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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.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

For our Israeli friends who are suffering a genocidal catastrophe in their land, it is easy to become overwhelmed, stricken with grief and shock. That goes for the Jewish people worldwide. Christian advocates are quickly coming alongside Israel to help. Our motives are heartfelt and matched with deep compassion for the terror victims, hostages, and displaced families.

During a recent phone call with my friend Pastor Victor Styrsky, former national educational director of Christians United for Israel, he commented, “I feel as if I have been sitting shiva for weeks and it will go on indefinitely.” “Sitting shiva” is the term for the Jewish seven days of mourning for the dead. It usually begins right after a funeral. Non-Jewish friends are welcome to make their condolences in person. I embraced my friend’s description, which represents my feelings, that Israel’s Christian friends are sitting shiva in our hearts. While no comparison exists for the depth of anguish that Jews are undergoing, we are creating outreaches in every way imaginable to embody our grief through compassion amid the evil that has befallen Israel.

The examples I mention here are big and small, yet do not begin to quantify the kindnesses overflowing from people of goodwill worldwide. Nevertheless, it is my hope that everyone who reads my column this week will reach out to any Jewish friends, to a nearby synagogue, or contact a Christian organization like CBN Israel to send a card or a donation for humanitarian aid. Our message to Jewish friends everywhere is simple, “You are not alone.” This thought comes from Jesus’ earthly sojourn as described in Isaiah 53:3—“He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief.”

The Jerusalem Post’s Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman reported on November 9 about 15 Christian cowboys from Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Montana. These Americans landed at Ben Gurion airport looking as if they’d stepped right out of a Western movie. Their photo went viral. Several had left their own farms and families to help. They traveled to Judea and Samaria and set to work at HaYovel, a Christian organization to help Israeli farmers. Calling it Operation Itai (a Hebrew boy’s name meaning, “the Lord is with me”), HaYovel is raising $29 million for security supplies to be distributed throughout the biblical heartland. Thus far, more than $2 million has been raised.

A similar fundraising operation, Civil Squad Israel (CSI), is focused on tactical equipment for northern Israel and the Gaza “envelope” (populated areas within four miles of the Gaza Strip). Their goal is to equip civil security squads on kibbutzim with much-needed equipment. On October 7, some of these squads were the first (or only) source of defending their civilians against terrorists for many hours. The CSI team has set up a network of suppliers in the EU and U.S. Then, by CSI’s partnering with El Al and their security team, the tactical equipment will quickly go to Israel. The gear includes knife-proof/bulletproof vests, medic backpacks, night vision binoculars, handguns, M16s, and encrypted radio communications.

Civil Squad Israel has adopted a fitting Bible verse from Nehemiah 4:15-17:

“When God ended the plans of our enemies, we returned to rebuild what had been destroyed. Those who carried on the work were equipped in such a way, that each labored with a trowel in one hand, and a weapon with the other.”

From cowboys to firefighters, CBS news reported that Miami Beach sent 13 firefighters to Israel for two weeks to help shore up this beleaguered nation’s fire departments—since Israel’s firefighters have all been deployed.

Other expressions of compassion have emerged in creative and symbolic ways.

A heartfelt message from Arab-Israeli journalist Yoseph Haddad lashed out against Hamas while he was standing in front of Jerusalem’s City Hall. The families of hostages and volunteers had set up a display of 239 empty beds and cribs of all sizes. CBN Israel’s Julie Stahl described it as a “mute cry of anguish.”

On a beach in Durban, South Africa, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies at the Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre spread out 242 red beach towels with a hostage poster. Atop 32 towels are 32 buckets and spades poignantly symbolizing the children who have been missing since October 7. A group of Christian pastors who walked the beach stopped at each blanket to express their sympathy and solidarity, linking arms and praying. Alana Pugh-Jones Baranov, the Centre’s social and political justice liaison, pleaded to God that He let this “be our last event” after the group had installed red balloons along Nelson Mandela Bridge and lit up the Israeli flag in Johannesburg. She noted the positive responses from South Africans.

By October 20, i24NEWS, the Tel Aviv-based television news channel, reported that more than 50 countries have followed the example of setting up a Shabbat dinner table with 203 empty seats (the number of hostages at the time). In 50 countries, participants symbolically observe a global Shabbat ceremony each Friday.

At Prayer House DC in Washington, Reverend Eve Nunez leads robust prayers in their headquarters and throughout the District on location at the White House, Supreme Court Building, and other landmarks. She set Prayer House DC’s Shabbat table in honor of the hostages and leaves it beautifully set each week. Her foundation, Help 4 Kidz, is also raising money that provides meals for an IDF unit to be delivered each week by her friend, an Israeli rabbi.

