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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Thousands of words have been written about President Donald Trump’s exceptional policies toward Israel and the greater Middle East. His administration’s actions are pretty well known. Yet Israel—a nation familiar with constant hostility, relentless terror, and attacks from the United Nations—received from the Trump Administration another commodity that cannot be bought. It’s the commodity of deserved justice, affirming the nation’s very existence, and recognizing its ancient ancestry. President Trump’s policies have lifted Israel’s national spirits during these last four years. Finally, the leader of the free world said, in essence, “You belong!”

To be sure, other American presidents have a place in Israeli hearts. Two of them were Democratic Presidents: Harry Truman, who cast his vote for a modern Jewish state during the U.N. vote on May 14, 1948, and Bill Clinton, who helped broker the peace deal between Israel and Jordan in 1994.

But no American president has won the hearts of Israelis like Donald Trump. Israel is not alone in its respect for him. Several Arab Gulf States, along with Sudan and now Morocco, have signed the Abraham Accords and welcomed Trump’s outreach. The results for peace between signers and an array of practical benefits are nothing short of miraculous. Last Friday, Reuters reported that Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui, Morocco’s Ambassador to the United States, presented President Trump with a high honor. The award from Morocco’s King Mohammed VI—the Order of Muhammed—is bestowed only upon heads of state.

Trump’s goals for the U.S.-Israel relationship became clear early on. In 2015-2016, I worked part-time for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA (ICEJ USA) as Leadership Outreach Director for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel (ACLI). We reached out to then-candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, asking them to sign a document titled “Five Guiding Principles for the President.” I received a prompt response from the Trump campaign, agreeing to all five principles. The Clinton campaign never responded.

Six hundred and fifty prominent Christian leaders from the black, white, and Hispanic communities signed the letter. It demonstrated massive support from millions of American Christians for the Jewish state, the land that nurtured our Christian faith and served as the earthly homeland for our Savior Jesus. 

Two of the five principles were highly significant. Trump implemented the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 that required the U.S. to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem—yet had lain dormant for 25 years after Congress overwhelmingly passed it. In doing so, Trump kept a promise. On December 6, 2017, he announced his intention to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. I burst into joyful tears as I watched on television. Along with an estimated 300 million pro-Israel Christians worldwide, I celebrated a wrong made right. Millions of us then rejoiced on May 14, 2018, when officials cut the ribbon at the beautiful embassy in Jerusalem, Israel’s eternal capital, on modern Israel’s 70th anniversary.

American policy on Iran was the second principle. In 2016, ACLI asked the candidates to monitor Iran’s repeated sanctions violations, toughen current sanctions, and impose new ones as necessary. ACLI did not request either candidate to withdraw from the 2015 Iran deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, President Trump not only withdrew from the Iran deal in 2018 but also added more sanctions. His decision was fully supported by the Israeli government and Arab nations in the region—and emphatically within the pro-Israel Christian community.

On March 25, 2019, Trump made a proclamation that rattled terrorists in Syria, which included the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) still operating there. Trump proclaimed, “The United States recognizes that the Golan Heights are part of the State of Israel.” Prior to Israel retaking the Golan Heights in 1967, Syria had rained down terror attacks on Israeli civilians for years. Trump thus righted a wrong once again, as Syria was a continual security risk for Israel. Another announcement in November 2019 was groundbreaking: Trump declared that Israel’s settlements in the West Bank—biblical Judea and Samaria—was not illegal.

In August 2020, President Trump’s Israel and regional policies generated immense prominence, enacting policies only dreamed of. He successfully initiated The Abraham Accords. At this writing, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco are signatories, with reportedly more to come.

The Jewish state has honored President Trump in many ways. In 2019 Israel Katz, then Minister of Transportation, announced via tweet, “Here, in the Old City of Jerusalem, we will build the Western Wall and Temple Mount train station. It will be named after Donald Trump, who made history and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” Also in 2019, I enjoyed a memorable visit as part of the Government Press Office’s Christian Media Summit. The Israeli government had honored President Trump once again by naming a beautiful area in the Golan Heights “Trump Village,” a new community that is already welcoming residents. One hundred and twenty of us in Christian media worldwide circle-danced in front of a large, welcoming sign emblazoned “Trump Village” in both Hebrew and English.

A new era began yesterday, January 20, when Mr. Biden became the 46th president of the United States. In the lead-up, a mixture of questions and concerns were already emerging about his Middle East policies. As background, Biden has longstanding relationships with the American Jewish community and with Israeli leaders he has known for decades. He opposes the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which espouses economic warfare against Israel. He currently does not support reducing or conditioning Israel’s security aid. His team says that he wants to continue the Abraham Accords. He likely won’t move the U.S. Embassy back to Tel Aviv but will, as some have said, open a consulate again for the Palestinians in Jerusalem.

On a more personal level, Biden enters the presidency with an affection for Israel. This contrasts with Obama, who wanted to put some daylight between the U.S. and Israel. Biden first traveled to Israel in 1973 as a senator. He met with former Prime Minister Golda Meir and has known each prime minister ever since.

