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Weekly Devotional: The Path of Redemption

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city” (Luke 2:1-3 NKJV).

Luke places the birth of Jesus with the census of Quirinius (2:1-2). This event held bitter feelings for the Jewish people. Rome officially annexed Judaea as part of its empire with the census of Quirinius.

The Jewish people of the land of Israel were brought under pagan, Roman rule. In response to the census, a stream of Jewish philosophy emerged which taught that submission to Rome was a sin, since God alone was Israel’s king. The response to Roman rule was: Take up the sword, resist, and spill Roman blood; this is the path of redemption.

In the midst of this turmoil, God sent His Son, born to Joseph and Mary. He fulfilled His promise not through the resistance movement and bloodshed, but through a child, who would grow up to call upon those seeking redemption to repent.

Turmoil has the ability to make us yearn for God’s assistance. It can also lead us to seek our own means to make it happen. God is never deaf to our cries of help, yet He often uses means that we find ourselves blind to because of the turmoil of our circumstances.

Jesus entered a world of turmoil. Rome had taken over. The people of Israel cried for God’s redemption. The question became, how would He achieve it?

Some sought armed resistance as the path, yet God’s redemption entered the world through a baby born to a pious family. A baby who would grow up and tell people that the kingdom of Heaven (God) has come near and that returning to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pathway to receive God’s salvation.

This baby would grow up and one day offer His life as the ultimate sacrifice to bring about that redemption, but God would raise Him from the dead as evidence that His salvation has come near.

The Christmas season often heightens our feelings of turmoil. Financial troubles. Being alone. And many people feel sadness and turmoil during this season. The message of Christmas is that God steps into our turmoil. He is near. He does not abandon us. Yet we don’t always see Him or understand His purpose.

Into the turmoil of the first century, God sent forth His Son, who called upon the people to return to Him and to His ways. And He calls us to do the same today.

PRAYER

Father, even in the midst of our own turmoil and frustrated hopes, may we lean into Your presence realizing that You never forsake us. May we see that You still come to us inviting us to return to You and submit ourselves to Your plans and purposes. Amen.

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CBN Israel Prepares for ‘Tsunami’ of Counseling Israelis Will Need

By Nicole Jansezian

CBN Israel is preparing to deal with an expected “tsunami” of psychological and emotional counseling that will be needed as Israelis process the Hamas atrocities of October 7 which left 1,200 dead, tens of thousands displaced and 240 as hostages in Gaza.

“It wasn’t just those injured, and people directly affected that were impacted by this war—it affected the whole nation,” said Arik Pelled, director of CBN Israel’s Family Department. “The atrocities created a national trauma.”

Since the war, Israel has seen an increase in anxiety, fear, and insecurity, according to experts who spoke with CBN Israel. And Israelis who were directly affected by the atrocities are not the only ones impacted. An estimated 120,000 residents have been displaced and are living in hotels. Many still live under the threat of rocket fire and every resident is watching the morbid news on a regular basis.

“The 7th of October was a change in the mindset, I think, of the Israeli society,” said Talia Levanon, CEO of Israel Trauma Coalition. “We’re going to carry it for many years, also for more than one generation.”

CBN is teaming up with the Israel Trauma Coalition to meet this need including training more therapists, introducing emergency early-intervention therapies and building mobile therapy units.

“We are making it possible for more people to get the counseling they need either on an emergency basis or regularly,” Pelled said.

Pelled noted that the October 7 attacks shattered many securities that Israelis held onto as terrorists invaded their guarded communities and their homes with weapons that penetrated even the bomb shelters.

“The entire country is in a place where personal security has been shaken. A home is no longer a safe place, a shelter is no longer a safe place, parents are no longer a safe place—they can suddenly disappear. The army is no longer a safe place, the police, authorities—everything has been shaken.”

Rina Matigil, who operated One Heart, has been counseling residents in Sderot, a southern Israeli city that has come under rocket bombardment for more than 20 years.

“Even before this war, when I spoke with people or did interviews, I always said, ‘We are all, unfortunately, in a state of trauma,’” she said. The recent events, she added, add more layers to the existing trauma.

Two months out from the onset of the war, most people are in survival mode and have not reached out for therapy, but when they do, experts are expecting a tidal wave of demand.

“They are very busy at the moment with finding themselves, whether in hotels or looking for a job or taking care of the kids,” Levanon explained. “So, people will not now turn to therapy. What we know from our experience is that after the event, we have a tsunami of people who want therapy.”

Levanon said another assumption is that not only will there be more people seeking help, the types of situations they need to cope with are unprecedented.

“We need also to take into consideration that the issues that we will be dealing with are very different. It’s not just a higher number of people—it’s people who are dealing with grief, people who are dealing with very traumatic events, not to mention being a hostage and so on,” she said. “And so the therapists need to be trained to do things that address issues they’ve never dealt with before.”

