The Conflict in Israel (Part 1)

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The Current Conflict Between Hamas and Israel and the Christian Response

I'm Dylan Hamilton and with me are Chris Giesler Michael Durham David Casson. And today we are going to be covering a subject that has been large in the news in our minds and in our hearts as there are many people and the world is being affected by the current conflict between Hamas and Israel and we are going to be starting out by thinking through how should Christians Respond to such a matter to such events and how should we view it obviously through the Bible?

But what does the Bible have to say for us Christians about how we're just we're supposed to view this Michael?

Well, we need to reach into the scriptures and be careful that we build a paradigm to build a response from the Word of God. And I think that's the desire of all Christians. We want to be biblical so how how do we respond to.

Let's say first of all war between two nation-states between two two groups. Between two political entities with violence on the mind one aggressor one defender. How do you respond to that? We've been thinking a little bit about that because of Russia and Ukraine, but also now we have Hamas and Israel.

How are we to respond as Christians. The lazy thing to do is to watch a news channel or two and be told which side we are to take and then consider one side to be the evil villain black hat wearing goons and the other side The freedom fighters that are all you know, oppressed and let's support them and that's not the way that The Bible would lead us to interpret War and violence in our world today.

So particularly concerning the battle going on between those in the Gaza Strip who are fighting in those in Israel who are fighting? There's a whole lot of people caught in the crossfire and at the Christian response are going to think about everybody involved.

Not just soldiers. We're not going to think just about terrorists or just about Politicians and soldiers in Israel. We're going to think about all the different types of people who live there.

We are to pray for all people not just some. We had talked earlier that it isn't just a American Christian response. This is not just the church in the United States. I mean granted you're dealing with your own local local context and whoever's listening to this even even months or years from now.

What you're saying is that this is should be the Christian response regardless of whatever your local community might be. Mm-hmm.

We have been given a cultural hermeneutic or a political hermeneutic to interpret the events going on in Israel. But what we need is a biblical hermeneutic to begin to look at what is going on over there.

And I think that there is a story in the Bible that can help us with this. So in Acts chapter 11 beginning in verse 19, we pick up on the story of what happened to the Christians who fled Jerusalem because of the persecutions of Saul of Tarsus.

He was said that he was breathing threats and to murder and the many of the Saints fled. Well, we read that back in Acts chapter 8 and just after that we read about Philip and then we read about Saul's conversion and Peter's journeys.

But then we come back to all the rest of the people and so in verse 19 We read now those who were scattered. Actually, you know David because my boy I'm gonna ask you to read you got it versus 19.

Um.

Yeah, just read verses 19 through 30 for us. This would be great. You got it.

I'm reading from the ESV the Church in Antioch verse 19. Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch Speaking the word to no one except Jews.

But there were some of them men of Cyprus and Cyrene who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists Also preaching the Lord Jesus and the hand of the Lord Was with them and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to Antioch and he came and saw the grace of God. He was glad and he exhorted them to all remained faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.

For he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith and a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul and when he had found them He brought him to Antioch for a whole year.

They met with the church and taught a great many people and in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. Now in those days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch and one of them named Agabus Stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine Over all the world.

This took place in the days of Claudius so the disciples determined everyone according to his ability to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And They did so sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

So when we read this story, we hear that the scattered Christians from Jerusalem as they ran from the persecution They were still preaching the gospel and some of them who were from North Africa Which is Cyrene and then from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus could speak Greek pretty well and so what they did is that they preached the gospel to Greek speakers there in Antioch and By God's grace many Gentiles began to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Word of that comes down to Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Church says we want to know more about that just like they sent the Apostles down to up to Samaria to see what had happened with Phillips evangelism and sent Peter out to strengthen the churches that were In the larger Judean region.

They also felt the need to send Barnabas to check things out in Antioch and to strengthen what was going on there when he gets There and he sees the scope of the work. He is excited, but he knows he needs help.

