In part 1 of this series, I defined Christian Zionist as a Christian who supports the right of Jews to self-determination in their ancient homeland—a definition under which many Christians would qualify, regardless of their reasons for supporting Israel and the Jewish people. Those reasons span from personal and practical to political or biblical. For Bible-based Christians, the biblical basis for Christian support of Israel—Christian Zionism—trumps them all, and this article will discuss that basis in greater detail.
Christian Zionism is a theological framework based on God’s promises to Abraham, confirmed by the Hebrew prophets, and reinforced by the New Testament writings. It is not a new concept, and throughout history, it has ebbed and flowed. This means that a narrower use of the term Christian Zionist is one who holds to the theological school of thought known as Christian Zionism and supports the right of the Jewish people to return to their homeland on scriptural grounds.
Christian Zionism
According to Anglican priest and theologian Gerald McDermott in the book The New Christian Zionism: Fresh Perspectives on Israel and the Land, Christian Zionism refers to the belief that the recent gathering of Jews in the land of Israel, and their establishment of a polity there, are fulfillments of biblical prophecy.
Understanding this perspective requires examining the biblical underpinnings that support it, first found in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament
The key tenets of Christian Zionism are found in Genesis 12:1–3, where God promised Abraham a great nation of descendants, a land, and a mission to bless the world:
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; 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 bless-ed.” (Genesis 12:1–3)
Former International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) Executive Director Rev. Malcolm Hedding writes: “The biblical foundation for Christian Zionism is found in God’s covenant with Abraham. It was in this covenant that God chose Abraham to birth a nation through which He would redeem the world, and to do this, He bequeathed them a land on which to exist as His chosen nation”[1]:
"And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also, I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." - Genesis 17:7–8
The latter Mosaic covenant stipulated that the right to live on the land promised to them would be determined by their obedience to God’s instruction and their relationship with Him. Sin and disobedience would result in Israel’s exile from the land for a season, but exile never annulled the promise. Whether the children of Israel were in or out of the land, the land remained theirs by divine covenant, granted by God and never revoked.
The Hebrew prophets proclaimed the arrival of judgment and punishment for sin, as well as a future restoration to their land and to their God. The Psalms confirmed God’s promise of land and a universal calling to bring the light of God’s salvation to the ends of the earth. In Psalm 89:34 God declares, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.”
Christian Zionism recognizes God’s hand in the modern-day return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland after 2,000 years of exile and rejoices in God’s faithfulness to His promises.
The New Testament
The New Testament affirms this perspective. It was written by Second Temple–period Jews who clearly understood God’s promises to their people and were awaiting their fulfillment. They interpreted the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus within the context of those promises, not as a replacement of them.
This is evident in the disciples’ final conversation with the resurrected Jesus before His ascension into heaven when they asked, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Jesus’ response did not deny that future event—He simply responded, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (v. 7).
A few days later, Peter was preaching in the heart of Jerusalem and explained that Jesus had been received into heaven “until the times of restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). The Greek word used—apokatastasisis—was from the Septuagint, where it described the return to the land by Jews from the four corners of the earth. Peter was using the term after the resurrection of Christ to refer to a future event.
The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 11 that even though the majority of the Jewish people had not accepted Jesus’ messianic credentials, the promises to them were still valid. The promise of a universal mission and the gift of land found in the Abrahamic promise remained:
Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (vv. 28–29)
Conclusion
Christian Zionism is, therefore, the belief that God bequeathed the land of Israel to the Jewish people as an everlasting possession for the purpose of world redemption. This is the biblical foundation for Christian support for Israel and the Jewish people and demands our lifelong pursuit of loving and blessing the Jewish people. In part 3 of this series, I will explore how the New Testament carries on the Old Testament principle of the importance of land.
[1]Malcolm Hedding, “What Is Christian Zionism?” Charisma Magazine Online, 26 Mar. 2010, https://mycharisma.com/news/what-is-christian-zionism2/. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
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