Like most
people I watched with shock and horror, the recent spate of violence that has
taken hold of the Holy Land where the Israeli Defence Force and the Palestinian
militant group Hamas have once again gone to war. And like so many times
before, we have been faced with the decades-old question of who is on the right
side of this conflict. Some would argue that Israel is in the right as they are
defending their country from radical jihadists who after their latest attack over
the weekend have certainly earned the world’s ire. Others would point to the
disproportionate nature of Israel’s response as overkill given that ultimately
the actions of the IDF often leave more Palestinian civilians dead especially
women and children while Hamas lives on to fight another day. These two
simplistic viewpoints are precisely the problem which is why I think it is time
that we reject this nonsense of trying to figure out who the “good guys” are
and instead see this war for what is truly is. There are no heroes here, only
villains on both sides and opposing the murderous and vicious actions of one
side should not be seen as supporting the murderous and vicious actions of the
other. This in truth is no different from a feud that takes place between two
rival criminal gangs, who would be in the right there? Clearly everyone should
be able to decipher that this is a conflict of evil vs evil, the only “good
guys” here, are the civilians be they Jewish or Muslim who get caught in the
crossfire of a war they want no part of.
With all
that said, I find it somewhat disturbing that many evangelical Christians would
look on the scale of brutality and give tacit support to Israel although it
should be clear that the actions of the IDF are every bit as atrocious as those
committed by Hamas. How is it that persons who can clearly see that the actions
of the Palestinians fighters are amoral cannot see that that Israel’s military
is exactly the same? This stems of course from a grave misconception that sees
the Zionist state as God’s chosen nation. Let me preface this part by saying
that I myself, am a bible believing Christian who is very familiar with the
story of Biblical Israel however I refuse to believe that the modern State of
Israel as the same country as the ancient Kingdom of Israel. One was
established by God himself as a theocracy ruled by the Royal House of David,
the other was established by the United Nations as a secular republic,
therefore any notion that modern day Zionist Jews have a divine claim to the land should be
rejected.
Those
familiar with the book of Genesis would know the story of Abraham who is the
father of both Ishmael (ancestor of the Arabs) and Isaac (ancestor of the
Jews). In the book, it was stated that the now disputed land (then known of Canaan)
would be held by Abraham’s descendants in perpetuity. The Evangelical
interpretation of this text is that this can only apply to Israel. However,
given that the Kingdom of Judea was dismantled in 70 A.D. by the Romans and the State of Israel was
not established until 1948, that leaves a very large gap in time. If Evangelical Churches believe that the prophecy is accurate, they would to
account for this period. The only logical conclusion that can come from this, is
that the prophecy would have to refer to all of Abraham’s descendants including
the Palestinians; that is if they wish to be theologically consistent. Therefore, Evangelicals cannot use the words
of Genesis 22:17 to justify the Zionists state because that is not what the
prophecy actually states.
Don’t mistake my intention here, this is not an attack on Jewish people per se but rather confusion as to why Evangelicals continue to support Zionists while completely ignoring the genuine pain and suffering that they are causing the civilians of Palestine, who will feel the full force of Israel’s wrath far more than Hamas ever will. How is it that the same people who were so quick to condemn Hamas for its attack of innocent Israeli civilians (a condemnation which I fully support), are now so reluctant to do the same when Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant announces a complete siege of Gaza with no food, water, fuel or electricity for the people living there? How can they not see that this a clear humanitarian crisis?
And
speaking of humanitarian crisis, the comments I have seen in several
Evangelical circles always seem to focus on the idea that Israel is God’s
chosen people but I have a problem accepting that in this Christian Era, the
Jews still deserve such a designation. Evangelical Christians who believe this would
then have to grapple with the question of the church’s relevance, after all if God
has already pre-selected the Jews then what purpose would Christendom serve?
Evangelicals would also have seriously examine the Jewish view on Christ because
unlike the Christian Church, the Jewish religion rejects the idea of Jesus as
Messiah or even the doctrine of the Holy Trinity which includes Christ. It is
therefore perplexing that Evangelicals would find religious affinity with a
group whose theology fundamentally opposes everything taught in the New
Testament.
This is
exacerbated by the erroneous theology regarding the construction of a “Third Temple”
to replace the one destroyed in 70 A.D. This theology has long been a tenet of
Rabbinical Judaism (hence the emphasis they place on the Temple Mount and the Wailing
Wall) and has been subsequently adopted by Evangelical Christians who are sympathetic
to the Zionist cause. This idea however, is nothing less than a dangerous
heresy, not only was this never taught by Christ, the Apostles or the Early
Church Fathers, Jesus himself directly addresses and debunks this idea in
Matthew 24:2 when he accurately predicted the destruction of the temple but
said nothing about it ever being rebuilt. Furthermore, scripture reinforces the
idea that a Third Temple will never rise as told by the Apostle John in
Revelation 21:22. Zionist Jews might be forgiven for their mistaken belief in a
Third Temple as they openly reject the New Testament anyway but what excuse do Evangelicals have for the same error when they should know better? They cannot
claim to be accurately to be following the New Testament and also believe in
the legitimacy of the Zionist cause at the same time because one naturally precludes
the other.
With all
this said, let me reiterate, it is perfectly OK to stand with the Palestinian
people without supporting the terrorist activities of the brutish and violent
Hamas who not only despicably target Israeli civilians but only also use their
own fellow Palestinians as human shields, Hamas is little more than a cohort of sniveling cowards with their tactics and in no way should
they ever be seen as “liberators” as some anti-Semites try to claim. But on the other
hand, believing in Israel’s right to exist does not mean that it should come at
the cost of collateral damage to the people (especially women and children) who are now cut off from basic
services because of the actions of Jihadists. But most of all, this is most
certainly not time for some elements in Christendom to take sides against one
set of victims because of erroneous teaching, therefore the Church should
reject Zionism and be reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul who says in Galatians
3:28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile…….
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
