It has now been nearly six weeks since the horrific rocket attacks by Hamas on the nation of Israel and then the beginning of Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza. There has been extensive death and destruction already, and there is no telling how long it will be before the violence comes to an end.
I have been grieving over this “war” from the beginning and finally decided to write this article, reflecting on the words “my people” and considering who are often, and who should be, designated by those words.
Are
contemporary Israelis God’s people? I have serious concerns about the primary
stance of the U.S. government in relation to the current deadly conflict in
Israel/Gaza, but I am dealing here primarily with religious rather than
political aspects of this grave situation.
Online
posts by conservative evangelical Christians, including some of my Facebook “friends,”
indicate overwhelming support for the current nation of Israel, whose citizens
are perceived to be God’s people just as the Israelites in Old Testament times
were.
It
is true that in the Old Testament God calls the Israelites “my people” over 200
times, and the words “my people Israel” appear over 30 times.
In Exodus
19:5-6, God says that the Israelites, who are being led to the “promised land”
by Moses, “will be my most precious possession out of all the peoples”
and that they “will be a kingdom of priests for me and a holy nation.”
Drawing
from those words, I Peter 2:9 in the New Testament declares that now it is the Jesus-followers
who “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who are
God’s own possession” (CEB).
Partly
on the basis of this highly significant verse, I believe God’s people today are
not only, or primarily, the Jewish citizens of the modern nation of Israel or the
Jews as an ethnic group.
And I
am quite certain that the citizens of the nation of Israel today are not by any
means the same as the Israelites whom God called “my people” in the Old
Testament.
What
does it mean for a Jewish rabbi to stand with “my people”? Recently, I had
the opportunity to hear a local Jewish rabbi speak about the challenge that he and
his congregation are facing at the present time.
There
was, naturally, some reference made to the deplorable antisemitism that has
increased in the U.S. since 10/7, which now has a very negative meaning to so
many Jewish people as does 9/11 to most USAmericans.
At
the end of his talk, the rabbi said, and repeated, “As for now, I stand with my
people.” I took those words to mean that he was going to stand with (=support) the
Israel Defense Forces in their retaliatory attacks on Gaza.
But
a Christian pastor who knows the rabbi quite well took it differently. She
thought he meant that he was going to stand with the people of his Jewish
congregation who are incensed because of the Hamas attacks on Israel and
perhaps grieving the death or injury of friends and/or family members there.
Certainly,
a Jewish rabbi as well as a Christian pastor—and perhaps a Muslim
imam—should be expected to stand by his or her congregants in times of stress,
anxiety, and even anger.
Who
should you and I consider to be “my people”? “The earth is the Lord’s,
and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psalm 24:1, NIV)
is another single verse from the Bible that is crucially significant.
God
may have called some people to a special task and referred to them as “my
people.” But most broadly, shouldn’t all the inhabitants of the world be
recognized as God’s people?
As
Creator of “the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), God surely sees all
ethnic groups, adherents of all religions, and even all segments of society who
have no religious faith of any kind as “my people.”
If we are God-believers, shouldn’t we be able to see that all eight billion people in this world are “my people”—God’s and ours—and seek to work tirelessly for the welfare of all, including the peaceful coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians?
I appreciate very much your courage in taking the risk of addressing this issue. And I whole heartedly agree with your conclusion. In fact, while reading the first half to two-thirds of your blog entry, I kept saying to myself all people are God's people. But I was also thinking about your citing conflicting texts in the Bible, identifying them as "significant." In a lecture recently about Bertrand Russell's criticisms and rejection of religion, including communism and fascism, I spent some time dealing with the tribalisms that plague humanity. And I would agree with you that those biblical texts by the Hebrews and then by Christians proclaiming themselves God's people are "significant" -- they're significantly wrong! And they are significant historical examples of tribal hubris at its worst.
ReplyDeleteWell, Anton, in addition to my appreciation of you for reading and responding with candid, thought-provoking comments, I also have a problem with what seems to me to be your lack of understanding and with your making the blatant accusation that the Bible verses upon which some of ideas/beliefs are based are "significantly wrong."