Compassion from Christians is more important than ever. Israel is demonized as it conducts its just war against genocidal evil. While the world mostly turns away in denial or hate, one of the most significant truths articulated comes from Dr. Qanta A. Ahmed, a world-renowned British forensic scientist, commentator, and author. In her Wall Street Journal article about her 10-day visit to Israel beginning October 19, Dr. Ahmed observed, “This was not an emotional frenzy of killing like the pogroms of the 1880s. It was methodically planned.”

Dr. Ahmed is a human rights observer whom Israel’s Foreign Affairs ministry invited. Working at the Israeli morgues alongside other scientists, she “examined bodies and ashes, incinerated teeth and bones” and described “toddlers, teens, and adults young and old, many of them bound, tortured, and burned alive.”

Calling out Hamas’s war crimes, Dr. Ahmed noted, “The monster is easy to recognize. This isn’t the first time I have seen Islamist jihadism.”

One word continually came to her mind: “Genocide.”

About her time in Israel, Dr. Ahmed declared, “As an observant Muslim I felt a duty to come and bear witness. What I saw will remain with me forever.” In one of her frequent interviews, she challenged: “I want to hear Muslim leaders condemn Hamas.”

In closing, let us recall the words of Jewish writer Franz Kafka (1883–1924), one of the 20th century’s most famous novelists: “Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will come back in another way.”

For all the beloved family, friends, and homes that Israel and the worldwide Jewish community have lost, I pray that the massive acts of Christian compassion will somehow ease the suffering—with love returned to them in a different way.

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team in prayer at this heartbreaking time, where we also count on hope! 

Prayer Points:

• Pray that Christians will rise in massive numbers to speak up for Israel and rush emergency aid to terror victims and displaced families.
• Pray for the scientists and experts who are in the morgues still trying to determine the identity of the bodies.
• Pray for the Christian community to continue their prayers for Israel and her people—especially the hostages still being held in Gaza and the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks.
• Pray for the families of hostages who are suffering from anxiety, trauma, and sleepless nights as they await the outcome.
• Pray for Israelis to maintain patience in supporting the IDF to implement their strategies in what will likely be a long war.

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.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Prayers for Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at war are ascending from worldwide Christian prayer meetings online, in person, and personal prayers day and night on the lips of millions of believers. I recently spoke at a church that requested an update on Israel’s war against unleashed evil. When the gathering concluded with a season of prayer for Israel, one of the pastors prayed with a focus on 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.

As the biblical and historical account goes, Judah’s King Jehoshaphat and the Jews faced a huge army headed their way made up of their ancient foes—the Moabites, Ammonites, and men from Mount Seir. When fear gripped them, prayers and fasting began, and Jahaziel, a Levite, shared a word from the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

God then gave specific directions for the coming battle, whereupon  “Jehoshaphat bowed his head … and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem … bowed before the LORD.” Assembling early the next day, King Jehoshaphat appointed singers to lead the army. As they marched, they sang, “Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever.” The Lord Himself set up ambushes where those in Mount Seir were defeated—with a final result that Israel’s enemies destroyed one another. I am not a prophet and I do not claim to know how God will enact His purposes in this war, but I do know that prayer is foundational, that this biblical account is full of hope, and I will “pray” it.

Getting much of my daily news from international Bible teacher and Israeli Jewish believer Amir Tsarfati on his Telegram channel, I was captivated by a video clip. One of the IDF soldiers who had been on the ground in Gaza for a week said, “Please continue to pray for us. We see miracles there. Your prayers work.” Other short clips show IDF members singing together in various battle locations. It is inspiring to hear their jubilant, strong voices raised in praise of God as they face possible death or injury, yet they are determined to have victory over evil.

The IDF, the most humanitarian army in the world, is encountering dangers we cannot imagine. Dangers within the 300 miles of tunnels underneath Gaza (doubtless booby-trapped by the terrorists), dangers from IEDs (improvised explosive devices), and dangers in northern Israel—with increasing threats from Hezbollah right over Israel’s border with Lebanon. They face an implacable foe called satan, expressed in ancient Jew-hatred that never seems to die.

Today’s venomous demonstrations are not new, either. Beginning in the 1930s, Hitler perfected a mesmerizing style of oratory that kept German crowds riled up until the shocking murders of six million Jews burst into the open in 1945. With only radio broadcasts and scant reporting available, much of the world was in the dark about Hitler’s genocide of European Jews until the end of World War II.

The Third Reich’s wickedness was widely revealed through on-site photographs ordered by General Dwight D. Eisenhower in liberated concentration camps. He wanted to ensure that evidence was accumulated and maintained to silence any doubters of Nazi atrocities. Today, however, Hamas and other Islamic regime proxies have modernized Hitler’s propaganda and brutality into indescribable acts of evil. Terrorists themselves—with their body cams and victims’ mobile phones—videoed their cruelty with elation. One terrorist called his parents, excitedly bragging that he had murdered 10 Jews “with his bare hands.” His father praised him.

