The War in Israel
Our Duty and Responsibility
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
OPENING: - The Bible says, Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge”. No doubt last Sunday Morning and for sure this Sunday churches all over will be saying “Let’s pray for Israel”, because on last Saturday, October 7, 2023, Hamas, a militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, a densely populated coastal Palestinian enclave the size of Washington, D.C., and home to more than two million people attacked Israel, killing 206 people at a music festival, going into individual homes taking hostages, killing women and children. The attack was vicious and swift.
I read were one reporter stated that October 7, 2023, was Israel’s 911. Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei stated that they did not order the attack on Israel but they “Kissed the hand of those that did”. This after the United States released 6 billion dollars to Iran about a month ago and the United States is one of Israel’s biggest supporters and allies.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war against Hamas stating that “Every Hamas Member Is a Dead Man” as Israel Forms Unity Government to Fight Terrorists.
Israel is searching for more than 100 hostages, including Americans, believed to have been taken to Gaza by Hamas. President Biden labeled the actions of Hamas as “beyond the pale” in a speech Wednesday.
The attacks on Israel and the declaration of war are devastating and is causing people all around the world to be on edge wondering if this could be the start of something bigger and possibly even World War III. People are on high alert because of threats that have been broadcasted over the media airways, protest all over supporting both Israel and Hamas have been very active. People have been warned not to gather in large crowds for fear of some kind of retaliation.
News media has had people saying Hamas needs to be stopped at all costs, they need to be eliminated and never allowed to rise again.
If we listen to the indoctrination of Evangelical Evangelist, Prophesying Prognosticators, and Tantalizing Televangelist who teach a messed-up theology of the end times and stress that a resurgent Israel and a rebuilt temple on the Temple Mount as God ordained signs of Christ’s Second Coming will hold to the idea that Israel are the “good guys”, and the Palestinians/Hamas are the “bad guys”. They proclaim that we must as Christians be obligated to support Israel or suffer the wrath of God. However, many of these people are the same ones that preach the heretical doctrine of the curse of Cannan being the Black Race and therefore affirm the justification of slavery and racism in the world today.
These same people are the ones who manipulate scripture and teach that we are automatically to support Israel because Israel is God’s chosen people and any attack against Israel is an attack against God and since we are God’s children then we are being attacked as well because any attack on Israel is an attack on our extended family. So, we have preachers and so-called prophets that will say we must support Israel at all costs, that the President of the United States must call up the troops and send the U.S Military in full force to support Israel from the terrorist and if we don’t then we will suffer the wrath of God. They convince people that to support Israel they must give, give, and give again of their hard-earned money in support of Israel to maintain and increase their hold on the land and for protection for that is the Will of God or else we will suffer the wrath of God. According to Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness” it has nothing to do with rather we support Israel or not.
So often we strive for the simple and most direct solution to a problem like eliminate Hamas, but that’s simply not possible in this situation. Yes, what Hamas has done is despicable and we can say that Israel is the victim in this current situation but to say that they are without sin is to blindly accept and ignore the atrocities committed by them as well.
Understand this current war is the latest explosion in the nearly 100 years of financed, supported, and cheered Israeli colonization, apartheid, and genocide against the Palestinian people. Understand the Nation of Israel, Modern Day Israel is not Biblical Israel or True Israel and has no Eschatological bearing on the plan of God. By the way this Modern Day Nation of Israel are not the chosen people of God, and are also guilty of atrocities against the Palestinian people.
Ashlee Wiest-Laird, pastor of First Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain, Mass., who served four years as the Southern Baptist chaplain at Harvard University and then spent a year working with Sabeel Liberation Theology Center and the Middle East Council of Churches in Jerusalem explains it like this:- “What is happening now in Palestine/Israel is a natural outcome of 75 years of colonization and oppression. Of the 2.1 million people living in the Gaza Strip, two-thirds are refugees from areas that were incorporated into the state of Israel in 1948. Not only have they been denied the right to return to their homes, but since the Oslo Accords they and their Gazan neighbors have effectively been prisoners of war. Trapped on a tiny piece of land, chronically denied water, electricity and economic development, Gazans endure the worst of the Palestinian experience. For the last 15 years, they have additionally suffered repeated attacks and bombings by the Israeli military that have killed and wounded thousands.” She went on to say “If the atrocities faced by Palestinians in Gaza were happening in the Ukraine, the world would be mortified. And yet, when in desperation, Palestinians fight back, they are labeled terrorists.”