DeleteI have no problem agreeing with you that there have been, and there continues to be, tribalisms that have plagued and still plague humanity. I also have no problem agreeing with you that the Bible verses mentioned have been misunderstood and misused greatly. It is not surprising that an atheist such as Bertrand Russell--or such as Kate Cohen, whose attack on religion I critiqued in my Oct. 24 blog post--picks out the worst examples of religion (Christianity) to use in criticism and reject religion. The atheist "tribe" often points out the worst aspects of religion just as the religious "tribe" often points out the worst aspects of atheism.
But from the beginning, God's words to "father" Abram/Abraham included these "significant" words: "...all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3b, NIV). From this, I take it that God's intention in "calling" Abraham was not to bestow special blessings upon him and the Israelites but for Abraham's descendants to be a blessing for "all peoples," that is, for all whom God considered/considers "my people."
Of course, the Israelites were not faithful to God's calling, but after the Exile in what is now generally recognized as Second Isaiah, God declares that the restored Israelites people are to be a "light to the nations" (Isaiah 42:6, 49:6). Again, God's love and concern was for all the people, not just those that later became the Jewish people. My very first class in seminary was "Introduction to the Old Testament," taught by Pierce Matheney (1930~2016). (You may have known him as the very next year he became the OT professor at Midwestern Seminary here in Kansas City.) The textbook for that course was Norman Gottwald's new book "A Light for the Nations: An Introduction to the Old Testament" (1959).
And then, the end of that "significant" verse in 1 Peter 2:10 says, "You have become this people so that you may speak of the wonderful acts of the one who called you out of darkness into his amazing light." Again, their "calling," as I understand it was to be a light to the nations so that all people would come to know and to worship the Creator God who loves all the people of the world.
Well, I could go on to write about the abject failures of God's chosen people(s) to live up to their calling. There is no question about that. But I stand by my claim that the verses quoted are significantly correct and meaningful when properly understood.
I don’t think I misunderstand at all. You’re suggesting that God, because the Bible told you so, actually chose the Hebrews and then the Christians as special people to bless the world with their mission. So, you believe, too, because the Bible tells you so, that when the Lord, through Moses, commanded the Israelites to kill the Midianites in Numbers 31, that was not a part of being the chosen people? And when the Israelites were commanded by the Lord in Deuteronomy 20 to kill all the men in certain towns but to have as booty the women, children, and livestock, that was because they were chosen people? And when they were commanded in the same chapter to annihilate anything that breathes among the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, that was because they’re the chosen people? I simply don’t believe you believe that stuff. If you don’t, you’re being rather selective in what you do believe in the Bible.
DeleteYou don’t have to be an atheist to take a critical approach to biblical texts. I can believe that the Israelites believed they were responding faithfully to the Holy Other. We human beings are marvelously creative at justifying our interests in all kinds of contexts. But those Israelites were wrong. I can believe that the earliest Christians, given their spiritual heritage and believing they saw something messianic in Jesus of Nazareth, were simply wrong about being the chosen people.
I believe God is working in all historical and cultural contexts of the world. As I’ve said before, there ain’t no place where God ain’t. But those promptings from the spirit of God always get interpreted by people in specific times and places in history and culture. I think that deciding one’s tribe is God’s chosen people is a historical example of spiritual hubris. It is also perilous and mistaken. And if we thinking Christians don’t take seriously biblical criticism of these Christian shibboleths, then the New Atheists are right: We’re offering cover for the fundamentalists.
Thanks for your additional comments and additional criticism of my position, Anton. I will try to make some response tomorrow, but I think I need to respond to other people's comments now.
DeleteWell, Anton, I have read and re-read your comments, which I take as rather stringent criticism of my beliefs. But rather than seeking to justify what I believe, and I will shortly write a bit about that, I think that since this blog post was about who God's people are and who human beings of goodwill should consider "my people" and that you seem to agree with my point about that, we should just leave it there. If you don't like how I arrived at my conclusion, that is all right. And if you don't like the way I interpret the Bible or my convictions as a Christian, that is all right. If you prefer to accept the criticism of religion (Christianity) by such thinkers as Nietzsche and Bertrand Russell, that is all right. And if I don't agree with you, that should be all right, too. In another context we might dialogue about such things more fully. But I don't think this is the proper context to do that.
