Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom. Amos 1:6
The news lately has had much about events in Gaza, events of great turmoil and trouble for the people who are living there. Because the terrorist organization has been firing rockets into Israel, and because the rocket launchers are usually located within residential properties, many of the Gaza residents are killed when Israel strikes back. The Palestinian people living in Gaza are the victims of the Hamas policy of using civilians to shield or hide its weapons. Because Hamas continues to fire its rockets, Gaza residents continue to die. This seems to be very unfair, but the people in Gaza are reaping the fruit of their opposition to Israel. As our text indicates, this punishment of Gaza is nothing new. All opponents of Israel will eventually be punished, as will all opponents of Christians.
In Genesis 12:3, we find the first promise from God of a curse on those who would curse Abraham and his descendants. In the Old Testament, we find many mentions of people and nations who were destroyed because they raised their fists and their tongues against Israel and the Jewish people. Today, much of the Arab world continues to curse Israel. Some of them have suffered terribly as a result, and all of them will be eventually destroyed as a result. God has promised it. Opponents of Jesus Christ and His Gospel are also due for deep punishment because of that opposition. For example, the two largest religious organizations in the world stand opposed to the Gospel. The followers of Islam are sworn to slay all those who disagree with them, and routinely torture and harass Christians in countries where they are allowed to do so. The Roman church follows a religion of works, ritual, superstition, and idolatry, and through many centuries has persecuted those who have preached and followed the true Gospel. These religions may not experience much in terms of punishment now, but their destruction is clearly described in the book of Revelation. As Christians, we need to be aware that we may not experience the destruction of our foes until after our persecution is over.
The Lord Jesus taught us to love our enemies. Although that flies in the face of man’s philosophies, loving our enemies is simply following in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus. We cannot tell who will be affected by our loving response to persecution. Many accounts are told of opponents of Christians and the Gospel who were brought to repentance because of the Christlike attitude of some faithful Christian. The wonderful grace of God would have us love our enemies because He desires that they would be saved.
Opponents of the Gospel never win any victories. What they claim as victories now will rise up and condemn them forever. But if they trust Christ, as Saul of Tarsus did, they are delivered from that curse. -Jim MacIntosh