Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson had a debate on the wisdom of America engaging against Iran. Cruz then made the point about Genesis 12: if you bless Israel, you will be blessed. Today, we begin to unpack this statement and ask if the political Israel today is the same as the Israel in the Bible.
Welcome to Politics by Faith. Man, go for a couple days, go on a little trip, get a couple bars. We were in the Grand Tetons for a couple days. Not a lot of cell service. Every once in a while you get a bar. You're like, oh, what's going on in the world? Oh, no, no big deal. Just World War three. It's nice to be someplace where there's only a few bars every now and again.
And that was five days of nothing. No Internet at all. No self-service, total digital detox. And it was glorious. This was like a little bit of that. We, real quick, the grand Tetons, then we'll get to the story of the day. We did a little family experiment a couple of weeks ago.
We went to New York City for a few days, and then we went to the total other extreme, and that is Jackson, Wyoming, just to see how the kids reacted to it. And there was no question about what the favorite was. For the kiddos. Jack has said, New York City smells bad. You can't run anywhere and the people aren't very nice. I pushed back on that last one a bit,
a little, a little tough shell of the people of New York. Sure, sure. Jack, you just got to find a way to bust through that shell. And then they're, they're as loyal and kind as anyone. Uh, but the first two is right. And obviously grand Teton's, those were not worries or issues for him, but you gotta go, go put this on your bucket list. You have to go to the Grand Tetons. Every time we looked up at these mountains, it didn't look real, it looked like a hologram or something.
I just didn't, they never got old, no matter how much we looked at them for five days. And it was a couple months ago, I brought up this idea. I don't even know how we thought of the Grand Tetons, but I mentioned on the radio, if we should go, and I don't think I've ever gotten more emails. And this is the one that,
everyone is over the moon saying it's great, you gotta go do it. But this is the one that really got me. It's from Dana, I found it. She said, absolutely go to the Tetons. that God created and gave us for our visual enjoyment. That email and there were a few others that talked about God's creation.
Go, be a part of it, get in it, show it to your kids, live it, go be a part of God's creation. And I loved that motivation for it. And if I could just give that to you as well. When I was looking for that email, I found this one. This person said, don't go. Your
kids are too young and they won't remember it. Take them to a beach or a water park. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Our kids are two, five, seven, eight. This is the perfect age. They remember everything. They remember every trip we've ever gone on. But trips like this at this young age, they set, I used to think that before I had kids, I was like, why even go places they don't remember. And now I know they do. And even if they don't remember when they get older,
like they may not remember when I was five, I went here, even though I think they have a wealth of memories of it. It sets, it sets like, I don't know, it's like these markers that they then, that everything else that happens in their life from this point forward builds on top of.
Does that make sense? So they have this like foundation now of nature. And they have this data point in their heart and their soul that nature is good, that hiking is good, that getting up early to see the sunrise is good, that swimming in Alpine cold lakes are good, that horseback riding is good, that hiking is good, that getting up early to see the sunrise is good, that swimming in Alpine cold lakes are good,
that horseback riding is good, and everything builds on top of that. And it's real, it's actual nature, it's not a water park. Right, and the water parks are fun, of course, and we'll do that here and there, but this is something totally, completely different,
and I think all of our kids need more of it. So anyway, that's just my encouragement to go do it. And plenty of scripture about it. Psalm 19, one, the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Like go see the stars. Charles Spurgeon said,
one of the purest and most innocent joys, apart from spiritual things, Indulge is a joy in the works of God.
Quick story on it.
Um, took a couple of tours here and there and every tour guide we had mentioned something about something evolving. Like, oh, the trees evolved this way, or the, the plants, the animals involved in this way. And one of them was this certain type of tree they have there, the acorns on it. They're like rocks and they only open up when they get super hot, like a wildfire.
And only then do they open up and germinate the forest and grow again. So you drive, we drive into Yellowstone and there's these like burned up trees everywhere. But there's the new forest. You see the forest maybe like 10 years ago,
the fire was like 10 years ago. So you can see all these trees as far as the eye can see that are all the exact same height because they were all grown at the same time because the acorns opened. So the tour guide's explaining how this works
and one of the women in front of us, she goes, what a coincidence. My wife and I were just like, yeah, just a quinky dink that it went that way, not anything to do with God's handiwork. All right. So that was that. That's why I've been gone the last couple of days. But what else has been going on? Israel and Iran. We have to chat about this. Are the Jews God's chosen people? What does that mean? And is the current nation of Israel the same as Israel in the Bible? That's the big question. To set the stage for this, I want to play this interview, making the rounds, with Tucker,
who is very much against what's happening with American involvement in Iran, and Ted Cruz, who is a supporter of Israel, and of what's happening over there, our involvement over there. This is like five minutes, but I think it's really important.
Ran momentarily, but you suggested it was a strange thing that I said a minute ago that when I came into the Senate, I resolved that I was going to be the leading defender of Israel. And what you didn't ask is why, so let me tell you why. No, you said I was obsessed with Israel and you had just told me that like your driving motive to get to the Senate was to defend Israel. I'm like, I don't think I'm the one who's obsessive with Israel. I don't even think about Israel.
So Tucker, words matter. And you know that. I said I resolved to be the leading defender of Israel. And you said your driving motive, the reason you're in the Senate. You want to be the leading defender of Israel. I would think if I ran for Senate, I'd be like, there are people dying of drug ODs on the street. My driving motive is to fight for Texas and America and to fight for jobs and to fight for the Constitution.
And you played a very, very careful word game of eliding. You're the one who said it, not me. So you still haven't asked why, but I'm going to tell you why.
Okay.
