🍁Israel and Palestine conflict from the Bible prospective

☘️ Why so much hatred between them?

From The beginning

▪️ The Lord said to Abram to leave his country to the land that He will show him. Abram came from a family of idol  worship and he did not know God. But God chose him. God will make his name great and he will be a blessing. And God will make him a great nation

▪️ Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. He had no child with Sarai

🍁 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran

(Genesis 12: 1-4)

▪️ God promised  Abram a son. And he believed the Lord

🍁 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir

And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness

(Genesis 15: 3-4, 6)

▪️ Many years passed and Sarai was old. She was still without a child. So she gave her Egyptian servant, Hagar to Abram as wife and she conceived

▪️ This was a very wrong decision they made as it was not according to the will of God. This was the plan between Abram and Sarai. God was not please with Abram and He did not speak to Abram for the next 13 years

▪️ Now disharmony arise in the house of Abram

Hagar looked with contempt on her mistress 

This upset Sarai and she brought up her grievous state to Abram; It displeased Abram but allowed Sarai to do as she wished

Obviously, Sarai dealt with her harshly  and Hagar fled from her while she was conceived with child

Later the angel of the Lord told her to return to her mistress Sarai and be submissive to her

🍁 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar

So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife

And he went into Hagar, she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress

And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked at me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me. But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her

(Genesis 16: 1, 3-6)

▪️ The Lord appeared again to Abram when he was 99 years of age and changed his name to Abraham. God made a Covenant with him that all male shall be circumcised

▪️ The Lord change Sarai name to Sarah

▪️ God will give her a son next year and his name shall be called Isaac. The Lord will establish His covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him

▪️ Abraham laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?

▪️ As for Ishmael, the Lord will bless him. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation

🍁 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations

This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised

And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name

I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?

And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!

God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him

As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation

But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year

(Genesis 17: 1, 5, 10, 15-21)

▪️ Sarah gave birth to a son; and she saw Ishmael was laughing at her baby son

▪️ She brought  her anger to Abraham and wanted to cast out Hagar and her son. Abraham was not happy on account of his son Ishmael

▪️ So God appeared and said to Abraham: Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you;  and because Ishmael is also your son, the Lord will make him a great nation

▪️ The following morning, Abraham sent them away with provisions

🍁 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him

But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing

So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac

And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son

But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named

And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring

So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba

(Genesis 21: 2, 9-14)

▪️ Ishmael married an Egyptian wife

So Ishmael became the forefather of the Arab tribe

🍁 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt

(Genesis 21: 21)

▪️ Ishmael has 12 princes. God said this even before Ishmael was born

▪️ They settled in present day called Saudi Arabia; and Ishmael was the forefather of the Arabic tribes

▪️ They settled in different land and later the Islamic faith originated  from the Arab tribes

🍁 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes

They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen

(Genesis 25: 16, 18)

▪️ Even in Rebecca’s womb  Esau and Jacob were having a conflict

The Lord told Rebecca that 2 nations in your womb will be divided

🍁 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord

And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger

When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb

The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau

Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them

(Genesis 25: 22-26)

▪️ Esau went to Ishmael and married his daughter; so Esau was close to the Ishmaelites

Later his grandson Amalek was at odd with Israel; He has great hatred for Israel

🍁  Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth

(Genesis 28: 9)

▪️ Esau grandson was Amalek

The Amalekites are seen to be the descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau

Esau had his birthright stolen from him by his younger brother Jacob, who later became Israel

Amalek, who grew up in Esau’s household, was very aware of the resentment his family felt against the children of Israel

🍁  Esau’s son Eliphaz also had a concubine named Timna, who bore him Amalek. These were grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah

(Genesis 37: 12)

▪️ After Israel crossed the Red Sea from Egypt, Amalek attacked them

🍁 Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God

(Deuteronomy 25: 17)

▪️ During the rule of the Persian Empire over Israel, Haman was the  chief minister to the king

He was also the descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites

He wanted to destroyed all the Jews in the kingdom

See! The Amalekites are the descendants of Esau. Later God wipe them out of existence

🍁 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus

(Esther 3: 6)

▪️ We have had war after war and are still on going. Famine and Earthquakes are happening around the world

▪️ Since the re-establishment of Israel  many wars were fought between Israel and the Arab countries

▪️ Israel ~ Arab war (1948 – 49)

Suez war (1956)

Six days war (1969 – 70)

War of Attrition (1973)

Kipper war (1982)

Gulf war (1991)

Israel – Hamas ( 2023)

🍁 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places

(Matthew 24: 6-7)

▪️ The present day conflict between Israel and the Arabic  countries started long time ago since Abraham and Sarah made the wrong decision to have a son from the Egyptian maid, Hagar

▪️ Jesus is Jewish; Yet they crucified Him on the cross; and don’t believe that He is their Messiah; and they are still waiting for their Messiah to save them; Their Messiah has already come

▪️ The Jews will suffer through war and tribulations; Sufferings will wake them up; Only the remnants left are saved

🍁 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.” It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah (Romans 9: 27-29)

▪️ We should not be overly concerned about all that is happening in the world

▪️ But take to heart that this is a wake up call that the Coming of our Lord Jesus is very near

Save yourselves while the door is still opened

▪️ Only God knows the number of gentiles are yet to be fulfilled

▪️ This is the mystery

The grace will be given to the gentile first until the number is fulfilled; Then the door of salvation for the gentiles will be closed; It is just like God shutting the door of the Ark. No one can go in after that

🍁 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in

(Romans 11: 25)