A Biblical Perspective of
Israel, Arabs and America
In
Israel Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, East Jerusalem is known as a safe
place to be. Many of its 23,000
students are from Britain and France.
It was a place where Jewish, Arab and foreign students mingled freely,
despite its principle site, on Mount Scopus, having historically been a
contested territory. Palestinian
neighborhoods surround the campus.
On
Wednesday, July 31, 2002, as Israeli students were taking exams and foreign
students were registering for summer Hebrew courses in the popular Frank
Sinatra Cafeteria the peace was shattered at about
1:30 p.m. A bomb, laden with nails and other metal objects, was in a
bag left on a table in the center of the cafeteria and was detonated remotely
by cellular phone. The bomb exploded
and at least seven people were killed that included five Americans. Among the more than eighty wounded were
Israelis, Arabs, Americans, French, Italians, South Koreans and others.
The
terrorist organization Hamas, which has carried out the largest number of
Palestinian bombings, claimed responsibility for the bombing during a rally in
Gaza City that drew some 10,000 supporters into the streets following evening
prayers in the mosques. "This
operation today is a part of a series of operations we will launch from
everywhere in Palestine," said a masked Hamas militant, dressed in a green
military uniform. At the request of the
masked Hamas speaker, the entire crowd knelt to pray that future Hamas attacks
"would succeed against the enemy of God." Hamas has clearly declared they will continue with their
terrorist activities until the Jews are driven out of the land.
There are
three key participants in the Middle-east conflict – Israel, Arabs and America. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade
Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC on September 11, 2001
also involved the same three key participants.
The Arabs declared that America was attacked because of its support and
alignment with Israel. Is there any
biblical basis for the constant struggle between Israel and the Arabs? Does the Bible have any indication of
America’s involvement in that conflict?
God’s
Promises to Abraham
Individual
-- Abraham is promised that he would be the father of a
great nation including kings and nations other than the "seed itself"
(Gen. 17:6). God promised His personal
blessing on Abraham. His name would be
great and he himself will be a blessing to others (Gen. 12:2).
National -- The
nation itself would be great (Gen. 12:2) and innumerable (Gen. 13:16; 15:5).
The nation is promised possession of the land . . . the Abrahamic Covenant
itself is expressly called "everlasting" (Gen. 17:7) and the
possession of the land is defined as "an
everlasting possession" (Gen. 17:8).
Universal – Through
his seed "all families of the earth" are
promised blessings (Gen. 12:3). This prophecy points to no other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is a descendent of Abraham (Mt. 1:1-17). "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise " (Gen. 17:8).
Israel's Divine Right to the Land
God
promised to show the land to Abraham (Gn 12:1; 15:18). The land promised to Abraham's descendents stretches "from
the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates" (Gn 15:18), and that
this Promised Land would be theirs and that of their descendants forever (Josh.
14:9). Abraham had two sons – Ishmael and Isaac (Gen. 16:10-16). Abraham also had other sons (Gen. 25:1-6). God did not promise Ishmael any land and "Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac." (Gen. 25:5) God also promised this land to Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4). Isaac had two sons - Esau and Jacob, but Esau married heathen wives and this grieved his parents (Gen. 26:34-35). Esau sold his birthright to Jacob (Gen. 25:27-34) and he also lost his blessings to Jacob as well (Gen. 27:1-46). Isaac blessed Jacob with the land (Gen. 28:1-4). God promised to give the land to Jacob and his descendents (Gen. 28:13). Jacob’s name was changed to Israel (Gen. 32:27-28). Jacob’s
twelve sons were the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. According to God’s promise Israel has the
divine right to the land. The Biblical and political maps below indicate the Arabs have not only taken the land that God promised to Israel but they are also trying to drive the Jews out of the small area of land that they are occupying.
Regathering
of Israel in the Promised Land
It is a
fact of history that the Israelites took possession of the land God promised
them. While His promise was irrevocable, He nevertheless warned them that
should they cease to obey Him He would cast them out of the land for a
time. Disobedient Israel "shall
be plucked from off the land which [they] go to possess." (Dt. 28:63). This has
resulted in the Assyrian captivity of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the
Babylonian captivity of the Southern Kingdom (Judah). The last major Diaspora (Dispersion), took place when the Roman
army under Titus utterly destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Not only have the Jews been widely dispersed
as the Bible predicted but they would also be badly treated by other nations as
well (Jer. 29:18).
God has
not left Israel altogether even during the dispersion. “For I am with
you, says the LORD, to save you; though I make a full end of all nations where
I have scattered you, yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, and will
not let you go altogether unpunished.” (Jer. 30:10-11) The apostle Paul wrote: "I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. . . ." (Rom. 11: 1-2)
Although
the children of Israel had been scattered all over the world yet God promised
to bring them back to the land which He had promised them.
"Behold,
I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger,
in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I
will cause them to dwell safely. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good,
and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My
soul." (Jer. 32: 37,38,41)
Without
a doubt, the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948, together with the ongoing
massive ingathering of the world's Jews to their land, has been the most
powerful message from God to humanity in the last 2000 years. Since after the First World War, when they
first began arriving in large numbers in the mostly barren and neglected land
of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Jews have been brought together from over
100 nations. God returned the
Promised Land to Israel just as He had promised.
