Murder of Jewish man shocks Toronto
The murder of Daniel Stopnicki, a Jewish man shot dead while walking his dog in Toronto, reflects the alarming rise of antisemitic violence against Jewish communities in Western nations — a pattern Scripture warns will intensify in the last days as hostility toward God's covenant people increases.
Zechariah 2:8
Covenant Promise“For thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.”
Why this passage
Zechariah 2:8 is addressed to post-exilic Israel, assuring the returned remnant that God's protective covenant over his people has not been rescinded. The phrase 'apple of his eye' (the most sensitive part of the body) communicates that hostility directed at the Jewish people is hostility directed at God himself — with corresponding consequences for the aggressor.
The plain grammatical-historical sense is unambiguous: the LORD of hosts identifies himself as the personal guardian of the Jewish people, and those who 'plunder' or harm them do so at their own peril. This covenantal promise extends wherever Jewish people dwell, not only in the land of Israel.
The prophet Zechariah declared that Jerusalem and the Jewish people would become a burden to all nations, and that those who touch them touch the apple of God's eye (Zechariah 2:8). The murder of Daniel Stopnicki — a Jewish man gunned down on an ordinary evening walk in one of the world's most peaceful cities — is a sobering sign that ancient hatred of the Jewish people has never truly abated, even in the civilized West.
Scripture does not call us to passive observation. It calls us to weep with those who weep, to stand against the spirit of the age that would erase God's covenant people, and to remember that every blow struck against the Jewish people is struck against those whom the Almighty has not forgotten.
Today's Prayer
Pray for the Stopnicki family in their grief, and for the Jewish community of Toronto shaken by this act of violence — that God would be their refuge and shield, and that justice would be swiftly established.
Further Scripture
Additional passages that illuminate this event, each grounded in a distinct interpretive lens.
“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Why this passage
God's foundational promise to Abraham establishes a permanent covenantal posture: those who curse or dishonor Abraham's descendants invoke a divine curse upon themselves. This is not a conditional Mosaic statute but an unconditional Abrahamic promise, reaffirmed through the patriarchs and ultimately through Christ who comes from Abraham's line.
The word translated 'dishonors' carries the force of treating as contemptible or worthless — precisely what antisemitic violence embodies, treating a Jewish life as expendable.
How it applies
The shooting of Daniel Stopnicki represents a culture or individual that has come to regard Jewish life as dishonored and expendable. Genesis 12:3 places this act within the oldest covenantal framework in Scripture — and declares that nations and individuals who move in this direction bring judgment upon themselves.
The church is called to pray not only for the victim's family but for a nation to reckon with the gravity of what is unfolding in its cities.
“They say, 'Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!'”
Why this passage
Psalm 83 is a lament in which Asaph cries out against a coalition of surrounding peoples conspiring to erase Israel from existence. The parallel pattern — hatred that seeks not merely to harm but to extinguish the Jewish people — has recurred throughout history in precisely the spirit this psalm describes.
The structural parallel is genuine: the motivating animus behind antisemitic violence is not grievance over a specific act but existential hatred of Jewish identity — the same spirit Asaph identified as the desire to make 'the name of Israel be remembered no more.'
How it applies
The murder of a Jewish man walking his dog in Toronto does not occur in a vacuum. It occurs in a cultural moment of surging antisemitism across Western cities, a moment whose spiritual architecture mirrors Psalm 83's description of a coordinated, identity-targeting hatred.
The church should recognize this not as random crime but as the ancient spirit of erasure described by the Psalmist — and respond with both intercessory prayer and vocal solidarity with the Jewish community.
Related by Scripture
Other events we've interpreted through the same passage or hermeneutical lens.
Sa’ar hosts Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić
Israel & JerusalemShares Zechariah 2:8'I feel at home': Serbia’s Foreign Minister in a message in Hebrew
Israel & JerusalemShares Genesis 12:3‘This Is Bad for America’: Dershowitz Dumps Democrats Over Israel Shift
Israel & JerusalemShares Genesis 12:3Israel sent Iron Dome, troops to UAE amid Iran war in first overseas use: Report
Israel & JerusalemShares Zechariah 2:8“Like 1935 Germany:" ‘Jews & animals not allowed’ sign removed from hotel in Kyrgyzstan
Israel & JerusalemShares Genesis 12:3
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Source: israelnationalnews— we link to the original for full context.