Twenty-five years ago, the debate over Israel’s right to exist did not exist in my circles of Christian friends. I only learned what Zionism and anti-Zionism meant a couple of years ago, writing for this outlet and reading on the subject inside and outside the Blogs.

A few months ago, a good Christian friend of mine, while we were arguing about who were the good guys and who were the bad guys in this war, told me: “They can live in any country in the world.” I disagreed with her immediately, but since I did not want to fight with my friend, I decided not to press the debate any further. Still, I learned a new argument that circulates in the minds of those who consider themselves Christian anti-Zionists and not antisemites at the same time. I will approach this subject from a philosophical perspective, examining some of the ontological attributes of God and the Gog and Magog prophecy in Ezekiel 38.

There was another conversation, with an acquaintance, also a Christian. He was telling me about the civilian casualties in Gaza and I understood his point, but I added layers of nuance: the human shields, the tunnels that were never built to protect the population, October 7 as the beginning of this conflict. He did not refute any of it directly. He preferred to move back in time and talk about 1948. I could also have kept going back, to Romans 11, or a thousand years earlier, to the Abrahamic covenant. There are debates where no matter what you say, you will not change the other person’s mind.

This debate has more angles and more nuance, and I could write about them. On this occasion I am focusing solely on this passage from the book of Ezekiel. Nor will I go into the differences between Christian eschatological positions, such as supersessionism, preterism and dispensationalism. I write as someone with a Christian worldview, addressing others who share that worldview in its main foundations.

Let us begin with the prophecy. To start with, it has not been fulfilled in history. This prophecy must be interpreted........

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