MP3 audio

Alan Keyes
April 30, 1998
Orlando, Florida

Thank you. Praise God, praise God.

Praise God, thank you! Praise God, thank you! Praise God, thank you.

Proclaim liberty throughout the land! Fifty years ago, the State of Israel was born. We rejoice in that thought today.

But, in order to understand the real cause of our rejoicing--in order to understand the real challenge of our friendship to Israel--it is well to remember how it was born. For it was born from the heart of evil, in a century of evil. It was born after the world had borne witness to the worst of mankind's inhumanity to man. And we come now to the end of this century, which shall, I think, be remembered as a great century for human progress--and as the worst century in the history of humankind. And we celebrate now the fiftieth anniversary of the rebirth, in the eyes of the world, of God's people, Israel. And it is good that we do this.

But we really should remember that the struggle is not over, that we stand now in the midst of it. And that the same evil that claimed the lives of so many millions of God's people, the Jews, yet now still stalks the world. And even though we stood against it on the walls of mankind's victory in this century, yet we stand now on ground being undermined by the very same evil--an undermining that threatens, though we see it not, to bring down the real walls of Jerusalem.

For where are the walls?

There is great celebration today in the State of Israel--great joy. But I think we are mistaken if we believe that the true walls of Jerusalem today stand only in Israel.

I was reminded of this during my time working on foreign affairs. I had occasion to do a lot of work in various United Nations bodies, and you know that at the time--I guess it is still true today--there was a lot of deep anti-Israeli sentiment at work in the United Nations. And it fought strongly against America and the American partnership with Israel. It fought strongly against all of those who seek to stand with, and support, and sustain the people of Israel. And because of that work, I had occasion to think a lot about just what it was that brought us together with the State of Israel.

Sometimes when we stood alone in the face of all the nations of the earth, I can remember that--standing at the UN General Assembly or at other bodies--when it was just the United States and Israel standing alone, together, to hold back those who would speak with a voice of hatred against the people of Israel. And I had to think a lot about just what it was that constituted the ground and foundation for this partnership that through all those storms, remained unshakable.

I think the folks who think about these things in terms of only the material things, and the worldly things--they get it all wrong. They will talk to you about the great strategy in the Middle East, and the importance of the strategic alliance, and the security. Some of that is true, some of the time.

But do you want to know a secret that's not so secret? A lot of it is not true the rest of the time. And there are times when if you just sat down in a cold-blooded, materialistic way, and you weighed up the pros and cons, and you toted up the balance sheet, and you looked for the profit and loss of supporting the State of Israel, the loss would outweigh the worldly profit, and you would turn your back--yes, you would.

And I heard voices like that in the US government. Because if you look at Israel with the eyes of the world, then you do not see Israel. And if you think about the relationship with Israel only with the heart of the world's goods, then you do not understand the significance of that relationship. Because at the end of the day, what sustains America's partnership with Israel, what sustains the heart's true love and respect for the State of Israel, is an understanding of God's moral truth--is an understanding that there are things in this world that outweigh profit and loss, things in this world that outweigh strategy, things in this world for the sake of which we must stand no matter what the cost!

And as out of the very heart and depth and evil mankind has yet seen came that awful scourge that aimed to claim the very life of God's people--as out of that heart of evil came that scourge, so we must understand that even now there is that which seeks the life of Israel. But it is not just for hatred of Israel, but for hatred of the God of Israel.

What does that mean, though? And here now comes the beginning of the true point, and the difficult one. For the sustenance of Israel, the partnership with Israel, the love of God's chosen people, Israel, is sustained in the end by Israel's true strength and Israel's true hope, and Israel's true security. And what are these? The strength of Israel is the power of God. And the hope of Israel is our trust in God. And the survival of Israel will be in this alone--in our obedience to God.

But where does this take us? I listened to Mahesh earlier, and my heart leapt, you see, because we hadn't talked, we hadn't seen each other, we have, I think, never met. And yet he preached the word this evening that fell right in place with all the thoughts that the Lord had put in me. For he said that we are watchers on the walls, and this is so.

But where are the walls of Jerusalem? Where is the bulwark of Israel? It is not just in the Middle East; it is not just in this physical world. It is rather where the Kingdom of God truly resides--in the hearts of each of us.

And if that is the strength of Israel, then the assault on Israel is not just an assault undertaken by all the hostile armies that may come against the little nation of Israel. No, the true assault on Israel takes place in the same arena where the awful, the vicious, and brutal assault on the people of Israel was prepared, even in Europe in the course of this century.

