Jihad, Zionism, and Spiritual Warfare

2004-09-20

Zionism - The Center of World Tension

The main source of all struggles in the world is over the issue of Zionism. Zionism is the support of establishing, and later sustaining of, a Jewish nation in Palestine. This is named after Zion, the mountain site where the Temple once stood, and is now approximately where the Dome of the Rock is. Zion is also a symbol for all of Israel, as used especially in the Psalms. The modern nation of Israel began after World War II and the Holocaust, in 1948. American President Harry Truman set this in motion, though there was much international resistance. To this day, the Americans are at odds with much of the Arab world because of the establishment of a national Israeli state. The king of Saudi Arabia at the time said they would besiege Israel until it was no longer in existence. Nonetheless, through wars and rumors of wars, Israel has stood to this day.

Two things are important to say: These people all need to hear the gospel and need to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Anything short of that will be a doomed failure, and peace will never exist. However, it seems there may never be peace in the Middle East until the Lord returns. Secondly, God is doing something very serious with Israel and the other nations. This age we live in has serious prophetic implications. In an age of religious fanaticism, vast political alignments and new memberships in NATO, the UN, and the EU, nuclear threat, and genocide, God wants one thing from the peoples of the world. He wants repentance. Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, small and great, He wants all people everywhere to hear the gospel and turn to Him. There is no telling how much time we have left here before Jesus comes back and requires an account from all men with what they did with their lives. What is our role as Christians in the twenty-first century?

Weapons for the Christian during a Jihad

I wanted to take the opportunity and show what the Bible says about Spiritual warfare:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:10-20)

Spiritual Warfare at Paramount

The age of international warfare is over. The nations that rage against each other are not nations. An Arab political cartoon stated recently the West has declared a war on Islam, looking to events like the headscarf ban in French schools. Islamic fundamentalists also have declared jihad on its enemies, which is one of the salvific pillars of its faith. Martyrdom in a jihad guarantees one salvation to heaven, according to their beliefs. They refer to the West with its American ringleaders as Zionists, crusaders, and infidels. The American-led West seeks in vain to find a national enemy. They targeted Taliban-led Afghanistan and pursued a costly war on Iraq, but Western leaders know the ‘war on terror’ is far from over, and disagree whether such a war is winnable or not. The ‘war on terror,’ as the Islamic world clearly and rightly acknowledges, is a spiritual war. But the West does not understand.

The enemy in this war today is not the Muslim world, nor is it the West. The enemy is much more broad than that, and affects us much more than we think. Our common enemy is sin. Our own turning away from God is our enemy. Its an issue that all of us as human beings have to deal with. God, knowing our dilemma from the beginning of time, sent His Son to earth at an appointed time to suffer the death penalty in our place for our rebellion. But being the image of the invisible God, He was raised from the dead, and exalted to heaven until the appointed day and hour for His return. This Man Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), as even the Qur’an also testifies (Sura 4:159). By trusting in Jesus and His self-sacrificing of His life, then we can turn from our rebellion and know eternal life: now and forever.