'This Is Our Bonhoeffer Moment': Pastors, Rabbis to Meet Lawmakers on Capitol Hill to Support Israel
A significant event takes place on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as dozens of Christian pastors and Jewish rabbis will walk the halls of Congress together, meeting with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
Their task is to speak up for the state of Israel and the Jewish people. They will remind the representatives and senators about the urgency of the situation as Israel continues its war against Hamas and fights to free the remaining 100+ hostages being held by the terror group.
Robert Stearns, founder and executive director of Eagles' Wings Ministries will be one of those religious leaders. Stearns appeared on the Tuesday edition of CBN's The 700 Club to talk about why it's important for Christian and Jewish leaders to meet with lawmakers.
"The issues facing Israel are not really isolated in any way to Israel itself. The battle that Israel is facing is a battle that affects the whole world," he explained. "And the need is for Christians to take a stand, an educated stand, in this moment as never before."
"So tomorrow, we're going as rabbis and pastors, Democrats, Republicans coming together. This is an American issue. This is a human issue. And it's absolutely necessary for us to lift our voices," the Eagles' Wings founder said.
One Core Talking Point – UN is Supposed to Safeguard Human Rights
One of the issues to be discussed will be the revelation that employees of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza were suspected of taking part in the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas on southern Israel.
"It's absolutely one of our core talking points tomorrow," Sterns noted. "Because the issue that we're facing right now is we're in this moment that scripture warned us about where 'those will call evil good and good evil'. The United Nations, which is supposed to be safeguarding human rights around the world, is absolutely culpable in terrorism, in Israel, in Gaza. This is now proven."
"I want to say The 700 Club has been warning for years that we have got to wake up to these realities that Israel faces in the Middle East," he continued. "And I want to encourage Christians around the world to begin praying as they have never prayed before, and to begin speaking to their pastors, and their denominational leaders. It is time to get educated and involved in the battle for Jerusalem because this is a battle for human rights all around the world."
'Unbelievably Obtuse Thinking' by the US State Department
Speaking on the subject of the Senate Democrats' proposal of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, and their intention to create legislation to make it the policy of the United States, Stern reminded viewers that "Israel accepted a two-state solution from the very beginning."
"The Palestinians have been offered a two-state solution even prior to 1948," he pointed out. "The Israelis have accepted this over and over again. The Palestinians have rejected this over and over again. The greater Arab world has rejected it. And now, that you've got a radicalized population in Gaza funded by Iran, supported, going through Qatar, how are we supposed to think when you've educated a generation of children in Jew-hatred?"
"When you've educated a generation of children telling them that Israel is going to be wiped off the face of the map and a global caliphate is going to be reinstated, how do we think that this is tending towards peace?" Sterns asked. "The battle that Hamas is fighting is not a battle for a Palestinian state. It's not a battle for the Palestinian people or their future. It's a battle to establish a global caliphate – Israel is the Little Satan; America is the Big Satan. And when we see this unbelievably obtuse thinking in the State Department and also in America's institutions of higher learning, it's absolutely terrifying."
"This is why we have to follow the lead that The 700 Club has called us to for all of these years. Don't just pray for the peace of Jerusalem, get active. Get educated. Become an informed ambassador on behalf of what Israel is facing," the Eagles's Wings Ministries executive director exclaimed.
How You Can Help
Sterns said viewers can help the pastors and rabbis in their meetings tomorrow with lawmakers by first praying.
"Second of all, I'd ask them to call their pastors and say, 'Pastor, where are we standing on Israel? How do we support?' Eagleswings.org, our website is constantly putting out fresh information," he said.
"This is the hour for all Christians to rise to our spiritual heritage which is based there in Jerusalem, and become informed ambassadors on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people," Sterns added.
Our 'Bonhoeffer' Moment
"We are in a Bonhoeffer moment. Dietrich Bonhoeffer tried to rally the church in Germany as he saw the evil of Hitler arising. As he saw the storm clouds on the horizon, Bonhoeffer began to lift his voice. Only 16% of the churches in Germany sided with Bonhoeffer and stood against the evil of Hitler. And we saw what happened. America must not repeat this mistake. This is our Bonhoeffer moment and we need to rise to it," Sterns noted.
Having recently returned from Israel, he also spoke about how the Jewish community is holding up. Sterns and his family were in Jerusalem on Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas terror attack, and recalled it was "unthinkable what was happening."
'Do You Think There Are People Who Will Hide Us?'
"I have been with significant Jewish families and leaders over the past weeks who literally, I'm not being sensational here, who literally have looked at me and said, 'If things keep getting bad, do you think there are people who will hide us?'" he told 700 Club host Gordon Robertson. "This is the level of terror that's striking in the hearts of the Jewish people. Because we've talked for 75 years, 'Never again. Never again.' And yet we see in the halls of America's best universities, in the far-left of the Democratic Party, we see absolute confusion, ignorance, and collusion with evil."
"And so, the Jewish people are understandably scared as never before. Having said that, thank God there is today a strong state of Israel that is resolute. That is firm. That is well able to defend their borders. And I believe that Israel is going to rise to this crisis," Sterns said.
"And we remember the words of Psalms, 'He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep,'" he concluded.
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news about the escalating threat of Mideast war.***