Israel vs Palestine: A Christian View

Any war is a dreadful event. A war in which innocent civilians are victimized on both sides of the fight is particularly hard to tolerate. Each side justifies its plight and the innocents slaughtered are the cost of doing business for the war at hand. All nations of the world watch and determine what is the cost to them if they act or if they do not act, if they support one side or the other. When you are a nation like ours, the United States with our allies, you cannot sit idly by because action is required. We have made a minimum commitment by sending materiel to aid our ally Israel. No matter what action is taken, likely it will not be enough, it will occur too late, and it will be the subject of much debate. President Biden has been criticized for not doing enough and also doing too much from both Israel and Palestine representatives in the United States.

Viewing a conflict like the current Israel-Palestine War from a vantage point on the other side of the world is impossible without looking at it through the various lenses of the media, politics, social perspectives, and religious beliefs. The first three views for the most part are limited to a binary choice. That is generally there are two choices for each: conservative or liberal media, Republican or Democratic politics, and Jewish or Palestinian social perspectives. However when it comes to religious beliefs we have three perspectives: Jewish, Muslim, or Christian. Oddly enough all three religious beliefs share a common heritage.

If you are Christian, the historical document for reference in religious matters is the Bible. The initial book, the book of Genesis, describes the origin of that common heritage of the Jewish, Islamic, and the Christian faiths. The seventeenth chapter describes a covenant made between God and a man named Abram, renamed by God as Abraham. The covenant was initially described simply as God promising to make Abraham “multiply exceedingly.” Later on, after Abraham passed the test of faith by willingly offering his only son Isaac as a sacrifice to God (which was stopped by God at the last moment), the covenant was expounded on by God. “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gates of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:16-18)

Whether you credit this recorded prophecy by God as a literal promise or metaphor, in either case it is quite a serendipity for Abraham. Looking at the natural lineage of this man called Abraham he had several children but the two of primary concern for our purpose are Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael’s lineage can be traced to the prophet Muhammed and Islamism. Isaac’s lineage can be traced to the twelve tribes of Israel and the Jewish nation and as well to Jesus Christ and the Christian church. Literally that is a whole lot of folks when you combine the lineage of both sons. Not sure it measures up to an equivalent number of all the stars in heaven but who’s counting? If the prophecy was a metaphor for the spiritual heritage of the three forms of faith (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) then we are dealing with a countless number of souls involved. I personally believe the prophecy included both a literal and a spiritual context. Then without question we are considering a number that competes equally with the number of stars in the heavens.

So what does this have to do with the war between Israel and Palestine. Simply, that we are all in this world together with our spiritual connections. Consequently, as Christians we must be on the side of both the people of Israel and the people of Palestine because of our common spiritual Abrahamic lineage. We should collectively pray for peace and encourage our elected officials to do what they can to end this war. But more importantly we should pray and do what we can to have the leaders of Israel and Palestine come to a peaceful settlement. However we live in a complex time in our nation and in the world. Nothing is as it appears to be.

Israel and Palestine have been debating the establishment of two independent states (Israel and Palestine) as a solution for many, many years. The general consensus around the world agrees that this is the only legitimate path to peace for these two nations. But the current Prime Minister of Israel absolutely rejects any consideration of this solution. Additionally, he recently described his strategy of attack on the Hamas terrorists occupying Palestine as similar to the God-instructed destruction of Amalek for their attack on Israel described in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel 15. In that example God demanded the utter destruction of that people for their actions. The current Prime Minister is implying a similar mandate is in place at this time but it is not clear on what authority. There is much speculation that he is trying to extend the current war to salvage his political future as Prime Minister.

Meanwhile our President has walked a fine political line of supporting Israel to some degree, but at the same time trying to temper Israel’s aggression to avoid the killing of innocent Palestinian civilians. Additionally our president is leading a coordinated attack against the terrorist group Hamas and their allies which are assaulting commercial trade routes in the Red Sea, effecting critical commercial shipping routes with destinations all over the world. At the same time in our nation we have political factions resisting the funding of the Israel-Palestine war and accusing our current leadership of a failed diplomatic strategy.

So what is the Christian view of all this? Christians are already divided and this war (and the Ukraine war) inflame our divisions. These wars are evidence that more than ever we must be united in our common faith for the peace of our nation and the peace of the world. We must avoid the toxic blend of politics and faith. We must overcome the polarization that divides our nation and prevents any reasonable conversations to occur. We must stop being so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. We can no longer afford to stay in our silos of faith and political preferences singing Kumbaya with only those that see the world exactly as we do. We have to, not only reach across the aisle, but reach outside of our own denomination and start having conversations about the greater good of our nation and this world. If not us, the people of faith, then who will. We have a common inheritance of our faith, starting with Abraham to our present house of worship. Let’s begin to act on that common inheritance. I think that is exactly like something Jesus would do. We do not even have to bother to ask the question “What would He (Jesus) do?”