Did Divine Intervention Fell Ariel Sharon?
In January 2006, when Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had a stroke, permanently incapacitating him, the American evangelical leader Pat Robertson attributed Sharon’s medical condition to divine intervention resulting from Sharon’s withdrawal from Gaza a few months earlier. The book of Joel, the prophet Joel, makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, “divide my land.” God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says “this is my land,” and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says “No, this is mine.” Here, he‘s at the point of death. He was dividing God‘s land. And I would say, woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations or the United States of America. God says, “This land belongs to me.” You better leave it alone. These remarks drew criticism from many sources, ranging from the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of Americ