In Part 1, we looked at both the biblical and legal backgrounds of Israel’s inheritance of her homeland. We also looked at some of the pressures Israel faced to give up portions of her land during the Bush and Obama administrations.
In 2013, Obama gave Iran $150 billion of which $1.7 billion was in cash. And $400 million of that cash was flown to Tehran in the form of untraceable, foreign currency in an unmarked airplane. Who does things like that, besides gangsters in the Mafia or drug dealers?
Biden just released $6 billion in frozen assets to Iran, helping them to fund Hamas’ efforts to wreak havoc on our closest ally in the Middle East. Secretary of State Blinken claims that the money has not left the account yet, so therefore, it wasn’t used to fund Hamas. Just other money, which was freed up, dollar-for-dollar, by the promise of our money. Are these people genuinely stupid, or do they think we are that stupid?
What’s more, they keep saying Iran must use the money for “humanitarian aid.” Right. And don’t forget to put your tooth under your pillow. Iranian President Raisi said the money will be spent “wherever we need it.”
Several reports suggest that some of the $90 billion in weapons Biden left the Taliban in Afghanistan have gotten into the hands of Hamas and are being used against Israel.
Culpability of the Church
Anti-Semitic sentiment has infiltrated many American churches, both Mainline Protestant and Catholic, with leakage starting to seep into Evangelical churches too … allegedly as part of promoting “social justice,” “anti-racism,” and (lately) “decolonization.” That last one is just a fancy word for ethnic cleansing, aimed at Westerners, Jews included.
The corruption of churches reminds us that this is primarily a spiritual problem and will require primarily a spiritual solution. Below is some of the backstory and reveals just how deep-seated the evil of Jew-hatred is.
Tribes and Gods at War
In 1 Samuel 15:3, we read that God — through the prophet Samuel — told Saul to “completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation.” Wow. On the surface, that doesn’t sound like a loving God! But let’s take a closer look.
Saul was disobedient to the prophet’s instructions and spared King Agag. Jewish history has it that Agag was the last man standing of the Amalekites and fathered a child before being killed by Samuel. The movie, One Night With the King, based on Tommy Tenney’s book, Hadassah, portrayed this view. Others hold to the conjecture that some of them escaped from Saul. Either way, the Amalekites later re-appear in scripture in 1 Samuel 30 and 1 Chronicles 4. The fact remains that Saul evidently had an opportunity to wipe them out, or God wouldn’t have told him to do so.
When the Amalekites reappear in 1 Samuel:30, we find the story of David and his men returning home to Ziklag, only to discover the Amalekites had burned it with fire and carried off the women and children. (That sounds like today’s headlines about Hamas.) David and his men killed most of the Amalekites, except for 400 men who escaped on camels. (v. 17)
If we fast-forward to the Book of Esther, Haman contrived a plan to annihilate all Jewish people in Persia. Some scholars believe Haman was a descendant of the Amalekite king, Agag, in part because Esther 3:1 refers to him as “the son of Hammedatha the Agagite.”
Hanged on the Gallows He’d Built for the Jews
Haman and his sons were hanged on the gallows that had been built for the Jewish people. So, the world was finally rid of those Jew-hating Amalekites, right? Sadly, no. Islam arose in the 7th century and took on the role of the new Amalekites, launching repeated and savage persecutions of both Jews and Christians.
The Book of Esther took place in present-day Iran, which elected a president (Ahmadinejad) who repeatedly made statements such as, “The Jews should be wiped off the face of the earth.” Ayatollah Khamenei, continues that same evil rhetoric today, chanting, “Death to Israel” (and “to America”). Those comments sound like echoes from Haman, as much as Hamas.
Putting On Our Armor
To be clear, I don’t relish the thought of military conflict or casualties. We must combat this evil with spiritual warfare in the realm of the spirit. You might say, “But I don’t believe in all that devil stuff.” You would if you had just been kidnapped by Hamas. There’s a reason God says to “put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11) The reason is found in the very next verse (verse 12): “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
All that said, I also think there’s some wisdom in the old saying, “We can be so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good.” There are some solutions we could point to in our natural world.
First, and unfortunately, Hamas will have to be punished severely. Yes, I know God loves those people in Gaza. And He loves not only the innocent civilians, but also the terrorists themselves. He loved the people who destroyed Ziklag, too, but He told David to go after them.
Going forward, this is going to require great leadership. In my view, Israel has great leadership in Netanyahu, but there needs to be strong leadership in the U.S. and other key ally nations as well. Unfortunately, we don’t have that right now. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” (Psalm 122.6)
Nolan Lewallen is a retired pilot of a major airline and lives near Stephenville, Texas, with his wife, Kim. Nolan’s two greatest passions are the Bible and politics. His latest book, The Integration of Church & State: How We Transform “In God We Trust” From Motto to Reality, brings the two together.