Anonymous Asks (395)

“Does Israel have a divine right to ‘much of the Middle East’?”

The shifting borders of modern Israel generate endless public debate. Last Friday, Tucker Carlson referenced a passage from Genesis in an interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. He asked the ambassador if Israel “had a right” to territory outside its current borders. Huckabee responded, “It would be fine if they took it all.”

From the standpoint of American interests, Huckabee was probably correct. But it was a bit of a foot-in-mouth moment. You can’t say that out loud these days. As usual, the media foamed at the mouth. Politico reported the exchange here.

An Inflammatory Sound Bite

Tucker’s question felt a bit disingenuous to me. He was looking for an inflammatory sound bite, and he got one. Huckabee’s response was unhelpful, but I’m not sure any one-line response to a “gotcha” question was likely to get him out of the situation unscathed. Nevertheless, the resulting debate raises a practical question for Christians to consider: Does God’s covenant with Abraham give modern Israel the right to expand more or less at will?

In Genesis 15, God’s covenant with Abraham granted his offspring the land “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” Tucker called that “essentially the entire Middle East”, and he’s not far wrong.

More important is what exactly the Lord meant when he referred to “your offspring”. There are a variety of opinions about that, and the question is sufficiently complicated to require its own post later this week. For the sake of getting a sound bite, Tucker applied it to national Israel in the present day. That’s the question we’ll discuss in today’s post.

Rights in Scripture

Biblical perspective: At least two words are translated “rights” or “right” in our English Bibles. In Hebrew, the word literally means “justice” or “judgment”. We find it almost exclusively in expressions like “rights of the poor” and “rights of the afflicted”, since the Law of Moses required fair treatment of those who were destitute in Israel. In Greek, the word translated “right” means “power” or “freedom of choice”, as in “to all who did receive him, he gave the right to become children of God”.

You do not find that particular Hebrew word anywhere in Genesis 15, and nowhere in scripture is there any mention of Israel’s “right” to territory. Indeed, any talk of Israel’s rights from Genesis 15 is a category error. A promise that one’s descendants will one day receive territory from God does not create a right to take that territory at will, any more than the anointing of God gave David a “right” to displace Saul. Certainly, David never saw God’s promise that way.

Under the Law of Moses, Israel’s continuing occupation of the promised land was always contingent on national obedience to God’s commands. It was a matter of responsibility, not rights. In practice, because of Israel’s disobedience and failure to recognize its Messiah, the nation has spent far more time dispersed across the world than enjoying the benefits of the Abrahamic covenant. Nationally speaking, today’s Israel is still nowhere near repentance and obedience.

In short, any talk of “rights” for that group is a lot of foolishness calculated to draw eyeballs and inflame contentious people. Rights are not a biblical issue for Israel. Grace is.

Rights in Reality

From an earthly perspective, Israel is one of many nations holding territory by force of arms. What they cannot defend they will lose. What they have to take in order to defend themselves from their enemies, they probably will if they are able. In that purely human-on-human, force-against-force context, any talk of rights is meaningless. The greater military power will win the day, as it is currently doing in the Ukraine. It will not stop to debate moral technicalities.

From a heavenly perspective, God will do what he will do, and nobody on earth will have word one to say in reply. If he promised Abraham’s physical descendants more territory than they currently occupy, as I believe he did, then one day he will deliver on that promise. None of that has anything to do with “rights” in the English sense of the word. It has much more to do with the Greek sense, in which one’s power determines one’s freedom of choice. God is omnipotent, and the only limitation of his freedom of choice is his own character. When he makes a promise, he is the one being in the universe who can always be guaranteed to fulfill it.

What the Future Holds

I believe the godly remnant of Israel is destined to occupy far more territory than their nation currently holds in a future day when the Lord Jesus returns to reign in righteousness from Zion. I believe it because the Bible teaches it. You can find a list of the various territories here. Israel will not possess these lands in its own strength, and it will not possess them in its present spiritual condition. I very much doubt the US will have much to say about it when it happens, assuming anything recognizable as an American interest even exists at that point. Tucker Carlson need not worry. Until the Lord gets personally involved, I don’t see much prospect of Israel expanding. And when Israel does receive this land, it will not be because they have a right to it or because they deserve it, but because God is gracious and keeps his promises. He keeps them spiritually and, yes, he keeps them literally too.

So then, any talk of the “rights” of present-day Israel that purports to have its basis in scripture is a giant red herring.