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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Wildflowers are draping Israel’s hills in a show of breathtaking spring beauty. But they do so amid unprecedented political, religious, and security anxieties in the streets. Jerusalem teems with crisscrossing religious observances from the three monotheistic religions—Christianity, Islam, and Judaism—while Tel Aviv has been the epicenter of three months of massive protests. Hopefully, conflicts and disunity will transition into celebrations during Passover, which began April 5 and conclude on April 12.

At the Western Wall (Kotel), hope is tucked into every crevice of its stones with written prayers from throngs of Jewish and Christian residents and pilgrims. Sixty feet above them, over 100,000 Muslims crowd onto the Temple Mount for Ramadan prayers. The Ramadan holy month began March 22 and lasts until April 21. The Jewish seven-day Passover annually proclaims the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery. Christians just celebrated Palm Sunday to begin our Holy Week, where we too rejoice in freedom—freedom from sin’s slavery through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus, The Perfect Lamb of God. 

The on-edge atmosphere in Israel—with overlapping religious observances of Christians, Jews, and Muslims—is taking place after 13 weeks of massive protests about the Knesset’s attempts to overhaul Israel’s judiciary. Prime Minister Netanyahu is hoping to restore the “lost balance” between the branches of government. Although he has finally paused the extremely controversial legislation until April 30, strife remains evident. Israelis are sharply divided on the issue and outraged at a variety of their leaders.

The judiciary reform potential and the competing interests of the secular, religious, political, and military are nuanced and complex, especially to those of us who do not live in Israel. At Ben Gurion Airport before the Prime Minister delayed the legislation, a few dozen protestors held up signs reading, “Welcome to the dictatorship.” Nevertheless, the fact that protests are going on is still a sign of Israel’s vibrant democracy, although the current disunity is alarming.

Most disturbing are the divisions developing due to some elite reservists’ units in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) refusing to show up for duty. Briefly put, due to Israel’s small size and daily threats, the State of Israel requires every Israeli citizen over age 18—Jewish, Druze, and Circassian—to serve. After their active duty, many Israelis continue in the reserves until their 40s, providing a security backbone in a crisis. Prime Minister Netanyahu gave an ominous warning describing the current refusals as a threat to Israel’s existential foundation: “The country cannot exist without the IDF. There will not be a nation, it’s very simple.” 

Netanyahu’s background serving in his younger years in an elite IDF combat unit, an expert on Iran’s nuclear pursuit, and with 15 total years as the prime minister, suggests he knows what he is talking about. Israel’s security concerns are escalating. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stationed in Syria means the Israeli Air Force must make more frequent incursions over Syria to bomb weapons depots and weapons convoys still arriving in that country on the ground and in the air. Internal terrorism from Palestinians is sanctioned by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and a new Palestinian terror group called the Lion’s Den operates around Nablus, Jericho, and Jenin. The absolute necessity for the IDF to be on high alert and  ready to defend the nation and its people cannot be understated. Hamas, the Gaza terror government, has already maintained its foothold in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).

Israel’s enemies—both internal and external—pose a serious threat to the continual survival of the Jewish nation and her people. Its enemies rejoice as they watch Israel’s intensified internal strife and conflict. That reality, joined by an upsurge of anti-Semitism worldwide, means Israel faces an alarming convergence of problems.

And there is more. Israel prides itself in its treatment of Christians—as being the safest place for them to thrive. However, church leaders in Jerusalem’s Old City are troubled by growing incidents in their houses of worship and elsewhere. In February, an American Jewish tourist vandalized a statue of Jesus in Jerusalem’s Church of the Flagellation. An Armenian priest was spit upon. “Death to Christians” was sprayed on the wall of a monastery and two Jewish teens damaged 28 tombstones at the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery. Ahead of Holy Week, Anglican, Armenian, Catholic, Orthodox, and other worshippers appealed to the government to ensure the safety for all Christian observances with the huge crowds of pilgrims streaming into Israel.

Clearly, Israel is undergoing a time of immense pressure and crushing. Now, in Holy Week 2023, it is a reminder that Jesus Himself underwent a crushing for us in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago. After finishing His last Passover supper, Jesus and His eleven disciples walked to Gethsemane in the darkness. “Gethsemane” combines two Hebrew words, Gat and Shmanim, defined as “the place where olive oil is pressed”—the “Garden of the Olive Press.”

In Jesus’ day, Gethsemane was a well-known location where presses made of stone crushed the olives. The larger presses included stones suspended with ropes from wooden crossbeams—some weighing up to a ton. The pulp underwent crushing until the precious commodity emptied into clay jars used for cooking, anointing oil, and Temple lamps.

Isaiah 53:5 foretold, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities.” Like the wooden crossbeams of the olive presses, our Savior Jesus hung on the wooden beams of the cross crushed under the incalculable weight of our sins. Jesus bore a burden that only He in the history of the world confronted. He gave and sacrificed His life for all people for all time, producing the precious oil and blood of our redemption. 

