Israel – My Glory

 

Israel has always been an important player on the world stage. But in the last two weeks, Israel has moved front and center, and is the main character in an unfolding drama. Several momentous things that have happened:

1. President Obama upstaged Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was already on the plane traveling to the US to address Congress. Obama had agreed to the speech, but waited until Netanyahu was in transit to deliver a new US Mideast policy.

2. In his pre-emptive speech, President Obama reiterated the Bush policy for a two-state solution (something I think is a mistake, but then no one asked my opinion).

3. The President also called Israel’s presence a “permanent occupation,” which amounts to saying they are there illegally. This is exactly what the Arab states have claimed, and it is wholly untrue. The United Nations gave the territory to Israel in 1948, in agreement with her Arab neighbors. The land originally belonged to Israel anyhow, but it was restored to her as part of the Balfour Declaration of 1917. 

4. Going against the long-standing US policy and even a promise that President Bush had made to Israel, Obama said that Israel should revert to her pre-1967 borders.

5. He also proposed giving Fatah and Hamas (terrorist groups) a base in Jerusalem. This is utter idiocy, akin to the US setting up an office in Washington, DC, for Al Qaeda.

6. Despite the cowardly actions and betrayal by Obama, Netanyahu spoke in front of news cameras, face-to-face with the President IN THE WHITE HOUSE, and basically told him to go jump in lake. Netanyahu correctly said that these borders would make Israel indefensible and that Israel would not go back to those borders. It would make part of the nation of Syria only a few miles from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.

7. Netanyahu delivered his courageous message to a joint session of Congress, “I stood before my people and said that I will accept a Palestinian state; it’s time for President Abbas to stand up before his people and say, ‘I will accept a Jewish state,’ " Mr. Netanyahu said to cheers from a hugely friendly crowd. “Those six words will change history.”

8. Although he got many standing ovations from the non-partisan Congress, Vice President Joe Biden was the only person not applauding. President Obama was not present, but on his way to Ireland when the address was given.

One advantage of being old is that I have experienced some of the history discussed in the news and have my own perspective. I remember the Six-Day War in Israel, when Syria had troops stationed on the top of the Golan Heights, firing rockets down into Israel, while Jordan and Egypt were violating her sovereignty, encroaching on Western Jerusalem, and disregarding her borders. They were effectively blocking Jewish access to their holy sites in East Jerusalem and blocking Israel’s access to commerce on the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.

Jim and I visited Israel about six years after the war, and saw Syrian tanks still sitting along the roadside. Israel had incapacitated them, and left them as a reminder to passersby of their victory. Since that war, Israel has granted access for their Arab citizens to their mosques, unlike the Arab countries who would not allow Jews access to the temple mount and the wailing wall. Israel has also conceded great portions of land to the Palestinian people for new Arab settlements in peace treaties negotiated by the US and agreed to as part of a peace effort. But no matter how much land they get, the Palestinians continue to attack Israel and many have spoken out calling for the destruction of Israel.  It is clear that land is not their objective, but the destruction of the nation of Israel.

The only way all religions’ holy sites will be open to the world is for Israel to control them. They have respected the rights of all people (Arabs included) to live in Israel and practice their faith. Unknown to most of the world, Arabs and Jews peacefully co-exist in Jerusalem. But the Palestinian leaders are not satisfied unless they are in control of the government. In a recent poll, 70% of Arabs living in Jerusalem said they would rather live under the government of Israel than under Palestinian rule. “In a region where women are stoned, gays are persecuted,” Netanyahu said, “Israel stands out.”

When the Jordanians occupied the Old City in 1948, Jewish synagogues and cemeteries were destroyed, and Torah scrolls were burned. Under Muslim rule, the Christian population decreased by half. “And this is why Israel, and only Israel, can be trusted to ensure the freedom for all faiths in our central capital, the united city of Jerusalem," Netanyahu said.

The destruction of Israel will never happen, and, as Prime Minister Netanyahu stated in his speech, “Jerusalem will never be divided.” God guarantees that Israel will return and remain in the land. It was His and He gave it to them. God predicted in the Bible that in the last days, Jews would return from the four corners of the earth and live once more in Jerusalem (Joel 3:17-20). In fact, God originally gave Israel ten times as much land as they now control. He will fight for them, and they will live in the land God has given them. What other nation has fought a war on three fronts and come out victorious in six days?

Because of President Obama’s rash statements, Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas has said that Netanyahu’s refusal to go back to the 1967 borders is a “declaration of war.”  A spokesman for Abbas said, “We will never accept an Israeli presence in the Palestinian state, especially along the Jordan River.”

The Palestinians say they want peace, but their actions prove otherwise. Many people expect a showdown this September. As Prime Minister Netanyahu says, “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.”

The Bible tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Now more than ever, we need to pray, when the world seems to cry out for the dividing of the city and for giving the Palestinians more land. Obadiah chapter 1 and Joel 3 both predict judgment for those who come against Jerusalem and Jacob (Israel).

“For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.”  Psalm 122:5-7

Politically, we must stand with Israel, the only true democracy in the Mideast. And even more importantly, spiritually, we must align ourselves with Israel. God called her “Israel my Glory,” (Isaiah 46:13) and warned other nations not to touch Israel, the “apple of his eye.”  Zechariah 2:8  He promises to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse her in Genesis 12:1-4. Jesus said in Matthew 15:40, “I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren (kinsmen) you did it unto me.”

Tell me what you think by posting a comment below.