So he goes and gets all of Tarsus and they work together for a whole year to grow this church and to encourage this church and then there becomes an opportunity to help serve the Brethren down in Judea in Jerusalem because they were going through a Famine and the Lord let them know in advance.

This is gonna happen so they could get ready now that's that's a pretty good story in and of itself, but when you look at the historical Note about when the famine came in the days of Claudius Caesar.

Let's think about the background going on here the time frame we have here in Acts 11 matches to the mid 30s ad and We have a situation in which to the mid to the late 30s Tension between the Gentile population and the Jewish population of Antioch.

We're not going. Well, some of the Gentiles there in Antioch begin to kill to persecute and to kill violently pursue Jews Who you know had their own way of living their own way of doing things which it really irritated a lot of people and the Jews Had their own little community southeast of Antioch.

So Jews are dying and word comes to Jerusalem now Caesar Generations ago had given Jurisdiction of all Jewish affairs to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem no matter where it was in the Roman Empire. And so the Sanhedrin felt the need to go protect these Jews getting killed by Gentiles up there in Antioch.

They sent an army tens of thousands of men up to Antioch and they begin Something almost akin to a civil war and the Jews start killing the Gentiles who have been killing the Jews. Violence is breaking out everywhere and it is right around this time.

The gospel is getting preached in Antioch and people are coming to faith in Christ and Barnabas goes up there and brings Saul into the mix. Now Caligula was the Emperor at this time is near the end of his reign.

Caligula does not like what he hears he gives instructions to.

The.

Local troops to take drastic measure. He brings the hammer down hard. The Jews revolt against him. Things are getting more and more unstable. One of the Roman generals on the scene refused orders from Caligula because he knew that it was not going to go.

Well, he then receives a letter from Caligula that gets to him that tells him because you've disobeyed my order. Your new order is to kill yourself. Thankfully by that time Caligula had died. So he didn't have to follow the order because the new Roman Emperor was Claudius.

As we read down now the famine that broke out down in Judea was because of all the unrest. The Jews were not able to plant their crops as normal. Then they observed a Sabbath year following that and now there was a massive food shortage throughout the region.

One of the the magistrates in the Judean region. She was trying to bring in all manner of food from foreign sources, but that food was going to be distributed by the Sanhedrin. What about all the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea?

They're gonna go without so think of this. The Christian Church in Antioch made up of Mostly Gentiles who have been converted out of killing Jews are now Sending food to mostly Jews who have been converted unto Christ down in Judea and Jerusalem.

They're loving one another. They're caring for one another. They're at peace with one another, you know. It's the it's the vision of Isaiah to where they've come up Mount Zion. Hebrews 12 says a mountain that cannot be touched and the sword they once Bore at each other's throats have been beaten into plowshares and now they are co-laborers in the harvest.

They're loving one another. By this all men will know that you are my Disciples by the love that you have for one another and lo and behold. They were first called Christians in Antioch and I think this gives us a model of response.

Well, very good you brought up.

Isaiah where he talks about beating the swords and into plowshares and their spears and to pruning hooks nation shall not lift sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. All right, and that sounds like a fantastic promise and yet we see that there are Wars right now multiple wars seeming like and so the the question becomes well.

What is the answer to this and you brought up Isaiah to Isaiah 9 6? We read this during Christmastime. For to us a child is born that son is given and the government should be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called wonderful Counselor mighty God everlasting father prince of peace.

Like that seems like the antithesis to war who would be peace. So in this conflict we have and you described this the Christians there and what what they were doing it seems like the people the Gentiles the Jews were reconciled because of Christ.

Because they had been saved and now their aggressors the other side whichever side they were on the other side We're now they're brothers and now they're sisters. I think that would go a long way towards Reconciliation.

What about the current situation with Israel the Palestinians? Well, I would say that the.