“Now with residents scattered around the country after evacuating their homes, CBN Israel is working with Israel Trauma Coalition to create a national call center that will connect people to the closest therapist in their new location,” Pelled said. “We are trying to open one national center, not in one geographic location because everyone in the country is scattered and displaced.”

CBN Israel also hosted a workshop for Israeli counsellors, psychologists, and family therapists so they can implement an emergency intervention method in their counseling. Dr. Gary Quinn, a psychiatrist based in Israel who specializes in crisis intervention, anxiety, depressive disorders, and PTSD, led the workshop at the CBN Israel office. Quinn pioneered ISP, Immediate Stabilization Procedure, a type of intervention was successful in Ukraine.

Pelled said the purpose of this early intervention therapy is to break the loop of repeating a negative experience in the hopes of preventing PTSD.

“Of course, it is possible to work with a person at any point, but if you catch the person in time, this will start the healing process sooner,” he said.

CBN Israel is also building a similar program for leaders of congregations around the country to equip them as well to deal with these unprecedented traumas.

Nicole Jansezian is the media coordinator for CBN Israel. A long-time journalist, Nicole was previously the news editor of All Israel News and All Arab News and a journalist at The Associated Press. On her YouTube channel, Nicole gives a platform to the minority communities in Jerusalem and highlights stories of fascinating people in this intense city. Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., she lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Tony, and their three children.

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Good and Evil, Side by Side

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Hanukkah 2023 ends on December 15 after eight days filled with both hope and horror. In Gaza, Israel Defense Forces (IDF)—the modern Maccabees—recaptured what Hamas, the new Nazis, called Palestine Square. On October 7, terrorists paraded hostages through this symbolic heart of Hamas authority. Huge crowds of Palestinians cheered and abused hostages as they passed by.

But now, a tall menorah sits in the center of the Square, a symbol of light and rededication lit by the IDF as they voiced traditional prayers: “Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who performed wonderous deeds for our ancestors in days of old at this season.” Our Christian community can echo the same prayer to God, Sovereign of all.

Good and evil have coexisted throughout 69 days of war—and wide is the gulf between them. Let’s consider a story that powerfully illustrates the vast difference between light and darkness—and leaves no doubt as to which side is the bearer of light. As lies about Israel circle the world with a vengeance, may you remember the following incident, which began at 2 a.m. on the fifth day of Hanukkah.

An IDF team noticed movement on a nearby horizon. To their astonishment, it was a child, about four years old. She was walking around barefoot and with many wounds. After gently carrying her to the IDF field doctor, who treated and wrapped her wounds, they took her to one of the humanitarian safe zones the IDF had set up. They then learned the truth: that Hamas had deliberately sent the child into a war zone to see if the Israeli soldiers were alert and awake. 

Friends, when you read or hear libel or slander against Israel—yet diabolical support for Hamas—remember this Hanukkah 2023 story of a 4-year-old Palestinian girl sent by cowards to her likely death. The expansive divide between good and evil, light and darkness, is obvious to those who are truly paying attention.

Hamas terrorists habitually use their civilians as human shields, even a 4-year-old girl. Hamas is still firing rockets into Israel from Gaza’s Al-Mawasi safe zone. Hamas knows that Israel does not intentionally murder civilians, a fact that the world’s demonic Jew haters would do well to understand. At its foundation, the war is satan’s rage against God. The new Nazis and satan both idolize evil power.

Nonetheless, God’s rescue mission—expressed in His life on earth for 33 years—overrides evil’s history with outrageous, sacrificial love. John 10:22 is the only verse in the Bible to mention that Jesus attended the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah). Scripture does not clearly indicate that He quoted these words at the Feast, but it seems reasonable. John 8:12 tells us that “Then Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.’”

The everlasting Light of the World shines today, exposing what is hidden in the darkness of sin yet illuminating the Holy Spirit’s presence in the hearts of those who believe and repent.

Light is also shining brightly among Muslims and Jews. The well-known Egyptian-born pastor Michael Youssef recently conducted an evangelistic event in Cairo and reported the good news that among 17,715 people, more than 7,850 put their faith in Christ. Reverend Youssef only expected around 6,000 at the event.

Among Jews, leaders and staff of Behold Israel and Jews for Jesus comment that Israelis are requesting Bibles and asking questions about their messianic Jewish faith!

More contrasts between light and darkness emerge in widespread support amount Christians. Before and during the Holocaust, a minority of churches and Christians rescued Jews from Hitler’s Third Reich. Today, with Jew hatred exploding, a significantly greater number of Evangelicals, governments, and churches worldwide are speaking out about the terrors Hamas unleashed on Israel. Their words are matched with actions to send vast amounts of humanitarian aid to Israelis.

The popular Dr. Phil eloquently spoke up on his TV show after three elite U.S. university presidents—at MIT, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania—were questioned by the Congressional House Committee on Education. In defective moral clarity, not one of the women could bring themselves to agree that Jewish students are at risk amid genocidal protests with the potential to grow into physical attacks.