DeleteAs to my beliefs about and understanding of the Bible, I have written about that at some length about that in two books. The fifth chapter of "Fed Up with Fundamentalism" (2007, 2020) is titled "Fed Up with Fundamentalism's View of the Bible." And the fifth chapter of "The Limits of Liberalism" (2010, 2020) is "The Limits of Liberalism's Understanding of the Bible." In the latter, the first of the three parts of that 28-page chapter is regarding the positive aspect of liberalism's understanding of the Bible, in which I write about the rejection of Biblical inerrancy, the use of Biblical criticism, and the freedom to change.
I stand by what I have written about the Bible in both of those books. And I stand by what I have written in this blog post. I also take your criticism seriously and worthy of ongoing consideration.
Before 6 a.m. this morning, local Thinking Friend Sue Wright sent the following delightful words:
ReplyDelete"For sure in this fractured world it’s easy for us to divide folks into 'our people' and 'those people.' Human mathematics don’t seem capable of the divine addition it would take to make all of us, God’s people.”
Then I received an email with these comments from Thinking Friend Gayle June in St. Louis:
ReplyDelete"Thank you very much for this, Leroy. I have felt this for a long while now...I become so disgusted by people trying to own God for themselves."
Next are these long, meaningful comments from Thinking Friend Mike Greet in Louisville:
ReplyDelete"I appreciate these words. We lived in Palestine in the 80s. I have seen the horrors and dehumanization of the colonial enterprise coupled with Judaism - Zionism - up close. In Brueggemann's terms this is in some ways the consequences of empire building. Israel has taken a seat at the table of empires and the cost is enormous for all who do. There is a parallel in what happened to the soul and the psyche of the White colonial slaver in our history.
"Sometimes I think that this simple-minded society sees everything as a football game where there are only winners and losers. Everyone is losing in this war. Zionism has done to Judaism what evangelicalism has done to Christianity. I have noted that one would think that Jews, of all people, would understand the plight of the Palestinian people better than anyone.
"Imperialism breeds tribalism. Tribalism worships at the altar of empire and nationalism. Those who have the missionary heart, like you do, understand that Jesus has nothing to do with a nationalism that crushes people under the heel of empire. What I learned about living in the occupied territories was that the Israeli state and culture are always at the edge of internal conflict between Jewish Israelis. Often, the only thing holding them together was a fear of an external threat.
"The media here hesitates to speak clearly about the horrors taking place in Gaza and the West Bank. In time we will see all of the truth. I think that our guilt over the Holocaust has caused us to accept that the Palestinians must pay the price for our guilt. Foolish is the word for that use of guilt.
"As you speak of the Rabbi, I am reminded that this catastrophe requires a clear voice from Judaism about whether God values Jewish life more than Palestinian (Christian and Muslim) life. I see the angst and am reminded that many Israeli and other Jews see this as an unavoidable struggle for a faith that is not tribal, and therefore is at best useless (if not destructive) to them and to the world. We are all required to not be intimidated by accusations of being antisemitic simply because we speak also of the injustice that the Palestinian people have endured in the name of God. I think God has a bone to pick with Israel and with Islamic forces that long to build a new empire as well. In the meantime, the children die and we try to make some sense out of the senseless."
Thanks so much, Mike (and I apologize for mistyping your name, calling you Greet instead of Greer), for your lucid comments, which I found to be helpful in thinking about important aspects of the current Israel/Hamas hostilities that I didn't mention in the blog post. (There is so much more I would like to have written, but again, I purposely kept the post to about 700 words.)
DeleteSince Anton had mentioned tribalism above, I was glad to see what you said about that, and I certainly agree with what you wrote. But perhaps the reverse is also true: tribalism breeds imperialism and much of the inhumanity that has been wrought by the wars through the centuries is due to the tribalism that is so prevalent in most of the world's civilizations (which are all too often uncivil, to say the least).
I think the point you made about the guilt over the Holocaust is an important one, too. The terrible treatment of Jewish people through the centuries that largely culminated in the Holocaust--although, certainly, there has been a lot of antisemitism expressed since then--has made it possible for the nation of Israel to do things that would never have been, or be, condoned if done by another nation.
