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Preface: The article below was first published in thesummer of 2003, due in large part to the rise ofanti-Semitism. This year however, with the Middle-East on a hair-trigger oferupting into a majorregional war, the nation of Israel has never facedgreater danger.

Reborn in 1948, Israel celebrates its 62nd year as anation this month. As God's chosen people, and ourstrongest ally in the region, please keep the Jewishnation in your prayers during this perilous time inthe Middle East.

A People We Loveto Hate"Therefore, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus saysthe Lord God, 'It is not for your sake, O house ofIsrael, that I am about to act, but for My holyname And I will vindicate the holiness of Mygreat name which has been profaned among the

nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,' declaresthe Lord God, 'when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations,gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. (Ezekiel 36:22-24).

When asked by CNN recently, why he declined the invitation to join the Israeli delegation to

the Aqaba peace summit, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he had seriousreservations about Palestinian readiness to implement the 'road map' and to accept Israel as a

Jewish state. "We've been down this road before," said Netanyahu. "Until the Palestinians teachtheir children to accept Israel; until they actually go out and arrest, and even fight terrorists; anduntil they drop the right of return, this will remain a 'flowery path' we've been down before."

Can autonomous Palestinian and Jewish states ever expect to live side by side in peace? Adecade ago, under the Oslo accords, the Palestinians pledged to renounce violence andrecognize Israel's right to exist. Then too, land was to be "traded" for peacebut Palestinianattacks never ceased. Yet the provisions of the "new" road map attempt to satisfy the sameobjectives as the disastrous Oslo deal. While I want to be optimistic, why does anyone expect a

different outcome with this latest initiative?

A better question would be, what would it take for Muslim nations to repent of theirreligiously inspired passion to destroy the state of Israel? The so-called Palestinians, arereally a mixture of migrant migrs from nomadic Arab descendants, Egypt and Jordan.Consequently, history suggests its improbable that the Arabs will be able to undo the influenceof a religion that is the extension of Ishmael and Esau's 4,000-year-old hatred of Isaac and

Jacobthe forefathers of the Arabs and the Israelis.

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Still it begs the question, what is the crux of issue that generates such animosity between theseancient cultures? Moreover, what accounts for the historic persecution of the Jews, and the riseof anti-Semitism throughout Europe we see today? As a culture, the Jews are some of the mosttalented, resourceful and civil people who have ever inhabited the planet. Their contributions to

mankind in the areas of law, the sciences and the arts, permeate Western culture.

Yet even within sects of Christendomamong believers that acknowledge a common spiritualheritage with Judaism, the Jewish people remain convenient scapegoats. While rightlypreaching Christ as the fulfillment of the (Torah) Law and the prophets, they also ascribe theBiblical promises made to Israel unto their selves, ex post facto. Based on allegoricalinterpretation of Scripture, this replacement theology fails to discern the distinctions betweenthe irrevocable promises made to Israel and those made to the Church.

But the Jews take it all in stride. This a people that has overcome: slavery in Egypt, conquest bythe Greeks and Romans, the inquisition in Spain, the pogroms in Russia, the holocaust inHitlers Germany, and multiple wars initiated by their Arab neighbors. Today the democraticstate of Israel comprises only a fraction of its historic Davidic Empire, and what the UNsanctioned in 48 was 65% desert. Since then though, re-gathered Israel has literally made thedesert bloom, as evidenced by their exports in agriculture and technology.

Is it possible there is a connection between their indestructible vitality as a peopleagainstinsurmountable odds, and the inexplicable loathing they receive from other nations?Hmmmaybe we should allow for the possibility that the Jews are in fact a chosen people ofGod (Isa. 44). Think about it. In a world that is repulsed by the suggestion that we really areaccountable to a god other than ourselvesa world that heaps scorn upon the very idea of onetrue God, shouldnt we expect His people would be hated as well?

Surely, God has wonderfully utilized His people Israel after all, for our good and His glory(Rom. 11). By way of His inscrutable design, one day all that was prophesied, from privilege topersecution to millennial predominance of the Jewish peoplewill evoke only our love for Godand gratitude for His people Israel.

Roy Tanner