The Middle East Conflict Discussion

The topic of the current conflict in the Middle East was brought up by Brenna, one of my Onething Intern buddies. She had an assignment for one of her college classes to write an opinion paper on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the nearby Arab peoples.

In case you don't pay attention to the news, there has been renewed talk of peace between Israel and Palestine, by means of Israel giving Palestine more land, and even possibly by splitting Jerusalem in half. In my eyes, this isn't really news, as it's been the same story since Israel was established in 1947. They even gave back control of some of the land to Palestinians in 1994 in hopes of making peace, but shortly afterwards the Palestinian attacks escalated yet again.

The questions the professor asked Brenna to consider for her assignment were:

1. Why hasn't the situation changed for so long?
2. Why is it so important to bring a resolution to this conflict?
3. How can peace be achieved?

He also asked her to consider these real world issues:

4. Territory: Palestinians want Israel to relinquish all of the West Bank and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but is reluctant to return the rest of the disputed land.

Q. Should Israel return the land? Why or why not?

5. Jewish settlements: Palestinians believe that all Jewish settlements in the West Bank or Gaza Strip are illegal because they violate UN resolutions and international law. Israel is reluctant to withdraw.

Q. Are Jewish settlements in violation of UN resolutions and international law?

6. U.S. Support: Palestinians argue that the United States has unilaterally supported Israel in this conflict, creating a power imbalance in the conflict. Some believe U.S. support to Israel has promoted hatred among the Arab countries.

Q. Has the U.S. supported Israel? Why?

7. Security issues: Palestinians officially favor peace and disarmament. While the images of kids throwing stones at Israeli tanks are common, Palestinians also have access to arms, and extremists carry out attacks. Meanwhile, Israelis have an impressive armed force that is regularly used aggressively against Palestinians.

Q. How does the military prowess of both countries compare?

8. Jerusalem: In 1947, when the UN voted for the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, it designated Jerusalem as an international city. In1949, Israel declared Jerusalem as its capital city. Palestinians say that Israel must return all of East Jerusalem and the Islamic and Christian holy sites in the Old City. Israelis believe that a united Jerusalem must remain under Israeli control.

Q. What could be done to make Jerusalem an international city?

9. Palestinian refugees: Palestinians say that Israel must accept responsibility for Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled as a result of the creation of Israel. Refugee camps often become semi-permanent and develop their own communities and informal economies, however, the social costs are high.

Q. What are some of the problems encountered by Palestinians in refugee camps? What has been done to alleviate these problems?

10. Water: Palestinians say that Israel must relinquish all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including the Jordan Valley. Israel believes that it must have access to the Jordan Valley. The construction of the wall has also created concerns on the access to water reservoirs.

Q. Are water resources presently allocated based on population size and agricultural use? How water is allocated? How it should be allocated?

These questions actually sparked something new in me, and has forced me to take another look at my biblical ideology regarding Israel in the context of real current events. This is a very difficult thing, and something that is often side-stepped or misunderstood.

It is a subject that it seems nobody has answers to, so I figured the best place to go for answers was to ask God to reveal it to me through the Holy Spirit and through His Word. What I ended up with was something that seemed to make sense, although it is hard to accept, and even hard to believe in and hope for. Yet I there is no other answer. Like most difficult questions, it seems the only right answer is the super simple answer you here so often from the high pitched voices of children in Sunday School.

"Jesus?"

Oh, it seems so foolish, it's almost painful... but it's the only way!

Next time: International Justice and Spiritual Mercy

STAY TUNED>

10PM Meditations #1

Thursday night at my small group we are going to be discussing post-modernism, and how it is shaping our culture, and how it may be a part of God's plan for Jesus' second coming.

After doing some research and thinking on the subject, I thought it might be wise to seek some biblical wisdom. A good place to look for that, is of course, the Bible. More specifically, Proverbs.

"Wisdom calls aloud in the open air
and raises her voice in the public places;
she calls out at streetcorners and speaks out at entrances to city gates:
'How long, you whose lives have no purpose, will you love thoughtless living?
How long will scorners find pleasure in mocking?
How long will fools hate knowledge?'"
Psalms 1:20-22 (CJB)

It hurts me, it wounds me deeply, when I talk to random people, or when I read peoples comments on various online "social commentary" sites, like digg, or public forums. It wounds me because they are mostly mocking and scorning everything and anything, while jumping upon the latest idea without hesitation and then mocking it and scorning it when it turns out to be false.

This is a side-track, and doesn't directly address post-modernism, but rather addresses our culture in a general way from my individual and uninformed perspective. So rather than focus on "them," I will choose to instead focus on my own lack of wisdom and truth. Luckily, the bible has the answer.

"Repent when I reprove --
I will pour out my spirit to you,
I will make my words known to you."
Psalms 1:23 (CJB)

Father! I'm sorry for my own lack of wisdom, and my lack of pursuing knowledge of you! Please! Give to me your spirit, for wisdom and understanding! Make your words known to me!

I Cry Tonight

David Gagne
I Cry Tonight
Thursday, August 9, 2007
A Poem Inspired by the Lorica


I cry tonight
for a mighty strength, the power of the trinity,
the fullness of three,
the unity of one,
of Him who makes all things new.

I cry tonight
for the strength of Christ in the clouds to those who pierced Him,
for the strength of Christ riding on a white horse to battle,
for the strength of Christ standing on the Mount of Olives,
for the strength of Christ to slay with the breath of his mouth.

