Addressing the Twisted, False Stated Position on “the Chosen People” by Tucker Carlson

Part One

Tucker Carlson’s False Statements about Israel

Tucker Carlson seems to be his own work in progress on the meaning of Israel as “the chosen people.”  He interviews many various conflicting positions on this issue.  To see his situation in a generous way, I think he’s confused.  This is what he said in a now popular youtube reel or short from his program:

There is no ‘chosen people.’  The chosen people are people who choose Jesus.  That is the Christian message right there.  It is not an antisemitic message by the way.  It’s the Christian message.  It’s the core Christian message, and yet there are many self-described representatives of the Christian faith who are daily sending a different message.  And we should be very clear that whatever this is, it is not Christianity.  It is heresy. . . . .

The Christian message is universal.  That’s the whole point of it.  The chosen people in Christianity are those who choose Jesus.  The entire New Testament is that story and anyone who says otherwise has not read it or is lying.

So that’s a very strong statement by someone who just recently began himself even to read the Bible.  His statement itself is false though.

I’m not going to call what Carlson says, heresy or lying, as strong as he said it, because I believe he’s just ignorant.  Instead, I would like to help him and others in their understanding as to what the Bible says.  I’m only guessing in saying that Carlson understands that Israel at least was at one time “the chosen people” of God in the Old Testament, but lost that status in the New Testament.  He is likely thinking that Israel was replaced by the church in the New Testament.  I’m not assuming, like Carlson asserts about others, that he has not read the Bible.  He doesn’t get what’s happening in the Bible that he’s read.

The Chosen People Language

It is not as though this concept of Israel as “the chosen people” just arose out of a vacuum.  It’s actually a long time, historical position, that thousands, when they were growing up, heard in their Sunday Schools in Bible believing and teaching churches.  This would, therefore, involve a lot of people in this conspiracy against what Carlson speculates is the truth  Here, however, is a more thorough version than the simple Sunday School version that children still hear.

The Bible declares Israel’s status as God’s chosen people through divine election, irrevocable covenants, and promises of future restoration, emphasizing that God’s faithfulness persists despite Israel’s temporary unbelief.  God’s election of Israel in the Old Testament is unconditional, rooted in His sovereign love rather than Israel’s merit.  His election of Israel then serves as a channel for global blessing. Romans 9–11 show that Israel’s privileges (adoption, covenants, promises, and the Messiah) remain intact, with a remnant always preserved and a national salvation awaiting (Romans 9:4–5; 11:1–2, 5).

Israel’s Unbelief Cannot Nullify God’s Unconditional Promise

Genesis 12:3 promises that Abraham’s descendants (Israel) will bless all families of the earth, a pledge that God upholds eternally, as unbelief cannot nullify divine faithfulness (Romans 3:3–4; 11:29: “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”). Romans 11:28 reinforces this: Israel is “beloved for the fathers’ sake,” ensuring their future grafting back into the olive tree of promise (Romans 11:23–24).

Deuteronomy 7:6 declares Israel a “holy people” chosen by God out of all nations “to be a special people unto himself,” not for their greatness but His love and oath to the patriarchs (Deuteronomy 7:7–8).  This is foundational, echoed in Acts 3 where Peter addresses Israel directly as God’s elect, urging repentance for restoration.

The Reaffirmation of God’s Covenant with National Israel

Jeremiah 31:35–37 declare Israel’s descendants will stand as a nation before God as long as the sun, moon, and stars endure, that is, forever, linking their perpetuity to creation’s order. Romans 9:4 lists Israel’s unique possessions: adoption as sons, glory, covenants (Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, New), giving of the law, temple service, and promises.   The Apostle Paul reaffirms this in the New Testament in Romans 15:8:

Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.

Jesus was a minister or a servant of the circumcision, which means that He came as a Jew.  Jesus Himself was circumcised as a baby and then He  comes to Jews, saying (Matthew 15:24, cf. 10:6):

I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Jesus was a circumcised Jew sent to the Jews for the purpose of the truth of God to confirm the promises made to the fathers. Therefore, Jesus came then to fulfill prophecy.  If He hadn’t come to fulfill the promises made to the fathers, then God would not be true, God would be a liar.

The “fathers” were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord Jesus Christ came as the perfect minister of the Jews to fulfill those promises made by God to those fathers, that is, reiterated to them in the multiple repeats of that covenant initially to Abraham.  Jesus came for the truth of God, because the truth of God is at stake.  As God, Jesus verified what God (Jesus Himself) had said to these Patriarchs. This parallels what Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, coming to fulfill the Old Testament, which also means that He verified the promise of God, saying that God speaks the truth.

