I watched on Youtube, amazed, as thousands of young conservatives cheered Tucker Carlson’s claim that Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad agent sent to blackmail American leaders. Not a murmur of doubt. A wild conspiracy theory – painting Israel as a global puppet-master – met with thunderous applause by the future leaders of MAGA. Just a few years ago, this kind of antisemitic fantasy would have been shouted down by the American right. Now, it draws cheers.
Something has shifted in America. It’s a moral breakdown that can’t be ignored.
If we believe that God governs the world and that history is directed by His hand, then we must ask: What is God trying to tell us? And how are we meant to respond?
The answer isn’t the same for everyone. God is sending distinct messages to different people. The message to Jews is not the same as the message to Christians. Each must listen carefully to what God is saying to them.
Let’s begin with the Jews.
At the dedication of the Temple, King Solomon offered a plea:
“May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our forefathers; let Him not leave us, nor forsake us. That He may incline our hearts to Him, to go in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and His statutes, and His judgments, which He commanded our forefathers.”
Solomon wasn’t simply praying for protection. He was asking something deeper: If we fall, don’t leave us to our own devices. Don’t let us completely fall away from your Torah. Intervene. Guide us back.
And God does. He always has. The Sages teach that when Israel strays, God responds in one of two ways. As Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk explains: “God [ensures] that Israel will stand firm in His Torah and fear Him through two ways. Sometimes it will be through punishments… and many evils and troubles will find them until they recognize that this is because of their sins. And sometimes it will be through His watching over them with constant providence and showing them His signs and wonders, so that they may recognize that He is their God and that all their good comes from Him.”
We are witnessing both of these responses today.
On one hand, God has surrounded Israel with enemies like Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the Houthis. At the same time, hatred is growing in the West. From the radical left to the woke right, leading American voices regularly spew venom at Israel. Figures like Zohran Mamdani, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Ian Carroll are different in style and tone, but united in their hostility.
These aren’t random events. God is using these enemies to shake the Jewish people out of complacency. He is pulling away the illusion that exile is safe, that the nations are our shelter.
The word sivlot, burdens, also carries the meaning of “tolerance” or “endurance.” The Sefat Emet teaches that due to the hatred and persecutions of the Egyptians, the Israelites could no longer tolerate Egypt. Redemption begins when exile becomes unbearable. And so, God makes it unbearable.
The Sages explain that God refuses to give Israel rest, “for had Israel found rest, she would never return [to Israel from exile].”
This is what we are seeing now. God is telling His people: Come home, return to the land, return to the commandments. Return to Me.
But God doesn’t only use suffering. He also speaks through miracles. Israel’s 12-day crushing victory over Iran was extraordinary, bringing the “head of the snake” to its knees, with only minimal casualties in Israel. Think of the astounding pager attack that emasculated Hezbollah’s leadership in one fell swoop. These weren’t just military successes. They were divine signs through which God called out to the people of Israel and said: “I am still here. Come back to Me!”
This is God’s message to the Jews. But what message is God sending to Christians?
The flood of antisemitism that God has unleashed upon the Jews forces Christians to make a choice. Will they recognize what God is doing in the world? Will they acknowledge that the State of Israel is not a political accident, but the fulfillment of biblical prophecy? Will they reject the false theology that claims the Church replaced Israel as God’s chosen? Will they affirm that God never broke His covenant with the Jewish people?
This is not a matter of denomination. It doesn’t matter whether a Christian is Baptist or Pentecostal, Catholic or Evangelical. The critical question is this: Do you accept the truth of God’s ongoing covenant with Israel, or do you cling to the theological error of replacement?
There is no neutral ground. Those who make excuses for Hamas, who accuse Israel of genocide, who promote a two-state solution that denies Israel’s divine claim to its homeland – they are not just wrong. They are opposing God’s will.
For many Christians, the lies about Israel are appealing. They make it easier to deny the significance of Israel returning to its land. If Israel is guilty, then maybe the Church did, in fact, replace the Jews. But for any honest Christian thinker, the rebirth of Israel should make that lie impossible to maintain.
Rabbi Yehuda Leon Ashkenazi taught that this is the defining spiritual test for Christians in the modern era. After centuries of exile, the Jewish people have returned. The words of the prophets have been fulfilled. The land has returned to life, and the people of Israel are somehow thriving, despite the constant attacks of their enemies. The great question is: Will Christians recognize what this means?
The day will come when all of humanity will know that Israel is God’s chosen. Those who opposed her will be exposed. Their excuses will not matter, and they will be remembered as enemies of God’s people.
God is speaking to all of us, both Jew and Christian, through the events of our time. The only question is: Will we listen?
