This week we ask you to join us in praying for the Jewish community in Australia and throughout the world. We pray for the families of the 15 of the Jewish community who were brutally murdered in the Bondi terror attack. They were targeted specifically for being Jews, during what should have been a peaceful and celebratory occasion to mark the first night of Hanukkah. The attack was the epitome of darkness. Like October 7th, this was not about Israel, it was about killing Jews. The Light will overcome this darkness, but we must determine to be the light in this dark world where Jew-hatred is on the rise.
Pray for the protection of Jews around the world. After October 7th and after the Manchester Heaton Park synagogue attack, we saw a spike in antisemitism. Already, we have seen reports of celebrations among Islamists following the Bondi attack. We have also seen protesters on the streets of the UK chanting ‘globalise the intifada’ also since the Bondi attack. We can thank the Lord that the Met police has said that they will prosecute this vile incitement and specifically the phrase, ‘globalise the intifada’, but the evil desire to kill Jews is still very much a problem within the pro-Palestinian movement, including among radical Muslims. We need to pray against this antisemitism and rebuke Islamic extremism in all its forms.
We also need to pray that the Church will have no fellowship with darkness. Entertaining the twisted narrative that Jesus was a Palestinian is leading many Christians and non-Christians astray from the Biblical truth that Jesus was a Jew. Undermining Jesus’s Jewishness is feeding the anti-Israel narrative and giving a voice to antisemites. The Church cannot ‘serve two masters’, it must choose to be a Light for Truth, not the mouthpiece of deception.
The Bible says that Israel is a ‘Light unto the Nations’. We know that this is a spiritual picture of how the Messiah through Israel would be a blessing to the Gentile nations. However, Israel is also blessing the world in material ways. To end today’s prayer and the final bulletin of this year, let us thank the Lord for three announcements this week that are an indication that despite all the hateful rhetoric and boycotts against it, Israel has struck three major deals: Israel has completed a £5 billion deal providing its Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany – the first country other than Israel to operate it, and Israel’s largest ever defense export deal. Israel’s military chief said, “We Israelis, descendants of Holocaust survivors, want to see Germany strong” – what a testimony! Also this week, Netanyahu announced a £26 billion natural gas deal with Egypt – the largest export deal in Israel’s history. And thirdly, Nvidia, a chip manufacturer that is the world’s largest tech company ahead of Microsoft, has announced it is locating a huge new headquarters in Israel. Merry Christmas, BDS.
Let us close by praying the blessing upon Israel and the Jewish people:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’
“So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
