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September 08, 2006
The War in Lebanon
During the time we were enjoying summer vacation, the Middle East exploded into violence. Now, the fighting that took place along Lebanon's southern border is being referred to as "the Lebanon War." And the tenor of world media reporting on this event has been, quite predictably, virtually monolithic in its criticism of Israel. The Japanese media is no exception. I've read and heard all the commentary of the various experts and pundits in the papers and on TV. Quite honestly, it was all way off the mark and quite discouraging to me personally. I've often said this, but what's really important in any conflict is the ability to read what's going on behind the scenes.
Another critical aspect is discerning who's playing the "lead" and who the "supporting cast" is. In this case, the supporting roles are being played by Hizbullah and Hamas and Iran is in the lead. At this stage, the supporting players are conducting themselves as if they were in the lead. It looks as if the current cease-fire is a mutual agreement, but there's not a single Israeli that thinks the threat from Hizbullah has gone away. One would do well to think of this as just the end of act one in an epic drama.
There are several problems connected with the major players in this drama. As the investigation into last year's assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri continues, Syria is afraid that its complicity in that event will be exposed. Likewise, Iran has shown no interest in responding to offers of negotiations with the EU or U.S. about its nuclear power development program. In response to the latter, the foreign ministers of five U.N. Security Council nations plus Germany convened a conference in Paris on July 12th and announced their intention to adopt a resolution to deal with the Iran situation. Consequently, Iran heard about these deliberations and had Hizbullah kidnap two Israeli soldiers the very next day, resulting in Israel's military response. What does the timing of this incident tell us? It's seems clear enough that Iran incited this war in order to force back the world community's scrutiny of her nuclear power development program. And, at least to some degree, it can certainly be said that they succeeded.
Iran's ultimate goal is to become a super power in the Middle East. To accomplish that, she experiments with projections of her power by using Hizbullah as her proxy. This latest conflict could therefore be defined as the beginning of an Iran-Israel war. It could also be seen as the beginning of an Iran-U.S. conflict, as well. Behind Iran lurks the shadow of Russia, and the influence of North Korea likewise should not be ignored. That North Korean missle technology passes through Iran to Hizbullah is a well-known fact. The expertise that created missles capable of attacking Japan are now being used to bombard Israel. Because of all this, we shouldn't be enjoying the luxury of thinking about the Lebanon War with the detached unconcern that most Japanese exhibit.
With a rising chorus of voices calling for censuring Israel, securing her position will definitely not be a simple task. Nevertheless, if one will focus on what's going on behind events in the foreground, the true nature of this war can be discovered. The Lebanon war is not something that we as Christians can ignore either. I plan to be addressing this topic from a biblical perspective at our Getsureikai meetings in Tōkyō on Monday and Ōsaka on Tuesday of next week. Please join us at Ochanomizu Christian Center in Tōkyō's Chiyoda Ward, or Hotel Grandvia in Ōsaka at 10:30 a.m. for both meetings.
In closing, let me mention that our 38th Harvest Time Holy Land Tour will depart as scheduled in November. That tour is full, but if you have an interest in participating in one of our trips, contact us about our New Years 2007 tour. Send us your name, address and phone number and we'll mail you a pamphlet with all the details. Now that things in the area have settled down a bit, the Israelis are hoping for a "tourism boom" to start up. Join us and let's not disappoint them. Rich blessings upon you and yours in Y'shua's precious name!
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)