By Gustav Krös
30/01/2025
By the time of writing this article, the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas is still intact, with the next hostages set to be released on Thursday, 30 January. Most people realise that the ceasefire is very fragile and can easily come apart before the six-week agreement is over. A crucial juncture within the ceasefire comes 16 days after its start, on the 3rd of February. This is the date when negotiations will begin to work towards a permanent ceasefire. This second round of negotiations has the potential to impact the success of the current ceasefire and will also determine whether fighting will resume after the 42 days or whether a permanent agreement can be reached.
With the fragility of the current agreement, most people understand the reality that the ceasefire doesn’t equate to peace between Israel and Hamas. But at the same time, we also need to ask ourselves whether, if a permanent ceasefire is reached, would it equate to peace?
The answer is no. A permanent ceasefire will not equate to peace.
In worldly terms, it will equate to peace, and it will certainly be celebrated as such, but the reality remains that it will only be a matter of time before Hamas launches its next attack on Israel and on the Jewish people.
It is like the words we read in Jeremiah 6:14 and 8:11: “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”
This is similar to how most countries in the world are currently dealing with Israel. Firstly, they downplay the severity of Hamas’s attack on 7th October 2023, as if it wasn’t that serious. Secondly, they propagate this illusion that a stop to the conflict will equate to peace, while we know very well there will not be true peace.
Hamas’s desire to conquer the land of Israel is ideologically rooted in their belief system. (For more insight on this matter, you can read the article “From the River to the Sea” by clicking here: https://incontextinternational.org/2024/10/03/from-the-river-to-the-sea/ ).
Any ceasefire agreement is a temporary agreement for them, even if it is called a permanent agreement. In light of this, US intelligence suggests that Hamas has recruited between 10,000 and 15,000 members since the start of the war, indicating that the cycle of conflict will continue unless their ideology is changed.
The question then remains: how do we change the ideology and bring about true peace?
As Christians, we know that true peace only exists when there is peace between man and God, and peace between man and God is only possible through the mediator, Jesus Christ. As Paul writes in Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We can never expect true and lasting peace unless Hamas replaces their ideology with the Gospel of Christ and come to a place of peace with God. Thus, within our prayers for peace to reign over Israel, we need to pray for the salvation of Hamas and the Palestinian people. Without the peace of Christ in their hearts, there will never be peace in the land.
The salvation of Hamas and the Palestinian people is also key to ultimately opening the Jewish people’s eyes to the reality of Jesus being the Messiah and thus also bringing them to a place of peace with God.
In Romans 11:25, Paul says that Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. We know that the Palestinian people are part of the Gentiles and thus would need to come to Christ first before we will see the awakening of the Jewish people. But equally important to the full number of Gentiles is the role that envy will play in the process of the Jewish people coming to Christ.
In Romans 10:19, Paul reminds us of God’s words in Deuteronomy 32:21, when He said: “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.” Paul then continues with this theme and states in Romans 11:11: “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.”
Who is then better positioned to make the people of Israel envious than the Palestinian people?
If Hamas fighters start laying down their weapons and profess Christ as their saviour, and they no longer want to conquer Israel because they acknowledge that it was given to the Jews by God, what effect would that have on Jewish people? Hamas and the Palestinian people might just be the catalyst that Paul writes about, drawing the Jews to the reality of Jesus as the Messiah.
Will all Hamas members come to Christ?
This may seem improbable. But we know that Christ died for their sins as well and if they would come to accept Him as their Saviour their sins will be forgiven.
Will all Palestinians come to Christ?
Though it may seem unlikely, we know a remnant of the Palestinian people will represent them before God’s throne for all eternity.
We are thus under no illusion that all Hamas members or all Palestinians will accept Christ, but we know that there are already Palestinian Christians and that more will come to know Him, forming part of the full number of Gentiles and playing their part in drawing the Jews to Christ. Ultimately, however, scripture tells us that there will be no physical peace surrounding the land of Israel until Christ returns (Zechariah 14:1-21). Yet, we can work towards that day by each doing our part to establish peace between humanity and God (2 Corinthians 5:20), until the full number of Gentiles has been reached, and we witness the Jews embrace Christ as their long-awaited Messiah.
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