Nevertheless, Biden’s moves to restart the Iran deal are sounding loud regional alarms—and with good reason. Iran is the biggest terror-sponsoring country in the world. They are ramping up their uranium enrichment. Their Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) are lined up now along Iran’s coast on the Straits of Hormuz, a main shipping lane for the world’s oil. The 2015 Iran deal only emboldened Iran to maintain its pursuit of nuclear capability to “help” usher in the so-called Twelfth Imam, Shia Islam’s “messiah.” The apocalyptic Imams believe their messiah will rule the world and bring peace into chaos. 

Biden has already appointed key Iran deal negotiators from the Obama-Biden administration’s team. Israel’s Channel 2 reported last weekend that “Biden officials are already having ‘quiet talks’ with Iran on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal and have updated Israel on those conversations.” As a historical note: That deal was a strategic failure, naively giving Iran room to do as it pleased. Hopefully, the Biden team will learn from earlier mistakes and pay close attention to Israel and the Arab countries situated within Iran’s potential nuclear grip.

On November 10, 2020, award-winning Arab Muslim journalist Khaled Abu Toameh reported that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Arab Gulf States sent a message to Biden and the Democrats: “We do not want to go back to the bad old days when the U.S. administration aligned itself with Islamist terrorist groups.” They are referring to growing fears that a Biden administration may return to former President Barack Obama’s empowering and appeasing the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, who admired Hitler and his Nazi regime. Since then, the Brotherhood has created countless terrorist acts, chaos, and unrest. If Biden moves forward on any Iran deal, the Arab states have requested a seat at the table. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is already demanding that the United States lift sanctions on Iran “immediately.”

In his recent article for the Gatestone Institute, Iranian American and Harvard scholar Dr. Majid Rafizadeh called Iran’s latest moves toward Biden, “nuclear extortion.” He also reported that Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif declared that the United States “must compensate us for our losses.” The demanded amount is $130 billion in “damages” for the terror-sponsoring country.

Considering the Iranian threat in particular and its increasing demands on Biden, what is our role as pro-Israel Christians? Whether we voted for him or not, it is our responsibility to pray for him, his administration, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Many millions of Christians fervently prayed for President Trump’s re-election based in large part on his welcome policies toward Israel and the region.

Prayers for this new administration must persist in our appeals to heaven, as 1 Timothy 2:1-4 makes clear: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

It is also an ideal time for us to delve into the entire book of Daniel to refresh our understanding of the ways Daniel conducted himself while exiled in Babylon. “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him” (Daniel 2:20-22).

Prayer matched with practical action is essential. Now that more Christians are aware of the need for active political advocacy, relationships with members of Congress are more important than ever on both sides of the aisle. Both Democrats and Republicans together have passed excellent legislation that strengthened the U.S.-Israel relationship. Yet more challenges are ahead, and we must step up to the plate with Congress.

Remain attentive to CBN Israel news. Stay educated via Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). A historically Jewish bipartisan organization, AIPAC opened a wide and welcoming door 17 years ago to pro-Israel Christian, black, and Hispanic communities as activists. All this is to say, don’t give up! Pro-Israel Christians have a mandate for prayers with feet on them!

Americans face a changing political landscape. Let’s pray for spiritual valor so that the Lord will view us as His faithful representatives:

• Pray for President Trump in thankfulness for his achievements that have so deeply blessed Israel.
• Pray for wisdom for the Biden administration on every level, and for changed policies where needed.
• Pray for the pro-Israel Christian community worldwide, that we will exemplify Jesus’ love while standing for truth.
• Pray for healing after traumas in our nation’s capital.

And may we remember the words of the Apostle Peter: “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

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 now an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel 25 times. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited by Artist Pat Mercer Hutchens and sits 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.

Israel has a national army that requires mandatory service of its citizens. And for Israeli teens, turning 18 means swapping school books for military uniforms, and putting other dreams and goals on hold. But for a young immigrant, the challenges of army life can be far more daunting.

Imagine traveling to a country without friends or family, where you don’t speak the language or know the culture, and you are about to join their military. Every year, Israel’s army receives many young people who emigrate alone, from a variety of countries—including the U.S.

Lone soldiers face unique challenges. If you don’t have a family to go home to during your time of leave and a place that is yours, it can leave you feeling even more isolated and alone during your military service.

But today, they have a strong ally. Daniel Carlson, the national field director of CBN Israel, was a lone soldier himself 30 years ago. He experienced the same struggles—and he had a vision to help these young recruits. It started with a large rented house, but soon the demand grew.

Thanks to friends like you, we rented an even bigger home. It has plenty of room for more beds—and a caring couple, who serve as volunteer house parents. They provide home-cooked meals, plus vital spiritual and emotional support for these brave soldiers who risk their lives.

Your gifts to CBN Israel can also bring aid and God’s love to single mothers, Holocaust survivors, and terrorism victims. And during Israel’s COVID-19 crisis, your support is crucial as the needs escalate.

You can deliver food, housing, medicine, and other essentials to those in need. Please join us in bringing God’s love to those in the Holy Land who need our help!