Solution remains the same means. This is a passage that we've all heard many times. And it just every time you read it, especially in the current conflict and the story We just heard out of out of acts.

Ephesians 2 says for he himself. Meaning Christ is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh. The dividing wall of hostility abolishing the law of commandments expressed in the ordinances that he might create him in himself one new man in place of two.

So Making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross thereby killing the Hostility. There is no peace Between those who hate God and those who love God. People who hate God hate God's people but those who love God can love each other and forgive each other for things that are happening to them.

Things that happen to their ancestors. It's easier. I wouldn't say it's easy. It's easier to forgive someone who's done something wrong when you are more aware of your sin and what You have done to your Savior when you have a greater understanding of the price that was paid on your behalf.

You get a better idea of why Jesus would use that analogy use that parable about how horrible that slave was who was Forgiven and an enormous amount of debt that he could never repay then goes to his fellow slaves.

He's give me back what you owe and the master was like I just forgave you all of this. So the idea is that we can be we can be forgiving. Because we have been forgiven. And if you have a strong knowledge of that.

Then that starts to break down those walls and they start to build bridges of peace. That's built on the person and work of Christ. And this is obviously a supernatural act.

Are we gonna underscore that you all want to look up first John 3 10 through 18? This is going to give us very particular instruction from the word. Something that you know. These are the themes that David was just talking about kind of applying the idea from Ephesians 2.

Beginning down to some practical things. You said first John first John chapter 3. Yep verses 10 through 18.

I read that Chris. Yes in this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. Nor is he who does not love his brother for this is the message that you heard from the beginning.

That we should love one another not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him because his works were evil and his brothers righteous? Do not marvel my brethren if the world hates you.

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother Abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

By this We know love because he laid down his life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and such him shuts up his heart from him.

How does the love of God abide in him? My little children let us not love in word or in tongue, but indeed and in truth. And by this We know that we are the truth and shall assure our hearts before him.

Okay.

So one of the themes of first John is clarifying who are the people of God who are God's people who are the children of God? How do we know which is which and in the previous chapter chapter 2 it talked about those who went out from us?

But they were not really of us. Okay, and then defines Antichrist as the one as those denying That the Son of God has come into the come in the flesh or that that Jesus has come in the flesh. The Messiah is indeed Arrived.

The only people who would be denying that would be the stewards of the Old Covenant. They're in Jerusalem at the Old Covenant Temple. So now in chapter 3 verse 10 He said John is saying we know it's not it's not a mystery who the children of God are.

There are those who love one another to love the brethren and those who hate right? So Cain we know It can enable were from the same parents, but they were not of the same people right. Cain Hated and murdered his brother.

Right, and so so John is saying do not marvel my brethren if the world hates you and the contrast He just made was between two brothers. And the people persecuting the early church. Were the Jews and John is a Jew right and in a lot of the first audience of the church are Jews.

But he says do not marvel my brethren if the world hates you. What did he just do there? He just said those who are of Christ and love one another are brethren. The nations become brethren in Christ. And it doesn't matter if you have an ethnic biological brother there of the world if they hate you.

So he's redrawing all the lines and when we're listening to the news. We're being given lines drawn on a map but those are not the lines that the Bible draws. The nations that we read about in Isaiah 2 are.

That do not learn war anymore right in Isaiah 9 and Isaiah 2. They don't learn war anymore because they have a prince of peace Shiloh to whom it all belongs. He comes and he rules in peace. These nations are the nations listed in in Genesis 10.

The families of the earth that have blessing in the seat of Abraham. Genesis 12 and Genesis 22. Which we're talking about in a future episode, but back to John verse John 3. It says verse 16 by this we know love because he laid down his life for us.

Ephesians 2 right we see he what did he do by his life and death and resurrection? So we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren and look at this Practicality if we have the world's goods and sees our brother and we see our brother in need.

