Israel-Hamas War: a pastor’s reflection

A few months back, I was preparing a sermon about the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. As I studied the text, I was surprised at how the truths about God and his ways with Israel and its enemies may be relevant to what is happening in the ongoing Israel-Gaza War. Let me explain.

The prophet’s lament

Habakkuk was a prophet who lived in a dark period of Israel’s history. He ministered during the reigns of the last three kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. The nation was rotten to the core: violence, destruction, injustice, idolatry, strife and wickedness. The prophet was deeply affected and lamented to God in prayer. It seemed God was deaf to his pleas for God to intervene and reform society. Here is his honest complaint to God (Habakkuk 1:1-4 NLT):

How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
    But you do not listen!
“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
    but you do not come to save.
Must I forever see these evil deeds?
    Why must I watch all this misery?
Wherever I look,
    I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
    who love to argue and fight.
The law has become paralyzed,
    and there is no justice in the courts.
The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
    so that justice has become perverted.

I like the honest lament of the prophet. Perhaps we need to lament over the tragic wars in Myanmar, Ukraine, Israel-Gaza in our prayers.

I also like that Habakkuk actually bothered to patiently wait for God’s answer. I admit I speak more and listen less in prayer, in most of the decades that I have been a Christian. I am learning more and more to listen, to watch, to discern God’s notifications. I am learning to unmute my spiritual notifications button.

God’s inconceivable reply

God’s reply got Habakkuk puzzled and upset! God said to him: “I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people. They will march across the land and conquer other lands. They are notorious for their cruelty and will do whatever they like” (Habakkuk 1:6,7).

Habakkuk must have thought, “Did I hear God correctly?” Is God going to discipline his chosen people, with whom he made a covenant of love, through a more violent, cruel, and unrighteous nation?

O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—
    surely you do not plan to wipe us out?
O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,
    to punish us for our many sins.
 But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.
    Will you wink at their treachery?
Should you be silent while the wicked
 swallow up people more righteous than they? (Habakkuk 1:12,13)

God’s ways are usually different and higher than our ways. What is unthinkable, unfathomable to the prophet is a real possibility with God! How can a holy God use an unrighteous people to punish a more righteous people? How can God allow this to happen to his chosen nation, his covenanted people?

9/11 a judgment of God

I was at home when 9/11 happened. I remember it vividly. After a tennis game, in the master bedroom, cooling down before I bathed, on the TV, before my eyes, I saw a plane ploughed into one of the World Trade Centre towers. What movie was this? I then noticed that a news reader was relaying news of the Al Qaeda attack on the New York buildings. I was shocked.

In the aftermath of this terrorist attack,  a few preachers proclaimed that this was God’s judgment on America for its idolatry and sins. There were major reactions and objections to the message of judgment: how can a righteous God use a violent, cruel, terrorist instrument to punish a nation that believed in God. Same reaction as Habakkuk’s. In the light of what we have read in Habakkuk, why isn’t it possible that those preachers may be speaking God’s word?

What about October 2023?

What about October 2023? Was God using Iran and its proxy, Hamas, as an instrument to discipline a nation he has chosen and loves? Is not this unthinkable thought a possibility? Hasn’t modern Israel broken its covenant with God too? Israel is very much a secular nation that has left its holy roots to pursue its idols. Even if half the population claims to be Orthodox, they practice a form of religion that doesn’t please God.

God clarifies Habakkuk’s ethical dilemma

It did not take long for God to shine his light on Habakkuk’s ethical dilemma. God’s reply to Habakkuk was that the Babylonians would also be punished for their violence and cruelty – in due time. God’s judgment will come upon the Babylonians for their aggression, greed, pride, sadistic humiliation of people, and idolatry. God assured Habakkuk that this would definitely happen even if the vision awaited fulfillment for a long period (70 years later the Medo-Persians would topple the Babylonians).

In the meantime, the righteous will have to keep faith in God, and if they do so, they will live: “the righteous will live by faith”. The answers of God to Habakkuk’s complaint and protest brought him out of his doubts and distress to a place of peace and contentment. He was now convinced that God was Sovereign over all nations, small or superpower. His ways were higher than his ways or thoughts. He is worthy of complete trust and he would rest in him.

