Culture & Christianity: The Allen Jackson Podcast - What the West Gets Wrong About Islam

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

Is Islam truly a religion of peace? What is the real history of Palestine? Are the Jewish people of today the same as those of the Bible? From media narratives to academic institutions, we are witnessing a coordinated effort to rewrite history, suppress biblical truth, and confuse the Church on issues of faith, geopolitics, and identity. In this episode, Pastor Allen cuts through the noise to examine the historical realities surrounding the land of Palestine, the dark truths behind Islamic doctrine, and what Scripture reveals about God's relationship with the Jewish people.—It’s up to us to bring God’s truth back into our culture. It may feel like an impossible assignment, but there’s much we can do. Join Pastor Allen Jackson as he discusses today’s issues from a biblical perspective. Find thought-provoking insight from Pastor Allen and his guests, equipping you to lead with your faith in your home, your school, your community, and wherever God takes you. Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3JsyO6ysUVGOIV70xAjtcm?si=6805fe488cf64a6d Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/culture-christianity-the-allen-jackson-podcast/id1729435597

Welcome to Culture and Christianity. This is really a historic day. In many respects, the hostages are being released that have been held by Hamas for more than two years. So this is remarkable to me. Culture and Christianity seems like an appropriate title today because I think our faith is being played out in the headlines of the newspaper, or at least in the world media. You know, as much as I had hoped that those people would be released, and as much as I thought it would be amazing if they were,

there was a place in my heart thought only God could ever orchestrate that. Too much hatred, too much violence, too much evil in Hamas and in that part of the world. So it is an amazing day, a triumphant day, a joyful day, a joyous day, a day of great celebration. You know, I'm certain I've been in contact with a variety of my friends in Israel today. One of them wrote me, he said, there's enough tears of joy. today to last us for years to come. It is a national sigh of relief. The wars in Israel, modern Israel,

are typically very brief. They've been mobilized for over two years now. More than a thousand Israelis have died in this conflict, and there's 20 living hostages that were released today, and for the Israelis, that's a tremendous victory. So whatever else I say today, I want it to be framed in, the context of that remarkable miracle of biblical proportions.

And a big shout out to President Trump and this current administration, the negotiations that they accomplished, I don't know of a president in recent history that would have undertaken that and certainly that could have achieved it. All the details of that 20-point plan or many of them are yet to be known. I'm certain it won't all hold together as completely as it was intended. but it's brought an amazing victory today. And I am most grateful that we get to see that and be a part of that and celebrate that. Can you imagine those families that had loved ones that have been gone for more than two years,

and the horror and all that's happened? And to imagine the opportunity to be reunited today, it's beyond my imagination. So there's a huge, yay God. And I want to celebrate that as fully as we can. You know, by the time that gets posted, usually there's a couple-day lag. There's no telling what will change in the Middle East. Hamas is already back at war with the very factions within the Ghazan community, not outstanding people, just different segments within the community, the people there.

There's already murder breaking out again. So who knows what is next. But today we're going to celebrate that victory. I want to take the time in our podcast and talk a little bit about the players in the Middle East, Israel, the Jewish people, the Muslim world. why does this maintain such a flashpoint of contention in the modern world? You know, my adult lifetime has been one way of understanding. It is this ongoing, unplaying of the conflict in the Middle East.

And I don't think it's going to be resolved fully. You know, maybe the Abraham Corps get extended. Maybe Syria is brought into that. Maybe Lebanon's brought into that. Maybe the Saudis are brought into that. I mean, that's certainly a whole new day in the Middle East. That's yet to be seen. But today we're celebrating a step of progress.

But let's start with the Jewish people, because there's a segment within our community and a segment within the Christian community that want to say the Jews are the whole problem. That if you could just eliminate the Jews, if you could remove them from the discussion and from the equation, there'd be peace in the Middle East. That assumes that Islam would bring peace. There's not peace in Gaza today, and the Israelis have withdrawn. There's nobody fomenting that hatred. That's internal, and there've already dozens of people have been murdered today in Gaza.

it's unimaginable. So Islam is not peaceful. We'll talk about that. So imagining peace with Islam, you can't give something you don't have. So long-term peace with the current Islamic powers in the Middle East doesn't seem overly hopeful because they're not capable of maintaining peace amongst themselves.

