Seth Udinski, FISM News
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In a move that is seen by many as an unfair targeting of Israel, the United Nations General Assembly has demanded that Israel fork over its nuclear arms and submit its manufacturing facilities to a review from the International Atomic Energy Agency, per a weekend report from the Jerusalem Post.
This comes amidst several factors. The first is that Israel, a nation that has almost consistently been under siege since its rebirth in 1949, has never admitted to actually possessing nuclear weapons.
The second, and perhaps even more troubling, is that the UN has chosen to target a nation that has, for its part, sought peace with its enemies. Many are baffled as to why Israel is the recipient of this demand while the UN has ignored the far more contentious, and oftentimes untrustworthy, Iran.
The resolution reads, in part,
The importance of Israel’s accession to the NPT and placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive international atomic Energy Nancy safeguards, in realizing the goal of universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East. (Israel must) accede to the Treaty without further delay, not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons and to place all its unsafe guarded nuclear facilities under the full scope of Agency safeguards as an important confidence-building measure among all States of the region and as a step toward enhancing peace and security.
All this comes as Israel’s election polls open today, for the fifth national election in the last four years, according to a Reuters report.
Author’s Biblical Analysis
For thousands of years, the people of Israel have suffered in various ways and at the hand of various cultures.
This has come in many forms — slavery in Egypt, consistent attacks from pre-kingdom age enemies, capture and exile by the Babylonians, destruction by the Romans, and then receiving ire and blame for the crucifixion of Christ by those in medieval Europe. This does not even scratch the surface of the many modern atrocities committed against the Jews, the most heinous of which was the Holocaust at the hands of the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler during World War II, a mass genocide that resulted in, at minimum, 6 million deaths.
Sadly, it should not surprise us that ethnic Israel, the ancient people of God, are now the recipients of further mistreatment even from a worldwide organization meant to foster peace.
Christians can take a sober and poignant lesson from this report. As heirs of God, and co-heirs of Christ, we have been adopted into His family. Regardless of your opinion on the eschatological fate of ethnic Israel, all Christians can agree that we who belong to Christ are the people of God. This means, as His people have endured for thousands of years, we are guaranteed persecution from all sides.
In a world that hates God, His people should not be surprised when they are the recipients of the world’s hatred as well.
Consider the words of the Lord Jesus in John 15:20-23:
Remember the word that I said to you,‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also.
Certainly, we must not celebrate our persecution in an attempt at sanctified masochism. But we can take joy in our persecution, considering the reason behind it — because we belong to God and to our Savior, Jesus Christ.
It would do well for Christians, as we consider the long-suffering of the Jewish people, to pray that their suffering would, as it did so often for their ancestors in the Old Testament, turn them to a place of full reliance on God. Furthermore, let us also pray that the Jewish people, many of whom are erroneously still longing for their messiah, would realize that the Messiah has already come and made propitiation before God in His substitutionary death and victorious resurrection.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. — Matthew 5:10