According to the Bible, do the Palestinians need a political solution or a savior? – A response to Pastor Munther Isaac
Since the war in Gaza began, we have begun to hear a lot of Palestinian Christian leaders calling to stop this war, condemning and demonizing Israel, and holding it responsible for everything that happens in Gaza.
How I also wish this war and the killing would stop, but these people have forgotten what Hamas did and is doing, and they do not talk about anything Hamas did on October 7th, that black day! They never talk about the violence of Hamas and the Islamists. On the contrary, they tried to justify the killing and kidnapping of the October 7th massacre!
If you ask Palestinian Christians today, away from the media, where they would prefer to live, under the rule of Israel or a Palestinian Islamic state, I do not think that anyone would like to live under the rule of an Islamic state. I think that most would prefer to live under Israeli laws that grant freedom, especially freedom of religion. I love both Palestinians and Israelis. No one is perfect, but I want people to thrive, enjoy freedom, and have the opportunity to build beautiful homes, parks, and schools instead of tunnels.
I understand that Palestinian Christians are under pressure to support anti-Israel positions. I also understand that if these leaders condemn Hamas and October 7, they will be exposed to persecution and will be accused of treason and Zionism.
But when these leaders talk to Western Evangelical Christians and ask them for support and help, they want a political solution, they want to get rid of the occupation and say that Israel is an apartheid state. Some Christian leaders even say, “We Christians in Palestine feel betrayed by Western Christians because they do not support us in the same way they support Israel.”
In a recent interview, one Palestinian pastor accused Evangelical Christians of blindly supporting Israel and called them ignorant of the teachings of the Bible.
“We feel betrayed,” Palestinian Pastor @MuntherIsaac tells @mehdirhasan about the lack of support from US evangelicals for Christians in the West Bank.
— Zeteo (@zeteo_news) June 17, 2024
Watch at https://t.co/vjgux67frG pic.twitter.com/eSAzXSysX2
Pastor Munther Isaac, head of Christ at the Checkpoint, said Palestinian Christians feel "betrayed" by Evangelical Christians in the US.
These Palestinian Christian leaders warn local Christians against "Zionist Christianity" and teach them Palestinian Liberation Theology, which is reading the Bible from a Palestinian perspective and through the experience of Palestinian life. They say that Christ's salvation was not just for one's sins; rather, Christ came to liberate people from political injustice. They say Christ was seeking social justice, solidarity with the oppressed, and rebellion against evil.
The question here, is what support are they talking about? When you listen to these leaders speak, you feel that they are political people, not pastors and teachers of the Word of God!
If they are politicians, this is another matter. Politicians speak and represent the parties to which they belong, and it is natural for them to speak according to the ideas of the party to which they belong. Most of the Palestinian parties call for jihad, eliminating all Jews, expelling them, and liberating Palestine “from the river to the sea.”
But if they are followers of Jesus, preaching the word of the Lord and representing the Lord Jesus Christ, then we have a question? What support are they talking about?
Do they want Evangelical Christians to support the Palestinians in establishing an Islamic state?
In a country where the percentage of Christians is small, not more than 2%, and the Islamic state will be focused on killing Jews and expelling Jews from this land, is this what the Word of God says? Is this what we learn from the Bible? Does the Bible teach to support the idea of an Islamic party that believes in the killing every non-Muslim person who does not accept Islam?
In reality, a large percentage of Palestinians support Hamas and the 7th of October.
Christians In Palestine already do not have freedom under this non-democratic state. They will definitely not have freedom of belief or worship under Islamic rule, and what happened to the Christians of Gaza under Hamas rule will happen to every Palestinian Christian under Islamic rule. Christians from an Islamic background will be persecuted and killed under the rule of an Islamic country.
Is this really the support that Palestinians need from followers of Jesus around the world?
In John 8:32, Christ said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
What freedom is Christ talking about? Is he talking about an independent, sovereign Palestinian state based on 1967 borders? A country “from the river to the sea?” What does the Palestinian need to hear more from followers of Christ; a political solution to this conflict that has existed for more than 70 years, or to hear the Good News?
As a former Muslim, who grew up in this country, the freedom that I got when I heard the Good News and accepted Christ, I never received or heard about in light of this conflict. The conflict only taught me hatred and violence against the other!
When I accepted Christ, I got to know the God that I had not known. I came to know Jesus Christ, who liberated me from sin, hatred, violence, and persecution of others. Jesus liberated me when I recognized the image of the true God. I was liberated from a false image of God, the image of God in the Islamic perspective that teaches its followers violence. Contrary to what the Quran teaches its followers, God is love. God is the source of all love that exists, and due to the intensity of His love for us, giving His only Son, (John 3:16) so that we may have life through faith in Him.
In reality, what Palestinians need most from Evangelical Christians is salvation, not a political solution.
Christ came to this earth 2,000 years ago. He came to save humanity from sin and destruction. He came to save mankind from himself and the torment that awaits those who do not accept Jesus as the Savior and Lord of their lives.
The Palestinians need Christians around the world to bring them the message of salvation, the Good News, and Palestinian Christians need freedom of worship, especially Christians from an Islamic background. They need laws that guarantee them the freedom to worship and build churches.
In Israel, there is freedom for all followers of religions that does not exist in the West Bank or Gaza. Christians from an Islamic background in Israel live normal lives without any persecution or fear from the government or society.
In this difficult time, Christian leaders must be peacemakers. In the Gospel of Matthew 5:7, Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Every true Christian believer must be a “peacemaker”, not hostile or support ideologies that call for killing or expelling other people.
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 teaches us to be true peacemakers by asking others to be reconciled to God. This will bring peace in the world, instead of fanning the fires of strife.
In John 16:33, Jesus says in this world there is no true peace without God. Families are full of conflicts. Friendships are destroyed by envy, jealousy, and broken promises. Nations rise against nations. Factions, groups, and divisions wage war against each other. Even worse is that all humans are naturally hostile to God.
The only way we can have true peace (and thus spread it to others) is to first be reconciled to God through the Mediator, Jesus Christ. Once we have peace with God, we don't have to worry about the problems in the world because they will become less important. Jesus overcame the world, and we can do the same through Him. Once we have peace with God, we can extend that peace to others as we expand God's kingdom on earth.
As Christians, we are to be true peacemakers and not part of the problem. This is the support that Palestinians need from Evangelical Christians.
Abdel-massih (Servant of the Messiah) grew up in the West Bank in a Muslim family before finding Jesus and becoming a disciple. He has been a follower of Jesus for several years. Abdel-massih is not his real name, as revealing his identity at this time would be dangerous to himself and his family.
