Is this the will of God?

So it appears that the Israeli government does not believe that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke earlier this month was - as Pat Robertson asserted on the 700 Club - punishment from God for Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza strip.

Now it looks like the Christian Heritage Center - which was to be built on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and for which Robertson was scheduled to raise $50 million while Israel was going to provide the land and infrastructure - is a goner. Israel has revoked the deal. Now where does God fall on this?

The Associated Press and the Jerusalem Post both quote Israel's tourism Minister Abraham Hirchson as saying that the order does not apply to all evangelicals, just to Robertson and those who share his views.

Last week, Robertson said that Sharon's hemorrhagic stroke was punishment from God for "dividing his land" through ordering the withdrawal of settlers from the Gaza strip and the West Bank. Robertson said "woe to any Israeli Prime Minister who thinks he can come in and divide up this land."

The Christian Heritage Center was expected to sit on 35 acres of land near Capernaum, the Mount of the Beatitudes, and Tabgha, where Jesus is believed to have performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

Robertson's spokeswoman Angell Watts was quoted as saying that he "has not talked to the Israelis on this topic." The head of the Heritage Center steering committee, Uri Dagul, said that the Israelis initiated the project before Robertson came on board. Dagul did not dismiss the possibility of working with the television evangelist and Christian Broadcasting Network found if he issues an appropriate apology.

Readers will remember that Pat made controversial comments about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a few months back, and had to apologize for them. Whether he will apologize for his latest remarks does not appear as likely.