We should not shut up our heart from him, but we should love him indeed and in truth. So what is our response to the current conflict? You know, there was two Gospels in the time of Christ. There was the gospel the ewangelion of the Roman Emperor and he would come out and say this is what's good for the whole Empire.

I'm you know, I've got my plans and here's what I'm going to do for you. And I'm I'm your Savior. He would call himself the Savior of the Empire and he had all of these social programs and all these statist Solutions and it was a new gospel about every three months.

But then the gospel of Jesus Christ who's the real King of Kings the real Lord of Lords comes and it's not it's not Caesar. His Lord, it's Jesus's Lord. Here comes his good news and There is there is hope for all nations.

But how are we to view the conflict going on are we to pick sides? Oh, I'm on the side of Hamas. No, I'm on the side. No, that's we're not we're not to pick those sides. We're going to need to be concerned for the people who are dying without Christ.

But we are to do good to the household of the faith. We are to to give first and care for first. Those who belong to Christ. Jesus says in Matthew 25 the least of these my brethren are those whom he is First and foremost concerned about that we would serve and that we would help.

There are a lot of well-meaning Christians who want to help the Jews. Because they want to be you want to do what's what's right? And these supposed to be the you know, these are the chosen people of of God, you know.

That's that's the their reasoning and my question to them is I know you're trying to trying to help I mean we're talking about a political ally, but you know, there are Christians on both sides of that.

Border.

Who are they? Do you know who they are and are you willing to help. Because we just described out of Ephesians and Acts and out of first John how you have Christians who are Palestinian who are Arab who are ethnically Jewish or other fill-in-the-blank there and these are Brothers and sisters all of these people in this local region and there are brothers and sisters.

So they're caught right now in the middle. I mean you you want to have a really persecuted group. The Palestinian Christians are kind of hated by the Palestinians because they're seeing something as of traitors because they're not Muslim and and they're kind of hated by the other side.

Because they're not Jewish. So they're sort of caught now. Granted for as far as history of religious tolerance goes. You can be Christian and walk down the street in in Tel Aviv and you'd be okay. I mean, so sometimes there are stories of Christian who've gotten spit on sure.

But they don't rocket shot in there in their car and in their apartment and they're not. They're not slaughtered in the streets. So as far as religious tolerance goes, you know, let's be careful, you know to delineate that but you have Christians on both sides of this Conflict and both sides of this border who are caught in the middle and and we should first be Focused on the household of faith.

You want to talk about the people of God? Those are Christians, right?

But I think there's a word that I keep hearing thrown around a lot by conservatives by political pundits this idea of moral equivalency and When they try to talk about what one side has done versus what other side has done.

This side is more brutal than the other. The problem though is That when you try to get into the discussion of moral equivalency All have fallen short of the glory of God. Amen. We're on a certain level.

You're talking about conflicts. Sure. We talk about war crimes and think different things like that but ultimately you're trying to say they did wrong and they did wrong and this goes back for thousands of years because there's no sense of Ending if there's no forgiveness, it doesn't end and there's no forgiveness without Christ our Moral failure is with God first and foremost and you talked about Ephesians to the wall of hostility.

Where does that hostility come from? Well, it's in the heart of man. It's there in everyone that is not saved that has not become part of Christ. We love because he first loved we loved him first and foremost.

Because he first loved and because of that we're able to love our brothers. But it goes further than that. Who do we love? We love our brothers. We love our neighbors. We love our enemies, right? The Bible does not give any excuse for not loving any group of people and that's the Christians so that it seems that the only way forward is the gospel and getting caught up in Secondary issues is less helpful.

Not that we can't have those conversations. Not that they can't be beneficial practically. You know, what do we do with aid and and different things like that? But what should the Christians response be obviously prayer?

What side should we take often when Jesus is asked to take a side his answer is no. It's not framed correctly. It's not right and I see that happening just in our culture today.

It's not being framed correctly. John's doing sort of the same thing there where he is recognizing. Hey, these things are going on around us. There's a certain group that is doing these things now. Love the brethren, right?

