Good morning, I’m so glad that you could be here today. I’ve entitled the message “A Biblical Perspective on the Middle East Crisis.” Everybody I know wants to be loved. Even the most independent, monastic hermit wants to know that he or she, at the very least, is not hated. Since 9/11, we have become blatantly aware that there are an endless number of fanatical, Islamic, fascist groups that hate us for the two things we treasure most; our citizenship in heaven and our citizenship as Americans.
Paul Marshall, a Senior Fellow at The Center for Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C. said that there is a hate list. First and foremost on the list is Israel. In fact, the official name of Al Qaeda is the “World Islamic Front for Holy War against Jews and Crusaders.” During the middle Ages, terrible things, atrocities, were committed in the name of Jesus Christ. The perpetrators called themselves, “Crusaders.” So the Islamic mind has associated Christianity with mid-evil Crusaders. More recently, the United States has been hated because of our support for Israel. We are seen as Israel’s body guard.
Now to get a better understanding of what is going on in the Middle East, we need to know the root cause of the problem. The problem with all Middle East peace making is that it doesn’t really address the real issue. Over the past few days we have heard the Lebanese Foreign Minister say, “We’ve done nothing wrong, we are the victims of Israeli brutality. Israel responds with “Hezbollah kidnapped our soldiers and Lebanon supports Hezbollah.” And so it goes—back and forth, just like when we were kids and you would call out to your mother, “Johnny’s hit me, make him stop.” Then Johnny would defend himself by claiming, “She hit me first.” Well the question to be answered is, “Who hit who first?”
The hatred between Middle Eastern nations and Israel predates this current crisis. It even predates the beginning of Islam. In fact, it goes all the way back to Genesis Chapter 12 verse one when God said to Abraham, “Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
We recognize this as the Abrahamic Covenant between God and Abraham. God was saying, “I have chosen to choose you, and you are going to become a blessing to the rest of the world.” And subsequently the world would be blessed through one who would come through the nation of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. God also told Abraham, “I’m going to give you some real estate”. That real estate was the land of Canaan—today we call it Israel. Then He said, “I’m also going to give you an heir and through the heir this nation will come.” Abraham understood that what God was saying was “I’m going to give you a son”. Well, of course, we know that Sarah was well beyond child-bearing years but still God said “I’m going to give you a son”.
Over time the promise was not yet fulfilled and Sarah became impatient. She suggested to Abraham that he take her handmaiden, Hagar, and through her he could father a child. And Abraham said, “Well, that sounds like God’s will to me— that’ll be okay.” Abraham slept with Hagar, he committed adultery with Hagar, and she conceived and bore him a son and named him Ishmael. Ishmael is the father of all non-Jewish Arab nations.
Later, just as God had promised, Sarah did become pregnant and she bore Abraham a son and named him, Isaac. Therein you have the problem. The people of Israel are descendent from Isaac, the son of Sarah. The people from Middle Eastern nations are descended from Ishmael, the son of Hagar. You imagine the competition, the rivalry in Abraham’s home. It still exists today. The problem in the Middle East is not a problem of who shot who first or who kidnapped whose soldier, or who has shot missiles or who won’t give up property rights. The problem in the Middle East is a theological issue— the descendants of Ishmael have always believed the descendants of Isaac stole their birthright.
Now, as I previously said, Islam has not always been present. It has not always been a Muslim—Jewish problem. Before Islam, a few Arab nations were Christianized, but most were idolatrous or paganistic. In the 7th century, Mohammed established the Islamic faith.
What are the basic beliefs of the Islamic faith? First, Islam does acknowledge Jesus, Moses and David as prophets. But they believe Mohammed is the latest and greatest prophet of God. They believe that the Septuagint, Torah, Psalms and the four Gospels are to be revered as sacred writings. But they believe that the Quran is the absolute and final word of God because it was revealed to the latest and greatest prophet Mohammad through the angel Jibraeel.
