Why Senator Ted Cruz and Pastor Greg Locke are wrong
How to Get the Lord's Blessings
The current Israel/Gaza/Iran conflict has revealed, if nothing else, the pathetic ethos of modern Zionist Christianity. The bankruptcy of this theology was recently on full display when Pastor Greg Locke sat down for an interview with Owen Shroyer. Locke emphatically declared that:
“God said America will be blessed if we stand with Israel.”
The Biblical verse that Locke so viciously distorts is Genesis 12:3:
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
He not only fails to give the proper context of this verse, but he also attempts to substitute his biased context in a sly, underhanded manner. Shroyer fails to call him out for this. I’m not sure which version of the Bible Locke uses in his sermons, but despite an exhaustive search, I could not find any verse in any version of any Bible that makes such a declaration. It is entirely a fabrication, and a dangerous one, besides being an unauthorized and devilish corruption of the Hebrew scriptures. No sincere Bible student should ever accept Locke’s specious interpretation of this plain scripture.
When this statement was recorded some 3,000 years ago, the USA, the “America” to which Locke refers, did not exist. This means that Locke’s “God said” is a false testimony. God did not say anything remotely akin to what he attributes to Him. Not only did the USA not exist, but Israel also did not exist either as a person or as a national identity. On all counts, Locke’s statement is wrong, misleading, an outrageous affront to the integrity of the scriptures, and a deliberate misquoting dressed up with a “God said.” Unfortunately, the uninformed will not take the time to understand how this false teacher has misled his flock.
Senator Ted Cruz also sat down for a contentious interview with a skeptical Tucker Carlson. Carlson wanted him to explain his apparent rabid support for Israel, and Cruz was not shy in giving his reason, stating at the outset that he was a Christian:
Cruz: The reason is two-fold. Number one: 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.” From my perspective, I want to be on the receiving end of blessings.
Did Cruz attend Sunday School at Pastor Locke’s church? The Senator could not recall precisely where this statement was recorded. Still, out of the Bible’s 31,102 verses, Cruz vaguely remembered this one (Genesis 12:3) from his Sunday School days, sufficient for him to give a distorted paraphrase of it. Given that this statement is made only once in the entire Bible, how could it be that Cruz has crafted his entire political worldview on this singular, needle-in-a-haystack verse? Did his Sunday School teach him to memorize other, more consequential verses, such as the ones that say, “Love God and love your fellow man,” “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” etc.?
A deeply indoctrinated Cruz demonstrated to Tucker his skill at parroting the words of his Sunday School teacher, without discrimination or realization. However, he appears to have been a poor student, failing to verify what he had been taught when he became an adult. Although claiming to be a Christian, he could not demonstrate the conscientiousness of the Bereans, of whom it was said that they searched the scriptures to confirm the Apostles’ message:
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11)
If Senator Cruz could use an obscure Bible verse to formulate and advance his geopolitical views, why shouldn’t those of other faiths in other countries do the same thing? Please note that there is no mention of Israel in Genesis 12:3. The Lord was speaking to Abram, whose name would subsequently be changed to Abraham after he had demonstrated his obedience. The promise of a blessing was specific to Abram. He had earned it due to his willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on the Lord’s order. For this act, the Lord told him that he was going to bless him, bless anyone who blessed him, and curse anyone who cursed him. No one else in this narrative was ever put through such a severe test as Abram; thus, no one else had earned such a personal blessing. This blessing was uniquely his. The Israelites of the kingdom that was subsequently formed rode on the coattails of their obedient patriarch.
When this pronouncement was made, Jacob, whose name would later be changed to Israel, was not yet born, being the future grandchild of Abram through his 90-year-old, formerly childless wife, Sarah. Therefore, there is no justification for concluding that the Lord was telling Abram that those who would bless his grandson, Israel, would be blessed, etc. If that was the Lord’s intent, he could have said so, but this was about Abram, not Jacob/Israel. Cruz, Locke, and the others who misread and misunderstand these verses are either ignorant or deliberately twisting the words of the Lord, or both.
Another salient point is that the Israel of the Tanakh, the Old Testament, is distinct from the Israel of today. When those verses were spoken, there was no Kingdom or nation of Israel. It would be hundreds of years before Jacob’s twelve sons would be considered a kingdom under the Kings Saul and David. Therefore, using this statement to justify support for the modern state of Israel is truly logic-defying. It is a stretch to conclude that the Zionist political entity founded in 1948 has much to do with Abram and his grandchild, Jacob.
For Christians, perhaps the most crucial consideration is to find where, in the entire collection of 7,957 verses that comprise the New Testament — the foundation of Christianity — Jesus, the purported Christian savior, makes the statement about “blessing and cursing Israel.” Jesus makes no such pronouncement. He did not even promise the Judaeans, the Israelites, the blessing of peace. He promised them a sword — war. He did, however, offer some blessings to those who would take up their cross and follow him. Those blessings are outlined in the Beatitudes, as found in Matthew 5, and I would recommend that Pastor Locke and Senator Cruz sit down together and conduct a detailed study of the Beatitudes.
In my youth, my Sunday School lessons often focused on this Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, and we were required to memorize and recite these verses. Both the Pastor and the young future Senator seem to have been prevented from learning the lessons of Matthew 5. Nevertheless, here is how everyone, whether he stands with Israel or not, whether he blesses Israel or not, can obtain the Lord’s blessings. This is also how Sen. Cruz can be sure he’s on “the receiving end of blessings”:
And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Notice that Jesus does not once mention the word Israel, nor does he list a blessing for blessing Israel. There is no…
Blessed are ye if ye bless Israel.
Nor does Jesus say that “America” will be blessed for “standing with Israel.” That statement is simply an unauthorized, speculative Lockeism, i.e., Greg’s own private label Bible interpretation. Followers beware.
Here would have been a good time to reprise that Old Testament verse from Genesis, but Jesus doesn’t. You are blessed if your heart is pure, if you are a peacemaker, if you are merciful, if you are meek, and if you mourn for all the evil being done to others. There is no blessing for being a warmonger, for supporting the murder of our fellow man, or the genocide of helpless children in foreign lands. Those who think otherwise are hypocrites, and the “whited sepulchers” of Matthew 23:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:27)
According to Jesus, Christians are not blessed because they stand with Israel or because they bless Israel. That is manipulative political propaganda clad in the robes of holiness with a “God said” cherry on top. Jesus, however, is ready to heap tons of blessings upon anyone who displays those nine qualities he has enumerated in Matthew’s gospel.
Jesus further explains the path of blessings, and it has nothing to do with blessing the modern State of Israel, the land of Israel, or “standing” with Israel. Please read the following verses from the Gospel of Matthew while contemplating the plight of the people of Gaza, the “least” of the residents of Palestine, where Jesus was born.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31–46)
The Christian’s duty and reward cannot be explained any more succinctly.