I cry tonight
For the beauty of the vision of Cherubim,
in the company of angels,
in chorus with the archangels,
in faith of resurrection and the promise of reward,
in encounters of patriarchs,
in visions of the prophets,
in revelations of the apostles,
in knowledge of confessors,
in purity of holy virgins,
in works of righteous men.

I cry tonight
For the strength of heaven:
Light of the Son,
Radiance of the Kingdom,
Splendor of His Spirit,
Speed of His Return,
Swiftness of the Gospel,
Depth of His Love,
Stability of The Word,
Firmness of The Rock

I cry tonight
For God’s strength to fill me:
God’s might to dwell in me,
God’s wisdom to enlighten me,
God’s eye to gaze upon me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to humble me,
God’s hand to exalt me,
God’s way to move me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to visit me,
To aid me in battling devils,
To encourage me to perfection,
To supply love for my enemies,
Those now and those to come,
Those weak and those strong.

I summon tonight all these powers joined with me in the fight for mankind,
For the soul of every cruel man abusing a woman,
For the soul of every woman contemplating abortion,
For the soul of every child rebelling against authority,
For the soul of every Hebrew who does not know the God of their fathers,
For the soul of every Gentile who does not know that God has chosen them too,
For the soul of every President, and every King,
For the soul of every beggar, every street person, and every one without a home.

For the Spirit to empower me tonight,
to heal the sick, raise the dead,
to cleanse the lepers, to cast out demons,
and to do greater works than these,
to proclaim good news to the poor,
to proclaim freedom to the captives,
to recover the sight to the blind,
to free those who are oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
to prophesy of his return,
to dream of his throne room,
to envision his earthly reign,
and to sing praise with my spirit.

I cry tonight
for a mighty strength, the power of the trinity,
the fullness of three,
the unity of one,
of Him who makes all things new.

Parashah 48 Excerpt: Judges

Every Shabbat (Saturday) I read a portion out of my Complete Jewish Bible. I look forward to this, and it's an excuse for me to get into the Word in depth.

This week, I just got started, and a very simple section struck me in a profound way. It was so good, I decided to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

*********************
Parashah (portion) 48: Shof'tim (Judges)
D'varim (Deuteronomy) 16:18-21:9
[excerpt, 16:18-20]

Adonai orders them to appoint judges and officers for all the gates in the cities. He establishes a couple of rules for them:

1. No Favoritism
2. No Bribes

Sounds simple, but it’s so crucial, and is still a problem in the justice system today. Verse 20 is powerful, and a worthy verse to live by for anyone who is in authority:

“Justice, only justice, you must pursue; so that you will live and inherit the land Adonai your God is giving you.” (CJB)

This was a command and a promise. When you think about it, it almost has to be taken prophetically, because the judges are already in the land, and have already inherited it. he is talking of another Land, the eternal Promised Land of which Israel was a precursor to. It might be the same land geographically, but it was a futuristic promise, of a resurrection inheritance.
Israel will inherit the Land, but only those of Israel that pursue justice.

Those judges who pursue justice, in other words, the Righteous Judge, Yeshua (Jesus), will inherit the land and will judge the world, and angels and demons (1 Corinthians 6:1-3).

This is weighty.

God, help me to judge righteously, to seek your authority, to always appeal to the highest court, the court of heaven, in all my judgments. Help me to not show favoritism, or take bribes, or to be selfish in my judgment, but to serve your people with justice from heaven.

Amen.

Nightly thoughts: Humility

Here's my thoughts from today and from the prayer room tonight.

Psalm 131:
1 Adonai, my heart isn’t proud;
I don’t set my sight too high,
I don’t take part in great affairs
Or in wonders far beyond me.
2 No, I keep myself calm and quiet,
Like a little child on its mother’s lap -
I keep myself like a little child.
3 Isra’el, put your hope in Adonai
From now on and forever!
(CJB)

This short chapter is a direct challenge to my thoughts today. The road of humility is so long! How quickly my heart gets lifted up with pride, how often my eyes are raised, my sight gets set too high. I love to get involved in the important things, things that are beyond me.

I struggle to calm myself, I struggle to be quiet. A little child on its mother’s lap -- so peaceful, so unconcerned with anything! How great it is to be only 5 years old! Or even better, to be a toddler, content to be in its mothers arms.

I know it’s ungodly to run away from responsibility, (uh, Jonah?), but I think it can be just as bad to run towards it when God is inviting us to rest in his strength, in his power.

The reason it’s bad to set your own sight high is that we normally set our sights high and then place ourselves in that high place, instead of setting our eyes to the highest, the Holy God of heaven, and then recognizing our lowly position. We must recognize our need. And the great part is that as we humble ourselves, God himself will exalt us!

This is a theme throughout the entire Bible, but I especially like how it is put in Proverbs 25:6,7:

6 Don’t put yourself forward in the king’s presence;
Don’t take a place among the great.
7 For it is better to be told, “Come up here,”
Than be degraded in the presence of a nobleman.
(CJB)

The reason I love these verses is that it reminds me of Revelation 4:1, where Jesus himself says to John, “Come up here!” and takes John up to the heavenly throne room. I like to think that humility is the key to encountering God, and exalting God is the key to humility! Put your hope in God, we cannot save ourselves!

So Praise Him!