Introduction:
A. Today, we are stepping away from our sermon series on the Gospel of Mark in order to address the heartbreaking current events in the Middle East.
B. I’m sure that all of us have been horrified by the recent outbreak of violence and military strikes taking place between Hamas and Israel.
1. The persistent, gut-wrenching hostility between Jews and Arabs has been going on for a long, long time – not years, or centuries, but millennia!
2. What should the rest of the world think and do about this hatred and destruction?
3. What should Christians think and do in response to it?
4. I am in no way an expert about Israel and the Middle East, nor do I claim to know and understand all of God’s plans for Israel.
6. These are difficult topics and there are countless complexities and nuances that makes addressing them a challenge.
7. Nevertheless, I feel it is important to try to be informed about current events in light of Scripture and history, and I feel it is important to try to offer guidance to our congregation about how we might understand and act in the midst of this conflict.
I. Understanding the Terms
A. Let’s start with the term “Palestine” and “Palestinians.”
1. Until Israel was re-established as a nation in 1948, Palestine was the term used for the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
2. The word Palestinian was applied to anyone living in that area.
a. Just like the term North American is applied to people in the U.S. and Canada and the term European applies to people from many countries, like France and England.
3. As one of the longest continually inhabited places on earth, this region has changed political ownership numerous times and has been a link of migration for many different cultures.
4. The modern-day “Palestinians” represent a mixture of local inhabitants and many other groups of Muslims brought from Bosnia, the Balkans, Sudan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon.
5. The term Palestinian did not take on its current popular meaning until the mid-20th century.
a. In common use today, the term Palestinian is primarily applied to non-Jewish, Arabic-speaking residents of this region.
b. This usage is highly controversial, however, since for most of human history a “Palestinian” was simply a person born or living in that land.
6. Prior to Israel becoming a country again in 1948, Jewish groups felt free to use the “Palestine” label for themselves.
a. For instance: the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was originally called the Palestine Symphany Orchestra, and the original name of the Jerusalem Post was the Palestine Post.
7 Today, the word Palestine is still used to designate a land region, but it has also taken on political connotations as it is used as a label by propagandists who refuse to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.
8. So, what is the ancestry of the people living in the region of Palestine?
a. Recent genetic studies have confirmed that the ancestries of Jewish and Arabic inhabitants of Palestine are extremely similar.
b. Geneticists have concluded that the people living in these regions share a common ancestry, through people groups continually living in the Palestine territory.
c. This directly contradicts the claim that certain inhabitants, particularly Jewish inhabitants of Israel, have no ancestral claim to the land.
d. At the same time, there is no evidence suggesting that modern Palestinians are direct descendants of either the Canaanites or the Philistines of the Old Testament.
e. Many Arabs are descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son born from his maidservant, Hagar, and the Jewish people are descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son of promise – both groups have a common father, Abraham.
f. But, regardless of definitions and precise lineage, Palestinians and Jews, like all human beings, are ultimately descended from the same original parents, Adam and Eve.
g. We are all one race – the human race!
B. Now let’s talk about Israel.
1. The Bible tells the story of the nation of Israel.
a. Abraham’s father, Terah, for reasons unknown to us, decided to move his family from the Ur of the Chaldeans to Canaan, but only got as far as Haran and settled there.
b. After Terah died, God called Abraham, saying, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen. 12:1-3)
c. Ultimately God led Abraham to the land of Canaan and promised to give that land to Abraham’s offspring.
d. In Genesis 17, God re-iterated his commitment to Abraham 25 years after the first promise, saying: I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.” (Gen. 17:7-8)
d. God’s promise moved through Abraham’s offspring to Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
e. I’m sure we are all familiar with the story of how Abraham’s descendants ended up in Egypt and became slaves, but then how Moses led them out of Egypt and gave them the Law and took them to the Promised Land.
f. But because of unbelief, God’s people were forced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years under Moses leadership, and then Joshua picked up the mantel of leadership and led God’s people into Canaan, the Promised Land.
g. Through Joshua and other leaders, they drove out the people of Canaan who lived there and established themselves in that land.
h. After the period of the Judges the nation of Israel reached its heights under the first three kings of Israel: Saul, David and Solomon.
i. After Solomon the kingdom divided into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah – and literally, everything went down hill from there.
j. The Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 B.C. and the Southern Kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C (about 140 years later).
k. In spite of the fact that some of the exiles later returned to the land of Israel and rebuilt the temple and the city of Jerusalem, it never regained the strength and prominence it had in the days of David and Solomon.
l. During Jesus’ earthly life, the land of Israel wasn’t actually independent and self-governing, but was occupied and controlled by the Romans and had a puppet Jewish king.
