A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation.
Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled,
because they are no more.
Jeremiah 31: 15 & Matthew 2:18

This passage occurs twice in our Bible – both in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the Gospel of Matthew. It occurs twice because brutality and bloodshed and the slaughter of innocent people are an ongoing theme for the people of God.

Over the past decade, I have been to Israel and Palestine many times. And each time, I could see the cauldron beginning to boil.

Jewish settlers encroaching upon Palestinian land. Overcrowded refugee camps in which the proudest moment of a family’s life is when their son is martyred. Israeli citizens constantly looking over their shoulders in fear of reprisals. Soldiers, some of them just teenagers, in full battle fatigues, walking through the holy city of Jerusalem with a submachine gun at the ready. Jews from all nations making their way to Sabbath Prayer in all their finery while being mocked by the local kids on the street. Palestinians waiting for hours at checkpoints while security walls like snakes wind their way through their land.

What happened this past Saturday has been coming for some time. And the shooting, torture, kidnapping and violence against civilians by Hamas must be denounced in every possible way.

But when does it end? How can it end?

And so I pray. I pray for an end to all war and bloodshed. I pray for peace in Israel and Palestine. I pray for justice for the Palestinian people, and security for the Jewish State.

But we all know that this uprising didn’t just suddenly happen. For years, Iran and others have been supplying weapons to Hamas, just as the United States and Western Allies have been committing billions of dollars in defense aid to Israel.

World powers have placed grenades in the hands of bitter enemies. Are we really surprised that they used them against one another?

I pray for the day when we can return to talking instead of fighting, but I don’t see that day coming anytime soon.

And so with Rachel, I weep. I weep for the children of Israel and Palestine. I weep for people who have chosen brutality over negotiation. I weep for a world that too often turns to violence rather than peace.

Praying daily,

Pastor John D. Morris