Israel & Palestine: Power and Oppression
Is Israel a victim or an oppressor? It depends on who you ask. Explore biblical teachings on the use and abuse of power and how they relate to the dynamics of oppression in the Israel-Palestine context.
TRANSCRIPT
INTRO
Today, we’re continuing our series called Israel & Palestine where we are looking at the current conflict between the two ethnic groups and what we should consider being followers of Jesus.
To provide a very brief history lesson on a very complex situation for those who are just joining us, the conflict between Israel and Palestine has gone on for over 70 years over the land that was split between them in 1948. Before 1948, Israel was not a country, but many wanted to create a national homeland for the Jewish people because they’ve experienced discrimination throughout all of history so following World War II when millions of Jewish people died in the Holocaust, they were given land to establish a country. Since then, there have been numerous wars and multiple attempts at peace, but there has been no solution. On October 7th a Palestinian group called Hamas attacked Israel killing over 1,200 people and Israel responded by declaring war.
Last week, I shared how American Evangelical Christians are involved in this conflict because many have pushed for pro-Israel policies based on a literal interpretation of passages like Genesis 12:3,
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.”
Evangelicals, which is a tribe we belong to, believe it is our godly duty to support Israel and the Jewish people so that we receive God’s blessing and fulfill biblical prophecies causing Jesus to return. But this current conflict has presented an ethical issue that, I think, causes us to pause and consider what support should look like.
Some fear that Israel has crossed the line of self-defense to genocide even facing accusations from South Africa. Israel’s actions against Hamas have become alarming with what appears to be a disregard for civilian causality. Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that between Oct 7th and mid-December, Israel dropped 29,000 bombs over Gaza in 45 days. Headlines also report that early in the conflict, 6,000 bombs were dropped in 6 days. If we compare that to any recent wars, in 2019 the US dropped a record of 7,400 bombs in Afghanistan in the year. I’m no military weapon expert and I’m doing my best to filter news sources, but it does feel excessive. And at least for me, I left last week considering what our response should be when many other Christians are in full support of this, especially when we have verses like Matthew 5:9,
“Blessed are the peacemakers.”
THE DYNAMIC OF POWER AND OPPRESSION
An interesting dynamic that has surfaced regarding this conflict is the topic of power and oppression, which is our focus today. While older Americans are for Israel because they once saw Israel as an oppressed people who now are defending themselves, younger generations are generally against Israel. They see Israel as the oppressor because they have only known Israel with power. Younger generations have only seen a developed Israel with top military capabilities that are mercilessly retaliating against Palestine. What happens when the oppressed becomes the oppressor? What happens when the victim becomes the victimizer?
There are situations like this throughout our community and history.
We’ve all heard the saying, hurt people hurt people.
It’s road rage.
Historically, we’ve seen how the early settlers escaped religious persecution by coming to America but ended up persecuting the Native Americans.
The Stanford Prison Experiment was a controversial psychological experiment where college students experienced a two-week simulation of a prison environment. They were split into 2 groups where some played the role of guard while the others played prisoner. It ended after 6 days because of the negative conditions and behaviors observed in the group role-playing the prisoners. It provided a lesson in how good people placed with power can act barbarically.
Even among our refugee communities, it’s the anti-immigration sentiments with a recent influx of immigrants over the years.
This has also been a conversation in other circles, notably in the Jewish community. I got a chance to listen to a podcast called The Ezra Klein Show and, on their November 17th, 2023 episode titled “The Sermons I Needed to Hear Right Now”, Ezra Klein, a journalist for the New York Times, who is also Jewish interviewed Rabbi Sharon Brous who is listed as one of the most influential rabbis in America. I’d highly recommend tuning in on the conversation.
DO NOT OPPRESS THE FOREIGNER: A JEWISH PERSPECTIVE
Klein and Rabbi Brous discuss recent sermons she has preached, which focus on the Israel/Palestine conflict. She shares her thoughts about how her Jewish identity helps inform her. One of the points that she touches on is power and oppression. Rabbi Brous shares her concerns about the extreme shift Israel’s government leaders are taking. She feels like they have moved away from the values that are core to her understanding of what it means to be Jewish. Instead of brute strength and force, she argues that the Torah (the Jewish religious book equivalent to our Bible), tradition, and their history of persecution, genocide, and notably, exile are the core principles that make up the Jewish faith. This is what she says,
“If you look at our core sacred literature, the Torah, you see that four of the five books of the Torah are dedicated to the experience of our people, the Israelites, walking from out of degradation and enslavement and barbarity and human cruelty toward the promised land on a quest to build a just society.
And that story, that core narrative, lives at the heart of every Jewish ritual, every single Jewish holiday. It is at the heart of our prayer services. There’s not a morning, afternoon, or evening prayer where we don’t recall the exodus from Egypt.
And it is delivered, not only as a narrative, but a narrative that is tied to specific moral action, which is, you are strangers in the land of Egypt. Do not oppress the stranger. You were strangers in the land of Egypt. You know the heart of the stranger. And you are strangers in the land of Egypt. You must love the stranger, protect the stranger. And that is the source of my Jewish faith. ”
The Old Testament reference that Rabbi Brous refers to comes from a few different places, but I’ll read from Exodus 23:9, which says,
“9 Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”
A QUICK HISTORY OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY
And just so we’re on the same page, let me review a quick history lesson on this. This was also in the video that we saw right before the sermon.
