Three years ago today, on Saturday, October 7, 2023, the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah began at dawn the way holidays are supposed to begin. Within hours it became the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
We circle some dates on the calendar because we celebrate them. We circle others because we must never forget them.
October 7 is one of those dates.
Today we stop as a family of faith to honor the roughly 1,200 people who were murdered and the 251 who were carried into Gaza as hostages. We also stand with the survivors, who still carry that morning with them. This is a memorial, and it is also a call to prayer.
Five Things We Will Learn
- What happened on October 7, 2023, and why it is remembered as the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
- The faces behind the numbers, from a safe room at Kibbutz Nirim to a crowded roadside shelter near the Nova music festival.
- Why a wound like this does not simply close when the hostages come home, and how faith, family, and community help carry people toward healing.
- Why truth and compassion belong together while the world argues over what happened.
- How followers of Jesus can respond today: by weeping with those who weep, praying for the peace of Jerusalem, and standing as watchmen on the walls.
A Morning That Divided Time
It began at dawn.
While families in southern Israel slept or got ready for the holiday, rockets filled the sky and gunmen from Gaza broke through the border. CBN News reports that more than 6,000 terrorists crossed into Israel that day. They poured into farming communities, small towns, and an outdoor music festival.
By nightfall about 1,200 people were dead, most of them civilians. Another 251, from babies to grandparents and from festivalgoers to soldiers and foreign workers, had been taken into Gaza.
The BBC reports that 378 people were killed at the Nova festival near Kibbutz Re’im and 44 more were kidnapped. At Kibbutz Kfar Aza, 64 residents were killed and 19 were taken hostage. At Kibbutz Be’eri, about one in ten members of the community was murdered or kidnapped.
Speaking at the United Nations this week, Dr. Phil McGraw said it plainly: “October 7th will never be just another date because in 2023 it became the date more Jews were killed than on any single day since the Holocaust.”
He added, “There will forever be before October 7th and after October 7th.”
I believe he is right.
Scripture tells us how to answer grief like this. We do not look away, and we do not hurry past it. We come close.
Romans 12:15 (NIV)
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
Voices From the Kibbutzim
On The 700 Club this morning, CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell took viewers back to the communities hit first and hardest. (The October 7 segment runs for the first six minutes of the video.)
Standing outside the gates of Kibbutz Be’eri, about four kilometers from the Gaza border, Mitchell remembered arriving seven days after the attack and finding destruction everywhere.
At nearby Kibbutz Nirim, Adele Raemer and her son hid in their safe room for eleven hours while terrorists attacked their community. “I’ve never looked death in the eyes like I did that day,” she said. “I was certain I would never see another sunrise, nor my son, nor my children or grandchildren.”
Near the Nova festival, Rafaela Triestman and her boyfriend ran for a roadside bomb shelter. She survived and he did not. Now, she says, she faces a second painful fight: convincing people to believe what she saw.
Think about that. She survived the unthinkable, and then people told her it never happened.
That is why we remember out loud.
The Shelter Near Nova and a Love That Waited 505 Days
On Tuesday, October 6, a commemoration was held at the United Nations in New York to mark the third anniversary of the attack. Dr. Phil McGraw spoke there. He described himself as a poor Christian kid from Texas and Oklahoma who had never met a Jewish person or learned anything about Israel. After his remarks he sat down with two young survivors, Ziv Abud and Eliya Cohen.
They had gone to the Nova festival with Ziv’s 19-year-old nephew, Amit, and his girlfriend, Karin. They arrived at 4:40 a.m. At 6:29, the music stopped.
The four of them crowded into a roadside bomb shelter built for about eight people. Eliya said 29 people were packed inside. When the attackers came, one young man threw grenade after grenade back out of the shelter until he was shot and killed. Eliya then hid Ziv to protect her, and she lost consciousness. When she woke hours later, Amit and Karin were dead and Eliya was gone. She was one of seven survivors.
Eliya had been shot in the leg. He was forced out at gunpoint and taken into Gaza. For 505 days, Ziv did not know whether he was alive, and he did not know she had survived. He learned it only after his release on February 22, 2025.
