A Ramble About Israel, Gaza, and Iraqi Christians

Two thousand years ago, the Jewish Sanhedrin, controlled by corrupt leadership, illegally condemned Jesus Christ, their own Messiah, and delivered Him to the Roman authorities to be crucified. When the Roman governor balked at the idea of crucifying an innocent man, they stirred up the crowd to threaten a riot if he didn't comply with their wishes. So, he washed his hands of it, and ordered the crucifixion. This is what happened according to the canonical Gospels as found in the New Testament.

Some sixty years later, after that same Sanhedrin spent decades pursuing and persecuting His followers across the near east, the remnants of the Jewish Rabbinical leadership met in Jamnia in 90 AD to discuss how to continue the practice of the Jewish faith without the Temple. They had come to an agreement with Rome that as long as their religion was no longer actively looking for a political kingdom, and wouldn't try to rebuild the temple, they would be left alone. They came to two decisions where Jesus Christ and His followers were concerned. The first was to unanimously declare Jesus of Nazareth a false Messiah and the illegitimate son of Mary and a Roman centurion, something which they wrote into their Talmud. The second was to completely reject the Greek Septuagint translation and compilation of the Holy Scriptures on the grounds that it was this text and these books that Christians were constantly referring to in proving Jesus as the Christ. This is why, to this day, even though the books of the Maccabees record the events of some of the most celebrated of Jewish heroes, and the beginning of Chanukkah, the Rabbis don't accept them as Scripture (and consequently why the argument began among Christians as to whether these books and the other Greek Old Testament Scriptures were canonical).

These are facts of history. No matter how many people would like to erase that fact, nevertheless history doesn't change, only how we interpret it.

St. John wrote in his first epistle, “He who doesn't have the Son doesn't have the Father either.” Again, this is a fact of New Testament Scripture. Twist it how you will, it's pretty self explanatory.

Within the last several months, a Muslim extremist army called the Islamic State has arisen in the Middle East and in a very short time conquered large swaths of Syria and Iraq. They are brutal and ruthless. Where that region's historic Christian population is concerned, they have been even more so. They are ruthlessly rounding up and executing Christians with extreme prejudice by crucifixion, beheading, and other means. The death toll is in the thousands at the very least.

Also within the last few weeks, a terrorist group in the Gaza strip, Hamas, launched rockets into Israel, and Israel retaliated fourfold, killing hundreds of Palestinians, both Hamas and civilians, for every one Israeli life lost.

Between these two conflicts, there is one thing I continuously see on my Facebook wall from well meaning Christian friends, “We stand with Israel!”

Until one pastor friend of mine posted a link to a rare piece of news coverage about the carnage happening to our brothers and sisters in Christ, I didn't even know anything about it. I knew about the conflict between Israel and Gaza, but nothing about what was happening with our family in Iraq.

Let me say that word again, Family. That is what these Iraqis who are being butchered are. Family. Regardless of their denomination they are refusing to convert to Islam and they are entering the presence of our Lord in droves because of it. They are in desperate need of our prayers and any support we can give on their behalf.

The State of Israel is not family. The Jewish people, God's chosen though they may be, are not family. No amount of cuddling up to and support for the government of the State of Israel will change that fact. “He who doesn't have the Son doesn't have the Father either.” This isn't to say that we should not be supportive of the Jewish people, but only to recognize the limitations of that support. The government of the State of Israel does many things which no brother or sister of Jesus Christ should ever support or approve of (just as many national governments do in order to keep themselves in power).

It is good to pray for the safety of the Israeli people. But is it good to do it ignoring the cries and pleas of our own? Do you cheer on the neighbor's kids who are soundly beating their opponents at a weekly baseball game all the while ignoring the pleas of your own who are being raped and murdered behind the stadium? Do you tell them that the neighbor's kids are more important? Are you serious?

I used to attend a Messianic Synagogue here in Orange County many years ago. I developed a deep respect for Jewish culture, the Hebrew language, and the Jewish people there while surrounded by Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ. From there I have always held an affinity for Israel and everything about it to the point where I was almost asked to leave Bible School because of it.

I still hold a deep respect, but a line was drawn between non-Messianic Jews and the followers of Jesus Christ two thousand years ago and it is a line which cannot be overcome or crossed. This is the reason why the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament was written. There came a time when it became safer to be a Jew than a Christian, and some professed Christians were recanting their faith to return to or adopt Judaism. The author of the Hebrews is pretty explicit, there is no return to Judaism for the Christian because there is no legitimate Judaism to return to. It ended with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Please, pay attention to our own brothers and sisters who are being slaughtered for their faith. They desperately need our prayers more than ever.

Incidentally, a large percentage of Palestinians are also Christians. When you support the government of Israel's violence against them, you are supporting their violence against fellow Christians.