Following Jesus from the Garden of the Olive Press into the traumatic, violent night, recall what He said to the religious leaders: “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:17-18). Despite the fact that Jesus was Jewish in His humanity, that His disciples were Jewish, and that the early church was composed mostly of Jews, Jews are blamed for “killing Jesus.” This accusation has led to centuries of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism, which in effect ignores God’s redemptive plan of salvation. Remember, Jesus said, “I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.” No one could stop God’s redemptive plan!

Knowing more about Gethsemane and Jesus’ identification with the olive presses is another dimension about Jesus being crushed for us! During our Holy Week, let us agree that we must increase our prayers on Israel’s behalf, not because it is perfect, for no nation or persons are perfect. Yet, we do it because we believe in a perfect Jewish Savior who loves Israel and each of us unconditionally.

Our CBN Israel team encourages you, your families, and friends to have a glorious Resurrection Day remembering the eternal hope we have in our Lord Jesus! May you rejoice remembering that God’s Perfect Lamb perfected John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Please join CBN Israel in prayer this week for the Jewish nation and people:

• Pray fervently for the peace of Jerusalem as instructed in Psalm 122. 
• Pray for wise decisions from Prime Minister Netanyahu and all Israeli leaders.
• Pray for restored unity in the Israeli military and among all Israelis.
• Pray with thanks for Israel’s endless contributions to our world.
• Pray that Israel’s enemies will not take advantage of the current chaos.

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

For over a decade, CBN Israel has hosted a special Passover dinner for single-parent families, widows, and families in crisis. These events are offered in various locations all over the country.

Through these Passover gatherings, friends like you are making it possible to provide families with a quality dinner as well as a meaningful time of fellowship. At the culmination of the evening, each family is blessed with a holiday package and food vouchers.

Thanks to caring donors, the individuals and families who attend are reminded that they are not forgotten—and they are not alone. These holiday events also enable CBN Israel to maintain contact with each household in order to continually assess the needs and offer basic assistance. 

“CBN Israel has been giving me help and support for over a decade—since my two children were babies,” said one single mom. “It makes me so happy that you care about us—both during holidays like Passover and all throughout the year. I cannot thank you enough!”

Another woman shared, “I am a new immigrant in Israel without any family or relatives. I am so grateful that you invite us to come celebrate Passover and other holidays with CBN Israel. You not only welcome us with dinner and hospitality; you also give me food vouchers so that I can afford to buy food and other essentials for my kids. Thank you!”

And your gift can be a blessing to many others in need across the Holy Land—with food, shelter, financial assistance, job training, and more. Thank you so much!

As the cries for help increase, your support is crucial. You can offer a lifeline to Holocaust survivors, immigrants, single mothers, and terror victims.

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Story parables are a unique style of Jewish teaching found only in the Gospels on the lips of Jesus and within rabbinic literature. As a literary genre, story parables emerged within Judaism after the period of the Old Testament.

The story parable offers a story with a meaning. They seek to explain to common people a moral message, God’s attitude towards humanity, and the relationship between God and humanity. Their moral messages convey how people should live in obedience to God within the world.

The story evokes a comparison between the characters and action of the story and the moral message of the teacher. These comparisons, however, are not intended to be allegorical. Allegory assumes each detail, character, or aspect of a story represents something else. Parables do not work in this manner.

Rather, the story provides a message, but the audience should not seek to identify each detail. The world of the parable is the real world. It is neither mythological nor fantastic. Animals do not speak in parables. Rather, the parable conveys a real-world sense, fishermen fishing, farmers farming, sellers selling, etc. These everyday scenarios help to explain theological ideas to common people.

Parables often have an open ending. In other words, they do not bring the story to a satisfactory resolution. This underscores the rhetorical aim of the parable in which the listener found him or herself within the parable. Part of the ending depended upon how the listener responded in his or her life. At times the one telling the parable used amoral or even immoral characters to heighten the tension of the parable.

Luke preserves some of Jesus’ parables in which the main character is immoral. The immorality of the character emphasized the moral message of the parable. Yet, parables do not usually refer to characters as righteous and unrighteous, rather as wise and foolish. Thus, even though the purpose of parables was to convey a moral message, the parables themselves had an inherent immoral quality.

Parables only appear on the lips of Jesus and the Sages of Israel, who most closely represent the Pharisees. All parables within rabbinic literature appear in Hebrew. Parables are not told in Aramaic. While the Gospels were written in Koine Greek, Jesus did not use Greek to teach people. The universal use of Hebrew for parables within Judaism suggests Jesus also told his parables in Hebrew.