EXAMPLE: - If I came to your house locked you in the basement took all your stuff as mine terrorized you and committed horrible atrocities against you, mistreated you and claimed that your house was mine and one day you escaped the basement and killed me – who would be labeled the terrorist.
Now I know there may be some people that are thinking Bishop Maughmer has lost it talking about Israel is not the Biblical Israel, they are NOT the heir of God’s promise, they DO NOT have a Divine Right to the Land and are in fact terrorist themselves. That the support of Israel today is a smoke screen that is used to propagate financial gain for a select group Not God’s Chosen and that the Nation of Israel – Modern Day Israel has nothing to do with the Abrahamic Covenant or God at all. They are nothing more than a political theocratic entity called Zionism. If you just stick with me, I am going to show you through scripture who Israel is and our duty and responsibility to her.
My mission today is to open blinded eyes, free entangled minds, and cause you not to unconditionally accept the words that may come out of my mouth but to search the scriptures, to do as 2 Timothy 2:15 instructs “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” and understand our duty and responsibility as Children of God and as Christians.
Prayer: -
Scriptures: - Luke 21:20-24, Romans 11, Galatians 3:16, Genesis 12, 15, & 17, Galatian 3:16, Joshua 21:41-45.
Definition: - The name Israel is used 2431 times in the Bible, 2+4+3+1=10 which is Divine Order. Israel means one who contends with or struggles with God Genesis 32:28 says, “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed”. The primary thought throughout the Bible is the redemption of humanity. Those that identify with the name of Jesus are God’s people, chosen for a purpose. So, Israel ultimately means God’s people and has nothing to do with a piece of land.
The Promise: - We must start here because it is this promise that makes Modern Day Israel believe that they have a Divine right to a land and is the basis for the indoctrination of much of the church today. Genesis 12:5-7 says, “And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him”. That was the promise God made with Abram, it was an unconditional promise, it was based not upon Abram but upon the Word of God. God promised that Abram’s seed will be given this land. It is this promise right here that the people of Israel, the Jews claim they have a Divine Right to the land. It is this promise right here that Evangelical preachers indoctrinate people with and try to convince them that see God promised Abram that He would give the land to his seed. However, notice there is no time limit, God never said forever He only promised Abram that He would give it to them.
Then in Genesis 15:7-21 God makes a covenant with Abram which was sealed by God symbolically passing through pieces of animal flesh. God says in verses 18-21 “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites”. In the middle of this covenant making event, the future of Israel is spelled out in verse 13-17 bondage in Egypt for 400 years, judgment of Egypt, the Exodus and entrance into the land.
Understand that at this point in time Abram does not have a seed also what is utterly important is that it says seed singular not seeds. WATCH THIS: - The land promised to Abram was fulfilled just as God said, after bondage in Egypt, the Plagues on Egypt, the Exodus then after 40 years of wondering in the wilderness because of disobedience they enter into the promise land. If we look at Joshua 21:41-45 says, “All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs. These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus were all these cities. And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass”. So, God fulfilled His promise to Abram that his seed would have possession of the land, but God never said it was forever it was conditional and many verses in Deuteronomy explain the Mosaic covenant “do this and live do - this and die – do this and be cast out of the land”. If Israel ever went contrary to God’s Laws, went whoring after other gods or broke covenant in any way they were assured by God that they would be cast out of the land. In short, their unfaithfulness had serious consequences they lost the land and were scattered.
So, God fulfilled the promise as Joshua 21:41-45 says along with other scriptures like 1 Kings 4:21, 8:56, Deuteronomy 28; 30:20, Exodus 3:17, 6:8, Nehemiah 9:8, 21-25 just to name a few. If the promise of God to Abraham was fulfilled as these scriptures indicate and the people lost the land and the right to the land because of unfaithfulness and disobedience then how can the Israel of today have a Divine claim to a land that was given then lost because of disobedience, idolatry and a plethora of other sins. To stretch the imagination and say that God has not fulfilled this promise or that it came to fruition in 1948 is a gross manipulation of scripture. Sure, it sounds good and can make for emotional preaching but is poor theology.
EXAMPLE: - If I take my house and tell our sons that when we die the house is yours. Now the mortgage company gave me the loan and I promised to pay that loan back as long as I do everything is fine, but if I don’t pay the loan, if I go into default, if I break the promise and loose the house then die my kids don’t have a right to the house just because I promised it to them. Israel under the Mosaic Covenant was given the land promised to Abram in Genesis 12, that was the unconditional promise made to Abram, but it was conditional to them under the Mosaic Covenant – the Law. Because of disobedience, unfaithfulness, whoring after other gods they were taken out of the land, scattered throughout the world and lost all right to the land.
