A Christian Response to Chaos in the Middle East
Look to the Bible for guidance.
Last weekend, Gaza committed acts of war against Israel. Gazan forces affiliated with Hamas launched rockets, invaded Israel by land and air, and conducted a campaign of murder and mayhem against civilian targets, men, women, and children. Gazan soldiers raped women, took hostages, and beheaded infants.
Israel, justifiably, declared war on Gaza.
Today, Hezbollah opened up a northern front in this war from southern Lebanon. Like Hamas, Hezbollah has launched rockets and has invaded Israel by land and air.
How should a Christian, particularly a western Christian that does not live in the Middle East respond?
I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking about this and here’s what I’ve come up with. Let me apologize up front for the length. There is lots to unpack here. I’m really interested in your feedback. Be sure to leave me a comment with your own thoughts on this challenging set of events.
The Abrahamic Covenant
As with any situation, as Christians, our guidance should come first and foremost from the Bible. While the Bible doesn’t speak directly to this incident (it may or may not be related to prophesy; we’ll have to wait and see), it does provide lots of general guidance that applies in this situation.
First off, let’s remember that Israel exists as a people group and a country solely because of the covenant and blessings from God to Abraham.
In Genesis 12, God calls Abram out of Ur and sends him to Canaan.
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
In particular, note
God says that He will make Abram’s descendants into a great nation.
God says that He will bless Abram and make Abram famous.
God says that Abram will be a blessing to others.
God will bless those who bless Abram and curse those who treat Abram with contempt.
All the families on earth will be blessed through Abram. This is a reference to Jesus, the Messiah, being one of Abram’s descendants.
So, Israel is a blessing to the world. If you’re struggling with that, think through it again. That doesn’t mean that every Israeli is a good guy. Even in Jesus’s time, there were bad Israelites and good Israelites. But on balance, Israel was and remains a blessing to the world.
Also note that while most of God’s promises in these verses are directed to Abram, he also has some words for others (verse 3): “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.” If you bless Israel, you will be blessed. If not, then God will curse you.
I would hate to be Hamas and Hezbollah right now. They are directly in opposition to Israel, and therefore they are directly in opposition to God himself. Like Satan’s fight with God, they cannot win in the long term, but they can create chaos and suffering in the mean time.
If you think that God was just giving Abram some short-term promises, think again. In Genesis 17, God speaks to Abram and establishes the Abrahamic Covenant.
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants[a] after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
Note that Israel is the land given by God to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob. This “land grant” is part of a permanent covenant. By permanent, we don’t just mean through Jesus’s return. The land of Canaan was given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s descendants for all eternity. Even when God scattered Israel among the other nations of the earth as a result of Israel’s disobedience, he always had a plan to reform the nation. His covenant was never broken.
Now, some Christian churches have preached a false doctrine called “replacement theology” over the years. The idea is that since Israel was disobedient and didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah, somehow all the promises made in the Abrahamic Covenant transferred to the gentiles. It’s called “replacement theology” because, according to the theory, the gentiles replace the Jews in all the various promises.
Replacement theology has a big problem, however: there’s really no Biblical basis for it. In fact, if you read Romans 11, Paul is very clear that God has not rejected Israel and will fulfill all His promises to Abraham and the Jewish people.
11 I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. Do you realize what the Scriptures say about this? Elijah the prophet complained to God about the people of Israel and said, 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”[a]
4 And do you remember God’s reply? He said, “No, I have 7,000 others who have never bowed down to Baal!”[b]
5 It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel[c] have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them.6 And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.
7 So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have—the ones God has chosen—but the hearts of the rest were hardened. 8 As the Scriptures say,
“God has put them into a deep sleep.
To this day he has shut their eyes so they do not see,
and closed their ears so they do not hear.”[d]9 Likewise, David said,
“Let their bountiful table become a snare,
a trap that makes them think all is well.
Let their blessings cause them to stumble,
and let them get what they deserve.
10 Let their eyes go blind so they cannot see,
and let their backs be bent forever.”[e]11 Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves.12 Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.
13 I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, 14 for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them. 15 For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead! 16 And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their descendants will also be holy—just as the entire batch of dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.
17 But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. 18 But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root.
19 “Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for me.” 20 Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. 21 For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t[f] spare you either.
22 Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. 23 And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. 24 You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.
God’s Mercy Is for Everyone
25 I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters,[g] so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. 26 And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say,
“The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem,[h]
and he will turn Israel[i] away from ungodliness.
27 And this is my covenant with them,
that I will take away their sins.”[j]28 Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 29 For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. 30 Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead. 31 Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share[k] in God’s mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.
33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!
34 For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to give him advice?[l]
35 And who has given him so much
that he needs to pay it back?[m]36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.
To paraphrase Paul,
Yes, the Israelites missed Jesus.
But their loss was gain for the gentiles (the whole non-Jewish world)!