Lights are shining into the darkness of propaganda and money. Qatar, a small Middle Eastern country, is the home of Al Jazeera, a longtime Hamas media mouthpiece spewing lies against Israel. Al Jazeera has extensive credentials for access in the U.S. House Press Gallery for 136 Qatar employees. Compare that astonishing number to 82 New York Times employees with credentials.

Now illumination is showing via Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Michigan) in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson asking him to revoke Al Jazeera’s credentials. It seems our government and elite universities have welcomed the Qatari propaganda against Israel and Jewish students. Al Jazeera reports that it broadcasts to over 150 countries, with 3,000 employees from  95 countries, and globally into 430 million homes. Now illumination is showing via Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Michigan) in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson asking him to revoke Al Jazeera’s credentials.

Not only has Qatar welcomed top Hamas leaders live there; we now know that Qatar has donated billions of dollars to American colleges and universities. That fact combined with Al Jazeera’s influence also explains the demonic protests worldwide. Once-hidden truths are coming to light that also explain the irrational answers from presidents of three universities who recently testified before Congress.

As for the United Nations’ 193 member countries, the majority have blackened Israel’s reputation for decades by weaponizing truth and turning it into lies—lies against the only democracy in the Middle East. Their Jew hatred and bias against Israel has resulted in hundreds of unjust resolutions against the world’s only Jewish nation while ignoring numerous human rights violations perpetrated by dictatorships.

In a recent resolution, however, the United States shed a ray of light by voting NO on a Security Council resolution that called for another ceasefire without mentioning Hamas atrocities. (Ceasefires are always broken by Hamas, who not only use civilians as human shields but divert humanitarian aid to themselves.)

On the other hand, the United States and the European Union keep pressuring Israel into a two-state solution. Israel already did its part to unilaterally offer Palestinians a state in 2005. Israel forced their 8,000 Jewish citizens out of the Gaza Strip and tuned it over to Palestinians—who trashed it, then voted for the Hamas terror organization in 2007. October 7 is proof that Israel will never agree to a two-state solution. Even suggesting it is insensitive and insulting.

Sixty-nine days of war have passed. The modern Maccabees are conducting a necessary war against the new Nazis who began it. As the Allies moved against Hitler and his armies, so must the IDF of the modern Jewish state respond. I encourage Evangelicals to volunteer as truth-tellers to oppose, via social media and conversations, the lies inhabiting the darkness. I hope you will spread these facts of light, and others, realizing that facts can indeed lead you to informed prayer.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to join us this week reflecting on Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV:There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”

Prayer Points:

  • Pray for the innocent Palestinian children whom Hamas continues to use as disposable human shields.
  • Pray for Evangelicals to join a legion of truth-tellers to oppose lies against Israel.
  • Pray for the IDF to continue gaining victory over evil.
  • Pray for Israeli families making their own sacrifices, as hundreds of thousands of active and reserve IDF must serve their country away from home.

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. By invitation, Arlene attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits. She also hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

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Victim of Terrorism: Lina’s Story

For 30 years, Lina had lived in Ashkelon, a target for Hamas rockets near Gaza. She had grown used to missile attacks, sirens, and running for shelter. But October 7 was different.

“This time it was like a horror movie,” she recalls. “So many children, so many people were killed for nothing. Ashkelon is like a war zone now. There is a smell of burning everywhere—the smell of war.” Where could she and her children go to feel safe again?

Fortunately, caring friends like you made a way for Lina and her children to stay in Eilat, a peaceful area away from the attacks. Through CBN Israel, donors are providing temporary shelter for families and offering therapy to help them process the terrible trauma they’ve experienced. They are also supplying them with hot meals and basic necessities. As Lina shares, “We fled from our houses with practically nothing, and we are left without work or income.”

She added, “You gave me a complete hygiene kit—toothbrush, deodorant, and everything we needed.” Donors also enabled her to purchase clothes and toys for her kids. She said, “I couldn’t bring toys at all—I didn’t think of that. What you’re doing really helps a lot. Thank you!”

In addition to rushing relief aid to these terror victims, your gifts to CBN Israel can also deliver ongoing assistance across the country to elderly Holocaust survivors, single mothers, immigrants, and those struggling to survive.

The war has devastated thousands of lives across the Holy Land. Your support to CBN Israel can rush emergency relief to those escaping battle zones, while offering groceries, housing, financial aid, and more to others in need.

Please join us in providing a lifeline to those who need our help!

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The Modern Maccabees Wage War Against the New Nazis

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Tonight, the 7th of December, Jews in multiple time zones are lighting their first candle for Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights. The history of the festival dates back to 165 B.C. in the Jewish homeland, when the famous Maccabee soldiers defeated Israel’s ruthless enemy pagan King Antiochus IV. Their hard-fought victory made way for the cleansing and rededication of their desecrated Temple, their re-lit glowing menorah, Jewish culture, Scriptures, and freedom in the Holy Land. The Hebrew word hanukkah means “rededication.”