God fulfilled His promise, but the people lost the promise. Now this Modern Day Israel think they have a Divine Right to something that was lost – NO!
The New Testament Understanding.
When we come to the New Testament, we understand that the things of Israel were types and shadows of spiritual realities that would come in the days of Jesus. Hebrews 8:1-6 says, “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises”.
The essential elements of Israel as a covenant people with prophets, priests, kings, the sacrificial system, the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, etc. were ALL FULFILLED in Jesus Christ and His work. Luke 24:27 & 44-45 says, “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures”. Romans 15:8 says, “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”. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God in him (Jesus Christ) are yea, and in him (Jesus Christ) Amen, unto the glory of God by us”. One of my personal favorites Luke 4:18-21 says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”. Galatians 3:8 says, “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed”. Paul understands and is trying to teach that the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant is complete in Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the seed of Abraham that In thee shall all the nations be blessed.
Jesus is the fulfillment of every old testament promise Jesus is the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world, Jesus is the Coner stone that the builders rejected, Jesus is the High Priest, Jesus is the rock hewn out of the mountain, Jesus is the remnant of Israel, Jesus is the Israel of God, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches thank God for being grafted into the vine True Israel.
Understand that the Mosaic Covenant, which was given to the Children of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, after the Exodus had a historical beginning and ending Galatians 3:16-17, 19, 20-26 says, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus”.
When the fulfillment had come, The Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ there was no longer a need for shadows and types because everything, every promise was fulfilled in Jesus. Colossians 2:16-17 says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ”.
So, the unconditional Promise of Abram was fulfilled like God said after bondage in Egypt, the plagues of Egypt, the Exodus, the giving of the Law – the Mosaic Covenant and then in Joshua 21 when they enter the Promised Land and are given the land conditionally. They forfeit the land by breaking the covenant, loose the land, and are scattered. Israel in the Bible not what is called Israel today was an earthly people separated to God for the purpose of blessing the world was fulfilled in Jesus Christ whose obedience unto death constituted an Exodus that would separate a New Covenant people for God’s service – TRUE ISRAEL.
The land promised to Abraham was never intended to be an end all. It pointed to something better in the future the rest in Jesus Christ. Abraham who received the promise didn’t focus on the earthly aspect but rather on a better country Hebrews 11:10 &16 says, “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city”. That is NOT Israel.
O.K I said Modern Israel does not have a Divine Right to the Land and I have given you scriptural evidence as to way now let me give you some history and why Modern Israel is not the Israel of the Bible.
History
Now that I have established the Promise and the New Testament understanding and fulfillment of that promise let’s understand why Modern Israel is not the Israel of the Bible. Why I state they are NOT the heir of God’s promise, they DO NOT have a Divine Right to the Land and are in fact terrorist themselves. That the support of Israel today is a smoke screen that is used to propagate financial gain for a select group of rich and the economically powerful Not God’s Chosen and that the Nation of Israel has nothing to do with the Abrahamic Covenant or God at all. They are nothing more than a political theocratic state called Zionism.
Zionism is a movement that emerged in the 19th century to espouse support for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, a region roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition.
Following the establishment of Israel in 1948, Zionism became an ideology that supports "the development and protection of the State of Israel. With just hearing that statement right there we understand that the support and protection of modern-day Israel is an ideology of man and has nothing to do with God or the wrath of God if you don’t support her.
Zionism basically developed because of Anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe and Russia and caused the Jews to long for a rebirth of Judaism which in turn became connected with their “Divine Right” to the promise land ideology.
In the late 19th century around 1896 wealthy Jews in Western Europe helped assist in the establishment of small Jewish colonies in Palestine. Theodore Kerzl’s came to the conclusion that a homeland for the Jews was the only solution to the mistreatment they were experiencing in most places. Under his guidance the first Zionist Congress which met in Basel Switzerland in 1897 and formed the World Zionist Organization. The proposal of a Jewish homeland created serious conflict with the people that were already in the land living the Palestinians. What would happen to the people already living there? Would the people leave peacefully and just surrender the land to the Jews who state they had a Divine Right to the Land – NO.
