Recently, when Israel began to pound Gaza, in a bid to forcefully occupy it, a quote from Zephaniah 2: 4 came up for discussion: ‘For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.’ Is the prophecy applicable to the present times?
Gaza is in Palestine; the remaining three cities, in Israel. Israel began its offensive against Gaza last Thursday. Yesterday, Yemen’s Houthi forces targeted Ashkelon with drones and missiles. What will happen to Ashdod and Ekron (Tel Miqne), both in Israel? How it will all pan out is anybody’s guess.
Meanwhile, it is curious to note how modern Israel seems keen on rewinding Biblical history in its favour. The country is a far cry from the Biblical Israel. How, then, can they insist on the status quo ante? Canaan was for the Chosen People, an enviable position they lost as a result of disobeying God’s commands down the ages. We Christians, for our part, know that the erstwhile Chosen People’s problems are of their own making…
As the First Reading (Is 66: 18-21) states, the Jewish people had been expected to ‘gather all nations and tongues… that have not heard [God’s] fame or seen [His] glory’. They were enjoined to ‘declare my glory among the nations…’ and bring them ‘as an offering to the Lord, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem.’ How much of this did the Jewish people do to glorify the true God?
Whereas they failed to acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, and to go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News, now they line up, like self-proclaimed heirs and beneficiaries who unashamedly gather after a person’s death, to claim the former land of Canaan as their inheritance. Their gods are Baal and Mammon; their instruments of worship, drones and missiles! That’s the measure of their iniquity.
In the Gospel (Lk 13: 22-30), the Son of God, whom God the Father sent to earth as a final act of redemption, stated in no uncertain terms: ‘Many, I tell you, will seek to enter [the kingdom of God] and will not be able.’ This is a word of caution to all who go on with life as if the earth is their final destination: let them not be alarmed when the hour inexorably strikes! At that point, of what use will it be to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ He will retort: ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity!’
Alas, they will weep and gnash their teeth on seeing Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and be thrust out. Even if pagan nations unite against Jerusalem, God will defeat them and use them for His glory. Thereafter they will share the former privileges of the Jew: ‘Men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.’ The glorious task of evangelisation will be entrusted to them.
Is Israel, then, fated to perish? My interlocutor pointed out that the Lord says, ‘How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you?… My heart will not let me do it. My love for you is too strong.’ (Hos 11: 8) For sure, we have a most faithful and loving God; He is just and full of mercy. The book’s narrative arc maintains that even if God’s people had deserted the Lord, in the end God’s constant love would prevail and win the nation back to Himself, restoring the relationship. This has been the message of prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, too.
But can the Lord be put to the test? It is futile to think that God being so good will not condemn us definitely. After all, Hell is for the condemned. Why can’t Israel, too, learn a lesson or two from the centuries gone by? They – and we – would do well to take a leaf from the Second Reading (Heb 12: 5-7, 11-13): ‘Have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as my sons? … My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord… The Lord disciplines every son whom he receives… For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.’
The kingdom of God belongs to such as these who will let themselves be disciplined by the Lord our God. They will show love; they will be grateful; they will serve and be saved.
Oscar, you have so aptly used today’s liturgy to point to the evil we witness daily in the ‘Holy Land’. Israel and some confused Christians are misusing biblical texts. Neither Israel nor we will be saved if we disobey God’s commands. Than you for stating the truth clearly.
A very sincere commendation for this reflection. Your candid and courageous approach to addressing the complexities of the situation in the Holy Land is thought-provoking. You did not mince words, and that clarity is exactly what is needed in times like these. Your ability to weave scriptural insights with current events, while maintaining theological depth and moral conviction, is admirable. You’ve spoken truth to power with grace and conviction, and your reflections challenge readers to examine not just geopolitical realities, but also spiritual responsibilities. Thank you for saying it as it is—with honesty, boldness, and unwavering faith.
With profound respect for the Books of the Old Testament, the Biblical commentators and the faithful, I have to confess that I was mystified by the passage in the Bible that says God spoke to Abraham and told Abraham He (God) was giving to the Israelites the lands that were occupied by Canaanites and by several other ethnic groups. And that henceforth they were His Chosen People.
But search as I may, no where could I find that God then made KNOWN His decision to the people living on those lands! The result – WARS! Imagine this happening at our borders (or any borders for that matter)! Imagine someone coming to our door and telling us that God told him that he was now the owner of our home! I think this narrative is metaphorical and SHOULD NOT be taken literally. And there are other passages of this nature in the Good Book. A large number of the Books of the Old Testament are eminently a nation building exercise – the Israelites, a Nation of Chosen People! Fair enough.
If only they behaved as such.
Thank you, António.
We are talking of a very, very distant past, and the events, too, took a long time to happen. God did give the Canaanites centuries to repent for their abominable behaviour (e.g. idolatry; Sodom and Gomorrah) and they did know of God’s intentions to gift their land to the Chosen People. So, it wasn’t a random attack but a divine ruling against a corrupt society. God did expect war, but protected the Chosen People, as he wanted to build a new society. Anyway, this new nation was also subject to God’s justice. No double standards. And Israel did suffer, and is still suffering, as we all know.
Now, as regards the land gift, theologians down the ages have seen it both literally and metaphorically. The problem is that Israel has always stressed the literal aspects; the Church has focussed on the metaphorical dimension.
Hope my post did not convey anything to the contrary. And as I stated in an earlier post, the Church rejects the idea that the Jews have a divine right to possess the Holy Land and advocates a two-nation theory (Israel and Palestine).