“Israel does not belong in the Middle East. All the
countries around it are Muslim. This is why there are problems. They don’t
belong there. They never were there as a nation(pause)….right?” Hussein stated
and then ended with what sounded like half a question. I answered, “No, they
were there long before Muslims were there, Hussein. Many Muslims don’t know the history of the
Jewish people. If Muslims would read the Torah they would understand the
history better.” That sparked his curiosity that there was something he might
not know. It was important for him to realize we were talking about history not
so much theology or politics right then. I started the “history lesson” with a
prophecy that one day God would bring the scattered Jewish people back to their
homeland which came to pass in 1948. For the next half hour I explained how God
called Ibrahim(Abraham) out of his land and promised him a land for his
descendants. Point by point I went from Abraham, to Jacob, Isaac, Joseph, the
Hebrew slaves, Moses, the desert wanderings, conquering Canaan, dispersion of
Jews around the world, and the return of scattered people back to Israel. He
found it interesting and did not know what to make of all that information
given in historical order. An explanation of Abram and Sarai, Abram and Hagar,
Ishmael and Isaac were also relayed.
These are challenging times as we minister among
Muslims because of what is happening politically in the Middle East.
Unfortunately, there is not much knowledge of the history of the Jewish or
Hebrew people and without knowing history ignorance breeds confusion and pain. Often
I find myself clarifying confusion and ignorance. “Would you like to know the
history of the Jews?” I ask. Many Christians witness Muslims’ antagonism
towards the Jews(and vice versa) but they don’t understand that Muslims are
often uninformed about the long history, and in reality have gotten facts mixed
up or even stated wrong.
Recently a
Muslim woman, after listening to me explain the history of the Jewish people, asked
me if there was something with more information. She already had a Bible in her
language but I knew she was not interested in reading, especially the Old
Testament, but needs a visual resource given in brief panoramic form. I plan to
give her 'The Hope' dvd (click & watch on-line) which is an
excellent resource on the history of the Jewish people. It will need to be
explained to a Muslim that Jews were first called Hebrews('Ibrani people') since that title is
what is used in the dvd.
When Muslims don’t want to accept a Bible I urge them
to at least read it for the purpose of gaining historical knowledge. It is a
great exercise to be able to verbally and briefly describe the history of the
Jews to a Muslim. By doing so the seeds for relaying the Good News found in
Jesus are planted. They do go together. It is history – or 'His Story'.
