If you have kept up with what has happened in Israel over the past few months then your heart is aching for the families of the recent terror victims. Among the victims were three sets of young Jewish siblings – Yaakov and Asher Paley, Hallel and Yagel Yaniv, and Maia and Rina Dee. These were such gentle and loving people. The best of the best. These murders scream the question: can people like you and I – non-Jewish, lovers of God, Israel, and the Jewish people – do anything to stop the continuous slaughter of God’s chosen people?
The first question we need to answer is: are we okay with not doing anything about it?
I assume that you are on the same page with me. The answer is a resounding, “No!” No, we are not okay with standing idly by. We have learned from history. We know what happens to Jewish people when Christians forsake their biblical mandate to bless Israel. Millions of innocent people have been mercilessly slaughtered as those who claim to serve the God of Israel did absolutely nothing to stop it. We know we cannot carry on the sins of our forefathers. No; we will not. Not on our watch.
However has it actually sunk in that just like during the Holocaust, Jews are being murdered today just because they are Jewish? What are we doing now about what is happening now? We want to do better. We know we must! Are we? These are hard questions. But if we are who we say we are, we need to ask these questions.
What can we do that would actually stop Palestinian Arab jihadists from indiscriminately murdering innocent Jewish civilians?
A friend of mine, Rabbi Elie Michele, recently wrote an article entitled “Fight like David.” In that article he says that Jewish people in Israel should be more bold in their efforts to defeat their internal enemies. He contends that Israel should:
“Send a clear and unequivocal message to all terrorists: when you commit an act of terror, your family will be deported from this land and will suffer for your acts of evil. If the State of Israel fought like David, it would tell our enemies: after every act of terror, we will declare sovereignty over another town in Judea and Samaria, our biblical homeland. And if the State of Israel fought like David, it would use overwhelming force to punish terrorists and all those who protect them and give them shelter.”
That is the role of Israelis. What is our role as non-Jews?
Enter Ittai. You may not have ever heard of this particular biblical character. He is not so famous and only shows up twice in the whole Bible. King David was having a very rough time. Internally, the state of Israel was falling apart. David’s own kin played a successful propaganda campaign against him and drove him out of his capital, Jerusalem. As he was on his way out of the city with those faithful to him, he was surprised to find that Ittai the Gittite was also leaving Jerusalem.
King David says, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you.” (2 Samuel 15:19-20)
David tries to convince Ittai that this is not his fight and that he really doesn’t have to follow him. Ittai, however, would not take no for an answer! He replied, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.” (2 Samuel 15:21)
When times got rough for David, Ittai was right there beside him. What is amazing is that just three chapters later we see that Ittai has been appointed as one of David’s top generals! Ittai stood with King David in his weakest hour and helped him to re-establish order in Israel.
The Prophet Zechariah makes a very interesting declaration in chapter 12 verse 8. He says, “On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David.” What he’s saying is that all those who are now in Israel, whether they miraculously made it through the Holocaust, survived the wars of Israel, terrorism, economical challenges, making aliyah and re-settling in the land, no matter how unstable they are, God will make them like David.
How is God going to do that? Let’s read a little further in Zechariah. In Chapter 14 verse 23 it says, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” Psalm 126 tells us that these non-Jews will also help Israel realize that God has done great things for them. Isaiah 61:5 says that these modern day “Ittai’s” will help Israelis with their agricultural endeavors. Isaiah 56 declares that all Gentiles will come to pray and worship the God of Israel in Jerusalem.
I propose that you should find a David and be his non-Jewish Jonathan. You must become a modern-day Ittai to a modern-day David.
If every David had ten Ittais, we would stop terrorism! Especially if all ten emphatically declared that David should, as my friend rabbi Elie put it, “send a clear and unequivocal message to all terrorists: when you commit an act of terror, your family will be deported from this land and will suffer for your acts of evil.” “…after every act of terror, declare sovereignty over another town in Judea and Samaria”, and “use overwhelming force to punish terrorists and all those who protect them and give them shelter.”
The thing is, we have to do it! We cannot stand back and say, “Well, there are a lot of internal issues and I’m not so sure about the modern ‘conflict’ and ‘occupation.’” That is not what Ittai did! It is what many Christians did leading up to and during the Holocaust.
Ittai showed up the day before he made his stand with King David. If you feel like you are behind, or don’t know how to start, the first step is to come to Jerusalem. Relationships and opportunities will grow from there.
Now is your time. For God’s holy name sake, find a David and become an Ittai!
