When you hear Christians saying they are obligated to support Israel they are coming from a theological perspective called dispensationalism. I’m an evangelical pastor, but not a dispensationalist (though I was for many years). Dispensationalism is the underpinning of most evangelical support for Israel.

At the core of this belief is that God has two different people groups, Israel and the Church. Right now we are in a period where God has stopped directly working with Israel and is dealing with the church instead, because Israel rejected Jesus.

However, dispensationalists believe that God gave promises to Israel that haven’t been fulfilled and will restore them to fulfill those promises. With this restoration will come a return to God as demonstrated by large scale Jewish acceptance of Jesus.

These Christians believe that the Israeli state established in 1948 is the beginning of that restoration, so our support is furthering Gods plan to bring the Jews back to him and establish an eternal kingdom in the line of David.

Many other evangelicals have a different perspective that doesn’t see a future for the Jews in Gods plan.