And God is not done with the nation of Israel. In particular, he has not rejected Israel. All his promises and covenants remain in force and will be fulfilled.
The overall takeaways here for Christians are:
The land of Israel was given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s descendants as a permanent home for God’s people.
The covenant has no expiration date. Forever is forever.
Nothing associated with Israel’s recognition or lack of recognition of Jesus as the Messiah invalidates the covenant.
God is explicit that those who bless Abraham and his descendants will also be blessed and that those who treat them with contempt will be cursed by God.
The Modern State of Israel
“Okay,” I hear some of you saying, “But is the modern state of Israel the same thing as the descendants of Abraham? And by the way, aren’t the Arabs descended from Ishmael, Abraham’s son through Hagar?”
Sort of. And sort of.
Let’s discuss the modern state of Israel.
It’s important to understand the modern state of Israel is Israel. It is the governmental entity that controls (a lot of) the region of Canaan originally given to Abraham in the covenant (not all, which God will sort out in the future). So, it is Israel in the same sense that Israel headed by King David was Israel. Therefore, in terms of the state of Israel, Christians should overall be supportive. We should “bless” it. Israel has a right to exist. It was created by God and the land was promised to the Jews. If you’re a Christian who believes that the modern state if Israel has no right to exist, you’re on the wrong side of God’s bless/curse given in the Abrahamic Covenant.
Does that mean we should agree with anything the modern state of Israel does? Do we act like mindless clapping seals? No. In the same way that the ancient Kingdom of Israel had bad, downright evil kings, we can disagree with Israeli policies and actions. But in the main, we should be blessing Israel even as we are holding it to account for its obedience to God’s commands. That’s what Jesus himself did with the leaders of Israel in his day.
It’s also important to understand that the state of Israel has a responsibility to its citizens. Paul talks about the authority of the state in Romans 13.
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
In short, the government of the state of Israel are servants to God, whether they fully understand and acknowledge that or not, and therefore have a responsibility to protect the citizens and punish wrongdoing.
And the Hamas leadership of Gaza just committed a bunch of wrongdoing. And there needs to be punishment for that.
So, Israel declared war on Gaza. And I suspect that Israel will declare war on Hezbollah as well. Note that there is a bit of inconsistency here. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Hamas is also the duly elected government of Gaza. So, it is not the case that Israel needs to selectively go after just Hamas and leave the rest of Gaza alone. Gazans are culpable and will end up paying the price for their choices.
Side note: there is going to a lot of kvetching in the media about “innocent Gazans,” over the next few weeks. But Hamas enjoys a lot of support in Gaza, and Hamas is the elected leadership of Gaza. So, the people of Gaza will pay the price for their choices. “But wait!” you scream. “Surely, not everybody supports Hamas!” True. But irrelevant. Not every German supported Hitler in WWII. And yet war came to them as well. We should all pray for those Gazans that are caught in the cross fire.
I found this paragraph in the Wikipedia entry about Hamas:
In recent years, Hamas has increasingly gained popularity and support in Palestinian society. A poll conducted in 2021 found that 53% of Palestinians believed that Hamas was "most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people" while only 14% preferred Fatah. Polls conducted in 2023 found that support of Hamas among Palestinians was around 27-31%. However, the group's usage of human shields, methods of hostage taking, and history of violence against non-combatants, including massacres of civilian populations, suicide bombings and indiscriminate rocket attacks, has led to many Western countries and allied nations designating it as a terrorist organization, though a 2018 attempt to declare it as such at the United Nations failed.
Ishmael and the Arabs
In Genesis 17, God says, speaking to Abram,“I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.” But Abraham had two sons: Ishmael, by Hagar, and Isaac, by Sarah. Further, Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Tradition says that the people living on the Arabian peninsula (modern day Saudi Arabia) are descended from Ishmael.
That said, the non-Jewish people living in Israel are not generally Arab. They are local people groups who were conquered by Muslim Arab armies. In fact, most modern Muslims are not Arabs. Egyptians are not Arabs, for instance. Nor Jordanians, Syrians, and Iranians.
With that as background, an obvious question is, shouldn’t we be blessing all of Abraham’s descendants, not just Israel?
I think the answer to that is YES! I think God loves it if we take a more expansive interest in blessing people.
Taking the widest possible inclusion of Gazans as possibly being Arab, and therefore descended from Ishmael (which, as said above, most aren’t), then we have something of a family struggle, the sons of Ishmael have just attacked the sons of Israel. So, who should we bless.
Both, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pick a side. In the same way that some of Israel’s ancient kings were downright evil, Hamas is downright evil. They murdered unarmed men, women, and children. They took non-combatants hostage. They raped women. They beheaded infants. That’s just evil.
So, we need to bless them and yet call them to account.
