Israel: a little, tiny, Jewish country amid the vast Muslim world. How could this little piece of land, occupied by relatively few, be the cause of headline after headline and constant Middle East strife? There may be multiple reasons, but one is quite clear: Israel is Jewish and the Middle East is Muslim. Israel promises freedom of worship, and accepts Western influence. The majority of the rest of the Middle East does not. Quite literally it is "become a Muslim or suffer" for most of the Middle East. This is one reason why I for one support our country's strong ties with Israel. A country that as general rule promotes freedom and liberty, especially one in the Middle East, is one that should be supported. As a general rule, that is. Certainly not a blind support, in the occasion that she should make a wrong decision. Another reason for this sentiment, is the ties that God has with Israel. Although (as stated previously in another post) God has temporarily put Israel aside because of her hard heart, He will return to her. And when He does I would like to be on Israel's 'good side', as it were. Although, it isn't as though countries will really matter by that time. For when that time comes, it will only matter if one part of God's kingdom, not what kingdom anyone belonged to down here. But it remains a good thought to be have been an ally to the country God will restore.
God says to Abraham in Gen. 12.2-3 "I will make you a great nation;I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Now, as to whether or not Genesis 12 applies to today is a bit of a question since Israel is being set aside at the moment. If it does apply to today, then there would be every reason to support Israel, after all "I will bless those who bless you". If it does not apply, well, there seems to be little harm in backing a country with such historic importance in our faith, and in the plan of redemption. To me this is rather an important issue. With friends going to and from Israel fairly often I would like to think of the country that they are going to as a friend and not a foe of the United States. I would also enjoy the comfort of knowing that we would support Israel with military power if need be should she come under fire. I don't know where military action would land constitutionally, (if someone does, I would love to learn) but in this case I believe that for the various reasons stated, it would not be an altogether unwise decision if it should come to that. But I hope that long before that would ever be necessary that God's people, the Church, would give the call to arms in prayer. To pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the hearts of those who live in her as she struggles in the midst of a land filled with war.
God says to Abraham in Gen. 12.2-3 "I will make you a great nation;I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Now, as to whether or not Genesis 12 applies to today is a bit of a question since Israel is being set aside at the moment. If it does apply to today, then there would be every reason to support Israel, after all "I will bless those who bless you". If it does not apply, well, there seems to be little harm in backing a country with such historic importance in our faith, and in the plan of redemption. To me this is rather an important issue. With friends going to and from Israel fairly often I would like to think of the country that they are going to as a friend and not a foe of the United States. I would also enjoy the comfort of knowing that we would support Israel with military power if need be should she come under fire. I don't know where military action would land constitutionally, (if someone does, I would love to learn) but in this case I believe that for the various reasons stated, it would not be an altogether unwise decision if it should come to that. But I hope that long before that would ever be necessary that God's people, the Church, would give the call to arms in prayer. To pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the hearts of those who live in her as she struggles in the midst of a land filled with war.
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6 comments:
Hi Brooke,
I enjoyed reading your thoughtful post. I see the Israel question as mostly a theological one. Specifically is Israel still God's chosen people and the church is merely a parenthesis in his greater plan for Israel? Or is his covenant first revealed in Israel now superceded by his "new covenant" with the Church (all nations) in the progressive unveiling of his covenant with His people? It is dispensationalism vs. covenant/new covenant theology.
I don't believe that national Israel is currently God's chosen people as a category separate from the Church, so I think of them in terms of purely political/foreign policy terms. I don't have a strong opinion regarding our policiy toward Israel.
I would HIGHLY recommend that you read Pat Buchanan's book entitled "Where the Right Went Wrong". It is largely about foreign policy and does discuss Israel. I would suggest that you buy a used copy of the book for less than $5 and read it. (I would lend it to you, but I don't have the book. I am actually listening to the audiobook version that a friend lent me) I will warn you that he isn't a Neo-conservative like the Bush administration, so he won't be advocating a foriegn policy of aggressive global decmocracy to usher in the "peace of the planet" at the point of a gun. In other words he isn't an empirialist.
Buchanan is a Catholic, and I don't agree with everything, but his foreign policy views I can agree with wholeheartedly.
Thanks for your thoughts. You are right about the theological part of this question: it does involve the age-old question of dispensationalist vs. covenant. It seems to me that God has made many promises to Israel, many of them were unconditional. God cannot lie (Psalms 89.35), God does not change His mind. I don't see how He could supersede those promises indefinitely. Romans (specifically Romans 11) seems to be fairly clear on this:
11:1 "I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."
11:11 "I say then, have they [Israel] stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!"
I'm afraid that I don't see the reasoning behind an alternative interpretation to these Scriptures. Would you care to enlighten me? =)
I'll look into Buchanan's book. It looks very interesting. Thanks for recommending it...despite your rather unnecessary remarks regarding the Bush administration. =)
First...if I mischaracterized the Bush administration, I am sorry. My description was meant to encapsulate the Bush policy of democracy and global peace enforced by military force. I thought that was a fair characterization, since I think any neo-conservative should heartily embrace those principles as good and wonderful. I will admit my use of "empirialist" did carry a negative slant, although I think it can be argued that a high level of political, military and economic influence (i.e. U.S.) is part of what makes an empire.
Regarding the covenants, I will need to get back with you on that...hopefully soon. :)
Bryce,
I have looked up the word -'neoconservative' (A word with which I was previously unfamiliar) And I do suppose that may not be a bad description of the present administration. But you're right, 'imperialist' might have been the word that threw me off. =) Maybe because it carries the connotation of conquering to build an empire rather than for something else, say democracy. (By the way, I’m not saying that’s right.)
I look forward to what you have to say on the covenants... =)
Hi Brooke,
I've been keeping up with the latest heated discussion on Israel. :) Anyway, I've been doing a little perusing on covenents and I have to agree with you. The following three verses are from Jer. 31:35-7
"Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, [and] the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts [is] his name:
If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, [then] the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD."
ie. lit. trans: they are my people forever.
Such verses seem fairly unconditional to me.
As far as the current state of Israel is concerned, it is true that currently they are not following the Lord. Yet, here we have a strange paradox. How can such a nation win so many modern battles that are statistically impossible. (They make Thermopylae look like it was a child's play.) The wars of 1948, 1973, and Entebbe are just some examples of this.
Jesse,
I wasn't familiar with Jer. 31, what a great passage! Thanks for sharing it. You're right about the paradox of Israel's survival. It is truly a miracle ("...Something only God could do...") that the nation still exists today. Thanks for commenting!
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