Lighting the first candle tonight happens amid the most profound darkness in Israel’s modern history. In this, Israel’s 75th year, the October 7 traumas relentlessly invade the emotions, minds, and memories of every Jewish Israeli as additional first-person stories of barbaric brutality emerge from released hostages.

Needed now are fervent, loving prayers for the new Maccabees—the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fighting for Israel’s existence. In their small nation, it is said that every Israeli knows someone in the IDF, Israeli police, Mossad, or Shin Bet. These brave soldiers, intelligence officials, and security personnel have sacrificed their lives or suffered serious injuries to defend their country.

King Antiochus’s attempts to wipe out the ancient Jewish people and culture with forced Greek pagan worship can be seen as a historical backdrop for the Hamas terrorists—the New Nazis. The Maccabees were a comparatively small force of no more than 12,000 men up against a 40,000-man army. Today, the Israel Defense Forces has amassed upwards of 400,000 soldiers determined to put Hamas, Hezbollah, and other modern Islamic regime proxies into the dustbin of history for good. And they will.

It is worth noting that since the fourth millennium BCE, Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, has been attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, besieged 23 times, and destroyed twice. However, Israel is eternal, because during every darkness the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reassures Israel with His unbreakable promise: “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you. Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride” (Isaiah 49:16-18 NIV).

The steadfast Maccabees from long ago set a historical precedent of Jewish resilience that is reflected within today’s IDF. In a speech to Israel’s citizens, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant proclaimed, “You have someone to be proud of, you have someone to trust. The IDF and all the security agencies are the defensive shields that ensure our lives in the State of Israel.”

Also inspirational are stories about Jews held captive in Nazi death camps—those who, despite their inhuman imprisonment, created inventive ways to celebrate the Maccabees and subsequent Festival of Lights. Author I.I. Cohen relates his own story in My Auschwitz-Spoon Hanukkah. Before being transferred to the Kaufering concentration camp, Cohen had smuggled a spoon out of Auschwitz. He also kept a mental calendar of Jewish festivals and thus knew Hanukkah was approaching. Holding any kind of prayer or Jewish practice was sure to bring punishment or death—yet some 500 prisoners were determined to celebrate anyway.

Cohen commented, “We tried whenever possible to … maintain a self-image as God-fearing Jews, despite all the dangers that involved.” One man donated a small piece of butter he had saved from his daily ration to use as “oil.” Others unraveled threads from their uniforms for wicks. Yet, what could serve as a menorah? Cohen pulled out his spoon, which served as a tiny menorah once they’d added the wicks and oil. They lit the candle and recited the blessings, with memories from past Hanukkahs at home. Mr. Cohen explained that it “kindled a glimmer of hope.” He survived three concentration camps.

Another story comes from Bergen-Belsen in 1943 via Yaffa Eliach’s book, Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust. In it, he recounts how Rabbi Israel Shapiro managed a plan to celebrate Hanukkah. The men saved up bits of fat from their skimpy food allotments; the women pulled threads from their ragged clothing and twisted them into wicks. The candleholder was fashioned from a raw potato, and toy dreidels for children were carved out of the wooden shoes worn by prisoners. Risking their lives, the inmates stealthily walked to Barracks 10. Rabbi Shapiro put together the parts, and while chanting the blessings, broke into tears of grief—he had lost his wife, only daughter, son-in-law, and only grandchild. Everyone gathered wept with him as they attempted to sing Ma’oz Tzur, a traditional song proclaiming their faith in God, the Rock of their strength.

Rabbi Shapiro also lamented about why God had given miracles to their ancestors but not to them now. He then answered his own question: “By kindling this Hanukkah candle we are symbolically identifying ourselves with the Jewish people everywhere. Our long history records many bloody horrors our people have endured and survived.” He prophetically added, “We may be certain that no matter what may befall us as individuals, the Jews as a people will outlive their cruel foes and emerge triumphant in the end.” His declaration reflects that even a tiny light pierces the dark reality of physical imprisonment—and that Jewish spirits are not bound in chains.

Finally, a simple Hanukkah celebration held during World War I at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, would turn out to have planted a world-changing seed. Jews stationed there in 1917 awaited their overseas orders to Europe. To celebrate Hanukkah—with few supplies and no chaplain—the Jewish soldiers made a menorah from shell casings collected from the firing range. Eddie Jacobson, a Jewish soldier from Kansas City, Missouri, invited his Christian friend, Captain Harry Truman, to attend. Several Jewish women from nearby Lawton, Oklahoma, brought the traditional potato latkes. Jewish soldiers told the story of the victorious Maccabees, lit the candles, and celebrated. 

It is said that Truman, who was experiencing Hanukkah for the first time, listened closely and then commented, “I think the Jewish people should have its own land again.” Thirty-one years later, when Truman served as president, he and Eddie Jacobson had remained friends. Jacobson became instrumental in convincing his friend to vote in favor of a modern Jewish state at the United Nations. President Truman cast his vote on May 14, 1948—the first world leader to do so.

