Israel & Palestine: Land and Covenant
Discover the profound influence of Old Testament land covenants in shaping the historical and current perspectives on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
TRANSCRIPT
INTRO
This morning we’re kicking off a new series called Israel and Palestine: Understanding the Conflict through Biblical Themes. You’ve probably heard on the news or seen on your social media threads about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, 2 countries that are about the size of New Jersey. Compared to Minnesota, they make up just a small sliver. About two months ago on October 7th, Hamas, a religious, political, and terrorist group from Palestine, launched a surprise attack on Israel killing 1,200 Israelis. And soon after that, Israel declared war on Hamas. This recent conflict is one of the longest, ongoing struggles spanning over the last 70 years involving many dynamics like land, promises, religion, ethnicity, power, and oppression just to name a few.
And in the next few weeks, we’re going spend some time to consider how we can view this in light of being followers of Christ. Not only that, but there are major biblical themes surrounding the topic that we can’t ignore and have to examine in this complicated situation.
Today, we’re going to focus on land and covenant, but before we go any further, I want to honestly share with you all that I was humbled this week in preparing today’s message. I’ve felt nervous, uncomfortable, and ignorant at times knowing that I am not well-informed about this important topic. I want to apologize in advance if I say anything incorrect or untrue. I am still learning more and more about this situation, and I would love to have a conversation with you to help me understand this better if/when I say something wrong. And I know it’s important for us to address what’s going on and how we should respond before any of us are experts. So, are you ready to dive into this with me? Let’s go.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ISRAEL AND PALESTINE
As I mentioned earlier, this conflict has a long and deep history. But I think it’d be helpful for us to be on the same page, so I’m going to give a broad understanding of the situation to provide some context.
Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, but after World War I in 1918, the British took control of Palestine. There were plans to establish a Jewish national homeland in Palestine because throughout history, Jewish people have faced persecution, but many Palestinian Arabs opposed it concerned that it wasn’t fair. Also, with many Arabs following Islam and Jewish people following Judaism, religious differences have been a point of contention over centuries. Prior to World War II, religious and political movements caused a flow of Jewish immigration to Palestine, but the Holocaust fueled many more Jewish people to seek refuge in Palestine.
After World War II, the United Nations approved to split Palestine into a Jewish and Arab State. And I didn’t know this until this week, but in 1948 Israel was officially declared as a country. I always thought Israel was a country, but I realized some factors that played into this was growing up in the church, being born many years after 1948, and not being informed.
Following Israel’s independence and recognition as a country, war immediately broke out protesting the move and since then, there have been many wars in the area. And currently, this is what Israel and Palestine looks like. Palestine consists of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights where as Israel is situated in most of the area. The current state and history of Israel and Palestine is a long, complicated, and sad reality that has a direct impact on them, but it has also impacted us to one degree or another.
HOW AMERICANS ARE RESPONDING
Across our country, unsurprisingly everyone has opinions about the complex situation and generally, we’ve seen a trend in how this has negatively impacted others.
Across the different generations,
Research has found that younger Americans support Palestine because they are seen as victims of Israel. Israel is the oppressor who is colonizing Palestine. While this is a perspective that is contextual to younger Americans, it has unfortunately sparked anti-Semitism (discrimination against Jewish people) across elite college campuses like the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and MIT.
Older generations on the other hand generally support Israel because they grew up in an era where Israel was the oppressed.
Across the 3 major religions in America, opinions vary just as much.
Studies show that American Jews approve of the United State’s response to Israel’s war against Hamas, but over 50% disagreed with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's policies (Jewish American Response to War)
• Muslims have responded in favor of Palestine. A recent poll shows that 60% of “Muslim Americans agreed that Hamas was at least somewhat justified in attacking Israel as part of their struggle for a Palestinian state” (Muslim American Response to War).
• And most evangelical Christians are in full support of Israel and their actions toward Hamas and Palestine, and we’ll talk about one specific reason why in a bit.
A COMMON TENSION
Although there are many opinions, what seems to be the common issue is the tension of who’s lives matters. The October 7th attack is considered the largest attack in Israel and on the Jewish people since the Holocaust and I can see why it is important to support Israel. Hamas desires to establish an independent Islamic state in historical Palestine and they plan to do that by eliminating Israel by any means necessary. Now, before I say the next thing, I want to make it clear that I see Hamas and Palestinian civilians as two separate groups of people. Hamas is from Palestine, but Palestine isn’t Hamas. Specifically, Palestinian civilians are not guilty by association because Hamas is from Palestine. With that said, what Hamas has done is evil and not right, so I support Israel.
And at the same time, Israel has responded by declaring war on Hamas, but their military action has caused much collateral damage impacting the well-being of Palestinian civilians. Some of the major and controversial military actions that Israel has taken include:
A total blockade on Gaza preventing the entry of food, water, medicine, fuel, and electricity to Palestinians. Humanitarian conditions have been a huge concern with people not receiving essential needs and hospitals cannot care for the sick and hurt.
Mass evacuation of Gaza leaving a million Palestinians displaced and seeking refuge.
and indiscriminate bombings on Gaza.
Some experts consider Israel’s military campaign to be one of the most destructive in recent history. It is estimated that upwards of 1,200 Israelis and 23,000 Palestinians (40% being children) have died because of this war. Tomorrow will mark the 100th day since October 7th and that’s an average of 240 people who die every day since the war began. That’s about the average weekly attendance between both RiverLife campuses on Sunday. Maybe I am naïve and those are a part of war, I don’t know. But that does not sit well with me and so I support Palestine, too.
