During the presidency of Barack Obama, the relationship between America and Israel has shown some signs of being strained.
Many progressive minded individuals have very strong negative feelings towards the nation of Israel, and what they perceive as crimes against the Palestinian people. Many believe that Israel has adopted an apartheid type of policy against the Palestinians, and that their recently re-elected prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is something of a war criminal. For political purposes, president Obama continues to call the nation of Israel our closest ally and friend. But it is evident to all "that loving feeling" between the United States and Israel isn't what it once was.
There has been a definite shift in tone and rhetoric.
Historically, the political strength in the relationship between Israel and America has, in part, been fueled by the Evangelical Christian makeup of America. Many hold to a popular "end-times" theology that sees it as necessary that we as a nation "Stand with Israel!" However, as the power and influence of Evangelicals in the political arena continues to fade in this country, and as it continues to become increasingly progressive, we are seeing fewer people make the call to stand with Israel.
Indeed, there is the sense in which Israel is looked at as less of a friend, and almost an enemy. One might be so bold as to say that Israel is currently America's "frenemy."
The deterioration of this relationship between America and Israel should not come as a shock to us. It is something that has ultimately been foretold in the Scriptures themselves.
Indeed, I would be so bold as to prophetically say that the day is coming in which America will not only permanently break its relationship with the nation of Israel, but that one day America will engage in an armed military conflict against Israel.
The prophetic witness of the Scriptures ultimately bears this out, and is part of God's larger plan to ultimately redeem the nation of Israel. The Old Testament prophet, Zechariah declared:
"Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it." (Zechariah 12:2-3; NASB)
"For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city" (Zechariah 14:2; NASB)
If we read these texts carefully, and in their larger historical, literary, grammatical context, we will discover that the prophet Zechariah is speaking to the nation of Israel, who has just returned back from its Babylonian exile, and has resettled into the land. It has begun to rebuild itself politically and spiritually.
To the dismay of prophets such as Zechariah, the terrible judgments that Israel had gone through at the hands of the Babylonians was ultimately insufficient. They did not truly purge the nation of Israel from her sins as was hoped. Spiritually, the nation still showed signs of corruption, and so long as the nation showed such signs of spiritual corruption, they would continue to be vulnerable politically, and would continue to be subject to further judgments from God at the hands of the nations.
Looking into the distant future, Zechariah prophetically saw that Israel was still spiritually corrupt, and that the nation would continue to experience the same fate that it has continually experienced since it was founded. Indeed, Zechariah saw a time in the future where all of these things would reach a feverish boiling point, and an apocalyptic scenario would ultimately unfold in the chronicles of human history.
One day, Zechariah says, as part of God's ultimate plans to redeem the Jewish people, events will transpire that will cause Jerusalem to become "a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around," and Jerusalem will become a "heavy stone for all the peoples" and that "all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it." He says "all nations will be gathered against Jerusalem to battle."
And by "all nations" that means "all nations." Such is inclusive of America.
America will eventually join the rest of the world, yes, even the radical Islamic world, in an attack against Jerusalem. And such will ultimately come out of a sense of inevitability. We will feel like we have no other choice but to lead an attack on Jerusalem. The force of it will be like gravity, and like an apple clipped from a tree, we will have no choice but to fall.
It will be argued in those days that Israel has finally crossed the line. There will be a "last straw" type of scenario that will provoke the nations to genuinely feel it must attack Jerusalem for the common good of humanity. As a nation, we will feel that we must, and that such a war is ultimately morally justified and necessary.
Of course, in the present, we haven't quite reached the point of no return. But the strain we are beginning to see in the relationship between the United States and Israel is ultimately a manifestation of prophecy simply coming to pass. While our national relationship will have moments of improvement, we are ultimately on a downward trajectory that will result in war.
Jerusalem is becoming a cup of reeling. It is becoming a heavy stone that pulls on us all.
None will be exempt.
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