Israel
will provide a sign to the world
God made
this promise, “I bring My righteousness near, it shall
not be far off; My salvation will not linger.
And I will place salvation in Zion, For Israel My glory.” (Isa. 46:13) God’s salvation already came to Israel two
thousand years ago when He manifested Himself in the flesh. “Therefore the
Lord Himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His
name Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:14; Mt. 1:23)
“Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had
brought forth her firstborn Son. And he
called His name JESUS – YAHSHUA (Mt. 1:24-25)
Prophetic
Criteria of Israel’s Messiah and Savior
God had
listed the prophetic criteria to qualify as God's Messiah, the Savior of all
mankind: He must be born in Bethlehem (Mic, 5:2); He must be from the tribe of
Judah (Gen 49:10); His lineage must be from King David (Isa. 11:1); He must be
born of a virgin (Is 7:14); He must demonstrate a miracle-filled life (Isa
35:4-6); He must die for the sins of the world (Isa. 53:5,6,10); He must be
buried three days and nights in the grave (Jon 1:17); He must be resurrected
from the dead (Ps 16:10).
There is
only one Person in the history of the world to meet those criteria – The Lord Jesus
Christ.
What
about the Palestinian Claim to the Land?
"There
is no such thing as a Palestinian Arab nation . . . Palestine is a name the
Romans gave to Eretz Yisrael with the express purpose of infuriating the Jews .
. . . Why should we use the spiteful name meant to humiliate us?
The
British chose to call the land they mandated Palestine, and the Arabs picked it
up as their nation's supposed ancient name, though they couldn't even pronounce
it correctly and turned it into Falastin a fictional entity." —
Golda Meir quoted by Sarah Honig, Jerusalem Post, 25 November 1995
Palestine
has never existed . . . as an autonomous entity. There is no language known as
Palestinian. There is no distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a
land known as Palestine governed by Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs,
indistinguishable from Jordanians (another recent invention), Syrians,
Lebanese, Iraqis, etc.
Keep in
mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands. Israel
represents one-tenth of one percent of the landmass. But that's too much for
the Arabs. They want it all. And that is ultimately what the fighting in Israel
is about today . . . No matter how many land concessions the Israelis make, it
will never be enough. — from "Myths of the Middle
East", Joseph Farah, Arab-American editor and journalist, WorldNetDaily,
11 October 2000
America
in the Conflict between Israel and the Arabs
God has
revealed in His Word the conditions of His blessings on a nation. “Blessed
is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own
inheritance.” (Psm. 33:12) It is not
a coincidence that America is a blessed nation. America is one nation under God, the cradle, nursery, school,
university and workplace of Christian men and women that help to propagate the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world.
God has
also promised to bless the nation that blesses Israel. “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.” (Gen. 12:3). We also find the principle
of cursing and the promise of blessing passed on to, and covering the entire
Nation of Israel (the Jewish people) in Numbers 24:9... "Blessed
is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you." In Zechariah 2:8 we read...
"for he who touched you (the Jewish people)
touches the apple of His (The LORD God) eye."
Since its
independence in 1948, Israel has enjoyed a special relationship with the United
States, as successive administrations have reaffirmed America's unshakable
commitment to Israel's security. Ties
between the countries go back to the 1940s, when the United States pressured
Britain and the United Nations to partition Palestine and create a Jewish
homeland. Six minutes after Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948, the United
States of America became the first country to recognize it.
Reasons
for American support ranged from horror at the Holocaust and a penchant for
rooting for the underdog to a desire to have a stable democracy in a volatile
region. The United States also wanted a
strategically situated military partner in the event of a global conflict. America has a very special relationship with
Israel. Is there a
biblical explanation for this phenomenon?
The nation
of Israel is clearly spelt out in the Holy Bible but what about America? Can we find any reference in the Scriptures
concerning Israel’s relationship with America?
An American Christian
once wrote to me in the ARK Forum that he believes the eagle in Revelation
12:14 represents the United States of America. It
is interesting to note that the bald eagle is the national bird of America. [The eagle is America's national symbol - see the Great Seal of the United States on the left] At that time I did not
dispute with him but I had reservations about his interpretation. He
quoted Exodus 19:4, "You have seen what I did to the
Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to
Myself." He wrote that since
God had delivered Israel in the past through an eagle, and He is also doing the
same to present day Israel through America. His interpretation of "the
woman who gave birth to the male Child" as
Israel which is the birth place of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rev. 12:14) Although my friend's interpretation is plausible yet we should not make this into a dogma.
America,
up to the present time, has been the only nation that stood firm by Israel in
very trying times. If America changes
its foreign policy on Israel God will withdraw His blessings from this
nation. Please pray that America will
continue to support Israel.
”Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they
prosper who love you.” (Psm. 122:6)
A Sermon based on this Article was preached by Paul Wong
to a Congregation in Houston, Texas on August 3, 2002
For comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
May God bless you.
Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International.
His ministry also serves as an architectural service company in Houston.
The ARK Forum on the Internet is international and non-denominational.
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