So I reject the notion that the Jewish people are the problem. But let's do a bit of history. You know, you don't have to look far to see that our economy is in real turmoil. Our nation is $37 trillion in debt. Inflation rates made it hard to buy and sell a house, even a car. We're all feeling it. When you go to the grocery store and you spend an extra dollar or two in every item, that gets personal in a hurry. Well, the most important thing we can do during uncertain times is to invest ourselves in knowing God better.

Read his word, pray. That's the only place we're really going to find stability we need for the disruption that I'm pretty certain is ahead of us. Beyond that, it's just plain wise to make the best thing. decisions possible in our daily lives with our investments. When you think of all the options out there, gold is an investment that has stood the test of time. That's why I work with preserved gold. They've treated me with honesty, integrity, kindness, every step of the way. They're offering a free wealth protection kit, and all you need to do is text Allen, that's A-L-L-E-N, to 50-505. As a bonus, you'll get up to $15,000 in free gold and silver with a qualified purchase.

go ahead and text them today. I know everybody loves history. We'll start with Palestine because Palestine seems to be the thorn in everybody's side, the rock and everybody's shoe. The poor Palestinian people have been mistreated. Well, Palestine was not an Arab nation in 1948 when Israel was recognized.

When the modern state of Israel was born in May of 1948, Palestine was not an Arab nation. The Jewish people did not take over someone else's territory. The bigger reality is Great Britain had authority over the Middle East. Until they became tired of governing that region, they inherited that at the end of World War I when the Ottoman Empire was defeated and Great Britain was given the mandate over the Middle East. So they administered the region from World War I, at the end of World War I, through the end of World War II.

The Turks had controlled that area, the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish Empire, since the 1500s. So then just in passing, the Turks are not Arabs. Turkey is a Muslim country today, but it's not an Arabic country. Palestine has never been the name of a country. Never. The name Palestine came from the Romans in 1.30. They'd finally had enough of the Jews and their rebellions in Jerusalem and the Judea.

And the Romans wanted to separate the Jewish people. people with any connection they had to the land of Israel. And so they renamed it in a corruption of the Philistines. And so Palestine is the word that emerged from that in the mid-130s AD. It's really a corruption from the ancient Philistines that you know from your Bible. Goliath was a Philistine. But it has no connection to the present-day Arab community. The Philistines were eliminated by the Babylonians, 600.

years BC. So the Romans were just borrowing a term from history trying to separate the Jewish people from the land of Israel. Palestine was a region, a region of the area. It was never a nation. There was never a president of the state of Palestine or a government of Palestine. In the same way we talk about the Midwest being a region in the United States. Palestine was a region of the Middle East. It wasn't a separate country. And the reason, of Palestine did not have any connectivity to the Arab ethnicity. They weren't like one in the same. Muhammad wasn't even born until the 7th century.

The Romans labeled the area Palestine in the second century. So you can't talk about Islam as a presence until hundreds of years after the Romans labeled the region Palestine. Step forward a little bit, the UN petition vote in November of 1947 extended the opportunity for two nations to be recognized. An Arab nation on the west side of the Jordan River and a Jewish nation. The Arabs rejected the offer. They said they wouldn't accept the UN petition plan. The Jews in May 14, 1948, accepted the UN offer in the modern state of Israel was born.

That day, the Arabs declared war on Israel. Five Arab nations and the local population declared their intent to drive the Jews into the sea, rejecting the United Nations plan. The people in the West Bank could have had peace, day one. It was extended to them by the international community. Instead, they chose war in an attempt, gee, this is new language, to drive the Jews into the sea.

We're still talking about that, still chanting that on some of our despicable American campuses. When the ceasefire was declared at the end of that conflict in 48, Israel had defended the territory that they'd been granted. And Jordan controlled the land on the west bank of the Jordan River. The region of Palestine, 78% of it was given to the Jordan, became the modern nation of Jordan. It was the remaining 22% that was partitioned by the United Nations into two nations.

