Hi Friends. A friend from overseas asked me to answer some questions about Israel yesterday. “Why is the Middle East always in turmoil? And will Israel ever have peace?” This friend asked me to do some Bible teaching as well. Although I have enjoyed writing short stories, I think this request is more important, especially as a second friend asked to join the lessons.
So today I am going to begin teaching simple answers to questions like these. You will be seeing a new banner on this page as soon as my computer tech can set it up. The new banner will be this: Unlocking Ancient Words & Wisdom with Sheri Schofield.
I’ve studied this theology in college at Prairie Bible Institute (Now Prairie College) and BIOLA University and have been teaching and writing about the Bible for over forty years. I hope I can answer questions you may have as well. On the menu bar, there is a Contact feature. If you have questions, please post them there. Thanks!
Sheri Schofield
Israel & the Middle East
So why is the Middle East always in turmoil? And will Israel ever have peace?
The answer to this question goes all the way back to Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve, the first people God created, disobeyed God. The penalty was separation from their relationship with God, and their bodies would someday die. But God promised he would someday provide a way for humans to break the power of death and separation. He told Satan, who had taken on the body of a serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he (the woman’s offspring) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel,” Genesis 3:15 (New International Version).
This seemed to be a mystery. But it was a clue to how God would someday restore humanity’s relationship with him.
The next clue was given to Abraham, whose name was Abram until God changed it: “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates…” Genesis 15:18.
Later, God gave Abraham a promise known as the Abrahamic Covenant. “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all the nations of the world will be blessed, because you have obeyed me” Genesis 22:16-18 (NIV).
God declared that because Abraham had been willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to the Lord, God would greatly bless Abraham, all his descendants and all nations on earth.
This set of verses gives enough clues that Satan knew the coming Savior would be a descendant of Abraham through Isaac. Through this line from Abraham, God would rescue humanity from Satan’s rule. Therefore, Satan turned his fierce wrath on Isaac’s descendants: the Israeli people.
The Islamic nations, which descended from Abraham through Hagar and Ishmael, have changed the story recorded in the Holy Bible. They have insisted that Abraham offered Ishmael, not Isaac, to God. They claim Ismael was to inherit the land and a messiah would come from Ishmael’s line. They speak of the Twelfth Imam coming to rule the earth, not Jesus, the true Messiah.
And there lies the heart of the problem. Both the Arabs and the Jews claim to be God’s chosen people. Both claim they were to inherit the land. Both claim a messiah coming from their own people.
For this reason, this deep jealousy and hatred, the Arab/Islamic nations want to destroy the Israeli people. The closer we come to the return of Jesus to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords, the more violent the fight becomes. Satan is determined to destroy Israel.
This conflict is at the heart of the Middle East conflict.
Will Israel ever have peace? Yes! When Jesus returns to earth and establishes his kingdom and sits on the throne in Jerusalem. The day is coming soon!
“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord” Ezekiel 39:25-29 (NIV).