Like he's he's kind of ignoring a lot of the the implications of the violence and getting right to the heart of. This is what we should be doing. Loving the brethren. Giving need when we have. The ability to give those in need and obviously a part of that is prayer like you mentioned earlier.

But what other things from the Bible or from from text? Can we kind of draw out? Practically what the Christian should do in action other than prayer or Giving in need. How can we play that out Chris?

I think you you you hit on I think a really important point that the hostility, you know between these two groups is Inherent in the heart of man. There is no program. There is no a there is no nothing that's going to stop Those two people from hating or mistrusting each other.

Political force, there's not a group of nations. There's no councils that no fix that W. Yeah, I agree with you on you 100 I had somebody look me down the face says, you know, what's your solution?

And I was like, I don't have a solution that that you could enact from the UN or from any NGO. I mean the only solution that I can see is for both sides to legitimately become Christians and forgive each other, right?

And what you're saying it may not just not be solutions. It may be. Exacerbations right when we add worse when we add money into places. Well, I mean we hear the the phrase you get more of what you subsidize in the same way if we're giving money to countries Who end up supporting Hamas.

Or if Israel ends up taking money and somehow supporting a supporting Hamas in some way. They're exacerbating those situations that they've already found themselves and you're you're subsidizing more of that heart of man.

And it's expressing itself because it now has capital to move about and do all the things.

It's what it's wanting to do if the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Pouring money on that problem. It's probably not gonna help. No, no, not at all. So you.

Alluded to Pouring money and into an area where you can exacerbate a problem. The most recent one before that was Ukraine. Yes, and you have Russia and Ukraine and I had somebody says well you dive the two Christian nations fighting each other.

Well, the actions of these people is not what I'm reading in first John chapter 3, you know. That you are of Christ by their actions. I don't care whether they have a cross around their neck or if they happen to go to fill in the blank Church on Sunday.

Go back a little bit further my heritage Northern Ireland. Let's do is to Christian groups fighting each other. Well by their actions I would say that many of those people were not Christian. They probably entered a church on Sunday probably had a cross around their necks may have gone to confession or something else or been Baptized or whatever else and had all the accoutrement of being a Christian, but we're not because their actions didn't back it up.

How about one of the bloodiest wars in Europe 30 Years War, you know, we were in the kind of the Reformation season. You know, there's the Catholics and Protestants. So people will say we'll look at the Muslim Palestinians and the Jewish Israelis are fighting each other said well.

We just think they should become Christians. Here's three examples. I can cite you right now Christians fighting each other says that's not what first John describes Christians real Christians regardless of their ethnicity.

Love and forgive one another they try to live in harmony. We are sinful and we do fight and we do and we do bicker and some of those things can bubble over but those in Contrary that is contrary to the teachings of the scriptures.

That's a part of our flesh. That's that's a human failing Christianity. How will people know that that you are mine by the love you have for one another so go back to acts when we see.

Their response there's a need a need that came out of war. Okay, there's a famine down in Judea.

There's a problem and you had displacement because Claudius had displaced the Jews out of Rome. He exiled them. So you had an influx of people coming into it another region.

Yes, so we you see what happened in one part of the Empire affected another part of the Empire and there was a great need. Well, how did they send the need in Acts 11? How did they send to the need as you read about at the end of first Corinthians and then through a healthy section of Second Corinthians and Paul references it in Philippians and so on.

How was that need sent now you say well. They kind of send it in some quaint ways because you know. It is the ancient Near East and they don't have all the technology that we do because I can just you know.

Click PayPal and send my my virtue signaling guilt assuaging shame erasing money out into the void. Especially when I tell people about it, I mean that that's not that's not a Christian response. Right, you know text this money, you know, like what, you know text $10 to Haiti and you know.