2. Then for almost 2000 years, the Jewish people did not have a homeland.
a. After the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 came the Bar Kokhaba Revolt (A.D. 132), after which the Romans expelled the Jews from their historic homeland.
b. During those two periods of Roman persecution (A.D. 66-70 and A.D. 132) almost two million Jews were killed by the Romans (and most of the rest were taken as slaves).
c. During the Nazi Holocaust, six million Jews were killed by the Germans (that was about half of all the Jews in the world at the time).
d. Between those two “holocausts,” the Jewish people experienced periodic persecution, mistreatment, and destruction of their property, homes, and lives throughout the world.
3. The modern nation of Israel was made possible by a resolution of the United Nations in 1947.
a. Jewish people from all over the world, especially those fleeing Europe in the aftermath of the Nazi holocaust, traveled to Palestine and helped to establish the nation.
b. The United Nations mandate stated that the land had to be shared between the Jews and the Arabs.
c. Originally, the Jews were slated to receive a much smaller portion of the land than they ended up with in 1948, because in 1947 the Arabs rejected the UN partition plan to create a Jewish and an Arab state.
d. In response to the mandate, the Arabs contested Jewish history and any rights of the Jews to the land.
e. After Israel’s declaration of Independence in 1948, Israel was immediately attacked by the surrounding Arab nations and beyond (12 Arab countries and the Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip all fought against Israel).
f. The Jews prevailed in the war and offered to give some of the land back to the Arabs if the Arabs would make peace with them and recognize their right to exist as a nation, but the Arabs refused to do so.
g. Since then there have been numerous wars (like the Six Day War of 1967 and the 1973 War), and numerous attacks and counter attacks.
h. Thousands of Jews and Arabs on both sides have suffered loss of life and property and displacement, and have behaved in ungodly and hateful ways towards each other.
i. Ultimately, many Arab countries continue to refuse to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, although Peace Treaties have been made with Egypt in 1978, and Jordan in 1994.
C. Present Enemies of Israel
1. In the last 30 years, two terrorist organizations, have become strong through their religious zeal and their support from Iran.
2. They are enemies of Israel and Israel is constantly keeping them in check.
3. Hezbollah is a terrorist group that primarily exists in Lebanon and is financially backed by Iran.
a. They are Shia Muslims (whereas must Palestinians are Sunni Muslims) and are very loyal to Iran, which is governed by Shia leaders.
4. Gaza is a Palestinian area that Israel occupied from the 1967 war forward.
a. But 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and gave control to the Palestinians under the moderate leadership of Fatah (the party formerly known as the Palestinian Nation Liberation Movement).
b. But in 2007, the terrorist group Hamas gained political control and unlike the political party they replaced, they are the sworn enemies of Israel.
c. Like Hezbollah, Hamas gets support from the outside, sometimes from Iran, sometimes from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and other Gulf States.
d. It was Hamas who carried out the October 7th attacks on Israel that has left 1200 dead, thousands wounded, and up to 200 taken as captives.
e. As you know, Israel has immediately responded with retaliation and so the hostility and animosity continue to grow.
II. Deciding How to Respond
A. So, what should we think and how should we respond to the hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians?
1. For starters, we should care about all the people involved in this ongoing conflict.
a. All people are created in God’s image and therefore have value in God’s eyes and deserve our care and compassion.
b. So many civilian Jews and Arabs are suffering greatly because of conflicts that they are not responsible for and don’t want to have any involvement in.
