Is God Hardening Hearts?
There is a huge amount of ongoing global prayer for Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem, as expressed in Psalm 122: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” And not in vain. Despite all the persecutions, antisemitism, wars and traumas Israel and the Jewish people have faced over the centuries, the Jewish people are alive and the land of Israel is vibrant. There are also many prayers for governments and government leaders, as Paul calls for intercessions for “kings and all who are in authority” (1 Timothy 2:2). It is almost impossible to pray for the peace of Jerusalem without also praying for government leaders. Only when they end their hatred and attacks against Israel the Jewish people can fully live in the peace of Jerusalem.
“Paul calls for intercessions for “kings and all who are in authority”(1 Timothy 2:2)”
But what is the result of all these prayers for those who are in authority? In September 2024, over 300 Christians and also Jews gathered in New York to pray for Israel, and in particular for the members of the United Nations General Assembly, who were due to meet in New York that same week to discuss new resolutions against Israel. The following day however, the UN overwhelmingly pronounced that Jews live illegally in Judea, Samaria and the Old City of Jerusalem. They would have to leave those areas within a year. Both the Bible and actual history and recent international law were completely ignored. The past decades show us a dramatic deterioration in the attitude of world leaders, EU and UN towards Israel. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said earlier that the Hamas atrocities of 7 October “did not take place in a vacuum’”. He pointed to the decades-long Israeli “occupation”. Turkish President Erdogan compared Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. EU foreign spokesman, Joseph Borrell, made numerous hurtful anti-Israel statements.
Over the past 10 years, a stunning 88% of all UN resolutions have condemned Israel. Israel as the world’s biggest rogue state. The fact that Hamas and Hezbollah have been funded and equipped by Iran with the aim of destroying Israel is not named and ignored by most world leaders. The complicity of the UN organization UNRWA in years of hate education in UN schools in Gaza, in the 7 October pogrom, and in facilitating tunneling by Hamas under UN buildings, is also systematically denied. Many media outlets persistently present Israel as the main culprit in the conflict and bloodshed. How should this deteriorating attitude in world politics and the media towards Israel be interpreted?
“A comparison with Pharaoh in Egypt comes to mind”
A comparison with Pharaoh in Egypt comes to mind. Pharaoh was guilty of mistreating the enslaved Jews in Egypt for centuries. Until the Lord God’s limit was reached: “God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.” (Exodus 2:24). He called Moses at the burning bush and sent him to Pharaoh several times. But the Lord God kept saying: “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” (Exodus 7: 3-5). Pharaoh no longer even gets the chance to let the Israelites leave of their own accord. His iniquities are completed, and the Israelites’ deliverance can only be accompanied by judgements over Egypt and the eventual death of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. In doing so, the Lord God could powerfully demonstrate to Egypt that He alone is the Lord, and still elects Israel.
The prophet Zechariah says something similar: “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’ “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.” (Zechariah 12: 2-6). A God-given “blindness”, just like Pharaoh.
Many astonishing statements by politicians about Israel are reminiscent of the Biblical concepts of ‘hardening’, ‘reeling’ and ‘blindness’. Whether this is actually the case, we cannot say for sure. None of us have access to God’s agenda. Though it should seriously trigger our thinking.
