), and we, who are heirs of His Kingdom and proclaimers of it in the present age (James 2:5; Acts 28:23, 31), are instructed to pray for that day to quickly come (Matthew 6:10; cf. Philippians 3:20-21).
3. Christ at the Checkpoint is, therefore, a false messianic movement, arrogating to itself the role of Messiah in establishing the Kingdom while promoting a humanistic, political “liberation theology.” [All the “evangelical” CatC speakers reflect the same approach and goals, as is evident from the Kairos Document which Yohanna Katanacho, CatC Committee member, helped compose and Bethlehem Bible College endorsed]. Although cloaking its “mandate” in biblical language (“the teaching of Jesus on the Kingdom of God”) and using seductively positive terms (“Peace, justice, and reconciliation”), this movement has one overriding purpose: to sway Evangelical believers worldwide away from belief in the eternal promises of God to Israel by slandering the Jewish people and delegitimizing the Jewish state; painting Israel as a wicked, oppressive, apartheid “entity”—especially in contrast to the supposedly ‘democratic, tolerant and peace-seeking’ Palestinian Authority and people. There is no Gospel here! (more…)
