{"id":30486,"date":"2026-01-12T16:24:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T21:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=30486"},"modified":"2026-01-12T16:24:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T21:24:59","slug":"greg-laurie-explains-why-christians-should-defend-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/greg-laurie-explains-why-christians-should-defend-israel","title":{"rendered":"Greg Laurie Explains Why Christians Should Defend Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Left: Adobe Stock | Right: CBN News \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amidst concerns of growing antisemitism, pastor Greg Laurie is leaving no doubt where he stands. \u201cEverything we have came to us through God\u2019s chosen people, the Jews,. [God] established a covenant with them in Genesis 12 with Abraham and his descendants. He said, \u2018I will bless those that bless you. I will curse those that curse you,\u2019\u201d said Laurie.<\/a> Amongst Christians, there are competing ideas of whether or not God\u2019s promise to the Jews still remains after the coming of Christ and the new covenant. Two main schools of thought are Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism. Covenant Theology, sometimes referred to as \u201creplacement theory,\u201d sees the covenant of God transferring from Israel to the church as a whole. Dispensationalism, meanwhile, sees Israel as separate from the Church, with God\u2019s promises to Israel yet to be fulfilled.<\/p>\n

Laurie rejected the idea that God\u2019s promises no longer apply to Israel and warned that a growing resentment towards Israel could lead to dangerous conclusions. \u201cIt happened on the heels of something called the Holocaust. And I think a lot of young people don\u2019t know about that, and that is that horrible event that happened really not that long ago, when you \u2026 look at the big picture, where 6 million Jewish men, women, and children were put to death in Nazi concentration camps, extermination camps, as part of Hitler\u2019s so-called final solution,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

Since the October 7 attacks and Israel\u2019s subsequent retaliation against Hamas, antisemitism appears to be growing from both the right and the left. Popular right-wing podcasters like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens have firmly called out Zionists and asserted that American policy is being controlled by a covert group of Jews. \u201cI think we\u2019re past subtle anti-Semitism,\u201d warned Laurie. \u201cIt seems like people want to blame the Jews and the nation of Israel for everything that\u2019s going wrong in our world today. And, look, the modern state of Israel is not a perfect nation any more than America is. But having said that, they are a Jewish homeland, and I do believe their being in the land is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy,\u201d he insisted, pointing to the creation of Israel after the Holocaust. He firmly insisted that God\u2019s promises are never broken and called on Christians to support the Jewish people. \u201cThere is a rise of anti-Semitism in our nation right now, and I believe it\u2019s evil, and I believe we as Christians should speak up for our Jewish friends.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amidst concerns of growing antisemitism, pastor Greg Laurie is leaving no doubt where he stands. \u201cEverything we have came to us through God\u2019s chosen people, the Jews,. [God] established a covenant with them in Genesis 12 with Abraham and his descendants. He said, \u2018I will bless those that bless you. I will curse those that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":30489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGreg Laurie Explains Why Christians Should Defend Israel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pastor Greg Laurie condemns rising antisemitism and urges Christians to support Israel, insisting God\u2019s covenant with the Jews still stands.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/greg-laurie-explains-why-christians-should-defend-israel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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