In the Islamic faith there is no place for the concept of a triune Godhead; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In the Islamic faith there is one Supreme Being and his name is Allah. Islam also has a belief that in the last days, a Shiite Islamic savior will come onto the world’s stage to rescue all true Muslim believers. Their belief closely parallels our belief in the 2nd coming of the Lord Jesus. Some observers are suggesting that Iran’s Prime Minister, a fanatical Shiite believer, is poised to lead the world into World War III in hopes of speeding up the coming of their messiah.
Occasionally we hear someone say, “We all worship the same God, we just call him by different names.” Nothing could be further from the truth. That is an effort on the part of some well-meaning people, biblically illiterate people to try to put everyone on the same page by saying, “We’re all heading toward the same destination—just taking different roads.” Islam doesn’t teach that and neither does the Bible. We do not worship the Islam god whose name is Allah and they do not worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is a triune God; who has a son named Jesus and in present in our world and our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s the theological issue and it leads me to the geographical issue.
Islam claims ownership of that small strip of land we know as Israel. Right now there is a portion of Israel that has been portioned off and designated for Palestinian occupation—the Gaza Strip. But that will never satisfy the Islamic quest to conquer it all —every bit of the land God gave to Abraham. Israel received that land as a gift from God. Israel didn’t just come marching through one day and say, “Hmmm, this looks like a good place. Let’s just take this away from whoever owns it.” Instead, God said, “This is your land; I’m giving you this land.” If you think that Israel is at the heart of the matter, then Jerusalem is at the heart of the heart of the matter.
Look at 2 Chronicles 6 verses 5 and 6, “Since the day I brought My people Israel out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city to build a temple in among any of the tribes of Israel, so that My name would be there, and I have not chosen a man to be ruler over My people Israel. But I have chosen Jerusalem so that My name will be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.”
Jerusalem has not always been God’s city. It was established by King David and named in 1004 BC. Through the centuries, it has been overrun or destroyed thirty-eight times. In A.D. 70, the Roman general Titus came roughshod over Jerusalem and burned it to the ground and destroyed the Temple. It laid in ruin until AD 313, when Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, legalized Christianity and encouraged Christians to build their churches in and around Jerusalem.
In AD 638, the Muslim army under the leadership of General Omar, who incidentally was the successor of Muhammad, captured Jerusalem and declared it to be an Islamic holy site. It was then that the Dome of the Rock mosque was built on the temple mount.
In 1947, Israel was recognized as a nation, and since that time it has been the objective of every radical Islamic fanatic to eradicate from the world all Jewish life and take every square inch her land under the captivity of Islam.
Now listen to me—I couldn’t be any more dogmatic about this than I am at this very moment. The United States must stand with Israel. We must not waver in our support at this time. You say, “Pastor, why is it so important for us to do that?” I’ll tell you why it is important. In order to illustrate it let me say it like this.
There are three expressions of Judaism in the world today. One is Orthodox Judaism. Orthodox Jews observe all the rituals, ceremonies and attend worship on their Sabbath—Saturday.
The second expression is liberal Judaism. Liberal Judaism has significantly nothing to do with orthodox traditions and observances. Perhaps the liberal Jew will observe the Day of Atonement, or Hanukkah. However, those observances are seen primarily as educational occasions for Jewish children. In the New Testament, the Sadducees were liberal Jews. They denied the supernatural, miracles and the resurrection of Jesus.
The third expression is secular Judaism. Secular Judaism has nothing to do with spiritual things. The Jewish secularist sees himself as a Jew by blood not a Jew by faith. It is my understanding that the majority of the 6.5 million population in Israel is secular.