If you look back at the period that preceded that awful holocaust, what do you find? We look at the teens, and the twenties and thirties, look at the late nineteenth century, do you know what you'll find? You'll find a lot of folks who, following the ways of philosophy, and the ways of newly discovered science, and this and that, had decided in their hearts, "there is no God." They had decided that we had embarked, we human beings, upon a new age when we would be the measure of all things--when everyone would do what was right in their own eyes; when there would be no need any longer to respect the laws, the commandments of God; when we could stand before the world, as the German philosopher Nietzsche proclaimed, and say that "God is dead."

And out of the heart made void by that delusion came the awful possibility that claimed the lives of millions. Cleansed by these godless philosophies, the human heart was empty, bereft, waiting to be filled by the forces of evil that then laid before us a spectacle like none the world had ever seen.

But what is so striking, of course, in the story of Israel is the affirmation that there is not a word comes forth from the mouth of God that goes back void. And as He spoke a promise to His people that would live from age to age, so for all the assaults of evil in this century, for all the effort to crush out every last spark of God's people Israel, yet the spark remained--because it is the will of God.

But I think that the mind of evil is clever, and in the course of this century it saw from where came the response that in the end beat back that awful darkness that threatened to engulf the world. Where was its armory, where was its shield, where was the sword fashioned that laid it low? I know that we don't always think of ourselves in these terms, but I've got to tell you that the shield was fashioned here and the sword was raised from here.

And it was not just a sword of armies, and it was not just a sword of weapons and planes. It was the sword of a spirit that had been born in this nation's life out of respect for the will of God, that had been formed in a disciplined understanding that as we claimed freedom from the hand of God, so we had to exercise that freedom with respect for the will of God. And understanding that truth, with hearts shaped by that discipline, our people went forth into a world threatened by darkness, and with the strength of that faith in Almighty God, we drove that darkness back with the light of HIS TRUTH.

And from the space that was opened by that victory came the moment when that still glowing, fragile spark of Israel could be fanned back to life, to become again a light unto the nations.

But don't you see, if all that's true, then this time we must expect a more clever assault. And we are in the midst of it. For what now tears down the walls of Israel is that which whispers to us that we should turn our backs on God, that we should listen in more subtle forms to the very same lies that shaped the hearts of so many people in Europe to receive the evil leadership that led to the holocaust of so many lives.

And you see that kind of forces me--doesn't it?--to talk about where we really stand today, and some of the things that truly amaze me in this world. Because we have many people who profess to be strong supporters of the State of Israel--and in some worldly, secular sense I guess they are. And yet these very same people will stand in the forefront of those who will tell our women that it's all right to kill their children in the womb, who will tell our children that there is no God who governs their sexual responsibility, who will tell our families that there is no need to respect the vows of marriage. The very same people who claim to be such strong supporters of Israel.

But I'll tell you this. You cannot truly be a strength for Israel if you destroy the moral strength in our hearts, for it is from that moral strength that comes our will to stand for Israel, no matter what. And that means this. See, those of you who know me knew that I wasn't going to stand on this stage tonight and not bring you the simple truth, as far as God allows me to get a glimpse of it. And here it is.

It will fall harshly on some ears, but if you want me to believe that you will stand against the world no matter what in God's will for the little State of Israel--that no matter how relatively weak, no matter how ganged up upon by many nations, you will stand firm for Israel out of the moral strength of your heart--if you want me to believe that you will stand for little Israel no matter what, how then can you expect me to believe that you will not stand for the innocent, vulnerable life of mankind's future in the womb?

For you see, the truth of it is that we are either willing to do what is right because it is the will of God, or we are not. And the very same heart that for the sake of convenience, for the sake of indulgence of our pleasures, will abandon the innocent life in the womb--that very same heart, when the world finally turns on Israel, will join it and turn too, because you cannot stand for Israel if you are willing to stand for evil and against the Authority of God.

But we see it in other ways. I do not wish at all, in any way, to introduce any elements of division or anything like that into this world, but it's hard to go anywhere now without remembering the state we're in. And the state we're in is this: God has raised up on high, as if to mock us, writ large upon the most visible face of this nation's life, the image of our corruption. And as that image grows larger there are people--there may be some here, I don't know--who are buying into this view that "well, you know, everything's going fine. The economy's doing well. Got a job; got some money in my pocket. Material things are doing okay. So what does it matter to me if it doesn't matter to his wife? What does it matter to me what he does in his private time? What does it matter to me if he spurns the eternal laws of Almighty God as long as my pocketbook is full and my belly is full?"

