Chris Lange, FISM News
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Faith leaders throughout the U.S. are urging prayerful support of Israel as it fights to defend its right to exist.
In the days following the Oct. 7 coordinated attack on 29 cities in the Holy Land by Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists, the world has borne witness to shocking atrocities committed against the people of Israel, including rape, torture, and even the beheadings of infants.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby struggled to contain his emotions during an interview with CNN host Jake Tapper on Monday after seeing horrific videos and images of the savage attack on the Jewish state and its citizens.
“I, uh, I — sorry. It’s very — excuse me,” Kirby said as he fought to regain composure. “It’s very difficult to look at these images, Jake, and the human cost. These are human beings. They’re family members, they’re friends, they’re loved ones, cousins, brothers, sisters. Yeah, it’s difficult and I apologize.”
The Rev. Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, also referred to the atrocities in a post on X that included an urgent plea to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
“We just saw Hamas brutally murder 900+ Israelis, most all civilians,” Graham wrote.
“If you want to know what else they’re after, this Hamas Commander tells you. They want to kill every Jew and every Christian—and take control of the ‘entire 510 million sq. kilometers of Planet Earth,’” he continued, referring to a video statement by senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar published by the Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
We just saw Hamas brutally murder 900+ Israelis, most all civilians. If you want to know what else they’re after, this Hamas Commander tells you. They want to kill every Jew and every Christian—and take control of the “entire 510 million sq. kilometers of Planet Earth.” If you…
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) October 10, 2023
“If you think what is happening in Israel is limited to Israel, think again,” Graham warned.
The post included a parenthetical reference to Psalm 122:6, which declares: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.”
“The violent attacks on Israel necessitate an urgent call to all Americans to pray for the state of Israel and the people in the region,” Robert J. Pacienza, senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and founder of the Institute for Faith & Culture, said in a statement to The Christian Post.
“These events have been perpetrated by terrorists and resourced by the terrorist state of Iran. Democracy and principled freedom in Israel, throughout the Middle East, and the world are at risk because of these efforts,” he continued.
Pacienza said that Christians have a duty to pray for Israel as well as a biblical “responsibility to speak out on behalf of those that are being unjustly assaulted.”
Judge Phil Ginn, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, told Fox News Digital, “In Deuteronomy 7:6, God refers to the Jewish people when he says, ‘For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.’”
Ginn declared that “God’s purposes will be fulfilled” concerning Israel, and that “the hellions of terror will not prevail in their nefarious and evil schemes and actions.”
CHICAGO-BASED MINISTRY SETS UP EMERGENCY RESPONSE CENTER
In addition to heeding calls for prayer, faith groups have been mobilizing to provide relief to suffering Jews.
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a Chicago-based ministry, committed $5 million in “immediate needs relief” and is evaluating further needs amid the conflict, according to reporting by The Washington Times.
On Sunday, just a day after the attack, the ministry moved orphans from the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, near the Gaza border, to another facility in central Israel. The same group of orphaned children was evacuated last year from Zhytomyr, Ukraine.
The ministry also established an emergency response center in the city of Ramla in central Israel, where families can work with authorities to search for missing relatives. Additionally, the organization provided local municipalities and first responders with flak jackets, flashlights, and other materials to assist with civilian evacuations from the region.
The ministry’s president and CEO, Yael Eckstein, said that the group is also closely monitoring northern Israel, where Hezbollah militants launched attacks in coordination with Hamas.
“Right now, we are looking at what will happen in the north, as Hezbollah engages with artillery and rocket fire with Israel forces. How much this will escalate could magnify the crisis to an even greater degree,” Eckstein said in a statement.
‘GOD LOVES THE WORLD, BUT HE LOVED ISRAEL FIRST’
Meanwhile, some faith leaders are pondering the attack’s implications on Israel and its fight for survival.
Harvest Church Pastor Greg Laurie believes that these events represent the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
Laurie said in a sermon the day after the attack, as reported by Church Leaders: “The Bible tells us, in the end times, that Israel would be scattered and regathered. This has happened.”
Laurie pointed to the scattering of Jews during the Holocaust and their regathering when Israel was formally recognized as a nation in 1948.
He also noted the recent “special connection” between Iran and Russia. It was prophesied in Ezekiel 37 and 38 that Israel would be attacked from the north by “Magog,” which many Biblical scholars believe refers to modern-day Russia. The Bible refers to Persia, which is modern-day Iran, as a Magog ally.
Laurie acknowledged that no one knows the time of Christ’s return but urged Christians to remain watchful.
In the midst of the events playing out in the Middle East, one thing is certain: Israel was set apart by God as His chosen people, “the apple of his eye.”
“Even with the new covenant of Jesus Christ and his gospel, we believe in the special love God has for the Jewish people, who were the first to follow His ways and walk in covenantal relationship with Him,” Matt Brown, founder of the ministry Think Eternity, wrote in a text chat with leaders on Monday, according to The Washington Times.
“God loves the whole world so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to give His life on a cross for our sins,” Brown continued. “Anyone who believes in and turns to Jesus will be saved. God loves the whole world, but He loved Israel first. To be a follower of Jesus is to have a special heart for the Jewish people. Let us all commit to pray for the protection of Israel, for swift justice on evildoers, and for peace in that special region of the world.”