Israel or Palestine
“And I will establish My covenant between Me and you [Abraham] and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God…”
Genesis 17:7-8
For all Bible believing people this verse is a given! It makes a clear, unambiguous statement that the Almighty, the Creator of the Universe made an everlasting Covenant with Abraham and gave him and his descendants a portion of land in the Middle East as an everlasting possession. Of course, the prerequisite is that one must accept the Hebrew Bible (OT) as a true and reliable witness to those events of so long ago.
However!
Replacement Theology plus Arab distortion of facts, coupled with biased media reporting, have produced a heavily prejudiced mindset in the West among many well-meaning people that Israel is an illegitimate squatter in the Middle East. This continues to be fuelled by insistent claims from the Palestinian leadership that there is no credible Jewish history anywhere in Jerusalem. If this is bad, what is worse is the fact that no globally recognized Christian institution has taken a clearly visible stand to put an end to such nonsense.
On several occasions we have put the question, “...was the establishment of Israel in 1948 an act of God?” And we shall continue to ask the question! Although there has been a continued historic presence of Jewish people in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Galilee for more than 3000 years, it is the first time in 2000 years that they came together again as a nation; 1948 is therefore a watershed for the Judeo-Christian world. Whether we answer that question in the affirmative or not is a huge issue— either for the church or for the Jewish people! But answer we must; not just silently in our hearts, but in public wherever an opportunity presents itself!
If Jewish and Christian history is true, then we can know that the Jewish people were carried away by the Roman army and we can know that it was a Roman Emperor, Hadrian, who renamed the land Palaestina. The sole reason why Hadrian built a new city where Jerusalem had stood, naming it Aelia Capitolina, was to extinguish the memory of the Jewish people. The evidence of a prolonged Jewish presence in Israel however is rock-solid, i.e. it is there in the very stones preserved in Museums and more is coming to light every day, which proves their history supported by ancient documents. And, of course, Jewish history is engraved in the pages of the Bible, which can only be true or false – with no middle ground.
We have no option but choose between the two!
Yet, the nations of the world insist that the Jewish people have no right to that land because the Arab world declares it.
For all of us it is important that we have a clear understanding of this issue and what is true. If Elijah, the prophet, challenged idolatrous Israel on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:21) his words still hold true for us today, viz. “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”
Just as God calls us to choose between Him and the world, so must we choose between Israel – from whence comes our knowledge of God and our salvation (John 4:22) – and Palestine. History is important, but it must be the history written by God and that is as near to us as our Bible is to our heart. Israel is a line in the sand that will soon become a chasm.
Strategic Praise and Prayer Points:
Ø Please pray that Christians will develop a thirst for a knowledge of authentic history.
Ø Please pray also that God would impart to Christians a deep desire for Biblical knowledge and understanding.
Ø Please pray for strength and wisdom in Christian witness and support for Israel.
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The Courage of Our Conviction
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days ...” Deuteronomy 30:19-20
These words of Moses are some of the most significant in all of Scripture. They link directly with Adam and Eve’s desire to know good and evil as well as with many of Paul’s writings in relation to having to choose between flesh and spirit.
Due to Adam’s rebellion we – his descendants – are compelled to choose virtually non-stop between good and evil.
This means, where the Middle East conflict is concerned we do not have the luxury of choosing to straddle an imaginary median-strip between Israel and the Arab world. However, I am not suggesting that our choice should be the answer of a lottery draw. As Christians we are compelled to search for the truth— not matter how painful it may prove to be. For many Christians to side with the Palestinians may be the easy way out, because their alleged suffering hits up against the Gospel message which naturally sides with the underdog. Most certainly Israel does not appear to fit the category of ‘underdog’ in the Middle East in a military or economic sense. Although, if one steps back from the broader picture one can easily see that there is an imbalance of power of at least 500 to 1 in favour of the Arab world in a military and territorial sense and not to speak of the enormous oil-wealth concentrated in the Arab States.
These issues are certainly highly significant, but the most important issue for Christians should always be, ‘what is God’s perspective?’ The reality here is that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob declared the Land of Israel His personal piece of Real Estate, i.e. ‘… the Lord has chosen Zion … as His dwelling place and designated it as [His] resting place forever’; Psalm 132:13-14.
There are many sincere Christians who side with the Palestinians on compassionate grounds. What many do not see is that the loss of the Old City of Jerusalem to the Arab world means a victory of Allah over the God of Jacob.
The choice is ours whether we take a stand for and support Israel or see the Islamic crescent over all Western Houses of Parliament. Israel is the key!
Strategic Praise and Prayer Points:
Ø Please pray for the courage to stand on Biblical truth.
Ø Please pray that God would enable Christians to make the Biblically correct choices.
Ø Please pray that Israeli diplomats and Politicians may be guided by Godly wisdom.
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The Arab Spring
The self-immolation of a young man in Tunesia on December 17, 2010, Muhamad Bouazizi, set off a chain reaction of events throughout the Middle East. It is doubtful though whether we have seen an end to the subsequent Arab uprisings that were triggered in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria.
But then, what has the suicide of that young Tunesian to do with the trouble in Syria and the impasse between Israeli and Palestinian negotiations? The catalyst is the proposed, unilateral declaration of Palestinian Statehood in September. Whether or not a Palestinian State comes into being is largely immaterial at this moment because a fuse, tied to Arab expectations, has been burning for some time which could potentially ignite the remainder of the Middle East.
Fact is, the Palestinians want their own State irrespective of whether such a goal is realistic and attainable. The Two State Solution, based on the 1949/67 armistice lines is an impossible agenda because it will leave Israel without defensible borders and deny the Jewish world access to its holiest places. The Christians would be OK and of course, so would be the Muslims, but the Jewish people would be robbed of their holiest site leaving them as the only global religion denied of their most sacred site.
Israel can never agree to a relinquishment of the Temple Mount — their holiest site; nor are the Palestinians willing to agree to any deal, which does not include the Old City of Jerusalem. Clearly, this is an impasse which has the potential to lead to similar violence on Israel’s soil as experienced throughout the Arab world. Such a conflict though could lead to much graver consequences for Israel, namely an international military intervention!
At the same time, Israel has also no misgivings that an Iran-sponsored, multi-front war is soon to come (Psalm 83:1-8). The big question though among the leaders of Israel is, how will the nation emerge from such a conflict?
Strategic Praise and Prayer Points:
Ø Pray for God’s direct intervention in Israel based on Ezekiel 34:11 ff.
Ø Please pray for great wisdom among all Jewish and Christian leadership in Israel.
Ø Pray for God’s wisdom among church leaders throughout the world concerning Israel.
Ø Pray that God would raise up much support for Israel wherever the Scriptures are being read (Romans 11:29-31).
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