News Flashes from Israel

What to Do With a News Flash from Israel

July 4, 2023

Many of us who follow Jesus care deeply about news coming from Israel. We hear this news in the secular media and also in our churches—both in sermons and in prayer concerns expressed in fellowship gatherings. Sometimes the news is hopeful, but frequently we hear stories of tragedy and violence. It is easy to rush to judgment about who is right and who is wrong.

God’s people need to cultivate spiritually-sensitive discernment when we hear reports from Israel about the activities of either the Israelis or the Palestinians during a new cycle of conflict. What do we need to keep in mind?

• We live in an age where controlling information is a tool as important as any weapon on the battlefield. The first “voice” to take control of a story is often the voice that wins. Therefore, we need to examine our sources and discern if they are objective or if they serve some disguised purpose to win our support. Sometimes the truth of what happened is hidden in places we have not consulted.

• We also live in an age where disinformation has become commonplace. Reports about any event anywhere can be skewed or falsely described to serve a perceived greater good. Christians have frequently been too trusting, and we have embraced political stories that are later proven untrue. Believers in the U.S. have seen this many times in the last ten years.

• The internet is one of the riskier places to find the truth. Sources matter, and we need to examine their credibility before accepting what they say. When we do not examine them, we are gullible and subject to “every wind of teaching” that comes our way (Ephesians 4:14).

• Because a pastor tells us something about Israel or the Palestinians in a sermon doesn’t always mean it is true. This is unfortunate, but pastors can be misinformed just as easily as any of us. Simply because someone writes something and declares it to be the teaching of God’s inspired Word doesn’t mean that we should follow it. In Acts 19:11-16 we meet people who exploit Jesus’ name for their own misguided purposes and they are condemned. This is a warning to us. Christian believers can be as biased as anyone regarding any subject. But this bias is all the more prominent when it comes to Israel. We who pray for “the peace of Jerusalem” need discernment and wisdom when we commit to these prayers.

• We need to be cautious when we study Christian websites about Israel and the Palestinians. Proverbs warns us about agreeing with the first interpretation of an event. “In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines” (Proverbs 18:17). Instead, we need to listen to many sources. “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22).

• Whenever there is a report about a new outbreak of violence in Israel or Palestine, always ask: what happened the day or week or month or year prior that provoked it ? Israel tends to create cycles of violence, and an outbreak of violence on Friday was likely prompted by something that happened on Wednesday. Look behind the story to see the full backstory. Few of us do this. Be sure to examine the larger picture. If people are treated unjustly for decades, how will they begin to react to their circumstances?

• We need to commit to the wider purposes of God in every country in the world. What are the deeper things we believe in? We believe in God’s kingdom justice and courageous love for all people, no matter their race, nationality, or religion. This is wisdom and righteousness. We are prone to “take sides” when this is precisely what those who manipulate the news media hope we will do. The Lord (through the Old Testament prophet Micah) has given us our most profound marching orders: “He has shown you . . . what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

Jesus told us to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16), and this is particularly true when it comes to news flashes from the Middle East. More often than we think, what the media report is not the full account of what happened. Sometimes it takes work—real work—to find the truth because frequently the simplistic answer is the wrong one and the truth is more complex than we ever imagined.