Along with denouncing recognition of a Palestinian state by key Western leaders, there is also a great need to re-state the abiding truth that there is still hope for peace in the Middle East.
That Arab and Jew are not forever consigned to inevitable violent clashes; that in fact there are even some who make beautiful music together while worshipping the same God, believe it or not.
I’m talking of Yeshua (Jesus), the Jewish Messiah. Such harmony actually exists in congregations across Israel and has been powerfully demonstrated through a so-called Israel and Ishmael Worship Tour of France and Belgium during the summer.
For God has always intended to bless both Isaac and Ishmael. For the record, Isaac’s son Jacob was re-named Israel (“because he struggled with God and overcame”) and his brother Ishmael became the patriarch of the Arab people whom God promised to bless as well as the Jewish sons of Jacob.
And when Yeshua came on the scene some 2,000 years later, the gospel (or good news) of his mission was that he had come to reconcile man both with God and each other. That, in Christ, the barrier of hostility would be broken, and peace would be restored (Ephesians 2:14-16).
And it came to pass, in recent years, that the musical Sakhnini brothers of Nazareth became born-again Christians and have since teamed up with their Jewish brothers and sisters who also love Jesus.
Their worship tour, organised by Maoz Israel, covered 18 cities in a whirlwind 30 days with churches packed to hear Arabs and Jews worshipping Yeshua together in Hebrew, Arabic and French. In a bold initiative to make an impact on a French-speaking world approaching 700 million people, they shared their common love for Jesus with both Christians and refugees from Muslim-majority nations.
The team even led worship at the International Gypsy Conference where 45,000 Gypsies gather in caravans for week-long fellowship.
A Maoz spokesperson explained: “What moved people most wasn’t just the music, but the testimony: that Jews and Arabs can live, work, and worship side by side because of Yeshua. For many, it was their first time hearing truth about Israel – or even meeting an Arab Christian.”
Naturally, security was an issue, but barriers came down as their audiences were encouraged to look up. The spokesperson added: “We were there to demonstrate how Jews and Arabs who love Yeshua are not only the solution to the Middle East conflict; they are evidence of God’s transformative power to the unbelieving world.”
The Apostle Paul spoke of how the gospel produces “one new man out of the two, thus making peace,” reconciling them to God through what Jesus did in dying for us all on the cross. It’s a truly wonderful scenario with the potential to transform the region into a paradise of peace – if only the warring parties would acknowledge the God who truly loves them. And this will indeed happen at some future time (see Isaiah 19:25-27).
Jesus is rightly identified as Isaiah’s ‘Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6), but those who wish to inherit this most precious and seemingly elusive commodity must effectively do what the ancient Israelites did in Egypt 3,500 years ago in, figuratively, marking the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts of their hearts.
That will set them free from the slavery of sin and conflict. Yes, people will be divided over Jesus, but he is also the bridge to reconciliation.
This is not a two-state solution; it’s a ‘one new man’ solution!
Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon; Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com; To the Jew First, A Nation Reborn, and King of the Jews, all available from Christian Publications International.
