The news the last couple of weeks has been littered with
accounts of what is going on in the Middle East. It appears to be the same story that has
played itself out many times in recent decades – Israel feels provoked by
Palestinians living in the West Bank or in Gaza and, seeking to defend itself,
launches retaliatory attacks.
Unfortunately, this is neither a new nor an infrequent tale. As a pastor, I find myself increasingly troubled by these events and wondering what my response as a follower of Jesus Christ should be. How can I faithfully seek God's Kingdom in the midst of this conflict?
The fact of the matter is that the events in Israel and
Palestine present a special problem for Christians. There is, it seems, a greater tension within
Christianity about these issues than about many others. My
belief is that much of this tension derives from assumptions we have made about
the Bible, about theology, and about both the Israeli population and the
Palestinian population. At the root of
these assumptions is the concept of Christian Zionism.
Popular in many conservative denominations, Christian Zionism
is loosely defined as the belief that Christians in the 21st Century
have a moral and biblical obligation to support Israel in every
circumstance. Israel is seen as God’s
Land and its people as God’s People. To
fail to support Israel, then, is to betray God.
Added to Christian Zionism are assumptions made by
well-meaning Christians about the Palestinian people. As one friend commented on Facebook recently,
the Palestinians are “infidels” (another word for Muslim, it seems) who want to
“wipe Israel off the map.” When set in
these terms, it is not difficult to arrive at the conclusion that Israel is
indeed God’s chosen nation.
What if I told you, though, that those assumptions might not
be correct? Or that, at the very least,
that they fail to tell the whole story?
What if I told you that, while it is true that a significant majority
(somewhere between 80 and 85 percent) of Palestinians are Muslim, there are in
the West Bank and Gaza somewhere around 85,000 Palestinian Christians and
500,000 Palestinian Jews? It is not so
easy to dismiss our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as “infidels” hell
bent on Israel’s destruction, is it?
More insidious than the assumptions we make about the
Palestinian people is the idea put forth by Christian Zionists that Christians
have no choice but to support Israel.
The remainder of this post is intended to demonstrate that, though a
case might be made for supporting Israel in everything it does, the Bible does
not demand such support and might even caution against such
support. We’ll begin with a look at the
Bible itself.
The Nation-State of Israel and the Bible
Right off the bat, I have to be clear about one thing: the
nation-state of Israel is never mentioned in the Bible. Not once.
Never. In any book. In fact, the very idea of a nation-state is
foreign to the Bible. When the Bible
uses terms like “nation,” it is more helpful to think in terms of the First
Peoples of the Americas (i.e. the Navajo “Nation” or the Cheyenne “Nation”)
than to think in terms of today’s nation-state.
The age of the idea of the nation-state is disputed by scholars, but it
seems safe to say that the modern nation-state did not come into existence
until at least 1400-1600 years after Christ lived, died, was resurrected, and
ascended. If you want to get more
specific with the modern nation of Israel, it post-dates Jesus by more than 1900 years, having only been around since
November 29, 1947.
The Bible does not speak about the modern nation-state of
Israel. The Bible does, however, speak
about the people of God.
In fact, in the book of Ezekiel, God says this: “I will take the people
of Israel from the nations among which they have gone…. Then they shall be my people, and I will be
their God” (Ezekiel 37:21, 23).
You might say that these are semantic differences – word games. You might be right, but I would suggest that
these semantics are far from trivial. It is
important when talking about issues like this to be clear in our terms.
The people of Israel in the Hebrew Scriptures are indeed God’s
people. But they are more than that –
they are God’s covenant people.
That word covenant is so important.
If you read Deuteronomy, you will begin to understand what it means to
be a covenant people. Covenant people
have obligations. If covenant people
fail to live up to their end of the covenant, then God has no obligation to
them. A cursory reading of Deuteronomy 28
makes clear the rewards and punishments associated with covenantal obedience
(or lack thereof).
To sum up: to be one of God’s people, according to the Hebrew
Scriptures, was to abide by the covenant.
If a person or a group of people (such as all of the Israelites) failed
to do so, they no longer had the right to consider God bound by the
covenant. This is, in fact, the story of
the Hebrew Scriptures – disobedience that leads to exile. The question, then, becomes not whether the
Bible refers to the modern nation-state of Israel (it doesn’t), but whether
Modern Israel can be considered as the “People of God.”
Modern Israel as the “People of God”
The main question of whether or not Modern Israel can be
considered the “People of God” breaks down into two sub-questions. The first is this: are the actions of Modern
Israel consistent with the obligations entailed in being God’s people? That is, is the nation-state of Israel acting
in ways that are consistent with the covenant?
