Last year I was invited to speak in Poland, the birthplace of my mother’s family. My grandparents immigrated to Israel before WWII, but much of their family did not have a chance to; they were tortured, and murdered by the Nazi regime. I went to Poland with mixed feelings, not knowing what to expect, but was deeply touched by the Polish believers and their BIG heart for the Jewish people.  What struck me even more than this was their unrelenting desire to educate the Polish youth of today about the horrors of the Holocaust, and how we must work to never allow it to happen again.

On the last day of the conference, I shared with them one of the things that really grieves me. I shared with them the stories I’ve heard from Holocaust survivors that when they were taken in trains, they could hear singing coming from the churches as they passed, on their way to the concentration camps. Many of the people in those churches did nothing to stop the Nazi regime; they stayed quiet, which in some way, is like partaking in the crime itself.  What’s even more devastating is that the lack of action by Christians in Nazi-occupied Europe permanently left a black mark on Yeshua – at least in the eyes of those Jews who endured the Holocaust. In fact, many Jews today refuse to see Yeshua for whom He really is, precisely because of what happened in “Christian” Europe.

Yet, we do know of people like Corry Ten Boom and her family who were very active in rescuing Jewish people and by doing so they showed their faith through their actions. I challenged my Polish brothers and sisters with a question, and I challenge you, reader, with it as well: If history is to repeat itself, what will you do? How will you act? Will you stand in denial of the reality that is around you, or will you make a stand for God, and show your faith through your actions?

I propose that we all like to think we would choose the latter.  But when “the rubber meets the road” and the penalty could be death, would we really choose it? It comes down to how well we know our God. What does God require of us?  Do you fear man more than you fear God? And if you would indeed choose to stand for God despite the consequence of death, I want to make clear the fact that we are heading towards the day when we will see all nations gather against Israel (Zechariah 14).  This will mean great trial for Israel and her people – especially for the Jewish people who live outside Israel.

Each one of us has to make a choice regarding God, faith in God and the way we choose to follow God through our actions.  What will you choose? Are you ready?

Moran