Recently I joined IRD alumnus Luke Moon of Two Hammers to examine the deeper moral and theological questions raised by Tucker Carlson’s interview with Mike Huckabee about America’s relationship with Israel.
Together, we explore the ethics of war, the responsibilities of nations confronting evil, and how Christian moral reasoning should inform conversations about conflict, justice, and the defense of innocent life.
Drawing from the just war tradition and Christian ethics, Luke and I address the broader arguments and implications behind the claims circulating in this debate.
I hope that you enjoy our conversation viewable on the Two Hammers YouTube channel below.
Comment by Wilson R. on March 9, 2026 at 1:37 pm
One point I’ve never seen addressed by those, like Huckabee, who cite God’s promise to Abraham as justification for Israel confiscating land from Palestinian farmers and beyond.
Yes, the Bible affirms that God gave this land to Abraham and his descendants forever.
But the Bible also tells us that God exercised the option to take that land away. It happened to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It happened with the Babylonian exile.
In fact, in the 25 centuries between 587 BC and 1948 CE, Abraham’s descendants (at least the Jewish ones) ruled that land for only about 100 years. Their rulers were Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantine Christians, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, and British imperialists.
And I never hear one-state-solution Zionists note the distinction between giving the land to Abraham’s descendants and giving it to Jews. Through Ishmael, Arabs also claim Abraham as their ancestor, and God promises Abraham that Ishmael’s descendants also will become a great nation. One might reasonably argue that giving some of the Holy Land to Arabs was also the fulfillment of a promise.
Comment by David on March 10, 2026 at 7:30 am
Genetics have shown the Jews, Palestinians, and Lebonese are all basically Canaanites with admixtures of the various groups which passed through the area. European Jews are 40% European, often from Northern Italy, reflecting the deportation of urban Judean populations often into slavery. Rural Judeans who remained eventually converted to Christianity and then to Islam. The coming out of Egypt story is widely discredited by historians and archeologists.
“The consensus of modern scholars on the historicity of the Exodus is that the Pentateuch does not give an accurate account of the origins of the Israelites, who appear instead to have formed as an entity in the central highlands of Canaan in the late second millennium BCE (around the time of the Late Bronze Age collapse) from the indigenous Canaanite culture. Most modern scholars believe that some elements in the story of the Exodus might have some historical basis, but that any such basis has little resemblance to the story told in the Pentateuch.”
Comment by John on March 10, 2026 at 12:20 pm
David,
The Exodus story reflects a long shared history between Egypt and Canaan. Throughout long periods Canaan was a vassal of Egypt. Semitic peoples were wondering into Egypt throughout history to trade, farm, and serve as mercenaries in the military. One group known as the Hyksos even ruled Egypt for a period. Most likely the Exodus story reflects ancient memories of a time prior to the founding of Israel when Canaanites were ruled by Egypt and many moved back-and-forth between the two lands.
Comment by Wilson R. on March 10, 2026 at 3:03 pm
I know the historical context can be challenging for many Christians who have literal or inerrantist views of scripture. But this is an issue where I think the question can be settled even with a literal view of the text.
The text says:
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” (Genesis 12:7)
The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. (Genesis 13:14-15)
Nowhere in the text does God promise the land to the Jewish people. He promises it to the descendants of Abram (who isn’t even Abraham at this point). Last I checked, Jews acknowledge Arabs as descendants of Abraham through Ishmael. Ergo…