Since the beginning of the Hamas War—two months ago today— 401 soldiers have sacrificially given their lives to oppose evil-minded men. The IDF has entered another phase of their strategic war to eliminate Hamas Nazis in Gaza’s south, where they have created a detailed map split into hundreds of locations that pinpoint safe zones for civilians. No other military on earth takes these kinds of measures to protect civilians.

The modern Maccabee army has erected a 15-foot menorah in Beit Hanoun in Gaza as a symbol of the IDF’s remarkable achievements thus far. It is a Chabad project of IDF reserve soldiers led by Rabbi Yosef Aharonov at Tzach of Israel. Rabbi Aharonov reported that they will erect more than a dozen menorahs in Gaza and give out personal menorahs and the traditional Hanukkah doughnuts to over 10,000 Israeli soldiers deployed in Gaza. “We also plan to have volunteers light the large menorahs each night of Hannukah,” he said, “bringing light to the darkest places.”

Let all of us in the Christian community join in by lighting one candle in our homes to celebrate with the modern Maccabees on December 7, along with raising up prayers for their safety and complete triumph over evil.

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team once again to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6).

Prayer Points:

  • Pray for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the security cabinet, and all IDF leaders.
  • Pray for the IDF, which has already destroyed 500 of the 800 Gaza terror tunnels.
  • Pray for 137 hostages still imprisoned in Hamas’s version of concentration camps.
  • Pray for the mental health of all Israelis who face varying degrees of trauma.
  • Pray for your advocacy to shed glimmers of light to Jewish friends here and to Israel.

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is a volunteer on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. Arlene has attended Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summit three times and hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

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Aiding Israel’s Elderly War Victims

The terror and fear of war can be felt across Israel—especially among vulnerable seniors.

For instance, one Tel Aviv apartment complex is filled with elderly refugees, Holocaust survivors, and those who can’t survive on their own. With constant volleys of missiles targeting their city daily from Gaza, they risk death if they venture out, even to shop for groceries.

Danielle Moore, from the Christian Friends of the Jewish Agency, asked, “If you are a person in your 80s or 90s—very frail—how are you going to manage when there is a siren, and you’re outside? How are you going to reach a place of safety?”

That’s why, thanks to friends like you, CBN Israel has partnered with the Jewish Agency and others to provide huge food boxes and water—ensuring that residents can remain in the building, right near bomb shelters. “We want to keep them safe,” Moore stated.

And CBN Israel’s National Director Dan Carlson wants them to feel cared for, to know they aren’t alone. He says Israelis rarely feel safe with enemies surrounding them—and October 7th only made it worse, noting, “It’s like the nation is in trauma right now—the whole nation.”

Moore adds, “When you think about the elderly, many of them Holocaust survivors, and all the traumas and hardships they went through… Now they face siren after siren, understanding that their life is at risk, and it’s unbearable.” But generous donors are there with food, water, and basic necessities—along with smiles and hugs—and giving them the encouragement they need. One grateful resident, Helen, said, “It’s very helpful. I’m about to cry from excitement!”

Your gifts to CBN Israel can also evacuate war victims to hotels far away from the attacks, and offer them meals, essentials, clothing, toys, and trauma counseling. And you can reach out to others in need in many other ways.

Please join us in blessing Israel at this historic moment!

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Biblical Israel: Gilead

Gilead was the center of Israelite population in Transjordan (east of the Jordan River). The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh remained east of the Jordan River and did not settle in the lands west of the Jordan.

Within the Bible, the isolation of these tribes from the tribes west of the Jordan is felt within the stories. They found themselves often threatened from desert marauders and rival kingdoms east of the Jordan. The story of the judge, Jephthah, who delivered Israel from the Ammonites, took place in Gilead (Judges 11:29-33). Saul’s first victory, the deliverance of Jabesh-Gilead, also occurred in Gilead (1 Samuel 11:1-11).

Gilead also served as a land of refuge and asylum for Israelites from west of the Jordan River; for example, when David had to leave Jerusalem because of the rebellion led by his son Absalom, he fled to Mahanaim, which is in Gilead (2 Samuel 17:21-22). So too, the remaining family of Saul and his supporters fled to Gilead after Saul’s death on Mount Gilboa (2 Samuel 2:8).

The land of Gilead is a mountainous area in the central Transjordan. The limestone hills reach altitudes of over 3000 feet in some areas. The Jabbok River (Genesis 32) divides Gilead into two sections. The tribal division of land among the tribes east of the Jordan River followed the contours of the land created by the Jabbok.

Its elevation allows it to receive excellent rainfall during the winter months and dew in the summer. The area also has a number of springs that provide water. This also meant that forests grew on the mountains of Gilead (Jeremiah 22:6; Zechariah 10:10). Grapes also grew well in Gilead.