But this is the truth, if you are willing to buy that obscene logic about the very state of your country's moral life, if you are willing to say that the only thing that matters is the profit and loss of your bottom line, then don't expect me to believe that you will stand with Israel when the profit and loss of that bottom line is no longer in your favor.

If there is one truth that we should go forth and proclaim, it is this truth: if you truly stand a friend to Israel, then you must stand with those who seek to rebuild the moral strength of this nation's heart. For indeed we must be, as Mahesh said, watchmen on the walls.

But if the walls are here, what constitutes our watch? We must truly be those who will not stand silent. But if the walls are here, what must we speak? If the walls are here, we must speak against those who proclaim to our women the lie that they have the right to take the lives of their unborn children. For if our rights are of God, then that innocent life is not our choice, but HIS. And if we mean to strengthen the bulwark in the walls, then those who come before us and preach the gospel of sexual licentiousness and irresponsibility tear down the walls, and we must stand and loudly proclaim the truth that before God we must respect the sacredness of marriage and of sexual relations.

For, you see, if we are to be true watchmen on the walls of Israel, and if the strength of those walls is derived from our commitment to God's truth and to His will, then the true assault upon the wall is anything that tears down that moral strength, that undermines our capacity for that moral commitment. And that is why I truly stand here and I give thanks to God that all of you have come.

And I stand here with a free and easy heart, understanding that what we represent is true in so profound a way. For those who have a heart for God, those who profess a faith in His truth, those who seek to live out His will somehow in their frail and imperfect lives--they are true friends of Israel, and they will be there when He calls. This is not something I'm sure everyone understands.

Tell you the honest truth, I went to a breakfast a little while back that was attended by the prime minister of Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu. Now, I have known Prime Minister Netanyahu before he was prime minister. He was at the UN when I was there with Jean Kirkpatrick and I got to know him at the time; a remarkable man. But I was struck at that breakfast, when he walked into the room and he got from this crowd of Christian conservative, moral, profoundly committed Christian people, he got a deep heartfelt ovation. I saw tears.

And I believe they were the tears of recognition of something perhaps not well understood by many people in this land who wish to spread the lie that somehow anti-semitism is a natural function of Christianity. Nah! Oh there have been those hearts led astray by the same deceiver that led us to the fall, who wish us to forget that before we were Christian, God became a Jew. But there are many more hearts, I believe, who will not forget, who cannot forget, who will never forget that God's gift to all the nations was given through His people Israel, that God's eyes for all the nations were opened first among His people, Israel. We will not forget.

And as we stand here to represent that truth, we represent, I think, a secret strength in America that many did not know before. As they fought to tear Israel down, they were secretly hoping that somehow there would be this secret source of conflict and animosity. And we are here to proclaim to all the world that that lie is revealed, that it will not work its evil way, for we will stand watch on the true walls of Israel's heart, and those walls are the walls of our dedication to God's Goodness and His Mercy, and His Love, calling us to understand the Gospel that Christ preached--to look upon each other with the eyes of God and see in one another, as His children, the brothers and sisters of His Son.

In this vocation, we then become strong soldiers in the cause of Israel because we soldier in the cause of God. And when we go from this place, I hope we will take with us that full understanding--not just thinking that when we go down upon our knees and we pray for the people of Israel we then alone work for Israel. When we pray for the Israel then alone we work for Israel, for this is not so. When we stand in the lines outside the abortion clinics and pray for an end to abortion, we work for the safety of Israel. When we fight the battle in our school boards against sex education that tears down the sense of moral responsibility and undermines the commitment to family life, we work for the strength of Israel.

For in every way we lift up this nation's heart, even when we demand that those who would kill the conscience of America today be called to account for their deeds, we work for the strength of Israel. For the partnership with Israel will not live if the conscience of America dies. And the true love of Israel cannot flourish where the love of God does not survive.

So take this commission. It is the true challenge of our day. And this great battle is undecided, you know. We know in the end that God prevails, but we do not know whether this nation we love shall stand upon His right hand, or His left. And if we truly love America, if we truly love Israel, if we truly love one another, then we must pray for that place upon the right hand of God, and we must work for it in every way we can.

And this, I believe, is the way we can best celebrate the Jubilee. What better way to proclaim liberty than to renew the moral foundations which are its strength? What better way to safeguard Israel than to renew the faith, the love, the sense of moral conviction, that will sustain our partnership with this chosen people of God? Because we know that as we love His name, and as we do His will, we enter into their company and He, as He remembers Israel, so He shall remember us. God bless you.