Norm Wells Page 1
THE MID-EAST CONFLICT & ITS ORIGIN
Part 1
Today's lesson is going to be
considerably different from my normal lessons. I have heard repeatedly over the years, comments regarding the Middle
East problems, & conflicts of today, and wondering how—if possible—we could
find out how those conflicts got started.
Can we really trace those
problems back to their origin—to where the conflict actually began?
This p.m.'s lesson will be
part 1 of a 2 part series on this topic. We will cover the 2nd part this coming Wed. p.m.
This p.m.'s lesson will be
more of a history lesson; but one that I feel is necessary in order for each of
us to be able to understand Wed's lesson—where we will trace the actual roots
of the problem back thru scripture, and see how this relates to us as
christians today.
We are currently involved in
a war w/Iraq.
Israel and Palestine are
still going at it w/ each other.
And recently, terrorists set
off bombs in London.
And I'm sure that no one here
can remember a time when there was not at least some conflict going on in the
mid-east, which in one way or another affected the U. S.
And also included is the 1972
olympic games, the USS Cole, TWA hijackings, 1993 World Trade Center bombing,
the Sept. 11, 2001 Twin Towers attack, & others.
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And sooner or later,
discussion of these conflicts always comes around to matters of a religious
nature.
What does the Bible say about
it?
Where does it say in the
Bible that current events are a result of Bible prophecy? And on & on.
Regardless of the conflict,
there are 3 basic groups of people who are continually a part of the
conversation—if not directly involved in the conflict itself.
The 3 groups are Israel, the
Arab world in general, & the western world in general—the U S specifically.
The U S is directly involved for a number
of reasons--& I have no desire to appear political here—but to simply
mention the basic reasons for our involvement;
1.
Our dependence on
the oil production in the mid east.
2.
Our direct
support for the Nation of Israel.
3.
Our support for
different Arab nations at different times.
And at this point, I am not
interested in whether the reasons behind these three reasons are justified or
not—but only to put things into proper perspective for the lessons in this
series.
In the conflicts we have all
seen in our lifetime in the mideast—with the exception of the 2 gulf wars,
between the U S & Iraq, & Afghanistan—the major part of them have been
conflicts involving Israel & the Arab world in general—however, there have
also been numerous conflicts w/in the Arab world itself.
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In the past 40-50 years,
we've seen major conflicts in Turkey, Afghanistan, Greece,. Iran, Syria,
Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, &
Palestine—just to mention the more major players in the mideast.
And we have seen numerous
divisions among the people in some of these individual countries.
But the first thing I would
like to look at this p.m., is the Arab world in general, which are basically
Muslim/Islamic.
There seems to be a very gray
area in people's understanding of the difference between Muslims & Islam.
And it continues to be
blurred to an even greater extent as time progresses, as even more variations
come into being.
And from that extent, it
seems somewhat similar to the religious community in the U S—new denominations
continually being formed.
We hear comments from time to
time, that range from that of—THE MUSLEMS ONLY DESIRE IS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD
IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE—to the comment that basically MUSLEMS ARE A DEEPLY
RELIGIOUS PEOPLE, STRIVING ONLY TO SERVE THEIR GOD.
When talking about Islam, we
hear comments that range from that of—THOSE WHO FOLLOW ISLAM ARE A DEEPLY
RELIGIOUS PEOPLE—to the comment that --
THEY ARE RADICAL EXTREMEISTS
W/ AN OUTRIGHT HATRED FOR EVERYONE ELSE.
So, what is the deal w/
Muslims & Islam?
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What is the difference &
what are their beliefs & their purpose in life?
And although we can establish
some common ground between the 2 terms Muslim & Islam, there will continue
to be major differences which tend to completely isolate certain groups—due to
their own personal philosophies regarding their religion & their politics.
And the most notable of these
differences come from the many different radical wings of the religion—as
compared to Orthodox Islam.
So, while we hear of a common
goal at times among the Arab world in general, to oppose the Western World, or
the Nation of Israel for example—you will very rarely be able to get more than
2 or 3 countries to agree as how to handle the situation--& even then,
there will be numerous factions w/ in those specific countries, who are
adamantly opposed to the suggestions of everyone else in the Arab world.
Because basically—each
faction has the desire to be completely independent from everyone else—incl.
other Arabs.
