Unless you have been hiding under a rock or cruising the Pacific Ocean without access to internet, time and again in this latest hellscape between Israel and Hamas, media outlets and government talking heads have been pushing their age-old chimera, a ‘Two-State Solution,’ in which a lasting, independent State of Palestine would exist alongside the State of Israel. Is this even marginally possible?
Israeli support for a ‘Two-State Solution’ was 62% in 2012. In a Gallop poll (Oct. 17 – Dec. 3, 2023), currently 65% of Israelis are against it. In a November 2023 Palestinian poll, only 17% support a Two-State Solution, while 74% want a Palestinian state.1 Politically, it appears neither Arab nor Jew is interested in such a neighbourly outcome.
In Part One, attention was given to (a) the region’s leadership, and (b) its consistently failing historical efforts to reach a solution. In Part Two, we will consider (c) what the Bible’s view on a ‘Two-State Solution’ is. Does it say there will be a Jewish and Palestinian State occupying the same land? A good place to begin would be to go backwards – to the time of Abram and to a time when ten different people groups occupied the region “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18).
The cover of The Economist recently showed a dirty Israeli flag tilting precariously, buffeted by fierce sandstorm winds. Heavy letters above the flag read ‘ISRAEL ALONE.’
Israel has consistently been alone, as their long history demonstrates. Ghettoized, demonized, dispossessed, even exterminated – yet she successfully
outlives all her enemies.
(See, The Economist, 21 March, 2024)
But What About Ishmael?
Most reading here will be familiar with what Christians commonly refer to as the Abrahamic Covenant, where God said to Abram …
“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:18-21; see also Genesis 12:7; 13:14-17; 17:1-21 and 22:15-18)
Some have contended that a close reading of Genesis 15:18 does NOT say that the Jews inherit the land solely – that Abraham had TWO sons and therefore the land was intended to be divided up among them both – Jew and Arab; Isaac and Ishmael. 2 If this reading has merit, then the ‘Two-State Solution’ being pushed by several countries would appear to have a biblical footing. But is this what God said?
Israel was accused of genocide in the 2014 Gaza war and in 2016 by BLM. Such talk is baseless and morally perverts its precise definition in the region’s only democratic country where currently 1.7 million Arab citizens live with full citizen rights.
On a light note, remember that Sunday School ditty “Father Abraham, had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham?” Indeed, he did - eight children in all - Ishmael (son, with Hagar) Isaac (son, with Sarah), Zimran (son, with Keturah), Jokshan (son, with Keturah), Medan (son, with Keturah), Midian (son, with Keturah), Ishbak (son, with Keturah) and Shuah (son, with Keturah). If son one and two share the land, why not be more egalitarian and include three, four, five - eight as well?
Ishmael was born about 14 years before Isaac showed up, suggesting the supremacy of Ishmael over his brother and consistency with the Law of Primogeniture (‘first-born”) and that system of inheritance. Therefore, the reasoning goes – Ishmael and his descendants are justly the inheritors to the ‘land’ promised. What seems forgotten however is …
(a) the parents’ attempt at ‘creating’ an answer to infertility is noted as a failure to trust in God’s ability (Genesis. 16; 17:21),
(b) God explicitly said that the covenant promise would come through a son born to Sarah – no other (Genesis 17:19, 21),
(c) it was “an everlasting covenant for his [Isaac] descendants after him,” (Genesis 17:19), and
(d) there remain several ‘reversal’ examples where primogeniture become ultimogeniture (junior right), as with Jacob / Esau and Ephraim / Manasseh.
No less than 12 times, the phrase “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” is repeated – reminding us that God’s covenant plan and purpose is traced - and fixed - through these three … and for all of those who descend from them.3 Nowhere do we ever read “Abraham, Ishmael and Nebaioth” (Genesis 25:13-16). God excludes him.
While the Qur’an substitutes Isaac for Ishmael in Abraham’s great test (Gen. 22) for legitimacy purposes, it remains unable to even hint at where this event took place. The Bible gives no ambiguity; Mt. Moriah (v. 2), the future site of Solomon’s Temple (2 Chr. 3:1).
