The reason why Jerusalem is called the Well of Peace is that Jesus Christ died there almost two thousand years ago and He rose from the dead and went up to heaven. It is where He brought peace to humanity forever. He said in John 14:27, "I grant you peace, the peace which is mine I give you. not as the world wishes you peace that I give it to you...." Jerusalem cannot be conquered again, because Jesus has conquered it for all time. All the killing between Arabs and Jews over Jerusalem will not resolve the issue of Palestine, yet peace cannot be achieved either until the Lord is placed in the equation.
When Arabs went out of the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th Century and attacked the regions of the Middle East and North Africa, they followed the precepts of Islam, which taught them that if Muslims die in the fight against "the infidels," they go straight to Paradise. The Christians of the Middle East were already territorially a conquered people. The whole region had been run over by the Greek and Roman empires before Jesus came to the world. However, after He came they were conquered by the holy Spirit, and so they were a free people in the true sense of the word. When the Arabs struck, the Greeks and Romans had already started the thousand year process of accepting Christianity, but Eastern Christianity was from a material perspective in shambles. Today we'd say that their infrastructure was destroyed. So they were an easy target for the Muslim invaders. However, the Christians in the East followed the path of non-resistance and soon the Muslims settled in the region, built their empires and stopped the murder of the Christian populations, which comprised of what today are called the Ashurai, the Chaldeans, the Syrianis, the Soorayeh (or Atoo-ra-yeh,) the Jacobites, the Coptics, the Abyssinians, the Armenians, and others. There was relative peace in the region until the Age of the Crusaders, when the Roman Church decided to conquer the region with its false assumption of leadership of "the Church."
The Gospel of John speaks of the Seven Churches. The churches that Jesus Christ had designated for all time. These churches are with us to this day. They were nothing but congregations who went out and spread Christianity in the "civilized" world. They did not disappear, except they made believers out of pagans. They did not become "gentiles," except they assimilated into the cultures and societies of Europe, Asia and North Africa.
It was the path of non-resistance that finally brought the Age of the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the endless warfare to an end. Today's Christian societies are desperately trying to find that peace that Jesus spoke of in John 14:27, because they are sickened by the murder of innocent victims, of insane wars and political assassinations. They want closure, but "the enemy" is not yet ready. Who is this enemy? Jesus tells us that the enemy is Satan. Satan is the Liar and the Murderer. Every murder is based on a lie, every killing is based on falsehood. Sin is the cause of death.
We all want to know how to put an end to the killings in the Holy Lands, but we're not all ready to put Jesus in the equation. Jerusalem is a conquered city because Jesus conquered it with His peace, by the shedding of His blood on the Cross, for the sake of the forgiveness of our sins. You say, "But this can't be the solution because it's not Christianity that's involved in the issue of Palestine, it's Arabs and Jews." Yes, but Christianity is trapped in the controversy. On whose side should Christians be, on the side of the Arabs, some of whom are Christians or on the side of the Jews, from whom Christianity evolved? What does the Scriptures say regarding the rights of people to the lands they inhabit? Do we go according to what God promised Abraham? Whose scriptures do we go by, whose interpretation is true?
We're back to the issue of the falsification and distortion of Scriptures. We cannot agree on the interpretation of peoples' right to a homeland based on falsified Bibles. Then again you will say, "But the holy Spirit will lead us to an interpretation of the Scriptures in this regard too." Yes, the holy Spirit can, but will we accept His will? God allows only truth, but what we're offering the Middle East is compromise, muddle through, split the difference, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, make the devil happy too and he'll leave us alone. Yes, but peace achieved this way is not a lasting peace, is it?
Of course, you can say, "Peace is not possible in the Middle East, let's give up -- didn't the Bible say that God will destroy the world with fire? Let's allow history to run its course, let the end time prophesy fulfill itself." But this is not the solution, as Christians we're not allowed to make this judgment. We're supposed to strive for peace and preach the peace of Jesus Christ. Especially now, what with the terrorists' sworn hatred of the United States. How can we leave the issue alone?
Now, the word "Islam," means "submission." Submission implies peace. Here, the peace under submission to God. Christians are supposed to want peace also, the peace that Jesus promises. The Jews want peace too, after all the name of the capital of Judea is Jerusalem,* "the Well of Peace," and the name "Jew" comes from the word "Judean." In the Galilean dialect, "Y'hud," Judea, "Yoi-dah," Jew or Jewish, "Yoi-dai," Jews. The "y," as always in English, ends up as a "j," which makes it hard for the English reader to understand some very simple matters.* Going back to the point that everybody wants peace, then, why should peace be impossible between the Arabs and the Jews?
I think the whole approach is wrong. You can't fight fire with fire, you can't fight for peace, and you can't terrorize terrorism. Of course, these are only expressions that one can "explain," but the foundation of such thinking is false, according to a true Christian perspective. At this point, you can say, "Well, Christianity cannot solve the problem in the Middle East anyway, because the fight has nothing to do with Christianity," and I agree. That's my point, Christianity has nothing to do with war and killing. I believe God allows wars to occur, because there is a Satan in the world and this is his role. God didn't create Satan for this role, Satan assumed this role. Satan decided it was preferable to have the power to do evil in this world and be his own boss, over accepting God's will and be subservient to Jesus Christ, His heir, whom He would send from His own bosom to the world. If Satan had not made the choice to spurn Christ, Jesus would've come to the world as a ruling King and bring peace to the world the first time. But man chose evil and was deceived by Satan and, therefore, humanity must struggle against evil in forging its way toward the hope of that Kingdom that Jesus offered through his disciples and apostles at the end of this world.
Is then peace impossible in this world? No, I don't believe this. Peace is possible, definitely, but it's the "peace that He grants," it's His peace. His peace is different than the peace of this world, just as His Kingdom is different than the kingdoms of this world. But you say, we want peace in this world too, and yes, we can have peace in this world too. We must put up with each other. We must forgive each other when we're wronged. After we're wronged. Can Muslims and Jews have this peace without converting to Christianity? Yes, if they want this peace, they must forgive each other for the murders they've committed against each other. They must accept this commandment of Jesus Christ. They don't have to accept any other commandment. But you say, "This is the main commandment of Jesus Christ, if they accept this, then they've accepted Jesus Christ." Well, yes, but that's what I meant when I said, "You can't have peace in Jerusalem without putting Jesus Christ in the equation." And if you think this is impossible, let me clarify something for you as a Christian. Most Christians don't accept Jesus Christ one hundred percent anyway. We have thousands of denominations, millions of interpretations of Scriptures. We can't be all right. We're not right most of the time. Not every Christian is born again, not every Christian understands what having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ means. Yet it's still possible to have His peace. Peace is possible in this world without accepting Jesus Christ one hundred percent.
Is it a lasting peace? Yes, it lasts as long as you want it to last. Is it genuine peace? No, only accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and God brings one lasting peace, in fact, everlasting peace. The main thing is you have a choice and you can have peace any way you want. Whichever peace you choose, peace is better than war.
April 21. 2002
* "Ur-ish'lam" -- "Ur," or "well" [as in "Ur of the Chaldees, from where Abraham was called, when he was still known as Abram" and again as in Urmia, "Ur-mi-ya," the Ashurai city in Northern Iran,] -- and "ish'lam," or "of peace." "Ur-ish'lam," or "The well of Peace."
** Sometimes I think all the languages after the original were invented to distort the truth about the Scriptures.
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