On Sunday morning at the church, much conversation focused on the situation in Israel. Part of that conversation was about those with friends, family, and others in harm’s way. One of our families has Jewish relatives (including a Rabbi brother), and another is a Search and Rescue colleague and friend. We also had an elder and his wife from our church family vacationing there when the cruise ship summoned their tour bus to return so the boat could high-tail it out of there. So far, all these principles are safe.
Other conversations centered on the politics of the region. I am always amazed at how many experts we have on the geopolitical situation in an area plagued with strife longer than we can imagine. And like American politics, these opinions are emotionally charged even though many have no ties to the region.
I know enough of the history to know it is far more complicated than my pea-sized brain can comprehend; quite frankly, it’s a hot mess!
So here is a very very basic, albeit incomplete, semi-chronological list of peoples who all have claimed the region as “theirs” over thousands of years: Canaanites, Elamites, Hebrews (people of the patriarchs), Egyptians, Israelites (post-exodus), Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Judeans (post-exile), Macedonians, Seleucids, Hasmoneans, Romans, Syrian-Palestinians, Byzantines, Islamists, Ottomans, Zionists/Palestinians… Like I said, a hot mess.
This HitchHiker is not making an endorsement of any of the above groups or their claims, it is simply to show you how incredibly complicated this situation is, and I do not have an answer nor am I taking a side.
Well, except for this:
The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein… Psalm 24:1
I pray for all the innocent placed in harms way, and for all of the deceased and their families. I also fervently pray for
Peace
[Shalom ( שָׁלוֹם) Salaam (سلام)].
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