Pastor Dumisani Washington didn’t mince words when he stepped up to preach on Sunday, October 5th. “I don’t care what else your pastor gets right,” he told the congregation. “If he gets Israel wrong, find another church.” The founder and CEO of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI) repeated the statement for emphasis, making clear that a church’s position on Israel is not a peripheral issue but strikes at the heart of Biblical truth itself. He delivered a Biblical case for Israel support, presenting his case that replacement theology aligns with Satan’s war against Israel as described in Revelation 12, making it a core theological issue rather than a peripheral political one.
His message came at a moment when American churches face increasing pressure to distance themselves from Israel. From college campuses to social media, voices claiming to speak for justice demand that Christians side with those who call for Israel’s destruction. Washington’s sermon offered a counter-narrative grounded not in politics but in Scripture itself. Younger evangelicals especially are abandoning Israel, questioning the Biblical role as “God’s Chosen People”, and returning to replacement theology.
Washington’s sermon centered on what he called “the doctrine of demons”: replacement theology. Also known as supersessionism, this teaching claims the church has replaced Israel as God’s chosen people. Washington argued that Scripture shows Satan actively pursuing Israel even after Christ’s resurrection. “If God is done with Israel,” he asked, “why does John tell us that the enemy is still trying to destroy her?”
The question strikes at a theological contradiction. Revelation 12 describes the dragon pursuing the woman who gave birth to the Messiah. If God had abandoned Israel, Satan’s continued assault would be pointless. Washington contended that replacement theology doesn’t just misread Scripture but aligns with the enemy’s agenda against God’s covenant people.
“Replacement theology is the doctrine of demons,” Washington declared, drawing applause from the congregation. He pointed to Romans 11, where Paul confronts early Gentile believers who claimed God had finished with the Jews. Paul called such thinking “arrogant, proud, boastful, presumptuous,” warning the church not to boast against the natural branches of God’s olive tree.
Washington noted that Christians have sung Psalm 121 for generations: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” But virtually every Christian version omits verse four: “Behold, He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.” Jewish congregations center their prayers on that exact verse because it speaks to God’s eternal covenant.
“The church has unconsciously erased Israel over almost 2,000 years,” Washington said. Not through deliberate malice in every case, but through gradually severing Jesus from His Jewish identity. He reminded his audience that the Messiah they worship is “a Torah keeping, Shabbat keeping, kosher eating Jewish rabbi.”
The sermon took direct aim at Christians who claim they don’t hate Jews but oppose Israel’s government. Washington dismissed the distinction. “It doesn’t say pray for the peace of Bibi Netanyahu,” he said. God’s command is to pray for Jerusalem itself, regardless of which political coalition holds power. Israel’s enemies don’t care whether the government leans left or right. They want to destroy the nation because of what it represents.
Washington addressed common deflections about focusing solely on the gospel without “getting bogged down” in Israel questions. He argued that preaching Jesus requires acknowledging His Jewish heritage. “When Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus at 8 days old for his mala, his circumcision, Matthew says, ‘As it is written in Moses.’ You can’t get away from it,” he said.
He pointed to Revelation describing the redeemed singing “the song of Moses and the lamb.” The song of Moses celebrates God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Why would believers sing that ancient song when Christ returns unless God’s covenant with Israel remains active?
The pastor concluded with a warning. Jesus will return for “a church without spot or wrinkle. And one spot and wrinkle is the hatred of Israel.” He asked how Christ could come for a church aligned with those who call Him a Palestinian or equate Israel’s defense forces with terrorist organizations.
During a question-and-answer session following the sermon, Washington fielded challenges about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, accusations that Jews control American foreign policy, and claims that supporting Israel means endorsing every government action. He dismissed conspiracy theories linking Israel to events from JFK’s assassination to 9/11 as “lies straight from the KGB playbook,” noting that Soviet disinformation campaigns created the modern Palestinian narrative specifically to drive a wedge between Israel and Western Christians.
When asked about peace agreements between Israel and Arab nations, Washington called them “good until they ain’t,” noting that countries like Saudi Arabia fund Wahhabism while pursuing peace treaties. “You say you’re my friend and we going to make a little treaty, but you paying everybody to destroy the Washington family,” he said. “You know what you can do with your treaty?”
The sermon drew sharp lines at a moment when evangelical Christianity fractures over Israel. Voices on the political left have long criticized Israeli policies, but Washington noted that anti-Israel sentiment now surges among white evangelicals on the right, naming Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene as examples. “The enemy is trying to destroy Israel, any hint of the presence of Messiah, and those grafted in by the blood of the lamb,” he said.
Washington’s central argument remained theological rather than political. A pastor who teaches replacement theology, who claims God is finished with the Jewish people, is not making a peripheral error. He is contradicting the Biblical narrative from Genesis through Revelation. And for Washington, that makes finding another church not just advisable but necessary.
“If he gets Israel and the Jewish people wrong, I don’t care what else he gets right,” Washington repeated. The line had become his refrain, and his audience understood he meant every word.
Pastor Dumisani Washington is founder and CEO of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI), an organization working to strengthen relationships between Christians, Jews, and Israel across multiple nations. A sought-after speaker on Israel and Biblical prophecy, Washington has dedicated his ministry to countering replacement theology and exposing anti-Semitism within Christian communities. His work includes extensive travel throughout Africa and the United States, building bridges between pro-Israel Christians and Jewish communities worldwide.