The word Islam, means
simply-"Submission to God", or in Arabic—"Allah".
The word Muslim means
basically—one who follows the laws of Islam.
And from there—the waters get
muddied real quick.
Three basic ethnic groups
that make up the vast majority of Muslims in the world are----Arabs, Persians,
& Turks.
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Islam had its beginning among
the Arabs.
Arabs trace their lineage
back to Abraham thru Ismael, while Jews trace their lineage back to Abraham
thru Isaac.
We'll dwell more on that
later.
The revelation of Islam, was
supposedly given by God to Muhammed—who is accepted by Muslims as the greatest
prophet who ever lived—incl. Jesus.
Even after the early
christians had preached the gospel to the whole world—Ac 19:10—most of the
Arabs were still practicing idolatry.
Muhammed was born into this
world of idolatry in 570 AD, in Mecca, in present day Saudi Arabia. He died in 632 AD.
Muhammed was completely
turned off by these pagan practices of idolatry.
He had only one wife until
she died after 25 years of marriage. After her death, he then decided that polygamy was acceptable, and
married several women.
Muhammed was also influenced
heavily by Jewish religious customs.
When he was 40, he claimed to
receive his revelations from the archangel Gabriel, direct from God.
His writings were the basis
for the Koran--also supplemented by the Hadith, which is equal in importance to
the Koran.
Some 15 yrs. Later, he formed
a mercenary army of around 10K, & either killed or banished all Jews from
the area.
As a result, he became the
real hero of the day.
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After his death, Muslims
became divided into 2 basic sects:
Sumni & Shiite.
The Sumni then divided
again—one of these is the Shafii—part of which is made up by the Kurds in
northern Iraq.
Another group is the Hanbali—of
which Osama bin Laden is a member.
Another group of the Sumni is
the Hanafi—of which Sadam Hussein is a member.
The other basic sect—the
Shiites—are divided into 3 groups—one being the Hizbullah—of which the
Ayatollah Khomeini was a member, & also which is the ruling party in Syria.
Shiites are very influential
in Iraq.
While Muslims believe in
Allah as their salvation—their religion is really based on self-righteousness.
There are numerous
interpretations of Judgment Day & of an individual's final resting place,
and how he gets there.
One more notable
interpretation is that of the belief that at judgment day, the good deeds will
be weighed against the bad deeds on an individual basis—however, the only sure
way to Paradise, is to die as a martyr during an Islamic War--(Jihad).
The Islam religion believes
in Jesus as a prophet—tho not as significant as Muhammed.
They believe that Jesus was
born of the virgin Mary, but that His father was the angel Gabriel.
They do not believe in His
death on the cross, His resurrection, or in His deity as part of the Godhead.
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Many practices of Islam have
been acquired as a result of exposure to pagan religions in Africa.
The Islamic faith is based on
5 pillars:
1.
Reciting the
creed.
2.
Prayer—5 times a
day.
3.
Giving to the
poor.
4.
Fasting-(especially
during the month of Ramadan—this is in November)—this is a test of faith.
5.
Pilgrimage—at
least once in a lifetime to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
In relation to the giving to
the poor & fasting; the only thing Sadam Hussein gave to the poor in Iraq
was more hunger or mustard gas or sarin gas.
And he let them fast so that
they could give him money, so that he could build more palaces.
Although there are drastic
differences between Islam & Christianity & the Jewish faith, there are
many aspects of the Islam religion which are taken from Christianity, or from
the general concept of the relationship between God & His people in the O
T.
The religion of Islam covers
every aspect of the Muslim's daily life.
To the true Muslim, there is
no difference between religious life & social life.
And as a result of this—it should
be understandable to all, that any war, any battle, any skirmish, any murder,
any terrorist activity—is to the radical factions of Islam—a holy war—a
Jihad---if that fits into the specific philosophy of that certain wing of the
Islam religion.
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i.e., anything can be
justified as a Jihad—if that is what their philosophy mandates.
And the more radical wings of
Islam mandates that everyone other than Muslims be erased off the face of the
earth.
Now—that is not the
philosophy of Muslims in general—however, it is the general philosophy of a
great % of those following Islam in the world.
And the ones who subscribe to
this philosophy—are the ones getting media coverage—which then to the rest of
the world—then defines Islamic followers as a whole.
Now, lets switch gears a
little bit.
