For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. … And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”
(Zechariah 2:8-9, 12, ESV)

On December 23, 2016, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning the State of Israel and demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement activity in the so-called Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 (including East Jerusalem), saying that continued construction is a “flagrant violation” of international law. In other words, the resolution declared that the pre-Six-Day War borders are unchangeable, thereby making any Israeli building behind those borders illegal. By abstaining from the UN vote and refusing to use its veto power, the US went against its long-standing policy of protecting the Israeli State in the UN Security Council.

The Hypocrisy of the World

Many critics of this move blame now-former President Obama, believing that his decision to not only abstain from but actively push for this vote after 8 years of failed US policy was a deliberate attempt to tie the hands of future US Presidents—not the least of whom being newly-inaugurated President Trump. This resolution finally puts Obama’s mark on the middle-East peace process, very possibly marking the end of any real chance for a negotiated peace.

At the height of hypocrisy within the security council itself, “votes in favor were cast by Russia, which has occupied Kornengsberg since 1945, after capturing that ancient German city, ethnically cleansing its population and bringing in hundreds of thousands of Russian settlers; China, which has occupied Tibet and brought in thousands of Chinese settlers; France who occupied and settled Algeria for many years; Great Britain which has occupied and colonized a significant portion of the globe; and assorted other countries, several of which have horrendous human rights records,” according to Alan Dershowitz. “Israel on the other hand, offered to end the occupation and settlements in 2000-2001 and again in 2008 only to be rebuffed by the Palestinian leadership. But Israel is the only country to have been condemned by the Security Council for an occupation and settlement.”

Israel: Blessings or Curses?

What pro-Palestinian voices repeatedly fail to recognize is that the areas in dispute were historically Jewish areas that were captured in the 1948 attack by all of Israel’s surrounding Arab countries (the year that the UN officially recognized the modern State of Israel), but were recaptured by Israel in the 1967 conflict. As Dershowitz puts it, “That is not an illegal occupation. It is a liberation.” The so-called Palestinian territories are, and always have been, Israeli territories.
But lest we take our eyes off the real issue at hand, we need to realize that this most recent public and global affront is not so much about support for the geopolitical State of Israel (specifically that from the United States); rather, it is about how the God of Israel will judge the nations of the world for how they despise the physical descendants of Abraham. This was exactly God’s promise to him, “And I bless those blessing you, and him who is despising you I curse” (Genesis 12:3, YLT). We need to remember to see the hypocritical singling-out of the modern State of Israel not as merely an attack on a national entity, but on a divinely appointed people group—the Jewish people—by whom God will bless or curse all the peoples of the earth.

All Israel Will Be Saved

If God considers the physical descendants of Abraham His chosen people, and Jerusalem the untouchable apple of His eye, how much more precious and crucial will His people be when “all Israel” is saved—knowing and following the Messiah of Israel? Let us continue to pray for the safety and security of the 7 million Jewish people residing in the Land of Israel, but let us also continue to pray for the 15 million Jewish people all around the world who still need to know the salvation of the Messiah Yeshua!