Village Schools of the Bible

Part 2 of The Roots of The Middle East Conflict
The Prophetic Roots

This is one of the questions that must be asked: Can we say that the lands of the present nation of Israel belong to the Jews because of the biblical promises highlighted above? The evangelical community is divided on this issue. Dr. John Piper, writing in an editorial column in the May 11, 2002, issue of World magazine, states: "First, a non-covenant-keeping people does not have a divine right to the present possession of the land of promise. Both the experience of divine blessing and the habitation of the land are conditional on Israel's keeping the covenant God made with her. More than once Israel was denied the experience of her divine right to the land (not the final right itself) when she broke covenant with God. Israel has no divine right to be in the land of promise when she is breaking the covenant of promise. This does not mean that other nations have the right to molest her. She still has human rights among nations even in those seasons when she forfeits her divine right. Nations that gloated over her divine discipline were punished by God (Isaiah 10:5-13). Dr. Piper does not see Israel's presence in the land as being the fulfillment of those prophetic passages that foretold of its return. He believes that return is yet future when Israel will walk in an attitude of belief and obedience to the covenant God has made with them.

If this be true, then how can a person explain the miracles that resulted in the birth of Israel as a nation in the modern world? Can we discount the hand of God working and orchestrating events that caused this to happen? Were the events of 1947-48 the fulfillment of the promises in Ezekiel 37?

During the 2000 Village School tour of Israel, our group had the privilege of having a wonderful Jewish guide. Amnon and I have become very good friends, communicating often through e-mail. It has been a blessing in my own heart as he has shared the recent events in Israel from his perspective. I would like to share just a portion of a recent e-mail I received from him. In it he addressed my question as to the rights of the land. Though Zionism felt we had the biblical right to this country, was it wise to ingather the exiles here? With all due respect to our achievements it did not usher in the Eternal Peace promised and prayed for. Do we, indeed, have a right over this country, or is it just a fata morgana and a bunch of mythological legends invented by men who wrapped it with so called divine covenant and promise, mixed together with a modern political cocktail that was to solve the Jewish problem and clear humanity's conscience at the same time?! To a true believe in the Bible there cannot be but one axiomatic answer! There cannot be limitations, exacerbations, ifs etc. The Promise is eternal in spite of all defaults, or else The Promise is just a valueless promise! I believe that most cases cannot be judged white or black as most end up being grey. Yet there are definite situations of either-or, and no in-between! One of them - maybe the only one - is the Israeli-Arab conflict; at least to a biblical scholar. There are many evangelicals who would share Amnon's conclusions. The question of whose opinion is correct is one that is subject to more intense biblical study. However, this fact we know is true, the land Israel presently occupies today will be theirs someday as a gift from God.

A second fact when one considers the present conflict in the Middle East is the role the Antichrist will play in bringing a false peace to the region. We read the following in Daniel 9:26-27: After the sixty-two sevens, the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven, but in the middle of that seven he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And one who causes desolation will place abominations on a wing of the temple until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

From this Daniel passage we can discern the following truths. First, the Antichrist will make a covenant of peace with Israel for seven years. Somehow this covenant will resolve the Middle East conflict, at least temporarily. The key parts of the covenant are not addressed in the Scriptures. Second, he will break that covenant at the end of three and one-half years resulting in the great disruption of Israel's sacrificial system.

Finally, the Second Advent of Jesus Christ and His reign from Jerusalem must be addressed. The Scriptures make it very clear that when Christ comes again it will be as King. I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill (Psalm 2:6). The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her (Joel 3:16-17).