I want to
build on another post I wrote recently titled Unjust War with this post. One of the most
disturbing things I see some Christians asserting with the nation of Israel is
that because they are God’s people they are inherently blessed and God is on
their side in this Gaza conflict.
But let’s
reflect on this biblically. I do not believe the modern nation of Israel is the people of God as some Christians erroneously believe. I have outlined that in
many posts last year, so I don’t want to re-examine that argument in this piece.
But for the sake of argument, let’s pretend that Israel is the continuation of
the nation of David and Solomon, that their religion is the
continuation of Zadok and Asaph’s faith, and all the inherent blessings and
consequences of Mosaic law are theirs to claim by right of their covenant on
Sinai. Let’s just grant all of this for the sake of argument, let’s steelman
the position of the Christian Zionists and say, ok guys, you have it your way,
Israel are the people of God.[1]
If all of
this is the case, how then would God respond to the nation of Israel doing evil in
this world? The precise same way that he would respond to any other nation
doing evil in this world. This is why I find this argument of these Christians
so disturbing. There has never been a time when God’s people could just act
however they liked because they were God’s people. The Rasputin’s of the world
may have pretended there was, but such a time has never existed. God’s
relationship with his people does not work that way, he expects those who go by
his name to honour his name in how they live and act in this world. God will
hold every individual and every nation to account. Israel, in this regard, is
in the exact same boat as any other nation. So let’s turn to the Old Testament
to see what God would say to his nation if they were acting badly.
The Old
Testament
We read in Amos
9 this incredible statement of the Lord, addressed to Israel:
“7 “Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the
Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the
sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
except that I will not utterly destroy the house of
Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’”
These words
were written by a prophet of God and directed to the nation of God,
specifically the northern kingdom of Israel, as I noted above. God was warning
them that their status as the people of God did not exempt them from
punishment. Because though they were his special nation they are still a nation
like any other and God holds all nations and the leaders and people of those
nations to account for how they act in the world.
Look at that
last verse in particular, “10 All the sinners of my people shall die by
the sword, who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’” God is
saying that those who prophesy and proclaim falsely that his people cannot be
defeated because they are the people of God and secure, will be punished for
their false proclamations. I find it incredible that there are still Christians
today who have this exact same perspective on the nation of modern Israel, even
though this was precisely the message of the false prophets that is often
condemned in the Scriptures. For example,
“16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words
of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak
visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say
continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with
you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No
disaster shall come upon you’” (Jeremiah 23:16-17).
The worst
people in the Bible are at times the people who claimed that Israel or Judah
could not face disaster because they are the people of God. But this is a lie
from the pit of hell. The Law of Deuteronomy outlined blessings for good
behaviour and curses for bad behaviour. God is not a God of disorder, or a God
who tolerates evil and injustice.
This passage
does say that God will preserve Jacob, that is Israel. It goes on to say in
verses 11-15 that God is going to rebuild the fallen booth of David; that is Israel will be re-established. This was
fulfilled in the book of Acts, as noted by James (Acts 15:14-18). But the point
is, God does not let his nation get away with doing evil, that is not how he
works. He has never worked that way, that is one of the most important messages
in the Bible, from the book of Genesis to Revelation, for the people of God from Abraham till today.
The
Modern Day
So, it is
particularly grievous to see Christians hold to basically that view today. That
the blessing of a nation, any nation really, but especially a nation called
Israel could be divorced from how it followed the commands of God. I write this
for my readers (if you are still there) who may think that you should not be
criticising Israel’s unjust war right now because you believe that Israel is
God’s people and therefore they will succeed, by virtue of this "immutable fact”. But this is not what happened in the Bible. God disciplined Israel when
they did wrong and blessed them when they did right. And right now they are
doing great wrong.
Yes, this
began with them being attacked. Yes, they feel threatened by what are genuine
threats in their region both near and far. Yes, they are in part seeking to
secure a place of safety for their own people, something that every national
government should do for their own people. But like the United States after
9/11 they have cast off almost all restraint and like the US after 9/11 they
are creating a world that is far more hostile towards their people, because
they have gone way too far in their response. The whole world stood in sympathy
with America when those towers came down. The whole world became disgusted with
American when their response was turned into forever wars in the Middle East
striking at every target they could. The whole world stood in sympathy with
Israel on October 7th, but from that day forward they have been
whittling down that goodwill, just like the U.S. did.
If you want
to consider Israel the people of God, which is an erroneous belief because only
those who believe in Jesus are the people of God and that is basic Christian
theology, but if you do, and you believe that you want what is best for them,
I’d be praying for them to pull up and show restraint. I’d be shouting it from
the rooftops. Israel may be strong in relation to other nations its size,
incredibly so, but it has a fraction of the power the United States has and
cannot afford to be so aggressive to its neighbours. This is wisdom, and yet in
some circles in the media and the church this is not supposed to be said.
Someone
needed to pull in the head of the United States when it started swinging
blindly at any and all assailants after 9/11, maybe some of you Christians with
influence with the Jewish people in Israel can have an impact and call for
restraint, at least in your spheres of influence. Such crimes, like the Hamas
attack, need to be responded to, for sure. But the response should have been
done with just restraint and wisdom, not wanton destruction and violence
against civilian infrastructure and populations.
It is
deplorable to bomb civilian centres in such ferocity as the IDF currently is. I
watched one Fox news personality try to defend it by asking his interviewee,
“America dopped two bombs on Japan to stop the war with them, was that wrong?”
I can’t recall the answer of the man being interviewed, I think he spoke over
the interviewer, but the straight answer is: yes, it was wrong. Absolutely it
was wrong.[2]
It was deplorable and evil, and it was a war crime, as was the bombing of
Dresden and many other similar war crimes in that war. The international rules
of war that developed after that war were created in response to how vicious
and cruel those crimes were. If you are harking back to some of the most
deplorable acts of the last century to advocate your position, you are
undermining your own argument.
Nations
which deal out unjust violence never prosper, even if they are powerful and at
the top of the world power structure. And so it has ever been. Because there is
a just and powerful God who expects better of his creations, and especially any
who would claim the mantle of his name. There is a just God who frowns on evil
like the killing tens of thousands of civilians to defeat a few hundred or few thousand
enemy combatants.
You do not
serve Israel, the West or God, by making a defense of things like this and say
that any nation which acts like this will prosper. You actually place yourself
in the place of the false prophets of ancient Israel when you do this. And
that’s not a good place to be.
[1]
They really aren’t though guys.
[2]
And it wasn’t the chief reason that Japan surrendered anyway. Russia was behind
why they actually surrendered, because their army was closing in on Japan and
Japan were terrified of Russia.
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