On June 7, 1981, the Israeli Air Force launched an air strike against Iraq's nuclear reactor at Al Tuwaitha, near Baghdad.
The pre-emptive attack was supposed to ensure that Saddam Hussein did not attain nuclear weapons the Israeli people feared would be used against them.
Six months ago, the world's attention was drawn to Iran and its developing nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency was immediately concerned with the previously undeclared program and the unanswered questions it raised.
Two months ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking at a conference in Tehran, declared that "Israel must be wiped off the map."
Speaking to a large gathering of students at an Oct. 26 program, "The World Without Zionism," Ahmadinejad called on Palestinians to take control of the land.
"The establishment of a Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world," he said.
As recently as this week, the United Nations and European Union have begun talks concerning the curbing of the Iranian nuclear program which some - especially in the United States - believe will be used to create weapons.
The extenuating circumstance is, not everyone believes there is a problem.
Iran says it seeks atomic energy only to power its economy - which is well within its rights as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has unearthed no proof to the contrary other than suspicious satellite imagery of restricted military sites near Tehran, which one diplomat has suggested could be a cover for weapons of mass destruction.
I'm sure the conclusion I'm going to draw from all of this isn't a mystery. Iran may very well push the Middle East to the edge of another confrontation.
Yet this is only one side of the conflict - the other side is the spiritual side.
The dissension between Israel and the Muslims runs deep. The Apostle Paul, writing in his letter to the Galatians refers to the root of the Israeli-Muslim conflict in chapter 4. He notes that Abraham had two sons: one born to a slave woman and one to a free woman, Ishmael and Isaac.
References to the conflict of Ishmael and his brother are abundant throughout the Hebrew scriptures.
The words are both literal and metaphoric. We have seen the literal conflict descend from these two to the modern Israelis and Muslims.
The metaphor that Paul speaks of is this: "Drive out the slave woman and her son! For the son of the slave woman shall not share the inheritance with the son of the freeborn."
So, why the Sunday school lesson? This is happening now. These aren't just quaint stories from an archaic text.
In the end, what one believes about Israel is what one believes about God. And to both believers and non-believers, the spiritual significance of this conflict should be apparent.
With this in mind, perhaps it would behoove us to consider the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you," and also "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the Earth shall find blessing in you."
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