Obama's Remarks on 'Most Peaceful' World Ring Hollow in Dangerous Middle East
JERUSALEM, Israel – The Bible speaks of a time when it would be said, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace' (see ). For some, that prophetic utterance took on new meaning Monday when the president began his lengthy speech in the northern German city of Hanover.
While Israel fights for recognition and justice in an increasingly hostile world, which sometimes envisions its destruction, President Obama says we're living in the most peaceful era in the history of humanity.
Meanwhile, Israeli Middle East commentator Ehud Yaari says "Tehran's commitment to surrounding, besieging and eliminating the 'Zionist entity' has not changed, and countering this goal will require pushing back against Iranian advances in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere," the Washington Institute reported.
And a smuggler at the Syrian-Turkish border told Buzzfeed that ISIS has deployed at least 4,000 fighters to Europe, while French and Belgian officials say the 5,000-plus Europeans who joined the Islamic State will bring terrorism with them when they return home.
But according to Obama, the world is experiencing the "most peaceful, most prosperous, most progressive era in human history."
"I want to begin with an observation that, given the challenges that we face in the world and the headlines we see every day, may seem improbable but it's true. We are fortunate to be living in the most peaceful, most prosperous, most progressive era in human history," he said.
The president went on to explain how the world is in much better shape than it's ever been.
"More people live in democracies, where they live wealthier and healthier and better educated with a global economy that has lifted up more than a billion people from extreme poverty and created new middle classes from the Americas to Africa to Asia," he continued.
And not only that, infant mortality is down, people live longer and tens of millions have been saved from disease. And in a more tolerant world, gays and lesbians have more opportunities, he said.
According to Obama, it's a good time to be alive. Most anyone, he said, would choose to born today than at any other time in the history of the world. It is also a time that "we need to integrate Muslims."
"I want you to remember that our countries are stronger, they're more secure and more successful when we integrate people of all backgrounds and faiths and make them feel as one. And that includes our fellow citizens who are Muslim," he said.
The president's eloquent words may ring hollow to the millions in the Middle East and Africa whose family members have been slain, their homes confiscated, their children kidnapped and sold as sex slaves, and to the tens of thousands of refugees flooding European shores.
According to the Bible, Israel is at the core of many events unfolding in the world today. Biblical prophecies foretold thousands of years ago are coming to pass in our lifetimes.
The Bible admonishes us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem ( ), the capital of the Jewish nation-state, and to give Him no rest until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
"I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. ( )
That's why it behooves us to understand today's headlines through a biblical perspective.
