The sufferings of Israel are also those of the Church faithful to Christ. Misunderstanding, contempt, rejection. Church history is propagated in schools and universities as a collection of scandals, murderous violence, submissions ordered in the name of faith, peoples discriminated against, enslaved and debased by church fathers, bishops, pastors and missionaries. No positive side is mentioned in the lessons, because faith must be discredited – that’s the will of the father of lies, the devil.
In the same way, the Jews, God’s people, are to be discredited, scorned, belittled and humiliated. The dramatic history of the Hebrews is revised, standardized and depersonalized. These are appalling observations for the beginning of a century in which, thanks to computers and the web, all knowledge is at everyone’s fingertips. But this knowledge is being modified and distorted, so that the persecutors are seen as the victims, and the victims as the oppressors.
Every Jewish return from deportation (from Egypt or Babylon) has been a blessing. The return of the Jews to Israel after 1877 years of exile is unique in the annals of the world. In all of human history, with its many known civilizations, never has a people returned to live in the lands of their ancestors. Never has a people rebuilt on the ruins of their forebears. This return is so unique; how can we fail to understand it as a clear sign of Israel’s living God? When the Lord brought back the captives of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouths were filled with shouts of joy, and our tongues with songs of gladness; then it was said among the nations: the Eternal has done great things for them! The Lord has done great things for us; we rejoice. LORD, bring back our captives.241
Islam is known the world over for its violence, its attacks, its obsolete laws on women and their place in society, its ruinous and pointless constructions. I’m thinking of the construction of the world’s tallest minaret, 887 metres high, at a cost of one billion dollars. A total paradox when you consider the thousands of refugees from the conflicts that have shaken the Middle East. Wars that have thrown millions of people onto the agonizing roads of exile. As expatriates fleeing the suffering caused by fighting between Sunnis, Shiites, Wahhabis, Salafists and other fundamentalist Muslims, they receive no help or support from their co-religionists. No refugee invites himself to the rich oil monarchies knowing that he will not be welcomed. Mohammed and his minions are only as benevolent as it suits them.
On the contrary, Israel has welcomed back its own. Not only losers but also scientists returned to the country, bringing knowledge and skills from all over the world. Put to good use, Jewish science has triumphed in the medical world, in agriculture and in technology. Today, Israel is helping to build desalination plants (removing salt from seawater to make it drinkable) in many countries around the world.
Boycotting Arab products doesn’t change your life. Boycotting products developed and produced in Israel means not using a cell phone, not using a computer, not using a lot of hospital care, not using a lot of medicines, not using a lot of fruit and vegetables, because many irrigation techniques come from Israel.
The prophecy concerning Jerusalem, which plays an important role at the end of time, is being fulfilled before our very eyes, as it is written: Behold, I will make Jerusalem a stupefying cup for all the peoples round about, … In that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All those who lift her up will be bruised; and all the nations of the earth will gather against her.242 Instead of appreciating the blessings that come to us from Israel, the world, through the media and international organizations, criticizes and points the finger at God’s people. What heresy! Technical means enable all the world’s inhabitants to communicate and inform each other. Yet we live in a time when disinformation is more powerful than the dissemination of truth. Truth is dissolved, drowned in a stream of tendentious messages.
Policy
As an outsider to Israel’s political life, the extreme division between Left and Right is regrettable. The refusal of the political parties to listen to each other is a weakness that could lead to disastrous consequences for the entire people. The verbal violence against Arabs and the intransigence of the pioneers of the Right, does not help the Left to reconsider its position on the religious or spiritual question. Because politics is public, inter-party relations and communication must be particularly careful. Not responding to threats from one’s opponents with the same lowbrow rhetoric demonstrates a superior ethic. It’s an undeniable goal that demands enormous strength of character and self-control.
Surely this is the effort we must make if the nations are to say: come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and out of Jerusalem the word of the Lord.243 Eventually, we shall witness a change in the position of many nations, who, instead of criticizing and spreading false words at the forums of international organizations, will turn to Israel for counsel and supplication to the Lord… we will go with you, for we have learned that God is with you.244
As for Israel’s unconditional enemies, they will kill each other in fratricidal conflicts. I will fight your enemies and save your sons. I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh.245
The Gaza Strip is a striking example of self-destruction due to bad investments and their consequences. It could be a commercial city like Singapore or Hong Kong. Instead of investing in building a port, sewage treatment plants and concentrating on civilian objectives, all the money is invested in the armed struggle against Israel or diverted to the private profit of a few wealthy individuals. The city has grown, but the infrastructure has not. Polluted water is discharged directly into the sea, and the beaches are unsanitary. In digging their attack tunnels, the Palestinians have damaged many polluted water pipes, which are slowly seeping into the water table. A city without clean water is doomed to disappear. Pure water allows life to flourish; unclean water transmits disease and makes life impossible. I don’t know if the inhabitants of Gaza have fully grasped the consequences of the ecological bomb that threatens them.
God wants a faithful people
Israel is far from being a perfect people by God’s standards. But the words equality, righteousness, justice have a practical resonance as these ethical values are applied to the people. This nation is compared to the olive tree, a tree that produces oil. This image illustrates the need to be taught the Jewish values that oil human relations. The Israelites have always risen, as the prophet foretold: a branch will come out of Isaiah’s trunk, a shoot will grow from his roots,246 the olive tree always grows back.