So it made perfect sense at the end of that war of Independence, for Israel in May of 48, the Jordanians are occupying the West Bank. It was never referred to as occupied territory. The Jordanians were never referred to as occupiers. Nobody referred to the people that lived there as Palestinian. They were Jordanian. They had Jordanian passports. They came and went. They traveled internationally with Jordanian passports. It wasn't until 1967 after the Six Day War when the Israelis found themselves in control of the West Bank, that all of a sudden it became occupied territory. And the people there began to be referred to as the Palestinians,

and it became a way to put international pressure on the modern state of Israel. Prior to 67, the Arabs in the West Bank were just a part of Jordan. The Arabs in Gaza were a part of Egypt. It was 67 in the Sixth Day War that changed that. Prior to that, there was no occupied territory. When the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization, was created, Jordan controlled the West Bank. The Palestine they wanted to liberate wasn't the West Bank, it was Israel.

Nobody thought Palestine was occupied. They didn't want Israel in that land. They should have been fighting Jordan and Egypt, because it was Jordan and Egypt that were occupying the territory that the UN had promised to the Palestinian state. Before Israel was born in 1948, everybody that lived in the region was considered a Palestinian, whether they were Arab or Jew.

Simple matter of history. It doesn't take much research to figure that out. The Jewish-owned newspaper in Jerusalem was the Palestinian Post. Jewish-owned newspaper in the region was the Palestinian Post in 1948. Jerusalem has been the capital of only one country, ever, Israel. King David established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 1,000 BC. that just for reference that's 1500 years or more before Muhammad was even born a Jewish king in the city of Jerusalem presiding over a Jewish nation

1500 years before Muhammad was ever born some people are offended they say well the United Nations made a mistake when they recognize the modern nation of Israel okay you're entitled of that opinion but let me give you a bit more history all the nations in the Middle East are almost all of the nations in the Middle East are modern creations. Jordan was created in 1922 by Great Britain. As I mentioned, they took 80%, 78% of the region that had been known as Palestine, and they created Transjordan.

And it got independence in 1946. The Syrians were under French control until 1946. Lebanon received independence from France in 1943. Iraq became an independent nation in 1958. These were all nations created from the Ottoman Turkish Empire after World War I. They hadn't existed prior to the San Remo Conference in 1920. Most of them were drawn on a napkin by European politicians with little reference for the tribal loyalties and boundaries, which were far more significant to the inhabitants of the region than these newly identified nation states.

We can look at it a different way, the total landmass of Arab states. if we don't include the non-Arab states of the Middle East, which would be Turkey and Iran, if we don't include them, 98% of the land mass belongs to the Arab nations of the Middle East. 1.6% belongs to Israel. And that's excluding the land of Turkey and Iran. So more than 98% of the land of the region

already belongs to Muslim nations. Less than 2% belongs to Israel. And the most common talking point for the country, the last several decades is there can be no peace in the Middle East until Israel gives up some of their land. That's absurd. It's just a total lack of awareness of the region to even repeat the phrase, land for peace. It's bizarre. The word Jerusalem in Zion appears nearly a thousand times in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament. It doesn't occur one time in the Quran, which is the Islamic holy book. So Jerusalem and Zion,

is a fundamental part of the text of the Jewish people, and if you roll into that to the Christian community, it's not a part of the Holy Book of Islam. It's been manufactured after the fact to create a point of discussion. So why does all this matter to people of faith today? Why does it matter to the Christian community in America? Well, it seems to me that whenever there's a war in the Middle East,

there are segments within the Christian community that begin to talk about the end of times. I don't know if it feels like that. I feel like if there's a discussion about Israel, then we have to have a prophetic discussion. And now we've got to talk about when Jesus returns and Gog and Magog and the Battle of Armageddon and the rapture. And we roll into our debates around eschatology.

I guess I'm just going to stir all the pots in one simple podcast. But I don't really want to get into that eschatological discussion about when the rapture is going to take place, whether it's pre-mid or post or if we're going to tribulate or not. But I do want to take on that connection between the Jewish people and the end of the age or why it makes its way into our discussion. The Bible, it seems to me, is abundantly clear that the regathering of the Jewish people to their historic homeland promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

does reflect we're approaching the end of this age. Now, whether that's 10 years or 200 years, I believe, is being. certainly beyond me, but I really believe it's beyond the scope of Scripture. Jesus said, nobody knows the day or the hour. I think the best we can know is the season. And one of the markers of the season is the regathering of the Jewish people. God promised that people that piece of territory. It happens to be chic right now to say that there's no connection between the modern nation

of Israel and the biblical nation of Israel. There's some big chunks of the Christian church that are parroting. that remark, some of them with some big platforms and high profile, and then they extend from that that the modern Jewish people don't have a connection with the biblical Jewish people. To be honest, that just feels absurd to me. One, it requires a willingness to ignore enormous chunks of scripture, including the New Testament.

