Hate Vs. State

Hate Vs. State

Does religion teach us to love hate?Israel is under constant siege.  And I’m not referring to the over 1,000 rockets fired at it or the axe-wielding murderers in the neighborhood.  Amazingly, despite the day and night contrast clearly visible in the region, there is a rising global tide of so-called anti-Zionism – or anti-Israeli sentiment.  The drumbeat is growing so loud, and becoming so persistent, against the world’s only Jewish state, that it brings to mind the Anti-Semitism that led to pogroms in Russia and eventually the Holocaust.

In honor of the Jewish Sabbath, I decided to write on this topic today. The random Virtues card I came up with was Courage.  How apropos for this young nation which is establishing itself in the most volatile region on earth. Kudos to them for expressing this virtue.

I understand fully that the plight of the Palestinians is a major reason given for an Anti-Israeli stance.  Here’s an article that illustrates the not-so-subtle bias that Israel is responsible for the Statelessness of the Palestinians.  The article, however, sets out a clear premise that if more Palestinians were focused on building a state for themselves, vs. destroying Israel, they would long ago have achieved this goal.  The absence of a Palestinian State is clearly not Israel’s fault.  A better case could be made for the opposite, that Israel is more interested in a stable Palestinian State than the Palestinians themselves. So why is everyone against Israel?

Flag of Tel AvivNumerous prophecies call out that in the “last days” or the “end time” Israel will stand alone, with armies gathered against Jerusalem.  Have you considered that Modern day Israel might just be a fulfillment of these prophecies, including  Isaiah 11:11-12?  The one about the “Ensign to the Nations”? “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Do you have the courage to take a step back and consider the global situation today in the light of Biblical Prophecy?  Do you have the courage to cast away hate, and replace it with love?  A love for all peoples, and a desire for peace, along with a desire for truth and justice, will provide a path forward.  Focusing on Virtues will open our hearts to that which will lead us forward.