I say this a lot, but it is true: I am not a theologian. I am not even sure if I am really a writer, per se. I am basically a retired English teacher who can punctuate and spell things relatively correctly. And sometimes, that skill is even questionable.
But I am a Christian, of that I am certain. Consequently, everything I see, hear, read, and do is guided by and filtered through my heartfelt, daily walk with Jesus.
So, America’s ever-growing spiral of antisemitic protests and blatant hatred towards our Jewish brothers and sisters is greatly disturbing to me. My heart literally aches and hurts for what is happening in our country right now, on our college campuses, in the halls of our large corporations, and even along the streets of our cities.
Today alone, I opened my computer and pulled up only three of my go-to news sites and instantly saw over a dozen headlines covering anti-Israel stories taking place around the nation.
Each new news source shared about the growing violent unrest at Columbia University and the subsequent removal of the pro-Hamas protestors’ tent city. But some stories even went as far as highlighting the unusual fact that the student’s collection of tents was amazingly uniform in size and color, thus suggesting that perhaps a single unknown but sympathetic entity purchased and provided the tents.
Other news articles talked about the efforts of a few national leaders to deport any arrested student protestors who are in this country on student visas. After all, American students on study visas in other countries would most likely not be afforded a free ticket to protest the very nation in which they were guest students. Similar actions conducted by American students in other countries might end in long-term imprisonment – or worse.
And get this! One story even showed a video of a drag queen story hour in which the guest reader, a grown man dressed in full drag, encouraged the listening children to shout, “If you’re a drag queen, and you know it, shout, ‘Free Palestine.’”
The irony of that moment was not lost to the article’s writer or its readers since people in the LGBTQ community are often not treated well in Palestine and surrounding areas. In fact, Palestine ranks as the 6th least-friendly country in the world toward people claiming to be LGBTQ.
In that regard, Palestine ranked only a few spots below Iran, the very nation backing the Hamas terrorists who attacked without provocation and systematically killed hundreds of Jewish people living in Gaza Envelope on October 7, 2023.
On that autumn day, the world watched online as Hamas terrorists tortured, raped, butchered, and murdered Israelis of all ages. Via videos posted on social media by Hamas on the phones of their victims, families had to watch in real-time as women were gang-raped, fathers were physically emasculated, and infants were beheaded while crying in terror.
Days later, when Israel sent in official teams to recover the murder victims, even the most seasoned coroners, doctors, and soldiers were appalled. Many of them said it was the worst scene they had ever witnessed and much of their work involved recovering butchered body parts versus entire corpses.
I have no words for these sad stories, and I have no words for the growing antisemitism in our nation. My heart simply mourns this vicious hatred for the people and land that the prophet Zechariah called the apple of God’s eye.
As a nation, what are we thinking? How have we so quickly forgotten the multiple millions of Jewish men, women, and children who were blatantly murdered at the hands of Hitler’s henchmen – while everyday people, even Christians, stood by without protest or complaint?
In the years preceding the Holocaust, as many as two-thirds of the German churches turned a blind eye to this targeted hatred of Jews. Some even lauded Hitler and eventually backed his Final Solution to annihilate all Jews.
Finally, toward the end of the war, when indescribable pictures of the gas chambers and the mass graves containing the emaciated, almost unrecognizable bodies of murdered Jews emerged for the world to see, people were in shock. How did such an atrocity take place? Why didn’t God-fearing people stop such evil or at least denounce it?
At the war’s end in 1945, and even after the Nuremberg trials ended in 1946, people from around the world vowed “to never forget.” Yet, after less than 80 years, America has a severe and potentially deadly case of antisemitic amnesia.
Yes, it seems as though we have totally forgotten God’s people and His promise to the founding father of the nation of Israel that is found in Genesis 12: 1-3 (NIV):
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Read that passage one more time, focusing on the words bless and curse.
Make no mistake! God’s Word stood true and faithful then, and it still stands true and faithful, even in 2024. When it comes to Israel and its people, we have a God-given choice to either be blessed or cursed.
I have made my choice. I will bless Israel all the days of my life.
But I also pray that the American church and God’s people will wake up and defend His people. Not only is it our sacred duty; it is our only hope.
