In this article:
- Exercise moral discernment
- Israel and church congregational life
- Reflections on Old Testament "You shall be a blessing."
- On the imminent return of Jesus
- U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel and other nations
1. Exercise Moral Discernment
Whatever one’s
beliefs may be about religion, Bible history or Bible prophecy in relation to
international political events, our responsibility remains to use moral
discernment in evaluation the actions of leaders in light of the inherent
dignity of all people of all countries and the human rights that should
rightfully be protected for all.
Government leaders should be held to account for…
- The moral reasoning to initiate wars;
- The conduct of war in relation to international humanitarian law (known as the Geneva conventions);
- The damage of war with respect to the killing of civilians and the destruction of private property (homes) and public infrastructure upon which people depend;
- Immoral destruction, theft, and abuse of people’s rights and property through evacuation orders, occupation, displacement, check points, travel restrictions, violence and harassment, including that by militias or settlers or vigilantes or any others.
2. Israel and church congregational life
This message is for those Christians who feel that all believers should prioritize interpretations of “end-times” prophecy as a way to understand the Christian life. However, many of us choose to live our day-to-day life of Christian faith based on the teachings of Jesus without particular devotion to predicting future events and without reference to the political affairs of the contemporary nation of Israel as a special concern over and above other nations. As such, to experience displays of the flag of the nation of Israel as a component of church worship or to hear continuing prayers for Israel and the United States in the absence of prayers for other nations and peoples does not inspire our worship but is rather a distraction from following the way of Jesus.
"...many of us choose to live our life of Christian faith without reference to the political affairs of the contemporary nation of Israel ..."
This is not necessarily
to say that Christian believers are wrong for their beliefs about Israel, be
those a focus on historic Judaism or the Biblical teachings about the people of
Israel or even of personal interpretation of application of those ideas to the
contemporary nation. Our plea is to allow space for those of us who do not
share your interpretations, or who are morally concerned about the 21st
century actions of political authorities who have displaced, abused, violated
and killed tens of thousands of civilians inside or outside of Israel /
Palestine in their efforts to deal with conflict and violence associated with
attacks upon the political state of Israel. It is a tragic and complex
situation that requires the utmost exercise of discernment, and different
people are going to disagree about this conflict.
People within the region who are directly affected in their homes and families are going to disagree, and international observers who have no direct family connection to the region are going to disagree. There are also inspiring examples of cross cultural dialogue and unity. We must have grace toward each other these disagreements. But to hold a specific moral and political posture toward the contemporary political nation of Israel as a litmus test for fellowship will become a problem that will prevent people of diverse perspectives from existing in peace together and walking in faith together.
...Members of congregations need to have the freedom to hold and express moral objections ...
There are several components of this issue including examination of the priority of the U.S. federal government to allocate billions upon billions in federal aid to the government of Israel, not only as a legitimate aid for defense of a political ally, but also for the ongoing execution of very destructive military actions including the current war with Iran. Many of all religious persuasions will find this objectionable. Members of congregations need to have the freedom to hold and express these moral objections. I recognize, however, that congregations are free to set their guidelines of belief and practice just as parishioners are free to find environments in which to worship and serve which are not hostile to their practice of faith.
Please don't make simple assumptions ...
- This is not a simple binary issue of a "good" side and a "bad" side. The moral questions have to do with how leaders deal with conflict, and if or how leaders seek peace. If it were simple, we could then say "everything and anything the good guys do is good.... everything the bad guys do is bad." This is not how we use moral discernment in the face of disagreement, conflict, and war.
- It has to do with how people are treated who are caught in the middle, residents in communities where they were born, non-combatants, children, aid workers, medical workers, journalists. Does the effort to protect and/or retaliate and/or wage war indiscriminately kill civilians and destroy homes and communities?
- To question the moral conduct of war or the moral use of the weapons of war is not to be "anti-Semitic" or to be "for an evil regime." The moral questions have to do with the specific actions of leaders on a day-to-day basis in the use of weapons, the use of resources, the use of words to describe what they are doing and the people involved.
3. Interpreting Genesis 12 Promise to Abram
Evangelicals cite Bible passages in the Old Testament book of Genesis in support of a theological mandate for favoring the contemporary political nation of Israel. The narrative of Genesis 12 reports words to the ancient patriarch Abram … “Go forth from your country … to the land which I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3
·
Bible scholars estimate that Genesis was
probably compiled in written form from oral and written traditions approximately
9th or 10th century BCE. Conservative Bible scholars hold
that Genesis was written by the biblical character Moses around the 13th
century BCE. According to Bible chronology, the actual events
described in Genesis 12 would have taken place approximately 2,100 BCE, that
is, 700 to 1,100 years prior to the written form of Genesis, and as much as
1,500 prior to the written form of the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Old
Testament).
·
The promise about a great nation found in
several places in Genesis can have different interpretations. At the time the promise
was said to have been given, there was no nation of Israel, and the promise is
to the man Abram, that he would become a great nation, and that “all nations”
of the earth would be blessed through him.” In a later version of the promise in
Genesis 17, Abram was told that he would be the father of “a multitude of
nations.” According to the biblical chronology, the formation of a nation would
come 500 to 600 years later. Taking the words of the text at face value and setting aside the questions raised approximately 1,000 years of passing down by oral and written transmission, how should the 4,000 year old promise to the
patriarch Abram be interpreted? There are many questions with a wide variation
of answers.