The most important highway, which ran north-south, known as the King’s Highway ran through Gilead. This roadway went from the Gulf of Eilat to Damascus where it met the international coastal highway that connected Egypt with Mesopotamia. Gilead’s strategic location on this road brought wealth to the people that lived in Gilead.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

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Is There a War Crimes Tribunal in Jerusalem’s Future?

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

On December 15, 1961, a court in Jerusalem, Israel, sentenced Nazi SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann to death for crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and war crimes. Presiding Judge Moshe Landau articulated that Eichmann’s goal was “to obliterate an entire people from the face of the world.”

Eichmann organized and oversaw “The Final Solution” by dispatching trains from all over Europe to Auschwitz and other death camps. Each train held 1,000 people. Judge Landau observed, “It is as though he committed a thousand acts of premeditated murder each time.”

Hamas’s barbaric murders on October 7, 2023, are codified in their 1988 charter that in part “rejects any alternative to full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.” It further directs: “The day of judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them.”

The Hamas charter imitates the Nazi’s Final Solution described by Judge Landau to “obliterate an entire people [Jews] from the world.” Hamas’s 1,000-plus premeditated murders in one day—inside the Jewish homeland—made it the bloodiest day since the Holocaust. Hamas stays fanatically committed to reaching its future goals. Like Nazis, they burned victims. Like Nazis, they raped victims. Like Nazis, they desecrated bodies.

Since the Holocaust, world organizations have codified laws that address these evils. Within the International Criminal Court, the 1949 Geneva Convention’s Article 8 clearly defines war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross prominently include the same definitions in their documents.

As you read this partial list, apply it to Hamas. Willful killing. Rape. Torture. Inhumane treatment. Extensive destruction of property. Hostage taking and more. These crimes against humanity shock the consciences among people of goodwill.

Hours after Hamas’s barbaric assaults and murders on October 7, 2023, news quickly circulated around the globe prompting reactions of shock and compassion for 1,400 murdered Israelis and those from other countries. Nevertheless, only a few days later, shock faded into new Nazi shouts of “Kill the Jews” in a pandemic marked by another kind of virus, a pandemic of Jew hatred.

Worldwide, masses of violent demonstrators occupied cities while small rogue groups vented their Jew hatred by attacking Jews in schools and on the streets of many countries, including the United States. Once again mainstream media are accomplices and purveyors of Hamas’s propaganda by giving immediate credence to their made-up reports against Israel, as if the Jewish state were the perpetrator.

Although some news outlets occasionally backtrack from dishonest reporting, by then the Jew haters are already consuming and spreading the lies as described in Isaiah 5:20 NIV: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” 

Surely, “woe” is called for in a legal tribunal for justice against Hamas. Isaiah 1:17 expresses tragedies among hostages, their families, and all Israelis. “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” 

Meanwhile, top leaders of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal, live luxuriously in Qatar. They operate in exile while Palestinians serve as their pawns to carry out terror directives backed by Iran’s Islamic regime. Oil-rich Qatar is a small Persian Gulf peninsula next to Saudi Arabia, ruled by a monarchy led by Sheikh Amir Tanim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Qatar has over two million citizens and runs on a combined legal system of civil and Islamic law. Haniyeh and Mashal live lavishly in five-star hotels, fly in private planes, and manage their billion-dollar bank accounts. After the Hamas murders, they prostrated themselves in thankfulness to Allah in their fancy office.

A Times of Israel article reported that Hamas leaders made their fortunes partly in a 20 percent tax on all goods that passed through tunnels from Egypt into Gaza since 2014. Al Majalla, a Saudi weekly, published a comment the same year from a Palestinian Authority official saying that tunnel-smuggling had turned 1,700 senior Hamas members into millionaires. Almost a decade later, the combination of wealth and hatred are a deadly motivation for Hamas leaders.

Meanwhile, Hamas mainstreams hate into children’s minds though schoolbooks and specializes in brainwashing children in summer camps. The students wear uniforms, shoot guns, and learn terror tactics. Adele Raemer, a survivor of Kibbutz Nirim, is an Israeli educator. Sometimes volunteering in educational initiatives with Palestinian teachers, she saw some of their books. “These children are taught hate in their textbooks,” she explained. “They’re taught, ‘If you have six Jews and you kill four of them, how many Jews do you have left?’”

Pause and consider for a moment: According to a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report on Gaza, in 2020 a full 60 percent of Gazans lived below the poverty line. In 2022 “almost 63% of households faced moderate food insecurity.” The UNDP estimates that these figures will skyrocket since Hamas terrorists instigated war.

This begs the question of Hamas’s war crimes against Palestinians, too. In 2005, Israel turned Gaza over to Palestinians by forcing its 8,000 Jewish citizens out of Gaza in a difficult and heartbreaking decision that deprived those Israelis of everything. Israel’s ill-founded hope was that Palestinians would develop their own peaceful state.