Now listen closely—all three expressions of Judaism reject Jesus Christ. All three have disdain for Christianity and especially evangelical Christianity. All three reject and resent our Christian mandate to take the Gospel to them. You might ask, “Pastor, if Israel rejects and resents Jesus and our efforts to evangelize them so very much then how can you say we must support Israel?” I’ll tell you why, because God is for Israel and we are for God. We stand by Israel because God said, “I will bless those that bless you, I will curse those that curse you.” For that reason, because of our allegiance to the Father we stand for Israel. We stand for them in terms of their right to exist and their geographical sovereignty
You might also be wondering how we should respond to people of the Muslim faith? Are we to view people of the Islamic faith as enemies? Do we hate them? Do we want to see them exterminated from the face of the world? Heaven Forbid! People of the Islamic faith are just like you and me, folks. God said, “Whosoever believes in Jesus Christ shall not perish but shall have everlasting life.” Jesus came to die for all people, for Jews and Gentiles alike. When he died for Gentiles, He died for you and me and every Islamic person.
I want to tie all of this together by offering some words from the second Psalm. We can know the future of the entire world from reading the second Psalm. It is what is known as a prophetic, messianic Psalm. Prophetic in the sense that it speaks of the future. Messianic in that it is talking about the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This Psalm was written by David, in the first three verses he is the primary speaker. In verses four through six we hear the words of God and in verses seven through nine the Lord Jesus Christ takes center stage. It closes in verses ten through twelve with wonderful words of invitation from the Holy Spirit.
In verse one David asks, “Why do the nations rebel and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and His Anointed One: “Let us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their restraints.”
Three words in that passage are very important. The words nations, plot and conspire are very important. Who are these nations and who are they plotting against? This refers to every nation that rebels against God. Could this be referring to nations in the Middle East? Certainly. How about other nations predominately non-Christian? Absolutely. Listen folks, this may very well also refer to the United States of America—and let me show you why. Verse three is all about rebelling against the moral restraints that God places on every society and race of people. Restraints designed to protect society and ourselves. Man has always rebelled against the moral restraints of God. How does mankind rebel today? Simply this, any time any leader, or president or king or prime minister, or congress, or republic or whatever the case may be passes a law that restricts or prohibits the worship of God, the presentation of the Gospel or passes a law that is in direct disobedience with the holy Word of God, that is plotting against God. That is what David is saying, David says he is surrounded by people who are continually plotting against God.
What is God’s response to that rebellion? In verse four Scripture states, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them. Then He speaks to them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath: “I have consecrated My King on Zion, My holy mountain.”
God response initial response is laughter—a mocking laughter. But let me remind you that when God stops laughing at the rebelliousness of man it will be replaced by His vengeful fury.
When, in verse six, it states, “I have consecrated My King on Zion, My holy mountain” it is referring to a past action for a future event. He is talking about something settled, set it stone, a done deal. He is saying that the Lord Jesus Christ will reign for eternity from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. That’s not some allegorical part of speech— it is a literal fact. It is a past action that guarantees that from that ground 7,500 miles to the east of us today, the Lord Jesus Christ will reign from that Temple Mount. He is King of Kings the Lord of Lords.
Now let’s look at Jesus’ words in verse seven, “I will declare the Lord’s decree: He said to Me, “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father. Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; You will shatter them like pottery.”
Let me show you three truths about Jesus. First, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Inside the Dome of the Rock mosque, there is an inscription on the ceiling that says, “God has no sons.” Beloved, I don’t care what that says, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. If all the anti-Jesus ideology in all the world exerted all of its power all at one time it would not, it could not change the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God…He is God’s son.
Second is the sovereignty of Jesus. In verse eight it states, “Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession.”
Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord forever and ever. Sovereignty means He’s in charge. There’s not anything about this universe that is not under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only is He in control but He sustains it all, He keeps it going, He keeps it all in place.
The third thing is the severity of Jesus Christ. In verse nine we read, “You will break them with a rod of iron; You will shatter them like pottery.” One day the Antichrist will amass his forces and \ surround God’s Holy City—Jerusalem. Their purpose will be to annihilate every Jew from the face of the world and destroy Jerusalem.
