The Controversy of Zion, Part 1

What is the controversy of Zion?

Yesterday over my morning coffee I browsed the headlines. “3 U.S. allies recognize Palestinian state, dealing latest diplomatic blow to Israel.” I turned to my oldest son and said, “the nations are jockeying, buddy.” He only just turned 13, but he knew exactly what I meant.

At a young age he already grasps the controversy better than most adults. What’s more, he can articulate not just what events have caused the conflict, but he is seeking to understand their meaning. He’s growing in the wisdom that comes from meditating on scripture. He’s learning to live within the story the Bible is telling, and see himself and the world around him through it’s lens.

What I shielded him from, however, was far more disturbing. Families of the hostages released new footage from the day of terror last fall. The video making the rounds online (which I did not watch in full) is particularly horrifying. It shows a line up of young, Israeli women being threatened with rape and forced childbirth by their captors on the day of their abduction. The scene is like something out of a modern-day concentration camp, and the whereabouts and condition of some of these young women is still unknown. It’s sickening.

The smooth-talking diplomats of the world have long forgotten these women and the many others who have suffered unspeakable ends at the hands of a death cult called Hamas. Foolishly, they refuse to acknowledge that recognizing a Palestinian state at this time gives Hamas victory and legitimizes the brutality scourged upon the land of Israel and Jewish people on October 7th. However, the political support from the nations of the world for a Palestinian state is not surprising because is epitomizes controversy of Zion.

A number of believers I know have admitted to me how easily they get lost in this conflict and how little they actually understand about what the Bible says about it. For some, it’s so confusing and disturbing that they prefer to simply ignore it, trying to distance themselves from the harsh realities of the times in which we live. But I believe, like Esther, we find ourselves living in a time such as a this for a reason. If we desire to engage in the world with the love and sound-mindedness that comes from following Jesus, then I believe we must understand the thing he himself grieves over: the controversy of Zion.

The controversy of Zion is the historical continuum of Gentile strife over and divine jealousy for the land and people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.

The term comes to us from the prophet Isaiah:

For the LORD has a day of vengeance; a year of recompense for the controversy of Zion.

Isaiah 34:8

Jeremiah keeps the theme going, saying that Jerusalem will be a cup that sends all nations reeling.

It’s not hard to see evidence for this. Israel is a tiny spec of land, yet it wields a power that can send the whole globe into an instant frenzy. We’ve seen this in the past, and we’re seeing it now. One terror attack, one whiff of war in Israel and Middle Eastern waters are flooded with warships from powerful nations thousands of miles away. They are all there for different reasons, taking their turn pulling punches in the agonizingly long and ongoing conflict over this land, it’s prized city, and it’s people.

Indeed, antisemitism is an easy thing to spot and condemn when it’s violent. But when its diplomatic, even ethical sounding, the line becomes more blurry. There are not many in the West who would endorse Hamas or terrorist groups outright, but there is an enormous amount of Western (including Christian) support for the pro-Palestinian movement that espouses the ideas of hostility one could expect from outright antisemitism. Antisemitism has been lurking like a slippery creature within the anti-Zionist movement for quite some time, and it’s growing in strength, audacity, and number. Although leaders from Western nations claim that formally recognizing a Palestinian state is not a move against Israelis, their position is a severely warped interpretation of justice, delusional at it’s best and dangerous at it’s worst.

Whether there is a nation state called Palestine or not, the region around Israel will remain hostile towards Jewish possession of the land this side of the Kingdom. As if the current and historical evidence for this is not enough, the Bible is clear that nations in this region will always harbor antagonism towards Israel because this is the controversy of Zion. It’s the ongoing drama of enmity, strife, and struggle beginning on page 3 of the Bible. For reasons I plan to expand on in part two of this series, everyone across all history has a bone to pick with Zion. It originates in God’s choosing of the family of Abraham (more coming on that), its a topic that weighs heavy on the mind of the prophets (go read Hab. 3), and it’s climax is something Jesus takes seriously and repeatedly warns His followers about.

Gentile contention over the land and people of Israel, whether it is violent or ambassadorial, will never go away until the Lord Himself settles it. To be clear, I believe world events are moving towards what we call a “two-state solution.” Jeremiah calls it a false peace; Daniel calls it “affirming the covenant.” God calls it Israel whoring herself out to the nations. We might not know the exact timing or the particulars of the agreement, but some version of it is coming, likely preceded by a series of military conflicts and various peace-agreements beforehand. And when it comes, it will look like the thing everyone wants: peace in the Middle East, but really it is a seductive delusion leading to a house of death (Prov. 7:27).

