“Blessed are those who mourn” (Matt 5:4)
Reports at the time I write (and they are certainly changing each day) indicate:
Israel has reported 1,200 deaths and 2,900 injured by Hamas forces. This does not include the number of those who have been terrorized by Hamas’ attack.
Reports from Gaza as of Friday, Oct 13 indicate that 1900 Palestinians have been killed and 7,400 hundred have been injured.
Israel’s expected ground assault into Gaza, which is expected to begin at any moment, has already resulted in 187,000 displaced persons. The number of deaths and injuries is expected to be significantly higher.
“Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matt 5:9)
I want to begin with a note I received from Andrew Bush who is one of our colleagues at NEME (the Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East). Andrew and his wife Karen live in Bethlehem and work both at Bethlehem Bible College and as pastors at a church in East Jerusalem. Andrew writes,
“We thank you for your emails and expressions of concern in response to our last email. Many especially have requested updates about Shady and Ghada Najjar and their children, as well as all the Christians in Gaza. This morning I messaged Shady, though I was reluctant to do so since he might not have much battery charge left on his phone. Israel has ordered that all people in the northern part of Gaza—more than one million—relocate immediately to the southern half of Gaza. This is impossible with no running cars (no gas) or any other kind of transport. Nevertheless, I asked Shady if he had relocated.
Shady wrote back a few minutes ago:
“We did not pass as (there) are very catastrophic circumstances. We left our house and we are in the Latin (Roman Catholic) Church with all Christianity in Gaza. There is no electricity and no water and there is not much for us. All Christianity in Gaza is in the Latin Church and the Orthodox Church.”
Andrew then concludes his note:
“It is impossible to overestimate what a desperate situation the Christians of Gaza are in. These churches are in the northern part of Gaza. Let us lift the Christians, the buildings they are in, and the surrounding neighborhoods in prayer continually before the Lord for their deliverance. More than 400 children have already been killed in Gaza. Let us pray fervently for the safety of the innocent and for some way to be made for a cessation of the violence on both sides.”
It is this kind of violent response that we feared and that I was writing about in my last post.
Now I do not deny that Israel is justified in their response to Hamas. And I do not deny that Hamas is evil and that they have committed horrific war crimes against the people of Israel.
My concerns, which I expressed in my last post, with regard to the entire issue have focused on American pastors and leaders along 2 lines:
1) Binary thinking (good v bad)
- There are many (see my response to Russell Moore’s editorial which I posted on Oct 11) who are viewing this through a lens of one side is good (that is our side—which is Israel and the US) and one side is bad (which is Hamas; and sometimes this is extended to include all Palestinians).
This line of thinking is not helpful for several reasons.
First, there is no question that we are continuing to weep with Israel and those who have suffered tremendous, unspeakable losses at the horrors inflicted on them by Hamas. I have no hesitation in affirming that Hamas is led by persons who are bent on doing evil: including desiring to see the destruction of all Jews and especially the state of Israel. And we condemn their acts of terror that have been perpetrated on innocent Israelis.
I also have no hesitation in calling all Christians to weep and grieve with the Israelis who have suffered so greatly at the unspeakably horrible acts leveled on them by Hamas over the past week.
The reason, however, why I believe that this line of thinking is not helpful is that biblically speaking we should not look at others (i.e., the state of Israel and the US) strictly as though they are innocent victims. Hamas’ damnable actions over the weekend were not the beginning of a war. They were a response, an evil response, to the oppression that Palestinians have felt for the last 75 years.
Now, in saying this, I am by no means declaring that the Palestinians have been innocent victims for the past 75 years. This is, in fact, the very sort of binary thinking I am arguing against.
Second, the line of thinking that one side is good and the other is evil leaves us justifying a violent response.
NB: Now, I am not saying that nations cannot or should not defend themselves. This is certainly the right and even the responsibility of every nation.
What I am saying is that the church should not support or encourage a violent response. Violence is what the nations do. And violence begets violence (see Matt 26:52: “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword” [Jesus]).
The way of the Kingdom of God, which is the first priority for the people of God (“seek first His kingdom and His righteousness”; Matt 6:33), is one of cross-bearing love for the sake of the other.
Note:
Gal 5:14 “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
James 2:8 “If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.”
Now I recognize that the ethic of Jesus does not work for nations. No nation could survive if they laid down their arms and told their enemies, “Go ahead and slap me on the cheek and I’ll just turn the other to you.”
But that is my point. The ethic of God’s kingdom does not operate in accord with the ethic of the nations. This is why the binary thinking that encourages one side to respond to violence with violence is so problematic.
The way of Jesus is the way of peace. And the people of God must exhort the nations to find a peaceful solution.
NB: those who say that peaceful solutions are not possible in conflicts like this lack an awareness of history. The primary obstacle to peace in this conflict is the political will to make it happen.
2) End Times preachers
- My 2nd line of concern has to do with the rise of end-times sermons that have already begun to infiltrate too many of our pulpits.
I have written about the End Times fairly extensively (see my book Understanding the NT and the End Times) in the past, so I will be brief here. (See blog post “The Signs of the Times and the Return of Jesus”; you can also search on a variety of end times topics on my blog; just click the “blog” tab at determinetruth.com and scroll down the page).
There are a number of problems with this view.
First, the end-times began with Jesus!
Second, the “war” described in the book of Revelation (which is a fulfillment of the prophecies of Ezek 38-39 and other passages) is the war that the Dragon (Satan) wages against Christ, the angels of God, and/or the people of God. The war is not against a secular state.
NB: See the “7” occurs of “the war” (See Rev 11:7; 12:7, 17; 13:7; 16:14; 19:19; 20:8)
NBB: the Devil is brilliant—evil, but brilliant. He is waging war against the people of God and has us distracted by looking to the Middle East and rejoicing over wars that devastate peoples.
Third, promoting the present events as some end-times fulfillment of prophecy causes the church to focus on and even rejoice over “war, violence, and tragedy” instead of weeping over it.
NB: I have watched numerous clips this week of popular American pastors getting applause over the proposition that these are signs of the times and Jesus’ return is near.
Fourth, it is quite common for the end times prophetic pundits to promote war and violence as the proper response. After all, one of the primary features of these end-times scenarios is that Russia and Iran (and some will say China) will attack Israel, led by some Antichrist figure—which is a complete misunderstanding of what the NT says about the “Antichrist,” but that is for another day. This view, of course, leads me back to my opening concerns over pastors and leaders encouraging war.
Fifth: I would like to request that you save this post as a reminder in 5 years/10 years (or shall I say 7 or 3.5 years?) when Jesus has not yet returned, so I can say, “I told you so.” Now, I don’t plan on saying that. I am just making a point.
NB: Of course, if Jesus does return—which, if He does (Amen), I will strongly assert it was not because this war is a sign of the end times—you will not be able to say “I told you so” because we will be in the New Jerusalem and there is no “I told you so’s” in the New Jerusalem.
My point is that I have heard this drumbeat for much of the past 50 years. The USSR was going to invade Israel any day, said Hal Lindsay. The Gulf War was a clear sign of the end. Covid and the vaccine was the Mark of the Beast. Can we stop this nonsense? Instead of reveling in the horrific tragedies because they are signs of the end times, can we get back to being the people of God who mourn over injustices and who cry out for peace?
Perhaps the best way to finish a post like this is the way we began: “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matt 5:9)
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