This occasional weekend column called ‘Pondering:…’ is where people from within the 'Team of 40,000 Baptists' can share issues they are thinking about in a way that opens up a topic from a particular perspective. Feel free to comment on these pieces on Facebook or our new Mailbox (‘Letters to the Editor’). These opinion pieces are the views of individuals and need to be considered within the context of the diversity of our union of Baptist churches in New Zealand. When commenting or contributing, please follow our Guidelines for articles, opinion pieces and online comments.
In this piece, Clark Hyland shares a Christian Zionist perspective on the recent war in Gaza and the questions that have arisen about Israel’s response to the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. Clark is an Elder at Snells Beach Baptist Church.
Clark has worked all his adult life as a consulting engineer and has a PhD in Engineering. On 5 October 2023, Clark and his wife Kay participated in the joint multinational Christian and Israeli worship service at Sderot in the Southern District of Israel. They prayed for peace at the nearby Gaza-Israeli border fence. Two days later, Ofir Libstein, who had served as head of the Sha ‘ar HaNegev Regional Council since 2018 and had addressed the worship gathering, was dead, having been killed defending his township.
Warning: this article mentions violence, including sexual abuse in war.
Background
Recently Graeme Pollock authored an opinion piece published on Baptist NZ, “Pondering: Are we selective when we talk about Gospel renewal and justice?” He asked the question, “How should we respond as Christians to the war in Gaza?”
“Should” implies that a judgement can be made about a right way to respond. Jesus warns us about the perils of rushing to judgement and to recognise that in the same way we judge we also will be judged. Given our distance from the conflict and role as spectators any judgement we make is of limited weight.
However, let us do so just as an exercise to evaluate what he and those he quoted have claimed about how Israel responded and our response to that in Baptist churches in New Zealand.
The claims against Israel
Graeme wrote: “There are many in our churches who support the Israeli Government’s action as a legitimate response to Hamas’ attack and hostage-taking while also knowing that the Israeli Government knew of the planned Hamas attack days before it actually happened and waited and allowed their people to be taken as hostages.”
Then that, “... the taking of hostages creates a justification for the Israeli Government’s actions, justified revenge, while covering the real truth, wanting the oil and gas reserves supported by the United States in need of further reliable energy resources.
He also repeated the claim by a Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac that Israel has been in an active campaign of genocide against Palestinian Arabs since 1948.
Church theology and antisemitism
History shows that church leaders have often made incendiary claims against the Jews that have fuelled terrible violence against them including sanctions of trade, forced isolated settlement, removal of rights to carry arms or own land, exile, and murderous pogroms.
Just 80 years ago six million being two thirds of all Jews living in Europe were exterminated by modern educated Germans, many of whom claimed to be Christian, in the holocaust, (which means “burnt offering”). Their leader at the time Adolf Hitler justified this action in part on Martin Luther’s deeply antisemitic teachings late in his life.[1]
As James warns “… the tongue is a fire…” (James 3:6).
Often in society there are theological roots to much of what happens and to the views that informed those actions.
Two main theologies about Israel’s role since Christ
My observation is that the resurrection of Israel as a nation state in recent years has caused a seismic shaking of long held views and theologies about the respective roles of Israel and the church and how the Scriptures should be interpreted that mention both.
Two main views appear to exist, broadly summarised as follows.
The first is that Israel and all the promises made to her ended upon the death and resurrection of Christ due to their failure to recognise Him as their Messiah. All those previous promises then passed onto the Christian church at that point in time, which both Jews and Gentiles could join by faith in Christ. Israel has been removed from its position of privilege and promise to now be just one of many nations. Munther Isaac states in his thesis on the Holy Land “The Jesus event is the starting place for the theology of the land in the NT. Jesus restored Israel and fulfilled the promises of the OT, including the land. …This radical new fulfilment, brought about by the Jesus event, dramatically changed the meaning of the land and nullified the old promises in their old articulation… The land has thus been universalised in Christ.”[2] This fits within what is termed Replacement Theology. Last year Baptist NZ published a series of articles: “Israel and Palestine: Twenty-one questions” – in Part 2, Replacement Theology or Supersessionism was introduced.
In my view, this theology encourages persecution of the Jews.