GIVE TODAY

By Marc Turnage

Located two and a half miles north of Capernaum, Chorazin sits in the hills overlooking the lake of Galilee at 45-46 meters above sea level and 267-273 meters above the lake. Although only mentioned once in the Gospels (Matthew 11:21-24; Luke 10:13-16), Jesus cursed the village for not repenting when seeing the miracles he worked in its midst. He cursed Chorazin, along with Capernaum and Bethsaida. Incidentally, the land between these three villages, on the north shore of the lake of Galilee, covers much of the territory of Jesus’ ministry recorded in the Gospels.

The distance of Chorazin from the lake meant that it did not participate directly in the fishing industry on the lake. We learn from rabbinic literature that Chorazin produced exceptional wheat. Excavations of the site reveal that the village, which began in the first century A.D., was a Jewish village.

The majority of the ruins one sees when visiting Chorazin today date from after the first century, but they reflect Jewish village life in the Galilee. The central structure from the later village is the synagogue. Built perhaps as early as the third century A.D., the basalt structure resembles the Galilean style synagogues excavated at places like Capernaum, Bar’am, Meiron, and Arbel.

The synagogue sits in the center of the village. Worshippers entered the hall through three entrances from a large staircase on the south, which faces towards Jerusalem. Two tiers of benches line the two long aisles and the short wall opposite the entrance in a “U” shape. Inside the synagogue, the basalt stone, which is hard to fashion, bears carvings and decorations.

Excavators uncovered pieces of what appears to be a Torah Ark, where biblical scrolls read in the synagogue were kept. They also discovered a basalt stone seat, which was known as the Seat of Moses (see Matthew 23:1-2; Luke 4:20). The chair bears a dedicatory inscription in Aramaic, which reads, “Remember for good Yudan son of Ishmael, who made (or donated) this stoa, and its steps from his property. May he have a portion with the righteous.” Recent excavations in the floor of this synagogue indicate that it may stand on an earlier public building, perhaps the first century synagogue.

Although the ruins of Chorazin that one sees today date to after the first century, the site contains a number of features in the homes, installations, like a covered Jewish ritual immersion bath, and details within the synagogue that help to illustrate stories from the Gospels and the life and ministry 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

“Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD; Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. … I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning—yes, more than those who watch for the morning” (Psalm 130:1-2, 5-6 NKJV).

Have you ever been there? In the depths? Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by life and its circumstances that you felt as if you were in the deepest, darkest pit? The psalmist did. And he cried out to the Lord. 

This is actually an amazing statement by the psalmist, because when you find yourself in the depths, one of the hardest things to do is cry out to God. You may think that sounds strange. Perhaps you think that the natural cry should be to God. And it should. The problem, however, is that when we find ourselves in the depths, we stand on the edge of despair. 

Circumstances overwhelm us like violent waves of the ocean. At first, we may find the strength to face the challenges and hardships, but eventually, even inside of us, we begin to faint, wear down, and despair. 

Faith is not just believing God in the good times or even the mildly bad times; faith is crying out to God from the deepest depths of despair, when everything outside of us and inside of us feels like things are hopeless. When we can cry out to God in that moment, pleading with Him to hear our cry, that is the genuine test of our faith. 

Everyone faces hardships and overwhelming circumstances, many of which we cannot control. The challenge of faith is this: that even though we find ourselves in deep despair due to circumstances and the doubts that arise in us, we continue facing toward God. No matter our circumstances, we cry out to Him and know that He will answer us. He will not abandon us. 

The psalmist didn’t allow his circumstances to consume him, nor did he buy into the thought that his circumstances separated him from God’s being able to hear him. From the depths, he called out to the Lord because the God of the Bible is near to the cry of His people. 

When you find yourself in the depths of despair, turn toward God, not toward your circumstances. That doesn’t mean that the hardship, difficulty, or pain will subside. It does mean that the God of the universe will hear your cry, and the deepest depths are not too deep for Him.

PRAYER

Father, hear our cry. Give ear to our plea today. Amen.

By Mark Gerson

The life of our father Jacob—and with it, the book of Genesis—is coming to an end. On his deathbed, Jacob says perhaps the most beautiful and moving expression of love and gratitude ever spoken, “I had not expected to see [even] your face, and behold, God has shown me your children too.” 

Joseph, we are told in Genesis 48:12, “removed them [his sons] from his knees and he prostrated himself with his face toward the ground.” 

As the Jerusalem Rabbi Benji Levy notes, this would be an entirely explicable expression of parental fealty—a classic example of honoring one’s father—until one considers what we just learned about Jacob: He was blind! Jacob would not have known if Joseph were prostrating himself, standing, or doing jumping jacks. Joseph could honor his father with his words, but not with his body. 

Why, then, does he prostrate himself?

Because the act of honoring a parent—or doing any mitzvah (“good deed”)—is not only for the recipient. Doing a good deed reflects and improves the character of the doer. Joseph does not prostrate himself to send a message of respect to his father. He does so because that is just how he acts in the presence of his father, and because treating his father with this respect refines him. 

In the beginning of Exodus, God is ready to start the plagues. As a prelude to the first plague, God instructs Moses to tell Aaron to use his staff to get the Nile to change its water to blood. This raises two questions. First, why would God want a person to do the act that causes the plague? As God, he could have made the water turn to blood unaided. As Joseph did with prostrating himself before his father, God is teaching us that the purpose of an action is not only to accomplish its objective. God wants the Nile to turn to blood, but he is also showing us he wants to operate in the world with a human partner. 