From the Ishmael narratives, it is evident that Ishmael’s role in the Bible is hardly significant. Acting as a foil to Isaac, his younger brother, once his purpose is served, Ishmael disappears – unimportant and uninteresting … until resurrected by Islam (Surah 37), who substitutes Isaac for their champion, Ishamel, in the Genesis 22 account. While Ishmael will be eclipsed by Isaac, he will not be entirely forgotten, for though Isaac is said to father kings (17:6), Ishmael will himself bear princes (17:20). Still, the future superiority of Isaac over his brother is certain … and when Hagar later flees into the wilderness, the child [Ishmael] remains unnamed throughout the narrative (Gen. 21). Why? Because he is of no consequence! He was sent away from Isaac, never to share the same land. There is no Biblical record of Abraham ever seeing Ishmael again.
So what about Ishmael? When it comes to a Two-State Solution, Biblically neither he nor his descendants have any equal standing to the region. Further, the idea that the Jews have stolen Palestinian land is without question false, without historical basis. See my earlier blog, “Tripping Over the Obvious.” https://www.onlysaying.com/post/tripping-over-the-obvious
Someone has said, “Jewish history is like a dance
between The Book (Bible), the Land (Israel), The People (Jews) … and other nations.” This is what we are witnessing today – a dance – but a rather scary one, given that one partner wants to kill the other.
But Israel Has Broken Faith!
Within Christendom it has become increasing popular to disinherit this burden, the Jew, to the world, and revoke any claim to the land currently under international scrutiny, because of their earlier spiritual unbelief and rejection of Christ. “They have broken the faith” the argument goes, “and they have therefore lost out.” While this idea dominates Reform theology, it is becoming increasingly popular in my denomination as well.
Supersessionism, more popularly called ‘Replacement Theology’ is a view that advocates that the Christian Church has replaced national Israel – inheriting her spiritual promises and blessings … but of course, none of her curses, I might add.4 Therefore, since the Church is the eschatological fulfilment of Israel both now and in heaven – the Church assumes the role of God’s covenanted people – becoming the One People of God (Israel) in disguise.
Now replacement theologians are typically amillennialists (Greek prefix - “a” negates the word) … and since all of this is believed to be articulated in the Bible, then by their logic we can safely assume that Jesus would be the first Amillennialist … the Apostles coming in at a close second … with all of us reading this blog living in the millennium right this minute – as we await the bodily return of Jesus. Think of the Church Age, Tribulation and Millennium all spiritualized, crazy-glued together, with Satan already tied up – and you pretty much have described amillennialism and the world we are currently living through.
Little known fact: During WW II, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, as Palestinian leader, met with Hitler, to encourage him to establish a final solution in the Holy Land, should they conquer the area. Whoa!
Admittedly I have fundamental disagreements with such a system, not the least of which are:
Changing the meaning of ‘Israel,” rejecting the plain sense of Scripture and spiritualizing/allegorizing large prophetic passages
A rejection of any future literal events
A spiritual interpretation of the Book of Revelation as a record of the age-old battle between good and evil (Idealist) or that it was fulfilled in John’s time (Preterist)
The millennial kingdom of Christ’s spiritual rule is being fulfilled in the church/kingdom during this present age on earth
One general resurrection
One general judgment wherein the Bema Seat (2 Corinthians 5:10), judgment of surviving nations at the end of the tribulation (Matthew 25:31-46), the judgment of Israel (Ezekiel 2:33-38), the judgment of fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 20:10), and the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), are all combined as a single event, just before the eternal state.
When Christians cancel out promises given to Israel concerning a king, a kingdom, a nation and … a land; when you conclude that God is not simply finished with Old Testament Israel but with the entire nation of Israel as a whole; when you believe there is no peculiarly divine future for Israel, no national salvation … then no one should be surprised that ... (a) the land and people of Israel lose much of their biblical significance (b) human solutions, including more land for peace, becomes an appropriate response over Biblical, covenantal (Abrahamic) ones, and (c) Israel will be misjudged (by antisemites, even believers) as the aggressor – accused of every conceivable evil (i.e. apartheid, genocide, racism, ethnic cleansing, colonialism), as hysterical and irrational as the charges ‘factually' are.
“Crimes against humanity in Gaza” shouts the UNHRC, while 70% of the present membership of the UN Human Rights Council are non-democracies. Imagine electing dictators as UN judges to her top body?
Talk about a credibility deficit.