Jewish people today believe they are connected to the biblical Israelites in the Old Testament. Jewish people come from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons, with the youngest being Joseph.
Joseph’s was sold into slavery and ended up in Egypt. His faithfulness in God led him to become a high official to Pharaoh. During a famine, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt seeking food. After some drama, they reconciled and reunited. Joseph invited them to Egypt to live them. This was a prosperous time for the Israelites because they had lots of babies and flourished as a people group.
After Joseph died, a new pharaoh subjected all the Israelites into slavery fearing they would overthrow him. Moses, who was an Israelite, was born and he was supposed to be killed, but he was saved by Pharaoh’s daughter who raised him. One day, Moses sees an Egyptian beating one of his own Israelites and kills the Egyptian. Afraid he would be caught and punished by Pharaoh, he flees. God appears to Moses in a burning bush and tells him to go free his people, and Moses goes to Egypt to demonstrate God’s power causing Pharaoh to free the Israelites.
When the Israelites are finally free, God gives them the Ten Commandments to establish a community that reflects His values, and one of the laws that they live by is to not oppress others as they’ve been oppressed. Essentially, it’s our version of love your neighbors as yourself.
ISRAEL’S LAW
The passage the Rabbi Brous refers to, Exodus 23:9, is a part of a collection of laws often referred to as the Book of the Covenant, which includes Exodus 21-23. What is particularly important is that the 10 Commandments are a prelude to these laws. The 10 Commandments are considered a summary of all the laws and the rest that are listed are considered the applications. These rules were given to the Israelites so they could create a right way of living, not the abusive life that they knew in Egypt. The rule of not oppressing the foreigner falls under the social justice category, that everyone deserves equal rights and opportunities to live and be. The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary (1987) describes what this looked like.
“Foreigners in Israel enjoyed certain limited religious and civic privileges and were subject to certain laws. They could offer sacrifices, but were not permitted to enter the sanctuary unless they were circumcised. They could take part in the religious festivals attended by all Israelite males. Like the Israelites, they were forbidden to work on the Sabbath and on the Day of Atonement; and like them also they were stoned to death for reviling or blaspheming God’s name. In general, there was one law for both foreigner and native, and in legal actions aliens were entitled to the same justice as the Israelites and were liable to the same penalties. Israelites were warned not to oppress foreigners, since they themselves had once been strangers in the land of Egypt. Foreigners were to be loved and treated like native Israelites, for God loves them (Deut. 10:18) and watches over them (Ps. 146:9; Mal. 3:5).”
Essentially, Rabbi Brous argues that what Israel is doing right now to Palestine is what the Torah tells them not to do. Even in the midst of conflict, Israel must not oppress the Palestinians because they know what it is like to be oppressed.
So, what does this have to do with us, Christians?
A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO POWER AND OPPRESSION
I think it’s worth us considering what our Jewish brothers and sisters have to say when it comes to our thoughts on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Whether we support Israel or Palestine, I think we have to take a step back and consider what Exodus 23:9 says because it’s in our Bible. If you want a more Christian response, interestingly, the apostle Paul uses the same language of foreigner in Ephesians describing us. This is what he says,
“11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Paul reminds the believers that at one point there was a dynamic that differented the Jews and Gentiles from God’s promise. We fall under the category of Gentiles so at one point, we were far from God’s promise of redemption and restoration, but because of Christ, we were brought near to the promise. The rest of Ephesians goes on to say this,
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Uniquely, what Paul is saying is exactly what Exodus 23:9 says. That we were once foreigners separated from God’s promises. But through Jesus who became our peace made us one with God’s chosen people so that we could experience his promises.
Last week we ended with peace and today, we find ourselves concluded with peace again. This isn’t my design. It’s in God’s Word. So, when it comes to power differentials, issues of power and oppression, the solution is peace. It’s even more evident that peace is the solution. And the peace that we seek isn’t the absence of conflict, but it’s the harmony that exists between two parties that replaces the conflict. And I believe that’s the solution we need in Israel and Palestine. Not that one side wins and the other loses, but how can each stop oppressing the other and instead have empathy for each other.
For many of us, we know what it feels like to be the foreigner in our own worlds. We know what it’s like to be the foreigner literally and figuratively. Maybe we’ve never felt accepted in our community or our workplace. Maybe we don’t feel like we belong in our family or our spouse’s family. Maybe you feel like you don’t belong here at church. If you’ve ever felt out of place, I’m sorry. And I’m extremely sorry if you feel out of place here at RiverLife, but my hope for you is that someone here, myself included, can let you know that you belong here. We can empathize with you because we know what it feels like to not belong.
RiverLife family, I want to challenge all of us to empathize with someone here who is a foreigner to you. Empathize by stepping out of your comfort zone and welcome whoever is a stranger to you. May you also do it in your community, your work place, and your families. To not ignore the stranger, but to be kind to them. We know what that feels like, but Christ reminds us that through him, we were made to be one. And pray that this oneness can be experienced between our brothers and sisters who are currently at war with each other. Pray for peace, pray that they be reminded to not oppress the stranger, but instead be kind. Let’s pray.