The second view that I hold to is that the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob confirmed by the covenant of circumcision including the gift of the land of Israel remain for them as a people to possess (Acts 7:8, Gen 17:7-14). While they have suffered terribly with exile and the agreed curses of the Mosaic Law for the general national political and religious rejection of Christ this did not constitute a rejection of them as God’s called and chosen people to which he gave the land and they remain dearly loved (Rom 11:28-29). When Jews turn to Christ, they like the Gentiles are able to be born again by the Spirit of God and enter the kingdom of Heaven through the gospel of the New Covenant made in the blood of Christ and His resurrection from the dead (John 3:3). What I see as the restoration of the nation state of Israel which has begun in recent times is a marker of the extent of proclamation of that Gospel. The New Covenant is a progression of God’s work with Israel with their promised king revealed if not received in full at that time. It is a covenant extended to all peoples to join them in. It releases them from the externally imposed ceremonial law of Moses (Rom 10:4-5) into a law written on renewed circumcised hearts (Rom 2:29) and consciences led by the Spirit of God (Ez 36:26).
In my view, this theology encourages respect of the Jews.
So how should we respond to Israel’s response to Hamas?
If we wish to make a judgement on Israel’s response to the attack, then we need to be guided by what Scripture says and weigh what we can ascertain about what has happened in that light.
“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’” (Zech 7:9-10).
So using this Scripture as a starting point we must come to a judgement about what caused the war and how that cause can be resolved with mercy and compassion, avoiding oppression, and not seeking evil for others.
So what caused the recent Gaza war?
The facts are that it was a large-scale attack by Hamas on the communities along the Gaza border. This involved indiscriminate killing and abuse of mostly unarmed civilians of all ages and gender on 7 October 2023.
Regarding the Rapes - UN says "unspeakable brutality" occurred.[3] The rapes included rapes of men.[4]
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken: “The father’s eye gouged out in front of his kids, the mother’s breast cut off, the girl’s foot amputated, the boy’s fingers cut off before they were executed, and then their executioners sat down and had a meal.”[5]
Further to this, hostages dead and alive were taken back to Gaza for the purpose of political trade. No access has been allowed to them by the Red Cross, nor have their names and condition been published by their captors.[6]
Had Hamas plotted evil against those who dwell in Israel?
Yes. Sadly, Hamas was established with that stated intent and its leaders have remained consistent with that in their actions and words since.
The preamble to Hamas’ founding charter contains the following quote from the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al-Banna:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."[7]
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in 2020: He explained that Hamas rejects ceasefire agreements by which, “Gaza would become Singapore,” preferring to remain at war with Israel until a Palestinian state is established from the River to the Sea:
In a speech before the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Doha on January 9, 2024, Ismaeel Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas's political bureau, called the October 7 massacre the “advanced [battle] front of the Ummah.” Calling for “financial jihad” (donations to Hamas) and “jihad of the teeth” (physical jihad).[8]
The intent of Hamas is clearly non-biblical and is based upon their Islamic interpretation of God’s will. It is a spiritual religious war as well as a physical war which is hard for a secular society to understand.
Had Israel plotted evil against those who dwell in Gaza?
No. Israel granted Gaza self-governance as non-sovereign territory of Israel in 2004 removing Israeli settlers from the area.[9] They had since welcomed Gazan’s as workers in their communities and in the meeting, we attended in Sderot the hope was expressed of greater numbers of workers coming to work there with the hope of mutually beneficial economic development.[10]
Had Israel failed to show mercy and compassion to Gazans?
Many of those Israelis living in those communities that were attacked on October 7 2023 sought the prosperity of Gaza. They helped Gazans gain specialist medical treatment and employment in Israel. They were shocked when their kindness was brutally repaid with violence. Those left alive have been left deeply traumatised.
Since the war started Israel has provided humanitarian aid, warned Gazan civilians of impending attack zones, and followed internationally recognised protocols for assessing targets.
Israel has faced the heartbreaking difficulty of fighting a war where Hamas has embedded itself strategically under and within schools, hospitals, kindergartens, playgrounds, and residential areas.
A massive tunnel network hundreds of kilometres long containing command and control centres was built underneath Gaza by Hamas and many Palestinians with the express intent to kill Israelis and wipe Israel off the map.’ It has been called both the “the Gaza metro” and the largest terror base on earth.
