It’s out of fashion to say it out loud but nonetheless true that there will be no permanent peace in the Middle East (or anywhere else) until we have the actual presence of the Prince of Peace with us. We believe that a king, Messiah Jesus, will reign in righteousness and that this reign will be personal, literal, and physical. (Acts 1:11) Having said this, I want to be quick to say that Christians are called to be at peace with others (Romans 12:18) and to make peace. Christians should imitate God by upholding and working for justice for all people. This being the case, how should we assess the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinians of Gaza?
In Connecticut, we have a blog, which I won’t dignify with a link, which refers to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as Israel’s “Blond Bitch of Belsen.” Besides being crude, the moral equation between the Holocaust and Israel’s own right of self-defense is offensive in the extreme.
The Arab-Israeli wars have long been a David-and-Goliath scenario, but the Left has skillfully transformed the public’s perception such that Israel, vastly outmanned and tiny in territory has been transformed into the Goliath. The issues are of course complex, but the simplistic thinking is not to be found among Biblical Christians, as the media would have us believe.
How should we begin to think about Gaza?
First, it would be irrational to separate this conflict from the larger context of the Jihad which is being waged against Israel and other Western nations by Muslim radicals. To say this is not to agree with or support everything that the Bush Administration has done, but it would be foolhardy not to take the statements of the jihadists at face value – something the U. S. has seldom done, at least publicly. Christians must recognize that radical Muslims do not believe their own apocalyptic vision can unfold properly until there is effective war against the Jews. Not enough people understand that Muslims are expecting their own Messiah, called the Mahdi, whom they believe will subjugate the world with the help of none other than Jesus, called Isa by Muslims. Many are now noting that the Muslim “end times” seems to present us with a dark mirror of the biblical apocalypse in which their Messiah seems to fulfill the deeds and functions of the Biblical Antichrist. In any event, there can be little doubt of coordination between Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and others.
Second, the world’s prejudices are never more on display than when Israel makes a military move. Someone has cleverly pointed out that if Israel were to make a “proportional response,” it would have to fire off 2,000 rockets unannounced into Gaza and rejoice by handing out candies when there were casualties. Only Israel is held to such a standard, which is designed solely to hamstring it, pure and simple. When Jews are killed for being Jews, no one cares.
Third, Christians are no longer in agreement that the land of Israel belongs to Israel by Divine grant. The persistent, malicious name-calling of the Left has ensured that anyone holding such a position is referred to as a “Christian Zionist” and his opinions are therefore to be dismissed out of hand. Yet Christians do well to remember the anger of God against those who divide the land, and would deny Israel even a sliver of the Middle East.
If ever in doubt as to how to pray, Christians should pray for his Kingdom to come, and His Will to be done!
