Necessary Roughness

AP reports that a cargo ship full of supplies and a crew of American evangelicals landed in Israel after 35 days at sea.

“The Bible says, ‘Who blesses Israel will be blessed,’” said Don Tipton, the group’s leader. “We believe that.”

I didn’t get a direct hit on that Biblical quote, but a web search brought me to the ICEJ web site, the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. That page cites Genesis 12:3 and Genesis 27:29.

Genesis 12:3:

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

That sounds like he may be talking about the Israeli nation until you expand the context to include the first two verses of Genesis 12:

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 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. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Now it sounds more personal, the antecedent of “you” being Abram (Abraham).

Genesis 27:29 is the ending of the giving of Isacc’s birthright to Jacob, from the story of Jacob and Esau. Again, looking at the greater account (Genesis 27:18-30) it seems that Isaac is blessing Jacob (v. 30) rather than his descendants. So this seems to be a paper tiger argument, where I’ve set up something weak and then refuted it, but it’s on the ICEJ page.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews mentioned in the AP article and supported by Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell seems to be a secular charitable organization of Christians helping Jews. I don’t see the theological promise for temporal benefits at that site; it must come from somewhere else. In fact, in its strictest sense the IFCJ is not an evangelical organization, as reported on their Frequently Asked Questions list:

Does The Fellowship evangelize or share the Gospel with those they help through their programs?

While we affirm the right and duty of evangelical Christians to share the Gospel, we are not an organization that seeks to convert people to either Christianity or Judaism. Our mission of building bridges between Christians and Jews would be compromised if we endorsed any conversion efforts.

I’m all for helping out countries that don’t seem to have the desire to take us out, but to help out Israel to get some sort of theological benefit? I’m not convinced.

Update, 9:17pm: Pastor Chryst of Preachrblog IMed me: “How does God bless all nations through Abraham? In Christ. Not in their own good works. We in the church are the spiritual descendants of Abraham.”