Parables only appear within Judaism in the land of Israel. We do not find parables told outside the land of Israel. Thus, parables were told in Hebrew, by the Sages, in the land of Israel. So too, the setting for the teaching of parables within the Gospels and rabbinic literature is outside of the synagogue. Parables do not come from the House of Study, but rather serve the common people seeking to understand God and what He wanted from them.

Jesus’ use of parables anchors him within the Jewish world of Israel’s Sages, to the Hebrew language, and in the land of Israel. Studying rabbinic parables can assist us in reading and understanding the parables of Jesus.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Despite three months of deepening political disunity within Israel—along with increased threats of war and terrorism from their enemies—Israeli Jews will still find a way to celebrate their 75th Passover festival (Chag Ha-Pesach) in their modern ancestral homeland. Israel is the epicenter of faith for both Jews and Christians. Two thousand years ago, God sent His beloved Son into our world as The Living Torah—The Living Word. No events will erase God’s sovereign plans.

Passover and Christian Holy Weeks are fast approaching. Christian Holy Week begins Palm Sunday, April 2, and culminates on Easter Sunday, April 9. Passover begins on April 5, lasting until April 13. The deep connections between Judaism and Christianity have suffered serious neglect. It is vitally important for our faith kinship to grow stronger—especially in the face of rising anti-Semitism and Christian persecution worldwide.

Discovering that we are grafted into the roots of Judaism through Jesus adds a rich dimension to our Christian faith. The deep connection and parallel between Passover’s freedom celebration and Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is one we dare not miss. Jesus liberates believers—not from a Pharaoh’s cruelty to Israelite slaves with the resulting exodus to freedom—but freedom from sin’s dark enslavement.

Jesus completed the prophetic announcements in the Old Testament that had been written by Jewish scribes under God’s inspiration. In His three-year ministry, Jesus and His Jewish disciples started a new movement that was always intended to be the full blossoming of Judaism—not the replacement of it. Born into a Jewish family and culture, Jesus lived fully engaged in Jewish customs and religious observances. And His faith was ancient Judaism.

Because Passover was one of the three pilgrimage festivals within Judaism, thousands of Jews would have made their way to Jerusalem for freedom celebration. In fact, the ancient historian Josephus estimates a million or more pilgrims were already flowing into the capital before Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. His fame had drawn adoring crowds, all hoping for a king to liberate them from their brutal Roman oppressors.

The day we call Palm Sunday is the ancient Day of Lambs. When Bethlehem shepherds herded huge flocks of Passover lambs into Jerusalem, the Perfect Lamb rode a donkey amid thousands of lambs parading into the holy city as Temple sacrifices. It is an exquisite picture of Divine context. In the first Passover in Egypt, God instructed Israelites to choose a perfect lamb to kill not only for food, but to apply its blood to their doorposts. God promised that when the Angel of Death swept over Egypt and saw the blood, death would pass over the Israelites’ firstborn. The blood of lambs saved lives!

In Jesus’ day, the Sadducees appointed expert Levitical shepherds to nurture lambs in Bethlehem’s fields owned by the religious leaders. Bethlehem, the Perfect Lamb of God’s birthplace! The Sadducees conducted a lamb “beauty contest” at the Lamb’s Gate, choosing only the perfect ones. 1 Peter 1:18-19 proclaims, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things… but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

For Jews, from generation to generation, the Passover Seder celebration recounts the theme of freedom from slavery. The modern Jewish Passover meal is called a Seder, meaning “order,” and lasts for hours with prayers, the feast, and recounting the Exodus freedom stories. In recounting those stories, Jewish families use the Passover Haggadah, a script developed over hundreds of years. This cherished collection of prayers, psalms and benedictions, which is used as a teaching tool, is recited on the eve of Passover.

A Passover Seder centerpiece displays six items. One of them holds a secret meaning for Christians. Matzo, a flat cracker bread, has tiny holes and brownish stripes. For us, Matzo is a visual representation of nails piercing Jesus’ body on the cross and the stripes inflicted on our Lord by Romans. For Jews, it represents their unleavened bread when Israelites hastily fled Egypt after the tenth plague.

Jesus would have celebrated Passover annually even going back to His childhood: “His [Jesus’] parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast” (Luke 2:41-42).

Jesus’ last Passover is what we later called the Last Supper. In Luke 22:15, Jesus expresses His heartfelt emotion in the Upper Room with His disciples, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” The dramatic events swiftly moved forward. Afterward, Jesus and His remaining eleven disciples left the Upper Room. In darkness, the group walked about a mile to the Mount of Olives, an important manufacturing location that made olive oil. Jesus and His disciples frequently visited Gethsemane. The English word “Gethsemane” combines two Hebrew words, Gat and Shmanim, defined as “the place where olive oil is pressed.” 

