A commonly circulated meme on social media displays two photos of Prince William, taken from two different angles at exactly the same time. One angle shows him appearing to "flip the bird", whereas the other angle shows him holding up three fingers. In the original photo, the middle finger obscures the other two, turning a benign gesture into an obscene one.
This contrast is very helpful for teaching modern audiences a vital concept: "context". When context is omitted, any story can be spun a number of ways. Take, for example, the modern conflict between Israel and HAMAS. Under international law, even during an armed conflict, medical establishments such as hospitals are considered protected buildings. A military force cannot normally attack a hospital. But as our anti-Israel friends constantly remind us, Israel does attack hospitals. Most recently, a friend posted some very heartbreaking images of Nasser hospital following a raid by the IDF.
What our anti-Israel friends won't tell us is why Nasser hospital was raided. Under the Geneva Convention, "The protection to which fixed establishments and mobile medical units of the Medical Service are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy" (1). This term is not explicitly defined, though there are specific scenarios which are explicitly said not to count (such as having armed guards). With that being said, if the hospital is used for acts which are harmful to the enemy, outside their humanitarian duties, a hospital loses its protection, and becomes a valid military target.
HAMAS are a particularly uncivilised group of terrorists, who, as a core strategy, use civilian infrastructure - mosques, schools, even hospitals - to conduct their operations. According to IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, more than 85% of major medical establishments in Gaza are being used by HAMAS (2).
Nasser hospital, unfortunately, was one of them. Acting upon credible intelligence that the hospital contained the bodies of some of the October 7th terror attack, the IDF conducted a raid on October 15th (3). This raid seems to have confirmed the intelligence, as boxes of medicine with the hostages names on were found within Nasser hospital, along with weapons, a vehicle that was used in the October 7th terror attack, a vehicle stolen from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a lot of weaponry, and many HAMAS terrorists posing as medical staff (4).
This leads us to question the very sanity of anti-Israelis. On the one hand, you can understand where they've gone wrong. Attacking a hospital is a war crime under normal circumstances, and even when a hospital becomes a valid military target, it's undesirable. It gets even worse when we consider that Nasser hospital is just one medical establishment Israel has had to attack in this way. Where are Gazans supposed to go for treatment if HAMAS keep turning their hospitals into battlegrounds?
I chose those words carefully. With the facts provided above, there is no sensible way to direct our anger towards Israel. Certainly not to the degree that we see expressed by many in the Western world. Yet, by focusing entirely on the fact Israel have attacked medical facilities, anti-Semites have been able to portray Israel as the bad guys, while merely carrying a sign saying "HAMAS are terrorists" will get you arrested in England (5).
At this point, it should be fairly obvious there is a devil in the details. It takes a truly supernatural level of evil for the entire world to side with a group of violent rapists and torturers over those who are leading the fight against them, all the while claiming this is in the name of "compassion". But we need not think this is anything new.
See, as a species, we have been opposed to justice for around 6,000 years. From the moment we were told "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5), we have sought our own ways. Note Adam's response to God on that tragic day: "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." (Genesis 3:12). Rather than just confess his sin, "yes Lord, I ate", he decided to blame both Eve and God alike. "The woman, whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate".
Clearly, we never learned our lesson, as the world abhors God's people for their just war against HAMAS. But worse than that, they abhor God. How often have you heard unbelievers, even heretical Christians, charge God with evil? "Look at this Bible passage! God did this horrible thing to these poor, innocent people. How awful! What an evil God!"
But what we see in reality is God showing great patience to sinners until finally, after much warning, His patience runs out. We look at Sodom and Gomorrah, and we see a bunch of violent rapists, barely better than HAMAS themselves. Just ten righteous people could have spared the cities (Genesis 18:32), but not even 10 could be found. For 400 years, God spared the Amorites, because their iniquity was not yet complete (Genesis 15:16), yet we so often hear of how terrible it was for God to destroy them when it was. When we look at the history of Nineveh, a city God at one point spared for sake of their ignorant civilians, and even their cattle (Jonah 4:11), we are appalled, yet even these are often the subject of atheist talking points.
So why does the world so often favor the bad guys? Because, put simply, we are the bad guys. Perhaps, unlike HAMAS, you find rape repugnant. Maybe, unlike Nineveh, slowly impaling your enemies on spikes is a little too brutal in your eyes. Possibly, unlike even ancient Israel, burning your children alive on alters to Molech is despicable to you. But you needn't think you're free from all blame. To God, whose eyes are too Holy to look upon evil (Habakkuk 1:13), even your righteous deeds are filthy rags because of your sin (Isaiah 64:6).
This is a big problem. Just as we find it undesirable to attack a hospital for sake of defeating terrorists, God finds it undesirable to destroy the wicked for their sin (Ezekiel 18:32; 33:11). It is God's preference that all men be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4), which is actually cited as the reason He is delaying His return 2 Peter 3:9). One might call this a ceasefire.
But like all ceasefires, it's temporary. A time of reckoning will come, for as Scripture says, "...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment," (Hebrews 9:27). For the impenitent, this will not be a pleasant experience, either on that day, or forever after. But there is an alternative. In His love, God has provided a substitute. A literal scapegoat. As Paul puts it, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Who is this who knew no sin? Certainly not I. Not you. Not Paul. Not Mary. As Jesus says, "...No one is good but One, that is, God..." (Matthew 19:17). The one who knew no sin, yet became sin for us, is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God! And that is why we read, in His own words, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16).
Whichever side of the Israel vs. HAMAS war you stand on, you stand on the wrong side of the God vs. Sinners war. But He has provided an amnesty program, allowing you to defect from Satan to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith. Let us therefore confess our sins, rather than deny them, or blame God. When He knocks - and He is knocking - open the door.
References
1. Geneva Convention, Article 21 (link)
2. Jewish News, IDF: ‘Over 85% of major medical facilities in Gaza used by Hamas’, February 15th 2024 (link)
3. Winston, Alex et al. - IDF launches op. in Gaza's Nasser Hospital to retrieve hostages' bodies, The Jerusalem Post, February 15th 2024 (link)
4. The Jerusalem Post - Hamas terrorists posing as doctors arrested in IDF hospital operation, February 18th 2024 (link)
5. Ashmore, Richard - Moment man with 'Hamas are terrorists' sign arrested during London pro-Palestine march, Express, March 10th 2024 (link)