Ted Cruz vs. Tucker Carlson: What the Bible REALLY Says About Israel

Genesis 12 and the Debate Over Blessing Israel

Growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I want to be on the blessing side of things.

Of those who bless the government of Israel?

Those who bless Israel is what it says. It doesn't say the government of it, it says the nation of Israel.

Is that what Genesis 12, 3 really means? This isn't about political talking points, friends. This is about God's promise for the whole world. So, if you're wondering, who's right in this disagreement between Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson?

And you're wondering what God's plans are for Israel? You found the right video, so let's get right into it. Welcome back to Wise Disciple. My name is Nate Sala, and I'm helping you become the effective Christian that you are meant to be, which means understanding the Bible's consistent testimony about Israel and the world.

Don't forget to like, sub, and share this one around. This video got a lot of people asking questions, so I pray it's a blessing.

You suggested it was a strange thing that I said a minute ago, that when I came into the Senate, I resolved that I was going to be the leading defender of Israel. And what you didn't ask is why, so let me tell you why.

No, you said I was obsessed with Israel, and you had just told me that, like, your driving motive to get to the Senate was to defend Israel. I'm like, I don't think I'm the one who's obsessed with Israel.

So, Tucker, words matter.

So, already off on the wrong foot. This is a tense exchange, and you can tell, you know. Even in these first few seconds, Cruz—this is in the middle of the interview, by the way— but Cruz is particularly upset with Carlson here, and Carlson's not helping by defending himself either, but let's see what happens.

And you know that. I said I resolved to be the leading defender of Israel, and you said your driving motive, the reason you're in the Senate—.

You want to be the leading defender of Israel. I would think, if I ran for Senate, I'd be like, there are people dying of drug abuse on the street.

My driving motive is to fight for Texas and America, and to fight for jobs, and to fight for the Constitution. And you played a very, very careful word game of eliding—.

You're the one who said it, not me.

So, you still haven't asked why, but I'm going to tell you why.

Okay.

Genesis 12 and Genesis 17 in Context

And the reason is twofold. Number one, as a Christian, growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I want to be on the blessing side of things.

Those who bless the government of Israel?

Those who bless Israel is what it says. It doesn't say the government of it, it says the nation of Israel. So, that's in the Bible. As a Christian, I believe that.

Where is that?

I can find it to you. I don't have the scripture off the tip of my—.

So, let's go there for reference.

Okay.

There are actually two places, essentially. Both are promises made to Abraham, or Abram, but let's look at the first one. Genesis 12, verse 2. God says, I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Now, this promise comes at a time right at the very beginning of Abram's journey.

You know, Abraham is still Abram. He has no child, no prospects. At this point, he's an old man. I mean, you know, he starts his journey as an old man. And the Lord has put him and his family on this journey that he does not fully understand.

Now, this isn't the only time that God makes a promise like this. Look ahead a couple of chapters in Genesis chapter 17. Behold, this is the Lord again. My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, plural, and the kings shall come from you.

So notice, Abraham will not merely be the father of Israel, a nation, but a multitude of nations.

Hmm.

That's interesting. The Apostle Paul is going to have something to say about that later. But for your reference, those are the important passages.

You pull out the phone and use the phone.

It's in Genesis. So you're quoting a Bible phrase. You don't have context for it. You don't know where in the Bible it is, but that's like your theology? I'm confused. What does that even mean?

Tucker.

I'm a Christian. I want to know what you're talking about.

Where does, where does my support for Israel come from? Number one, because biblically we are commanded to support Israel, but number two.

Israel as a Light to the Nations

Yeah.

So, so Cruz is doubling down on his original claim, but he's not explaining how he came to the conclusion that his efforts in government to defend the nation of Israel aligned to the promises of God to Abraham in Genesis.

Now, at this point, he might be right, but how would we know that unless he supports his claim?

Hold on.

You're a Senator and now you're throwing out theology. And I am a Christian. I am allowed to weigh in on this. We are commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel.

We are commanded to support Israel. And we're told those who bless Israel will be blessed.

But what, hold on, define Israel. This is important. Are you kidding? This, this majority Christian country.

Define Israel. Could you, do you not know what Israel is? That would be the country you've asked like 49 questions about.

So that's what Genesis, that's what God is talking about.

The nation of Israel.

Yes.

And so does that, the current borders, the current.

So Cruz is saying that Genesis says nation of Israel. Now at this point, some of you are getting upset, you know, and this is probably a mixed bag. Some of you are probably upset with Cruz. Some of you are upset with Tucker Carlson.