My considered opinion is that what Hamas did on October 7 was overwhelmingly evil--and what Israel has done in retaliation is also overwhelmingly evil.
I failed to post these further comments by Mike Greer that I received several days ago:
Delete"I concur. The ADL has been capitalizing on the accusations of antisemitism for quite a while. They have seen college campuses as a battle ground for their propaganda that is thoroughly intended to crush any support for Palestinians. Any criticism of the state of Israel is now identified as antisemitism. I have been aware of this for quite a while. I appreciate what I see in you as the "missionary heart." We identify with all people in distress and under oppression. I identify with the Jewish dilemma. I understand how deadly to Judaism, as a matter of faith, Zionism has been to the Israeli soul in this quest to build an empire, with all of those attending corruptions. I also mourn for the Palestinians who, in such irony, are being subjected to a new holocaust in the name of compensating for the Jewish Holocaust. Many Jews get this. What has surprised and frightened Israeli and Zionist Jews today is the level of criticism Israel is getting in such a response to their own horror and anger in such a terribly horrific way. Our government issues completely conflicting statements about Jewish persecution and the justifications for the annihilation of the Palestinians. We have made the problem worse and sound incoherent about our selective interest in only some human rights. meanwhile, also in Israel, reasoned intellectual dissent is being crushed."
And then these substantial comments from Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, for sharing your observations. I agree with your concluding remarks about all people as 'God's people.'
"I too have been horrified by the events of October 7 and the subsequent bombing of innocent people in Gaza. I can understand the Palestinian anger toward Israel, but they should also be angry with Hamas, as are many of them. When Hamas launched its horrific attacks on October 7, its leadership knew exactly how the Netanyahu administration would react; in other words, they realized that thousands of Palestinians would probably be killed. For this, and for October 7, they are villains, not heroes.
"The reaction of Netanyahu certainly cannot be condoned either. Part of Netanyahu's ham-fisted response is probably to cover for the failure of his administration to prevent the attacks on October 7 in the first place.
"I support the state of Israel, although not its current Palestinian policies. Israel's leaders and people will have to make some very difficult decisions in the future if Israelis want to live in peace. Both sides will need to make some painful concessions. As for anti-Semitism, there is of course absolutely no justification for it, nor is there for Islamophobia. Jews and Muslims should stand together to combat hatred and to foster a future together based on mutual respect and cooperation--and the rest of us should stand with them as well."
Book of Jonah/Yom Kippur challenge: Is the ‘god’ of our people truly the ‘God’ who cares for the welfare of all people(s)?
ReplyDeleteSome of us wonder perhaps “We are all God’s children” [generated by the Power of the Universe], but “We are NOT all god’s people” [congregated for (our/a particular/the?) god’s purposes]. Eckhart: “For the sake of ‘God’, I take leave of ‘god.’”
Reflection on the “genitive” case [Greek] or the “construct” relationship {Hebrew} might suggest that we over-emphasize the ‘possessive’ aspect and under-emphasize the “qualities/characteristics’ dimension of these linguistic uses.
One might aver that God is for the flourishing of all persons (all life?), but not all peoples are for this flourishing of all; and thus, not a ‘people’ of (this concept of) god.
“Lo-ammi” Not my people. “[F]or you are not my people and I am not your God.” [Hosea 1:9 NRSV; JPS has “I will not be your God.”]
Shalom, Dick
Thanks for your thought-provoking comments, Dick. You have a way of seeing and expressing aspects of any given topic that is different from what most of us know or understand adequately, and whenever you post comments, I find myself wishing I knew more and understood better what you wrote.
DeleteYour last two paragraphs are especially worth further pondering, and I found it interesting that you quoted those words from Hosea as they are referred to in the verse following that "significant" verse of 1 Peter 2:9 that I mentioned in the blog post and again in my response to Anton above.
Most recently, I received this catchy comment from Thinking Friend Glenn Hinson, who also lives in Louisville (as Mike Greer above):
ReplyDelete"I’m with you, Leroy. Surely, God does not have such low candlepower that God can only illuminate the people of Israel or Jews or Christians."