Instead, Hamas developed Gaza into the largest, most sophisticated terror headquarters in the world, situated purposely under Al Shifa Hospital. They regularly stash weapons and explosives in apartments, schools, hospitals, and mosques knowing that Israel does not intentionally target civilians. Part of the Hamas strategy is to use women and children as human shields. That is a war crime. 

NO JEW HAS LIVED IN GAZA FOR 15 YEARS. ISRAEL DOES NOT OCCUPY GAZA. GAZA IS OCCUPIED BY HAMAS AND FUNDED BY IRAN’S ISLAMIC REGIME.

The precedent for holding a war crimes tribunal in Israel was established in 1961, when a Jerusalem court issued a death sentence for the unrepentant SS Lieut. Col. Adolph Eichmann. At midnight—bridging May 31 and June 1, 1962—the Nazi was hanged at the Ramle fortress prison outside Tel Aviv, whereupon Jewish authorities cremated his remains and scattered the ashes in the Mediterranean Sea beyond Israeli boundary waters. 

Now is the time to plan arrests. The IDF is searching for Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the October 7 atrocities. Sinwar and the top Hamas leaders in Qatar must be transported to an Israeli prison where Israel can initiate a war crimes tribunal to be conducted in their capital.

After World War II, it took years of searching but the Israeli Security Service (Mossad) found Eichmann in Argentina after he escaped in 1946 from U.S. custody. They brought him to Israel to stand trial.

Locating the top Hamas perpetrators is a job that Mossad would welcome.

Please join our CBN Israel team to pray with us, meditating on Proverbs 24:24-25: “Whoever says to the guilty, ‘You are innocent,’ will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations. But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them.”

Prayer Points:

  • Pray for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his security cabinet, and all IDF leaders to make wise decisions.
  • Pray for families and friends suffering the loss of brave IDF soldiers, as well as all civilians who were murdered or are still captives.
  • Pray for the Druze community, a small Israeli minority that valiantly serves in the IDF. They have suffered the loss of six soldiers thus far. 
  • Pray for mainstream media to report honestly with unbiased, proven facts.

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is a volunteer on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. Arlene has attended Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summit three times and hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

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Victims of Terrorism: Carey Lee’s Story

The sudden attack by Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis—and the trauma experienced by thousands of families and children is almost unimaginable. Hardest hit were those living along the Israel-Gaza border, where homes and entire neighborhoods are in ruins. Children have seen gruesome deaths and horrific sights they can’t even grasp yet.

Carey Lee, who runs a non-profit group, is now a victim herself. She shared, “With the amount of destruction and inhumane deeds done, no one in this community has been unscathed.”

But through CBN Israel, friends like you have provided a much-needed refuge for her and other terror victims—by transporting and paying for them to stay in safe shelter, far from the border.

In addition to lodging, caring donors are giving them hot meals and basic necessities, including toys and games for the little ones. They are also providing therapy for adults and children, plus counseling parents about ways to help their kids process the trauma they’ve endured.

Your support to CBN Israel can let these hurting people know they are not alone. As a long-time CBN Israel local partner, Carey Lee affirms, “CBN is an incredible organization that is not just with us the day before the war, or the day after. They’ve been with us on a long journey.”

And your gifts can make you a vital part of that journey. While you are sending immediate relief to the frontlines, you can also extend aid to Holocaust survivors, single mothers, refugees, and others in need.

As war rages in the Holy Land, your support can bring food, shelter, financial assistance, and more to those who are surviving week to week.

Please join us in standing with Israel at this crucial time!

GIVE TODAY

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After the Biggest Pro-Israel Rally in US History, Here’s How to Help Hostages

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

On November 14, my husband of 47 years and I flew to Washington, D.C., excited to stand with Israel at the March for Israel rally on the National Mall. We are Evangelicals who joined with upwards of 300,000 Jews there. We traveled with a Christian organization called Passages, which on short notice recruited 700 Christian college students. Since its founding in 2016, Passages has hosted more than 11,000 students to Israel with a focus on developing educated, pro-Israel leaders for the future.

Passages converged at the Museum of the Bible, where we received excellent briefings, some of them from my good friend, Passages CEO Scott Phillips. Afterward, walking five blocks to the National Mall, we enjoyed the musical renditions of popular Jewish performers Ishay Ribo, Omer Adam, Matisyahu, and The Maccabeats.

Besides Passages’ student contingent, Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), was part of the massive, unified crowd. Penny remarked, “Along with other Christians, I was honored to be here with our Jewish brothers and sisters who need our support.” On her first trip to Israel, Penny and other Christian leaders had visited Kfar Aza, a group I helped host on behalf of the American Israel Education Foundation. In the hours we spent at this beautiful kibbutz close to the Gaza border, we marveled at their delight living in their homeland—despite years of frequent rocket barrages from Hamas. We felt deeply touched by the love for their land. When Penny returned from Israel, she added support for Israel to CWA’s core issues which include the family, sanctity of human life, religious liberty, education, sexual exploitation, national sovereignty, and support for Israel.