In the book of Romans, 9, 10, and 11, read the chapters for yourself. It's really simple discussion. The question is ask, answered more than once, did God reject the Jewish people? And the answer is in the strongest emphatic language possible in Greek. It says, God forbid, absolutely not. No, he didn't. And then Paul goes on to make the point that the Christians, the Gentile Christians, the church began, the Jesus people, you know, church is a word that's kind of a latecomer to the discussion. The people that believe Jesus is Messiah, almost all of them began as Jewish. Overwhelmingly.

So adding non-Jews to that story didn't really become significant in any numbers at all until we get to Acts 10. And beyond that, it begins to grow. But by the time we get to the end of the New Testament, the believers in Jesus are still overwhelmingly Jewish. It's a bizarre conversation. But Paul in Romans says that we were grafted into the original olive tree and we're nourished by the roots of that, by that Jewish heritage of that. And that if some of the original branches were broken off so that we might be grafted into that tree and nourished by those roots, we should maintain our humility because if the original branches could be broken off, so could we. That's New Testament. That's the book of Romans. So the imagination that the Jewish people of today are not the Jewish people of our Bible or Israel, you know, if you make that case, if DNA testing, you're going to throw that out the window and say it's bizarre or it's inappropriate, then are we going to eliminate all the claims of the indigenous.

people of America? Are we going to eliminate all the claims of all the indigenous people we know from around? The Eskimos not Eskimos anymore? Are the Danes not Danes? Or are we going to set aside all of those things just because it's convenient for us in the moment to try to diminish the Jewish people? Am I surprised that that messaging is coming from the Christian Church? No, tragically, I'm not, because the primary sponsor of the rejection of the Jewish people for 1,700 years has been the Christian church. So the fact that it's happening in the 21st century and it's got something of a platform doesn't surprise me at all, but it's bad theology, it's bad history. And I believe we've got to have the courage to talk about it. I won't be angry, but we can have the discussion. Nobody's paying me to say that.

I'm not being funded by the Israeli community or anyone else to be an advocate for the Jewish people. I'm not against that. It just hasn't been my circumstance. But the timeline issue is where I really started. You know, it's highly offensive to the Jewish people. They think the only reason the Christians care about them is there's some prophetic marker and therefore we tolerate them because it gives us some hope that our Lord is returning. So there's enough insensitivity all the way around that discussion to be offensive to many people.

I can tell you what I do know about Jesus' return is he's coming back to the earth. as certainly as he came to Bethlehem in the form of a baby, the most innocent, the most vulnerable. He's coming back to the earth, this time on the Mount of Olives, which is a hill just to the east of the city of Jerusalem, opposite the Kidron Valley from the Temple Mount today. And when he comes back, he's coming back as a conquering king. He's not coming back as an innocent baby.

He's not coming back vulnerable. He won't be hiding from Herod's soldier. he won't be dependent upon wise men to give him gifts of frankincense gold and myrrh he's coming back as a conquering king to bring the judgment of God to the nations of this world and ultimately he's going to rule and reign on planted earth an observant Jewish rabbi will rule and reign on planted earth where I think Christians sometimes lose our focus is Jesus' return is not just a it's not a get out of jail free card.

I think we imagine it is this, it's like the ultimate spring break. All the bad stuff's going to get canceled. We're not going to have to do final exams. The boss is coming back and we're going to have an endless party. And that's not really the scenario that is presented to us in Scripture. There is a finality in Jesus' return. It is the culmination of this age.

I think it feels to me the equivalent of that would be the closing of the door on Noah's Ark. You know, when the Ark was closed, opportunity closed with it. The season of God's judgment began. And for those that were on the right side of the door, it wasn't an easy time, but it was a triumphant time. And for those that were on the wrong side of the door, it was a devastating time. And that's very similar to how I think of Jesus' return. If you're on the right side of that decision, if you've chosen Jesus as Lord of your life,

not just if you went to church or if you're religious or kind or moral or generous, but if you've really given Jesus the position of Lord, which is about priorities and who establishes the priorities of your life, that's more than joining a church or a denomination or whether you're Catholic or Protestant. Is Jesus really Lord of your life? Honestly, doesn't matter what I think about that. God will be the evaluator of that.

