The Sign of Deep Spiritual National Decline

 

A couple of days ago when I was just wrapping up the Weekly Summary this morning before starting to summarize it for Arrows from Zion. I was reading a part of Israel Pochtar's ministry letter about honoring Holocaust survivors on this day after of Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. Israel's words made me think of the contrast of honoring the elderly and the state of things in most societies today.

He wrote, "It’s a day etched in the collective soul of our nation. A day not only to remember the six million who perished, but also to honor those who survived—those who still walk among us carrying living memories of unspeakable horror, resilience, and hope. But remembrance alone is not enough.

"In 2025, approximately 123,000 Holocaust survivors remain in Israel. Most are now well into their 80s and 90s. Many live alone, facing poverty, isolation, and declining health. These precious individuals are not only survivors—they are living witnesses. They carry stories the world must never forget. But every day, that number dwindles. We are running out of time to look into their eyes and say, 'We see you. We honor you. We’re here for you.' ”

A few days ago, I saw a video on social media of a young, heavy black man beating up a frail old white man in his 80's or 90's. The beating was merciless, fists slammed in the man's head several times, when he crumbled to the ground there were kicks in his body. The old man suffers from dementia. What possible reason could he have deserved being beaten like that? Or was it as it so often seems today, just being old and vulnerable was enough to make the young man beat him like that.

The disrepect of young people toward the elderly is rampant, far beyond anything I have ever witnessed in my life. That is not a nostaligic exageration, it is a fact. The deep moral and spiritual decline in the United States is evidenced in the pernicious disrespect of the elderly by our youth. It is rampant. Isaiah 3:5 addresses times like we live in: "And the people will be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; The youth will storm against the old men and women, and the vile shamelessly against the honorable."

There are 6 places in scripture when the mistreatment of the elderly are spoken of. Clearly God sees such behavior as a strong indicator of human decline and He expects more from His people.

In Isaiah 47:6 God says, “I was angry with My people, I pierced My inheritance and gave them into your hand. You did not show mercy to them, On the aged you made your yoke very heavy."

I believe this speaks of Israel in the exile where they have been pierced and wounded throughout the nations they lived in. When God exiled Israel - removed them from the Promised Land - it meant He was 'giving them into the hands' of the nations. The reverse is also true, now that God had restored Israel to the Land of Promise, even though their deadly enemies attack them in that place, not longer is Israel just in the hands of the nations. Now the God of Israel fights for them. God is not happy with how Israel was treated without mercy in the nations, and makes speacial mention of how even the most aged among them were not treated kindly as is obviously the expected behavor toward all human elderly. As He continues to bring them to the place of repentance don't expect God to sit idly by when they are attacked. God fights for them in this hour and in the hours to come.

Reading about the honoring of Holocaust survivors year after year by the Israeli ministries - not just on this day but on every day - is a WORD for Christians, especially the youth-idolizing Christians who disdain aging saints, even aging leaders. Saying prideful things against them like, 'Time to roll over and make way for the young lions.' Not until those young lions learn to honor those God honors.

One of the verses that speaks of how young Israelis in scripture dishonored an old prophet has been on my mind lately. In 2 Kings 2:23-24 when "Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.…"

I know that probably messes with your theology a bit ("Oh no! Christians would never do that!). Let me just say that I don't believe God answers curses that come out of our own spirit, but that maybe He does tell someone like Elisha, 'That was not just a petty insult to you, that was indicative of an unredeemable band of 42 boys creating havoc.'

I know this, God sees in hearts even though we can't. Who knows what He might speak to us if we were in the place of that old man I saw horribly beaten. It is better to call the unredeemed to the LORD to be transformed, but not all are going to come, and this propensity to act evil against the innocent, the vulnerable, and God's people is not going away. It will only get worse. God will rise up on our behalf in any way He choses. and it might be to call His judgment on someone to halt further evil.

In the meantime, if you are indeed following the LORD, and you know you have been guilty of dishonoring the elderly, the older leaders you feel should move over so you can rise, you better get repenting for falling in to the trap. You have no excuse before God.

God bless the Israeli ministries who minister the remaining survivors of the Holocaust. You are coming with God's presence upon you as you minister to them.