Some of you might even get upset with me. But if you can try to like, you know, set aside all the politics of the whole entire thing, what I'm trying to do, the whole point of this interview is to understand what the Bible actually teaches.

Doesn't matter whether you like it or not. What does the Bible actually say at the end of the day? If we can clearly determine that, then we can start to figure out foreign policy or whatever else they're talking about.

Amen.

So, so Cruz says it's talking about the nation of Israel. Um, is that, is that what the passage is talking about? Take a look at it yourself. Somebody is getting upset. I can already tell right now. I will say this just so you know where I'm headed.

Cruz is wrong. And in a way he's kind of right, you know, but he's right. Not based on Genesis chapter 12. And I'll explain what I mean, but you're gonna have to stick with me. We're going to go through this together in just a moment.

And leadership. He's talking with a political entity called Israel.

He's talking about the nation of Israel.

Yeah.

Nations exists and he's discussing a nation. A nation was the people of Israel.

Is the nation God is referring to in Genesis. Is that the same as the country run by Benjamin Netanyahu right now?

Yes, yes it is. And by the way, it's not run by Benjamin Netanyahu as a dictator. It's a, it's a democratic country.

He's the prime minister.

Right.

But just, just like, you know, America is the country run by Donald Trump. No, actually the American people elected Donald Trump. The same principle.

This is silly.

I'm talking about the political entity of modern Israel.

And that is,.

You believe. That's what God was talking about in Genesis.

I do.

But that country's existed since when?

For thousands of years. Now there was a time when it didn't exist and that was recreated just over 70 years ago.

I'm saying, I think most people understand that line in Genesis to refer to the Jewish people, God's chosen people.

That's not what it says.

Okay. Israel,.

But you don't even know where in the Bible it is. So I don't know.

I don't remember the scriptural citation, but can I keep?

It's like Genesis 16 or something like that.

But yes,.

It's in the earlier part of the book. But the point is, it's a little,.

No,.

It's just important to know what you're talking about. I don't know what you're, so you're saying as a Christian, if I believe in Jesus, I have to support the modern state of Israel.

I'm not saying that. I'm explaining for me what my vote motivation is.

Okay.

So I'm just trying to understand. You said God tells you to support the modern state of Israel in the Bible, in some place in the Bible that you heard about, but you don't know where it is. That's your theology.

You're going back. Am I a sleazy feline again? I mean,.

If you accuse me of anti-Semitism again,.

I will say that,.

But I don't think you will.

Try to be a little less condescending. I'm trying to have a conversation.

You're throwing this stuff out, and it's my job to figure out what you're talking about.

Carlson is absolutely being condescending. And I think ultimately he's hurting his goals.

You know,.

If his goal is to challenge Cruz, he could just ask the questions,.

You know,.

And then move on.

Right.

The American people are smart enough to be able to understand what's going on here. They can, they can,.

You know,.

Put two and two together. But the way that he's acting, he keeps doubling down on these particular phrases to make Cruz look. It's as if Cruz drank coffee out of Carlson's favorite mug this morning. You know what I mean?

And Carlson is hot about it.

You know,.

I don't understand,.

But you're not letting me.

Okay.

I'm sorry. I want to be polite.

That is for me a personal motivation, but I also, what I was about to say, I don't believe my personal faith. Not everyone who I represent as a Christian, it's not an argument for me to give that, that we should do this because of my faith.

And so as, as an elected official, I don't give that as the reason we should support Israel. That is a personal motivation for me,.

But,.

But I don't think it is the reason we should. The reason that I am the leading defender of Israel is because Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East, an incredibly troubled part of the world and supporting Israel benefits America.

All right.

So he pulled out of the skid there.

Okay. So,.

But he did make a claim about the scripture, ladies and gentlemen. And the question is, is he right now? It's funny.

You know,.

I,.

I heard the clip yesterday or something like that. And I immediately thought of the church that I grew up in. So I grew up in Calvary chapels. Not sure if you're familiar. I still have a lot of love for Calvary chapels.

You know,.

Calvary, if you don't know, it's Chuck Smith out of Costa Mesa. So if you saw the movie Jesus revolution, that's basically the story of how Calvary chapel started popping off. When I was a kid, this, I heard this particular sentiment all the time,.

Right?

This claim, if we bless Israel, we will be blessed. If we curse Israel, we will be cursed. Now for the record, I love that. I love the sentiment,.

You know,.

And I think that we should seek to bless the modern nation of Israel and the Jewish people. And I'll explain.

