Hundreds of evangelical Christian pastors on Wednesday gathered in an archaeological garden at the foot of the Western Wall in Jerusalem on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, pledging that Israel is not alone.
The extraordinary show of support came amid burgeoning relations between Israel and the evangelical Christian world, amid international opprobrium over the fallout of the two-year war in Gaza triggered by the Hamas-led invasion.
“For you cowards and morally bankrupt spineless terror lovers, we have a message for you: to get to the Jewish people you will have to come to us,” Mike Evans, an American evangelical pastor and founder of the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem who led the event, told the audience.
“You said that the Jewish people are alone, but that is the big lie,” he continued. “We will stand up and speak up. Even if 90% of the United Nations walks out, the God of Israel is walking in.”
As the evangelical pastor spoke of a spiritual war being waged against the Jewish state concomitant to the multi-front regional wars Israel has fought over the last several years, the cry of the Muezzin called out for Muslim evening prayers over the walls of the Old City, prompting participants in the crowd to counter with shouts of Hallelujah, with one even blowing a Shofar.
The Oct. 7 attackers “were not only attacking Jews, but the whole human family and the sanctity of human life,” said Bishop Robert Stearns of the New York-based Eagles Wings Ministry, who addressed the gathering.
“We are living in a time when darkness is getting bigger by the day because dark is losing and the light is breaking through,” he added.
The event, which included representatives from over 100 countries around the world, brought together released hostages as well as plumber Yaniv Hayoun, who helped avert disaster in last month’s failed hijacking attempt of a commercial airliner en route to Tel Aviv in a strong display of international solidarity between Jews and Christians.
“We as Christians know more than anyone else what happens when a lawless regime takes over,” said George Deek, Israel’s envoy to the Christian world. “Israel is the only firewall between us and the persecution of Christians everywhere else in the region.”