I can’t find a simple solution because this situation is not simple and that’s why we felt like we needed to preach on this topic. We couldn’t ignore it. It was necessary to at least take some time to think and address issues when we face these issues. And as believers of Jesus, we have to consider what and how we think about this. A simple as yes or no just doesn’t feel sufficient, but it feels like the majority of American evangelical Christians, the tribe that we are part of, fully support Israel based on the biblical themes of land and covenant. I’ll share with you some of my thoughts on this and why I think we have to take into consideration our understanding of these themes and consider another option.
HOW AMERICAN EVANGELICALS HAVE GENERALLY RESPONDED
Generally, American evangelicals support Israel because they believe it’s their godly duty to do so. Often, evangelicals will argue that the Jewish people have the divine right to live on that land because it was the land God promised to the Israelites. A passage that evangelicals will often refer to is the Abrahamic Covenant found in Genesis 12:1-3. This is what it says,
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Generally, evangelicals believe that God’s covenant, His promise, to give land to Abraham is the reason why we need to support Israel. And it is essential that we support Israel because of verse 3, which says
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.”
Some American evangelicals have taken on the duty to support Israel no matter what so that they can be a recipient of blessings. There are 3 reasons why I think we have to unpack this a bit more instead of simply accepting a literal interpretation. The first reason is that this is an unconditional covenant that God makes with Israel. Second, I think those with a literal interpretation are trying too hard to intervene with God’s plan. And third, how do we understand other passages like Matthew 5:3-9, which Choua read earlier, when it comes to blessing? So let's begin.
3 REASONS TO GO BEYOND A LITERAL INTERPRETATION
Reason 1:
Reason 1, this covenant about land is generally seen as an unconditional agreement between God and Abraham. Essentially what that means is that God promised Abraham that He will give Abraham land, He will make Abraham a great nation, He will bless Abraham, He will make Abraham’s name great, He will make Abraham a blessing and in return, Abraham doesn’t have to do anything. If this was a conditional covenant, it means that in order for Abraham to receive all these things from God, he would have to do something on his end. Here’s an example from Exodus 19:5 when God made a covenant with Moses. This is what He says,
5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.
Notice the if whereas in Abraham’s covenant, there are no ifs. God will fulfill His promise with or without human influence on it, which leads me to the second point, humanity is trying too hard to intervene with God’s plan.
Reason 2:
All throughout history, a population of believers have a desire and sometimes an obsession to fulfill prophecy so that Jesus can return. Some believe that literal things have to happen so that Jesus returns so they do whatever they can to intervene. While I believe we all have a part in God’s plan, I don’t think it’s up to any of us to fulfill any prophecy. Only Jesus has fulfilled prophecies, not humans. Again, I am not saying that we don’t have any role and responsibility in doing God’s work, but I think evangelicals sometimes make themselves more important than they seem, particularly in this case when it comes to supporting Israel. It can feel like manipulation and my concern is that our intervention might mess things up instead of helping it.
Reason 3:
And lastly, if we do take a literal interpretation that we have to bless Israel by supporting them in everything that they do, I think about our interpretations of passages like Matthew 5:3-12 or the Greatest Commandment, to love God and to love others. If we interpret Genesis 12:1-3 literally, I think we have to understand other passages about blessings literally too. Let me read Matthew 5:3-9 for us again, this is what it says,
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
In Jesus’ very first sermon, he tells us that we are blessed when we live a life completely different from what the world suggests.
The poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of heaven. Those who mourn are comforted. The death toll is over 20,000. We have to mourn about this conflict.
The meek or humble are the ones who inherit the earth, not the proud or the powerful.
The ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the ones who desire to see God’s standard and not our standard, will be filled. This conflict is more complex than choosing one side or the other. Our standard of right or wrong in comparison to God’s is different so we have to hunger and thirst for God’s standard in this situation.
The ones who show mercy will be shown mercy. Currently, the United States and Israel are two countries with the most powerful militaries in the world. 2 years ago, Trevor Noah, the host of The Daily Show, said this regarding Israel’s military capabilities compared to Palestines’,
“If you are in a fight where the other person cannot beat you, how hard should you retaliate when they try to hurt you? When you have this much power, what is your responsibility?” (Let’s Talk About the Israel-Palestine Conflict | The Daily Show)
153 countries have called for a ceasefire while 10 countries, which include the United States have not. We have to advocate for mercy. The pure in heart will see God. I’m scared that if we choose to support Israel by taking on a literal interpretation of Genesis 12:3 and not considering other options, we might only be seeking God’s blessing and not God, himself.
And I’ll end on this. The peacemakers…the peacemakers…let me say that again, the peacemakers are blessed, and they will be called children of God. We have to be peacemakers because that is who God is, that is what He does, and that is what he calls us to do.
CONCLUSION
As we conclude, I don’t think this conflict between Israel and Palestine is simply choosing a side over the other. I think our world does a great job of having us choose sides deeming one right and the other wrong. I believe each side has legitimate reasons why they are fighting and I also think they have many faults too, but in the end, I think we have to view this in light of who Jesus is and if Jesus has called us to love Him and to love others, I think our job is love both Israelis and Palestinians. Love protects life and to deny one or the other life is, I think, ungodly. So the solution I think is to seek God’s peace that He promises unto all of us.