My opinion: Let's stop spiritualizing everything and get real. The Palestinian problem isn't going to go away and Israel is not the holy perfect nation many of us like to peg them as.
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I think that what makes a big difference is what specific train of thought one comes from in studying history...for that makes a difference on interpretation.
From what I understand, beofre the founding of Israel in 1948, there were Jews and Palestinians doing well together in the land before the ones for Zionism came over...in the wake of the British leaving the nation into their hands (despite previous promises to initially have a "Mandate Government" that was to be established to help to people become self-sufficient and in time gradually leave away). Many of the Zionists had divisions amongst themselves on the issue that it would be nice for the Jews to have a homeland---but that the place, Palestine, was debated because it was unethical to try and "colonize" a land with people living in it already peacefully....with the only option being violent takeover.
Many JEWS VEHEMENTLY complained about the development of the State of Israel----as in the tatics they used/how they labeled the Palestinians as "*****"/proclaimed it was justified in the name of the land being there's....with many Palestinians told to leave their homes for their "protection" from enemies....only to have them come back/find their homes destroyed...and many killed for protesting/appealing to government.
They were forced to pay to live in their own homes---with many of them having to come back for meger work since the landlords coming in were not used to the argicultural culture that happened. When they complained, it was portrayed to the public that they were the "terrorists" and the Israeli govermnent had to put them in place....and many other attrocities were done besides that. The Zionist Government/Military---including the group known as Ingrun----did many evils in the name of "defending Jews"....
It cannot be said enough that the way they went about establishing the nation was far from godly...with it hardly being a minority issue, as it concerns influence from the milatry to the government.
God has spoken vehemently on that in the scriptures.....and ironically, for others saying all of its justified since its an issue of making clear "who the land belongs to"---even though God made clear in
Leviticus 25:23 that "the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants"......with God making clear how others were to act on his property, from the way they conducted their government down to the use of fair weights/measures in the marketplaces.
With the Diaspora, as many Jews have noted, Ezekiel 36:23 makes clear that God's true purpose in regathering Israel was to demonstrate to the world that He is holy/wants a holy nation. The entire book of Isaiah rings with the same message...that God would comfort the Israelities by delivering them from their persecutors among the nation and require them to live up to a high callng. They were not to exhibit a form of outward religiosity and then behave like any other nation. Even while promising to rescue them once again, God Himself denounced their old ways saying:
Isaiah 5:7
The vineyard of the LORD Almighty
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are the garden of his delight.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
This is the central issue why many have a significant problem with the present State of Israel/others saying that all they do should be supported. For in many things, justice is not being pursued...nor is addressment of injustice acknowledged when it concerns the founding of the nation. Isaiah prophesied that God would not merely bring the Jews together again in a typical, secular state. He said in
Isaiah 11:12 that " He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth."
After the founding of the nation in 1948, there would be some in the coming years popularizing the interpretation of prophecy, writing books and claiming that since Israel was now in its rightful place, all was in readiness for the Second Coming of Christ. But, IMHO, that's an incomplete view. of prophecy....as God made amply clear in Isaiah that He was requiring a true change of heart in the Jewish people, a change in their traditional exclusiveness which caused them to believe that they alone were God's favored ones.
Isaiah 56
Salvation for Others
1 This is what the LORD says:
"Maintain justice
and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this,
the man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
3 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say,
"The LORD will surely exclude me from his people."
And let not any eunuch complain,
"I am only a dry tree."
4 For this is what the LORD says:
"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant-
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD
to serve him,
to love the name of the LORD,
and to worship him,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant-
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations."
8 The Sovereign LORD declares
he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
"I will gather still others to them
besides those already gathered."
It was already mentioned earlier how many are treated as "Second Class" citizens in Israel----from the Ethopian Jews to the Palestinians.....and there are many matters of injustice that have gone down. Some of the ways in which those injustices have been allowed simply because many things are "different today" than before is similar to what many in the U.S do when it comes to addressing the consequences of Segregation in Schools/Slavery...with people saying "But we're all equal now" despite how many economic conditions like the ghetto/slums, schools lacking significant/updated resources for students, or confiscated/"stolen" land from black landowners during the Reconstruction period.. were created by those old policies.....and still ignored today when others are demanding justice on the issue.
If one's playing Football unfairly for the first half of the game, scoring 20 points to Zero, and then say "Now, we're going to play fair" for the latter half, its illogical to say "Why are you mad? We're playing fair!!!!"/get upset with the losing team when they're complaining that they've been set behind....but in many ways, thats what the U.S has done to blacks when it comes to many issues. The same has occurred in Israeli politics when it comes to who's in the majority today /many of the justifications on mistreatments toward Non-Jewish in the land.....with many of the Jews/Palestinians complaining of how they got along before 1948 and saying its not right to have annexation of land from other Arab believers taken and then saying "Move on.."