But if Jesus is Lord of your life, when he returns to the earth, that's a great day. Maybe not an easy day, because there's some difficult things still on the other side of that. If you're on the wrong side of that, it's a devastating day. Again, it's a point of finality. Everybody's got an opinion about the sequence of events. When the rapture is going to take place, if it's going to take place, if you're going to go through the tribulation, if you're not going to go through the tribulation. I'm okay with that.

But for the moment, regardless of your timeline preference, the basic facts don't change. Jesus' return is to usher in the end of this present age. Okay? And at that point in time, the opportunity for humanity to participate in the kingdom of God is closing rapidly. We're just about to the finish point.

And we're going to move on to the next age, and all that brings. So Jesus' return will be necessary. Without his return, my understanding the presentation of Scripture is that without Jesus' return, the church wouldn't survive, his people wouldn't survive. The pressure in the earth will have become so intense, the problem's so grave, the resentment so deep, the violence so expressive. You know, Jesus said, you'll be hated by all people because of me.

You'll come to the point that if they killed you, they'll say they've done God a service. and the way I understand it is Jesus' return is an intervention to protect his people in the earth. It's enough, he says. I think we treat Jesus' return as if it's like, you know, he's coming back and we're like, oh, it's nice to see you again. You know, like we've been separated from a friend for a few months or a couple of years, and it's kind of a reunion party,

but that's not the way I understand scripture. Jesus' return is really an intervention on behalf of his people in the earth. he's coming back to take a stand against evil that we can't take in our own strength and our own power and in that he will bring judgment on those who have opposed the purposes of God and then lead us into a new era where the purposes of God will emerge in the earth. It's an amazing time, a wonderful time. And I do think we are, if we use the language of Matthew 24, we're probably witnessing the beginning of those birth pains. We're seeing some of the things described as components of the end of this age coming into play, an increase in lawlessness, ethnic conflict. All those things are clearly growing in the earth.

But I don't think we're finished with that by any means. You know, birth pains is a real analogy to me. Clearly, I'm not a birthing person. I bet you knew that. But my father was a vet. I've seen a lot of things born. And once birth pains begin, there's some common characteristics across species. they continue to in the birth pains continue in both frequency and they gain intensity until you arrive at the point of delivery

and so I think what we're watching begin in the earth is going to increase in frequency and in intensity until ultimately we get to the delivery of the king back in the earth the exact timing of that I'm quite willing to leave with the Lord but it's an exciting time and I think it's the the season that we can see before us. Now, whether that's a decade or 100 years, isn't really relevant to me. You know, again, we get all heated up, are these are the last days? I can tell you what they are. They're your last days.

They're my last days. It's highly improbable. You and I are going to be here 200 years from now, no matter how well you eat. So why don't we treat this season like they're our last days and live with that intensity? All right, we were in Palestine. We got to the modern state of Israel being born. We took a little detour for the return of the king because sometimes Christians conflate this discussion

with the end of the age. Could be, but that's almost secondary. Let's take the balance of our time. I got a few minutes. And talk about Islam. Islam is the predominant religion of the Middle East, overwhelmingly. The language that we've been introduced to in our culture that's been fashionable for quite a season.

President Obama did a great deal to push this forward. was that Islam is peaceful. It's often referred to as peaceful Islam. I think one decision we have to make is that an accurate description of the way Islam is expressed in the world. I'll give you my short answer. I don't think it's accurate.

I think there are peaceful Muslims. I think there are people in the Islamic community and the Islamic world that are people of peace and who would be happy to see peace extended in that community. But when we talk about Islam as a religion, You know, Islam is primarily a political system that has a religious component. Christianity is a religion that occasionally in history has been expressed as a political movement, and that's typically turned out very badly.

Islam, on the other hand, is a political movement that has a religious expression. And in all the places in the world where Islam is dominant, where it's the primary authority structure, meaning principally those nations where Islam is the overwhelming where it is the primary political system that governs the people in those places in the world it's not peaceful it will be tolerant if you submit to Islam if you're not Islamic and you live in an Islamic country you don't typically have equal status with the Muslim members in that nation

there's a technical it's a demi status you're a second-class citizen and you pay an extra tax, you have a different status in the court systems. Now that varies a bit nation to nation, but that's consistent across the Islamic world. Women in the Muslim world. With no doubt, you've seen the women in their burkas, their head covering, and their garbs.

