Christian response to Israel
I’m starting a new series of posts here regarding how we as Christians need to respond to the actions of the state of Israel. Many American Christians use the worn out phrase “we need to support Israel” without offering much in the way of what supporting Israel actually means or why we need to support Israel. As a Christian, I have a very hard time believing that “supporting Israel” entails giving them $10 billion a year to buy weapons and then turning our heads while they use these weapons to oppress the Palestinians. That concept certainly doesn’t go along with Jesus’ words at the sermon on the mount “blessed are the meek” or “blessed are the peacemakers”. It could certainly be argued that neo-conservatives from the Israeli lobby brought us to war with Iraq and are now pushing for war with Iran. Israel has been at war since its inception and anyone who makes the claim that Israel has truly made good faith attempts at peace with the Palestinians is uninformed. To be fair, I will also say that the Palestinians have often been lacking in the “seeking peace” realm.
I believe that what the Bible says is true, Old and New Testaments. That is why it is hard for me to reconcile God’s instruction to the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land after wandering in the desert with the fact that many Palestinians are believers in Jesus Christ. To say that Israel has a right to “cleanse” the land of its inhabitants goes contrary to the teachings of Jesus and yet this is often used as a justification of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Even the Prophet Malachi in the Old Testament speaks of protecting foreigners in the land:
“At that time I will put you on trial. I will be a ready witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, who deprive the foreigners living amongst you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.”
-Malachi 3:5 NLT
Do the Palestinians not fall into the category of “foreigners in the land”? I believe that they do. As a side note, it seems strange to call them foreigners since they were there long before the Zionist movement started moving Jews back into the land in the late 1800s. Even David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, understood that it was the Jews of the Zionist movement who were the agressors when he said:
“There has been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?
On the other hand, God promised the land to Abraham and his ancestors. In fact, He promised Abraham more land than what modern Israel is today. Does that mean that Israel should conquer Lebanon, the Sinai, Jordan, and part of Syria? Does Gods instruction to the Israelites to “cleanse” the land mean that the modern state of Israel has the right or obligation to do the same?
Please comment if you have any insight into this issue.