God Bless Gaza

As news reports have been coming in the last several days about news in the Middle East, I can't help but to get angry at Israel. There are no two ways about this, Israel is wrong and is acting unjustly. Since 1948 America has sought to protect this country and the people and has promised to be her ally. This has not been without great expense and the price that we have paid has been the alienation of other nations and countries. We have given Israel the ability to bully neighboring countries and have rarely if ever told them as much. I can't help but to feel that this maybe because of the church if only in a small part.

The church has believed that Israel is God's chosen people; but chosen wasn't God's way of saying they are better. God was calling this people to bring God's Kingdom to earth. It was instructed by God that these people were to be called out and separate from the rest of the world; treating each other, neighbors, and enemies with love and compassion. God was providing a way in which all people could see that there was a better way to live. Remember back when Israel didn't have a king that the Jewish people cried out and complained that they wanted a king. They rejected this better way for living and chose to be like other nations. This pattern has been going on since the Garden and extends to the injustices today.

So God acts and as such He brings the Messiah in to save the world. Israel wanted to be like all the other nations and now they are. Israel will receive the same blessing as all the other nations, which is that we all will bow before the throne of God and worship. We are missing so much rich theology to think that Israel is a better nation and people than any other. I think that this type of thinking is without a doubt done more damage than anything. After all, I am pretty sure that the Messiah is the only one who deserves the exaltation and to think that God would want us to be ok with actions that fly in the face of His kingdom is ludicrous. Jesus says to love our enemies and if we kill them or allow killing without standing against it, we are defying the Messiah. It is that simple.

I don't really understand the thought process that it is not ok for Islamic Terrorist to attack civilians, but it is ok if our allies do. Maybe it is because we don't really want to call somebody on something that we ourselves are guilty for. I don't know. It is getting messy though and as a citizen of God's Kingdom it is time to say that this is not my Jesus. I haven't heard too much lately by the church in regards to this senseless act of terrorism brought on by Israel, but I am sure that there are those pastors and lay people who believe that Israel is acting justly. I have heard those arguments before. When Israel kills someone it is wrong. When America kills someone it is wrong. When people in Gaza kill an Israeli soldier, it is wrong.

I have heard it said that the opposite of hate is not love but apathy. Is there any more apathetic response than to allow this to continue without responding and if we as the church are apathetic are we as a church ceasing to be the church?

Throughout Scripture we see and understand the God hears the cries of the oppressed. Right now, Gaza is being oppressed and so are several other nations and people being oppressed by America. Church it is time to stand up and act.