Skip to main content

Bravo Mr. Harper

I have stayed away from politics in my blogs so far because of the divisive nature of such issues.  However, this political issue bleeds into the theological, so I feel I may cross the line.  Our Canadian Prime Minister has been in Israel this week.  While there he has unequivocally stated his and our countries support for the nation of Israel, its right to exist and its right to defend itself from attack.  As a Canadian and a Christian, I applaud my Prime Minister.

Now there are some Christians who would disagree with me.  It has become trendy and progressive in some circles to favour the Palestinians.  After all they tell me, Jesus always supported the poor and down-trodden.  The then argue that in this case the Palestinians are the poor and therefore, Christ would take up there cause.  I could suggest that there are several suspect assumptions in this argument, but I would rather make a positive Biblical case why I support Israel.

1.  The Abrahamic Covenant is still in effect. 

Genesis 12:3-4 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

I believe that those verses still are in effect for today.  God has protected these people, the Jews, for thousands of years and I think His Hand is raised against those who would do them harm. 

2.  I believe that God has a future for the nation of Israel and for the Jewish people. 

 Although they have been set aside as God's primary means of working in this age, God plans on returning to work with the Jews in the future.  Prior to the return of Jesus, God will bring great revival to the Jewish people and show them that Jesus is their Messiah (see Romans 11).

3.  I believe that my commitment to the protection of life demands it.

Huh?  What has that got to do with Israel and the Jews?  I know that many Christians would disregard my first two arguments because they are eschatological in nature.  Many have accepted the idea that the church has replaced Israel in God's plan.  Hence, they would just write off my first two reasons as theological abstractions.  However, there ought to be no doubt Biblically that God is pro-life.  Those who protect life align themselves with God and those who destroy life stand in opposition to God.  Contrary to what the North American media portrays, the Muslim nations surrounding Israel don't want an equitable settlement where both they and Israel are satisfied.  Their faith will never allow such a settlement.  The only position which will satisfy the Muslim nations will be the complete destruction of the nation of Israel and the genocide of the Jewish people.  If the Palestinians got there way, there would be a second holocaust.  In fact, the people now known as Palestinians supported Hitler in the first holocaust. For them and their religion there is no compromise solution.  Therefore, in the face of such savagery and hatred I must support Israel and the Jewish people's right to life - to exist.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Death For a Believer

We picture death as coming to destroy; let us rather picture Christ as coming to save. We think of death as ending; let us rather think of life as beginning, and that more abundantly. We think of losing; let us think of gaining. We think of parting; let us think of meeting. We think of going away; let us think of arriving. And as the voice of death whispers,  "You must go from earth," Let us hear the voice of Christ saying, "You are but coming to me."   Norman Macleod
Post a Comment
Read more

Families' Fridays

From Focus on the Family 10 helpful tips for single parents Imagine this: you’re the sole parent for your children. You get them up, get them fed and send them to school. You do the housework, maybe you go to work yourself, you get home and you’re still the only adult there. There’s no one to relieve you. No one to pass the baton to while you take a shower or take a few minutes for yourself. You make dinner and gather the family around the table to eat. You play with them, read to them, give them baths, get them to bed and there’s no one there to sit with and process your day. There’s no one there to laugh with you or pray with you. Instead you keep working. You clean up the house again. You pack lunches for the next day. And you eventually crash into bed, knowing you’ll be doing the same thing tomorrow. For many, this is not an imagined scenario. When you parent alone – whether due to divorce, the loss of your spouse or having a spouse who works away from home for long periods of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Quotation of the Week

“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”” (Matt. 26:39) The object of Christ’s attention here is this cup. What is the cup? What’s in it? In Scripture the cup refers to God’s wrath or judgment (Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15). Here in this foreboding vessel before Jesus is the fully fermented, undiluted, cup of divine wrath. It is God’s impending judgment that has him sweating drops of blood and in deep agony. Christ is looking down the barrel of heaven’s infinite wrath, and his heart is shredded in agony. As barbaric as the human suffering was, it was not the chief agony of the cross. This was reserved for his assignment to drink the cup. It wasn’t the prospect of martyrdom—wrath at the hands of men—that weighed so heavily upon Jesus, it was wrath of God. Erik Redmond in the article The Dreadful Cup and Our Faithful Savior .
Post a Comment
Read more