Ask Fred > Faith > Will there be peace in the middle east?

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Dear Fred

I seem to recall reading somewhere in the Bible that there will never be peace in the Middle East. Now I can't relocate it. Is that because it doesn't say that or have I just not looked far enough?

Fred's Response

If you will read the 16th chapter of Genesis you will see where Ishmael was predicted to be a wild character, causing trouble between the brothers. Now Isaac was the son of promise and Ishmael was a half-brother but out of promise. I have felt, personally, that there could never be a lasting peace between these half-brothers since Israel had the covenant for the land as provided by God. There are some theologians who feel that Israel by not fulfilling the covenant by being true to God was supplanted by the church as the promised people. I was taught as a child to respect the Jews because in the Scriptures it says I will bless you who bless you and curse you who curse you. There are those who believe there will be two returns to Israel. This present one in unbelief, and a future one in belief. I am not enough of a theologian to defend either position. In business when I dealt with a large number of Jews I would ensure them they would never be persecuted by conservative Christians. One extremely smart businessman said he kept a third of his wealth portable (diamonds, gold) because so often in history the “Jews” had to walk meaning “persecution.”