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Comment by tekknik | Hacker News Reader

Numbers 24:9 is the verse that states that those who support and help Israel will be blessed and those that curse it cursed.

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Numbers 24:9 (and Genesis 12:3) were about ancient Israel, but Paul reinterprets them in Galatians 3:16. The true “seed of Abraham” is Christ, and the promise applies to those in Him: Christians, not Jews.

There’s no biblical mandate to support modern Israel.

You’ve got to consider Romans as well, half of which is dedicated to the question of the Jews. (Summarising aggressively: Is there anything special about being a Jew? Yes and no, but more no. Has God replaced them? Yes and no, but ultimately more no than yes.) Romans 11 is especially relevant.

I think that means there's a biblical mandate to evangelize and convert Jews to Christianity, but it doesn’t change the fact that there is no scripture requiring Christians to support the modern nation or government of Israel.

To me, Romans 9:8 and Romans 11:13–32 (especially verses 30–32) summarize this well. In Romans 11:26-27, Paul is referencing the promise in Isaiah 59:20:

  “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord.

But that promise is conditional, it’s directed at those who repent. And you can't repent of the sin of denying the Holy Spirit, the very testimony of Christ, if you refuse to even acknowledge that He exists!

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