By Rev’d Canon Dr Jules Gomes

“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” When Rudyard Kipling wrote those words in The Ballad of East and West (1889), he could hardly have imagined that one of the greatest contrasts between East and West today would concern attitudes toward the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

Kipling was born in Bombay, where Jews had lived peacefully for centuries. I was also raised in Bombay and grew up surrounded by reminders of India’s remarkable Jewish heritage, including the historic David Sassoon Library. Unlike Europe, India never developed a tradition of antisemitism. Jews lived there for over two thousand years without suffering state-sponsored persecution.

That history stands in striking contrast to Christian Europe. While Europe produced centuries of expulsions, pogroms and eventually the Holocaust, India consistently welcomed Jewish communities. It is one of history’s great ironies that a predominantly non-Christian civilisation protected the Jewish people while much of Christendom rejected them.

Today, another irony is unfolding.

Across much of the Western Church, supersessionist theology is enjoying renewed influence, often questioning Israel’s continuing place in God’s purposes. Meanwhile, churches throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America are embracing Christian Zionism with growing conviction.

As Thomas Fretwell observes, regions once known for liberation theology are witnessing a remarkable rise in Christian Zionism, while traditional strongholds in Europe and North America increasingly drift toward replacement theology. Historian Daniel Hummel likewise notes that the movement’s centre of gravity has shifted decisively to the Global South.

This shift cannot simply be explained by Pentecostalism or prosperity theology. Rather, it reflects a fresh reading of Scripture.

For many believers in the Global South, Israel is not primarily a political issue or an eschatological curiosity. It is evidence that God keeps His covenant. If God remains faithful to His promises to Israel despite centuries of exile and suffering, then Christians can trust Him to remain faithful to every promise He has made in Christ.

This perspective naturally restores the biblical theme of blessing.

Beginning with Abraham, God declared, “I will bless those who bless you,” while promising that through Israel all nations would be blessed. The New Testament never cancels that promise. Instead, believing Gentiles are graciously incorporated into God’s redemptive plan while Israel continues to occupy its unique covenantal place in salvation history.

Consequently, support for Israel is not merely a political preference. It flows from confidence in the character of God Himself. Israel’s preservation demonstrates that God’s promises are irrevocable and His covenant faithfulness endures through history.

This helps explain why Christian Zionism resonates so strongly throughout the Global South. Churches that have experienced poverty, persecution and instability readily recognise Israel’s biblical story of exile, restoration and hope. They see Israel not as a colonial project but as living testimony to the faithfulness of God.

The remarkable growth of Christian Zionism across Africa, Asia and Latin America therefore represents more than a demographic trend. It signals a theological recovery. These churches have rediscovered blessing as an essential element of the foundation of faith: the God who fulfilled His promises to the Patriarchs, who remains faithful to Israel, is the same God who has brought salvation to the nations through Jesus the Jewish Messiah.

Perhaps Kipling’s famous observation no longer holds. In the debate over Israel, East and West have indeed met. But not in the way he imagined. Increasingly, it is the churches of the Global South that are reminding the West of a biblical truth it once proclaimed with confidence: God’s faithfulness to Israel remains good news for all nations.