As Christians in England were singing Christmas carols – some underneath wintry skies in the open air – Jews on the other side of the world were being gunned down while lighting the candle marking the start of their Hanukkah festival.
The Sydney gathering beside the famed Bondi Beach turned into a shocking massacre, leaving 16 dead and 30 wounded, and a nation wondering how it could all have happened.
There’s an obvious connection between the two feasts as there are between the two peoples. The carols proclaim the glorious message of the gospel – that light has come into a dark world through the Jewish Messiah – while Hanukkah (or Chanukah) marks the miraculous burning of the menorah at the re-dedication of the Temple following its desecration.
The light of the menorah points to the God of Israel who dwelt in the Jerusalem Temple and is now perfectly manifest in Yeshua, our Lord.
Criticism of the Australian government’s lack of action in dealing with rising antisemitism has already been justly made by the Jewish community. But where are the Christians – those Gentiles who have been blessed by the One the carols describe as the ‘King of Israel’?
The Church of Christ is called to be a watchman on the walls standing in the gap to ensure protection for Zion, God’s chosen people (see Isaiah 62). They should be praying day and night for the light of Christ to shine upon Jerusalem!
I have heard of many lively Christian movements coming out of Australia, but when it comes to blessing Israel (Genesis 12:3) and acknowledging the debt we owe the Jewish people (Romans 15:27), they seem far too few in number. And much the same could be said, in truth, for the UK.
The Church, not the government, is called to take the spiritual lead by letting the light of Jesus shine in their communities, especially among their Jewish cousins to whom they owe so much. But ever-widening gaps in the walls have allowed a torrent of antisemitism to flood our once Judeo-Christian cultures. Shame on us!
It is time for the Church to rise up and repent of their appalling silence in the face of a global tide of Jewish hatred reminiscent of 1930s Germany when – almost lock, stock and barrel – the supposedly Reformed Lutheran Church swallowed the poisonous Nazi propaganda, which in turn led to the brutal murder of six million Jews while the ‘Christian’ priests and practitioners walked by on the other side of the road pretending it was nothing to do with them.
But we can no longer look the other way. For this Sydney atrocity is surely a wake-up call.
Church, get your house in order! Repent of ignoring the plight of the Jewish people. Shine the gospel light of love and mercy upon them; don’t hide it under a bushel.
It was on the very day of the massacre that we were in touch with our Sydney granddaughter on her birthday, little knowing of the terrible evil being perpetrated on a nearby beach her family know well. That literally brought it home to me.
Meanwhile the Australian government need to hear the prophet’s warning: “For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined.” (Isaiah 60:12)
Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon; Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com; To the Jew First, A Nation Reborn, and King of the Jews, all available from Christian Publications International.