Even while the wars around us continue to increase in intensity and tragedy, and it angers and frustrates us, we will do well to remember the book of Habakkuk, and learn to lament and finally to trust in God to act in sovereignty, holiness, and justice. Take comfort in this apt song by Lauren Daigle: “Look Up Child”

Where are You now
When darkness seems to win?
Where are You now
When the world is crumbling?

Oh I, I hear You say
I hear You say

Look up child, Look up child,

Where are You now

When all I feel is doubt?
Oh, where are You now
When I can’t figure it out?

Oh I hear You say
I hear You say

Look up child,
Look up child,
Look up

You’re not threatened by the war
You’re not shaken by the storm
I know You’re in control
Even in our suffering
Even when it can’t be seen
I know You’re in control

A Prayer of Hope

My heart cries out to you Papa for the conflicts in the U.S., the war in Ukraine and Myanmar and Gaza. Come Oh God, and save your people and cause wars to cease when your Son returns in glory and power to judge the world and establish the new heaven and the new earth. Fill your people with hope Father. Whenever we read or watch the news, our hearts are broken at the fake news, this fallen world, all the confusion and conflicts. There is no peace, but we do not want the external stormy world of hopelessness to control the temperature of our faith and the stability of our deep peace. So Father, send your Spirit afresh, the dove of heaven to fill our hearts with peace and the purity of worship. Let no one say that you have abandoned the church or this rebellious world. Let no one say you are unrighteous and untrue. Let the world know that you are sovereign and there’s no other God in all the universe. Amen.

(a tongues & interpretation prayer excerpt from my journal entry on 18 May 2024, a day before Pentecost)

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Israelis and Palestinians Are Brothers

It is inhuman what these two nations are doing to each other. The massacre of infants, young and old civilians, without discrimination, in a cycle of revenge and hatred that gets fiercer and fiercer with each passing day. The tit for tat harks back to the 1900’s and the insistence of rights of both nations have been broadcasted endlessly in the mainstream media, and in more recent days, in social media. The war front has always been multifaceted and includes influencing the minds of millions of viewers in social media. 

I lament this tragic feud between the descendants of the same family. The Palestinians (and Arabs) are descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham via Hagar his slave. The Jews are the descendants of Isaac, the son of Abraham via Sarah his wife. They are brothers.

There is some scientific evidence that points to the truth of the biblical story. It is not new. An interesting research in 2000 surfaced some stunning findings from DNA studies. “More than 70% of Jewish men and half of the Arab men whose DNA was studied inherited their Y chromosomes from the same paternal ancestors who lived in the region within the last few thousand years.” Ann Gibbons who authored this article in Science.org continued to report that: “The results match historical accounts that some Moslem Arabs are descended from Christians and Jews who lived in the southern Levant, a region that includes Israel and the Sinai. They were descendants of a core population that lived in the area since prehistoric times. And in a recent study of 1371 men from around the world, geneticist Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona in Tucson found that the Y chromosome in Middle Eastern Arabs was almost indistinguishable from that of Jews.” Read her full article HERE.

This certainly matches the Genesis story account which shows that the two sons of Abraham were in estranged relationships as brothers, and that both their mothers could not get along. There was envy, insecurity, anger, rejection, hurt, fear, enmity and hatred as both families tried to co-exist and find a safe space in the household of Abraham (Genesis 16,17,25). These feelings of mutual enmity and contempt have resurfaced in the lives of the millions of descendants of both sons of Abraham. More so over the Yom Kippur attacks by the Hamas into Israel last weekend, on the evening of Sunday, 24th September to the evening of Monday 25thSeptember 2023. The massacres were during the most holy day of the Jewish religious calendar, the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16).