Why, then, does God tell Moses to tell Aaron to strike the river? Moses had a staff and could have easily struck the river himself. The Rabbis explain: The Nile River had saved the life of the baby Moses by delivering him safely, in the basket, to Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses, therefore, owed the river gratitude—so God would never ask him to strike it.

How can a person owe an inanimate object gratitude or anything like it? The river, of course, could neither think nor feel and so could not have taken offense if Moses struck it. That, the Rabbis state, is not the point. Moses owed the river gratitude, whether or not it could have appreciated or known about it. By having Aaron strike the river, Moses was inculcating himself into the discipline and the habit of gratitude that would define his character and condition him to express gratitude to people. 

Every Friday night, we Jews exercise the most joyous aspect of our faith as we welcome Shabbat and get ready to enjoy Shabbat dinner. We bless God over the wine and the challah (the bread). The challah is always dressed with a beautiful covering. Why do we cover the challah? Because the wine is blessed first, and we do not want to embarrass the challah. Can challah be embarrassed? Of course not. But if we are conditioned to respect the challah this way, we will begin the Sabbath by reminding ourselves to always be very careful to avoid embarrassing anyone. 

Each of these three examples is very different from the others. Yet they all illustrate the same Jewish truth: Every action we take changes us. This makes intuitive sense. When we look back upon a period of our lives—perhaps a birthday, an anniversary, a school reunion—we acknowledge how much we have changed. And if we pause for a moment, we would realize something that is both obvious and important. All that change didn’t happen in the moment before we considered it. Like a child’s growing or an adult’s aging, the process happens continuously. 

Consequently, the answer to the question, “When did this change happen?” is the same as the answers to the questions: “When do I grow?” and “When did I look older than I did before?” The difference is that we can take ownership and control over the first question—and Joseph, Moses, and the Jewish parent who blesses the challah show us how. 

We can take ownership of our non-physical changes by acknowledging that they happen at every moment. Every writing we read, every video we watch, every conversation we have, every person we meet, every reaction we have—they all change us. Of course, some change us more than others. A conversation with a spouse about how one can be a better parent or communicator is likely to change us more than a conversation with a grocery clerk about whether or not (to quote a Saturday Night Live bit from my youth) the snack pack counts as one item or six in qualifying for the express lane. But they all change us. 

Upon acknowledging that the answer to the question, “When did I change?” is “continuously” or “always,” we realize something else as well. If every encounter changes us—and we can usually control a significant part of each encounter—then we can change ourselves in accordance with who we want to be. 

Joseph decided he wanted to be respectful and religious. So, he prostrated himself before his blind father. God decided Moses, whom God had determined would lead the Jewish people out of slavery and toward freedom, should be grateful. So, God told Moses to tell Aaron to strike the Nile. And some wise Jews a long time ago wanted us to be sensitive to publicly embarrassing anyone, so they devised the otherwise strange custom of dressing the challah. 

Who does each of us want to be? What qualities do we want to cultivate and resist? Once we make those decisions, each day will present literally hundreds of opportunities for us to change ourselves accordingly. 

Mark Gerson, a devoted Jew, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who (along with his wife, Rabbi Erica Gerson) is perhaps the world’s largest individual supporter of Christian medical missions. He is the co-founder of African Mission Healthcare (AMH) and the author of a forthcoming book on the Haggadah: The Telling: How Judaism’s Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life.  

Website: therabbishusband.com
Twitter: @markgerson
Podcast: The Rabbi’s Husband

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Readers, on January 12, just after I completed my column, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., with explosive new intelligence. He stated, “Al-Qaeda has a new home base: it is the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a result, Osama bin Laden’s wicked creation is poised to gain strength and capabilities.” CBN News will cover this new revelation in depth, but what I have written here will provide historical context for his remarks.

On February 11, 1979, the authoritarian ruling monarchy of Iran became a relic of the past. That day, the exiled Imam Ayatollah Khomeini was greeted with overwhelming public joy. In April, a national referendum officially proclaimed it the Islamic Republic of Iran, locking in the power of the Imams who devoutly adhered to “Twelver Shiism.”

Little did Iran’s citizenry or, indeed, the world realize that Twelver Shiism, the largest branch of Shiite Islam, would set into motion a theocracy as the driving force to welcome in the Twelfth Imam, the “Hidden Imam.” Twelvers call him the Mahdi and view him as their coming Messiah who will set up a worldwide caliphate. Some believe he will even return with Jesus to bring peace into a world of chaos and war.

On November 4, 1979, during Jimmy Carter’s presidency, the 444-day Iran hostage crisis began—a shocking crisis for America and the world. Television captured the appalling moment when 52 American staff were led out of Tehran’s U.S. Embassy by hundreds of gleeful Iranian students, members of the Muslim Students of the Imam Khomeini Line. Finally, the hostages were set free on January 20, 1981, the day of President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration. Since then, the emboldened Shia Twelvers have advanced their apocalyptic goals, laying the groundwork for the return of their Mahdi.

