Does end-times theology drive evangelicals’ support for Israel? New research seems to cast doubt on this oft-spouted assumption.
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Dr. Mitch Glaser, president of Chosen People Ministries, an organization seeking to serve and evangelize the Jewish people, recently reflected on new data that surprised him on this subject.
“What surprised me is that nothing has changed since Oct. 7,” Glaser said of evangelical support for the Jewish state. “There’s just been so much bad press about Israel [but] … between 70-75% of what we call NAE evangelicals that really believe the essentials of the Gospel are very favorable towards Israel.”
Another interesting data point is the vast majority of Christians — 87% — agree either strongly or somewhat that believers should support the Jewish people, regardless of Jews’ opinions about Jesus being the Messiah.
Glaser said this is notable because the “conversion of Israel” is believed to be an eschatological prophecy — the belief that the “Jewish people will turn to Jesus in the last days.”
“There’s been a thought that the reason why Jewish people are important, the reason Israel is important, is because of their role in the last days,” he said. “And so our researchers are not quite believers in Jesus; they’re just academics with no skin in the game. They’re very objective and very smart, and one of them said to me, ‘Wow, I was wrong. The Christians are not as utilitarian as I thought, and that they genuinely believe that God has His hand on the Jewish people, chose the Jewish people, and that Christians have an obligation to be kind and support the Jewish people.’”
Glaser, who has been a Christian for decades, said there’s sometimes suspicion that there’s a “secret motive” among Christians to convert the Jewish people — and that evangelical support is predicated upon this. But he believes the survey results dispel such a contention. And the report itself explains the true motivations beyond pro-Israel sentiment.
“Our data indicate that generalized eschatological urgency is insufficient to explain attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict once covenantal theology, evangelical identity, and moral evaluations of Israel’s use of force are considered,” the report reads. “Instead, support for Israel appears to be grounded in structured theological commitments and normative judgments rather than diffuse apocalyptic belief.”
Glaser admitted he, like the researchers behind the data, was “pleasantly surprised” by the results and asked some important questions.
“The real question then … is, ‘What is the fundamental driving force for evangelicals’ support who support Israel?” Glaser continued. “What is the driving force? Is it biblical? Is it social moral? Is it just war theory? … And I’m happy to say that it’s biblical.”
Glaser said the majority of even young evangelicals believe that the Abrahamic covenant — God’s promise of land and people — is still valid today. Watch for more on what he had to say.