The two peoples have been slaughtering each other with bombs, bullets and broadcasts. I lament this tragic outcome of the descendants of brothers who were meant to live together in covenant loyalty and loving relationships. I do not think it will ever stop. I am pessimistic of any future rapproachment between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The only hope I harbour of these two finding real rapproachment, love and reconciliation is in Christ. There has to be internal peace before external peace can be achieved. I am sure in a Christian fellowship of Palestinians and Israelis, there can be forgiveness, reconciliation and true peace and love, despite any lingering disagreements of right and wrong. The love of Christ alone can cover all sins and enmity.

Therefore, while I lament now, I also long and yearn with hope for the day when Isaiah’s prophecy will be fulfilled: “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa 11:6-9)

Thus the weight of my prayers for both these people lean more towards the salvation of souls, that the remnant will come to the Lord in repentance and love. For then and only then, can the descendants of these Ishmael and Isaac find forgiveness and reconciliation in the bosom of their Father in heaven.

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Pray for Peace & Salvation in Israel & Palestine

“Oh dear! This is tragic. This is serious. It is going to be disastrous for all peace-loving people on both sides of the conflict. There will be an invasion. There will be great loss of lives on both sides. This conflict is going to be headline news for a few weeks. It is going to take attention away from Russia-Ukraine war. This conflict will not be settled at the negotiation table.” This was what I was thinking, feeling when I heard over the weekend about Hamas attacks in Israel and the declaration of war by the Prime Minister of Israel, and the calling of the reserves into action.

Interestingly, just this Sunday the pastor preached from Isaiah chapter 7 about a Syrian-Israel (northern kingdom) alliance that threatened to invade Judah (southern kingdom). King Ahaz of Judah and the nation heard the news and trembled like leaves shaken by a strong wind. God in his mercy sent Isaiah to encourage king Ahaz to trust in the covenant God of the house of David. Ahaz preferred to trust in his strategy instead of putting his trust in God. He sought the help of Assyria. Assyria then decimated Syria, and then Israel (northern kingdom) and finally turned on Judah (southern kingdom). The prophets saw this as God’s judgment on his chosen people because of their idolatry. Instead of worshipping God and God alone, they worshipped idols. This idolatry led to all kinds of injustice, oppression of the weak, unrighteousness and the breaking of God’s laws. It led to the judgment of God on his chosen people.

Modern Israel is no different from the people of God in the times of king Ahaz. They too are an idolatrous people that love things more than God. Hedonism, materialism, relativism, secularism. humanism, rationalism and all other kinds of worldviews reigns. The people have rejected God from the pre-eminent place in their society. These are modern day idols, the golden calf among the chosen people. There is no denying it. Pew Research Center in 2016 stated that 7.3% are Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox); 18.8% are Dati (religious); 24.3% are Masorti (traditional); and 33.1% are Hiloni (secular). Only 1.9% are Christians. A Gallup survey in 2015 determined that 65% of Israelis say they are either “not religious” or “convinced atheists”, while 30% say they are “religious” (Wikipedia “Religion in Israel”). These statistics may give us clues about how God may want to deal with the nation of Israel, and how we can pray and intercede.

  • Let “supplications, prayers, intercessions” be made for all peoples, both Israelis and Palestinians, and for those in authority and high positions, so that permanent peace may be established in the Middle East and innocent people can live a peaceful and safe and dignified life, and that people will come to a knowledge of the truth.
  • Pray for good sense, peace and reconciliation to prevail, and all invaders to be removed, the kidnapped rescued, and innocent civilians be safe and protected. 
  • Pray and feel for all who have suffered and are now grieving, in fear, anxiety, and danger.
  • Pray that all foreign powers that are involved be frustrated in their self-interests and purposes, but those that are true peacemakers to succeed in their aims.
  • Pray for the Christian churches and believers to be available to help the innocent civilian victims of war and aid them. Pray for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit upon the Christians in both nations to empower them to help the needy and preach Jesus Christ. Pray for a good harvest of souls into God’s kingdom.
  • Pray the people of Israel will have an awakening to their need of Jesus, the Prince of Peace who alone can give them the interior peace that matters most.
  • The best way is to intercede in tongues so that we pray according to God’s will. That is if you have the gift of tongues.
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