The New Israel---as God always intended it---was to be a banner of justice for ALL NATIONS of the world...and God's Israel included "foreigners", those who were not of the fleshly tribes of Israel...and who'd be treated with dignity, as well as treating others with dignity.
As Elias Chacour, author of "Blood Brothers", said best on the matter:
You who live in the United States, if you are pro-Israel, on behalf of the Palestinian children I call unto you: give further friendship to Israel. They need your friendship. But stop interpreting that friendship as an automatic antipathy against me, the Palestinian who is paying the bill for what others have done against my beloved Jewish brothers and sisters in the Holocaust and Auschwitz and elsewhere.
And if you have been enlightened enough to take the side of the Palestinians -- oh, bless your hearts -- take our sides, because for once you will be on the right side, right? But if taking our side would mean to become one-sided against my Jewish brothers and sisters, back up. We do not need such friendship. We need one more common friend. We do not need one more enemy, for God's sake.
Just in case I'm misread, I wanted to be clear that in what I'm saying, I'm not of the mindset that one should simply ABANDON Israel. Regardless of whatever wrongs may've gone down in its founding, it is what it is. We're at where we are now--and thus, the people within need to build from there...with us praying dilligently. Also, in one of the comments I shared from other Messianic Jewish conversation, it was noted that the Jews returning in "disbelief" was not Biblical. On that, I wanted to say that I didn't agree with that specific aspect......for I do believe that its biblical to say the Jews will return in disbelief.
No one denies that there must be an Israel. What is of note, however, is how that will come about.
Being in unbelief does not equate automatically to being in a state of violence/war----just as others in a state of disbelief (such as agnostics or atheists..or those not truly living for God) in God does not mean that they are in the mindset of the same degree of disbelief as one who is a rapist or a muderer.
It is possible that the land having others come back to it in disbelief has not been seen yet and was never intended to have others come back to it in the way/manner in which the nation has been established. On the issue, one view that comes to mind is what the scriptures also discuss---in line with the reality of multiple gatherings--that there are many for the view of 2 worldwide gatherings that believe the present state of Israel is in no way a fulfillment of those prophecies that speak of a worldwide regathering in faith in preparation for blessing...but rather a fulfillment of those prophecies that speak of a worldwide regathering in unbelief in preparation for judgement. Ariel Ministries discussed it best, IMHO, as seen in their article entitled
THE MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL IN BIBLE PROPHECY.....concerning the passages of scripture that deal with the issue.
This is something that is often forgotten when it comes to what the Word says on establishing Israel---for as mentioned before, God in prophetic texts also made clear He would have the Jews come back in RIGHTEOUSNESS. Isaiah is often forgotten on the issue...as it relates to the call of "Practice Justice and Righteousness in the Land and then you will have peace..".
When God says THOSE truly represnting his holiness are those that treat foreigners in the land with JUSTICE/Graciousness (Deuteronomy 24:17)--to treat others without partiality (Deut 16:19) and many other passages on the issue of widows/orphans and dealing properly with the oppressed in the Torah---there's no reason to act as if its uncertain as to who represents Him. God went out of his way in the Torah to give instructions on how to identify who was and wasn't for Hi------and to let the nation know what actions would be going on that grieved Him, as well as what would happen if it continued. With that said, as many Jews (Especially Orthodox Ones) have said for decades, one cannot look at much of the actions of the State of Israel and say that they are in line with God's standards/not subject to judgement.
God cannot dwell with sin, Psalm 5...and His glory left Israel for that very reason, with Him saying to stop expecting His return to it without it first being corrected severely/having true repentance before He could live among them.
On the issue, people often forget about Isaiah 57:19---quoted in Ephesians 2:17-18 when it comes to the issue of Jew/Gentiles. As other Messianic Jewish scholars have made clear---notably, Dr.Michael Brown (whom I lean toward), Isaiah 57:19 could be understood as referring to the scattered seed of Israel as those "who were far way."..but not long before this passage God had promised that HIS HOUSE would be for foreigners too----as seen in Isaiah 56:3-8.....and this text thus fittingly expresses Paul's point concerning the UNITY of Jew and Gentile in the new temple (see also Acts 2:39). And on the issue, its intriguing to see that Paul brought up the reference since Paul wrote the letter from Prison after being falsely charged with taking a non-Jew inside the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 21:28). Taking a non-Jew beyond a paticular dividing point in the temple was such an important breach of Jewish law that the Romans even permitted the Jewish leaders to execute violaters of this law. Paul's readers in Ephesus and Asia undoubtedly know why Paul's in prison (Acts 21:27-29), thus for them, as well as for Paul, there can be no greater symbol of the barrier between Jew and Non-Jew than "the Dividing Wall" of verse 14 in Ephesians.