This was done to transport terrorists, weapons, rocket launchers, money and other things using the civilian population as human shields to draw international condemnation upon Israel, to magnify the difficulty in distinguishing between Hamas terrorists and civilians and to hide the hostages.
Was Israel too easily Provoked?
An aspect of love for one another (Lev 19:18) is to not be easily provoked. Jesus reinforced Jeremiah’s words (Lam 3:30) to turn the other cheek when insulted or stung by minor offence against us (Matt 5:39).
However Israel has shown it was not easily provoked, and this was not a minor or superficial offence. It had withstood 20,000 Rockets having been fired at it from Gaza between 2005 to 2021 and the attack against it on 7 October 2023 was visceral and deadly with around 1200 people killed and 250 hostages taken.[11]
Was Israel’s response out of proportion?
Israel was faced on 7 October 2023 with a regional war for its destruction started by Hamas with support from Iranian backed Hezbollah, Houthis in Yemen and Iran. This was more than a single terrorist attack. The attack and hostage taking were vicious and intended to violate and intimidate. Communities adjacent to the Gazan and Lebanese borders therefore had to be relocated as refugees until their safe return could be assured by the Israeli government. In the absence of any change of intent by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran Israel has had no choice but to do what it can to dismantle the military capabilities and infrastructure of the attacking parties. I believe it has done so as best as it can and in accordance with what is considered best military ethical practice with respect to minimising civilian harm.
Are the claims made against Israel valid?
1. I believe there are many people in our Baptist churches who support the Israeli government’s action as a legitimate response to the Hamas attack and hostage taking.
2. I suspect these same people do not believe the Israeli Government deliberately allowed the attack and the hostage taking to gain access to oil and gas reserves.
3. I do not believe Israel has been in a campaign to eliminate the Palestinian people since 1948.
Is it biblical for Christians to support Israel’s actions?
It is biblical for Christians to support Israel in defending its people’s right to peaceful existence in the land promised to them by God, demanding the release of the hostages taken, the handing over of the perpetrators to face trial and dismantling Hamas ability to fulfil its stated intent to destroy Israel.
A government’s first duty is to protect its people against harm from criminal actions. New Zealanders would expect the same of our government should the situation arise in New Zealand. Disarming and disabling a perpetrator with harmful intent by military force of arms is an accepted and reasonable course of action if negotiation has failed.
In addition the ongoing call by Hamas for the war against Israel to continue until Israel is destroyed “from the river to the sea” means Israel must remove Hamas and its ability to act on its intent.
Did Israel know about the impending war?
An inquiry into how the Hamas attack caught the Israeli Defence Force by surprise is due to happen in the coming months. Such an inquiry involving the leading miliary and civilian leaders shows a level of public accountability that only happens in the best western style democracies of which only Israel is in the Middle East.
The prestigious Westpoint military university in the USA identifies the cause as a massive intelligence failure.[12]
The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) seems to have been overly focussed on the more sophisticated Hezbollah threat in Lebanon and the Iranian nuclear threat. What warnings it had were disregarded as not being credible it seems, with perhaps an over reliance on surveillance technology.
Was access to oil and gas in Gaza Israel’s aim?
Oil and gas access rights to Europe and the USA have been a powerful bargaining card used by the Arab nations against Israel for many years. This was particularly so between 1920 San Remo Resolution and the establishment of the State of Israel by UN Resolution 181 in 1947 and Israel’s Declaration of Independence from the British Mandate in 1948.
New Zealand recognised Israel in 1949. Most Arab nations have yet to recognise Israel as a legitimate state. Egypt was the first in 1979 through the work of President Jimmy Carter. Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994. The Abraham Accords in 2020 and later normalised relations with UAE, Bahrain, Morrocco, and Sudan
Golda Meir (June 1973), a Prime Minister of Israel jokingly observed that Moses was led to the only land it seemed in the Middle East which was not known to have any oil or gas reserves. Israel has more recently however found the Leviathan gas fields off its coast with which it operates with Chevron and in 2018 made an agreement to export some of its gas to Egypt and Jordan.
