Are We for Israel or are We for Palestine?

Gary: Here is this week’s question: “Someone told me that your ministry, The Berean Call, is pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian, even to the point of denying a Palestinian state for the Palestinian people. If that’s true, how can you call yourself a true Christian ministry? Is that what Jesus would do?”

Tom: Dave, I really appreciate the heart and the zeal, and I love questions of people who are concerned. They take the time to write because they have real concerns. But it also demonstrates to me in a lot of the letters that we get—not every letter, but in some of the letters we get, at least, there’s some ignorance or misinformation out there that they’re buying into .

Dave: Yeah, first of all, Tom, I have a problem with the words “pro” and “anti.” It’s always “pro-Israel” or “anti-Palestinian.” No! The issue is not our favoritism or lack of favoritism or our opinion or our prejudices for and against someone or some movement. It is the truth. What does the Bible say? And the Bible clearly says over and over, hundreds of times, God says, “These are my chosen people.” Twelve times the God of the Bible calls Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Repeatedly He says He gave that land to them forever.

Tom: Okay, Dave, when you say “chosen people,” some people go ballistic when they hear that. In what sense does the Bible mean that?

Dave: That is what the Bible says. And He said He didn’t choose them because they were great or because they were good, but He chose them to demonstrate His grace and His love. He had to choose somebody, and He chose them as an example to the world of what He wanted for the people of God. They were to be holy. They were separate unto Him. He gave them a land, and they were to demonstrate the relationship of God to man and man to God. They failed utterly! They were involved in idolatry and all kinds of wickedness and sin. And God sent His prophets over and over to warn them of His coming judgment. And these people would not heed! I mean, God says, “They are rebellious people!” He says, “All the day long I held out my hand unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. I would have fed you with the finest of wheat, with honey out of the rock I would have satisfied you. But Israel would have none of Me!”

And finally, the axe has to fall, and judgment comes, they’re carried away captive, and so forth, and Jesus said it would happen again. Jerusalem, the tunnel, would be destroyed again, they would be carried away to all nations, but the promises of God are clear! You cannot escape it.

Ezekiel 35, 36, 37: We have this people brought back into their land, a full restoration of Israel! Leviticus:25:23The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
See All..., God says, “The land is mine, and it shall not be sold forever.” And He says He has given this to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob forever. And that they would be restored to their land, which they have been, and the Messiah will return and rule over them there.

Now…

Tom: What about Palestine?

Dave: Right. There never was a Palestinian nation, a Palestinian people, a Palestinian language, a Palestinian culture, a Palestinian religion. It simply is a myth!

Tom: We tell people to check the history books. This isn’t you, just your opinion…

Dave: Right. In 135 AD the Romans, who were in control, built a temple to Jupiter on Temple Mount, where the temple had stood. And that upset the Jews, naturally. They rebelled, and in the rebellion about a half-million Jews were killed, the rest were scattered, and so forth. And in anger against them, the denunciatory title that they put upon the land of Israel was “Syria Palestina.” That comes from the Philistines, Israel’s chief enemy when they first came into the land. It never was Palestine. Before that, it was the land of Canaan. Read the Bible. Read the history books!

And so, this is an idea that they picked up. Now, the Jews who were living in this land, from then on were called “Palestinians.” Believe it or not, the Jews were called Palestinians. So in World War II, the British army had a “Palestinian Brigade,” it was called. Volunteers. They were all Jews. There was the Palestinian Symphony Orchestra. They were all Jews. There was the Palestinian Post, a Jewish newspaper. It was only after 1948, when the Arabs began to call themselves Palestinians. Now these people are not a separate race, a separate nation—they never were. They are cousins and aunts and uncles and sons and daughters…

Tom: …of Arabs…

Dave: …all around them. They speak Arabic. They are Muslims. So, it’s just a total fraud. But this is the land of Israel that God gave them. There are people— now, this has nothing to do with being “pro-Israel,” or prejudiced against Palestinians. It simply is the truth! And this is what God said! And anyone who disagrees—and a lot of Jews don’t believe it, and Muslims certainly are opposed to this, and their goal is to exterminate the Jews. Anyone who disagrees with this, they are opposing God and His Word. Jerusalem 40 times in the Bible is called “The City of David.” David was the king. And this is where the “new David”—the Messiah—will rule over His people.