Only bad Bible exegesis says U.S. must ALWAYS back Israeli actions
Really bad Bible exegesis says the U.S. must ALWAYS back Israeli actions, no matter what Israel decides to do, no matter how the react to opposition, no matter how they treat the Palestinians or any of their Arab neighbors.Those who insist opposing Israel in any way will bring God’s curse or judgment upon our nation usually base that on a Bible passage in the Book of Genesis, where God made a covenant with Abraham. It reads like this (from the New Revised Standard Version):
“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ … Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’ ” (Genesis 12:1-3, 7).”
Most fundamentalists and “hard core” biblical literalists use this passage of Scripture to teach two basic “facts” about Israel and the U.S.-Israeli relationship: 1) “cursing” or opposing Israel in any way will bring a curse upon the U.S., and, 2) God made his first promises here that the land we know as Israel will belong to the Jews as Abraham’s descendants.
As a graduate of an accredited Bible college and a one-time pastor, I speak from some understanding when I say the Bible does NOT teach that opposing Israel will bring some sort of condemnation or judgment upon the U.S., or any other nation in this Bible passage. That’s just plain wrong. And, the Bible does NOT teach in this passage that the “Holy Land” belongs to Israel as God’s chosen people.
You really don’t need to be a highly educated Bible scholar (I don’t claim to be; I have an undergrad degree in Bible and theology and most of an M.A. in history) to figure this out. You simply need to read the Bible and pay attention. I am perplexed and, yes, angered, at the so-called “Bible teachers,” evangelists, pastors, and “tele-vangelists” out there who have duped so many people, based on Genesis 13, into slavishly supporting everything modern Israel does.
I’ve already wasted too much time on this stuff, but here goes. Let’s assume there was a historical figure we know from Scripture as Abraham. Let’s assume God appeared to him and made these promises. Let’s further assume, as the rest of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers (the Pentateuch, as this section of Scripture is called), teach, that Abraham became the father of Isaac — from whom the Jews descended — and Ishmael, from whom the Arab nations descended.
Given all that, here’s the deal: This narrative of God’s promises to Abraham came BEFORE Isaac and Ishmael were conceived or born. So — to be consistent (and many biblical literalists have HUGE problems with consistency), Genesis 12 applies to ALL descendants of Abraham, Jews and Arabs. Given that truth, we are obligated, as far as the “blessing and cursing” conditions of Genesis 12 are concerned, to never oppose either Israel or the Palestinians.
In other words, the oddball teaching pushed by those who say we are facing judgment if we speak out against atrocities by Israel, must also say we face that issue if we speak out against atrocities by the Arabs or Palestinians.
End of game — it’s a draw. Israel gets no more of a “free pass” to destroy Palestinians and their villages than do the Palestinians to destroy Israelis and their villages.
Now can we set aside the silliness and work for some sort of reality in the Middle East?? Probably not.
Ah, well.
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