Peace in the Middle East - III

A History Lesson, Part III

Why are many Western nations (including the U.S.) supporting Israel?

Some are sympathetic for the orphaned nation (Israel). Their existence and right to live in the land under their own form a government – one cannot deny. Anti-Semitism over the centuries cries out for mercy and justice. Western nations, including the U.S., generally respond to the needs of the oppressed.

The problem lies in identifying the oppressed and the oppressor. Who was there first? Who fired first? Who deserves retribution? How much retribution is warranted? What about the protection of innocent civilians on both sides? To whom should we be more sympathetic?

Guilt plays a part of the equation as well. The Holocaust and the guilt over other periods of mistreatment of the Jewish people (sometimes at the hand of Christians) have sparked a kind of Zionism. We feel somewhat responsible for the difficult plight of the Jews and so take interest in the state of Israel.

Some support the Israelis because they have a strong personal disdain for Muslims. They see Muslims (75% of Palestinians) as the enemy, and have an "any enemy of the Muslims is a friend of mine" attitude.

It's important to note that the most recent fighting in Gaza was provoked by Hamas, the ousted political party/terrorist group whose charter calls for the defeat of Israel. One can barely fault Israel for wanting to defend themselves. In fact, many Western nations support Israel today as part of the global fight against terrorism.

Now, fuel each of those reasons to support Israel (and there are several more) with a dose of biblical prophecy. Christians, particularly those who hold to a Pre-millennium Dispensationalist view of end-times, place great emphasis on the restoration of Israel and the re-establishment of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Does the Bible predict a restored Israel and Temple? Or has the Jews "chosen" status as the people of God ended?

Jesus is the Answer

There are many questions, but really just one answer – Jesus Christ. I know that some, particularly in the political world, would call that naïve, but it's the truth. Only through the power of the cross and Christ can the two be completely reconciled (Ephesians 2:11-22).

Let us pray for peace in the Middle East, but more importantly, let us pray that they (Jews and Gentiles) would come to know Christ as Lord and Savior.

Peace in the Middle East - II

A History Lesson, Part II

So whose land is it anyway?

The Israelis claim historical rights to the land and a divine mandate given to Abraham to possess it (Genesis 12 & 17). They claim that the Canaanites consisted of various people groups who happen to dwell in the land, but were not really organized occupants. So, the Jews say they possessed the land first. Palestinians claim more recent possession of the land and Palestinian Muslims add a divine mandate of their own saying they have the latest and greatest revelation from God. In their view Mohammed is greater than Moses and Jesus, so their claim trumps Israel’s.

Religiously, the Muslims have no basis to claim they were there first, because Islam wasn't founded until after the Holy Lands had been occupied by both Jews and Christians. Unable to make a religious claim to the land, some Palestinian leaders have attempted to draw an ethnic or racial connection between themselves and the Canaanites. However, it would be difficult, if not impossible; to prove which Arabs are directly connected to the Canaanites.

Nevertheless, the Palestinians make a strong argument on the point of most recent possession. Can another people group return to their ancestral land centuries after losing it and succeed in establishing its rightful claim? How would you feel if descendants of the early settlers of Salem came into town and claimed your property, saying they were here first? Chances are you would fight them (in the courts, of course).

That’s what Israel did in 1948 and in the process displaced 700,000 Palestinians to make room for the new state. And now we see the Palestinians trying to do the same to Israel. The word “displaced” may not be the best word to use because both Jews and Palestinians have been in the land all along – no one really leaves. One is in power – the other lives under “enemy” occupation.

The balance of power boils down to numbers and external support. Currently, the Jews have the numbers. Within Israel's borders, 80 percent (5.64 million) of the population is Jewish, 19 percent (1.39 million) is Muslim and roughly 1 percent is Christian. In Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip), largely controlled by Palestinians, the population is 75 percent Muslim and 17 percent Jewish. Israel slightly has the upper hand, but the number of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is growing rapidly.

It’s obvious that the balance of power in the Middle East is extremely unstable. Woodrow Wilson said, “Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together. There must be, not a balance of power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries, but an organized peace.”

(to be continued)

Journey through Ephesians

My new sermon series comes from Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus (Ephesians). It is a rich letter that addresses the journey we make to God (connect), the journey we make with God (grow), the journey we make for God (serve), and what it means to enjoy the journey (celebrate).