Fear of Arab oil embargoes has been a reason for many nations to avoid re-opening embassies in Jerusalem or to associate openly with Israel. Only recently however the USA opened its embassy in Jerusalem less concerned now about oil supply.
Israel also gave Gaza preliminary approval to develop its own gas field in 2023 before the Hamas attack. So it is unreasonable to argue that Israel gave the approval but secretly wanted to take it back by military force. Israel is an “unlikely customer” of Gaza’s gas since its own gas fields opened in 2010. Israel gave permission in 2023 for Gaza to develop its own gas field.[13]
Shouldn’t aid workers have been better protected?
Where we get opportunity to help we should. However the failure of UN agencies such as UNRWA and Red Cross to provide reliable and independent aid and assistance to Gazans and to the Israeli hostages (Red Cross defends its role in Israel-Hamas war[13]) means that direct support of Gazans is difficult to achieve without it also bolstering Hamas governance status. Numbers of UNRWA staff have also been named as members of Hamas with some said involved in the 7 October attacks[14] and an Investigation completed: allegations on UNRWA staff participation in the 7 October attacks.[15] UNRWA also appears to have been complicit with Hamas allowing its facilities to be used for hiding Israeli hostages.[16]
While we all respect aid workers who put their lives on the line for the sake of the vulnerable, to take the moral defence of neutral compassion requires them to not become complicit with one or the other sides harmful actions as a means to achieving those ends.
Conclusion
In determining what should be our response we need to remember that God will judge the world in righteousness and minister judgement to all peoples, Israel included (Psalm 9:8).
New Zealanders have had the luxury of not experiencing existential threats of war for many years. We do not therefore have a well-developed contemporary understanding of conflict resolution in such situations.
Where disputes have led to death and destruction a simple demand for the cessation of hostilities, like the approach to school ground disputes, is not a sufficient response.
The cause of the conflict and the intent of the parties involved must be discerned and dealt with.
With the enormous populations and resources of the Arab and Islamic nations arrayed against it of which the Palestinians are a part, Israel has been vulnerable to and experienced existential harm since 1948.
The religious intent of Islam to destroy Israel should not be underestimated.
I believe the fact that Israel has survived and thrived in such a threatening environment for over 75 years or three generations is a miracle and testament to their time of exile being over and God’s hand of favour being upon them again.
We therefore need to be careful to bless and protect Israel as God’s chosen people from whom we have been blessed with the holy scriptures, Christ, and the apostles of our faith. Their pain has been our gain in many ways.
He has not forsaken them, and we should not either. We instead should have deep respect and awe for what God is and will continue to do through them as history unfolds before us.
On the evidence to hand it is Hamas and the Gazans who support Hamas that are the ones to have transgressed God’s commands based upon an evaluation against the words of Zechariah 7:9-10 that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all respect.
We therefore should support Israel in this conflict which is likely to continue to ebb and flow in the coming years while maintaining its accountability for its ongoing actions in doing so. We should also encourage our government to do the same.
Photo supplied: Clark and Kay Hyland at Jaffa looking towards Tel Aviv, 26 September 2023.
For other 'Pondering:...' opinion pieces from people in New Zealand churches, click here.
Endnotes
[1] “On the Jews and Their Lies,” M. Luther, 1543, https://www.prchiz.pl/storage/app/media/pliki/Luther_On_Jews.pdf
[2] PhD thesis Abstract: “From Land to Lands, from Eden to the Renewed Earth: A Christ-Centred Biblical Theology of the Promised Land”, 2014 https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/84x07
[3] https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15621.doc.htm
[4] https://www.timesofisrael.com/male-october-7-survivor-recounts-rape-at-hands-of-hamas-terrorists
[6] Ref Red Cross article 07-10-2024 https://www.icrc.org/en/document/frequently-asked-questions-icrc-and-hostages-held-gaza
[7] Preamble to Hamas Charter, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp
[8] https://www.adl.org/resources/article/hamas-its-own-words
[9] https://www.britannica.com/event/Israels-disengagement-from-Gaza
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_permit_regime_in_the_Gaza_Strip
[12] https://mwi.westpoint.edu/what-went-wrong-three-hypotheses-on-israels-massive-intelligence-failure/
[16] British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari says Hamas held her at UN facilities https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj91ygv803xo
