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Christian support for the restoration of the Jews to their ancient homeland has been around for as long as Christians have been able to read the Bible for themselves. For there they read about God’s covenant with Abraham in which He bequeathed to him and his descendants the land of Canaan. And they read in the Hebrew prophets that although the children of Israel may be exiled from the land for a time, that one day God would regather them to the land one final time, and draw them and then the world unto Himself.
History
Since much of Christian history is stained with the sin of antisemitism the modern movement of Christian support of Israel at first glance looks like a new movement, or aberration that will surely soon correct itself. However, something happened over 500 years ago that changed the course of Christianity and prepared the way for this significant shift in attitude towards the Jewish people. This event was the translation of the Bible into the vernacular language.
As soon as Christians could read the Bible for themselves they attempted to change the state church and make it more like the early church in the New Testament. This in turn brought about great persecution and many had to flee their homes and countries.
They also became aware of the Hebraic roots of Christianity and began studying Hebrew, and the Jewish Feasts, and they identified with the persecuted people of Israel. They also read that God had promised to one day regather the Jewish people to their ancient homeland and they began praying for this to happen. This means that for four hundred years before the state of Israel was established that whole movements of Christians were praying for that day.
As the number of Bible-believing Christians grew so did their influence and their involvement in the re-establishming of Israel. It was Theodore Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, who first used the term Christian Zionist in recognizing Christian participants in the First Zionist Congress in 1897.
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