An understanding of these particular perspectives will help clarify the division over the current crisis in the Middle East. Christians who oppose Marxist ideology and who agree on the root essentials of the faith should maintain their Christian fellowship even if they have different approaches to this particular question.

On October 7, 2023, terrorists from the Palestinian organization Hamas in Gaza invaded the nation Israel and killed more than thirteen hundred Israelis, mostly civilians. The terrorists also engaged in rapes, mutilations and kidnappings. In response, the nation of Israel declared war against Hamas. In America, the reaction to these events has been quite diverse. On one extreme have been those who openly side with Hamas. On the other extreme have been those who promote unconditional support for the nation Israel as a religious obligation. In the middle are two other views which have had less exposure. I believe that a brief explanation of these four perspectives would bring needed clarity to this issue.
Let’s begin with those who openly side with Hamas. This group would include those who are themselves radical Islamists, but the group is broader than that. The larger group also includes many who are committed to wokeism or cultural Marxism.
Classical Marxism believes in a dialectical struggle between workers and the capitalist owners of the means of production. According to Karl Marx, this struggle between these two antithetical economic classes should naturally develop into the synthesis of a communist society. This prediction failed to materialize because the wealth gap between workers and owners of the means of production decreased over time in capitalist countries rather than increased. Workers who share in a growing material prosperity are not inclined toward Marxist revolution.
Some Marxists reacted to this failure by looking for potential areas of dialectical struggle other than economic class. The result was critical theory, which categorizes people as members of identity groups and labels these groups as either the oppressed or oppressors. Critical theory largely negates the concept of individual responsibility by emphasizing the guilt or innocence of the identity group. If one is a member of an oppressed identity group, then whatever he does is justified as a form of resistance to oppression. If one is a member of an oppressor identity group, then whatever he does is condemned as an effort to maintain the power to oppress. The most that a member of an oppressor identity group can do to redeem himself is to become an ally of the appropriate oppressed identity group. This involves confessing his own guilt due to a group identity that he cannot change, condemning his own identity group and championing the cause of the oppressed identity group. Critical theory has identified as oppressed identity groups people of color, indigenous people, the LGBTQ community, the handicapped, the obese and others. Many advocates of critical theory have decided to categorize Hamas as an oppressed identity group and Jews as an oppressor identity group. This means that even if Hamas engages in murder, mutilations, rape and kidnappings, these are accepted as justified means of resistance to oppression. This means that even if the nation Israel engages in self-defense through a traditional just war, this is condemned as a means to maintain its power to oppress. Hopefully the inclusion of a terrorist group such as Hamas in the big tent of cultural Marxism will accelerate the growing backlash against wokeism and cultural Marxism.
The above perspective is probably the one with the most public exposure through news reporting. A second perspective has received a lot of public exposure through advertising. This second perspective unconditionally supports the nation Israel as a religious obligation. This perspective is a relatively recent variation of the prosperity gospel.
In general, the prosperity gospel teaches that anyone can through faith obtain health and wealth. There is some truth in this message in that God does at times reward obedience in this life, not because God has any obligation to do so but because God freely chooses to do so. God rewards a Christian’s obedience in this life only as far as it serves for God’s glory and the Christian’s good (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 66). As demonstrated in the book of Job, God sometimes has reasons for allowing the faithful to suffer. The prosperity gospel contradicts this biblical balance through a one sided emphasis on divine blessings in this life.
In the past, preachers of the prosperity gospel challenged people to exercise faith by sending money in support of their ministry. This was presented as fulfilling a vow or sowing a seed that would ensure divine blessings. In recent years, some prosperity proponents have adjusted their message by presenting faith as sending money in support of their ministry to the nation Israel or needy Jews. One favorite proof text has been God’s promise to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you…” (Genesis 12:3a). This is presented as a divine promise that any individual or nation that blesses the nation Israel or a needy Jewish individual will receive divine blessings. Another favored proof text has been “‘Comfort, yes, comfort My people!’ says your God” (Isaiah 40:1). This is presented as a command from God for people to help the nation Israel or needy Jewish individuals. There has developed in recent years an international coalition of groups with this perspective. They are now the strongest Christian advocates for unconditional support for the nation Israel and for needy individual Jews. They tend to prioritize support for Israel over evangelistic missions to Israel.
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Trust God to handle the sin against you, your family, your neighbor, your community, or others. God will. He does not release the guilty. God’s wrath functions in righteousness and keeps you from the poison of your own. Your wrath spoils. You only hurt yourself.

Possibly you, like so many, have been sinned against in one way or another. Sometimes this desire for justice can seem overwhelming. You long for the person who sinned against you, your family, your neighbor, your community, or a group of people of which you connect to get what he has coming, to get what she is due, or to get a taste of their own medicine. Often other emotions are comingled with this desire. Hurt. Anger. Shame. Guilt. Helplessness. Hopeless. These all work together, at times, to forge a giant crevice through your soul where every day you are affected by these things. If you are one of those who desire justice, I have some good news for you today.
Justice for Your Perpetrator
Listen how God describes Himself in Exodus. Here, God talks with Moses as He prepares to once again give him the Ten Commandments. This text was partially quoted often in the Bible.
Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5-7)
First, we must point out that to the guilty, God made all the preparations in necessary for you to be forgiven in Jesus Christ. This text emphasizes God’s willingness to forgive. Notice the key words: merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Oh guilty friend, these are good, deep, and meaningful truths for you. God forgives. This truth applies to all of us.
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Scripture speaks of the salvation of believers in three tenses. Christians have been saved, they are being saved, and they will be saved. In redemption accomplished, Christ truly and really saved His people when He died and rose again. In the application of redemption, believers are being saved as Christ intercedes for them, sustaining them through their pilgrimage and enabling them to persevere in the faith. At the consummation, believers will experience the full application of the salvation wrought by Christ in the resurrection.

Almost no word so well captures the heart of the message of Scripture as does the word salvation. It appears more than 170 times in our English translations of the Old and New Testament. The related word, saved, appears approximately one hundred times throughout the pages of Scripture. But what is salvation? What does it mean for someone to be saved? The Scriptures provide us with several distinct answers to this question. The Bible reveals that God saves believers from their sin, the power of Satan, death, and the judgment to come. Taken together, these four aspects of the work of redemption help us understand the full-orbed biblical teaching about the salvation that God provides through the person and work of Christ.
In his birth announcement concerning the coming Christ, the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that the Redeemer would be called “Jesus” because He would “save his people from their sin” (Matt. 1:21). Since sin is man’s great problem, we needed One who would save us from its guilt and power. Jesus is such a Savior. Since He is God (John 1:1–4; Rom. 9:5), He can conquer our greatest enemies: sin, death, and Satan. Since He is man (John 1:14; Rom. 1:1–4), He can represent all those for whom He died. On the cross, Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for the sin of His people. All the sins of the elect were imputed to Christ on the cross (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus died to deliver men and women from the guilt of their sin. Additionally, Christ died to break the power of sin in the lives of His people (Rom. 6:1–11). Because of the death of Christ, God has forgiven His people all their trespasses (Col. 2:13; Eph. 1:7).
God’s Word also reveals that Jesus died to save His people from the evil one. Since Satan was the one who led our first parents in rebellion against God, he needed to be conquered by the Redeemer. There is a close connection to our sinful bondage and the power of the evil one. The Apostle John explained that Christ came to destroy the works of Satan. He wrote: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
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