(Source: Independent group: UN Watch, January 5, 2023)
No one should be surprised that the Palestinian BDS activist Movement (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) against the State of Israel by its racist, antisemitic, xenophobic founder, Omar Barghouti, has witnessed major sections of the Presbyterian (USA) Church, World Forum of Reformed Churches, United Church of Christ, Lutheran Church, United Methodist Church, Amish, Mennonite, even some Baptist churches, align themselves with BDS against Israel. Is this the fruit of church denominations who are interestingly, amillennial in their theology?
“Israel has broken faith,” say many within Christendom’s walls. Her legitimacy as a ‘chosen nation’ has ended … her promises have been handed over to another, one more spiritually deserving … and her Biblical significance within the community of nations and the region of the Middle East is of diminishing divine importance. This is all imaginative thinking!
It seems obvious that when believers negate any connection between the Jewish people and the land promised through Abraham … a ‘Two-State Solution’ looks like an attractive and compassionate answer. I agree! Everyone will then be happy, right? I wish! So, first, the good news – God is not finished with the Jew: He has an eschatological promise and destiny for her and God’s prophetic promises belong to her, not the church. Now, the bad news - a Two-State Solution is a normal, self-inclined secular response to what is pre-eminently a divine matter ̶ and therefore when an agreement, pact or settlement is reached between the Palestinians and Israel, it will have a human thumb print … and is therefore destined to fail. Not maybe!
Disregarding any NGO’s, precisely what has the Palestinian government in either Gaza or the West Bank done to promote peace or advance economic development in the Palestinian territories?
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet!
Being human is so darn hard … and we are so darn unholy … and we mess stuff up so darn much … and make things so darn complicated too. Still, to lay this argument against God as well, would be a travesty! It was God who said “everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:7) and “everlasting possession” (17:8). John Walvoord is correct to note: “It is significant that the promise is related to Abraham’s obedience, not to Isaac’s, as the promise now becomes immutable and certain of fulfillment,”5
In the unconditional Abrahamic covenant, not to be confused with the conditional Mosaic one, it was God alone who walked the figure eight (Genesis 15:17) … obligating himself … putting His own immutability at risk.
When the Jews were at Mount Horeb, God repeated the substance of His covenant to Abraham, taking great pains to identify the surrounding geography.
“You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore He would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.” (Deuteronomy 1:6-8)
Old Testament scholar, Walter Kaiser, Jr, reminds us that: “sixty-nine times the writer of Deuteronomy repeated the pledge that Israel would one day ‘possess’ and ‘inherit’ the land promised to her.” 6
Historically we know:
The Jews have ‘owned’ land in Palestine for some five millennia -- the same place where Jesus, the Jewish Messiah visited the Jewish Temple 2000 years ago; where King Solomon built the first Temple 3000 years ago; and where Abraham offered up Isaac over 4000 years ago!
The Jews bought additional land from private landowners, before the ‘British Mandate’ - paying Turks exorbitant prices for malaria-infested swamps, with Israel, after statehood, assuming title over any public lands that were once held by the waning Ottoman empire.
100% of the Jewish settlements were on Jewish land, until the Arabs decided to start a war with Israel in 1948. Previous colonial powers simply took land.
But what about the future of the region? Given the earlier Deuteronomy 1 passage, with its North, South, West and East descriptors, is modern-day Israel’s current holdings going to be less, or greater than? Will a ‘Two-State Solution’ wherein the land is divided into some ‘equal’ arrangement between the State of Israel and Palestinians, bring hostilities in the region to an end?
Bible prophecy is always fulfilled ‘actually,’
never ‘approximately.’ Ultimately, great news
for the Jewish people.
Assuming the Bible to be true and inspired -- Israel currently lives on only a fraction of what God promised. By His decretive will, its future promised geographic reach will extend from the Nile River in Egypt to Lebanon (south to north) and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (west to east). In today’s terms, we are talking all of Gaza and the West Bank, parts of Egypt and Syria, all of Jordan, even portions of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Sudan and Turkey.
With precise numbers difficult to come by, it is reasonably guessed that approximately 70% of the original Palestine Mandate given to Britain by the League of Nations to establish a Jewish Homeland is currently occupied by the State of Jordan (formerly Transjordan) founded in 1922. Another 10% is occupied by the Palestine Authority and Hamas, including the West Bank and Gaza, with the remaining 20% constituting the sovereign State of Israel, founded in 1948. By human standards then, any fulfillment of Deuteronomy 1 seems like an impossible, insufferable, unattainable task. Yes, by human standards!