The popular geographical location is rich with symbolism. Isaiah 53:5 describes a compelling truth, “He was crushed for our iniquities.” Like the wooden beams holding up the olive crushing stones, our Savior Jesus bore the wooden beams of the crucifixion cross—crushed under the weight of our sins. The larger presses included stones (suspended with ropes from wooden beams) weighing up to a ton. The presses transformed the olives to use for cooking, anointing oil, and Temple lights.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus pleaded in Mark 14:36, “Abba [Aramaic for Father], everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.” We are familiar with Jesus’ anguished prayers laced with tears of blood before His arrest. Hematidrosis is the medical name for Jesus’ tears, an extremely rare occurrence where blood is mixed with sweat. Jesus’ crushing in “the place where olive oil is pressed” produced the precious oil and blood of our redemption.

Eventually, Roman soldiers and civilians showed up. Judas Iscariot led the way, placing the kiss of death on Jesus’ face. Throughout the traumatic night, recall what Jesus declared to the Pharisees in John 10:17-18, “No man takes my life from me; I am laying it down of my own will. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Yes, many accomplices acted out their role in Jesus’ execution outside Jerusalem’s walls—the corrupt chief priests and Sadducees, Judas, Pilate, and Roman soldiers. Nevertheless, no one could stop God’s redemption plan. Jesus chose to lay down His life for the freedom and salvation of all people everywhere.

During Jesus’ crucifixion, Temple priests were slaughtering the Bethlehem lambs by the thousands. They threw lamb’s blood all over the temple court. Expertly wielding their knives, the priests chanted the Hallel (Psalms 113-118). It is possible that Jesus heard snippets of the chants where He hung outside Jerusalem’s walls. Psalm 116:3 recounts, “The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow.”

Jesus’ sacrificial death seemed to be the end of every hope held by scores of Jewish believers who loved Him. In an act only the mighty hands of God could achieve, He tore the purple, scarlet, and blue veil in the Temple in two as the perfect Passover Lamb breathed His last breath. Matthew 27:51 verifies it. “At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.” The curtain—60 feet high, 30 feet wide and four inches thick—sheltered the Holy of Holies, God’s Court, containing the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat. It is easy to imagine the priests’ fright and screams when they saw the torn curtain. It was incomprehensible, since only the Jewish High Priest entered the Holy of Holies—and only once a year.

When we invite our Lord Jesus into our lives, His shed blood covers the doorposts of our lives. When our Holy God the Father looks at us, He sees the One Perfect Lamb’s blood. No longer were thousands of sacrificial lambs needed! It is His tallit, His prayer shawl—covering us, saving us from death, and giving us the gift of eternal life.

The Divine connections between Passover and Easter are a cause for endless thankfulness to God. His Promised Land Israel and His Chosen people served as vessels for His vast gift of salvation imparted to us through the Jews.

Join our CBN Israel team this week rejoicing in Jesus Christ’s finished work:

• Pray with gratefulness to God for the gift of His finished work of salvation.
• Pray for Israel facing multiple threats inside and outside their nation.
• Pray for Israel’s leaders to enact wise agreements for Israel’s judiciary.
• Pray that Israel’s enemies will not attack at this vulnerable time in Israel’s history.
• Pray for God’s people to glimpse and accept His gifts of love.

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

Thanks to the dedicated support of friends like you, CBN Israel is linking arms with the Jewish Agency to help ease the plight and meet the needs of disadvantaged elderly men and women, primarily Holocaust survivors, living in Israel. This aid includes constructing affordable housing, renovating existing housing, and taking innovative measures to enhance residents’ welfare and quality of life.

The Jewish Agency states: “There are over 1,000,000 Israelis over the age of 65, 200,000 of whom live at or below the poverty line and cannot afford to purchase or even rent sustainable lodgings. A large majority of these are Holocaust survivors and new olim (immigrants) from the former Soviet Union. Recent Ministry of Absorption and Ministry of Housing figures indicate that there are in excess of 27,000 poor senior citizens waiting for a suitable housing solution. While real estate prices in the world have dropped, the cost of housing in Israel has risen sharply, making it impossible for senior citizens to purchase property or even afford rent. Without support, these older adult men and women would face devastation and ruin.”

Through CBN Israel, caring donors recently made it possible to begin construction of an apartment for a Holocaust survivor who desperately needs a home. The new unit will provide a safe and comfortable living space for a precious senior citizen.

And your support today can let other Holocaust survivors know they are not forgotten—as well as immigrants, victims of terrorism, and many others in need. Thank you!

Please join us in blessing this special nation and its people!

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Judaism today divides along two lines primarily: the geographic origin of the Jewish community, and the Jewish community’s encounter with modernity and the modern world. Western Christians often struggle to understand the characteristics of modern Judaism because Christian communities in the West divide along theological and doctrinal lines.

This is not the case with Jewish communities. The differences between the Jewish communities do not come from doctrinal differences, but rather, from differences caused by their geographic locals and distances from other Jewish communities, and then, with the rise of the modern world, how Jewish communities responded and reacted to modernity.

