A Forgotten Promise
“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 12:1-3)
During more than forty five years in public ministry, I have counseled people by beginning with a preface statement. “I am not on one side or another in a given dispute. I am on the side of righteousness.” In every controversial situation there is a right position, and there is a wrong position. If righteousness is pursued, all shall end well. In a moral universe, righteousness is established by God. There is no ethical situation that God has not spoken about, in principle, through His Word.
In the Arab-Israel conflict, the Word of God has much to say. The Land of Canaan belongs to the Jews. They have occupied the land for more than 4,000 years. That is a settled conclusion. In AD 70, the Jews were displaced with the Fall of Jerusalem. The Diaspora continued until the Jews were allowed to return home, following the slaughter of more than six million Jews in the Holocaust of World War II. The modern state of Israel was re-established in 1948.
Prior to, and after 1948, America has been an ardent defender of the nation of Israel, until the Obama Administration first politically sliced Israel, and then stabbed the nation in the back following the 2016 Presidential election. When Israel needed America the most during a United Nations Resolution vote, the Obama Administration abstained from voting thereby giving legal force to an immoral resolution. The Resolution assaulted the one democracy in the Middle East, Israel, and called the Western Wall “occupied territory.” The Jewish neighbor in western Jerusalem is not an occupied territory. It is the home of the Jews, and has been for thousands of years.
So the question arises as to why the Obama Administration stabbed Israel in the back on this matter? Friends do not take friends to the Security Council of the United Nations and allow an outrageous and immoral vote to be taken without protest. Why did Obama do this?
One leading theory is that Obama wanted to make the situation in the Middle East more difficult to manage for his successor, President-elect Donald J. Trump.
Another theory is that Obama is vindictive. He does not personally like Israel’s Prime Minister, Netanyahu and wanted to embarrass, and hurt him politically.
A third theory is that Obama is existentially a Muslim, and so will do anything and everything to advance the Muslim faith. A central tenant of that faith is to annihilate Israel. Obama had found a way to give billions of dollars to the most radical Islamic regime in the Middle East. He has found a way to assure Iran’s development of nuclear weapons with the full confidence they will use them to bring forth the Twelfth Imam. An Imam is an anointed leader, or ruler. Within the Shite community, which is predominate in Iran, it is prophesied that there is coming a Twelfth Imam, who, as a great spiritual savior, will eradicate all tyranny and oppression and bring harmony and peace to the world.
It is possible that each of these ideas influenced the Administration’s vote. There is one other component to consider, and it is a spiritual one.
The Bible reveals that we do not just fight against flesh and blood, “but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:2)
The United Nations is doing nothing to stop the genocide of Christians in the Middle East. It is doing nothing to address Russia’s invasion of the Crimean. It says nothing about the Syrian crisis, or the hunger in Aleppo. It is meaningless in its war against ISIS, and yet, the United Nations has time to focus its attention on a small piece of real estate in Israel. Why? The Biblical answer is this. God has promised to bless Israel, and all the nations of the earth through Israel in the person and work of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. If Satan can destroy Israel, he will prove the promises of God to be broken, and God Himself to be a liar. Then, in his twisted mind, he, Satan, can be like the Most High.
Obama’s vote against Israel is a vote of disbelief in the Word of God. Nevertheless, let God be true and every man a liar. And the Devil too.
Why did the United States stab Israel in the back? Because it is possible to do the work of the Devil, and not even realize it. Satan can use the natural impulses of humans to do his will. Satan used the natural pride of David to tempt him to number the people of Israel. (1 Chron. 21:1) Satan used the natural dislike Obama has for Netanyahu, his sympathy for the Islamic community, and his delusional idealistic world view, to move him to stab Israel in the back.
By the mercy and the grace of God, after January 20, 2017 things will be different at the UN, and in America. America will be blessed again, and the promise of God to Abraham will be fulfilled afresh.
