Today’s Scripture Reading (November
22, 2015): Joshua 1
Article five
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Mutual Defense Treaty clearly
states that, if invoked, the signatories of the treaty must come to the defense
of their NATO ally or allies. The question, as Paris suffered last week, was
would France invoke article five compelling all of the NATO members to actively
declare war on ISIS? (Admittedly this was written at a time when France was
expected to invoke article five, but had not officially done so – by the time
you read this that may have changed.) But in the hour of possibility of the article
five invocation, already NATO members were planning their response. It would
seem that the attack on Paris on November 13-14, 2015 fit the bill for the
invoking of article five. The attack was made by a foreign power who considers
themselves a nation (even though most of the world would consider that claim to
be illegitimate), who occupy a specific piece of land (a portion of the area
known as The Levant which includes the land on the East side of the Mediterranean
Sea and includes Syria, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon – and the presence of Israel
in “The Levant” adds another facet of the problem of the ever expanding area which
is under Islamic State control– as well as portions of Iraq) and who have authored
a specific attack into NATO held territory.
To be
honest, the genius of the move, if it was not accidental, needs to be admired.
The Islamic State attack on Paris in the days ahead will test the mettle of
NATO. If France invokes article five, and nations refuse to join the war or the
defence of France and Europe (The Islamic State is promising new attacks) or
join for a moment but quickly tire and leave the battle, then, for all intents
and purposes, NATO is dead. If the nations refuse France in their hour of need
after promising to defend, there is no legitimate purpose for NATO. And if that
happened, that might be the greatest military win of the Islamic State to date –
in fact, it is hard to imagine a win that is bigger.
This was
precisely the point where Israel found themselves on the eve of entering the Promised
Land. Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh had decided to settle on
the east side of the Jordan River. They were allowed to do this on the
condition that their armies would assist the Tribes that were settling on the
west side of the Jordan River to take the land. They agreed to the request, but
it would not be an easy thing to do. First, it meant that the task of clearing
the land and planting crops and building homes would have to be left to the
women, children and the men who were either too old or too young to fight.
Second, it also meant that their families, at least for a time, would be left
without an adequate defence. The fighting men of the tribes would all be on the
west side of the Jordan River.
The promise of
the Transjordan tribes military support to the remaining Tribes of Israel had
been made to Moses, but now it was Joshua who was in effect invoking his own article
five. If the tribes refused, citing the legitimate concerns for the safety of
their families and the work that needed to be done at home, Israel would have
probably quickly descended into a civil war – and the Promised Land would
remain untaken by Israel for at least another generation – and maybe forever.
Solidarity of the tribes was needed to move forward and do what is right. And
solidarity is still what we need.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Joshua
2
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