In that rather famous Seventy “Sevens” passage of Daniel 9:24-27, we learn that a covenant between a powerful, end-time ruler and a trusting Israel, appears to guarantee Israel’s military security in the region. In effect, we have here the last Two-State Solution our world will see: a satanically-inspired leader, with an apparent answer to the Palestinian conflict – and an Israel that is generally in unbelief about Jesus Christ – setting the state for end-time conflict.
Interestingly, this covenant with ‘the devil’ does not mention the word “peace.” This signing
will trigger: (a) the Tribulation, (b) a broken agreement midway through those seven years, and (c) an un-equaled run of trouble on Jacob’s descendants (Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 12:1), before the appearing of Messiah. When that day comes, though wasted by centuries of pogroms and pillage … wandering and warfare, Israel will at that time realize her God-given destiny and enjoy her rightful position and possessions, with her full territory ruled over by the Messiah during His Millennial reign (Revelation 20:1-6).
In 2005, the State of Israel disengaged from Gaza, ceding control to the Palestinian Authority (Fatah), withdrawing its military … even forcefully moving its citizens from the territory – in exchange for peace. In effect, a Two-State was created then - with Palestinians owning the land. Not a single Jew remained in Gaza; 9,000 Israelis, living in 25 settlements – gone! Then, in 2006 the Palestinians of Gaza, free to determine their political future, along with those in the West Bank, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Islamist party (Hamas). There have no been elections since. I guess you get what you ask for!
Though at times Israel has lost its political sovereignty, at no time in history, since the time of Abraham, has the land of Israel ever been devoid of a Jewish population. Never!
Now some 19 years later … it would be nice to imagine that the coastal plain of Gaza is teeming with building cranes laboring to keep pace with growing tourism … that the region no longer relies on Israel for its free water and power … that employment opportunities in its commercial districts have increased wages for its citizens … that Egypt has opened its corridors to Palestinians and is not, as the media reports, building a larger border wall to keep them out … that free elections occur routinely … that women, gays, lesbians, transsexuals, bisexuals enjoy equal rights … that its 500 miles of tunnels have been abandoned – with leadership no longer diverting those billions of dollars they have received from the West going to produce more Hamas billionaires and thousands of rockets (though no bomb shelters for its citizens) … and that all its jihadists have been exiled or taken out. Sadly, leadership’s missed opportunities are responsible for today’s bleak and unnecessary realities.
I am not sure how many CNN videos of Gazan hospitals it will take to successfully paint Israel in a negative light … or how many Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) articles, likening Israel to South Africa’s former apartheid behavior must appear. Nevertheless, from some quarters, the media is working overtime to shape public opinion. To illustrate, in its October 13, 2023 release, the New Yorker wrote: “Hamas fighters and other militants gunned down more than twelve hundred Israelis—many of them civilians.” “Many” civilians? Is that 40-50 … 80 – 100 … 200-300? It was more like 800. This is the way the media ‘shapes’ truth; howbeit subtly.
The State of Israel has never won a single battle in the PR war. Indeed, picking on Jews is the easiest thing to do. Still, how is it that just two-tenths of 1 percent of the world population is the target of such profound hatred? The struggle is ultimately spiritual and evil.
In Psalm 132, the Lord declares: “For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. ‘This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it’” (vv. 13-14).
Joel 3:1-2, speaking prophetically of a coming end-time confrontation where God will judge those who divide His land, writes:
“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.”
It seems obvious that God’s determinative, decretive will intends to regather Israel to the land (e.g. Isaiah 11) … and any human ‘Two-State Solution’ – where the region is shared with another occupying state, is - from His perspective – unacceptable! Christians should be reminded that the land belongs to God, not Israel … and I do not recall him ever saying it could be divided up.