The primary geographic divisions of the Jewish community are Ashkenazi and Sephardic. Synagogue communities divide into either of these two groups. The Ashkenazi come from Europe, primarily eastern Europe, and Russia. Sephardic Jews historically came from Spain, but today, Sephardic Jews refer to Jewish communities which came from Spain as well as those communities which came from North Africa and Middle Eastern countries, like Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. These Jewish communities are also referred to as Mizrahi. Ethiopian Jews are identified as Sephardic, but their synagogue liturgy has variations.

The Spanish Inquisition caused many Jews to flee from Spain. Some went to the historical land of Israel; others migrated to Thessaloniki. The principal differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardic synagogues pertains to liturgical worship, which developed due to the geographic locations of the Jewish communities.

When we speak about various Jewish communities’ response to modernity, we refer to divisions of Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed. Inside the Orthodox community one finds modern as well as Ultra-Orthodox communities. For centuries, Jewish communities adhered to orthodox Judaism, which continued developing the traditions of rabbinic Judaism. Learning of rabbinic works took place within yeshivas. The differences within the communities came from their geographic locations and the rabbis they formed around, but commonalities in liturgy and the library of rabbinic works, studied in a similar manner ensured a consistency of worldview.

The Enlightenment of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries impacted the Jewish communities, particularly the Ashkenazi communities of Europe. The application of reason and critical thinking to religion led to the advent of modern biblical studies and the application of modern, critical methods of studying the Bible. Jewish communities in Europe and North America were influenced by these trends. So too, Jewish communities sought to settle a dual identity, on the one hand they were Jews, but on the other, the nationalism which swept Europe in the nineteenth century impacted Jewish communities as well.

Thus, to exist within the modern world, one had to navigate being Jewish and being German or French or American. The combination of these forces led to the growth of the Conservative and Reformed streams of Judaism, which sought to reimagine Judaism for a modern world. Instead of adhering to the traditions of the past, which often isolated Jews from the communities around them, Jews sought a form of Judaism which could incorporate them into the modern world and nations in which they lived.

The Ultra-Orthodox community went the other way. They viewed modernism as a threat, and therefore, to keep the modern world out, they froze traditions and dress from the past to insulate them from the incursion of modernism.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Last week, my attention was seized by an exclusive Reuters headline that quickly spread to media worldwide. Two-and-a-half tons of uranium stored in ten barrels had gone missing in Libya. I had just finished reading the New York Times best-selling author Joel Rosenberg’s newest book, The Libyan Diversion. Tyndale, his publisher, had sent me the Advanced Reader Copy so I could write a book review. The new book, exploding with electrifying twists and turns, comes out on May 16, 2023. Nevertheless, Rosenberg’s newest thriller landed on Tyndale’s desk before the Reuters headline news on March 15. Joel had once again unearthed troubling possibilities not widely known on the world stage. 

It is easy to assume that Joel is a modern-day prophet, yet he in no way claims to belong in that genre. True, this is not the first time that his readers might deem him as prophetic about a serious issue that rightly holds Israel’s attention. After all, Joel wrote his first novel, The Last Jihad, nine months before 9/11. That story included terrorists hijacking a plane and flying it into an American city. With the Middle East’s Islamic regime on a steady march to obtain nuclear weapons—of uppermost importance in Israel’s security strategies—Joel sizes up another dimension of reality and writes a “what if” scenario. And another bestseller is born. 

Making Aliyah to Israel in 2014 with his wife Lynn and their four sons, the Israeli-American author chose to feature the North African nation of Libya in his upcoming book. Rosenberg’s thriller is not only an entertaining adrenaline rush but also a wakeup call. The unstable Muslim country has no diplomatic relationship with Israel. In fact, Libya is among 36 nations that do not recognize Israel’s sovereignty. Libya aligns with the Palestinians instead. Despite having a population of just 7.5 million people, Libya’s considerable land mass makes it the fourth-largest country in Africa and the 16th-largest country in the world. Libya is constantly enmeshed in power grabs between tribes, militias, political parties, and regions. Governed by lawlessness, violence, unpredictability, and chaos, Libya is a place where human rights are scarce. Amnesty International calls a powerful militant faction within the desert nation a “catalogue of horrors.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was set to inspect Libya’s uranium storage location last year. However, security concerns forced that process to be cancelled. The inspection finally took place recently and the IAEA announced the missing barrels. Although the IAEA—the United Nations’ watchdog for nuclear compliance and threats—then announced that the 10 missing barrels of uranium had been located, the Libyan sources are questionable. Briefly, the uranium (U-235 isotopes) can undergo enrichment to produce energy by fission for use in nuclear weapons. The uranium is housed at a remote location and contains enough U-235 to build a nuclear bomb if enriched via centrifuges to over 90 percent.

