What is a State?
Before we speak of irony, we need clarity. Many people — unless they have
studied politics — may not know that the idea of the “modern state” is fairly
new in human history.
For most of human history, societies were organized through tribes,
clans, kingdoms, empires, and religious communities. Borders were fluid,
loyalties shifted, and people identified themselves by kinship, faith, or
language — not by the rigid notion of a state.
This changed in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia, which gave birth to
the modern state system. A state became defined by fixed territorial borders,
centralized authority in the form of a government and bureaucracy, sovereignty
free from outside interference in internal affairs, and international
recognition by other states.
When the State of Israel was declared in 1948, it was created as such a
modern, Westphalian state. It functions like any other: it has borders (though
disputed), a parliament, a prime minister, armies, passports, and treaties.
This is important to stress because the Bible never spoke of a “state” in the
modern sense. It spoke of a people, a covenant, a law, and a land.
The Bible vs. The Modern State of
Israel
If we take the argument of those who say the Bible promises the Jews a
homeland, we must also look honestly at what that biblical vision entailed.
In the biblical model, Israel was a theocracy. God was King and the Torah
served as the constitution. Leaders were prophets, judges, and later kings —
but all were under divine authority, not popular elections. The laws were
covenantal, mixing ritual, moral, civil, and economic commands into a single,
indivisible framework. Punishments were harsh and uncompromising: stoning for
adultery or Sabbath-breaking, restitution for theft, even exile for
disobedience. Most importantly, the land itself was conditional on obedience;
the people were to remain only if they kept the covenant, but if they broke it,
they were to be exiled, as laid out in Deuteronomy 28–30.
In contrast, the modern State of Israel functions as a democracy.
Authority comes from elections, not from divine mandate. Its laws are drawn
largely from English Common Law and modern civil codes, not from the Torah.
Punishments are modern too: prison, fines, and rehabilitation, rather than
stoning or servitude. Land and sovereignty today are grounded not in covenant
but in UN resolutions, wars, and diplomacy.
From my point of view, the biblical promise is not a land title deed in
the modern sense. It is a symbolic, conditional covenant tied to obedience and
justice. But here, I am taking their point of view for the sake of consistency.
The Irony
Here lies the irony: you cannot take the land as a biblical promise and
reject the law that comes with it. You cannot take the cake and eat it too.
Take, for example, the case of stealing. Under the Torah, a thief was
required to repay double, or more, and if unable to pay, could be sold into
servitude to make restitution. In modern Israel, the punishment is
imprisonment, usually up to three years.
Similarly, in the case of adultery, the Torah prescribes that both guilty
parties be stoned to death, whereas in Israel today adultery is not even a
criminal offense — it is only a civil matter considered during divorce.
Sabbath-breaking or idolatry in the Torah carried the death penalty, yet
in Israel today freedom of religion is constitutionally protected, and secular
lifestyles flourish.
Finally, the Torah explicitly commands, “Love the stranger, for you were
strangers in Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34), but in practice, Palestinians and other
minorities often face exclusion and restrictions.
The irony is stark. The biblical covenant is a full package: land, law,
justice, punishment, and ethics. To claim only the land while ignoring the law
is selective, inconsistent, and, frankly, dishonest.
Consistency and Honesty
If you wish to follow man’s law — English Common Law, international law,
and the Westphalian model of states — then be consistent. Respect UN
resolutions and the international agreements that gave Israel legitimacy in
1948.
If you wish to follow God’s law — the Torah and the covenant — then do
not pick and choose. Be prepared to also embrace the biblical punishments, the
Jubilee year debt cancellations, and the full theocratic structure. One cannot
take the biblical promise of land while rejecting the biblical framework of law
and justice. To do so is to claim divine authority for power while ignoring
divine responsibility for justice.
A Call for Integrity
This is not written to insult or to mock, but to appeal to integrity and
consistency.
The modern State of Israel cannot have it both ways. It must be honest.
Either it stands as a modern Westphalian state, accountable to man’s law and
the international community. Or it embraces the biblical theocracy, with all
its laws and punishments. To cherry-pick the land promise while ignoring the
law is the deepest irony of all.
And the Torah itself warns against such double standards:
“Do not have two differing weights in your bag — one heavy, one light. Do
not have two differing measures in your house — one large, one small. You must
have accurate and honest weights and measures… For the Lord your God detests
anyone who deals dishonestly.” (Deuteronomy 25:13–16)
“You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you
must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not
follow their practices. You must obey My laws and be careful to follow My
decrees. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 18:3–4)
Peace.
Anas Zubedy
Penang
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