Many people believe that the
mid east conflict began immediately following W W II.
And this period of time WAS
very important to the conflicts which would follow.
During the first century,
when the church was established in Jerusalem, the area was primarily Jewish.
By 200 A.D., most of the Jews
had left the mideast—at least in the area now known as
Israel/Palestine/Jordan/Lebanon, because of extreme persecution—moving
throughout the world—especially to Europe.
They began returning to the
area know known as Israel in the late 1800's.
During WW I, this area—then
known as Palestine(which had been overrun by Arabs), came under British
rule—primarily because of the discovery of oil in Iraq & Iran in 1908.
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Following WW II, Jews began a
large scale return to the area & in 1948, proclaimed their independence as
the new nation of Israel.
Some might remember the movie
EXODUS, w/ Paul Newman—where the ship load of Jews were trying to get clearance
to return to Israel.
Almost immediately, the Arab
nations declared war on Israel, but were defeated.
This began the ever
increasing refugee problem which continues to grow today throughout the
mideast---
--there are refugee camps
which have 3 or 4 generations of families.
The conflict continued thru
the 1950's & in 1967, there was a 6 day war—a full scale war between Israel
& the Arab nations—which Israel won with the help of the U S.
In the l970's Jordan 1stwent to war w/ Palestine—then later sided w/ Syria, Egypt, & the Arab
nations against Israel—which Israel also won w/ the help of the U S.
And it is during this time
that the Ayatollah Khomeni in Iran & Sadam Hussein in Iraq came to power.
Then we had the formation of
the PLO, & the beginning of terrorist activities, bombings, &
kidnappings in order to get more attention—their main objective being to
eliminate Israel—to drive them out of that part of the world.
And so, it continues today.
And primarily because of the
US support of Israel, a bulk of the Arab countries now also claim US as an
enemy—along with Israel.
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Wed. p.m. we will continue
this series.
We'll take a look at the conflict
going on in the first century, during the time of Christ, and then we'll go all
the way back to the Garden of Eden, and we'll see how the conflict escalated
thru the centuries—all the way thru the OT—to give us what we are faced with
today—a mideast conflict which is rapidly absorbing the entire world into its
theatre of operations.
And members of the church—all
over the world—are rapidly being affected by this conflict.
And along with that, we
hopefully will not only recognize the problem—but as well, will be ready to
accept our personal & collective responsibilities in helping the world to
see that there really is a better way to live—helping the world to see that in
order to restore peace to not only the mid-east, but as well to Paris, Il., we
must rely solely on the Word of God as our unchanging standard by which we base
all we do in this life---everything....
It seems that about all we
hear today is how to be totally inclusive of those around us—how every one has
a right to their own philosophies in regard to religion, and we should respect
that and not infringe on their own personal feelings, and not impose our
beliefs on others.
And even some in the
brotherhood today subscribe to this philosophy—using as their "proof", Jn. 17:20,21.
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But in doing so, they take
these verses out of context.
Ch. 17, deals w/ Christ's
prayer for—1. Himself—2. His disciples—3.For those future believers.
So, vs. 20,21, then deals not
with unity w/ those outside the body of Christ, but rather—the unity of
christians—those members of the church, who will need to be in unity w/in the
parameters of the scriptures.
The church is not inclusive
of a variety of beliefs & practices.
As we see throughout Acts,
and the letters to the churches, only those who followed the plan of Christ,
were called christians—only those who believe in Christ and His DBR, and the
establishment of the church—the Kingdom—here on this earth---only those---will
be entitled to enjoy the blessings here on this earth and as well for an
eternity in Heaven.
And we must as
christians—rather than accept others for what they are—understand where they
are coming from—understand what their background is—and be prepared to teach
them how their life is in contrast to that standard by which man must follow—if
they truly expect to enjoy an eternity in Heaven---the unyielding, unchanging
Word of God.
The church is unique.
The church offers something
that can not be found anywhere else in the world.
The church offers the one
sacrifice that can erase sin.
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The church offers Jesus as
your Savior.
This p.m., if you are not a christian, allow Jesus to
bring about a remission of your sins through belief, repentance, confession,
and baptism.
If you are a christian, but as those at some of the churches of Asia in Revelations, are found wanting—and are in need of a stronger commitment to the church, then now is the time for you to take advantage of the offer that Jesus extends to you now.
