As Christians we often hear a call to “Pray for Israel,” especially now with another escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Recently, I saw that two Israeli women were killed and over two dozen Palestinians met their demise after a counter-attack by Israel, which left nine children dead. I started praying for Palestine also. So many innocent lives are being lost who have been caught in the middle of a war that they may know little about.
Currently, the Christian minority in many Muslim nations, such as Pakistan are having rising concerns as Muslim radicals take to the streets protesting Israeli airstrikes against Palestine. Unfortunately, this raging battle has started many fires in other parts of the world where anger against Christians and Jews burns. While all eyes are on Israel, Christians in many countries are in jeopardy. Actually, the Christian minority in Israel is also at risk. They have been in this condition for a long time, but feel abandoned by the worldwide evangelical movement. Over the years they have been targets of both Muslims and ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Haredim.
Representing only 2% of the population of Israel, Christians are mostly from Arab descent. To draw a parallel, Christians make up 4% of the region of North Africa and the Middle East, so the percentage of Israeli Christians is quite low. Interestingly, Pewresearch.org reports that 72% of Christians and 68% of Muslims agree that Israel cannot simultaneously be a democracy and a Jewish state at the same time. This definitely adds to the religious tension in this nation, where Orthodox Jews are recognized by the government, while those who are Conservative, or Reform get very little government support. The relationship between the Haredi and secular Jews is full of distrust. And anger between Jewish and Arab Israelis that are approximately 14% of the population often end up in violent street clashes, which is the current situation.
In Jerusalem, what is considered the holiest church, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, has two Muslim families as doorkeepers in this House of the Lord. These Muslims are viewed as neutral so they were given the key to keep the peace among the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Catholic Churches who are constantly feuding about who should have ownership of the church. However, this is not a recent event. The Muslims have held the key for quite some time. The “new” key is said to be 500 years old, and the broken older key has been around for about 850 years. Yes, that’s right, these Muslim families have been opening and closing the doors of this church for several centuries.
It is very important that we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and Israel, not only because we love the nation and we want to prosper (See Psalm 122:6), but because that is what Christ would have us do. He would also have us love Palestinians and pray for them also, as He has told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (See Matthew 5:44). And if you don’t consider Palestinians your enemies, then that is fine. Still pray for them as we are to pray for one another as we love our neighbors as ourselves. And, let us ask God to give His peace to all those who are mourning the loss of a loved one in this conflict.
As we pray for Israel, let us pray for the Christians who feel oppressed there and petition for peace among the denominations, so that there will be unity of the believers. Let us also pray for the Christians who feel the heat of the conflict between Israel and Palestine even though they do not live in those countries. Let us pray without ceasing.
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18
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