The antisemistim masquerading as diplomacy in the world today is circling a target, and the bullseye is Zion. It’s a controversy that has always involved all nations, and the hostility continues on today as the entire world jockeys for position around the prey. But God has strong words for nations who turn their backs on Israel when she is in distress,

Because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered the people of Israel over to the sword at the time of their calamity, the time their punishment reached its climax, therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; because you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you. 

Ezekiel 35:5-6

Giving into the drunkenness of their own interests, the nations feed this ancient hostility. We should not so be quickly deceived that the international pressure to end the war in Gaza is a move in favor of the innocent. If the world truly wanted a Palestinian state, the nations would have done something about Hamas long ago. But now that Israel is in full defense mode, the nations reel to protect the strength of their own economies, political and military prowess, trade deals, religious and cultural heritages, strategic alliances, and global security. Israelis have not yet recovered from the literal swords that slaughtered their kinsmen mere months ago, but world leaders are already colluding against God’s chosen people, and the enemy loves it. It’s the perfect smoke screen to make us all question what God has said. The posturing in the news this week looks like a solution to the problem, but in the end, its the snare of the serpent luring the world deeper into the delusion, sucked ever more into the swirling vortex of ongoing Gentile strife towards Zion.

• Because if we believe in legitimizing savage sexual violence against women of any race, we are delusional.
• If we believe a ceasefire will diplomatically solve deeply-rooted contempt and animosity, bring lasting stability to the most volatile and contended-for region on the planet, we are delusional.
• If we believe that the same people who baked Israeli babies to death in ovens will not do it again, we are delusional.
• If we believe the “Free Palestine” movement is simply advocating for peaceful co-existence next door to Jewish neighbors, we are both incredibly misinformed and also delusional.
• If we believe affirming Palestine as a nation state is not a hostile move against Israel or the Jewish people at this point in history, we are delusional.
• If we embrace “from the river to the sea,” knowing that such a slogan involves and celebrates the horrors of October 7th, we are delusional.
• If we point the finger at Israeli war crimes in Gaza but not against any other war going on (Turkey, China, Ukraine, Sudan, etc.) we are delusional. 
• If we believe this whole thing will just blow over eventually and that it doesn’t have much bearing on our lives as believers in the West or within the broader Christian community, we are tragically lacking of understanding and on the road to believing the delusion.

But we do not have to be. God is not trying to trick humanity nor does Jesus not want us, His followers, to be deceived. Regarding his kingdom, Zion, and his office as Messiah, he wants us to be informed, shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves (Matt. 10:16).

The purpose of believers understanding the controversy of Zion is not so that we can defend a theological stance, pull out our political soap boxes, or sit around with our newspapers and pair world events to biblical prophesy, as though we’re matching up socks in the laundry. Those are improper and selfish uses for the land of Israel and the Jewish people, and they distance us from the heart of the Father. Instead, I believe we should seek to understand the controversy of Zion in order to gain the wisdom to see world events for what they are so we can respond faithfully and align our hearts with the Father.

Daniel tells us (and Jesus reiterates) that when the controversy of Zion reaches it’s tipping point, those who know their God will stand firm and take action; that they will be instrumental in giving insight and ministering to the Jewish people and the nations in a time of great upheaval. But knowing God assumes knowing His purposes and His heart. It encompasses knowing the city He has inscribed on His hands, the walls that are continually before Him (Is. 49:16), the people He calls His bride (Hos. 2), and the joy He has planned for nations (Deut. 32:43). He has revealed these things to us through the story of His son, Jesus the Messiah of Israel, in every scroll of scriptures. It’s this Good News of his kingdom we are called to bear as a cross, bringing hope to the soon to be restored Israel, to the Amaleks, Edoms, and Hamans of our day, and literally, to Gaza.

I cannot speak for others. We are all on our own journeys as followers of our risen Lord. But I know for myself, the Spirit compels me forward with sober prayers, writing pieces like these and inviting others to grow in the gift of knowing Yahweh. I asked the Lord to help me see Zion through His eyes. He heard, and He’s answering.

With confidence, I trust that He will arise to settle the unsolvable controversy of Zion and vindicate all who are caught up in the continuum of hostility. He will deal justly with those who oppress the weak, peddling their lies of peace for the price of more blood, polluting the hallowed ground of His creation. God is near to those who are crushed in spirit, and He has a purpose for Zion. For it is His city, the city of our great King (Ps. 48:2). Like Daniel, may we search the scriptures for wisdom, praying for the peace of Jerusalem as watchmen night and day, hearts soft, ever-sensitive to the season in which we live.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

Psalms 46:4-5

Coming Up Next: Seeing Zion Through God’s Eyes, part 2–The Origin of the Controversy