ISRAEL AT WAR – Revisited
As this war between
Israel and some of its Arab neighbors continues, many Christians are being
asked where they stand regarding Israel’s response to the Hamas attack from Gaza
in the South, and the continuing threats from Hezbollah in Lebanon from the North.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Strip) (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/10/what-is-hezbollah-a-look-at-the-lebanese-armed-group-backing-hamas )
To provide
some context for my comments to other Christians in that regard, I refer to the
Scripture that says: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning,…(Romans 15: 4). Our Old Testament holds the keys to
the answers to many questions.
Our Bible explains
the long-standing hostility between Israel and its Arab neighbors. In fact, the
violence and other hostility between the two sides pre-dates even the existence
of the Nation of Israel. That history began following what we now commonly call
“Noah’s Flood”. Although the Flood affected the entire Earth, my comments will focus
on the earlier history and genealogy of Noah’s family and descendants. Of
particular note is the impact of their distribution in the Middle East and the
regions of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea affected by the war.
In the Old
Testament Book of Genesis, Chapter Six notes the births of Noah’s sons Shem,
Ham and Japheth. It also records the events / circumstances that led God to
flood the Earth…sparing only righteous Noah and his family. Chapters Seven and
Eight record the events in the Ark during and immediately following the flood.
Chapter Nine documents the Covenant that God made with Noah to never again
flood the Earth. It also notes that “…of (the three sons) was the whole Earth overspread.”
(v. 19) Chapter Ten presents the names of the generations of the sons of Noah
and their sons. It also notes “…by these were the nations divided in the Earth
after the flood.” (v. 32) [Note the following website for several maps / images
of the distribution of these families:
A few of the
many names in these generations are more recognizable to Christians than the
others, so I want to focus on just some of them.
Shem was the first mentioned of the sons
of Noah. His sons included Elam, Asshur,
Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. The names of these sons are not widely recognized but
their descendants are more familiar to Bible students. The term “Hebrew”
was derived from Shem’s great-grandson, whose name was “Eber”. (Strong’s Expanded
Concordance Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary # 5680) That family line also extended to include
Abram / Abraham (Genesis 14: 13) and the members of the Nation of Israel…leading
to our Lord Jesus Christ. Shem’s name gave us the derivative “Semite”, and
is used as a classification for his other descendants including the Assyrians, Chaldeans,
Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and Arabs, among others. Note these groups
include several who have been visceral enemies of Israel. They migrated into
the regions of the Western Mediterranean, Southwestern Asia, and the Arabian
Peninsula.
Japheth was the youngest son of Noah. His
sons included Gomer, Magog Tubal and Meschech, among others. The scripture
notes: “By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands;…”(v. 5) They migrated to areas North, East and West
of the Mediterranean Sea, into Eastern Europe and Asia. Japheth’s sons and
their descendants are relevant to this discussion because of their prominence
in the Old Testament through the Prophet Ezekiel. Through Ezekiel’s prophecy, the LORD God proclaimed
His opposition to Japheth’s sons because of their future war against Israel
after Israel had returned to its Promised Land from its centuries of
dispersion. (Ezekiel Chapters 37, 38 and 39)
Ham was the middle son of Noah. His sons
included Cush and Canaan, among others…and he was the grandfather of Nimrod.
Ham’s sons and their descendants migrated to areas South of the Mediterranean
Sea in Northern Africa, and Eastward into Arabia south of the Persian Gulf. Bible students will recognize the name Canaan.
The land settled by Canaan’s descendants bears his name and later became known
as “Israel’s Promised Land” following the LORD’s Covenant with Abram / Abraham.
(Genesis Chapter 15). Following their Exodus from Egypt, and after the people
of Israel had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, God directed Joshua to
lead them in battle to possess the Promised Land. (Joshua Chapter One) Note
this early violent conflict was directed by God in support of Israel to gain
their new land. (Deuteronomy 7: 1-10); (https://www.biblestudy.org/maps/who-was-israel-to-conquer.html )
Many have questioned why God would support violence against some Semites, the Japhetites
/ Japhetites and Canaanites. The answer
lies in further review of history through the Bible, dating back to the
post-Flood era. Specifically, the antagonist who was pursuing the agenda of the
Enemy Satan was Ham’s grandson, Nimrod.
Rather than trying to describe Nimrod
in my own words, I provide the following excerpt from my internet search: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod):
Traditions and legends[edit]
In Jewish and Christian tradition, Nimrod is considered the leader of those who built the
Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar,[8] although the Bible never actually states this. Nimrod's kingdom
included the cities of Babel, Erech, Akkad, and perhaps Calneh, in Shinar (Gen 10:10).[9] Flavius Josephus believed that it was likely under his direction that the building
of Babel and its tower began; in addition to Josephus, this is also the view
found in the Talmud (Chullin 89a, Pesahim 94b, Erubin 53a, Avodah Zarah 53b), and later midrash such as Genesis Rabba. Several of these early Judaic sources also assert that the king Amraphel, who wars with Abraham later in Genesis, is none other than Nimrod
himself.
Josephus wrote:[10]
Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and
contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and
of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it
were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own
courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government
into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to
bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be
revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he
would build a tower too high for the waters to reach. And that he would avenge
himself on God for destroying their forefathers. Now the multitude were very
ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of
cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains,
nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the
multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could
expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built,
that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really
was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of
bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they
acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not
grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult
among them, by producing in them diverse languages, and causing that, through
the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one
another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because
of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the
Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion ...”
In another commentary from the noted historian Matthew
Henry, Nimrod is again portrayed as a powerful hunter and forceful leader of
men. He used his skills to dominate his
peers, and eventually controlled the people and land of Babel. His lust for
power brought him establish his base there, knowing that he was denying and defying
the will of God. [See: https://www.htmlbible.com/kjv30/index2.htm , Genesis Chapter 10, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Verses
8-14.]
Although Nimrod was specifically from the lineage of Ham, Chapter
11 of the Scripture notes that “the whole earth was of one language and one
speech”. Notwithstanding their ancestry
/ parentage, they had travelled together to Babel. They had individually and
collectively rejected God’s instructions to “…replenish the earth.” (scatter)
They had all disobeyed God, and followed Nimrod.
At this point I’d like to emphasize that after God confounded
the speech of the Nations at the Tower of Babel, He dispersed them. (Genesis
Chapter 11) With man having rejected His Supremacy as their true God, the LORD moved
to implement the next phase of His Plan for the salvation of mankind. That
Scripture is noted in Genesis Chapter 12, where the LORD again calls on one man…this
time Abram (later named Abraham)…to lead the implementation of His next step to
bring salvation to mankind. Remember,
the LORD always sees the “Big Picture”, while men do not have that perspective
of “knowing the end from the beginning”. (Isaiah 46: 9-13)
In my next post I’ll
review some additional relevant history that further shows how both sides of
this Israel – Hamas conflict are related. Several families claim Abraham to be their “Father”.
Dr. W. A. (Bill)
Robinson