Take a look at the picture below. It depicts the change in land “ownership”
over the course of the nation-state of Israel’s history. The legend is a bit small, so I'll tell you that the green represents land controlled by Palestinians and white represents land controlled by Israel.
The second picture from the left portrays what it is supposed
to look like. According to the UN, that
is how the land is supposed to be divided between the Israeli and Palestinian
populations. Clearly, though, things
haven’t stayed that way. Using a variety
of provocations (some legitimate, others less-so) as excuses, Israel has
systematically (and illegally) taken land from the Palestinian people. Israel continues to do this. It does not take much to look at that picture
and find the nation-state of Israel in violation of the covenant commands to
not covet, to not steal, and to not bear false witness. Perhaps the nation-state of Israel is not
acting in concert with its covenant.
It is not just land, though.
The breaking of covenant extends to the treatment of the Palestinian
people in what little land that remains to them. Bluntly, Israel is practicing apartheid against the
Palestinians. I used to think that word
too extreme, but then I looked up its literal definition: “a policy or system
of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race” (via Google). That is exactly what the Israelis are
doing to the Palestinians, and it is a clear violation of the covenant described by the Hebrew Scriptures and by which the "People of God" are supposed to live.
Leviticus 19:33-34 say this: “When an alien resides with you
in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you….” If you question whether Israel’s treatment of
the Palestinian people rises to the level of oppression, I invite you to
consider the information at http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/water.html
in light of Google’s definition of oppression – “prolonged cruel or unjust
treatment or control.”
Israel has illegally taken land from the Palestinians and
continues to oppress the Palestinians, both of which constitute violations of
the covenant by which the people of Israel are named the “People of God.” It is not wrong, therefore, to suggest that
the modern nation-state of Israel has by its actions in violation of the
covenant has forfeited its right to that title.
There is a second question at play here, though, one that cuts
through even the illegal and oppressive actions of Israel. Namely this: Does ethnicity have anything at
all to do with being God’s people? That
is, even if Israel’s actions were in perfect concert with the covenant
described in the Hebrew Scriptures, does ethnic or genetic Jewishness equate to
special favor in the eyes of God?
This question is spoken to in the Gospels and by Paul. In Matthew 3, John the Baptist is baptizing
when some Pharisees come out to see him.
Listen to what he says to them: “Do
not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell
you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” It seems clear that John is telling them that
their bloodlines, their family trees, are not enough – that being a “child of
Abraham” entails far more than ethnic identity.
Paul makes the case even more strongly in Romans 9:6-8: “For
not all Israelites truly belong to Israel, and not all of Abraham’s children
are his true descendants…. This means
that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the
children of the promise are counted as descendants.” It cannot get any clearer than that.
Identity as the people of God no longer has anything to do
with race: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female;
for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). To be one of the people of God means to
worship God, to seek God’s Kingdom, and to follow Jesus Christ. It is to recognize that God is just and to
seek true justice in not just our own doings but in all the world. Those who do these things are the “People of
God,” regardless of their genetics.
When one looks again at the earlier question, “Can the modern
nation-state of Israel be understood as the ‘People of God?’”, the answer does
not have to be yes. In fact, as I’ve
tried to make clear, a very strong argument can be made that the answer to that
question is a resounding NO! Regardless,
however, my hope is that this has at least made clear that Christian Zionism is
a dangerous house of cards built on assumptions that, if not outright faulty, warrant a great deal of scrutiny.
Concluding Thoughts
This has been a ridiculously long post, to be sure, and one with a lot of information. There are, however, some things I hope the
hardy reader who has made it this far might take away from this:
- We need to get over Christian Zionism. Israel can and should be held as accountable by Christians for its unjust and oppressive actions as any other nation.
- There is no moral high ground on this issue. This post centers on what Israel has done wrong, but I am not naïve enough to believe the Palestinian population entirely innocent.
- Being pro-Palestine does not make one either an inferior Christian or an anti-Semite.
- Thoughtful Christians can disagree on causes and initiators of injustice, but we should be able to unite in prayers that justice will reign.
I close with a challenge.
Be informed! Do not simply settle
for what you see on the news – American media has historically ignored the
Palestinian side of the conflict. Take
the time to read Amira Hass’ excellent book Drinking the Sea at Gaza or
Muna Hamzeh’s Refugees in Our Own Land.
Both tell the story of the Palestinian people from inside the camps and
settlements. If books aren’t your
things, hop on Netflix and spend a couple hours watching Five Broken Cameras
or With God on Our Side. Take a peek at www.ifamericansknew.org.
Whatever you do and however you go about it, please be
informed – don’t simply repeat someone else’s thoughts or ideas. Because when we are better informed, we will know better how
to pray and how to actively seek God’s justice in Israel and Palestine.
Amen.
