Some people believe support for Israel and the Palestinians is incompatible. We at Alliance for the Peace of Jerusalem firmly reject this belief.
As followers of the Jewish Messiah and adherents of Scripture, we affirm the continued chosenness of Israel (Jeremiah 31:35–37; Romans 9:4), God’s promise of the land of Israel to Jewish people as an eternal covenant (Genesis 15:18–19; Psalm 105:8–11; Galatians 3:17–18), and modern Israel’s right to exist and defend herself.
We also affirm the truth of God’s love for all people, including Palestinians, and that Jesus died to reconcile all people to Himself. And, as stated in denial number six from our Statement on Israel, the Nations, and the Gospel, “We deny that hostility towards Palestinians, or any other peoples in the Middle East, is congruent with expressing love and support for Israel.” 1
Jesus Died for All
Perhaps one of the clearest truths in all Scripture is that God loves the entire world and sent His Son to die for the sins of Jewish and Gentile people alike so we could all be reconciled to Him. John 3:16, the beloved passage, teaches this clear truth: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Although Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus, a Jewish religious man, when he stated these words, he ultimately intended this message for all nations.
Jesus commanded His disciples to proclaim this gospel message to the entire world (Matthew 28:19–20). As we state in affirmation number six from our statement, “We affirm the importance of the Great Commission, to ‘make disciples of all nations’—so Jews, Arabs, those who live in the Middle East, and all humanity may receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life by trusting in Jesus as Messiah and Lord.”2
The prophet Isaiah confirms it was God’s plan from the very beginning to save all people through the Jewish Messiah and for Jewish people to be a light to the nations: “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations” (Isa 42:6).
Unity in Diversity within the Church Today
Throughout the New Testament, we see the Great Commission carried out by Jesus’ apostles, especially the apostle Paul, a Jewish Pharisee who was called to preach the good news to the nations (Ephesians 3:8–9). He affirmed repeatedly, as does the rest of Scripture, Gentiles are loved by God and equally receive redemption through Messiah: “There is neither Jew nor Greek [Gentile], there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). In other words, whether a believer is Palestinian or Israeli, he or she is loved and accepted equally in God’s sight through Messiah Jesus’ atoning work.
Now, some wrongly interpret this passage to mean Paul was abolishing the categories of Jewish and Gentile (Israel and the nations) in the church. Not only does this interpretation fail to account for the rest of Scripture, but the logic also does not follow. In addition to the categories of Jewish and Gentile, Paul used the categories of male and female. But do men cease to be men and women cease to be women when they place their faith in Jesus? Or course not. Both men and women are equal in God’s sight, yet each maintain their distinctions. In the same way, Jewish people remain Jewish, and Gentiles retain their unique identities.
In Galatians, Paul was expressing the beautiful teaching of unity in diversity in the body of Messiah. As David Stern, Messianic Jewish author of the Jewish New Testament Commentary, explains,
The Bible recognizes such differences between various groups. The Torah has commands which apply to the king but not to his subjects, to cohanim (priests) but not other Jews, to men but not women. The New Testament too has different commands for men and women, husbands and wives, parents and children, slaves and masters, leaders and followers, widows and other women (see 1 Cor. 11:2–16, 14:34–36; Eph. 5:22–6:9; Col. 3:18–4:1; 1 Tim. 3:1–13, 5:3–16; Heb 13:7, 17; 1 Pt. 3:1–7); and it makes special demands of pastors, elders, shammashim (deacons) and evangelists which are appropriate to their offices but are never regarded as undermining the equality of all believers before God. Similarly, there remain differences between Jews and Gentiles, differences in cultural background and religious heritage, differences in what God has promised them as a people . . . and differences in what they are commanded to do.3
This means both Palestinians and Israeli Jews in the body of Messiah retain their distinct backgrounds, callings, and promises from God, while being equally loved by God and one in Messiah. This is beautifully evident in Israel today, as many Jewish and Arab believers in Jesus regularly fellowship and worship together in grace and truth despite political hostilities in the region.4
Unity in Diversity in the Coming Kingdom
This unity in diversity in the body of Messiah will continue in God’s coming kingdom. In the apostle John’s vision of heaven, he described seeing “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9).
Similarly, the prophet Isaiah envisioned a future earth where Israel and her Arab enemies live at peace with one another, and each distinct nation is described as having a relationship with the Lord. Note the unity amid diversity, even in the coming kingdom:
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance” (Isa 19:23–25).
We see in this passage how, in the future, Israel and the nations remain distinct, yet equally loved by God.
We long for this future day when Israelis and Palestinians will live in peace with one another, and war will be no more (Isaiah 2:4). But until this day, we must continue to demonstrate love of neighbor to both hurting Israelis and hurting Palestinians, as there are many innocent Palestinians who are suffering and want peace with their Jewish neighbors. The Hamas Ministry of Health estimates 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War,5 and the United Nations estimates more than 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced at least once since then.6
We at the Alliance firmly deny that the church can effectively bear witness for Jesus in the Middle East without showing compassion toward the poor, vulnerable, and suffering. To the contrary, Jesus commands the church to care for widows, orphans, prisoners, the physically weak, and the impoverished.7 These truths should move us to pray for hurting Palestinians, the defeat of Hamas, and an end to wars in the Middle East. And most importantly, we must continue to pray both Israelis and Palestinians come to know the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Messiah.
by Jennifer Miles
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1 Denial #6, “Our Hope for Peace: A Statement on Israel, the Nations and the Gospel,” Alliance for the Peace of Jerusalem, accessed August 21, 2024, https://allianceforthepeaceofjerusalem.com/statement.
2 Affirmation #6, Ibid.
3 David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary: A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament, electronic ed. (Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1996), Gal 3:28.
4 See this video as an example.
5 It is important to note, however, that Hamas is not a reliable source of information and does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its death counts. In addition, the Israel Defense Forces estimates that it has killed at least 17,000 Hamas militants, along with many others whose bodies have not been found. Given these numbers, the civilian to combatant ratio is close to 1:1, extraordinarily low for urban warfare. Marc Shulman, “Day 314 of the War: Possible Progress in Doha, Barrages in North, Settler Violence in the West Bank, El Al Reports Record Profits,” Tel Aviv Diary, August 15, 2024, https://marcschulman.substack.com/p/day-314-of-the-war-possible-progress?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=251385&post_id=147761416&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=t2m3&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email. To date, 1,659 Israelis (civilians, first responders, and security forces) have been killed, and more than 86,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes. “Situation Room,” StandWithUs.com, accessed August 21, 2024.
6 “About 90% of people in Gaza displaced since war began, says UN agency,” The Guardian, July 3, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/03/about-90-of-people-in-gaza-displaced-since-war-began-says-un-agency.
7 Denial #7, “Our Hope for Peace: A Statement on Israel, the Nations and the Gospel.”
