Israel and Hamas: A Perspective
As Christians, how we perceive the world around us should be shaped and reshaped by our faith. “Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
But we also have these emotional affections that can cloud our judgement. Such is the case with what we are witnessing in the Middle-east between Israel and Hamas. Since October 7, 2023, the world has watched in horror as people with very different worldviews swell a mounting death toll.
Lines are drawn, sides are taken, missiles launched, and passions fueled.
It can be no mistake that God is not yet done with the Jewish people. Their very existence, despite centuries of diaspora and persecution—only to miraculously return to their homeland after 2,000 years—is a shining example that God is alive, that he keeps his promises, that he is not yet done with the Jewish people, and that we are marching toward the soon return of our Messiah. Maranatha!
But what about the injustices we see daily? What about the Muslim Palestinians? What about the Christian Palestinians? What about? What about? These questions, normal as they are, point out the complexity of the political situation. They enrage and befuddle both the secular and spiritual mind.
However, focus on those questions alone and you may lose sight of being “transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
So, what is God’s will in all of this? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that “we have Christ’s mind.” The Holy Spirit, Jesus admonishes, will guide us to truth (John 16:13). Therefore, if we can set our human sensitivities aside, we can figure out what God desires.
As born again, Bible-believing, Spirit-led Christians, our cause in this crisis remains the same: preach—and live—the good news of the kingdom of heaven. You may not politically favor Israel or Hamas—do not let the political distract you from the missional. You are still called only to preach the good news. That is what God needs from his disciples in the midst of war.
Is this war prophetic? Maybe—don’t let that distract you. Are there injustices? Certainly—don’t let that distract you. Are there corrupt politicians? Always—don’t let that distract you. Might God’s purposes in all of this be thwarted? Only if you allow yourself to be distracted.
“For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
Kevin Williams
Fires in Israel and the Gaza strip, October 7, 2023.
Image: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data, processed by Pierre Markuse \ Wikimedia Commons
Category: Living the Faith, Winter 2024
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