UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Sir,

Very interesting times we live in indeed – wars and rumours of war – but most noteworthy is the Palestine/Israel conflict. 

I was watching CNN news recently when the newsreader told listeners that very soon they (CNN) will put together a team of experts who will interrogate the real ‘root causes’ of this conflict as no truce (however short) seems to work. 

Today we seem to have an endless supply of leaders offering ideas and opinions on how to bring peace to the Middle East. 
Behind most of these is the simplistic concept that Arabs and Jews can sit down together, talk things out and eventually reach peace like most other people would do, or at least like most other people in the western world might do.

The fallacy behind such thinking lies in the fact that these leaders see the Middle East problem as territorial and political while, in fact, the real problem is theological. 
They also seem to have no appreciation of the historical depth of this struggle. 
The truth is that the Middle East problem is a religious one, which has been festering now for over 4 000 years. 

In order to gain a proper and realistic understanding of the scope of this problem we must return to its ancient roots which are clearly spelled out for us in the Bible. 

When we turn to the Bible, we discover that the whole conflict in the Middle East began long ago as a family problem. 

Our first glimpse of this problem is found in Genesis 16.  We are told that God had promised Abraham an heir, however, the patriarch was 85 years old and an heir had not yet been born, due to the barrenness of his wife Sarah. 

In what might have been a weak moment in Abraham’s faith, he accepted his wife’s offer of her Egyptians slave, Hagar, in the hope that perhaps she could bear them a son and an heir.  As a result of this arrangement, Ishmael was born. 

Ishmael was described as a ‘wild man’ whose hand would be against every man, or as the New International Version puts it ‘he will live in hostility toward all his brothers’ (Gen 16:12).  It seems that much of the hostility of the Middle East can be traced back through the ages to this man. 

He is, in fact, considered by the Muslims to be the father of the Arab race – just like the Jews consider Abraham to be their father.
When I was in Bible School and later travelling on pilgrimage to Israel, the Israeli/Palestine story really intrigued me and I got to understand what is going on in the Old Testament in as far as these nations are concerned. 

It is, therefore, my belief that as long as the conflicts touch on God’s plans for humanity, I’m afraid there isn’t anything anyone can do save to respect the solutions offered in the Bible and prepare ourselves for the Coming of Christ - the Rapture. 
The void created by the Rapture will be filled in by the Anti-Christ.   From here on, a whole new chapter opens up.

Phindile Weatherson, Mbabane

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