I have observed a growing trend among young dispensationalists to reject Zionism while embracing a superficial form of dispensationalism. This was highlighted to me once again the other morning on Telegram while reading a diatribe against Zionism penned by a young dispensationalist.  

The False Dichotomy

Young dispensationalists reject the current state of Israel because it was birthed by Zionism, a movement which was and is, by and large, ungodly. They insist that God rejects the current nation and government of Israel because they are walking in unbelief. In their estimation, recognizing the current state of Israel is recognizing an Israel that God does not recognize. Supporting the current state of Israel is supporting an Israel that God does not support. Pointing to Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you,” to defend recognizing and supporting Israel is an exercise in futility. The true Israel that God recognizes is not manifested until the second coming.

But this opposition to Zionism erects a false dichotomy between the current nation of Israel and the Israel which shall inherit the promises at the second coming. It is indeed legitimate to distinguish them, but it is wrong to divide them.

Genuine Israel: Unredeemed Before Redeemed

First of all, the Israel that is in the land today is genuine Israel. You can’t end up with genuine redeemed Israel if you don’t start with genuine unredeemed Israel. Saved genuine Israel comes out of unsaved genuine Israel. Ultimately, one third of the genuine Jews that are in the land now will be transformed and redeemed into genuine redeemed Israel. 

Zionism as the Prophetic Pipeline

Secondly, Zionism is not contrary to God’s plan to bless Israel through the Messiah. On the contrary, Zionism is God’s chosen pipeline to bring the nation of Israel to her destined blessing in the Messiah.  God’s purpose is to bring the Jews back to their land in unbelief, reestablish them as a nation, put them in the pressure cooker (surrounding them by enemies), bring them to rock bottom and brokenness, bring them to faith, and sift them in the great tribulation of the antichrist. There is no blessing for Israel at the second coming apart from the pipeline of Zionism. There is no Israel to bless at the second coming if there is not first an unbelieving Israel gathered back to the land to go through the Refiner’s fire. This is why the adversary has tried so hard to exterminate the Jews, stop the establishment of the state, exterminate the state, defund the state, promote Palestinianism (a one-state solution with no Jews in the land), and undermine Zionism at every turn.

Those who reject the pipeline of Zionism are (by that very fact) guilty of rejecting the blessing. If there is no pipeline—if there is no return to Israel, no establishment of national Israel, and no preservation of national Israel—then there is no Israel to receive the Messianic blessing at the second coming. You can’t deliver, redeem, and bless a nation that doesn’t exist.

Further, God himself is a Zionist. He is the one who brought Israel back. He is the one who providentially oversaw the reestablishment of Israel as a nation.  He is the one who is preserving and will preserve Israel so she can be saved. Israel’s many centuries of unbelief and iniquity did not prevent God from starting the process of Zionism. Her current unbelief and iniquity won’t persuade him to stop the process of Zionism. We should be on the same pro-Zionism page that God is. We should look past Israel’s current unbelief the same way that God does and focus on the future blessing that is coming when the process of Zionism and the process of the pressure cooker have finished the jobs that they were designed to do.   

Once you understand the fixed relationship between Zionism and Israel’s redemption at the second coming, then you understand that the entire process that brings Israel down the path to blessing is itself a blessing. The return, the establishment as a nation, and the preservation are all part of the process of blessing that ultimately sees one-third of the rebels saved.

Get on the Right Side of Zionism

Hopefully, I have helped you navigate the perilous waters of young dispensationalism. God is the original Zionist. Zionism is his chosen path for the future blessing of Israel. Therefore, we should be pro-Zionists. We should embrace the current Israel as genuine Israel, called to travel a painful path in the future that will lead to her sifting and salvation. The defense and preservation of this nation is dear to the heart of God. It should be dear to ours also. The adversary wants conservatives and Christians to turn their back on current Israel because that helps forward his iniquitous plans to expunge the current Israel so there is no Israel at the second coming that can be redeemed.

It is high time for all dispensationalists to get on the right side of the Zionism issue.

Lee Brainard is a Bible teacher, author, and the founder of Soothkeep, a ministry dedicated to the pursuit, defense, and propagation of Biblical truth.