Hope and Assurance In The LORD When Horrible Things Happen

By Manny Vazquez, MS, LMFT, Christian Counselor and Advocate for the Jewish Nation


 


Wednesday, October 7, 2026





My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 


I started this blog on the third anniversary of the attacks on Israel by terrorists. October 7th is to the Jewish people what September 11th is to the American people. The sad thing is that there are many people in the world who believe that the Israeli government was complicit in the attacks on October 7th, just like there are many people who believe the American government was complicit in the attacks on September 11th.


 


Those conspiracy theorists are just that, theorists, without a toehold on reality. No nation is going to be complicit in the killing of its own citizens. The nation would have to be a perverted, horrible country who doesn’t care at all about its own people, like the groups Hamas and Hezbollah, who often use their own people as human shields.


 


As the events of 10/7/23 weighed heavily on my heart, our Precious Holy Spirit led me to Psalm 77, which states the following:


 


“I cry aloud to God,


aloud to God, and He will hear me.


I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.


My hands were continually lifted up


all night long;


I refused to be comforted.


I think of God; I groan;


I meditate; my spirit becomes weak. Selah


You have kept me from closing my eyes;


I am troubled and cannot speak.


I consider days of old,


years long past.


At night I remember my music;


I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders.


‘Will the Lord reject forever


and never again show favor?


Has His faithful love ceased forever?


Is His promise at an end for all generations?


Has God forgotten to be gracious?


Has He in anger withheld His compassion?’ Selah


So I say, ‘I am grieved


that the right hand of the Most High has changed.’


I will remember the LORD’S works;


yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders.


I will reflect on all You have done


and meditate on Your actions.


God, Your way is holy.


What god is great like God?


You are the God who works wonders;


You revealed Your strength among the peoples.


With power You redeemed Your people,


the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah


The waters saw You, God.


The waters saw You; they trembled.


Even the depths shook.


The clouds poured down water.


The storm clouds thundered;


Your arrows flashed back and forth.


The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;


lightning lit up the world.


The earth shook and quaked.


Your way went through the sea


and Your path through the great waters,


but Your footprints were unseen.


You led Your people like a flock


by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” (from the Holman Christian Standard Bible [HCSB] version of the Holy Scriptures)



This Psalm looks back on God’s faithfulness, in particular the Exodus of His people, as they fled the Egyptians. The Psalmist reminds us that God led His people through the Red Sea in one of the most spectacular miracles of the Old Testament. I have one question for you, is our LORD the same God who took such good care of His people in the Old Testament? Of course He is, for God never changes.


 


One thing we have to remember is that our LORD was always faithful to His people Israel; it was the people who failed God, time and time again.


 


In Genesis 12:1-3, the Holy Scriptures record the following:


 


“The LORD said to Abram:


‘Go out from your land,


your relatives,


and your father’s house


to the land that I will show you.


I will make you into a great nation,


I will bless you,


I will make your name great,


and you will be a blessing.


I will bless those who bless you,


I will curse those who treat you with contempt,


and all the peoples on earth


will be blessed through you.’” (from the HCSB version of the Holy Bible)


 


Prior to Resurrection Sunday every year, there seems to be a lot of chatter about who was responsible for the crucifixion of our LORD Jesus. I hear people who say it was the Jewish leaders, so the Jews of today should be at fault; others say it was the Romans; still others say that we all bear responsibility because Jesus went to the Cross for us.


 


Whatever your particular view is, the Truth remains that Jesus went to the Cross willingly at the request of His Father, so that we could all be reconciled to God. Many times, the death of our LORD is used by people to blame and hate the Jews of today. I once wrote a letter to the Orange County Register, a letter that was published, in which I stated that Jews of today were not responsible for what a handful of Jews did over 2000 years ago. I remember quoting the passage from Genesis above in my letter, which, unfortunately, was edited out of my letter.


 


This Genesis passage flies in the face of anyone who hates the people of Israel. Read it carefully again, for God promises to curse those who treat the descendants of Abraham with contempt. But God does not stop there; He promises to bless all nations through Abraham’s descendants. Does this mean that the Jewish people of today will bless all nations. Not necessarily. In fact, what God was promising was that the Messiah, Jesus, would come through the descendants of Abraham, and we have all indeed been blessed by His Coming, for He has reconciled us to His Father in his Death, and He has granted us Eternal Life in his Resurrection.


 


There is an irrational hatred of the Jewish people because they are God’s chosen people, and it stands to reason that if you don’t want God to rule in your life in the way that He has declared in His Scriptures, then you would hate His people. Jerusalem, or Zion, as I have said before, is also hated by many people because it will be where the Throne of our LORD will be in the future, and again, if you don’t want the LORD to rule in your life, then you will hate where He rules from.


 


I believe all of these truths about the Jewish nation, it’s people, and Zion, explain why October 7th happened. Many Jews were horribly brutalized that day, and the truly horrible thing is that many people blame Israel for what happened. Those same people forget the groups like Hamas and Hezbollah have lobbed thousands of missiles toward Israel. Our people (yes, if you’re a Christian, the Israelites are your people) there have a defense system that knocks most of these missiles out of the sky before they reach Israel. But where do these missiles fall? They fall on the people that Hamas and Hezbollah are supposed to be leading, and then, the Israelis are blamed for hurting those innocent people. We have to realize that many of the people killed in this conflict between Israel and her enemies are collateral damage, and Hamas and Hezbollah are largely responsible for many of these deaths. Israel is not out to kill innocent people. But her enemies are out to destroy Israel.


 


Friends, in your prayers, remember Israel and her people. In Zechariah 12, the Scriptures teach that all nations will turn against Israel. This is a yet future event, obviously, and I do not know what it will take for the U.S. to turn against Israel, but the hatred of this small Jewish nation grows day by day, even in our country.


 


As this irrational hatred of Israel grows, you and your loved ones refuse to go along. You continue to hang onto the promises of God when it comes to the Israeli people. You and your loved ones must trust God that He will indeed bless you if you bless His people Israel. Mark my words, it will go well for you if you do. Amen and Amen and Amen.