I haven’t addressed any contentious issues in my blog so far. That line is being crossed, I guessed, in what I write today.

The remarks of President Trump this week, announcing American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel, have sparked fury and condemnation around the world. Yet I do not join in the immediate condemnation, and I think this statement could be hugely significant in different ways than our media portray.

If you look at the surface of the Middle East issues, and you want above all else justice for the Palestinians, you would profoundly disagree with President Trump. And if you are committed solely to a delicate path of brokering peace, and forging deeper reconciliation between Israel & Palestine, I can understand your anger this week. However what if, despite our best intentions, the possibility of peace is beyond our lifetime? What if it is on the eschatological horizon of Christ’s second coming? What if God is allowing this as part of the shaking of all things in the End Times?

I know that on one hand what I write seems naive, yet on the other hand it is looking for another perspective. One of the chief difficulties for the church in the last days will be the danger of being offended at God; offended because we don’t understand what he is doing, outraged because his ways of glory and shaking are not necessarily our ways.

Respected Christian leaders Desmond Tutu has responded this week, saying that God is weeping over Trump’s recent move. Well I am sure God weeps over all the injustices perpetrated in this world, but just maybe God’s hand is somehow in this. I have wondered this last year if Donald Trump’s presidency would be used of God in some momentous way beyond the divisive and sometime foolish things he has done. The full text of his statement, although simplifying issues and ignoring the extent of the Palestinian grievances against the state of Israel, is more moderate and nuanced than reported. It also carries behind it a weight of debate on this issue by the American congress over the last twenty years.

There is a doomsday clock, created by atomic scientists, which ticks closer to midnight, corresponding to the potential of manmade global catastrophe. This year it stand at an unprecedented 2 1/2 minutes to midnight. Yet there is also a theological End Time clock which is also ticking, one that we glimpse many times through scripture. That clock is also closer to the midnight of Jesus’ return, when he will set his feet on mount Zion in Jerusalem, as the true king of all the earth. Jerusalem will be pivotal at the end of the age, and that time could be sooner than we think.

I admire and applaud all who work on the ground for peace and justice in Israel and the Palestinian territories. I have personal friends who work on both sides of the Israel/ Palestine divide who are all doing amazing kingdom work. I also stand in awe at what the bible calls the ‘mystery of Israel’ – the way God is at work amongst the Jewish people in the last days, which must include the chaotic situation in this part of the Middle East.

Whatever your stance on these things, please keep praying for God’s sovereign hand on the affairs of the Middle East, even if we don’t understand the depth of what is happening. I do not think simple condemnation of Trump is the answer today, but rather opens up a door to greater searching of our hearts and a deeper cry to understand God’s heart and ways.

Thanks for reading.