By Charles Brammall
The Promised Land is presently an unholy mess, on fire. My cousin is Jewish. I love her. A lot. We spent 100s of hours playing together as younger people. She was raised in an Anglican home, Sunday School, Confirmation, Youth Group, the works.
Met a Jewish guy, converted, and married in the synagogue. All three of their kids were raised Jewish, and the family still attends synagogue and celebrates Friday night Shabbat in their homes, chanting Hebrew. She has friends in the Israeli Army she is worried about because they are firing on innocent Palestinians right now as I write.
We Christians love Jews. Of it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be eternally rescued. If not for them Messiah wouldn’t be. They were God’s original people, and by God’s grace through Jesus’ death we outsiders, dogs, hated rejected ones, were grafted into them. A miracle, impossible for eons, has been done by YHWH through His majestic Son.
We especially love Messianic Jews, as fellow members of God’s family with us. A decent number of Sydney Anglican clergy are Messianic Jews. We have been grafted into the original Israel as fellow citizens of God’s kingdom, fellow brothers and sisters of the Christ, and fellow dwelt-in-ones by His Spirit.
It is right for us to have a special place in our hearts for God’s original people, because He does. They’re the apple of His eye, and of ours. He CHOSE. THEM. Out of ALL nations, to draw all other peoples into His family. He gave them a land, countless descendants, and His wise and kind instructions.
He gifted them a temple, and deigned, condescended, to speak and write to them in their own human languages – Hebrew and Aramaic. Didn’t have to. Just wanted to be kind. And give them a mission. A mission from God. We owe everything to God’s first people, including our Christ, our Rescuer and Saver.
And yet… Netanyahu (and by default, therefore, Israel), is doing unspeakable things in Palestine: horrifying torturous inhuman offensives in Gaza. Annihilating tens of thousands of Palestinians, including civilian women, children, and men.
And yes, Hamas did unspeakable things in its 7 Oct ‘23 attack on Israel as well, killing about 1,200 and kidnapping over 250 hostages. Both have done, are doing, and will do, awful, horrifying, hellish things to each other (and to an extent, to their own people). However, I am not suggesting moral equivalence in the Gaza conflict.
I used to teach in a Muslim high school in North West Sydney. The boys routinely came up to me and said, “Sir, are you pro Palestine or pro Israel?” It was a trick question, like some of those thrown at Jesus by smart alecs. Being a white guy (and therefore “aligned with the US”), they assumed I was pro Israel.
It was an attempted trap. If I said “Israel” then they had “caught” me, and had an excuse to play up in class- something they would immensely enjoy. If I said “Palestine” they would love me forever and enjoy my classes. So for them it was a win win situation.
How did I answer?
“I’m not pro Palestine or pro Israel. I’m pro forgiveness, and repentance, and mercy. Pro listening, and conversation, and justice. Pro truth.” It flabbergasted them a bit. Didn’t quite understand. Cat got their tongue. They were often a tad deflated.
Once upon a time, God promised a patch of earth no larger than a Qld cattle station to an old Mesopotamian farmer called Abram. Since then, empires have bled for it, prophets have wept over it, and news anchors have butchered its history in five-minute segments between ads for protein powder and car insurance.
The Israel-Palestine conflict is like that uncle’s wedding you don’t want to attend, but somehow your name is on the seating plan, right between “International Law” and “Post-Colonial Guilt.” So how should I as a Christian think about all this? And is there anything little old me can do?
Is there a Biblical, nuanced, humble-but-pointed take? Absolutely – though I may need to put down my Instagram story about “standing with X” and pick up my Bible, and maybe my Shakespeare too. Because whose land is it anyway?
Cue Genesis 12:1–3: “I will give you this land.” God made a promise, a covenant, a testament with Abraham. And repeated it to Isaac (Gen 26:3) and Jacob (Gen 28:13). He promised them a land, a people, and a blessing. But if we stop there, we commit the theological equivalent of reading Hamlet and thinking it’s just about a guy who talks to ghosts and stabs people behind curtains.
Enter Jesus, stage right. The New Testament reconfigures the land promise in surprising ways. Paul says that Abraham “was heir of the WORLD” (Rom 4:13), not just a slice of Canaan.
The land becomes eschatological, international, and even cosmic in scope. Heb 11:10 says Abraham wasn’t looking for a Middle Eastern real estate deal, but a heavenly city “whose architect and builder is God.”
So the fundamental doctrine is that God’s promise to Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus, and universalised through… you and me- the Church. Gal 3:28–29: “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
In other words, this is no longer about geopolitical land rights. The kingship/kinghood/kingdom of God doesn’t arrive by annexation, rockets, or checkpoint negotiation. It comes through the execution of the eternal Son, the sending of the Spirit, and the global mission of the church.
But how can there be peace in a war-torn vineyard? Jesus parable in Luke 20 about wicked tenants in a vineyard is enlightening. The religious elite didn’t much like it – especially when they realised He was shafting home the parable to them.
Fast forward two millennia and we’re peeking over the wall of a similar vineyard. A land where both Israelis and Palestinians see themselves as rightful tenants, and both have grievances real and imagined, historical and mythological.