Up until the 1979 Iran Revolution, Israel and Iran had for 30 years shared a generally congenial relationship, including many cooperative initiatives based on each nation’s varying situations after the Cold War ended. Jews, among our favorites Esther and Mordecai, had lived in Persia (Iran) for 2,700 years, considering it a refuge under its ruler Cyrus the Great (sixth century B.C.), who freed the Jews from Babylonian captivity. That cordiality changed with the Shia Islamic revolution, where hatred became the Imam’s predominant disposition towards Israel. 

As time passed, Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons went into overdrive. The Imams and their elite Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have run a tight ship. Their dictatorship has produced international terror, including threats to destroy Israel and the United States and now calls for assassinating President Trump. In their Shia theology, they say they want peace, but they are now the world’s leading state sponsor of terror. In fact, some experts believe Iran might use nuclear weapons to bulldoze a path for the Mahdi’s return.

In the last 42 years, Iran’s steps to dominate the Middle East make for a deadly list. My summary here is just a taste of their toxic “accomplishments.”

Iran supplies weaponry to their three proxies on Israel’s borders: Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. In its effort to set up beachheads nearer to the U.S. mainland, Iran has placed many embassies in Central and South America, including Cuba, Nicaragua, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Iran’s leaders are also closely allied with the dictators of Venezuela and North Korea.

Regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the nation has at least seven nuclear facilities, some of which house thousands of centrifuges that spin uranium into weapons-grade material. Their Fars News Agency recently announced adding 1,000 more centrifuges at Fordo, one of their underground facilities. This reflects Iran’s decision to increase their uranium enrichment capacity. They have assorted sizes of precision-guided intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which they want to tip with nuclear warheads. And just last week, the IRGC proudly announced an underground missile base right along Iran’s Persian Gulf coastline.

The Obama-Biden administration aggressively pushed the Iran deal, culminating in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. I think they meant well in wanting to stop Iran, but their strategy was naïve. It prematurely gave Iran many rewards without requiring any substantial demonstrated commitments beforehand to halt their nuclear ambitions. I still worked as staff with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in 2015. We were deeply involved in opposing the Iran deal. Although we educated Americans, and specifically Congress, on Iran’s danger to Israel and beyond, we were unfortunately not successful.

My personal opinion about the Iran deal is that the negotiating team ignored the Iranian leadership’s devout Shia Islam underpinning. Its ruling Imams and Foreign Minister Jarif cleverly played their chess game of moderation and promises, never intending to keep them. The theocratic Twelver devotion to a modern caliphate and to the Mahdi’s return took precedence. The result five years later is proof positive. Iran is more dangerous than ever and distrusted not only by Israel but the Arab states in the region.

President Trump withdrew from the defective Iran deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. More sanctions were added recently, when Iran announced its increase for uranium enrichment. Also, in 2018, Israel’s Mossad—in another legendary covert operation—broke into a storage warehouse in Tehran. They left Iran just hours later with 110,000 documents, videos, and photographs in hand that proved Iran’s secret nuclear activities. It was a genius intelligence operation.

President-elect Biden is scheduled to take office on January 20, 2021. He has already announced his intention to re-enter the futile Iran deal, reappointing some of the 2015 negotiators. Hopefully, the team is now familiar with Iran’s deceptive chess moves. Already, Israel and the Gulf Arab states have contacted Mr. Biden urging him not to re-enter the JCPOA.

Iran has continued its destructive terrorism and nuclear quest at a great cost to their citizenry, both before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Over the past several years, Iran’s military spending has ranged between $18 and 20 billion annually. The IRGC also receives off-book income through smuggling and other industrial outlets. Much of Iran’s 83-million population is suffering economically, with the World Bank naming Iran as one of the worst-run governments, as well as one of the most corrupt.

The Imams and IRGC are living well. “There are more Maseratis on the streets of Tehran than in Beverly Hills and the ones driving them are children of the country’s mullahs,” comments Reverend Hormoz Shariat, founder of Iran Alive Ministries. Yet drug addiction, depression, and prostitution are rampant. Food shortages are increasing, along with high inflation.

Iranian leadership’s Twelvers, though, are no match for our Lord’s love, redeeming those who seek Him. CBN News coverage reports that “Christianity is growing faster in Iran than anywhere else in the world.” Says Mike Ansari, who runs one of the most popular Christian satellite channels in Iran—Mohabat TV—”We are calling this a pandemic of hope.” He describes the government’s increase in internet bandwidth to keep the population at home, resulting in more Iranian conversions. Around 3,000 Muslims a month have become Christians since the COVID-19 virus hit the country in March 2020.

The callousness of Iran’s Islamic government was in full view when one of its religious leaders said he hoped the coronavirus would spread to speed up the return of the Shiite messiah. Our Lord Jesus, though, whom Iranians call “the man in white,” desires to bring new life. He is appearing to some Muslims in dreams and in person. Iranian ministries are distributing millions of New Testaments, which Iranians call the Red Book. Satellite channels are also reaching new believers on how to form house churches.

Reverend Hormoz Shariat also reports that their satellite TV Christian programs are reaching “an estimated 6 million people.” Iran has closed church buildings, so house churches have proliferated but must remain secret, since members are subject to arrest. Reverend Shariat remarks, “Christians have no church they can physically attend so we are their church.” The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is also a “church” offering Persian-language programs and discipleship teaching.