You know, in the fundamentalist expressions of Islam, when you see women in public, all you can see is their eyes, and typically the veils cover their eyes. They don't have equal status. with the men in those nations. They don't have equal opportunities. They can't even be seen in public.

It's stunning to me that in America, where our attitude towards women have been so dramatically changing in recent decades, that we look at the Muslim world with such blindness. How tolerant we are of that. When the women in that part of the world don't even remotely, they don't have the same access to education, They don't have the same access to travel.

They don't have the same access to voices in the lives of how their governments are run. They don't have authority in their own homes. It's bizarre. So to refer to Islam as something that is peaceful, beheading is still a common practice in Saudi Arabia today. And we think of Saudi Arabia as a friend of our nation and one of the more peaceful Islamic states. We don't think of Saudi Arabia.

as being a particularly radical place. Female genital mutilation is a common practice in the Islamic world. Honor killings. If a daughter or a sister has embarrassed or humiliated a family, it's not uncommon for them to be murdered. At such a rate that there's not even an accurate count to know how many of those. so-called honor killings take place.

Again, I'm not trying to foment hatred. I'm simply trying to invite you towards the practices that are common. A few minutes' research on the Internet and the things I'm talking to you about can be seen. So to describe Islam as peaceful requires a different definition of peaceful than we typically used to describe our lives or our expectations for societal interaction. The places where you find Islam being somewhat more peaceful are the places in the world where it's not the primary political authority. There are places in America where I think Islam has practiced relatively peacefully,

but it's not the primary authority. And the more authority that Islam gains, and the more authority it can express and the more dominant becomes, the more authoritarian it becomes, and the less tolerated is of any other worldview. Almost everybody I know wants to feel better, have more energy. I mean, myself included, I went to a concert a few months ago. It's been almost a year ago now, and I sat down next to a friend Jordan Rubin was there.

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That's A-L-L-E-N-30. You'll get a 30% discount, and it'll also bless our ministry. Again, that's ancientnutrition.com, Alan, A-L-L-E-N-30. You get a 30% discount on $30,000. multi-college and protein, you'll feel better and you'll bless our ministry. Thanks. Again, these aren't complicated facts. They're not hidden facts. They are not part of the current cultural discussion. They're inconvenient because we've had powerful voices in our nation and powerful voices in our media that want to say Islam is peaceful. But again, I don't think

that's an accurate description of what's happening with all due respect to the those outlets. You know, when President Obama went to Cairo to speak to the Muslim Brotherhood and really lit the fuse on the Arab Spring, for several months there was this effusive celebration of how liberty and tolerance were about to wash across the Middle East. We're a decade on the other side of that, and that has proven to be a completely false narrative. That's just not the reality of the people who live in the world. the region, but we've never revisited that or looked at the bloodshed or the violence or the regime conflict that that led to.

Again, it just seems that we are remarkably naive. The Syrian Civil War, you know, the, it's been the last few months in Israel with the war in Gaza. We've heard so much about the Israeli genocide of the Gazaan people. And I will grant you, there's been a great deal of suffering in Gaza. And the people on the West Bank have suffered a great deal. But we separate that discussion from the larger discussion of the Middle East. There's been a civil war in Syria for the previous decade. A horrific civil war.

Assad has finally been removed since October the 7th, but that was largely due to Israeli intervention. It wasn't because of the United States. President Obama drew a red line. He said if Assad, who at the time was the Syrian president, if he used chemical weapons on his own people that the United States would intervene. He used chemical weapons on his own people. And we dithered and did nothing. Unbelievable.

As a result of that civil war, there was a mass migration of the Syrian people out of Syria. About a million and a half immigrated into Europe, fled into Europe through Turkey. Over three million Syrians made their way to Turkey and stayed. A half million or more found their way into Jordan.

