Israel Is Fighting for Her Life—Please Pray!

Shalom, my friend.

My quick trip to Israel in January broke my heart. What I heard and saw moved me so much I cannot help but try to explain it to you so that you can pray more effectively for Israelis and especially for our staff.

Pain and Loss

First, let me tell you I love my people. I was raised in a Jewish home that was not particularly religious, but I still celebrated all the holidays. Jewish life and my Jewish people are very dear to me and always will be.

I grew up with pictures of relatives lost in the Holocaust lining the walls of my Eastern European immigrant grandparents’ Brooklyn home. I never fully understood the scope of the atrocities, and my grandparents never talked about it! Today I recognize there are dozens, if not hundreds, of my relatives on both sides of the family whom I will never meet because of the evil and satanic Nazi efforts to exterminate my people.

I will never get over the horrors of the Holocaust. For me it is a reminder of the depth of evil we face in our world and the capacity for humankind to be hateful and cruel. This drives me into the arms of our good, glorious, and worthy Savior. He loves His people and all nations and gave His life so we might live forever. Can the gospel be more beautiful than this? The prophet Isaiah expressed what Messiah did for all of us:

He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:3–4)

The suffering of the Jewish people did not stop with the Holocaust. Israelis are fragile because of this terrible war that resulted from Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023, as well as the subsequent Hezbollah, Iranian, and Houthi missile barrages into Israeli territory. Israeli soldiers are dying every day—as are noncombatants in Gaza and other places where terror groups put their own people in harm’s way. So many in our world today do not remember how this gruesome conflict started, forgetting the atrocities Hamas unleashed on Israel on October 7. More than a thousand terrorists stormed the Gaza/Israel border to kill, rape, kidnap, and torture Israelis. Remembering this keeps what we read and watch about the conflict in perspective.

Israel is fighting for her very life!

My time in Israel was very emotional. I spent a late night in what is known as “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv. So many hostages are dead, and even though some returned alive, we still grieve over the hundreds of innocent Israelis and foreigners living in Israel who died at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

In Hostage Square, Israeli families—moms and dads, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts—were beside themselves with grief and rage, as they held up posters with pictures of their loved ones who either died or are still in captivity. You could sense the emotions and ongoing anger, which was about as raw and heartfelt as you could ever imagine. I listened to the agony and screams of one mother, who had just seen a video from Hamas of her daughter’s “proof of life,” hoping to see her daughter released.

I stood in the vast crowd of Israelis with my heart broken because of the despair and mourning of my people, Israel. It reminded me of the passage in Jeremiah (who was also known as the weeping prophet), which was quoted by Matthew in the New Testament in the context of Herod’s efforts to murder the Messiah (Matthew 2:13–18).

Thus says the Lord, “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Thus says the Lord, “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord, “and they will return from the land of the enemy.” (Jeremiah 31:15–16)

I identify with the anguish of the prophet who reflected upon the captivity of his own people in Babylon and cried out to God for the return and release of his fellow Jewish people. I cannot tell you how much and how hard I pray for the return of today’s captives and for a true and lasting peace—which is different than a fragile truce.

Hope

And yet Jeremiah also speaks about hope as he called upon the people of Israel to trust in their God who had promised them a glorious future in the land of Israel. He also knew that our promise-keeping God would one day wipe away the tears of His suffering covenant children.

What a beautiful promise and future hope He gave to the people He chose from among the nations. We see this partially fulfilled as right now about half 
(7.5 million) of the Jewish people in our world today live in Israel. The Lord promises a greater and more complete deliverance in the future.

The day is coming when the Jewish people will not only return to the land, fulfilling the promises, but will also be delivered from sin and turn to Jesus (Romans 11:25–29). At that point, He will return and establish the Davidic throne in Jerusalem. He will reign as the true king of the Jewish people, Lord of the nations, and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6–7)

We look forward to that great day and, quite frankly, 
I saw some sparkles in the eyes of Israeli new believers I met at our current Messianic center in Tel Aviv, which gave me hope for the future! At a Sabbath dinner I had the joy of preaching to seventy-five young adults about hope. Israelis desperately need hope today, and we know that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s promises offered to all who call upon Him today (Romans 10:9–10). This is why it is so critical that we proclaim the message of salvation. Thank God, our staff in Israel is growing!

I was so encouraged by some of the young people 
I met, especially the new believers who had come to faith within the last year. Two of these young people came to believe through reading our book, Isaiah 53 Explained. I sat through dinner with a young woman who was only nine months in the Lord. She told me her story about how her life turned from darkness to the light.

During her search for God, someone gave her the Isaiah 53 Explained book in Hebrew. She read it and discovered a Jewish Messiah who had died for her sins, conquered death, and offered forgiveness and joy to her. And she described her experience with the most beautiful smile you have ever seen in your life. She told me that she was completely transformed when she accepted Jesus as her Messiah. Wow! This conversation was worth everything to me.

Just imagine what will happen through our incredible staff in Israel when we move into our new Tel Aviv center and expand our current ministry efforts.

We expect the building project to be completed this month!

And it is now paid for because of you.

Our Partnership

Dear friend, we cannot do any of this without your support and encouragement. I sensed your prayers while I was walking through the streets of a very busy and vibrant Tel Aviv, and witnessing the pain and anguish of my people at rallies and protests.

Yet, my sadness was tempered by the reality and joy of what faith in Jesus does for a person who gives their life to the Lord. This is what it is all about. It is what my life has been about, and it has been the purpose of Chosen People Ministries for more than 130 years.

May God bless you for everything you have done to help us fulfill our ministry “to the Jew first” and also to the Gentile (Romans 1:16).

As we prepare for Passover and Easter, remember to pray for Israel and for the millions of Jewish people all over the globe who need to understand that these two holidays are linked together in the person of Jesus. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and the One who rose from the dead to conquer death and ultimately reign as King.

My heart is bursting with love for my people and gratitude for you and our partnership in reaching Jewish people for Jesus.

God bless you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Your brother in the Messiah,

Mitch

P.S. As our new Messianic center in Tel Aviv is now completed and paid for, every donation we now receive for our work in Israel will go toward supporting the center’s programs and staff, and our other outreach efforts in Israel. We also minister throughout the United States and around the globe in the twenty countries where Your Mission to the Jewish People serves day in and day out. Thank you!