Jesus speaks of this futuristic moment in Luke Chapter 21, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains! Those inside the city must leave it, and those who are in the country must not enter it, because these are days of vengeance to fulfill all the things that are written. Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days, for there will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
Antichrist will have amassed all of the forces in all their hubris, in all their arrogance, thinking they can defeat God’s eternal plan to save and restore Israel. But God’s answer is found in Revelation 19:11 “Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knows except Himself. He wore a robe stained with blood, and His name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed Him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. From His mouth came a sharp sword, so that with it He might strike the nations. He will shepherd them with an iron scepter. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying in mid-heaven, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and slave, small and great.” Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against His army. But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed signs on his authority, by which he deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Here we see the severity of our Lord Jesus Christ as He shatters Antichrist and his forces like pottery. This event is really going to happen. This is not some figurative event, this is not speaking of the Third World War. This is the time when the Lord Jesus Christ in fulfillment of Psalm 2 and other prophetic Scripture, will smash like pottery the forces of Antichrist and all who have rebelled and revolted against Almighty God.
As we close, let me tie this all together with the invitational words of the Holy Spirit. In Psalm 2 verse 10 the Holy Spirit speaks this way, “So now, kings, be wise; receive instruction, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with reverential awe, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss God’s royal Son, or He will be angry, and you will perish in your rebellion, for His anger may ignite at any moment. All those who take refuge in Him are happy.
This is a great word of warning to anyone who would attempt to live their life without the Lord Jesus Christ. In the light of the fact that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, and He really is in control of all there is, and He will eventually judge the world—a person would be an absolute fool to turn their back on the faith in Him.
I love that phrase, “Kiss God’s royal Son.” How do you kiss the royal Son of God? The word for kiss is an Aramaic word, not a Hebrew word. It refers to allegiance or submission. How do you pay allegiance? How do you submit yourself to the royal Son of God? The clue is found in something Paul said in Philippians 2, “God has given Jesus a name, that is above every name, and at that name every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth, and under the earth and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God the Father.”
That’s how one pays allegiance, submission to God’s royal Son. You acknowledge and submit to Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life. In humble faith you turn your life over to him, you turn from the old life and you give yourself to Him in faith, that’s what it means to kiss the royal son of God. Have you done that?
Let me offer some words of application for those of us today and then we’ll be through.
First to believers. We must be reminded every moment of every day that God is in charge! Nothing that is taking place is taking God by surprise. Nothing that is taking place. I have no doubt, in fact I can guarantee that events in the Middle East will have growing and lasting effect on our economy and our conveniences. In other words, our comfort zones are going to be challenged more than they ever have been before. If we think that because we live over here we can’t be touched by all that is going on over there, then we’ve got our heads in the sand, folks. But in the midst of all of that God is still in charge.
Some of the events taking place have been orchestrated by God. Other events are those things that are the evil plans of men. But we can be assured that God uses them all in our lives for the purpose of helping to conform us into the Christians he wants us to be.
God’s got a plan and we are right in the middle of it. His plan is that as the world around us becomes more and more desperate, you and I become more and more available with the solution. We cannot isolate ourselves from what is going on in the world. These things are happening within the plan of Almighty God and our purpose is not just to remain people pursuing the American dream but as Christians who are missionaries to the rest of the world.
And that leads me to those of you as nonbelievers. This is a really frightening time. And the solution is not found in guns and bullets and military might. The solution is not found in the strongest army on the face of the earth. The solution is found is Jesus Christ. If you want to know peace in your heart, if you want to know assurance that when you leave this life you will go into the presence of God you can have that assurance this morning by saying a very simple prayer. It is a prayer that says, “God, I’m a sinner and I know it and I’m separated from you. I don’t want to live my life like that another day. I want you to be my Lord and Savior.” Friend, if you are willing to say a prayer like that, then do it right now.
Let’s pray.
