The Root of Arab and Israeli Conflicts
Genesis
16:1-2
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."
God made a promise to Abram that he would give a child to him and Sarai. The sins of impatience and unbelief caused two nations to be born in conflict. The purpose of God was to create a people for Himself by His own power.
Sarai's womb was dead and Abram was old, yet Sarai became pregnant. God calls those things into existence that are not as though they are. This is a picture of His word calling into existence a people for Himself. The gospel is not along racial, ethnic, or national lines. God's plan is to have a spiritual people for His own. These people will come into existence by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, by the agency of God's word. God wanted a people to whom He could reveal Himself, a people through whom He would communicate His heart and His will. God called the Jews to this task. He wanted a spiritually pure people free from the paganism that ruled the world. He wanted a people preserved from demonic power and idolatry to insure the Messiah could enter the human race, saving all men. The Messiah would bring together all people in a spiritual nation. We refer to this nation today as the church.
Genesis 16:10-12
The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count." The angel of the Lord also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."
History
God promised to bless Ishmael, the son of Abram and Hagar. He was going to make him into a great nation. God did not want the sin of jealousy to rule the lives of these two nations. Ishmael (the Arab nation) would not be inferior to Isaac (the Jewish nation, Israel) in terms of its provision and power. Yet the prophetic words of the angel tell Ishmael's future. He will live in hostility because He is unruly. Abraham circumcised Ishmael bringing Him into covenant with the living God leaving Ishmael behind in nothing.
Genesis 17:26-27
Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
We too must not allow our unruly flesh to break away from our blessings and covenant with God. Israel will later refuse to recognize the Messiah and fail to enter the church age — the age in which the dividing wall between men and God was torn down.
The church age is a tearing down of walls between nations to enter into a covenant with the living God. This covenant is through the seed of Abraham and is the Lord Jesus Christ. God wanted all people to become one people born supernaturally by God's word and Spirit. Christianity is not exclusive but inclusive.
Special Provision
God's promise to have a people for Himself to bring the Messiah into the world was going to be through the Jews. He did not favor Jews over Arabs or other nations. God simply said, "I choose you."
Scripture goes into detail how Israel was not better than any other nation. In fact, God declares he saw their sinful and stubborn hearts. We all have sinful and stubborn hearts yet God calls us and we must answer "yes" to God.
God simply chose a single people to protect a spiritual lineage that would bring the Messiah into the world. Through Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This blessing is the Messiah. The savior of the world would come to all nations through a covenant made with Abraham. God wanted a people not preserved along racial or ethnic lines but along spiritual lines. He wanted a people that would communicate His will to the world. God wanted a people to represent Him to the world. He blessed them and used Israel to reveal the one true God and the salvation that would come through His Son.
Gen 17:19-22
Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
It does not matter what our nation of origin is, we must all enter the will of God to be His people by a faith covenant. We must have faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior. We must have faith in His death on the cross as payment for our sins. We must have faith in His resurrection so that we can be raised from spiritual death to life.
The war in the Middle East is like the squabble of two mothers over their children and their rights. It is about jealousy and being unruly without God's Spirit to control us. The conflict will end when the children of the covenant rise above such sinful behavior to act like their God. Until then, Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars, but continue looking towards Him for He will return for His own.
These are precarious times. We have presented in this article our thoughts from what we believe to be God's perspective. We welcome your thoughts on these matters.