Which brings us to…
Love Your Enemies and Pray for Those Who Persecute You
Finally, we need to remember Jesus’s admonition in Matthew 5, verses 43 through 48:
43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’[a] and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies![b] Pray for those who persecute you!45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends,[c] how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
This is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of this passage.
Here’s what we know for sure:
Hamas/Gaza just attacked Israel. We know for sure that God stands with his people. Therefore, Hama/Gaza are ultimately in conflict with God. That makes them His enemies and therefore they are our enemies, too. In other words, Hamas/Gaza is in the wrong.
Yet, God tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Note that he doesn’t say that we have to agree with them! And he doesn’t say that they aren’t our enemies.
What God is saying here is that he cares about people — all people. Jesus came to earth to die for all sinners — you, me, Hamas, Hezbollah — not just some.
So, we need to love all those people, regardless of their actions, and pray for their salvation. We don’t have agree with them. We don’t have take their side in this dispute. But we do need to value them as God values them, as humans that bear His image, and fight for their ultimate salvation. Somewhere, for instance, there is a Muslim in Gaza who is rethinking whether Islam is true. We need to pray that Jesus visits that person in a dream and convicts them of their sin and convinces them of his atoning sacrifice.
So, if you will, pray with me…
Today’s Prayer
Holy Father, we come before you today in sorrow as we witness evil running rampant and directed against your holy people in Israel. Jesus commanded us to love and to pray not just for those who love us but for our enemies as well. So, in obedience to him, we submit ourselves and say that we love the human beings who bear your image, on all sides of this dispute, even as some are committing atrocities and attacking Israel. Father, we ask for you to come against them. Protect the people of Israel from harm. Stop Hamas and Hezbollah. But also, wherever possible, save them from their sins. We ask that you would find a way to reach those who can be reached, that they would realize that Allah is a false god, and that the only way to heaven is through the saving blood of Jesus. Finally, Father, we know that you have a plan here, that all things work together for good for those who know you and are called according your purpose, that you are using these events to further the coming of your Kingdom. So, even in our sorrow, we say, “Come Lord Jesus.” Amen.
If you read this far and you’re still with me, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please leave me a comment, not just a like.
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Well written. Thank you.
I'll reread and if I have any points I cannot refrain from trying to make, or further kudos, I will be back for further comment!
Well David, you certainly stuck your hand in the hornets nest with this one, didn’t you?
BUT (Behold the Underlying Truth), I know it was not your intention to ‘aggravate the hornets’, but rather to attempt to retrieve a ‘pearl of great price’ that was surrounded by the nest. And I believe you did well in doing so. I’ll go further than that; I believe you were entirely in God’s will, and pleased Him in doing so - particularly in the gracious, yet unyielding, manner you went about it.
We are living in truly momentous times; times about which the Bible has much to say. But, for various reasons, the vast majority of the professing Church does not recognize, or misunderstands, that which is prophetic, in process of being, or yet to be fulfilled, and is highly relevant and imminently practical - and of tremendous importance - pertaining to our present lives.
As we are so obviously living in an emotionally-charged, easily offended, and highly contentious time, let me be clear; I’m not talking about ‘super-Christians’ vs ‘normal Christians’, ‘intelligent’ vs ‘ignorant’, some ‘secret knowledge’ only available to the deserving initiates, or many other charges that might so easily be thrown about. What I am talking about is, the ‘framework’, or ‘lenses’ through which one interacts with the Word of God, technically referred to as the ‘hermeneutic’, used to interpret the Scriptures.
There are, perhaps, many other factors that bear on the issues related to understanding the Word but, assuming a common denominator of born-again, Spirit-filled Christians, I believe this is the most critical factor. It is easily understood by analogy: Three such Christians with the same ‘eye problems’ go to different Optometrists, and are given differing prescriptions for corrective lenses. In the first case, the prescription corrects issues with far sight, but what is relatively close remains blurred or obscured. In the second case, what is near has become well-focused, but what is far remains distorted. And, in the third case, 20/20 vision results, allowing that individual to see and comprehend all that is within view - even if they don’t (yet) fully understand what they see is clearly there.
A corresponding analogy that I believe is helpful is that of a thousand piece puzzle. Let’s assume the same three persons, and their differing conditions as equivalent to being given the same such puzzle, but only one has all the pieces, while the other two lack a significant number; say, 25 to 30 percent, of the total. Only the person with the ‘complete’ set has any real chance of assembling the disparate elements into the cohesive whole that the puzzle maker intends be seen. The others may indeed put differing portions together correctly, but are missing other elements that might profoundly alter their final perspectives.
At any rate, it is clear from the subsequent engagement in the Comments that you were grappling with such issues in regard to the ‘right’ Biblical view of Israel vs the Church, and I want to commend you for the manner in which you ‘contended for the Truth’, without being ‘contentious’.
May the Lord continue to bless and make your efforts fruitful, for your good, along with that of His Church, and - above all, for His glory, and that of His Kingdom.
Love, Mike