Dr. Phil had a name for what Ziv lived through: “It’s an ambiguous loss when you don’t know whether to grieve or hope or both.”
When asked about his darkest hours, Eliya described chains, hunger, and constant fear. Even so, he said he would not let his mind dwell on it. Every day he chose to stay strong and to trust that God had a plan and that one day he would go home.
Today, Ziv and Eliya are married.
His message to Jewish people everywhere was simple and defiant: “Stay proud to be Jewish and we are here to stay.”
The Waiting Has Ended, but the Healing Has Not
This is the first October 7 anniversary with no hostages left in Gaza. On January 26, 2026, Israel recovered the remains of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer who died fighting to defend a kibbutz and whose body had been taken into Gaza. The BBC noted that this ended 843 days of waiting.
Families lived through those 843 days caught between hope and dread. Many of them prayed, and God was watching the whole time.
Psalm 121:4 (NIV)
“Indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.”
Still, homecoming is not the same thing as healing. Today Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two young sons were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and later killed in captivity, was quoted saying, “Shiri, Ariel and Kfir. Sorry. Sorry that you are up there and I am here.”
At the UN, Dr. Phil spoke as a psychologist. “You don’t just get over what happened on October 7th,” he said. “It can actually change who you are.”
He also gave counsel that every church should hear: “Being strong doesn’t mean you don’t need help. And getting professional help doesn’t mean you’re weak.” Then he named what helps: “Faith, family, community, all can help.”
As a pastor, I say amen. The Church should be the safest place on earth to say, “I am not okay.” Healing does not mean pretending, and it does not mean forgetting. It means that the memory, held in the hands of a faithful God and surrounded by a loving family, slowly stops ruling every moment of your life.
The Truth Needs No Embellishment
Gil Hoffman of HonestReporting told CBN News that even as Israel was still counting its dead, a second battle began over how the world would understand what happened.
That is why Rafaela’s struggle hurts so much. It is also why Dr. Phil’s words at the UN matter: “The truth of October 7th needs no embellishment. It is what it is and it is undisputed.”
Followers of Jesus belong to the One who called Himself the Truth. We should be the last people on earth to let survivors’ testimony be erased, explained away, or forgotten. Telling the truth gently and firmly, and refusing to let it be buried, is an act of love.
Dr. Phil also spoke of the resilience he has witnessed: “Israeli people collectively bend, but they do not break.”
Compassion Is Not a Finite Resource
One of the most pastoral moments of the UN gathering came when Dr. Phil said that several things can be true at the same time. October 7 caused enormous suffering to Israelis. Hostages and their families went through extraordinary trauma. Palestinian civilians have also suffered profoundly, both under the rule of the same terrorists and in the war those terrorists started.
“As a Christian,” he said, “I also feel for Gaza’s small and dwindling Christian community caught in the crossfire.” Then he added, “Human compassion is not a finite resource.”
And he said this: “We cannot undo the deaths. We cannot erase what survivors endured. We cannot give families back people they lost. But we can refuse to allow the suffering of one population to become an excuse for hatred of another.”
That is the heart of Jesus. Standing with Israel and the Jewish people never means hating anyone else. It means refusing to call evil good, refusing to stay silent while antisemitism rises, and refusing to let our hearts grow cold toward anyone who suffers.
For Such a Time as This
The CBN report also showed something that should encourage every believer. On the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem, more than 1,000 pastors and Christian leaders gathered to launch Ambassador Summit 2026. They came to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and to stand with the people of Israel and Jews around the world.
Pastor Jim Scudder said, “This is like one of those Esther moments. For such a time as this, when the world is turning against Israel and the Jewish people, we can come gathered together representing millions of Christians and say we object to the vilification of Israel and the Jewish people.”
CBN’s Kelly Wright put it simply: “The Jews are a people that God loves and cherishes.”
And Adele Raemer, the woman who spent eleven hours in her safe room, told those Christians what their support means: “Just knowing that you all are out there and have our backs and pray for us and support us in any way that you can gives us strength.”
