God's Jealous Yearning

 

God’s Jealous Yearning

Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”?

(An injured Palestinian kid after an Israeli air strike on al-Shati camp, Gaza. Anadolu Agency)

In the heart-stopping flashes of the explosive news that comes to us from Israel and Gaza, we are forced to stop our narcissistic and parochial - or personal - grievances. I cannot write here about anything else, just now, in the face of such violence, atrocity and unspeakable cruelty being inflicted on my brothers and sisters in Gaza and in Israel. I have to throw up my hands before our ever-loving God and Father in complete astonishment, outrage, indignation - and utter ignorance. How do I pray? What on earth can I say? Beyond me is any thought of what I could do.

For over a year we have been agonising, debating, protesting, and impotently shouting at our TV and other screens, concerning the barbarity, brutality, and utter vileness of Putin’s evil campaign of invasion and genocidal murder, rape, and displacement in Ukraine. We have opened our homes and raided our bank accounts to come to the aid of our white, Christian, European brethren. And of course, we would.

At the same time, appalling, prolonged wars have been waged in Yemen, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) among other places - not least the festering wound of Libya.

Just to take the largely forgotten – or more likely, ignored – war in Yemen, though:

As the conflict in Yemen enters its seventh year, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that it has caused the deaths of nearly a quarter of a million people. Millions of Yemenis continue to face the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with more than half the population facing acute levels of food insecurity. (Human Rights Watch 2022)

Or:

A new United Nations report has projected that the death toll from Yemen’s war will reach 377,000 by the end of 2021, including those killed as a result of indirect and direct causes.

It found that 60 percent of deaths would have been the result of indirect causes, such as hunger and preventable diseases, with the remainder a result of direct causes like front-line combat and air raids.

“In the case of Yemen, we believe that the number of people who have actually died as a consequence on conflict exceeds the numbers who died in battlefield,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said. 23 Nov 2021 (Al Jazeera)

 

See also, if you are still interested, Yemen: Why is the war there getting more violent? (BBC News, 14 April 2023)

(Israelis take cover from Hamas rockets fired from Gaza - Leo Correa/AP)

But to return to the latest, seemingly unprecedented (and apparently un-anticipated) campaign launched from Gaza by Hamas (an internationally designated Terrorist organisation) with the alleged, but quite probably, active backing and support from Iran. In his initial report filed for Premier Christianity, Gavin Drake notes: So far, the conflict is confined mainly to the borders of Israel and Palestine, with some cross-border fighting in Southern Lebanon. If proof emerges that Iran has had a significant role in the planning of the attack, as has been suggested, expect the war to develop. The US are already moving a naval battle group to the eastern Mediterranean. (19 October 2023)

Drake warns: What is taking place right now is not comparable to the intifadas (uprisings) of 1987 and 2000. It is all-out war – on a scale not seen since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when as many as 20,000 people died.

Inevitably, the conflict has brought out extremists. But those joining in the antisemitic calls for Israel to be wiped out – using phrases like “from the river to the sea” to describe how they would like to see Palestine – will be disappointed. Ever since the State of Israel came into being in 1948, the country has faced decades of wars and conflicts with its neighbours. But Israel has always won.

Extremist voices calling for Gaza to be flattened are more likely to have their way. While the total destruction of Gaza is unlikely, the response from Israel will almost certainly be hard and brutal. Unlike most of the previous Gaza-Israeli conflicts, this one won’t be fought solely by airstrikes.

(Palestinian citizens inspect damage from Israeli air strike, Gaza. Ahamad Hasaballah/Getty)

What does he suggest we do, as Christians, in response? As of Monday morning, the death toll stands at more than 1,000 people. This is inevitably going to increase. As Christians, our first response must be to pray.

There are two evil positions: one is to be so pro-Israeli that you want to see Palestinians crushed, the other is to be so pro-Palestinian that you want to see Israel destroyed. Peace will only come to the Holy Land when Israelis and Palestinians – Jews, Muslims, and Christians – feel secure and live in justice.