·
Note that at the time of the covenant of
circumcision, the practice was applied to Ishmael, Abram’s son who was born
prior to the birth of Isaac. Contemporary Christian interpreters of this promise appear to exclude Abram's son Ishmael from the promises as well as Abram's other sons and many of his grandsons. After this time, Isaac was born to Abram, and Abram had other sons whose descendants let to other people groups. Isaac had sons Jacob and Esau. Yet another people group descended from Esau, while Jacob's name was changed to Israel, thus the tribes (and the nation) of Israel. In summary, a significant number of people groups descended from Abram / Abraham that are not included in the line of his grandson Jacob.
·
Christians who read this Bible passage may regard it as a promise to be fulfilled or even a prophecy. However, the
relevant events described in subsequent texts … the children and grandchildren of Abram, the formation of the twelve
tribes, migration to Egypt and subsequent slavery and liberation from slavery,
and the organization of the tribes in portions of the geographical area to be
called Israel … all of this happened prior to the time in
which the narrative of events was committed to written form. So, the writers or
editors or scribes were compiling and interpreting narratives passed down of events that had already
happened.
·
Taking at face value that a man named Abram
became the father of a nation, and in fact, of many nations, and the spiritual
father of descendants as numerous as the stars…
·
It is a bit of overreach to take these words,
supposedly spoken 4,000 years ago, and set aside many possible interpretations
of the promises and conclude that they provide a spiritual mandate for 21st
century followers of Christ to affirm unconditional commitment to a contemporary
political state and that, as a matter of Christian obedience, individual
Christians must love, support, and pray for this nation over and above other
nations and peoples.
·
A practical corollary of this theological view is
to identify any criticism of the leaders of this political state or any expressed sympathy for
victims of any violence perpetrated by this state as a form of spiritual
treason against the favored people of God.
· Is it not the role of the prophets to call out moral failures of their own leaders? Is this not demonstrated throughout the history of prophetic preaching in the Bible? As stated at the outset of this article, whatever one’s theological view of ancient Israel or the contemporary government of the nation of Israel, it is our duty as followers of Christ, or as devotees of a moral religion, or as members of the human community, to exercise moral discernment about the actions of leaders based on relevant standards of conduct, not based on their status as members of a favored or divinely blessed people group.
4. On the Immanent Fulfillment of End Times Prophecy
- In the 1980s as an enthusiastic young evangelical, I read a book about Israel and the end times by Mike Evans. Evans believed that the return of Christ was immanent, likely to happen within a generation of the formation of the contemporary nation of Israel which had happened in 1948. Add 40 years and you come to 1988. As it turns out, the end of this age did not happen in the 1988 or in the 1980s or 1990s.
- Not deterred by the failure of earlier predictions, Evans maintains his enthusiasm for Christian Zionism, Israel, and related topics. He is a prolific author and has written titles such as Stand with Israel, The Final Generation, and similar titles. I have not read these books.
- The immanent apocalyptic end of the world has been a persistent theme of Christianity since the time of the first Christians. This view appears to be written between the lines of the New Testament.
- The current version of evangelical end times prophecies, however, is not as old as Christianity, but rather, is less than 200 years old. The dispensational system of Bible interpretation was fleshed out and popularized by John Darby in the early 19th century. It was given additional popularity by its place in the Scofield Reference Bible of the early 20th century. Various elements of current end-times prophecies, including the prominent place of the rapture (taking out) of Christians from the earth, is promoted through dispensational theology, and a wealth of subsequent books, popular literature, and movies (including the Left Behind series written in 1995 and years following. Bible scholars debate whether the concept of the rapture is found in the Bible and, in fact, the concept is not taught directly but is inferred from a select few verses in the New Testament.
- It is curious that many Christians are motivated by these teachings to support various political causes as if their support may somehow enable or facilitate or influence the events of history so as to help God bring about the end of the world. I'm not sure how this interpretation of God's role in human events specifically works, however ...
- As for my part, I am motivated to act on behalf of the well being of all people everywhere, and specifically, the persons that I have the opportunity to encounter personally. I will attempt to live out and share the good news of the way of Jesus, and I will value, respect, and pray for the peace and blessings of all whom I encounter, without regard for their ethnicity or national origin.
5. U.S. foreign aid to Israel and other nations:
Source- USA Facts “What Countries Receive the Most Foreign Aid from the US”
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Foreign aid FY24: Israel $6.8 billion, Ukraine $6.5
billion, all others less than $1.7 billion each, Total: $47.7 billion
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Foreign aid since 2001: Afghanistan $150
billion, Israel $100 million, Iraq $92 billion, Ukraine 56 billion, Egypt $50.7
billion, Jordan $33 billion, Others: less than $25 billion per country.
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Foreign aid since WWII (Top 10 countries):
Israel $318 billion, Vietnam $185 billion, Egypt $182 billion, Afghanistan $160
billion, South Korea $120 billion, UK $108 billion, India $103 billion, Iraq $101
billion, Turkey $98 billion, France $97 billion.