Iran’s evil Evian Prison is sometimes a destination for believers who were arrested in small house churches or at any demonstration of Christianity. One believer, Alireza Asadi, was among 12 other Christians executed in 2016. In his last post on Facebook he declared, “My new season is much, much more pleasant than the worldly life.” He went on to say that meeting Jesus was the “best experience” in his life.

Some say that in 1979, 500 Iranians were known Christians. Now, estimates range from 500,000 to 2 million secret believers. Elam Ministries, founded in 1990, reports that “More Iranians have become Christians in the last twenty years than in the previous thirteen centuries put together since Islam came to Iran.”

One believer, Reza, with Global Catalytic Ministries, talks about a wonderful vision. “Imagine the most radical nation in the world, exporting radical Islam, as a Christian nation.”

This week CBN Israel will begin our prayers for Iran with a request from Reza:

• Pray “that the dark powers of evil in Iran would be defeated by Christ.”
• Pray for Iran to become a Christian nation that no longer finances terror.
• Pray for small, secret house churches to thrive and remain undiscovered.
• Pray for an infusion of donations to ministries that are making such a significant impact for persecuted Iranian Christians.
• Pray for safety in the Middle East for both Israel and Arab Gulf nations.
• Pray for Iranians who describe Iran as a prison, “a living coffin!”

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 now an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel 25 times. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited by Artist Pat Mercer Hutchens and sits 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.

Tanya was just 14 years old when the Nazis invaded Ukraine, bringing on the Holocaust. Looking back, she admits sadly, “I remember life was so normal until that day. The war started, and everything changed. Many of our family and friends died.”

Fortunately, her mother worked at a local hospital, and so they narrowly escaped on a hospital train. As the train accompanied the Red Army along the frontlines, Tanya cared for the wounded. She recalled, “It was very difficult to be around all that blood and death, but we knew all that the Nazis were doing to the Jews. I would have felt terrible shame not doing my part to help.”

As a result, the Soviets honored her heroic service during the war. Yet today, as a Holocaust survivor living in Israel, Tanya faces a different battle. The stress of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown has caused those terrible memories of the war to resurface. Added to that, she has had to self-isolate to stay safe—which means she can’t leave home to get food.

But thanks to friends like you, help arrived. CBN Israel brings her groceries, while taking precautions to keep her safe. She is getting the food and the encouragement she needs during this crisis, and says, “Thank you so much… It’s a very noble thing for you to want to help me and other Holocaust survivors, without even knowing us. I’m so grateful to God to have met you!”

CBN Israel is blessing so many in need with food, shelter, financial aid, and much more—and sharing God’s love during this pandemic and beyond.

As the needs in the Holy Land increase, your support is crucial in offering help to single moms, new immigrant, and the elderly. Please let us hear from you today!

GIVE TODAY

By Marc Turnage

The site of Magdala sits a little over three miles north of Tiberias, on the southern edge of the plain of Gennesar, on the shore of the lake of Galilee. Ancient sources seemingly refer to this site by three names; Greek and Latin sources refer to it as Taricheae; Hebrew and Aramaic sources use the names Magdala or Migdal Nunaya. Although a question remains whether all three names refer to the same site, many accept that they do. Since the Byzantine period (4^th-7^th centuries A.D.), tradition has identified this site as the home of Mary Magdalene, mentioned in the Gospels, but Mary’s connection with this site is by no means certain.

The ancient sources written in Greek and Latin, dating to the 1^st century, refer to the site as Taricheae. Taricheae served as an important administrative center from the 1^st century B.C. into the 1^st century A.D. Its name in Greek refers to “factories (vats) for salting fish.” The city’s location on the shores of the lake of Galilee indicate that fishing and fish processing served as its primary industry. The administrative role of the city, as well as its size, suggest that its fishing and fish processing involved smaller villages that lay within its toparchy, like Capernaum.

Gennesar (Gennesereth) is a large fertile plain on the northwest corner of the lake of Galilee. The name refers to the region of the fertile plain. Magdala functioned as the largest city and port serving the Gennesar Valley; thus, when Jesus arrives by boat to Gennesar (the region) in the Gospels, he likely used the port of Magdala.

Archaeologists first excavated a small section of the site in the 1970s. Excavations since the 2000s have provided a number of significant finds that shed light on Jewish life around the lake of Galilee during the ministry of Jesus. Excavations have uncovered installations that likely served for the processing and salting of fish, indicating the identification of the site as Taricheae. They also uncovered a series of streets laid out in an urban grid pattern, and along some of these streets, houses were uncovered that speak to the wealth of the people that lived in them. They were built with finely cut stones having mosaic tile floors. Pottery and glass vessels discovered in these homes further speak to the wealth of the inhabitants. These homes also had private Jewish ritual immersion baths (mikva’ot). Ground water filled and refilled these pools. Their presence is rather unique since the lake itself could serve Jewish ritual purity needs. The owners of these homes apparently desired a high degree of ritual purity, which required them to include private ritual immersion baths in their homes.

Excavations uncovered the ancient Hasmonean (1^st century B.C.) and early Roman (1^st century A.D.) harbor of Magdala. Pottery and coins provided a clear date for the structure, which had the mooring stones still in place. This harbor served the fishing industry of Magdala, as well as provided transit for travel around the lake. Magdala sits just below Mount Arbel, which overlooked a pass through which a road led from the northwest corner of the lake west into Galilee, and which could also be used by Galilean pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.

