This week we are reminded why we should not put our faith in the words of men, but instead put our full trust in the authority of God’s Word. Man’s word may let you down, but God’s Word will never let you down.
We are of course talking about how US President Joe Biden decided to stop a shipment of weapons that was destined for Israel to be used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to defend the Jewish state from terrorist threats. The US President also said he may block further arms exports to Israel if the IDF carry out their offensive operations against Hamas in Rafah.
It appears the US-Israel relationship is not as “ironclad” as the President previously, and repeatedly, claimed. In fact, we are not sure we can take Biden at his word at all because there are numerous promises he made which he isn’t keeping.
In October 2023, President Joe Biden said: “We stand with Israel. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond to this attack.”
The President Biden appears to be stepping back from this promise. He’s not ensuring Israel has “what it needs” to “respond to this attack”. In fact, it seems he’s trying to stop the response to the attack from happening all together. This is odd because that same day he said that if it was America that was attacked instead of Israel, that the US response would have been “overwhelming” to its enemy. And we have seen from the past that the US has done all that was needed to defeat their enemies, without arms embargoes being placed upon them by their allies.
Furthermore, Biden previously claimed that the United States government “will do everything in our power” to get the American hostages back home. He said: “When Americans are taken hostage, it’s not just the families who suffer; it’s a pain felt by our entire nation. We will do everything in our power to secure their safe return.”
Again, Biden isn’t living up to these words. A number of American hostages were taken on 7 October, and at least four remain in Gaza to this day. Israel’s actions in Rafah are to enter the city, eradicate Hamas terrorists and free the hostages. Why is President Biden not supporting this action? These are American citizens whom the President has vowed to do “everything” in his power to return home. Yet, Biden is actively working to limit the power Israel has to carry out its objectives.
Biden’s current stance and actions are extremely damaging for Israel. Hamas has been emboldened by this stance. It can see a rift between Israel and the US, and it is capitalising on this. This will also embolden the enemies that surround Israel, in the form of Hezbollah and the Houthis, and, of course, the terrorist’s puppet masters in the Iranian regime.
Israel’s reputation is also being damaged in the public’s eyes. Biden is making it appear that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. He’s saying he doesn’t want US weapons to be used to kill civilians in Gaza. It’s smearing Israel with the false accusation that it is committing ‘war crimes’ in Gaza, or worse, ‘genocide.’ Neither of these is true. Biden’s own State Department is due to release its findings of an investigation into Israel’s actions in Gaza with reports showing that Anthony Blinken’s department has found no evidence that Israel is committing war crimes.
It also plays into the hands of student protesters on campuses who have been demanding an arms embargo against Israel. Foolishly, Biden mentioned these protesters when he made the announcement that arms for Israel were being restricted. This has prompted these protesters to claim a victory. The problem with this is that the majority of college students are against the protests that are disrupting classes at campuses across the US and now in other parts of the world. A new poll was released showing that the Israel-Hamas conflict is the least important issue for the majority of students.
These anti-Israel students have been shown to support Hamas and other antisemitic terrorist organisations, with chants that call on Hamas to attack Tel Aviv and for the wiping out of the Jewish state. These are genocidal claims from antisemites and bigots and it is shameful that Biden is seemingly giving this disruptive force a win.
It also goes against the will of Congress. It has reached the point where members of Congress are making moves to impeach the president, similarly to how Biden’s predecessor, President Trump, was impeached for defying Congress and withholding aid to Ukraine. After all, Congress just passed a defence bill to send military aid to Israel and Biden is blocking this aid reaching Israel.
Biden is going against the will of the American people, who on the whole support Israel against Hamas, against the will of Congress, against his own state department’s understanding of the reality on the ground, and against his own words.
In all, this is all a massive error in judgement from the Commander in Chief. There is no justifiable reason for Biden to block weapons reaching Israel.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded to all this by declaring that Israel will not be swayed from doing what it needs to do to deal with Hamas. Netanyahu even said that if the IDF did not have the weapons needed, they would fight with their finger nails to achieve their objectives. Israelis understand that they cannot rely on anyone else but themselves and they are willing to fight tooth and nail to defend their land and people.
As Christians who love Israel, it is also important that we understand that man’s word will always fail. There are numerous times in the past, and currently, when our own governments have acted against the will of the people, or worse, against the Word of God.
The Bible tells us that there will come a time when the entire world turns its back on Israel. Despite this, God has promised He will never turn His back on Israel, and neither will Christians who love and serve God Almighty.
The Word of God says that God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance and that the Jews will be scattered and return to the land of Israel (Jeremiah 3:18). God describes Israel as the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8) and that He will defend His people. God promises that He will bless the nations that bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel (Genesis 12:3). And God’s Word warns that in the end times He will gather the nations against Israel and judge them according to how they treated Jerusalem and divided up His land.
“I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.” – Joel 3:2
God’s Word never fails. Every word will be fulfilled. Therefore, as Christians we must pray that our governments will stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. That our nations will be a blessing to the Jewish people, especially in their time of need.