This attack by Hamas will do nothing to bring peace, security, and justice for Palestinians. If anything, it makes the dream of Palestinian statehood so much more difficult to see fulfilled.

In Psalm 122, King David extols us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That has never been more important.

(Jerusalem - Robert Bye)

In his day, Jesus famously lamented the state of Jerusalem: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” (Matt 23:37 NLT) and in Luke 19:42, this terrible observation: “If you had known on this day, even you, the conditions for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.” (NASB)

And it has been so since the Romans destroyed the Temple and most of the city in 70AD.

I have been present at two prayer meetings (so far) in which the focus was mostly on this latest Israeli/Palestinian (Hamas) conflict. Psalm 122 was, indeed, read and talked about. There were a lot of predictable prayers based on discredited and disturbing Evangelical Fundamentalist eschatology, Second Coming hysteria, and Apocalyptic pronouncements of the usual stripe whenever Israel is the main topic of discussion. And wailing over Jerusalem, obviously.

When I got home, I cried in my anguish and despair. I surrendered myself, and all those who prayed, or gave their opinions, to the grace and mercy of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How is it we still don’t understand the conditions for peace?

( Israelis evacuate site hit by rocket from Gaza - Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

Some other Scriptures to guide our meditation and prayer:

James 4: 1-8, especially, Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”?

God is passionate about every single man, woman and child who ever was, or is, or is to come. He deeply connects with the Spirit who indwells all flesh. He is jealous, indeed, of Christ in us, the hope of glory! He is the Lamb of God, slain before the fall of the world.

Galatians 4: 25-26 … “Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above, she is our mother.”

Hebrews 12:22-24, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.”

2 Corinthians 5: 16-21 - Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore, anyone, who is in Christ, is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

      Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Romans 11: 1-36 (NLT) – especially:

I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers, and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number [ie: ALL!] of Gentiles comes to Christ.  And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say,

“The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem,

and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.

And this is my covenant with them,

that I will take away their sins.”

Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you, Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead.  Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share in God’s mercy. For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

Genesis 17:18-27: So, Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!” But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.  As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.  But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.”  When God had finished speaking, he left Abraham.

On that very day Abraham took his son, Ishmael, and every male in his household, including those born there and those he had bought. Then he circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, just as God had told him.  Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and Ishmael, his son, was thirteen. Both Abraham and his son, Ishmael, were circumcised on that same day, along with all the other men and boys of the household, whether they were born there or bought as servants. All were circumcised with him.

Please let us note that the seed of Ishmael, which we see in the people of Gaza and Palestine, and which include the murderous God-haters of Hamas, are equally loved and cared for by God, as also are the seed of Abraham, issued from Isaac. Jesus has made peace through the blood of the cross between all of creation, Jew and Arab included. That goes for Russians, Ukrainians, Yemenis, Sudanese, Libyans and on throughout the whole earth and, indeed the Universe; to you and I and your neighbour and those people of other denominations and doctrines, faiths, or none.

Jesus cried out: “It is finished!!!” Christ Jesus is King! “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof, and all who dwell therein!”

Revelation 21: 1-7 especially - Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Peace came through Christ Jesus; peace will be made known to all through Jesus, the Christ of God.

Finally, let Isaiah (9: 1-7) remind us:

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.

The people who walk in darkness

will see a great light.

For those who live in a land of deep darkness,

a light will shine.

You will enlarge the nation of Israel,

and its people will rejoice.

They will rejoice before you

as people rejoice at the harvest

and like warriors dividing the plunder.

For you will break the yoke of their slavery

and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.

You will break the oppressor’s rod,

just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.

The boots of the warrior

and the uniforms bloodstained by war

will all be burned.

They will be fuel for the fire.

For a child is born to us,

a son is given to us.

The government will rest on his shoulders.

And he will be called:

Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His government and its peace

will never end.

He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David

for all eternity.

The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies

will make this happen!

Pray wisely; pray well.

Go well, Wayfarers.