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem’s USA branch also mobilized its members and joined in with 300,000 enthusiastic shouts of “Am Yisrael Chai”—Hebrew for “the people of Israel live,” which is an affirmation of the Jewish continuity throughout the millennia.

Throughout the afternoon, Jews and Christians together rang out in one voice for the one Jewish nation in the world!

The word “exhilarating” does not fully describe what we experienced at the largest pro-Israel gathering in American history! Members of Congress—Christian and Jewish, Democrat and Republican—stood together on the stage, among them recently elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

Reverberating over the National Mall were comments from rabbis and university students, as well as heartbreaking stories from hostage family members who participated in the programming. Pastor John Hagee voiced his longtime support for Israel. Everyone gathered in peace, listening to speakers who brought us to tears and others who resounded with hope and commitment to stand with our ally, Israel. No violence, no hatred, no destruction of buildings or monuments. The obvious atmosphere of peace and friendliness among Jews and Christians showed a stark contrast to the opposite atmospheres of violent, crazed, and uninformed demonstrators who glorify the barbaric deaths that Hamas committed on October 7 against 1,200 people—mostly civilians.

Passages CEO Scott Phillips’s description of his experiences reflects mine. “We were met with countless hugs, high fives, gratitude and even tears, truly a humbling experience to stand at ‘such a time as this’ with our Jewish friends.”

As I have been advocating for Israel for almost 25 years, my personal blessings came due to the Passages T-shirt I wore emblazoned with “Christians Stand With Israel.” My best moments unfolded when many within the Jewish community walked up to me with big smiles and warm thanks. I replied to everyone who expressed their thanks, “You are not alone.” I felt that my longtime calling to advocate for Israel was affirmed with their smiles and gratitude!

The Israel Rally was timely. The pressures on Israel are intensifying at breakneck speed. An outpouring of compassion from Jews, Christians, and others is evident. However, deepening our prayers and practical help for the long haul is essential.

We Evangelicals must also suit up to pass along facts to oppose Hamas’s propaganda. Find your facts from trusted sources like CBN News. Be aware that the world media rush to report whatever Hamas announces—forgetting or not caring for facts—and that terrorists are not only addicted to hate and murderous, unholy barbarism. They are expert liars and not to be trusted under any circumstances.

In his newsletter, Mission Brief, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, IDF spokesperson to the international media, regularly gives operational updates. While Israel-haters lash out with lies and slander against the IDF, on November 21 Hecht included these illuminating words from Commanding Officer of the 36th Division, Brigadier General Dado Bar Kalifa: “During the last days of the fighting of the 36th Division in Zaytun, we constantly encountered an enemy hiding behind children, women and civilian infrastructure. The soldiers of the division, including soldiers of the Golani Brigade, the 188th Brigade and the Bislamach Brigade, operated in a complex war zone in an urban area, exposed terrorists who were hiding in civilian areas and eliminated many terrorists.”

Hecht must also report statistics that no Israeli wants to hear. Since Israel is such a small country, it is probable that every Israeli—whether Jewish, Ethiopian, Bedouin, Christian, or Israeli Arab—knows someone serving in the IDF and often those who have sacrificed their lives fighting an existential war. Lt. Col Hecht reported on Sunday November 19 that 59 soldiers have been killed in action since the IDF entered Gaza and a total of 383 have fallen since Hamas’s attacks.

Until ALL hostages are released, Hamas must free Jewish civilians, Jewish soldiers, and others from more than two dozen countries. They include Argentinians, Germans, Americans, French and Russians. You can immediately take a valuable action by clicking this link. It is a petition addressed to the United Nations, International Red Cross, Heads of State and G7 Governments, and Heads of State in every country which has hostages kidnapped into Gaza. The brainchild of Israeli Jonathan Feldstein, President of Gen123 Foundation, the petition FREE THE HOSTAGES NOW has already garnered multi-thousands of signers worldwide in less than 10 days. I have been working alongside my friend Jonathan since he envisioned the idea, but time is running short! Sign, then forward to your churches and everyone you know.

Fifteen seconds of your time to sign and a few minutes to forward and/or put on your social media makes you an instant Christian champion for the hostages and their families.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to pray with us this week, remembering at our Thanksgiving celebrations that our faith was birthed in Israel. Romans 11:17-18 NIV reminds us: “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches.” 

Prayer Points

  • Pray for safety for the IDF in the network of 300 tunnels.
  • Pray thanking God for lifesaving miracles that are unfolding among the soldiers.
  • Pray for families and friends of hostages in Israel and abroad.
  • Pray that Christians will sign and share FREE THE HOSTAGES NOW.
  • Pray that media grow suspicious of any Hamas “facts” and then report fairly.

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is a volunteer on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. Arlene has attended Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summit three times and hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

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