Dear Yair,

With respect to the question of Israelites 'conquering' the lands of historical Israel, do you think it in anyway conceivable that this return will actually be entirely peaceful and actually desired by the indigenous Arabic peoples in the area (for example, perhaps, as they aspire to shrug off the chains of their own oppressive theological-political systems)?

As a Christian I find it, if I can be frank, very hard to reconcile my love of Jesus, and his gospel of universal forgiveness, with a program to forcibly evict arabic peoples from lands (which one presumes is implied in talk of 'conquering') which, because of Israels own rebellion have been effectively theirs for 2,000 odd years- even if we grant that Gods puposes are served by a return by Ephraimites to these lands.

Much as at present it may seem incredible to suppose that Arabic people in the middle east might actually welcome an increased arrival of Israelites, beyond the post 1948 settlements, my question to you is if this is inconceivable. To put it bluntly..is war inevitable?

It is surely not within the province of humane rationality to blame the non-Israelite inhabitants of the Holy Land, post Roman exile of the Jews, for settling in and growing used to living in lands which were allowed to be occupied by them by God becasue of Israel's apostacy and reneging on the covenant.
So if we can step beyond an immature diabolisation of non-Israelite peoples (seeing instead their opposition to Israel, forexample, in terms of a consequence of Israel's infidelity to God) we might also be able to intuit that a restored manifestation of the shekinah's presence in the hearts and lives of Joseph and Judah might in and off itself melt the hearts perhaps of israels enemies and make them keen to help them shed the light which they embody through their own societies..by welcoming them back to the fertile crescent?

Have we forgotten that Israel exists in order to be the servant nation? Israel's very existence from the beginning, let alone her prosperity, is entirely attributable I believe to her role as servant. God is God of all the world, not just of Israel, and all the peoples of the world, just as Israel should be the servant of all the world, shining light in the darkness, concerend as much for the health of all life on the planet as for herself. Surely the price Israel should pay for her blessings is this compassion and concern for all peoples..including, of course, the Arabic peoples, who themselves, have we forgotten are also descendants of Abraham, through Ishmael?

Such is how I see things anyway.

Regards

Jonathan

p.s. I am not that certain of the exact demographic makeup of the inhabitants of the fertile crescent over the past 2,000 years so fogive me for any inaccuracies above. Suffice it to say the land has not been in israel's control.