And the reason is twofold. Number one, as a Christian, growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I want to be on the blessing side of things. Of those who bless the government of Israel? Those who bless Israel is what it says. It doesn't say the government of it, it says the nation of Israel. So that's in the Bible. As a Christian, I believe that. Where is that? I can find it to you. I don't have the scripture off
the tip of my... you pull out the phone and use the Google. It's in Genesis, but so you're quoting a Bible phrase you don't have context for it, you don't know where in the Bible it is, but that's like your theology? I'm confused. What does that even mean? Tucker. I'm a Christian, I wanna know what you're talking about. Where does my support for Israel come from? Number one, because biblically we are commanded to support Israel, but number two.
Hold on, hold on.
No, no, no, no, hold on.
You're a senator and now you're throwing out theology and I am a Christian and I am allowed to weigh in on this. We are commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel? We are commanded to support Israel. And we're told- What does that mean, Israel? We're told those who bless Israel will be blessed.
But what, hold on, define Israel. This is important, are you kidding? This is a majority Christian country.
To define Israel? Do you not know what Israel is? That would be the country you've asked like 49 questions about. That's what God is talking about in Genesis. The nation of Israel, yes. And so is that the current borders, the current leadership? He's talking about the political entity called Israel? He's talking about the nation of Israel.
Yeah, nations exist, and he's discussing a nation. A nation was the people of Israel. Is the nation God is referring to in Genesis, is that the same as the country run by Benjamin Netanyahu right now?
Yes, yes.
It is, okay. And by the way, it's not run by Benjamin Netanyahu as a dictator. It's a democratic country that elected... I'm not saying he's a dictator. He's the prime minister.
What?
Right. But just like, you know, America is the country run by Donald Trump. No, actually, the American people elected Donald Trump. The same principle is there. Okay, this is silly. I'm talking about the political entity of modern Israel.
Yes, and that is Israel. about in Genesis. I do, but but... That country's existed since when? For thousands of years. Now, there was a time when it didn't exist and then it was recreated just over 70 years ago. But I'm saying I think most people understand that line in Genesis to refer to the Jewish people, God's chosen people. That's not what it says. Okay, Israel, but you don't even know where in the Bible it is. So I don't know if we can... I don't remember the scriptural citation.
But okay, I keep... It's like Genesis 16 or something like that. But yes, it's in the earlier part of the book.
But the point is...
Tucker, you keep interrupting me before I finish my sentence. No, it's just important to know what you're... So you're saying as a Christian, if I believe in Jesus, I have to support the modern state of Israel? No, I'm not saying that. I'm explaining for me what my vote motivation is. But you... Okay, so I'm just trying to understand.
You said God tells you to support the modern state of Israel in the Bible, in some place in the Bible that you heard about, but you don't know where it is. That's your theology? You're going back, am I a sleazy feline again? I mean, don't be so- If you accuse me of anti-Semitism again, I will say that, but I don't think you will.
Try to be a little less condescending. I'm trying to have a conversation.
You're being condescending.
You're throwing this stuff out, and it's my job to figure out what you're talking about. I'm sorry, I want to be polite. That is for me a personal motivation, but I also, what I was about to say, I don't believe my personal faith, not everyone who I represent is a Christian, it's not an argument for me to give that we should do this because of my faith.
And so as an elected official, I don't give that as the reason we should support Israel. That is a personal motivation for me, but I don't think it is the reason we should support Israel. That is a personal motivation for me, but but I don't think it is the reason we should. The reason that I am the leading defender of Israel is because Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East, an incredibly troubled part of the world, and supporting Israel benefits America.
I want to get back on it. So Genesis 12 is what Ted Cruz is talking about. Now the Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. So I looked up the word nation here,
and the word here is how we would use it today. Just a group of people in a boundary, like a political boundary, a nation. I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall, a nation. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Okay, so the question is, is the nation of Israel in the Bible here the same as the nation of Israel today that Tucker and Ted are talking about?
We are, I can't answer that in full right now. the same as the nation of Israel today that Tucker and Ted are talking about. I can't answer that in full right now. I'm gonna be honest with you, I need much more time to do proper prep work for this very, very important question, a question that is extremely important for American, it's informing American foreign policy,
and could turn into something that, I guess looks like a holy war in some way. To Ted Cruz's point, I don't think we need a biblical justification to support our ally in that region of the world. I think supporting Israel against Iran can be America first. Trump was never an isolationist and neither was MAGA. It was never an isolationist thing even though maybe I'm making this up and maybe 20% of MAGA is an isolationist more bend but most aren't and Trump isn't. I think it's
the same thing with making the argument against abortion. I don't need to quote the Bible to do it. I can but it's not necessary. Same with supporting Israel over Iran. I don't, I don't need to quote the Bible about it, but I will say this Ephesians 2, Paul says, remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the
covenants of the promise without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier the dividing wall of hostility by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations." Wow, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two,
thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death their hostility." What is this wall of separation? The work of Jesus on the cross is for Jews and Gentiles. There's no longer a dividing wall. Jesus broke down that wall. Paul, at the time he wrote this, was in prison. He was in house arrest in Rome awaiting a trial because he was accused of being in a temple past the literal wall of separation that divided Jews and
Gentiles. And Paul's point was that with Jesus that wall is gone. That's in Acts 21-27. It says here, "...when the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, Paul stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help! This is the man who's teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law in this place. Moreover, he's even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place." So that's
what he was being accused of. And here's Paul saying, no, no, nope, with Jesus this wall of separation no longer exists. I want to stop there today. I think that's the most important foundational thing to know as we proceed in this question that we'll answer more tomorrow and the next day. Is the Israel of today the same as the Israel in the Bible? And what does that therefore mean for American foreign policy? More tomorrow. Bible? And what does that therefore mean for American foreign policy? More tomorrow. Mike Slater, dot locals dot com. Transfer for free on the website Mike Slater dot Locals dot com.