What Hamas perpetrated was abominable, and we should be grieved over it. I don't believe we have yet reached the place where God tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people. We should have empathy for those whose lives were shattered that day. Yet God's focus here is not on the abominable effects of sin but on the abominations that cause the separation from Him.
October 7 was a foretaste of what lies ahead for a people that will not turn to God. But the house of Judah is not the only one in God's purview. The house of Israel has the same sins as the house of Judah - it just doesn't know who it is.
Idolatry and Sabbath-breaking, for which ancient Israel went into captivity, are rampant today in the nations of Israel, even among the religious, who are declining in number. Perversity is welcomed and celebrated, even within churches. And though some legalities have changed, Israelites are still murdering their children before they have a chance to draw breath.
October 7 was shocking because we are accustomed to God's longsuffering. We are not used to God hiding His face so His people become prey. But as we survey the cratered moral state of the nations of Israel and Judah, what is also surprising is that we haven't seen God hide His face more often. We take for granted His upholding and continuing to bless His wayward people, and we are shocked when He reminds us that He is serious about sin because we lose sight of that so quickly.
Let us not be among those who shrug and continue on, unconcerned about the great peril our nations are in. Truly, this is a serious time, and it is time to seriously consider whether God's Kingdom and His standard of righteousness are truly the top priorities in our lives, so that God does not have cause to hide His face from us.
