Vince Deagler

is anyone else out there puzzled by the international outrage over the incident between israel and the international aid ships trying to run their blockade???  i know 10 people died, but lets compare this outrage to another recent maritime event…when north korea torpedoed a south korean ship killing 46 sailors.  does anyone remember any outrage?  i don’t, did i miss something?  do you ever wonder why?  i do, here’s what i think.

i think its a combination of at least 2 things.  the 1st, north korea is so unstable i think they scare people.  they are liable to do anything.  i remember playing little league, they are like that hard throwing pitcher who was wild enough to make you hesitate to dig in at the plate.  you didn’t know if the pitch was going over the backstop, in your ear, or over the plate.  that is north korea so i think official international policy is don’t rock the boat.

the 2nd is a bit more sinister.  now let me say up front, i am not one of those evangelicals who think israel can do no wrong.  sure they are god’s chosen people and he has a very real plan for them.  but right now as paul says in romans, they have been set aside and god’s work is within and through the church.  i am not denying god’s sovereignty, and i do define history as “his story”, but i see israel as any other nation.  sometimes they’re right, sometimes wrong,  i’ll weigh each action on an individual basis.  now let’s look at some of the facts…i say some b/c none of us have all the facts.

1st, anyone following the news leading up to this incident, knew about the blockade and israel’s intention to enforce it.  2nd, there were at least 45 people on board this ship with ties to terrorist groups.  3rd, i have seen enough tape to see as the soldiers boarded the ship they were attacked.  4th, they found things like night vision goggles and bullet proof vests on board this ship…is that humanitarian aid?  5th, these ships were invited to dock at an israeli port, be inspected and all legit humanitarian aid would be allowed to go to gaza.  6th, if the arab cause is all just, why not ship this stuff to gaza throgh egypt?  i’m pretty sure, more will come out in  the days ahead.  but isn’t this enough to conclude there is something fishy here?  if the issue was humanitarian aid, go through egypt, go through an israeli port.  but that won’t get headlines…that won’t trigger international outrage.

so, why is virtually every other country in the world so opposed to israel?  i mean, there are many countries in the world, surely one of them would see things differently, see israel as justified, at least 1, right???  i don’t know of any, do you?  even america has a muddled response, don’t want the people of the middle east thinking we are taking israel’s side.  why such a unanimous worldview aligned against israel?  my answer, satan.  he has never changed his mind about rebelling against god.  to destroy israel is to destroy gods plans for the future, the equivalent of making god a liar, making him an incompetent, inferior to satan.  bottom line, if this were to happen, he would achieve his goal of replacing god, imposing his will on god’s world.  i do not know what else explains the deep seated hatred of israel.  do you know any people group so hated throughout history? (i of course am exempting hatred for the yankees and cowboys as normal human behavior) so i think there is a satanic element here.

that’s why i just can’t get at all excited about this.  i do get bothered by our political correctness…it doesn’t seem to be working from where i’m sitting.  iraq is still going nuclear, north korea already is, and we’re ramped up b/c israel shot 10 blockade runners who attacked their soldiers.  this may not sound very compassionate or loving to some of you.  but the reality i see is we live in a sinful, broken world.  in this world satan is on the prowl.  if this worldwide opposition to israel is really indicative of spiritual warfare, and i think it has to be, well i’m with israel on this one.  i do not expect peace on earth until christ returns and establishes his kingdom.  until then, when israel is attacked, i hope they keep defending themselves.  if terrorists get killed, and the whole world is outraged, don’t expect me to get all worked up about it. 

this is how i see it, but israel seems to be one of those lightening rod issues, so i’m sure there are many other opinions out there.  i’d love to hear your thoughts.  blessings.  vince