Stay vigilant against the schemes of the devil, who seeks to distract and deceive Christians in the midst of the ongoing war.
By Gustav Krös
10/10/2024
7 October 2023 has become a watershed day in world history, and time will reveal just how significant it will be. The war triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on that fateful day continues to escalate, and regardless of when the war ends, its impact will be felt by generations to come.
There are so many different role-players affected and caught up in these events that providing a truly balanced perspective on the impact of this war in a single article is surely impossible. Therefore, I trust that many books will still be written about the events of that day and the war that followed. However, for the purposes of this article, I will focus on certain aspects pertaining to the Church.
As much as these events have been a watershed moment for people living in the Middle East and for countries’ political stances on these events, they have also, been a watershed moment for the Church. Division in the Church is nothing new. Over the past 2,000 years, we have found more than enough matters to disagree on, and the topic of Israel has gained significant momentum in this regard due to the current war. Congregations and Christians who previously had no opinion on the modern state of Israel and the Jewish people have been compelled to investigate these matters, as the world has been pressuring people to take sides, and the responses have varied.
All Christians will agree that the nation of Israel during Biblical times played a key role in our faith. The people of Israel were God’s chosen people, to whom He entrusted His written Word, which we call the Bible. As Paul says in Romans 3:1-2: “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Secondly, we know that Jesus, the Messiah for all who accept Him, came to earth as a Jew. As He Himself says in John 4:22: “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.”
Since 7 October 2023, many Christians have been confronted with the question of whether the modern state of Israel and the Jewish people still hold any significance within our faith. One’s perspective on this will greatly influence one’s view of the current events unfolding there. On the one hand, some Christians believe that God’s plan for the Jews has not yet been fully realised, as certain prophecies in the Bible still await fulfilment. Therefore, they see the current events as having implications for Scripture and the Church. On the other hand, some Christians believe that the land of Israel and the Jewish people played their role in our faith during Biblical times, but since the establishment of the Church, they no longer hold significance. Thus, from this perspective, Scripture does not attribute any special significance to the current war.
Within these two main categories, there are also varied degrees, but these primarily represent the two main groups Christians find themselves in. Then, of course, there are those Christians who occupy a middle ground for different reasons. Some simply don’t care and do not believe this issue is important, while others prefer to remain neutral because they fear it might lead them to take one side or the other in the argument, and they feel safer in a position of neutrality.
The interesting reality is that many Christians on both sides of the debate about the conflict claim neutrality. However, the moment you hold a Scriptural conviction regarding the matter, it doesn’t matter if you claim neutrality; you will find yourself on one of the two sides that the world wants us to choose.
I will use my own experience as an example. I am a Christian who believes that God’s unique journey with the Jewish people and the role that the land of Israel plays within that journey has not yet been completed. Therefore, I believe the events occurring on that piece of land have implications for prophecies in the Bible that are yet to be fulfilled, and as such, they influence how the Church should respond to those events. (For further elaboration on this, please read the following article: https://incontextinternational.org/2024/10/03/from-the-river-to-the-sea/)
Now, the moment I proclaim this stance on Scripture, I am labelled as Pro-Israel. It does not matter whether I claim neutrality between Jews and Palestinians; the world will label me Pro-Israel due to my interpretation of Scripture, and if I’m labelled as such, then by default, I am considered anti-Palestinian. In my heart, I know that I do not love Jews more than I love Palestinians. I love both equally and desire for both Jews and Palestinians to step into a living relationship with Christ. However, the world will use my Scriptural position to portray me as anti-Palestinian and Pro-Israel.
Despite this, I will not apologise for my stance on Scripture because it provides me with an opportunity to testify about the loving God we serve. Among the nations of the world, Israel is very much the lost sheep that Jesus speaks of in Luke 15:1-7, Matt. 18:10-14, and specifically Jer. 50:6. If God truly loves us as much as we claim He does, then surely He will not leave Israel to wander blindly in the wilderness after the path He has walked with them, especially because of the covenant He has with them. Through the restoration of Israel, He displays His love and faithfulness to the rest of the world in a physical manner. As Isaiah 52:10 says, “The Lord will lay bare His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.”
It thus makes sense that God waited so long to bring fulfilment to His prophecy of the return of the Jews to the land of Israel. With modern technology like television and the internet, it has now become possible for all the nations to see this happening. At the same time, it makes perfect sense that He did not bring the Jews back to the land of Israel due to their righteousness; rather, He brought them back in their sinfulness, without recognising Jesus as their Messiah. If He had only brought them back once they had ‘deserved’ it, what would that say about Him? After all, we confess that Jesus came to earth to die for our sins without us deserving it and while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). His physical journey with Israel is thus a testimony to the rest of the world of who He is, and it is all part of the process of drawing them into the new covenant under Jesus Christ, while also displaying His character to the world.
Paul summarises this beautifully in Romans 11:25-32 when he says: “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.”
