Are We All Wrong About Israel?

The war in Gaza has been extremely polarising. We’ve seen it on Piers Morgan’s show, on Al Jazeera, SABC and CNN…… I had to humble myself by coming to the conclusion that all this bickering and arguing about who is right and who is wrong in the Israel vs. Hamas/Iran war has less to do with land and more to do with who the true Israel really is.

As a Christian, I always knew that Israel was a chosen nation of people who were supposed to reflect God to the world and have dominion over the Earth, since the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all from the lineage of Christ Jesus. Jacob’s name was even changed to.’ Israel, which means “LET GOD PREVAIL.” It is only until now that I have had to take time and reflect and ask myself who Israel really is. Are they just Arabs who come from the lineage of a very holy man, the Son of God? Or perhaps they are bearded men with olive skin who all look like Jesus and speak in Hebrew? We all have these assumptions of who God’s chosen people are, yet we never ask ourselves, What was the purpose of God creating man and woman in His likeness and image? Was it to see who would overpower whom over a piece of land? I don’t think so. Think a bit deeper!

Then there’s the issue of what it means to be a Jew or a Gentile. For those who don’t know, in the Old Testament of the Bible, the Jews were known to be the ones who, by birthright, automatically qualified as God’s people, yet their hearts were filled with bitterness, like a stone. They lacked having a true relationship with God; hence, they got caught up in religious activities, much like some other religions today require their followers to do, and thus, the birth and the life of Jesus, the Messiah, God’s one and only Son, brought about a massive change—some would call it ‘going against the grain’—but’ He had truly flipped the script.

Performing miracles, challenging the so-called Biblical experts, the Pharisees and Sadducees, by answering their most difficult questions with His own questions. This caused a huge rift amongst the people of that time, and even today, we have Jews living in Israel who still hold onto the idea of an Almighty God; yet, they do not believe, like many today, that Jesus is the Messiah. They still believe in Old Testament rituals and earning their way to the Father through works. Gentiles, on the other hand, believe in Jesus without any Jewish birthright or without being from the lineage of Christ.

The point I am making is this: whilst we argue about Israel ‘stealing’ the land in Gaza and apparently are complicit in a ‘genocide,’ have we ever asked ourselves this question: was Israel really established in 1948, or have they always been God’s chosen people? The answer to this question has finally hit me—it is not the people who physically live in Israel today, alone, but all those who believe in God the Father and have acknowledged the Son, Jesus Christ, as Saviour. We are getting fixated on people who occupy land in the Middle East, whilst God has been trying to teach us that only through a relationship with Him can we be saved. We are all missing the point!

If you ask anyone, can Israel be destroyed? … The answer is an emphatic no. The real Israel that we read about in the Word of God is not modern-day Israel, but those who believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God’s Kingdom will reign forever. It will not and cannot be stopped.