Our prayers matter, and so does our presence. God has not forgotten His promise.
Genesis 12:3 (NIV)
“I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
If you want to go deeper into what the Bible says about this, read Does the Bible Command Christians to Support Modern Israel?, where pastors discuss faith, the Jews, and the end times. Back in May 2024, we also shared Dr. Phil McGraw’s interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu here on the Torch.
How We Remember and Pray Today
Remembering is a holy responsibility. Here is how we can carry this day before the Lord:
- Say their names. Behind every number is a person made in the image of God: Amit and Karin, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Ran Gvili, and so many more.
- Pray for survivors and families who carry wounds no one can see. Ask the Lord to surround them with faith, family, and community.
- Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as Scripture commands.
- Stand against antisemitism where you live: in your schools, online, at work, and among your friends.
- Pray for everyone suffering in the region, including Gaza’s small Christian community, and for the peace that only the Prince of Peace can give.
Psalm 122:6 (NIV)
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May those who love you be secure.’”
God also calls His people to be watchmen, praying without rest until He establishes Jerusalem.
Isaiah 62:6–7 (NIV)
“I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the Lord,
give yourselves no rest,
and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem
and makes her the praise of the earth.”
When Dr. Phil asked Eliya Cohen what he would say to the men who kidnapped him, Eliya answered, “I won. I won. And I’m here.”
Evil did not get the last word on October 7. It never does.
On The 700 Club, the host called that day “the face of evil,” and then he called the Church to stand: “We need to say once again in our time, never again.”
So today we remember, we pray, and we stand.
Lord, comfort those who mourn. Heal the wounded in body and soul. Give strength to survivors and to the families of the fallen. Protect the Jewish people from hatred, and grant peace to Jerusalem. Make Your Church faithful, truthful, and compassionate. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Begin Your Journey Today
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Related Reading
Greg Lancaster, Does the Bible Command Christians to Support Modern Israel? Pastors Discuss Faith, the Jews, and the End Times.
Greg Lancaster, Evil in the Holy Land, Prophetic Insight and Prayer, John Kilpatrick.
Greg Lancaster, Déjà vu: Anti-Jewish, Israel, Governments and Factions — God’s Call for Christians to Stand for the Jewish People and Israel.
Sources
CBN News, “Tragedies of October 7 Remembered 3 Years Later | News on The 700 Club – October 7, 2026,” YouTube, October 7, 2026. Watch the CBN News report.
Chris Mitchell, “Israeli October 7th Survivors, Saddened by World’s Response, Rebuild Homes and Lives with Support From Christians,” CBN News, October 7, 2026. Read the CBN News article.
The National Desk, Dr. Phil McGraw’s remarks and conversation with Ziv Abud and Eliya Cohen at the United Nations October 7th commemoration, YouTube, October 6, 2026. Watch the video.
Caitlyn Frolo, “At UN’s October 7th Commemoration, U.S.’s Waltz says attack on Israel ‘backfired on Iran,'” The National Desk, October 6, 2026. Read the article.
Tom McArthur, “Israelis mourn 7 October attack victims three years after deadly Hamas raid,” BBC News, October 7, 2026. Read the BBC article.
“Israel says it has retrieved remains of final Gaza hostage Ran Gvili,” BBC News, January 26, 2026. Read the BBC article.
“The last hostage recovered from Gaza, Ran Gvili, died fighting to save a kibbutz,” Associated Press, January 2026. Read the AP article.
“How the Hamas attack on Israel unfolded,” Reuters, October 7, 2023. Read the Reuters article.
“In Gaza war, tens of thousands killed and widespread destruction,” Reuters, October 7, 2025. Read the Reuters article.
“Released hostage Eliya Cohen only found out today that his fiancee survived Oct. 7 massacre, family says,” The Times of Israel, February 22, 2025. Read the Times of Israel report.
United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, “Detailed findings on attacks carried out on and after 7 October 2023 in Israel” (A/HRC/56/CRP.3), June 2024. Read the report (PDF).
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.