Great Blog Leroy and I totally agree with you and in the old Testament GOD did use the Jewish people as an example to the then known world-'as His people'!
ReplyDeleteIn the new Testament JESUS says that He has NO Favorites and that All Saved people are 'His people'!!
Praise God
This afternoon, I also received the following important comments from local Thinking Friend Vern Barnet.
ReplyDelete"Sorry to sound like a naive religious person, but I think this fits with your adumbration of 'my people': Hatred does not cease by hatred. Hatred ceases by love.
"The policies of the Israeli government seem now and for decades to make sure hatred continues until the Palestinians are removed from the area the current government claims is its historic right. Unless two states can be established, Israel's disproportionate response is creating a new generation of terrorists for the future.
"Declining to respond in a violent manner with many collateral deaths is also simply smarter, as Thomas Friedman pointed out recently (Oct 29) in recalling the restraint of India's Prime Minister then, Manmohan Singh, when Indian was attacked from Pakistan, and the successful management of the violence and resolution of the situation. Friedman brings this up against the stupidity of the Israeli military response.
"My general and specific comments about war, reflecting on 9/11 and now the Hamas-Israel war, in which I analyze three metaphors for violence, crime, war, and disease, are found at https://cres.org/programs2023.htm#911 where I quote not only Friedman but also Zeynep Tufekci .
A few days ago, I received these warm comments from a local retired minister:
ReplyDelete" I believe you have framed this correctly and succinctly. I myself have been agonizing over the situation. Thank you so much for your insightful and informative statements reflecting biblical foundations."
Two local women who are Thinking Friends send brief, affirmative comments:
ReplyDelete"Thank you, Leroy, for these important words in thinking about who are 'God's people'." (Jan Buerge)
"Well done, Leroy. I wholeheartedly agree. Thank you for speaking up." (Linda Schroeder)
As usual I have waited several days to read the diversity of comments made on your blog. Many of my thoughts could not be shared in a Baptist church, too heretical. But here goes.
ReplyDeleteModern Israel was not established by God. It was born with the support of USAmerican and British money and guns. I see the opposite bases for approaching the Hamas/Israel conflict with the Russian/Ukraine conflict. Palestinians were there first. Ukrainians were there first. In fact Ukraine has the historical right to claim Russia since the Russ came from what is now Ukraine.
The descendants of Abraham were to be a holy nation, a nation of priests. This did not necessarily mean a geographical nation. Their original territory (as described where Abraham had walked) would have given them a launching pad into the western (and eastern) world with the revelatory word of God, being priests, preaching a message of "seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." Instead they pulled in the ropes of their tent, declared themselves a chosen (better than others) people, their conquered land a God-given possession, and then had to learn the hard way (Jonah and Second Isaiah) they were never intended to be a closed off people, a lesson they never understood.
You are so correct in saying this discussion needs more space than this will allow. We all grieve about Oct. 7. We grieve Israel felt method for method was the only way to respond. We grieve through the years compromise and mutual respect have not been the goals of national leaders. The blood of peaceful martyrs has rarely changed the minds of those set on domination.
Sorry to be dropping in so late, but I see NCTom just got here, too. Just as I suspect most if not all readers of this blog would be horrified to have Donald Trump once again being the face of America, so too many Jews in both America and Israel are horrified to have Netanyahu as the world face of Judaism and of Israel. And it just so happens that Trump and Netanyahu are friends and allies. Another Trump ally was just elected to lead Argentina. What also horrifies me is how Biden has followed so much of Trump's actions concerning Israel. For instance, he just left in place Trump's move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem, even with that creating an explicit recognition of Jerusalem as the official capitol of Israel. We have fallen so far from the days when Jimmy Carter could be a good faith negotiator between Israel and Palestine. Meanwhile, a group of pro-Israel lobbying groups in America such as AIPAC and ADL have been flexing economic and political power to resist everyone from Jewish peace groups to Progressives in Congress, most notably Rashida Tlaib, the sole Palestinian-America member of Congress. MAGA has gone international. The Nation just posted this article today: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/antisemitism-palestine-israel-gaza/
ReplyDelete