In these last months Canada’s Foreign Minister, Melanie Joly, told the Toronto Star that our government intends to halt arms sales to Israel, the first major Western country to do so. Hmm! I thought we had already depleted the few pop-guns we have in the Ukrainian theatre. In recent weeks there has even been talk of Canada “officially recognizing the State of Palestine.” Frankly, this changes nothing! God has a different plan and when it is complete, Jeremiah’s prophetic pronouncement will come to pass: “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: For I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.” (Jeremiah 31:13)
The terrible plight of innocent victims in the conflict – Israeli and Gazan – is a constant reminder of what our fallen nature is capable of. In the end, this war in the middle east is a fight between Satan and God, as Revelation 12 reminds us and it will only be His omniscience and omnipotence that brings to pass the activist slogan “From the River to the Sea” … but not in the way they imagine.
In 2023 the UN General Assembly condemned Israel 14 times; rest of the world – 7. Since 2015 the UN tally is 140; the combined rest of the world – 68. Indeed, Israel is the only country out of 193 member states, with a UNHRC standing agenda item against it at every session (Item 7). Talk about disproportionate focus!
In Numbers 23:9, Balaam, a non-Jewish soothsayer-for-hire, looking to condemn the Israelites, chanted “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” “Alone,” indeed, for among the 193 nations that populate the United Nations, only Israel’s right to exist remains under constant assault. As antisemites around the world ramp up their hysteria, watch for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to charge the Israeli Prime Minister with war crimes. This is how much the Jew is implacably hated.
With the Economist reporting that 93% of Palestinians deny Hamas ever committed any atrocities on 7 October, it seems clear that the victims of Hamas have been largely forgotten. It is easier to coerce Israel, the regions only democracy, than squeeze Gaza’s intransigent terrorist regime, so it seems. Under U.N. auspices, some might remember the racist, anti-Israel hate-fest at the anti-racism Durban Conference of 2001 and its infamous, noxious “Zionism is racism” label… which later inspired the BDS movement. Some 23 years later, the antisemitic rhetoric continues, especially among activist university students like Zaynab Ali, a McGill student who demands that her university and Concordia “divest from funds implicated in the Zionist State.” History more than adequately demonstrates that the Office of OHCHR is a racist endeavor in all things Israel – always Israel! Impartiality at that level does not exist! It is overtly biased! 7
These days a ‘Two-State’ Solution in the Middle East seems an even greater distant possibility as Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Syria launch hundreds of suicide drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israel. Despite these treacherous times, some sort of instituted peace covenant is destined to guarantee Israel’s military security, but it will be a setup for a very bad outcome (Daniel 9; Matthew 24). In the end, while politicians look to bring ‘a’ ‘Two-State’ fix in the region ... God intends to interrupt their strategies and ultimately bring ‘the’ ‘Single-State’ solution he promised Abraham and his descendants … and in that order, no less. I suspect even some Christians will be surprised by the outcome. “OnlySaying”
1. Source: Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD).
2. Islam’s claim to Palestine because they are descendants of Ishmael is without merit, for all of those living in the Arabian Peninsula are NOT the descendants of Ishmael. Furthermore, Mohammed never went to Jerusalem. According to the Qur’an and the Hadith, Muhammad dreamed he traveled through the sky, met Jesus, and visited Jerusalem. He never set foot in Jerusalem! So, while Muhammed says he arrived in Al-Aqsa Mosque (the Farthest Mosque), it was “the Farthest Mosque” somewhere else, because the current one on the Temple Mount did not exist. It was built 73 years after Muhammed’s death, by Caliph Omar.
3. Exodus 3:6, 15, 16; 4:5; I Kings 18:26; I Chronicles 29:18; II Chronicles 30:6; Matthew 22:32; Mark 12: 26; Luke 20:37; Acts 3:13; 7:32.
4. Some Reformers prefer to use the term ‘Maturation Theology.’
5. John F. Walvoord, Major Bible Prophecies: 37 Crucial Prophecies That Affect you Today (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991), p. 77.
6. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Toward an Old Testament Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), pp. 124-25
7. Craig Mokhiber is a case in point. Director of the New York Office of the OHCHR, his virulent demonizing of Israel on Facebook and Twitter appears to have no limits, using words like “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing,” “crimes of the 20th century,” “apartheid,” “colonialism,” “subjugation,” and “ethnic cleansing,” Then there is UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine territories Francesca Albanese, an anti-Israel activist, who only investigates allegations against Israel, her “apartheid regime” and mass “ethnic cleansing” ... yet woefully ignores crimes by Hamas and PA. So much for the UN Charter’s standards of impartiality and integrity. https://legal.un.org/repertory/art101.shtml
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