“I support Israel,” Franklin Graham said last Thursday during the 13th annual Israel Solidarity Event at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. “I support Israel not only because I worship a Jew but because of what the Bible says about Israel and the future of Israel.”
The solidarity event was part of the National Day of Prayer activities, and Graham was asked to speak about why evangelicals support Israel.
Before Graham presented his message, Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer addressed the evangelical leaders in attendance.
“To be Israel’s ambassador to America is to be the ambassador to the friendliest country on earth to Israel,” Dermer said. “And the anchor of support for that friendship in America is you. You are the anchor of that support.”
Graham pointed to God’s promise to give Israel the land of Canaan; God’s choosing of Israel to be a people for Himself; God’s instruction to pray for the peace of Jerusalem; and especially God sending His Son, Jesus—a Jew—to bring the hope of eternal life to those who turn from their sin and put their faith in Jesus.
Graham told the story of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. “In the past,” he said, “there were many wicked, evil men who in the name of Jesus Christ used this story to persecute the Jews. To kill the Jews. They called them ‘Christ-killers.’
“But it wasn’t the Jews that killed Christ. It wasn’t the Romans that killed Christ. It was each and every one of us. Because the Bible says, ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ [John 3:16, KJV]. You see, God sent his Son on a rescue mission, and Jesus Christ voluntarily went to the cross to take your sins and my sins. It was you, it was me, it was all of us that nailed Him to the cross. … And I thank God that He loved me enough to send His Son to take my sins and to die on the cross for me.”
Graham concluded, “Mr. Ambassador, we love Israel, and we love you, and we thank God for your country. And I can’t speak for evangelicals, but I can just say for me, I’m going to support Israel.”
For the original article, visit billygraham.org.