Excavators uncovered a modest public building, which they have identified as a synagogue. This building consists of three phases. The middle phase dates to the early-mid 1^st century A.D. This structure consists of an entrance with a narrow rectangular hall from the west, possibly a room for study known as a beit midrash. One passes from the entry vestibule into the main hall, which is surrounded on all sides by benches. This placed the focal point of the hall in the center of the room (this is a common layout for first century synagogues). The aisles had mosaic floors, and the columns of the main hall were covered with frescoed plaster. The walls also had frescoes plaster upon them. In the center of the main hall, archaeologists discovered a stone with four short legs. This decorated stone preserves a number of images, the most striking of which is the seven branched menorah that resided in the Jerusalem Temple. The iconography of this stone seems to tie to the Temple in Jerusalem indicating that those in this synagogue connected their worship with the worship in the Temple.

In the land of Israel in the 1^st century, the primary function of the synagogue was the reading and teaching of the Torah. We see this with Jesus in the Gospels. The layout and orientation of 1^st century synagogues in the land of Israel, like the one in Magdala, focus on the center of the hall where the Torah would be read and expounded upon. This stone discovered in Magdala has been identified as the base for a Torah reading stand. Jews read the Torah standing; they sit to teach (just like Jesus; see Luke 4:16-20). This decorated stone likely served as a base for a stand for the Torah reading, when all eyes would be fixed on the one reading and explicating the Torah (Luke 4:16-20).

The Gospels do not mention Jesus in Magdala. Yet, he sailed to the region of Gennesar where Magdala was located. He taught in all the synagogues of the villages and cities of Galilee. The Magdala synagogue dates from the time of his ministry; he could have taught there. Excavations at Magdala reveal that the population of the Galilee in the 1^st century was Jewish, and devout Jews at that. Some had wealth, but they adhered to Jewish concerns of purity and worship.

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

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9 NIV).

Jesus expected His followers to be instruments of peacemaking. Those who do so, according to Jesus, will be called children of God. For Jesus, the peacemaking efforts of His followers is the condition for them being children of God. 

Jesus didn’t often speak in terms of His followers as children of God. He did so in only one other instance:

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:44-48 NASB). 

The common language of “children of God” in both passages indicates a connection between the two passages. In both passages, the efforts of His followers make them children of God: They are peacemakers, and they love their enemies and pray for those persecuting them.

The passage of Matthew 5:44-48 defines what Jesus meant by being a peacemaker. It’s not about brokering peace agreements between parties in conflict; rather, it’s demonstrating love for enemies and praying for those persecuting you. This makes one a child of their Father in heaven. 

Peacemaking, then, is not running around crying out for peace; it’s loving those who hate us. It’s being perfect (merciful: see Luke 6:36) as our Father in heaven is perfect. 

We hear the term “peacemaker” and think about the making of peace between people, but within the world of ancient Judaism and the early church, peacemaking involved a three-way relationship between one person, another person, and God. 

For instance, charity and good deeds are actions we do to and for others, like loving those who hate us and praying for those who persecute us. These actions toward others, however, make peace between humanity and God. 

How we treat those made in God’s image impacts our relationship with God. At the same time, behaving toward others like this unleashes God’s redemptive power within the world. Actions of love and charity for our enemies opens a way to make peace between God and humanity. 

We hear cries for peace throughout our world. Peace does not come from bringing an end to the conflict. Peace comes when the followers of Jesus love those who hate us and model that for the world to see. When we do that, we show that we are children of our Father in heaven.

PRAYER

Father, strengthen us to show love toward those who hate us. Through our love for them, please build a path of reconciliation between us. Amen.

By Mark Gerson

Every Friday evening at sundown, we Jews engage in one of the most sacred experiences of being a Jew—and the happiest of being a person. We cease work, turn off all electronics, and focus entirely on the important matter at hand: welcoming God’s special day, Shabbat. We dress in our finest, light the candles, welcome the Sabbath in song, bless our children, say a blessing over the meal, and enjoy a night of family and friendship under the watchful eye of the Lord.

What is one of the most special parts of this remarkable evening? I think the answer would be nearly universal among Jews and Christians: the blessing of the children. We bless our kids with the words of the biblical Jacob from Genesis 48:20: “May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.”

There are many fascinating and instructive aspects to this blessing. One is that it is from a grandparent, as Jacob was the grandparent to Joseph’s boys, Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob was not merely a grandfather—Abraham and Isaac were, as well. But Jacob never had a conversation with Abraham, and his children never had a conversation with Isaac. Jacob is the first and only person in the Torah to have a relationship with his grandchildren. Thus, this blessing focuses our attention on this characteristic of Jacob—and raises a question.

Why do we Jews—as we have for thousands of years—bless our children with the blessing from a grandfather? There is a lot to consider there, and readers who are grandparents (or even grandchildren) will certainly have fruitful ideas. As the book of Genesis demonstrates, parent-child relationships can be fraught with all kinds of complications. Relationships between children and their grandparents are much more likely to be pure, complete, and full of simple love, joy and delight. So of course we want our children to have this kind of relationship with God!