Mary and Zacharias in Luke 1

Jesus came to save, but He also did for other related reasons, such as proving God true, confirming or ratifying His covenant, including with His own blood on the cross.  When Jesus’ earthly mother Mary spoke in what people call the “Mangificat” in Luke 1, because she says, “My soul doth magnify the Lord” (verse 46), she ends that declaration in verse 55:

As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

She is saying that God was doing what He had told Abraham that He would do for Abraham’s descendants — Israel.  In the same chapter, Luke 1, Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father, having heard of the birth of his own child, says (verses 68-70):

68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zacharias reaffirms this same teaching, that Jesus came for the reiteration and confirmation of the truth of God, which reiterated in the chain from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob, and then to the prophets about the salvation of Israel.  Jesus is another in that chain.

Regathering and Conversion of Israel

Deuteronomy 30:1–6 promise that after an exile for curses (Deuteronomy 28–29), God will regather Israel, restore fortunes, circumcise hearts, and enable obedience. This extends then also to Ezekiel 36:24–28, which expresses Israel’s gathering from nations, cleansing from idols, and their new heart or Spirit for covenant-keeping, and Ezekiel 37:21–28, which promises the regathering of Israel as one nation under Davidic rule, with an everlasting covenant of peace.  The Apostle Paul again provides confirmation of this in Romans 11:1–2 and 11:26 in fulfillment of  Zechariah 12:10–13:1 when Israel repents at the time of Christ’s second coming.

Romans 11:26 prophesies, “All Israel shall be saved,” which is ethnic or national Israel experiencing mass conversion at Christ’s return, fulfilling prophecies like the Deliverer coming from Zion to remove ungodliness (Romans 11:27, quoting Isaiah 59:20–21). This ties to Old Testament regathering promises, such as Ezekiel 36:24–27 (God gathers Israel, cleanses them, and gives to them a new heart and Spirit) and Zechariah 12:10 (they mourn for the pierced Messiah, leading to a cleansing fountain in Zechariah 13:1).

Zechariah 13:8-9 describe a future purification and salvation of Israel as a nation, where two-thirds of the population perishes but one-third is preserved, refined, and brought into covenant relationship with God.  The “one-third” represents a faithful remnant of the nation preserved through trial, symbolizing God’s mercy amid judgment. It aligns with broader biblical themes of remnant theology (Isaiah 10:20–22; Romans 9:27).  “Israel shall be saved” means the nation, not every individual Jew.

The Twelve Tribes of Israel

Matthew 19:28 is an instance of what one might call a minor detail validating God’s continued fulfillment of His promises to ethnic or national Israel.  It’s very clear in its language.

And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The twelve tribes of Israel is ethnic or national Israel.  They have a future where the apostles will sit over them on thrones as future kings of leaders.

The “regeneration” is the Millennial Kingdom, the one thousand year (Revelation 20:4-6) reign of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, over the earth.  “Regeneration” is “rebirth,” which is the rebirth of the earth.  The twelve tribes of Israel are in fact, the twelve tribes of Israel.  Why are they there?  Because they are His chosen people.  New Testament saints are grafted into Israel’s root (Romans 11:17–18).  They do not supplant Israel, as God’s plan includes Israel’s kingdom role.  Among other places, Revelation 7:4–8 attest to this, where you can see 144,000, 12,000 from each of Israel’s tribes.

The Modern State of Israel

As all of the above relates to the modern state of Israel, their existence now is at least a partial fulfillment of Amos 9:14–15.  Those verses say that Israel shall build the waste cities and inhabit them and shall no more be rooted up.  This is also seen in Isaiah 62:2–4, where Gentiles [nations] shall see Israel’s righteousness, who is renamed “delighted” ones and “married” there.

The current global Jewish return is preparatory.  The modern regathering from dispersion  is a physical phase, awaiting spiritual fulfillment.  Israel’s confession of iniquity (Isaiah 52-53, Zechariah 12:10) leads to remembering the covenant, so repentance triggers full restoration, but modern events demonstrate God’s ongoing commitment to the land and people.

Rejection of Supersessionism or Replacement Theology

Even though, yes, God chooses those who choose Him, scripture speaks of this choosing not as a replacement of ethnic Israel.  Instead, New Testament saints, are grafted into Israel’s spiritual blessings (Romans 11:17-24).  The saints do not take Israel’s inheritance and cancel God’s national promises to Israel.  By no means has God rejected His covenant people (Romans 11:1).  This replacement theology or supersessionism dishonors God’s character, making Him unfaithful to His Word, fuels anti-Semitism historically (from Augustine to Luther), and weakens evangelism toward Jews by implying God’s plan shifted.

Tucker Carlson calls the actual truth, “heresy,” in his youtube presentation.  He warns that the people speaking scripture actually haven’t read it and are lying.  In fact, his statements or teaching are the lies.  I’m not saying he’s lying, but that he’s repeating the false teaching that arose centuries after Jesus started His true church in Jerusalem.  Unbelievers perverted by allegorical interpretation and neo-Platonic philosophy began this heresy Carlson now espouses.  Instead, the Bible calls true believers to bless Israel (Genesis 12:3) and anticipate its salvation as part of God’s glory (Romans 11:11-12).

More to Come