So in total, something like 5 million people who have lived in Syria historically were driven out by a civil war, which was Assad was an alawite, which was a sect

within Islam. It was a minority sect, so the only way he could maintain power was with a totalitarian regime and brutal force. which led to the civil war and ultimately led to his overthrow. But five million Syrians driven out of the country, and there was little, if any, demand from the United Nations,

from the Muslim street, from the larger Muslim world, that those historic citizens of Syria be returned to their ancient homeland. All the parties involved seem more than happy for them to be refugees in Jordan, refugees in Syria or refugees in Europe. Again, even until today, we don't hear any clamoring that absent Assad that the former Syrian population be returned to their historic homelands. And they have been there for centuries. And yet, a few miles away, we look at what's left of the Palestinian region. And there's an international demand that the Palestinian people be maintained.

their place in their historic homeland. When it was never a nation, it was simply a region. And 80% of the region remains today an Arab nation. We know it is Jordan. So there are opportunities for the Palestinian people to be settled someplace that would be peaceful and where they could flourish and wouldn't foment additional conflict. But it's a different discussion than the larger the discussion of the Middle East

because it's a way to maintain pressure on the modern state of Israel. It's bad history, it's bad geography, it's bad politics, and truthfully, it's bad for the people of the land. Because there have been hundreds of billions of dollars invested from NGOs and various sources in helping the Palestinian people flourish. And they don't flourish. There were hundreds of millions, billions of dollars invested in Gaza that didn't go to the people, that didn't go to building schools and hospitals and daycares and helping the people. flourish, it went into resources to build armaments and tunnels and weapons depots that could be used by Hamas. So I don't know how many times we have to rinse and repeat this cycle of hatred,

investment in terrorism, and murderous intent towards the Jewish people against the backdrop of weeping for the poor Palestinian people and peaceful Islam. The reality of modern history doesn't support the narrative. And it's going to require some courage and some different leadership. I think President Trump is a remarkable expression of a new way to think. He's accomplished things with his terms in the White House that had been impossible previously. Every president from, I believe it was Jimmy Carter. Bill Clinton, I know, forward, had said they were going to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

Although the Israelis recognized Jerusalem as their capital, the international community puts all of their embassies in Tel Aviv because they don't want to anger the Muslim world. Gee, it couldn't have anything to do with all the petroleum that's available. Well, every president from Clinton forward, we had bought the property in Jerusalem. We had a location where they were going to build the U.S. embassy. Every president promised that as a part of their election strategies,

but none of them implemented it. When President Trump was elected the first time, he moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And some of you remember, there was all sorts of cries in the press. It would lead to World War III. It would be the fuse that blew up the Middle East, etc., etc. He was clever enough. He said, if we build the building, it'll take 10 years. It'll be 100% over budget.

And I won't ever see the embassy in Jerusalem. So he took a building that already existed there, repurposed it into the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, and it hasn't caused World War III. It didn't bring a complete collapse of structures in the Middle East. In fact, it's helped extend the peace historically so with the Abraham Accords. There are expressions of peace in the Middle East that haven't existed in modern history. And President Trump continues to bring a fresh perspective and a courage to the discussion in that region that is hopeful for all of us. You know, the question we always lead with, in these podcasts is what can we do.

And I want to take the minutes I've got left. How many minutes have I got left? Got a couple. And pick up that what can we do question. You know, whether you're Republican or Democrat, whether you're Roman Catholic or Protestant, you can be agnostic. The hatred, the violence, the murder of the Middle East.

It didn't begin with the recognition of the modern state of Israel. It's certainly been compounded by that, that factor in the Middle East. But the only democracy in the region is Israel. There are 2 million Israeli citizens who are Arab, predominantly Muslim. If they choose to, they can participate in the military. They are elected to their Congress, their Knesset. They serve in the government.

They have the rights of citizens. That isn't something we can say about the Muslim nations. of the Middle East. They don't welcome the Jewish communities to the full rights of citizens. In fact, their Jewish communities were driven out when the modern state of Israel was born. Historic communities that had been there for hundreds of years. So what can we do? I want to read you a verse of scriptures from Deuteronomy 7. Some of you don't like the Old Testament.

That's unfortunate. It's very helpful in understanding our faith. In verse 17, it's God's counsel to the former slaves of Egypt before they occupy. the promised land, and they understand it's going to be a difficult task. And he said, you may say to yourselves, these nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out? But don't be afraid of them. Remember well that the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched armed with which the Lord your God brought you out. And the Lord your God will do

the same to all the peoples you now fear. When I look at the Middle East, and the question is, can we do? Well, one I think we can learn. I think we can learn that God keeps his promises. He gathered the Jewish people after a 2,000-year hiatus from the land he promised them. He restored them from more than 100 nations of the world to a tiny strip of land. The nation of Israel is about the size of Middle Tennessee. They had no standing government. They had no militia. They had no funding. The day after they became a nation, war was declared on them by five surrounding nations that had established militaries and central governments, and somehow tiny Israel survived.

