JERUSALEM—Last Wednesday afternoon, my wife and I enjoyed a walk through the Jerusalem city center. It was our first since we returned to Israel after two years’ absence. We took a look inside the newest five-star hotel in the city, the Waldorf Astoria. When we stepped back outside, we were greeted by a screaming police vehicle flying down Agron Street toward the Old City.

We thought little of it, and continued our walk. But once we arrived back at our hotel and checked the local news, it did not take long to realize where that officer was rushing.

While we were taking in the marbled corridors and crystal fixtures of the Waldorf, three Arabs were stabbing and shooting two young female police officers just half a mile away.

As we walked back to our accommodation, we didn’t realize a terrorist attack had happened a few blocks over. Aside from the police car, there were no signs of an emergency. There was no panic on the streets; no passersby stopping to tell us the news; not even a clerk at the hotel saying, “I thought you should know ….”

Only after I searched the news did I realize what had taken place a half-mile from us.

The attack happened at the Damascus Gate in the Old City. Reports said that two young men sitting on a bench appeared nervous when approached by the leader of a border police team who asked to show their identification.

As one of the men drew out his identification card, the other pulled a knife from his jacket and attacked the officer with it. In the moments that followed, a third attacker reportedly approached from behind and shot a young female officer cadet in the back. The lead officer said he saw an attacker stabbing a woman on the ground. Officers quickly shot and killed all three attackers. They discovered that the men were armed with guns, knives and pipe bombs.

Jerusalem police authorities said that it appears the terrorists were waiting for a large group of Israeli civilians to pass by in order to murder a large number of people using the explosives and the other weapons.

“As far as we can tell from the armaments, [the terrorists] planned a larger, more sophisticated attack,” Jerusalem Deputy Police Chief Avshalom Peled said. “This is an escalation from what we’ve seen thus far. The police officers prevented a combined and much larger attack.”

For hours, 19-year-old cadet Hadar Cohen, who was drafted only two months ago and was still in training, fought for her life. But eventually she succumbed to the head wound inflicted by the terrorist’s bullet.

The second female officer sustained wounds all over her body, including her head, and is in serious but stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

“I had a chance to speak to our brave warriors, who were not afraid to engage,” Jeusalem Mayor Nir Barkat later said at the scene. “This was a real battle. In this battle, the police and Border Police officers of Jerusalem prevented a much larger disaster.”

While being so close to this bloodshed was a new experience for me, stabbings like these have become commonplace among residents of Jerusalem.

Reports of these stabbings and other attacks had trickled off in the weeks before our arrival. But we knew they hadn’t stopped. These terrorist attacks still occur nearly every day inside Israel, and mostly in the capital city.

So when we arrived a day prior, we expected to feel something different from our previous visits. This was the first time we had traveled to Jerusalem during a period of sustained violence. We expected fewer tourists, fewer people on the streets, fewer interactions between Jews and Arabs. Most of all, we expected to feel a new tension as we walked through the city.

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We have seen the odd poster on a notice board advertising lessons on how to defend against knife attacks. We have spotted a few extra motorcycle police in the city center. But other than this, the tone of Jerusalem is about the same as it has been during times of relative peace.

Apparently the Jerusalem folk are doing just as they have been instructed: Carry on with your “normal” lives as best you can.

At the same news conference by the Damascus Gate, Mayor Barkat continued, “The message I have to the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel is: We will move on. We will continue with our lives, with our plans, and thank the police and security forces who did a respectable, good and professional job today.”

Certainly the police officers did more than a respectable job as they risked—and gave—their lives to stop would-be mass killers. But there is something lacking in the “keep calm and carry on” mantra.

When ancient Israel sustained deaths at the hands of its enemy, it was not time to “continue with our lives, with our plans.” It was not time to carry on doing more of the same. It was time for the Israelites to examine themselves. God expected deadly tragedies to cause deadly serious introspection.

When the Israelites went to battle at Ai (Joshua 7:1-9), they not only failed to conquer it, but 36 Israelite men died. Reeling from these slayings, Joshua wondered why God hadn’t done His part to miraculously protect His people—He had done so before. God told Joshua that the Israelites had sinned, and unless they got the sin out, they would continue to lose battles (verses 10-13).

Joshua realized that losing even one life was a sign. It was a red alert that God was not supporting the nation and that something needed to be done. Joshua didn’t tell the Israelites to carry on with their lives and their plans. He stopped everything and led Israel to obey God and remove the sin. After that, Israel defeated Ai without losing a single warrior (Joshua 8).

Right now, so many leaders are responding to the ghastly menace of terrorism with compromise or worse, so it is refreshing to see resolute strength in Israeli leaders like Mayor Barkat and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the crucial question is: Will their solutions end the violence against their people? Will they succeed in modern Judah the way that Joshua succeeded with ancient Judah and the other tribes of Israel?

The Damascus Gate attack brought reports of deadly wounds and the futile attempts to counteract them as another precious life was snuffed out by terrorism. The Bible prophesies that modern Judah (the Jewish nation of Israel in the Middle East) suffers from an incurable wound. As the Jews try to dress this wound, their bandages actually make it worse. This prophecy refers to Israel’s man-made attempts to mend a terminal wound, a wound that only faith and obedience to God can heal.

Although Joshua lived around 3,500 years ago, the passing of time does not invalidate the lesson. If it was true then, it is true now. God loves the nation of Israel and longs to heal its people if only they would turn to Him. To understand both where Israel’s current policies in dealing with the Palestinian issue are leading, as well as the hope-filled future of the Jewish state, please read Jerusalem in Prophecy by Gerald Flurry.