In 1904 Herzl’s idea was passed on to Russian born Jew Chaim Weizmann who discovered a powerful explosive called Cordite who used his influence to get the British government to conquer Palestine, hold it for Jewish immigration and settlement and then allow the land to be used for British interest. Through a series of military events the British took over Jerusalem in 1917 after being controlled by the Ottoman Empire since 1517, 400 years and came up with what is called the Balfour Declaration which stated that Britian favored the establishment of a home in Palestine for the Jews, but they were not to hurt those that already lived there the Palestinians. Needless to say, the Balfour Declaration failed.
Over time tensions began to rise between the Jewish settlers and the Palestinian population. In 1942 the Biltmore Conference led by David Ben-Gurion stated that British controlled Palestine should become Jewish property which led to the American Council for Judaism to be formed in May of 1943.
In 1945 the atrocities of Hitler against the Jews came to light 6 million Jews along with 5 million non-Jewish people although you never hear much about that were executed. The push for a safe place for the Jews was top priority among the wealthiest people of the time. The Zionist program strengthened and gained massive support; however, the Palestinians resisted the importation of the Jewish people into the land they had been living in for centuries.
In 1947 the British turned over their control of Palestine to the Newly formed United Nations Organization. Under a great deal of pressure, the U.N finally partitioned off a small portion of land for the Jews in November 1947. As the British withdrew in 1948 a group of Zionist forced thousands of Palestinians to leave their homes and in the middle of this conflict there was a declaration of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, and Modern Day Israel became a State. They usurped the land, forced the people out, confining them to a small portion known as the Gaza Strip. This was a political and military endeavor not a miracle of God regathering them.
Since then, there has been constant pressure for the Jews to return the land. Zionism looks upon the State of Israel as the home for all Jews, but will not accept Jews or rather Israelites that are Black. The Justification for Occupying the Land and the many political and military actions necessary to establish, maintain, defend, and expand the land the Zionist have manipulated scripture stating since God promised Abraham the land that is fulfilled in 1948. We have already established in numerous scriptures that the promise of Abraham was fulfilled then because of disobedience to God, whoring after other gods, and a plethora of other sins and atrocities lost the land. They came under bondage of Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C and since then until the Anti-Christ Israel/Jerusalem is defeated and is being trodden under foot of the Gentiles.
The Zionist approach is the idea that God is on Israel’s side and that He has purposed Israel to possess the land and with this mindset and irrational thinking has provided the get out of jail free card and kill people to displace thousands of people to mistreat and commit all kinds of atrocities and do whatever it takes to rule and own the land.
Then to add fuel to the fire we have preachers and leaders, televangelist, prophets who vehemently preach that we must support Israel that we must help Israel maintain the land so you must give or else suffer the wrath of God - NOT.
What is our responsibility to Israel.
I stated modern-day Israel is not the Israel of the Bible it is not True Israel – the Israel of God. The Israel of the Bible was a Theocratic entity in covenant relationship with God that had at its center the Mosaic Covenant, the Torah, the Sacrificial system, the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant etc. Modern Israel is a secular liberal democracy that does not make any claim to be in divine covenant relationship with God but expects to be given the promises of the Bible.
So, what is our responsibility to modern-day Israel. Let me make this point clear – you are not blessed or cursed by how you treat Israel, you are not blessed or cursed if you support them or not. Psalms 2:12 says, “…Blessed are all they who put their trust in him”. We are blessed because we put our trust in Jesus not because we support modern-day Israel.
However, we have a responsibility and an awesome privilege to pray, for the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous availeth much.
Yes we should pray for the peace of Israel as Psalms 122:-6-7 says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces”. We should pray that the hostages are safe and returned to their families without harm. Pray that both the Palestinians and the Jews can stop fighting and try to live in harmony. Pray that the fighting stops.
Most of all we need to pray that their souls are saved before it is too late. Pray for reconciliation because that is the ministry of us all.
Remember God loves the Jew and the Palestinian equally. God is not against the Palestinians, nor is He against the Ukrainians or Russians. He is not against the Black or the Whites. For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have ever lasting life. God loves all of His creation and wants none to perish 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.
Jesus died for all people and desires each member of His beloved creation to be reconciled to Him. It is our responsibility and privilege to pray faithfully, asking the Lord to touch, heal, reveal Himself and save all people. Jesus is the only way to true peace and understanding.
So our duty and responsibility is not just to Israel but it is to all mankind praying without ceasing that they repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus are filled with the precious gift of the Holy Ghost are grafted into the vine Jesus Christ – Ture Israel – the Israel of God Galatians 6:16 “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God”.
Jesus said it best in Matthew 12:47-50 “Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother”.
Who is Israel: - For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is Israel.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
