Choose a Side.
Joshua 24:15, choose you this day whom you will serve.” For millennia, this verse- this statement speaks loudly. Everyone in every generation must make a choice. This is at the heart of who we are. We are a creation of the Almighty G-d who has given us a free will, a will that, by its nature, places us amidst a myriad of choices. Coffee or tea? Salty or sweet? Should I take this job offer or that one? Should I live here or there? The list of choices we face are endless. The choices come daily. But, the ultimate of all choices is whether or not we will exercise our free will to choose whether or not we want to serve the L-RD.
There are modern songs that make the point for us. The band Rush in the song Free Will says, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice…”. Bob Dylan in the song Gotta Serve Somebody says, “You’re gonna serve somebody. It may be the devil, It may be the L-RD but you’re gonna serve somebody!” Need I say more?
Today, the choice could not possibly be more clear between good and evil. On October 7, 2023, we woke up to the horrific news. By some reports, up to 1,500 Palestinians in an unprecedented coordinated attack from land, sea, and air attacked Israelis in southern Israel.. Hundreds were slaughtered at a music festival. Hundreds more men, women, and children, including babies, were slaughtered in their homes and in the streets. Women were raped, taken hostage, and paraded through the streets of Gaza. IDF soldiers were ambushed and killed. Elderly Holocaust survivors were taken hostage, paraded, and mocked in Gaza. The brutality and animal-like nature of Hamas was beyond description. Foreign journalists were later shown bodycam footage of Hamas terrorists that proudly recorded their evil deeds for all the world to see. These reporters that watched this footage were sickened to the point of vomiting, being physically ill and emotionally affected. But it was not only trained terrorists, hundreds of civilians breached the Israeli border alongside the terrorists that they voted to be their government leaders. That day, more than 1,400 innocent Israelis were slaughtered for no other reason than the fact that they were Jews. Let us not forget the more than 240 Israelis and some foreign nationals that were taken hostage as well.
Since that terrible day, the disgusting tide of anti-semetism has been growing worldwide at an alarming rate. A sickening number of pro-Palestinian rallies have been held all over the world on college campuses and elsewhere. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” is their war cry. This can only mean one thing. The extermination of the Jewish people. Hitler’s final solution is being embraced by countless numbers of people that are either ill-informed, or downright evil at their core.
So today, we must choose. Silence is NOT an option. Choosing not to choose is not an option. As the song stated previously, the act of not choosing is indeed making a choice. What is the choice? It is simple. Are we going to stand with Israel, the Jewish people, and the G-d of Israel or not? If we do not choose to stand with them, then we are taking a position of standing against Israel, the Jewish people, and the G-d of Israel!
To Christians out there who somehow have allowed themselves to believe in ways that are contrary to the 100% all-in support of Israel, you must know one thing…. Yeshua, whom you call Jesus, was born a Jew. He lived as the most Torah observant Jew who ever lived. He was condemned, executed, and was buried a Jew. He rose from the dead as a Jew, and when He, The Jewish Messiah and King of the Jews returns, He will return to Jerusalem, Israel. Be extremely careful when making your choice. As believers in this Jewish Messiah, if we are not Jewish by blood, we are grafted in, adopted Jews! If we are not Jews by birth or by spiritual adoption, then He is not our King! Think about it.
We must support the State of Israel and the Jewish people without compromise. We must be vocal. We must make our heart and our position on these matters publicly known. Satan’s people are very vocal. The thing that pushes back darkness is the Light. But we cannot hide our light under a basket as Yeshua taught. We must let it shine.
Scripture teaches that G-d has set before us life and death, blessings and curses. Therefore, choose life! Do not be afraid. Do not be silent. Our fight is not against people. Our fight is spiritual, see Ephesians, chapter 6. We are fighting against evil, wickedness, and the way we fight is on our knees in prayer and with fasting. May we all be found to be faithful servants of the Sar-Shalom (Prince of Peace.).
Did you know that a Two-State solution will never work? In 1948, the UN (United Nations) presented a plan which gave most of the land to the Palestinians and a few tiny slivers of land to Israel? Israel agreed and accepted. What did the Palestinians do? They, along with others, went to war with Israel the very next day. It is in their charter that Israel must cease to exist. Peace is not possible under these circumstances. May Yeshua return soon and put all things in order according to His Will and His Word.
Shalom.
I am Rabbi Jeff Grillo, and as for me and my house, we choose to serve the L-RD. We Stand with Israel and the Jewish people!