According to Dr. Edwin Lyman from the Union of Concerned Scientists, the incident raised questions about IAEA’s capability to maintain a continuity of knowledge over nuclear materials in countries containing active conflict zones. My conclusion: Whether the missing barrels are found or not, the uranium storage areas are not being adequately monitored. Anything can go wrong when lawless groups run a country.  

Islamic forces like Al Qaeda are at war internally. Several efforts to form a stable government have failed, with Libya also courted by outside countries with competing interests. Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Russia back the Libyan National Army (LNA), while Turkey, Italy, and Qatar side with the Government of National Unity (GNU). It is no wonder that a crowd of nations is lined up against the country, since Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa and the ninth largest worldwide. Simply put, Libya is oil rich and security poor. Relying on any information relayed by the factions in Libya is suspect. 

The current U.S. State Department travel warnings to Americans sound the alarm: “Do not travel to Libya due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict. Crime levels in Libya remain high, including the threat of kidnapping for ransom. Westerners and U.S. citizens have been targets of these crimes.” 

When you read The Libyan Diversion, you will quickly note that Rosenberg’s famous good guy protagonist, CIA’s Marcus Ryker, did not heed any U.S. State Department warnings. Ryker has appeared in four previous thrillers: The Kremlin Conspiracy, The Persian Gamble, The Jerusalem Assassin, and The Beirut Protocol. In The Libyan Diversion, Ryker is again under presidential orders and plans a complex, secretive incursion into Libya that goes shockingly sideways. The author enters new territory in the pages of The Libyan Diversion, where Christians are on the ground in nearby Yemen’s desert carrying out a humanitarian outreach. It turned Ryker’s best-laid logistics into a personal and professional nightmare. 

Winston Churchill once coined a famous saying about Russia. It is also a good description of Joel’s book about the unexpected. With a racing pulse you will discover more than terror strategies in Joel’s own version of “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” The story seats you in the cockpit with an F-35 American pilot flying in a North African dust storm, sitting in the Oval office with decision makers, sitting in on Ryker’s decision to outhustle U.S. intelligence, and entering the evil mind of Abu Nakba, commander of the Kairos terrorist organization. Joel’s turn of a phrase usually pops up in all his books. This time, he called the terrorist’s threats “a terrorist Ted Talk.” 

Joel named the terror organization aptly, since kairos means “the right, critical, or opportune moment.” In ancient Greek archery, kairos is the moment when the archer sees the perfect opening to shoot his arrow to hit his target. Stunned, you will discover Abu Nakba’s colossal plans for Kairos. Edging toward Nakba’s plan in the last quarter of the 450-page book, Joel writes as if powered by brain waves in high gear with tight narrative taking readers on new, even higher Rosenberg action descriptions. I was practically out of breath amid gunfire and astonishing twists—mournfully asking myself if I would ever see Marcus Ryker again.

Joel Rosenberg’s skill in weaving facts about patriotism, Israel’s modern history, and the Islamic regime’s danger is entertainment with a purpose. He matches these important inclusions with good taste, compassion, and integrity while magnifying the importance of close relationships. His talent far exceeds the other terror thrillers I read. For Christians, Jews, and readers at large, his books are a win-win.

On a personal note, I first met Joel in 2009. It has been my pleasure to observe God’s favor on him writing 17 novels and five nonfiction books—with five million copies in print. He and Lynn founded The Joshua Fund in 2006, a non-profit charity motivating Christians to “bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus.” Donations have amounted to more than $50 million in humanitarian aid for Holocaust survivors, Syrian and Israeli refugees, and to strengthen Middle Eastern churches. Joel is also the founder and editor-in-chief of two news and analysis websites, www.allisrael.com and www.allarab.com. Weekly, you may watch The Rosenberg Report on the Trinity Broadcast Network each Thursday evening. Be sure to order The Libyan Diversion via Amazon or Lifeway books and look forward to a great read in May 2023. 

I welcome you this week to join our CBN Israel team to pray, remembering 2 Corinthians 6:14: “For what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for many thousands of Libyan children and adults who face violence daily. 
• Pray for the miraculous formation of a stable Libyan government.
• Pray that barrels of uranium will not arrive in Iran to be spun into nuclear-grade enrichment in centrifuges. 
• Pray that IAEA can plan a creative way to inspect Libya’s uranium storage. 
• Pray for Joel Rosenberg and his family as he leads enormously effective projects to educate and activate evangelicals. 

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

Although they lived in Russia, Sergey and Ludmila were upset by the Russian attacks on Ukraine. Sergey said, “It was horrible, watching this war escalate between people who speak the same language.” Because of their own political beliefs, they knew they had to leave.

Since Sergey is Jewish, they decided to immigrate to Israel. Ludmila wanted to give her children a better life although she feared the move might traumatize them—fears that proved to be correct. When Sergey had to take a lesser-paying job in his field, it became hard to afford furniture, a washing machine, basics for their kids’ rooms, and other essentials for their empty apartment. Yet who could help them?