However,.

Genesis chapter 12, verse three in Genesis chapter 17, verse four is not the basis to do so. Those passages do not support Ted Cruz. How do I know that?

Well,.

Because the new Testament says so.

Israel, the New Covenant, and the True Israel in Christ

All right.

Now we're going to go to the text, but what I'm not going to do is a deep dive here. I'm going to try to keep this video,.

Uh,.

At a 30 ,000 foot level so that you can grasp kind of the forest,.

You know,.

Um,.

Cause it's easy to get lost in the trees, but let's run through what God is doing in the Bible through Israel. So that you can see what's really going on here.

Uh,.

Okay.

What's really happening. Now, obviously we know about the story of Adam and Eve. They sit in the garden and then they leave the garden. Mankind,.

Uh,.

Flourishes.

So to say like they,.

Uh,.

Multiply. And then in Genesis, Genesis chapter 12, verse one, this is what happens. God chooses a man by the name of Abram to leave his homeland.

Now,.

The Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

Uh,.

But immediately God casts vision for Abram and he tells him, I will make of you a great nation. We just went over it. Verse two and three,.

Right?

You will be a blessing, but wait a second. As I showed you in Genesis chapter 17, God also says,.

Um,.

I'm not just going to make you a nation. I'm going to make you a multitude of nations.

Okay.

Wait a second.

Which is it right?

Will Abram be one nation or more than one? Now this is key to understanding the writings of the new Testament authors because they're going to make a lot of hay out of this.

Uh,.

And we'll go there in a moment, but let's keep going forward.

Okay.

So fast forward to Moses.

Now,.

Um,.

The descendants of Abraham have been freed from Egypt and now they are a new nation under a law called the Torah. And this is all part of a covenant that is cut between God and this nation of people, the Israelites.

But why has God done this? Is it?

So, uh,.

The Israelites can go build a city and build a bunch of walls and live inside of them. And never,.

Uh,.

Engage with the outside world, totally forget about the rest of the nations.

No,.

It's to fulfill what God told Abram all those years ago, they are supposed to bless the nations. This is how God says it to Israel. In Exodus chapter 19.

Now,.

Therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasure to possession among all peoples for all the earth is.

Mine.

And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Okay.

Now a lot of us,.

Uh,.

Zoom in on that phrase, kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And I've done this too in the past. And we say we,.

We,.

Yes.

And amen that right. The new Testament picks that up as well. Uh, and it's a wonderful phrase. I love it. It kind of gives you a good picture of the function and role of God's people.

Okay.

But when we see this, we tend to bury the lead,.

You know,.

Um,.

Or at least one of the important components to this passage, because,.

Uh,.

It's not as if Israel is meant to be priests in a nation to each other and forget about the rest of the world. They're supposed to be among the peoples. They're supposed to be blessing the people of the nations.

Uh,.

The Gentiles.

Now,.

The point is the covenant that God cuts with the Israelites is conditional.

You know,.

You can see it,.

Uh,.

Here in verse five, if you obey my voice, and if you keep my covenant, Israel will be a light to the world.

Uh,.

That's Isaiah 49,.

Six,.

Right?

But guess what? The old Testament shows us time and time again, that Israel indeed breaks their covenant agreement with God. And then what happens next? They go into exile.

They,.

They go right back into the,.

Uh,.

Environment within which God found them in the first place.

You know,.

This is how Jeremiah puts it. Jeremiah chapter 11, verse 10, they have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers. This is the Lord speaking. They've turned back. They refuse to hear my words.

They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. So now what happens? We have a people that were promised by God to be used to bless the nations.

They were supposed to be a light to the world and they refused. They turned back to their previous gods,.

Right?

And so what does God do? He promises a new covenant will come one day, Jeremiah 31, 31 behold, the days are coming declares the Lord. When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband declares the Lord for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel.

After those days declares the Lord, I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

Okay.

Ezekiel says that God will give his people a new heart and put his spirit inside them.

Right?

Some of you already know where this is headed.

Okay.

But you know,.

Again,.

Just to recap, God makes promises that Abram will be the father of a multitude of nations. God forms Israel and desires to use them as a light to the world and an image of what it means to be truly human and live according to God's desires.

And all of this is meant to undo the fall in the garden of Eden,.

You know,.

To put the world back together after having been so horrifically broken,.

Right?

You with me? This is why much of the prophecies that were given in the old Testament are spoken as if to Israel.

All right.

Look at this. Isaiah 49,.

Three.