Really benefited the Clintons, you know, no, no Haitians ever saw it. That's not Christian giving that's pagan giving. That's the same thing as going to a pagan temple and throwing money at a pagan God saying make everything better.

When we find Christian giving in the in the New Testament, we find that there are men of high character. Who are well known they are established in their their bona fides as faithful men and they? Personally.

Directly some way they are able to take what is needful to those who are in need and who meets them other men.

Who are?

The leaders by God's own standards there in Timothy and Titus who are saying yes. We are holding this these resources in trust. You say well, what about what happened to the Deacons? Why is it you know Apostles and elders, you know transferring the funds?

Well, they were they were the leaders of the churches, but then what happens then? Yes, the monies were brought to the Apostles feet that we read about in Acts 4, but then what do they do? He said well we can't handle the Logistics of getting out and they would give that to the Deacons and then the Deacons would go see to the needs.

But there was a lot of accountability. So I would say that even though Jesus when Jesus says when you give don't let the right hand know what the left hand is Doing he is saying don't give so as everybody knows.

You know, what a good person you are. So when Jesus says don't let the right hand know what the left hand is doing. He doesn't mean that the hands should be dirty right there should be clean hands in the transfer of the funds and.

That's kind of a they're not using a state apparatus to transfer funds or a state controlled apparatus in any way.

No.

So like if we're gonna be making networks or connections with people in Palestine or Israel who are brethren we might be looking for independent like Christian people who can who can get those funds or get those to other people in need rather than like a big.

What would you call like a bureaucracy big bureaucracy or big tent organization?

That's like a general giving things we've learned from the Ukraine war so far is getting getting real good. Practical help to believers in need and so that they could also be a blessing to the non-believers around them in the name of Christ.

What ways has that worked? Well, not by sending it to a bureaucracy not by you know, not like the Berlin Airlift. You know just dropping canned food on people's heads, but we get it to Pastors who are known and trusted who are in Ukraine, but not in the hot spots and then they bring it closer to the you know.

There's a staging and that can still that can happen in the Hamas Israel war going on right now where there are going to be trusted Christians that we need to know who they are and this is going to happen by way of Recommendation but there's going to be somebody in Egypt who's going to find a Christian in Egypt who's going to get things to somebody in Southern Hamas who can get things up to a little bit southern Gaza.

It can get up a little bit more. There's going to be a Christian in Lebanon who's going to be able to or maybe northern Israel who's going to be able to Take in some help and then get it down to where it needs to be.

I've gotten letters already. It was one one missionary says by God's grace our missionaries have already helped to provide over 1 ,500 meals for displaced families and others during the war. We are also continuing to hold Bible studies distribute the New Testament and share the hope of the gospel everywhere.

We can and that's the Christian response. And to clarify we can have church bureaucracy, too. Right, like so we need to be careful about that. There are there are church bureaucracies out there who would Want to take your money and funnel it through their system in order to get it to places over there.

But maybe the most efficient and most trusted way is finding individuals within that area.

The one red flag is if your pastor's buying jets. It's probably not going to the right place, right?

Or I mean even even like denominational level of Mission funding. I'd like I'm I'm a little leery of that personally. Like though.

I mean, you know the there's plus and minus to a large cooperative, you know giving program but it's the larger the apparatus and the larger the pot of money is the easier it is to be. Wasteful with that.

The examples that we just read in the scripture were it's very targeted. It's given to this amount given to these men's as Paul's, you know collecting stuff. He collected from the Ephesians collecting some from the you know, he's going to Corinth it says hey, you know if you guys want to give I'm coming and you can bring that stuff here and your recent study school lesson said and we're going to bring it to Jerusalem and it was very a network of churches Who were doing it with trusted men and you can get that in close.

Yeah, and even even in that there are people that would seek to gain from it. When Paul was a he was bringing the money to Jerusalem and he was arrested and there's a little bit of insinuation that Felix was Holding him for longer because he thought well Paul's got a bunch of money.