This is not a political war, as unbelievers suppose, but a spiritual one. It stems from two half brothers of Abraham and Sarah, the patriarch and matriarch of Judaism and Christianity. They are also the lineage of Islam as well, for Abraham and Sarah decided to have a child via their Egyptian servant, Hagar, instead of waiting on the promise of God.
“So Sarai said to Abram, ‘See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.’” (Gen 16:2 NKJ)
The first born, Ishmael, was not God's promised son to Abraham and Sarah, but the illegitimate son of Abraham and Hagar, born of polygamy—a corruption of God’s design for marriage.
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother
And be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Gen 2:24)
Ishmael is regarded as the promised son by Muslims, and the one whom God asked Abraham to sacrifice. God prophesied that Ishmael’s descendants would be wild and have conflict with all peoples, yet dwell with his brothers—the descendants of Isaac.
"...The Angel of the Lord said to her, (Hagar)
'Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.'”
(Gen 16:11-12)
Fourteen years later, Abraham and Sarah would have a miracle baby, the son of the promise, Isaac (Gen 16:16; 21:5). From Isaac and Rebekah, came Jacob; and from Jacob came the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Jesus, the Messiah, is in the lineage of Isaac, through Judah, who is Jacob and Leah's fourth son.
Nearly 600 years after Jesus conquered sin and death at the Cross and Resurrection, Mohammad, a nomadic shepherd, created a religion to unite all Arabs. Satan unknowingly reveals his deception at this point in history, playing defense to God’s Seed of the woman who crushed his head.
“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
(Gen 3:15)
To claim that Isaac is not the promised son cuts off the lineage of the Messiah. Muslims also claim Jesus is a prophet, but not the Son of God who died for sin, thereby cutting off the very Messiah Himself, and rendering no way of salvation for those who follow Islam. Conspicuously, Satan has his fingerprints all over this, yet his deception creates a war for the land as well.
“…Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen
out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name…”
(I King’s 14:21; 11:36; II Chron 6:6)
In the natural, this is a religious war, not a political one, but most media pundits are ignorant of this truth. In addition, the Bible counsels us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities of darkness (Ephesians 6). Therefore, this is a spiritual battle, not a natural one, although it causes great unrest in the natural realm.
Indeed, this is a spiritual battle—a battle for the Land, for the Messianic Lineage—and for the Messiah Himself, in whom salvation is available for all people. Therefore, all believers must, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” (Ps. 122:6)