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

This morning, we’re kicking off a new series called “Israel and Palestine: Understanding the Conflict through Biblical Themes.” The war between these two countries has dominated the headlines lately. Over the next three weeks, we’re going to look at the conflict through some major biblical themes:

• Land and covenant

• Power and oppression

• Love for neighbor and enemy

You might have opinions on this conflict; you might not. My hope for this series is not to tell you who’s right and who’s wrong but to allow the Bible to inform and shape what you think, share, and post.

Before I continue, I want to acknowledge that I’m not an expert in Middle East relations. I’m not even sure I’m qualified to preach on it. I don’t have a deep understanding of the present war or the history of this region, let alone the religious, political, and cultural complexities at play here.

So, everything I share in this series, I say with the utmost humility. I’m sure I’ll say things that are incorrect and maybe even insensitive. So, I ask for your grace ahead of time as we all learn more about this difficult situation. And, if have some insights, I would welcome your help in understanding it better.

Also, I want to acknowledge that there are Jews and Palestinians here in the U.S. and around the world for whom this isn’t just a headline. It’s horrifying and tragic and frightening. Antisemitism has risen sharply in the last few months, resulting in Jewish families and synagogues fearing for their safety. For many, this is very personal.

OVERVIEW

Let’s review:

On October 7, a Palestinian terrorist group called Hamas attacked Israel in the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust. It’s considered by many to be Israel’s 9/11. And in response, Israel has declared war on Hamas, executing what many consider to be one of the most destructive military campaigns in recent history.

But this was not an isolated incident. The conflict between these two countries goes back 75 years, and the fight over this land goes back 4,000 years to Old Testament times.

In case your geography is a little rusty, here’s where Israel and Palestine are located on the world map. And then, here’s a closer view of the two countries. Israel’s in orange. Palestine includes the two sections that look cut out of it.

This map also includes other locations you may have heard in headlines, like the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.

Also, that whole region is fairly small. Here’s how it compares to Minnesota. That’s a lot of war and bloodshed within a very small region.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

The conflict between these two countries has a long, deep history.

Prior to 1948, there was no Jewish nation. But after World War II, the U.N. established the country of Israel as a safe haven for Jewish people after the Holocaust. They created this Jewish nation from land previously occupied by Palestine.

The land was divided between the two states. Palestinians disagreed with this decision and felt like their land was stolen from them. This instigated an ongoing series of attacks and retaliations that still continue today.

HOW AMERICANS ARE RESPONDING

Not surprisingly, our country has varying opinions about the complex situation.

But, generationally speaking…

• Younger Americans tend to support Palestine because they see the country as victims of Israel. Israel is the oppressor who has colonized Palestine.

• Older generations, on the other hand, generally support Israel because they see Israel as a once-oppressed people without a country.

Across the major religions of the Middle East, opinions vary just as much.

• American Jews are naturally tied to Israel because Israel is their national homeland, but sentiments vary. They are horrified by the October 7 attack, but some call for a cease-fire, while others support with the Israeli retaliation.

• Muslims generally support Palestine because it’s a Muslim country. 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 independence.

• And most evangelical Christians are in full support of Israel and their actions toward Palestine. (More on that later.)

HOW THE BIBLE IS USED TO SUPPORT ISRAEL

So, how do we go about thinking about all of this? A starting point for me was to begin with my own religious tribe, the American evangelical church. As I mentioned, American evangelicals overwhelmingly support Israel, and they use the Bible to support that belief. Here are three reasons why. I’ve certainly heard these in the church over the years; maybe you have, too.

First: “We must support Israel because they are God’s chosen people.”

In Genesis 12, God makes a promise to Abraham and, by extension, to all Hebrews. This is known as the Abrahamic covenant and forms a foundation of Jewish collective identity.

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.” (Gen 12:1-3)

It's this last part that is interpreted by most evangelicals to mean that we must support Israel in all things. That’s what it means to “bless” Israel. And if we don’t, then we risk being cursed.

This view was easy to maintain when Israel was an oppressed people without a nation who endured genocide. It’s harder when Israel is now a militaristic nation and a nuclear power, who is oppressing another people group.

Maybe our way of blessing Israel by not supporting them in what they are doing, especially when it comes to their treatment of Palestinian civilians.

Second: “The land belongs to Israel because God gave it to them.”

Many Jews and evangelicals believe the Jewish people have a divine right to live in that region because it was the promised land that God gave the Israelites when they escaped from Egypt.

This is often called the Land Covenant. It’s also called the Palestine Covenant, although that’s a modern phrase because the term Palestine didn’t exist back then.

There are a handful of passages in Genesis that describe this covenant. Here’s one of them. Genesis 13:14-17 says,

13:14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

Additionally, many will argue that since the Lord commanded a military takeover of the land in Bible times, a modern Israeli military takeover is justified today.

But this interpretation has its weaknesses as well:

• This command was to a specific person at a specific time. Does it literally and directly to today? Some parts of the Bible do, while others don’t.

• The land boundaries in Genesis are different than what we see today.

• Other religions have different understandings of this same passage and of that land.

• Some argue that claiming divine right undermines international law and agreed-upon principles of territorial sovereignty.

So, this idea of the Land Covenant is not as cut-and-dry as some Christians make it out to be.

Third: “A Jewish homeland fulfills biblical end-times prophecy.

There are a few prophetic passages in Scripture that seem to indicate that diaspora Jews will return to their homeland and be restored by God. For example, here’s Ezekiel 36:24-25:

24 For I (the Lord) will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.

The issue I have about humanity fulfilling prophecy is that it feels like we’re intervening in God’s work. Yes, we have a part to play in it, but I don’t think it’s up to any of us or the Israeli government to fulfill prophecy. People have been trying get prophecy fulfilled forever, but I don’t believe that humans drive prophecy fulfillment. God does. But we don’t.

That doesn’t mean that God won’t gather his chosen people together in the end, but maybe it’s not up to the governments to accomplish that by military force.

THE PROBLEM WITH CERTAINTY

For many American evangelicals, these verses I shared, and others like them, have led to absolutism, an unwavering support of Israel, regardless of what they do, including apartheid-like treatment of Palestinians and even possible war crimes.

But if we are to believe these passages and unilaterally support Israel, then we should also consider passages like Matthew 5:3-9.

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.

This is the gold standard for what Jesus has called us to. And if we believe in all of those passages about Israel, we have to believe in this one too.

If we believe that God’s blessing is on us if we support Israel, we have to believe the blessing of being poor in spirit because that’s how we experience the kingdom of God.

We have to mourn for the deaths in this war—1,200 Israelis and 23,000 Palestinians—because we believe in the blessing of being comforted.

We have to be meek and humble. The humble ones are the ones who’ll inherit the earth, not the proud.

We have to be merciful to the worst of Hamas and Israel.

We have to be pure in heart. Who we support and how we support it should honor good, not our tribe.

And lastly, we have to be peacemakers. We just have to.