And now some 70 years later, Israel is flourishing in the middle of a sea of hatred, hundreds of millions people surround them, sworn, committed to their annihilation, and yet tiny Israel flourishes. If God will keep his promise to the Jewish people, he will keep his promise to you, to me, no matter what our ethnic heritage may be, because what binds us together isn't the color of our skin, or how we choose communion, it's our allegiance to Jesus of Nazareth.

And we as people of faith need to understand that's the primary criteria of my life. If you want to describe me, you need to start with, I'm a Christ follower, that I've yielded my life to the Lordship of Jesus, and I would encourage you to begin your life with that description. Every other characteristic should be secondary.

I think the second lesson we can learn is that compromise brings judgment. The Jewish people lost their right to that land because they compromised their relationship with the Lord. And if you and I compromise, we will forfeit the blessings of God. You know, God is about more than a group hug. He's about integrity, and he expects us to live with integrity before him. Restoration to the fullness of God's promises for the Jewish people or for you and me

requires an awareness of the promises of God and a willingness to repent when we live outside of them. Not to excuse our ungodliness, not to excuse our license. Rependance means it's a change of mind, a change of thought, and the corresponding change of behavior. And where you and I are knowingly being displeasing to the Lord, here's a thought. Let's repent.

Let's say, God, I'm sorry. I have justified my ungodliness. I've been doing what I wanted to do, rebelling against you, and I would like to change. every one of us can do that. If we will do that and stop blaming someone else, it opens our lives to the fullness of God, the best that God has for us.

Israel, to me, is just a living expression of the faithfulness of God. It's an interplay between grace and mercy, judgment. You know, the people face the judgment of God. And he said, I will gather them back into the land. It's one of the promises in the Hebrew prophets. And he said, after I have regathered them, then I will begin to cleanse their hearts. We will see God move in the midst of the Jewish community, not to convert them to what we want them to believe,

but they'll have a revelation of Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. And then let's you and I determine to boldly use our voices for a Judeo-Christian worldview. Let's stop being silent. We hear lies told that we know are ungodly. They're not truthful. They're not supported by the facts of history, whether it has to do with the land of Palestine, the Jewish people, whatever it may be. We have hidden for far too long, whether we've done it under the guise of tolerance or diversity or inclusivity. You know, I'm not opposed to any of those concepts until they require me to deny the truth of Scripture.

And at that point, I'm not going to tell a lie so I can be applauded as inclusive. My Bible says God created us male and female. Marriage was God's idea, not the government's idea. It's between a man and a woman. Biological sex, that's not confusing. I know there are people who struggle with confusion about that. I have great compassion on them, but I don't want to normalize that confusion is something that should be celebrated, and I certainly don't want to reimburse the medical community from mutilating young people who are confused. That's not a good habit, even if it's profitable. So let's bold. boldly use our voice as advocates for a Judeo-Christian worldview in the nation where God has planted us. I do not believe that makes us Christian nationalist. I believe that makes us Christ followers that want to see that biblical worldview expanded where we live because that will bring the blessings of God. That will bring peace and opportunity, regardless of our sex, our ethnicity. That's what truly brings tolerance. Not the thought. false views that we've seen. And for that to happen, the American community of faith,

the Christ followers, church to me has become an incomplete word. There are too many expressions of a false gospel in buildings that we call churches. It's not easy any longer just to refer to the church. But if we're going to talk about the people of faith in this nation, the people that have yielded their lives to the Lordship of Jesus, you're the salt and light in this present age. Let's be the people of God. And I believe we can see God bless America again, and we'll see the purposes of God continue to expand in the earth. That's exciting. Today, we're seeing the power of God on display in spite of hundreds of millions of people

struggling with murderous hate. Twenty Israelis walked out of the tunnels to freedom today. God is still watching over his promises. If he's doing it in the land of Israel, he'll do it in your home and in your life and in mine. And that is a reason for hope. Hey, thanks for joining me today. Before you go, please like the podcast

and leave a comment so more people can hear about this topic too. If you haven't yet, be sure to subscribe to Alan Jackson Ministries YouTube channel and follow the Culture and Christianity podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Together, let's learn how to lead with our faith and change our culture. I'll see you next time.