But the rub? Romans 12:18– “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Also Matthew 5:9– “Blessed are the peacemakers.” (not to be confused with “blessed are those who re-post the most brutal memes about the other side.”)
What we are witnessing is Shakespearean tragedy meeting Biblical hope. In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock demands his “pound of flesh.” Justice, yes— but at the expense of mercy, which Portia famously rebukes: “The quality of mercy is not strain’d…” Similarly, many on both sides of this conflict cry out for justice. But without mercy, justice becomes vengeance in Sunday clothes. (I am aware that some Jews find this play anti-Semitic – yes, Shakespeare does play on his audiences anti-Jewish tropes. He’s definately guilty.
And the uncomfortable truth is that neither Israelis nor Palestinians have clean hands. And neither do we. Sometimes our Western armchair punditry (even our prayer meetings) can risk being more like theatre than peacemaking:
Isaiah 1:15–17 thunders against performative piety: “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes… Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.”
Because the real battle is in… MY heart, not theirs. Want to solve the Middle East crisis as God would? Then perhaps I need to try loving my actual neighbour: the guy who leaves passive-aggressive notes in our shared laundry, etc.
Should I post a flag filter on social media? Maybe better would be repenting of my bitterness, sharing my wealth, or being hospitable to smelly people. Strange, disabled or trans people. Immigrants, homeless or prickly ungrateful people. Speaking graciously (and ABOUT grace) and praying for and loving my enemies.
If I advocate for justice “over there”, then perhaps I should also try forgiving my own dad who’s hurt me so egregiously, my spouse who threw me out, or apologising to my wife without rolling my eyes, sighing, or justifying myself.
James says (3:18): “Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” If I want to plant peace in Gaza and Tel Aviv (and who doesn’t?), then perhaps I should also start with my own front porch.
But WWJD? What would Jesus actually DO? He’s already done it, doing it, and will keep doing it. He might not post something on socials (although He’s certainly no Luddite- He invented the Net after all). And He might not go to a protest with 100,000 others. But He would… die.
His foolproof, water tight, cast iron plan to reconcile Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:14–16): “He himself is our peace… by the cross.” He Himself said “there will always be wars and rumours of wars” til He returns. So I shouldn’t be surprised. Because the Tree is the only real peace plan.
Every flag, every border, every political structure, is interim at best.
Phil 3:20: “Our citizenship is in heaven.” So am I proposing a solution? Oh yes. And it starts and ends with repentance- changing my mind and heart towards God…
… Doing a U turn from trying to live my own life without Him, to depending on His death and coming back to life, to be forgiven. Deciding to live with Him as my Ruler.
Only then will I recognise the Imago Dei in both Israeli and Palestinian, Gen 1:27. Everyone made in God’s image. Even the terrorist. Even the soldier. Only then will I lean my shoulder to ministries of reconciliation rather than political posturing. Ministries like Sydney’s “Peace Tent”, Musalaha, Seeds of Hope. Unpopular ministries. Jesus did not say, “Blessed are the correct.”
Only then will I cease foolishly, naively and heretically using prophecy as foreign policy. We believers have the opportunity to stop sanctifying awful, indescribable, hellish war by misusing the Book of The Revelation as if it were a CIA briefing.
And with the privilege of any influence I might have I can call out injustice on both sides, Prov 31:8–9: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…”
And we have the heavenly, otherworldly, supernatural privilege of praying. Lots. Often. Wrestling. In angst. Widely. Not just for my own tribe. I can pray in the Words of the Promise Giver Himself (Psm 122:6) “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”. But also in His Words through Isaiah 19:25, where Egypt, Assyria, and Israel are all called God’s people.
A final rebuke for me (maybe you?), is that in the end, the Israel-Palestine horror is not just “over there.” It mirrors my own heart: tribal, fearful, violent. Egocentric, self-justifying, unself aware. I’m at risk of wanting the moral high ground, without bearing His cross. Without dying- At risk of wanting justice (to me), without forgiveness (to others), and victory without humility.
To quote Jesus (the ultimate non-aligned radical): “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight…” (Jn 18:36). But nuh- we can pray, suffer, and reconcile. Reunite, carry crosses, and..
die.
And we’re in good Company, heh?
And if I’m not doing that, I’m not helping. I’m just in the way of the Kingdom’s advance. Hamlet said “Use every man after his desert, and who shall ’scape whipping?” In other words, if God gave us all what we deserve, none of us would be tweeting.
Prayer:
Our gracious God and loving Heavenly Father,
Please Father give me the courage to follow you, even when that means that the world is against me. Fill me with the perfect knowledge of your will so I can live in lock step with it. Amen
Dear Heavenly Father,
You say in 1 John 3:13 “Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” Please help me not to be surprised, but I don’t want to be hated, to be honest. It is not a thought that fills me with any relish. Please protect me,
In Jesus’ protective Name,
Amen.
Mighty & Pure Father of all nations,
You say in John that if we follow Christ, and determine to love, we will be the recipients of the hatred of the world.
Thank You in Jesus’ salvific name that You protect us.
Amen
Image: Gaza landscape