"Is Bush Boxing With God?"

An Open Letter to President Bush:

Dear Mr. President:

The title to the Broadway show had it about right, “Your Arms are too Short to Box with God.” But, allow me to suggest Mr. President, you are attempting to do just that when you push for a Palestinian state. This is a no win solution for everybody involved – except God. He wins.

I say this as a friend and not a foe. I voted for you before and fully expect to do so again. I say this as a fellow-follower of Jesus Christ. Like you, He changed my life. I am for you, not against you. But with all due respect, Mr. President, you have set yourself and possibly our country on a collision course with God with your June 23rd Rose Garden address on the Middle East. Let me explain.

You said: “My vision is two states, living side by side …the United States of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state…” God says: “The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.” (Leviticus 25:23).
“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-…I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 15:18, 17:7-8)

Mr. President, God has already decreed who the tenants of the disputed land are to be. It belongs to Jews by covenant decree and not to Palestinians — U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338 not withstanding. The Palestinians may have a state someplace but it will not be where God has determined land to be possessed and occupied by the Jewish descendants of Abraham. From God's viewpoint the Palestinians are the illegal occupants, not the Israelis.

You said: “We must also resolve questions concerning Jerusalem…”
God says: “What questions?” “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.” (Psalm 137:5-6). “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion of thechild she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” (Isaiah 49:15-16). “For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned.'” (Psalm 132:13-14). “The Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, ‘In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever …I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.'” (II Kings 21:7, 19:34).

Mr. President, God has declared that Jerusalem is not up for division or negotiation. If all else fails He has committed Himself personally to defending and saving this city. Let it go Mr. President, it's a non-starter.

You said: “The choice is stark and simple. The Bible says, ‘I have set before you life and death … therefore choose life…' The time has arrived for everyone in this conflict to choose peace and hope and life.” Good close Mr.President, excellent admonition from Deuteronomy 30:19.
God says: continuing in verse 20, “choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
(Deuteronomy 30:20).

Mr. President you couldn't have made it more clear. However, the choice for life and death is not only for Palestinians and Israelis. The choice is also yours and how you choose to deal with the land in dispute. It is indeed a choice between life and death. A wrong choice by you could not only put you down for the count but it could very well take us all down with you. Face it Mr. President, “Your arms are too short to box with God!”

Cordially in Christ,
Dr. James M. Hutchens, President
The Jerusalem Connection International