2. As is the case for all of us, Jesus is the only hope for the Israelis and the Palestinians.
a. All people are sinners who need the salvation that comes only through Jesus.
b. Jesus is their only hope for peace with God and peace with each other.
3. Let’s keep in mind that the physical battles on earth often reflect the spiritual battles in the spiritual realm.
a. Satan’s goal is to steal, kill, and destroy (Jn. 10:10).
b. Satan loves to create strife and hatred between individuals and nations.
c. Satan and his demons have fueled hatred against God’s chosen people throughout history, so we shouldn’t be surprised that he continues to do so in the present.
4. Let’s be praying for the Muslim, Arab, and Jewish leaders whose ingrained beliefs and attitudes about each other make peace impossible – pray for a change of their hearts and minds.
a. Pray for those on both sides of this conflict who are mourning the loss of loved ones and loss of the normal everyday life they knew before this recent attack and counter attacks.
b. Pray that things do not get worse and that it does not lead to a wider major war involving other nations.
c. Pray for Jews and Arabs to come to know Jesus as their Savior and King, and for them to be reconciled to each other through Jesus.
B. Another important question for us as Christians is the question of what should we think about Israel, in general?
1. Should we always be on the side of Israel?
a. And does God still have a plan for Israel?
C. For starters, let me say that we must always remember that the nation of Israel is special to God.
1. Listen to God’s words to Israel: “For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord had his heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors, he brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Dt. 7:6-8)
2. God’s eternal purpose was and is to bless the world through Israel.
a. God has already done so in great measure for Jesus said: “salvation is from the Jews” (Jn. 4:22).
b. The declaration that “salvation is from the Jews” suggests our immeasurable debt to Israel.
c. Our Bible is a Jewish Book, and our Savior is a Jewish Savior for all people.
d. So, we should be thankful for all that God has brought to us through the people of Israel.
3. It is true that present day Israel, as a whole, is a secular, unbelieving nation, and is in a place of rejection of the Messiah.
4. A general support for Israel and their right to exist doesn’t mean that we should support or approve of everything Israel does as a nation.
5. And we must also realize that God can accomplish His purposes through nations and people, whether they are godly or not, and God’s working through them doesn’t automatically make them right with God.
6. History records the fact that God has carried out His promise that those who have blessed Israel have been blessed, and those who have cursed Israel have been cursed.
D. As for the question of God’s ongoing and future plan for Israel, Christian scholars are divided into three different camps about how God has or will fulfill His promises to Israel.
1. These three different approaches are not essential to salvation nor are they essential to being followers of Jesus in our everyday lives, but they do represent an honest attempt to interpret and apply Scripture.
2. Let me share a brief summary of the understandings of the three theological camps.
3. One approach is called the Two-Covenant Theology that sees the Jews and the Church on two tracks in history.
a. According to this view, God has two plans operating in history: one for an earthly people, Israel, and the other for a heavenly people, the church.
b. According to this view, God does not deal with the two peoples at the same time.
c. According to this view, the prophetic clock of God’s dealing with Israel stopped in the first century, and then started with the church, but the clock will start again with Israel when the Christians are raptured (taken to heaven), then God will focus on the Jews and the rest of the unbelievers.
d. I personally don’t find much biblical evidence for this theory.
4. A second approach is called the Supersessionism or Fulfillment/Replacement Theology that see the promises to Israel fulfilled in the church.
a. This view teaches that the church has fulfilled Israel in God’s plan.
b. Adherents of this approach believe that the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people and that God does not have specific future plans for Israel as a nation.
c. According to this view: the work of Christ is definitive. There is one covenant and it is with Christ, and it has replaced the first covenant.
d. This view biblically makes more sense to me.
6. A third approach is called the Enlargement Theology that sees that Israel remains chosen, but that both Jews and non-Jews must turn to the Messiah.
a. According to this view, God’s plan, from the beginning, was to include Gentiles within His covenant people, Israel.
b. According to this view, since the first century, salvation comes only through faith in Jesus the Messiah, for both Jews and Gentiles.
c. According to this view, God’s purposes for the Jewish people remains unchanged despite the majority’s rejection of Jesus.
d. According to this view, there has always been a faithful remnant and in the future there will be a widespread turning by Jews to faith in Jesus, who is the Messiah.
e. I agree with some of these thoughts of this view, but not all of them.