In all the centuries, there has been a part of faithful Israel that has risen again. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.247 The Church is on the same path: persecuted, it almost disappears, only to rise again elsewhere.
The Jews could not receive the revelation of Christ, a veil disturbing their sight. But a faithful few did. Salvation became universal! One condition is given: faith, the same faith that animated the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles and all the witnesses throughout the centuries.
In these times, when the media has the ability to inform or misinform us, to stir up trouble in our hearts, to cast doubt on our deepest convictions, it’s vital that we build our lives on a solid foundation. This indestructible structure is faith in the true words of the Bible. It is capable of giving us the foundation we need to withstand the enormous upheavals that are about to affect our planet. Jesus invited his disciples and friends to build on the stone, the solid rock that withstands the onslaught of the storm: whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, is like a prudent man who built his house on the rock.248 Nothing is to be overlooked, neither the faith of the patriarchs, nor the experiences of the twelve tribes of Israel, nor the life of the twelve apostles. Christ is the cornerstone that holds together all this magnificent teaching, this gushing life transmitting an authentic message of peace for those who accept it.
For the disciples and the apostle Paul, Israel is in the continuity of divine revelation, mentioned many times For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then to the Greek.249 The church is mentioned only sparingly, but it has a very important role to play in the history of the peoples of the earth250 provided it is faithful. In Christ, there are no longer Greeks or Jews,251 all are one. We are one body. If one member suffers, the whole body is affected. Everything that affects Israel concerns us as believers, but also on a community level, as the Church. For various reasons, the Jews have suffered martyrdom for centuries. Let us give them our love, our gratitude for their transmission of the biblical writings and for what they are: a people loved by God.
One of King David’s prophecies cannot leave us indifferent: The Eternal has manifested his salvation, he has revealed his justice in the eyes of the nations. He has remembered his kindness and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.252 What is he talking about? A victory over the enemy, the coming of Christ or the return from the deportation? What is happening in Israel is proof of God’s love for his people. All the nations of the world are witnesses to this. It’s impossible to say I didn’t know. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, he will choose Israel again, he will restore them to their land. … The Lord has founded Zion, and the afflicted of his people find refuge there.253
Does Israel have a future? That was the question at the beginning of the chapter. The answer is yes, without the slightest hesitation. Here are a few more reasons given by the prophet Zechariah:
– The Lord is moved with great jealousy for Jerusalem and for Zion.254
– Thus says the Lord, I return to Jerusalem with compassion.255
– Daughter of Zion, shout for joy, rejoice! For behold, I come and dwell among you, says the Lord.256
The prophet Zechariah has a very detailed and realistic vision: Jerusalem, isn’t that a firebrand plucked out of the fire?257 If God protected this firebrand, if he plucked it out of the fire, isn’t that the main reason, the essential argument for saying that there are new steps ahead, that there is a future! I hear your question, what are they?
Purification
One thing in particular seems to stand out. God calls his people to repentance, to holiness, to consider their actions and priorities. The prophet Jeremiah calls Israel to a new covenant. Ezekiel 36 is a little more specific, saying: ” When I take you out from among the nations, I will gather you from all the lands, and bring you back to your own land. Another detail: I will populate the cities, and the ruins will be raised up. The land that was desolate will be cultivated, whereas it was deserted in the eyes of all who passed by.258 In those times, the Lord will give you a new heart. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel; I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will be their God259. The Almighty wants to purify this remnant of Israel, to drive it away from adultery, from the love of money, from all the Baals (false gods) that stand between it and the Eternal. I will take away the iniquity of this land in oneday260 promises important spiritual events that will result in great rejoicing.
The seed shall flourish, the vine shall yield its fruit, the earth shall yield its produce and the heavens shall send down their dew 261 isn’t this already the reality in Israel today?
Often, this text I have resolved in these days to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Fear not! 262 is interpreted in connection with the future paradise. Two things make me think of the earthly present. In paradise, all the elect will be in pleasure and joy, perfect peace, eternal serenity. The divine resolve to do good would be meaningless. Here and now, on the other hand, this sentence makes perfect sense.
Secondly, in paradise, there will be no reason for fear, dread or anxiety. Fear not is proof that this text is about earthly life, where danger and threat are present. So the word ” trust” has its full meaning today.
In God’s family, there’s nothing to fear: our Father knows! 263 Jews and Christians share the same roots. We have no right to ignore each other’s experiences. At a wedding, the whole family is joyful. On the other hand, if one is suffering, the other is also affected. If my brother is attacked, I’m attacked. If my family is reviled, I am affected, unless cowardice has replaced my honor. God loves the Jews. We Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox or Evangelical Christians also have the privilege of loving them. Whatever the situation, our duty is to stand by them and support them.
Mission
Our vocation is to lead the nations to reflect and understand what is happening on earth, especially in the Middle East. A relentless enemy wants to destroy the traces of God on earth. The destroyer is targeting the Jews and the followers of Jesus. Both are persecuted, because both have the same vocation: to announce to the world, to every nation, to every tribe, to every man, that God is a reality. That we can talk to him, that we can approach him, because he loves all men, all women and all children.
They wandered in the desert, they walked in solitude,
without finding a town to live in.
They suffered from hunger and thirst
Their souls were languishing.
In their distress they cried out to the Lord
And he delivered them from their anguish;
He led them along the right path
so that they arrive in a livable city.
Let them praise the Lord for his goodness
And his wonders for the sons of men
For he has satisfied the aching soul
He has filled the hungry soul with good.264