Numbers 34:13 –
Then Moses told the Israelites, “This territory is the homeland you are to divide among yourselves by sacred lot. The LORD has commanded that the land be divided among the nine and a half remaining tribes. Then Moses told the Israelites, “This territory is the homeland you are to divide among yourselves by sacred lot. The LORD has commanded that the land be divided among the nine and a half remaining tribes.
This chapter was a really dry one as it just handled dividing of the Promised Lands within the tribes of Israel. As I am reading this I cannot help but wonder if this was the start of the Arab/Israeli conflict. I mean think about this God gave them the land, but they had to take it by force. Therefore someone still feels they have claim to this land. The Israeli’s struggle to maintain this land is not something new, but has been going on for thousands of years since they first laid claim to the land
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In recent times after World War II, the 1947 UN Partition Plans were made giving Israel the “Promised Land” back and are the basis of the current conflict. As you read the Bible, you notice the Israeli’s are constantly defending their lands. Ironically you can trace this conflict back to Abraham. When he did not have faith he and Sarah were having a child, they conceived with Sarah’s handmaiden Hagar. Ishmael was born and became the Islamic nation.
This conflict is mired in history and religious theologies that make compromise difficult. I will never be able to unravel this in one morning “thought”, but more just opening the door for you to study it more deeply. The central common figure in the Jewish/Christian/Muslim debate is God! The problem which “theology” is “right”! As a Christian, I have placed my faith in Jesus who, based on my studies, ties all the loose ends up. I am sure God is not happy with where we have gotten with all the “dogmas” killing each other. Each ideology has “factions” in the Middle East today at war, all in the name of self-defense. I will not touch the Protestant/Catholic conflict within the Christian ranks or the Shia/Sunni within the Islamic faith or the Orthodox/Hasidic within the Jewish faith!!
In looking at all the external and internal conflicts I can really only end with this – everyone needs to realize GOD IS LOVE!