7. Because our personal salvation does not depend on which approach we hold, and because God is God, I like to say that I’m in favor of God doing whatever God’s going to do.
a. God is the only One who truly understands His plan from the beginning to the end, and I trust that God is capable of carrying out His plan and capable of keeping His promises.
E. Let me share a few more of my understandings about God’s purposes and plans for Israel.
1. Israel was God’s chosen people and played a critical role in declaring the truths of the one true God and were used by God to bring the Messiah and Savior into the world, in spite of the fact that they rejected Him for the most part.
2. I believe that God’s promises to Israel, and God’s promises to all of us, are always conditional, even though they might sound unconditional.
3. A popular view espoused by some today is that the land of Israel (ancient Canaan) belongs to the Jewish people alone because God gave it to them as an unconditional and irrevocable gift.
a. They point to the fact that God swore an oath to Abraham to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan forever.
b. However, except when speaking of God and His attributes, the term “forever” refers to principles and practices that are temporal and last for “an age” or “an indefinite period of time” (long or short) rather than for “eternity.”
4. According to Moses in Deuteronomy 6:10-15, if Israel became unfaithful to the Lord, the nation would lose not only the land, but even its very existence.
a. Moses further emphasized the “if…then” nature of the covenant that God made with Israel in Deut. 28:1-21, making clear that blessings were contingent upon their obedience.
5. A similar promise to David from God appeared to be unconditional: God said to David, “Your
house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever, your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Sam. 7:16)
a. Yet, when Solomon dedicated the temple, God said: “I have heard your prayer and petition you have made before me. I have consecrated this temple you have built, to put my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there at all times. As for you, if you walk before me as your father David walked…if you keep my statutes and ordinances, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel. If you or your sons turn away from following me and do not keep my commands…I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them, and I will reject the temple I have sanctified for my name. Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples. (1 Kings 9:3-7)
6. God’s promises are always conditional upon our faith and obedience that keep us in His grace.
7. But like the apostle Paul, I hold out hope that Jewish people will come to faith in Jesus and then they can be “grafted” back into God’s tree and be saved. (Romans 11:22-27)
Conclusion:
A. I want to conclude by pointing our attention to God, who is the only One who can provide the peace and safety we need when life’s questions and events shake and traumatize us.
1. Let me share this illustration that we can hold on to: Life can be like going through a tunnel.
a. The Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland opened in 2016 and is the longest railroad tunnel in the world, measuring 35.5 miles in length (which is about the distance between the village of Liverpool and the city of Oswego – imagine traveling that distance in a tunnel!).
b. Some people get very anxious as the train approaches the opening of that tunnel because they know that their long journey will be in total darkness and will be under a mountain.
c. The famous Christian holocaust survivor, Corrie Ten Boom said, “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”
2. Life brings to us periods of darkness which come from things like war, terrorist attacks and street violence, natural disasters, death and disease, disappointment and betrayal.
3. But if we put our trust in God, our engineer, then we can simply sit still and know that we will come through it and that in the end it will be okay – one way or another.
4. Let me leave you with two Scriptures to hold on to:
a. Isaiah 26:3-4: You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you. Trust in the Lord forever, because in the Lord, the Lord himself, is an everlasting rock!
b. Psalm 46:1-3: God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its water roars and foams and the mountains quake with its turmoil.
Resources:
• Genesis 1-22, Truth for Today Commentary, William W. Grasham, Ph.D
• Israelis and Palestinians: Understanding the Mutual Hostility, by Bobby Harrington
• Does God Still Have a Plan for Israel? By Bobby Harrington
• What is the difference between Israel and Palestine? GotQuestions.org
• Should Christians support the nation of Israel? GotQuestions.org
• Are Israel and the church the same thing? Does God still have a plan for Israel? GotQuestions.org
• Where is the Prince of Peace, Sermon by Tim Hall (tunnel illustration)
