Jeremy Gimpel, from The Land of Israel Fellowship, shared an inspiring interview of one soldier describing his experience during the Oct. 7 attacks. The soldier’s unit was surrounded by oncoming fire from the enemy. A friend, who knew where he was located, called him and said that there were hundreds of insurgents surrounding them. His friend knew that the handgun and ammunition they had been issued would never be enough. He advised, “Take the guns from the dead bodies” (meaning dead Israeli soldiers). His friend was dreading a massacre of soldiers…but he did not take into account the supernatural. God was about to show up!
The soldiers attempted to defend themselves, and at first, it looked exactly as had been foretold. They began to run out of bullets as the enemy fire grew stronger and the bullets came increasingly closer. As things began to grow more and more desperate, one of the soldiers (an extremely nonreligious Jew) leaned over to him and said, “You know, if we get of here alive, I’m going to start keeping Shabbat.” These men were all Jewish, but they were not all were practicing—attending services or participating in sacred holidays. The same man, who in that moment had decided he would keep Shabbat, was the type who would have a barbeque on Yom Kippur! Miraculously, within 20 or 30 seconds of this man’s change of heart, the enemy fire began moving away from them. They knew that what had happened was God at work and ever since, that soldier and others have been consistently attending services at the synagogue.
In the interview, the soldier likened the Oct.7 attacks to a father and his child. A father constantly trains a child to stay away from danger, but at some point, the child must decide whether to listen to the teachings of his father. In the story, the child walks into the street against his father’s advice and is instantly hit and killed by an oncoming vehicle. People automatically point the blame at the father for negligence. But the father taught his child about danger, warning and chastising him; ultimately, the child made the choice.
In the same way, God is not to blame for the atrocities that are happening. He is like the father in the story, teaching, warning, chastising; but each person has to make their own decisions. The soldier shared, “You cannot blame God because He told you exactly what to do. But you totally disregarded Him. So, what do you want Him to do? It is the same thing with the story of that boy. It’s the same thing. So, stop asking where was God in the Holocaust; where was God on Oct. 7? He was always there. Where were you?”
Where are you? Let’s make sure we are each in the place He has instructed us to be.
Watch this video in its entirety to see how Oct. 7 is sparking a revival in Israel.