On the other side of the debate around the conflict, you have Christians who do not equate the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel with the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. Thus, they approach the events that have unfolded there over the past 76 years, including the current war, from a different Scriptural point of view that primarily revolves around the concept of justice. In general, these Christians are very sympathetic towards the Palestinian people, whom they feel have suffered an injustice with the establishment of modern-day Israel. Many Christians who fall into this category will similarly claim a stance of neutrality and confess that they love both Jews and Palestinians equally, expressing a desire for both groups to come to Christ. However, due to their Scriptural stance, they find themselves labelled as Pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel.
These Christians find it difficult to believe that a loving God would allow the Palestinian people to suffer to this extent during the establishment of modern-day Israel. The truth remains, however, that a peaceful plan for the establishment of Israel was put on the table in 1947-48, but it was the Palestinians, who are predominantly Muslim, who rejected the plan and chose to fight against the Jews for complete rule of the land. This decision has led to the suffering of the Palestinian people over the past 76 years.
Did God know that the establishment of modern-day Israel would lead to war? Yes, He certainly did. However, it is the sinfulness of man that has led to the continued suffering of the Palestinian people. God does not want people to suffer, regardless of their ethnicity, but unfortunately for the Palestinian people, their suffering will continue until they stop resisting God’s decision to give the land of Israel to the Jews.
This spirit of violence against the Jews and the land of Israel is addressed in Psalm 83:1-5. Even though it is practically driven by Islamic extremism, we know that the force behind it is the devil. This was evident in the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October, when they did not launch their attack solely against the Israeli military but purposefully targeted, killed and kidnapped Israeli civilians, from babies to the elderly. The devil continues to drive this pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel movement, not because he truly cares about the Palestinian people, but due to his hatred of God and His people.
One must acknowledge that there is a spiritual force behind the pro-Palestinian movement. If it were truly about the Palestinian people, we would have seen similar movements of the same magnitude for the Rohingya of Myanmar, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, or the Uyghurs in China. With all the suffering in the world today, the list could be much longer. The evidence is clear: the same spirit that led Haman to try to eradicate the Jews in the Book of Esther and that motivated the Nazis to commit the Holocaust during the Second World War is driving the pro-Palestinian cause. While Islamic extremism may be the devil’s original chosen ‘vehicle’ this time around, we have seen it develop to include a much wider scope of the global population through the ‘vehicle’ of human rights.
The wonderful thing is that there are even Christian Palestinians who recognise this and do not use their human rights to latch onto the pro-Palestinian cause. Instead, they live victoriously in Christ. They do not align themselves with the narrative of a two-state solution; rather, they submit to the understanding that the establishment of modern-day Israel was ordained by our sovereign God. Since they are in Christ, they no longer place value on earthly land or possessions.
Hebrews 10:34 speaks of believers who, due to persecution, joyfully accepted the confiscation of their properties because they knew that they had better and lasting possessions. Although this Scripture specifically addresses the confiscation of property due to persecution, I see a similarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters who joyfully accept God’s purposes for the land of Israel. Rather than resisting, they live out their testimony within it.
Lastly, there are Christians who position themselves neutrally to the extent that they are unwilling to share their perspective on Scripture because they do not want to be labelled as pro or anti anyone. Depending on one’s conviction in this matter, this stance can certainly be seen as noble, and each individual needs to search their own heart regarding it. For instance, some Christians hold a position of neutrality concerning Scripture to avoid jeopardising their work among Muslims in the Middle East, knowing that voicing their perspective could derail relationships and impact their work in the region.
However, there are also Christians who are not connected to work among Muslims or within the Middle East but remain neutral due to a fear of association. They are afraid to show love to the Palestinians because people might think they do not love the Jews, and they are also afraid to show love to the Jews because others might think they do not love the Palestinians. In the end, they find themselves in a position of not showing love to anyone. This stance leads to paralysis, and although they may genuinely care about people, they ultimately make no difference at all and become irrelevant within the context of this war. May we thus ensure that we live in the fear of the Lord and not in the fear of man.
In closing, we do not know how long the current war surrounding Israel will continue, but Scripture tells us that wars will continue to rage around Israel until the day of Jesus’s return (Zech 14:1-9). However, no matter on which end of the Scriptural debate one finds oneself, we are still only human, and even though we confess that we love all parties involved, the longer the war continues, the greater the risk of one’s heart becoming hardened towards either side in this conflict. May we thus remain mindful of what Jesus tells us in Matt. 6:14-15: “If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” This will remain a much greater challenge for our brothers and sisters in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, and throughout the Middle East, but it will affect all of us. So, as the war continues, may we protect our hearts, maintain our focus on His Kingdom, and be found ready when He comes.
Please join us in praying for the following:
- Pray for the Church to be alert and on their guard against the schemes of the devil that seeks to deceive and distract us from God’s Kingdom.
- Pray that our hearts may remain soft and filled with forgiveness towards all parties involved in the war.
- Pray that God will use this war to open people’s eyes to see Him as their Saviour and that a vast harvest of souls will be brought in amidst the war.
