What must the hostages be thinking?

Imagine being one of those hostages inside of the Hamas death tunnels, for over a year – a period of time which must seem interminably long, given the dire circumstances they have been forced to endure.

Now imagine that you’ve never read the Bible or have any knowledge about what happens to Israel in the end. Considering the extreme length of time it has taken for to be rescued by anyone, you might actually think that Israel has lost the war and that no one will be coming to free those of you who still remain.

An article appeared in today’s Jerusalem Post titled, “It’s hard to believe the hostages can still hold on to hope.” It recalls the imaginings of one held in captivity by Hamas and how she was able to retain her strength, simply by “creating a dialogue with her loved ones, weaving scenarios to stay optimistic and imagining the day after she came home.”

Gabriela Leimberg was one of the lucky ones who was released early on, relatively speaking. Now, she says, “it’s hard for her to believe that the hostages still have hope and can imagine their return.” Of course, coming home is everything, but what if you actually thought that there is no more home to come back to, because your country has been taken over by the enemy who viciously attacked and prevailed?

For those who really have no frame of reference, as it relates to the scriptures, it’s not impossible to fathom that they may sincerely believe that Israel has lost the battle, because if they are not familiar with the writings of the prophets, they would not know that Jeremiah wrote that Israel would never cease to be a nation before Him. (Jer. 31:36)

They also would not know that no one even gets close to taking down the Jewish homeland, because in the last battle fought, just as things are looking as bad as it gets, the final chapter of Zechariah records how God, Himself will fight against all the nations who have come to war against His people. The dramatic scene takes place as Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives is split right down the middle, scaring the daylights out of everyone who will, only then, realize that they took on the wrong foe.

All of this, along with countless other scriptures, brings a sense of hope and glorious security, knowing that this is still God’s land, which is being looked after and guarded by the Creator of the Universe!

But do the hostages know that? 

How can they be certain that all is not already lost? And what must be going through their minds as they pass each day in utter darkness, without the approaching sound of the military they always thought would be there to save them if something unthinkable like this ever happened?

One can only imagine that the vast majority of these poor captives have truly lost all hope of ever seeing their loved ones or basking in the sunlight of the land they love.  There is no doubt that a 24-hour cycle must feel like a month with nothing to do, nothing upon which to focus, no outside news and the constant worry of how much longer you can hold on. 

The hell on earth, described by Leimberg, was something which she personally experienced, characterizing it as “continual suffering, with the only light being hope.” Now, she, along with the others who were released, are loudly calling for the rest of them to be set free from that pit of darkness so that they, too, can, once again, return to the lives which were taken from them in an instant, more than a year ago when they were forced by terrorists, at gunpoint, to leave their communities, their loved ones and the lives they, surely, thought would never end like this.

So many of us pray for these hostages each day, unable to put ourselves in their place and imagine the immense struggle which they have endured, over the course of 417 days. It is impossible to feel the ravages of hunger, cold, weariness, physical pain, mental anguish and all of the other tortures a human being can experience, but we all know one thing – it is beyond our comprehension, and those who remain alive must be saved!

However, if that should escape our ability, and all of them eventually perish, the hope which eluded them then turns to us. It is our hope that, during this dreadful and unspeakable time, that the same God, who will split the Mount of Olives in two, scattering all of Israel’s enemies, would have reached down into the very depths of despair, suffered by each of these hostages, to meet them on an individual level, providing needed comfort and calm, through the greatest and most difficult storm anyone could ever imagine!

Our hope is that the same God, whose love is unfathomable, will not have forgotten these souls who still remain alive, but that He will have, somehow, been their constant companion, granting them the grace and fortitude that they needed each day to survive the evil that took hold of the hearts of their captors, turning them from humans, created in the image of God, to the monsters whose ears became deaf to the cries of those being raped, burned alive and tortured.

Sadly, each of us can become that hardened and that cruel, without a merciful God who reaches down to us and offers us the road back, to a life of restoration and purpose as we surrender to His plan which allows us to live the way we were intended – caring for one another and always aware that our lifeline is solely in Him.

This is the hope which we have, whether free or in captivity. It is knowing that we are not alone and that even though the days are dark and the night is long, deliverance does come in one form or another.  

For now, we continue to pray for the lives of these precious 50, 60 or 70 who are said to still be breathing and living in hope of their rescue. May God speedily answer their prayers and show His graciousness to our people!