And he said to me, you are my servant, Israel in whom I will be glorified. The servant is Israel in Isaiah 49,.

Three.

This is the Lord speaking,.

Right?

Look at verse four. But I said, I have labored in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing in vanity.

Yet.

Surely my right is with the Lord and my recompense with my God. And now the Lord says,.

Uh,.

It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

You realize, ladies and gentlemen, Israel was meant to be the salvation and the light for all the nations all over.

The world.

This comes again, directly from God's promise to Abram in Genesis.

In you,.

I will bless all the families of the earth. Abram would be the father of a multitude of the nations, but wait a second. Israel broke its covenant with God. So how can God continue to make these promises to Israel?

Here comes Jesus Christ,.

Right?

Here comes Jesus.

Uh,.

By the way, I'm doing a study of the gospel of Matthew on my second channel. It's called every word.

Uh,.

I encourage you to check it out, especially if you want to go deeper into what I'm saying here, cause I'm really giving this the short shrift here.

Uh,.

But Jesus now arrives on the scene. This is new Testament and he's essentially three things.

Okay.

He's the new Moses. He's the Torah and he's Israel. Has anybody heard this before? Hopefully you haven't.

Uh,.

Or I mean, hopefully you have heard this before. He's the new Moses. He's the Torah and he's Israel.

And,.

Uh,.

By those last two,.

I mean,.

He's the embodiment of the total fulfillment of those things.

Okay.

I have to keep moving along.

Uh,.

But just, just think about these pieces really quickly.

All right.

So,.

Uh,.

Look at this Deuteronomy 18, Moses says that,.

Uh,.

He promised that one day a prophet like him would come and teach the very words of God to the people.

All right.

That's Deuteronomy 18,.

18.

That's Jesus. Jesus said in John 12, that the words that he's speaking are not his own, but they come directly from the father in heaven.

All right.

That's Deuteronomy 18 right there. Jesus is saying, I'm the new Moses. I'm the prophet who was to come, but he's way more than that.

All right.

Um,.

In Psalm 119, it says that those who walk,.

Uh,.

In the Torah of God, or the law of the Lord,.

Right?

Their way. Think about that. Their way of life essentially will be blameless. Wait a second. As Christians, we're familiar with this phrase. There is a phrase that,.

Uh,.

The church was called in the book of acts. It was called the way, was it not? And why were they called that? It's because of what Jesus said in John 14, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life.

Jesus is speaking very Jewishly. To an audience that I suspect would immediately think of Psalm 119,.

One,.

You know,.

Of Proverbs chapter six of Deuteronomy six,.

You know,.

Jesus said that he came,.

Um,.

To fulfill the law in Matthew five, which again, I mean, think about this as a Jew would have heard this,.

Right?

Uh,.

Jewishly. It means that he came to properly interpret the law, which indicates that it was being misinterpreted.

Right?

But notice Jesus doesn't say,.

Uh,.

When he gives the sermon on the Mount, it is written as if to defer authority to,.

Uh,.

God in God's word. Jesus says,.

I tell you right.

Why?

Because Jesus is the fulfillment of Torah. And not only that, I'm going fast here. He is the fulfillment of Israel,.

Right?

Have you ever wondered why, uh, Jesus escapes from Egypt? Why he goes into the wilderness, why he performs the activities,.

Uh,.

That Israel were meant to perform and lives out the prophecies given to Israel,.

Right?

It's because he's recapitulating the journey of Israel. He's walking out or living out Israel's journey and fulfilling their purpose. Only this time he's doing it perfectly and without sin. And,.

Uh,.

Without forsaking his father in heaven again, this is really fast.

Okay.

And so you need to spend time on these things I'm offering here, go deeper into all of these references, but this all leads to the question of Israel. According to the Bible, who is Israel? The answer is Jesus.

Jesus is the true Israel. He is the true fulfillment of Israel. This is why Jesus says in John 15, I am the true vine.

I mean,.

Friends you realize in the old Testament, Israel was considered the vine of God,.

Right?

But that vine had failed. And so Jesus came to be the true vine that bears fruit,.

Right?

In order to redeem,.

Um,.

Not only Israel,.

Right?

Remember Isaiah 49, he's going to bring back the preserved of Israel, but also all the nations, all those who would repent and place faith in him and follow after him.

Amen.

If they do that, they will partake of the new covenant in Jesus blood.

Uh,.

The one that Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied about the new covenant that would extend to the whole world. Thus blessing all the families of the earth. Can you see,.

Uh,.

The cohesion that goes all the way back to the old Testament,.

Right?