Moreover, this wholeness comes—perhaps counterintuitively—with responsibility. Jewish grandparenthood involves plenty of fun and some spoiling but, perhaps more importantly, with the obligation of transmission. The grandparent-grandchild relationship embodies the connection between the past and the future—between memory and yearning—and Jewish grandparents have the responsibility to use their wisdom, experience and relationships to sow the Jewish future by instilling Jewish virtues, customs and practices in their grandchildren. This is magnificently illustrated by the biblical Jacob. We know a lot about Jacob’s grandfather and his father. Then we have Jacob, followed by Joseph and then Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob was the direct link between five generations, as grandparents often are.

The ages given to biblical figures demonstrate that the Torah is not a history book, as Jacob died relatively young at 147. But how long are five generations today? My oldest grandparent was born in 1903. My youngest grandchild will probably die in around 2140. That means this typical story is only one generation younger than the history of the entire United States of America.  No wonder Judaism places the responsibility of transmission upon grandparents.

So it is entirely appropriate that we invoke grandparenthood with the blessing we give our children on the most sacred day of the Jewish week. But this raises another important question: Why do we bless our children to be like Ephraim and Manasseh, in that order?

This is an interesting question because Manasseh was older. In fact, the only things we know about these two brothers personally is their names and what they mean. Joseph, we are told in Genesis 41:51, named his elder son Manasseh because “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.” He named his younger son Ephraim because “God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” 

The order of the names in the blessing Jacob gave to his grandchildren and that we, in turn, give to our children derives from the way in which he gave the blessing. When Jacob realized he was going to die, Joseph brought his boys to Jacob for a blessing. Joseph arranged his boys in age order, to enable the blessing from his nearly blind father. Jacob, however, crossed his hands expressly to give the superior blessing to the younger child. Joseph thought his old father was experiencing a senior moment, but Jacob assured him he knew exactly what he was doing.

Why did Jacob give the superior blessing to Ephraim? There are two potential reasons, both of which fit with Jacob’s existential purpose as the ultimate transmitter: to instruct us how to live better, happier and more meaningful Jewish lives today. First, the Torah constantly subverts the idea of primogeniture, which was the primary organizing principle of the ancient world. God’s sacred text is clear that being born first does not entitle one to special privileges. The responsibility of transmission is too important to be accorded by accident of birth. It might be given in accordance with one’s demonstrated abilities to enact it. Thus, Abel gains primacy over Cain, Jacob gains primacy over Ishmael, and Judah, Moses and David gain primacy over their older siblings. Genesis would almost have to conclude with a subversion of primogeniture, as it certainly did.

The second reason is revealed in that all we know of the brothers individually is what is explained by their names. Both names express how one can perpetuate the moral and religious life. Manasseh represents overcoming the obstacles imposed by one’s past, and Ephraim represents advancement and growth. In other words, Manasseh is defense and Ephraim is offense.

Jacob makes it clear that both preventing the negative and striving for the positive—defense and offense—are important, as both boys receive blessings. The question of which should be emphasized is core to the religious life. Should the transmission of a faith system or moral order be oriented toward what we cannot do and who we risk becoming, or toward what we can do and who we should become? Jacob—our father Jacob—is, through the swapping of hands, making his preference clear. We must emphasize the positive, the potential, the growth, the dreams and the work to achieve them, the love of God, and the joy in it all. This, as Jews and our Gentile friends who love Shabbat intuitively understand, is the secret to transmission.

The Torah is the ultimate book for all seasons, with life lessons taught by almost every figure. If the Torah were a play, Ephraim and Manasseh would be considered supporting characters, with the main characters being Adam, Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Rachel, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and, of course, God. Why, on the sacred night of Shabbat, would we choose to bless our children to be like Ephraim and Manasseh?

First, the book of Genesis is a story of family dysfunction. The dysfunction is between parents and children, siblings, cousins, and in-laws. Manasseh, who is upstaged by his younger brother, has every reason to be jealous, angry or vengeful. But he is not. Instead, he chooses family harmony and allows Genesis to end with its first instance of family unity.

Second, Manasseh and Ephraim are born and raised fully in a foreign land. They are, effectively, Egyptian princes. Yet they maintain their Jewish identity and become—we see later in the Torah—key to the transmission of the Jewish future.

Third, we do not bless our children to be like just Ephraim, or just Manasseh, perhaps dependent on the personality of each one. We bless each child to be like both. In so doing, we acknowledge that the transmission of Judaism—or any moral system—will require defense and offense. Some children will, in accordance with the uniqueness with which God has made them, tend more toward Ephraim or Manasseh. But in this blessing, we acknowledge a Jew in full should cultivate both characteristics—even if the traits of Ephraim are ultimately those that will help us most to create a dwelling place for God on earth.

Mark Gerson, a devoted Jew, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who (along with his wife, Rabbi Erica Gerson) is perhaps the world’s largest individual supporter of Christian medical missions. He is the co-founder of African Mission Healthcare (AMH) and the author of a forthcoming book on the Haggadah: The Telling: How Judaism’s Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life.  

Website: therabbishusband.com
Twitter: @markgerson
Podcast: The Rabbi’s Husband