Then Sergey heard about CBN Israel from Israeli relatives we helped a few years ago. Caring donors provided Sergey’s family with the furniture and washing machine they needed. They also gave them food, made the children’s rooms comfortable, and provided emotional support. 

Ludmila said, “We felt a lot of uncertainty when we got here, but CBN Israel gave us hope things would work out.” Sergey added, “Thank you… It is very touching to know there are people who care so much about families like ours. We feel like we have a future in this country.” 

Your gift to CBN Israel can help so many immigrants like Sergey who now call Israel home, especially with the surge of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. And you can also aid Holocaust survivors, single moms, and others in desperate need. 

Your support can bring groceries, housing, financial assistance, and more to those who are hurting—while sharing vital reports and stories from the Holy Land. 

Please help us reach those in crisis today!

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The menorah refers to the seven-branched candelabra which God commanded Moses to have fashioned as part of the vessels of the Tabernacles (Exodus 25:31-40; 37:17-24). Artisans fashioned the menorah from a single ingot of gold, with the lamps carved separately from gold. Within the First Temple, the Temple of Solomon, ten golden menorot (plural, menorah) stood in the Temple building, five on the northern wall and five on the southern wall. It is not certain whether these lamps had branches, like the menorah of the Tabernacle. The Babylonians took the menorot from the Temple when they destroyed it and Jerusalem.

The rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem required the Judeans to refashion the vessels of the Temple including the menorah. The Jewish writer Jesus ben Sira mentions the golden menorah in the Second Temple in the early second century B.C. The Seleucid king, Antiochus IV, removed it when he converted the Jewish Temple into a Temple to Zeus. Judah the Maccabee made new vessels as part of his purification of the Temple, after he reconquered it from the Seleucid Greeks. It remained in the Second Temple until the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. They took the menorah with them to Rome and placed it in the Temple of Peace. Rome’s celebration of the conquest of Judaea appears on the Arch of Titus in Rome where the menorah is shown being conveyed into Rome.

The menorah became a Jewish symbol during the Second Temple period. The last Hasmonean ruler, Mattathias Antigonus, stamped a menorah upon his coins. Archaeologists have discovered menorah graffities in homes and on stones. The menorah stood in the interior of the Temple building, not the Holy of Holies, but the preceding hall. Within the Holy Place, the menorah stood with the incense altar and the table of shewbread. Twice a day priests entered the Temple to tend the lamps of the menorah and offer incense on the altar, at the time of the morning and evening sacrifices. The graffities discovered in Jerusalem depict these three elements together: the menorah, the incense altar, and the table of shewbread.

Archaeologists uncovered a unique stone in a first century synagogue in Magdala, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. This stone, which archaeologist suggest was a base for a Torah reading stand, bears images from the Jerusalem Temple. The iconography of the stone comes from the Temple. It depicts the menorah and incense altar; some suggest it also shows the table of shewbread, which would be consistent with depictions of the menorah in this period.

After the menorah was taken to Rome, it became a more prominent Jewish symbol appearing in synagogue art throughout the Jewish world. The menorah was the earliest Jewish symbol identifying the presence of Jews. Many today think of the Star of David as a Jewish symbol, but this is modern. Ancient Jews made their mark with the menorah. Some mistakenly refer to the nine-branched candelabra used at Hanukkah as a menorah. It is not. It is a Hanukkiah, the special candelabra for Hanukkah.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Last week, Iran International television news made history in a first-of-a-kind broadcast by featuring an Israeli prime minister—Benjamin Netanyahu—speaking directly to the Iranian people. On March 9, journalist Pouria Zeraati held an exclusive interview with Netanyahu, in which Bibi praised the protestors’ bravery on the streets of Iran and called the Islamic regime a “common enemy.” He expressed his personal admiration for the Woman, Life, Freedom resistance movement, describing it as “a miraculous achievement” by not bowing down to tyranny. 

Netanyahu’s comments are timely, since Iranian protestors have risked their lives to spread their demands for freedom from the hateful Ayatollahs and their nearly 190,000 enforcers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The regime’s ruthless reaction has, since September, led to more than 500 deaths and 22,000 arrests. One hundred and ten Iranians are set to face a death sentence, joining four other dissenters who have already been executed. On March 13 the Ayatollahs alleged that they now have granted amnesty to 80,000 prisoners, including some 22,000 protestors who had been arrested. That remains to be seen.

In his Twitter account, British-based Iranian journalist Zeraati also reported that the Islamic regime has poisoned school children, declaring that the regime’s message is “loud and clear, they will do whatever it takes.” The numbers are frightening to parents, with school poisonings having occurred since November in more than 100 schools. The Iranian Health Ministry claims that 13,000 students have been treated. While difficult to prove, it is easy for Iranians to view the poisonings as direct warnings from the Islamic regime’s oppressive history. 