Hamas unleashed its weighty war crimes on October 7, which too quickly flashed around the world—accusing Israel of war crimes instead. While Hamas is targeting Jews, we cannot ignore Mahmoud al Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas. “We are not talking about liberating our land alone,” he said last year. “The entire 510 million square kilometers of planet Earth will come under [a system] where there is no injustice, no oppression, no Zionism, no treacherous Christianity.”

Anglican Theologian Reverend Dr. Gerald McDermott recently authored an article in Christianity Today that is well worth reading: “Christians Have A Duty to Hate the Evil of Hamas.” Part of his explanation includes commentary for believers who may struggle with Israel’s defensive war. “First, we are called by both Testaments to hate evil. Proverbs says to fear the Lord is to ‘hate evil’ (Proverbs 8:13), and the Apostle Paul urges us to ‘hate what is evil’ (Romans 12:9). We should hate the evil of Hamas—and not be afraid to say so publicly.”

The war crimes accusations launched against Israel around the world as verbal (and sometimes violent) weapons are aimed at the wrong target. In another timely article, Bruce Hoffman at The Atlantic wrote a summation called “Understanding Hamas’s Genocidal Ideology.” Documented on August 18, 1988, Hamas’s original founding goals included four main themes:

• The complete destruction of Israel to set up a Shia Muslim theocracy
• Unrestrained holy war
• Total refusal to negotiate an agreement with Israel regarding claims to the Holy Land
• Repeating propaganda, conspiracy theories, and Jew-hating figures of speech.

Nothing has changed!

In other words, on October 7, 2023, Hamas—with minds long occupied by hate—enjoyed hours of unrestrained, brutal jubilation to enact their goals. That is, until Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel’s cabinet officially declared war the following day: October 8, 2023.

Hamas is guilty of war crimes. Here are a few that are prohibited and listed in numerous world bodies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva Conventions of War in 1949, and the United Nations: Murder. Torture, including mutilation. Hostage-taking. Intentional attacks against civilians. Pillage. Rape. These crimes do NOT describe Israel, a nation founded on democratic principles.

The Holocaust was—and remains—a horror embedded within Jewish hearts and history, and although Germans kept meticulous records to please Hitler, they nevertheless did their best to hide their evil. Today, it is truly staggering that Hamas’s evil doings are being glorified by protestors worldwide, with Israel and Jews equally vilified. This, despite social media filled with hundreds of hours of Hamas’s own raw footage. The world now knows the horrific truth of baby beheadings, dismembering children, a father and child tied together then burned alive, and women raped before and after murders. Clearly, satanic lawlessness has broken out with a vengeance.

The raw footage of barbaric facts was released to 200 international journalists in a private showing after Israel’s military struggled for days debating whether or not to show the horrific footage. Eilon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, commented, “I can’t believe … we have to do this as we try to defeat a terrorist organization that is brutally slaughtering our people.” He added that Israel is seeing in “real time a phenomenon akin to Holocaust denial unfolding, as people cast doubt on the scale of the atrocities Hamas has recorded to glorify all this violence.”

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari explained, “We will not let the world forget who we are fighting.”

More than almost any other IDF policy, one of the most outstanding (and unusual) is to send warnings to Gazan civilians to evacuate to designated safe locations before any bombings begin. I daresay no military on earth follows the example of the Israel Air Force, which has repeatedly dropped leaflets, made telephone calls, and sent text messages to alert Gazan civilians about impending attacks.

Conversely, Hamas acts by cleaving to its policy of using civilians as human shields, killing Palestinian civilians or blocking them from the roads leading to safety, and using mosques and hospitals as weapons depots and hiding places. Add to this, among their many other war crimes: terrorists hide in Red Cross ambulances trying to escape or fight. Now you might understand why Israel targets particular ambulances.

For facts and prayers, I suggest you remain updated with CBN News and IDF’s daily update. Commit to passing on at least one fact and one prayer a day to honor our Jewish-birthed faith and help Israel oppose lies and slander. We must be the sources of facts! 

We welcome readers to join our CBN Israel team this week to read and meditate on 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.

Prayer Points:

• Pray that the IDF experiences miracle after miracle—for their safety and for their anxious families.
• Pray for the safety of our American soldiers stationed in northeast Syria since 2015. They are under constant attack from Iran.
• Pray for families who know that more than 340 of their sons and daughters have already died defending their homeland.
• Pray for the continuation of massive humanitarian aid flowing into Israel from Christians worldwide.
• Pray for believers to commit to sharing facts that oppose the propaganda against Israel’s just war.

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.