Jeremiah 12:11. "They have made it a desolation; desolate, it mourns to me. The whole land is made desolate, but no man lays it to heart."

The "they" here are the "many shepherds" who have destroyed God's vineyard (Jeremiah 12:10). God is speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem by her enemies. He has "given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies." (Jeremiah 12:7). The land is now desolate and mourns to God, but no one "lays it to heart" - no one can save it but God, especially since His shepherds have led His people astray.

I was thinking of the fall of Jerusalem just this morning because Hamas has "invaded" Israel and is engaging in terrible, sickening atrocities. It is more akin to a medieval raid with indiscriminate slaughter and tremendous violations of human life and dignity, than a modern-day military invasion (although modern day weapons like missiles are certainly available to Hamas and are being used). Israel has declared a state of war and is fighting back. We will see where this goes, but it reminds me very much of the Babylonian attacks that eventually brought down Jerusalem.

Much of the world has been blind for too long about the evil that is festering and growing, many in the Catholic Church and the nation of Israel included. The Church is the New Jerusalem, so we can see attacks on Israel as attacks on our own heritage. Any attack on the Jews is an attack on Christians - they are our ancestors in faith and they are God's chosen people, His beloved.

This attack is a sign of the times. We have been getting them fast and furious lately. I wonder if this will wake up more people. I wonder if it will wake up the members of the Church who still refuse to see what is happening in the world, and concentrate instead on things like climate change. Can they not see how Biblical the signs of our times are becoming? I hope they soon do. We need to wake up and fight the true evil we are facing; it is a battle against principalities and powers, and those powers have been plotting and fighting while we don't even know we are at war. Hopefully, now we do.

We need to stand with God's people and protect and strengthen each other. But we must also pray for Hamas and all unbelievers. God wants to save them, too. Eventually, remember, "all the families of nations will worship before him." (Psalm 22:27).