The Israeli Prime Minister made remarks about ancient Persia and future ties between Israel and Iran. In 539 B.C., Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon. Looking to the future, Netanyahu envisions a renewed and strengthened friendship between Israel and Iran. He noted that prior to the Islamist takeover, their friendship had been strong. Obviously, his remarks are based on stopping Iran’s nuclear weapons capability—which threatens the Middle East, United States, and the world.

My friend Marziyeh (Marzi) Amirizadeh is an author and Iranian activist who was formerly imprisoned in Iran for sharing her Christian faith and giving out thousands of Bibles. Now that she’s an American citizen, her expert opinion is that many Iranians inside the country watched Netanyahu’s broadcast captioned in Farsi. She reports that the viewers reacted positively and admire Israel’s prime minister. As usual, since the protests began, the Ayatollahs have plotted internet disruptions and blackouts, thereby handcuffing freedom of speech on social media. However, Marzi notes that Iranians watch three major news media outside Iran: Iran International, Voice of America, and Manoto TV. 

Netanyahu concluded his remarks with two more messages. To Western leaders, he paraphrased Moses’ demand to Pharaoh—“Let my people go!”—by challenging the Islamic regime, “Let YOUR people go.” He added a no-nonsense point to the Ayatollahs: “We’ll be here long after you’re gone.”

Netanyahu described stopping Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons as the  “quintessential heart of my foreign policy.” His clear statement is evidenced by the ramped-up military exercises in the last few months with the United States military. On January 26, the U.S. Central Command and Israel Defense Forces completed Juniper Oak 2023 with a massive military exercise in the Middle East described as the biggest joint drill on record. Now, as of March 12, the Red Flag 23-2 exercise is underway for two weeks, hosted by the United States Air Force at Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base. Israel has sent seven F-35I fighter jets and two Boeing 707 refueling planes for the drill. Joint military operations with Israel are common in both Israel and the United States. Israel has participated in five previous Red Flag drills at the U.S. base. 

I consider the joint midair refueling as one of the most significant drills, since Iran’s nuclear development sites are 1,200 miles from Israel. One drill focuses on an Israel Air Force (IAF) tanker refueling American fighter jets, with the U.S. in turn refueling Israeli aircraft. These refueling exercises make it possible for the IAF to reach Iran for the purpose of targeting Iran’s nuclear complexes—and only the nuclear complexes. 

Clearly Netanyahu speaks for Israel, which has no quarrel with the Iranian population themselves (more than 86 million people). Prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution, 80,000 Jews lived in Iran. Tens of thousands fled. Reports vary, but few in the Jewish community remain in Iran, and approximately 250,000 Jews of Iranian ancestry live in Israel. 

The Abraham Accords instituted dynamic and exciting changes in the Middle East. However, multiple levels of other sweeping changes in that region are advancing. It is essential to remain aware and prayerful for our greatest ally Israel, the suffering of the Iranian people, and wisdom for Israeli and American leaders’ decision-making. While the military alliance between Israel and the United States is vigorous, the U.S. influence in the Middle East is lessening.

One example stands out. China is now a kingmaker in the Middle East. In a secret four-day meeting, they brokered a deal in Beijing between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia. Chinese leaders agreed last Friday to reopen the embassies in both countries after seven years of weighty tensions. Although the deal revives the Saudi-Iran security cooperation pact of 2001, a hidden element may be at work. The deal is not official for another two months, and much could change. It is possible that Saudis would still rather connect more closely with Israel in order to rely on the Jewish state’s security against Iran. Plus, Saudis are not fond of the current U.S. administration and may be sending a wake-up message to a compromised Mr. Biden.

Aside from the seeming Chinese successes, Russia and Iran have agreed on the sale of Russian fighter jets for Iran’s recently revealed underground air force base. They named it “Eagle 44.”  EAGLE 44? I view that as the Islamic regime’s arrogance in appropriating one of the United States’ national symbols. 

We live at a time when Isaiah 5:20 is epidemic. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.” As believers, let us make sure that we pay persistent attention to our Lord Jesus, the Light of the world, amid darkening world events. We can rely on Him to help us navigate life steadied by Him. We also know that in His time, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus will settle every conflict regarding Israel, His Land, and His people, the Jews. May God have mercy on us as we await that day. 

Please join with CBN Israel this week in prayer for Israel and the Middle East:

• Pray for Israeli and all Arab leaders in the Middle East to make wise decisions about the Islamic regime’s threats. 
• Pray with thanks for the beneficial bonds between the U.S. and Israeli military.
• Pray for strength for the Iranian people to endure as they seek their freedom. 
• Pray for Israel’s internal peace amid controversial opinions about reshaping their Supreme Court.

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