To have it track along with our church's mission statement – Helping others find their way back to God by connecting with Christ, growing in Christ, serving Christ, and celebrating Christ – it was necessary to skip around a bit, instead of covering it straight through from beginning to end.

I'm looking forward to the series as it contains challenging topics and it will force me to prepare expository messages.

Peace in the Middle East - I

A History Lesson, Part I

I had a few people ask me about the current fighting in Gaza. They had good questions – the answers of which I'm not sure I have, but perhaps a little history lesson will help sort through the mess.

Some say the struggle is about religion? Religion plays a part, but not all Arabs are Muslims and many Jews no longer practice Judaism as a religion, nor are they even looking for the Messiah – they are secular Jews. It's difficult to say it's about religion.

Is it racial? Yes, indeed. There is a lot of racial and tribal tension in that region.

Is it about land – a relatively small piece of real estate bordered by Egypt, Syria, Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea? Palestinians and Jews both claim the land as theirs. Israel claims they were there first. The Palestinians say it's a matter of who has controlled the land most recently and for the longest time. History can be cited to support and defeat both claims.

Whether it's religious, racial, about land, oil, or any combination of those, the Middle Eastern conflict between Arabs and Jews will be a tough nut to crack. If I were to pick one of the three, I would say the current conflict in the Middle East is about land, which has been contested for thousands of years.

Each side points to different time periods to stake their claim, but they ignore all other times. Both sides agree the land's history begins with early civilizations thousands of years ago. The first known inhabitants were the Canaanites, a collection of Semitic people who developed complex societies administered through city-states. The Canaanites, according to biblical and historical records, worshipped fertility gods and used sex and mystical wizardry in their religious rites. The Old Testament condemns those practices as "detestable to the Lord."

The Bible says the children of Israel, acting on the promise of God, took possession of the land from the Canaanites. For the next 500 years, Israel flourished and expanded under the leadership first of judges and later kings such as Saul, David and Solomon. David made Jerusalem Israel's capital around 1000 B.C., and Solomon built the first temple there around 960 B.C.

By 720 B.C., however, Israel had been crushed by the Assyrians, and 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel were lost in the ensuing dispersion. The remnant of Jewish people held on to parts of the land for several more centuries, suffering under the rule of Babylonians, Greeks, Hasmoneans and Romans. Israel held together in some form through the time of Christ until 70 A.D., when Roman troops destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the Jewish people far and wide in what is known as the Diaspora. For the next 900 years, control of the Holy Land went back and forth between various occupying forces, including the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Christian Crusaders, the Mamluks and the Ottoman Empire.

Muslims were the third major religious entity to lay claim to the land, arriving as a distinct faith group in the seventh century A.D. Their founding prophet, Mohammad, was born in A.D. 570 and wrote the Koran in A.D. 610. By 691, Muslims had built the Dome of the Rock on the site of the destroyed Jewish temple. This is the third-most-holy site in Islam because according to Islamic tradition it is the site from which Mohammed ascended into heaven.

Jews and Muslims claim a common heritage through the patriarch Abraham, with Jews tracing their lineage and faith through Abraham's son, Isaac, and Muslims tracing theirs through Abraham's son, Ishmael. Jewish Scripture records Ishmael as the child of Abraham and his wife's servant, Hagar. Islam, however, considers Hagar Abraham's second wife.

Jews and Muslims co-existed in the land, although Muslims had the upper hand through most of the latter half of the first millennium after Christ. They coexisted largely because of outside domination and because the Jewish people had not yet begun returning to the land in large numbers.

Four hundred years of rule by the Ottoman Empire ended in 1917 with a British conquest, and the British prime minister pledging support for a "Jewish national home in Palestine." That never fully materialized, however, until after World War II and the Holocaust. European and American sentiment for a Jewish state led to concrete action. And that, imposed by the United Nations in 1948, set the stage for conflict that has raged between Arabs and Israelis until the present.

With consent from the British, the victors of World War II carved out a new Israeli state, hoping to create a place of refuge for persecuted Jews worldwide. To do this, however, they made hundreds of thousands of Palestinians homeless and not all too happy.