We are not going to discuss any events or specific incidents unfolding in Gaza. They are covered very well elsewhere and I don’t feel the need to repeat them. What I do here is to take a step back and see in a simple way how Christians should see the state of Israel.
Many followers have the view that Israel’s current state should be supported at any cost.
Many followers have the view that no matter what the government does or says, Israel’s current state should be supported at any cost. This view emerges in part from what is known as “pre-millennial theology.” This places great stress on the importance of Jews in God’s plans today.
However, it is also true that this clear support for Israel can emerge from the far-right wing politics and the anti-Arabic and Islamophobic worldview. Whatever the motivation, some believers consider it a sacred duty of the Church to support the state of Israel.
Now I’m not pre-Millenians and my politics are not remote right-wing, but I can’t discuss these things here. In the Path, I think it would be a mistake to combine the Israel/Judah biblical state, the current global Jewish population, and the Israeli nation-state.
No matter how much theological or politically predisposes to support the Israeli state, Christians should not protect it when they act immorally.
These three entities overlap in Venn-Diagram, but are not identical to each other. With that in mind, my point is that even if you are leaning theologically or politically to support the state of Israel, you should not protect it when you act immoral.
The first thing we have to say is that if the modern Israeli state is just another country that lacks a special status associated with its connection with the people of the Bible, then of course we need to be free to criticize it when necessary.
Obviously, there are complications regarding the existence of a modern nation born out of the Holocaust (to some degree), but it does not give them the right to act unfairly on others.
I wonder if the Bible gives us the freedom to give Israel a moral cult blanche.
The question of supporting Israel’s modern state at all costs from a Christian standpoint can only be justified if it gives it a special status and equates the nation today with the people of the Old Testament. But even if we take this perspective, I wonder if the Bible actually gives us the freedom to give Israel the moral cult blanche.
Let’s return to one of the pivotal moments in the establishment of Old Testament Israel, which has made a covenant with the God of Mount Moria.
Now, if you follow me perfectly and maintain my contract, from all countries you will become my precious property. The whole earth belongs to mine, but you will become a priestly kingdom and a holy nation for me. These are the words you have to speak to the Israelites. (Exodus 19:5-6)
From the beginning, Israel had to follow the law of God. They were not given the freedom to act chosen about themselves and foreigners anyway. In fact, their special status as God’s chosen people placed a higher moral burden on them than the rest of the nations around them.
Now, anyone who is familiar with the Old Testament, without wanting to work on points, knows that Israel and Judas have repeatedly broken God’s law. Again and again, God sent prophets to put them in the right path, and just as often, His people rejected him and his standards. Eventually they were sent to asylum.
One of the most tragic judgments in the Old Testament occurs in the opening chapter of Amos’ book. This book begins with what God says:
For the three sins of Damascus,
Even the four of us are not merciless.
Because she threshed Gilead
A sled with iron teeth,
I send a fire to Hazael’s house
It consumes the fortress of Benhadad.
I will break the gates of Damascus.
I will destroy the king in the Valley of Aven
And the one who has a scepter in Beth Eden.
The people of Aram go to Kill in exile,
The Lord says:
It can be imagined that the people of Israel and Judah feel rather self-righteous when God speaks to one of their powerful neighbors. The Prophet continues, pointing out the Gaza fault, then Tire and Edom, followed by Amon and Moab. All of this is pretty good from an Israelite and Jewish perspective.
Then we read…
For the three sins of Judah,
Even the four of us are not merciless.
Because they rejected the law of the Lord
And he has not maintained his laws,
They were misled by a false God,
The gods that their ancestors continued,
I send a fire to Judas
It consumes the fortress of Jerusalem.
and
For the three sins of Israel,
Even the four of us are not merciless.
They sell innocent people for silver,
And he’s poor in a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor
Like dust on the ground
Deny the justice of the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
And prof my holy name.
They lie beside all the altars
About the clothes that were photographed as pledges.
In their God’s house
They drink wine that was photographed as a fine.
Just as the surrounding neighbors take responsibility, so does the people of Israel and Judah.
Just as the surrounding neighbors take responsibility, so does the people of Israel and Judah. God does not excuse them because they are chosen people. In fact, he holds them to a higher standard.
So, as Christians, we have two options. We consider them as merely different countries and we need to keep them to the same standards as other countries, or we need to keep them special and in light of the Bible they need to be accounted for even higher than our neighbors. In either case, when Israel overcomes established international law and standards set in Bible, we are not free to ignore it.
Finally, let us quickly say that this does not deprive the Israeli state of its right to protect its rights from attack, and is not an excuse for anti-Semitism or attack on Israel and the diaspora Jews.
Originally, it was featured in Dr. Eddie Arthur living in Venn Diagram. It was reissued with permission.
Dr. Eddie Arthur has been a member of Wycliffe Bible Translator for over 30 years. For 12 years he and his wife Sue lived on the coast of Court, a member of a team that translates the Bible for the people of Kouya. He is currently based in the UK, where he studies, writes and writes about the future of his global mission, providing a contextual perspective on social change. Eddie’s more recent writing is in “Living in the Venn Diagram” in his subsack.
