ARTICLES

This week’s Torah reading is Parashat Vayeilech (Deuteronomy 31:1-31:30). Read on Shabbat, September 27, 2025 / 5 Tishrei 5786. The following is a special devotional drawn from this week’s reading.

Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them: “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ The LORD your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the LORD has said” (Deuteronomy 31:1-3).

In this moment Moses prepares Israel for transition. He acknowledges his limitations, then points the people to the faithfulness of God and to the leadership of Joshua. Even as Moses steps back, he urges the people to remember that God goes ahead of them into the unknown. The promise is not dependent on the presence of Moses but on the unchanging character of God.

This text teaches us that leadership and legacy are never about individuals but about pointing others to God’s faithfulness. Moses’ final charge is not to depend on him, but to trust the One who leads and remains constant beyond human frailty. Israel is called to move forward into their future even when their founding leader no longer walks with them in person.

In our own lives, transitions come as seasons end, roles change, and guiding voices grow silent. This portion invites us to see that faith cannot rest on people but must rest on God. When we face change or uncertainty, we can hold fast to the One who goes before us. Our task is not to cling to former leaders or past seasons, but to walk forward in the confidence of God’s presence.

If you find yourself in a season of change, whether endings, slowdowns, or new paths, please take courage. God is not leaving you. Even when human strength fades, His faithfulness remains. And if you are in a time of stability or growth, remember that your ability to lead or act is not ultimate. You are a vessel pointing others to a greater strength. Let your influence always serve the One who never changes.

This week, reflect on one area of transition in your life. What step forward do you sense God asking you to take? How can you lean more on His presence than on your own strength or the reputations of others? Let your forward movement show trust in the One who goes before you.

PRAYER
Lord, as I face change and uncertainty, help me rely not on people but on You. May I walk forward in faith, trusting that You go before me and will uphold me. Amen.

By Stephen Faircloth

No city is mentioned more often in Scripture than Jerusalem. From the moment King David made it the capital of his kingdom, it became the spiritual center of Israel and a focal point for the Jewish people. Prophets spoke of it, psalmists sang of it, and Jesus Himself walked its streets.

Jerusalem’s story stretches back more than four thousand years. The earliest settlement formed around the Gihon Spring, a vital source of water that sustained life on the eastern hill, the area now called the City of David. When David conquered the city from the Jebusites, this hill became biblical Mount Zion and the heart of his kingdom.

David’s son Solomon expanded the city northward, building his royal palace, administrative buildings, and most importantly the Temple. As Jerusalem’s importance grew, and especially after the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C., more people settled on the western hill, today known as Mount Zion. King Hezekiah fortified this larger area with a massive wall, parts of which can still be seen.

This was the Jerusalem destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. After the exile, returning Jews rebuilt the city, though on a much smaller scale. During the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the settlement was again focused on the eastern hill.

Centuries later, under the Hasmoneans, Jerusalem grew once more. New walls expanded the city to include bustling markets to the north. By the time of Jesus, Jerusalem featured two dominant landmarks: the Temple Mount on the east and Herod the Great’s grand palace with its imposing towers on the west. This was the city where Jesus taught, healed, confronted corruption, and ultimately offered His life for the salvation of the world.

But Jerusalem’s glory was not permanent. In A.D. 70, Roman forces destroyed the city and the Temple, tearing down its walls and leveling its sacred spaces. The footprint of the ancient city shifted north and west, and Jerusalem would not surpass its first-century size until modern times. Later generations of Byzantines, Crusaders, Ottomans, and others left their own marks, each layer adding to the city’s complex story.

Yet throughout all its rises and falls, Jerusalem remains a place where heaven and earth seem to meet. Pilgrims still stream to its gates. Jews pray at the Western Wall, Christians retrace the steps of Jesus, and Muslims worship on the Temple Mount. For believers, Jerusalem is more than history. It is a living reminder of God’s presence, His promises, and His coming kingdom.

Jerusalem’s story teaches that no earthly city or structure, no matter how sacred, can replace the God who dwells with His people. Where is your heart anchored today—in walls and rituals, or in the Lord Himself?

Stephen Faircloth is the President of CBN Israel, an initiative dedicated to sharing the true story of the Jewish nation and inspiring a global community of Christians to stand with Israel and support her people in need. Our vision is to reshape the global conversation about Israel by fostering understanding, hope, and healing between Jews and Christians around the world. For more than 50 years, the Christian Broadcasting Network has supported Israel. By joining CBN Israel, you become part of this enduring legacy, transforming lives today and strengthening Christian support for Israel for generations to come.

“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn, you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:23-25).

Rosh Hashanah, which means “head of the year,” marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year. Yet in Scripture it is more than a date on the calendar. The book of Leviticus calls it Yom Hateruah, the Day of Trumpet Blasts. On this day, the piercing cry of the shofar, the ram’s horn, fills synagogues and streets, calling hearts to attention.

The sound of the shofar is more than ritual. Its sharp and haunting notes awaken the soul and stir listeners to repentance and reconciliation. Ancient rabbis taught that when God’s people return to Him and to one another, the enemy is confounded. The ram’s horn recalls the story of Abraham and Isaac, when God provided a ram in place of Abraham’s son. Out of reverence, a cow’s horn is never used, so that the golden calf of Israel’s rebellion will not be remembered before God.

In many traditions, the shofar is blown each morning for a month leading up to Rosh Hashanah, giving worshipers time to search their hearts and lives. Families gather for festive meals that include apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year, pomegranate seeds for fruitfulness, round challah bread to symbolize life’s circle and God’s kingship, and fish or a ram’s head as a sign of being the “head” and not the tail in the year to come.

This feast is also tied to creation itself, celebrating the day God brought Adam and Eve to life and crowned Himself as King. The blowing of the shofar once announced the coronation of Israel’s earthly kings. Today it points forward to the coming of the true King. For Christians, it carries prophetic meaning. Jesus spoke of a great trumpet that will gather His people at His return (Matthew 24:31). Paul described the moment when “the last trumpet is blown” and the dead in Christ are raised (1 Corinthians 15:52). The book of Revelation also speaks of seven trumpets that will sound as God completes His plan for the world.

Rosh Hashanah begins the Ten Days of Awe, a sacred period leading to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. During these days, Jewish people reflect on the past year, repent of sin, and seek reconciliation. One beautiful tradition is Tashlich, the casting away of sins. Standing beside a river or stream, worshipers toss small pieces of bread into the water as a physical reminder of Micah 7:19: “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

For followers of Jesus, the Feast of Trumpets calls us to similar readiness. It reminds us that the King is coming and that today is the day to repent, forgive, and live awake to God’s voice. The trumpet blast is both a warning and an invitation to return, to rejoice, and to prepare for the eternal kingdom that will never be shaken.

What trumpet call is God sounding in your life right now? Is He calling you to repentance, reconciliation, or a deeper walk with Him? Take time to listen, for the King is coming.

Stephen Faircloth is the President of CBN Israel, an initiative dedicated to sharing the true story of the Jewish nation and inspiring a global community of Christians to stand with Israel and support her people in need. Our vision is to reshape the global conversation about Israel by fostering understanding, hope, and healing between Jews and Christians around the world. For more than 50 years, the Christian Broadcasting Network has supported Israel. By joining CBN Israel, you become part of this enduring legacy, transforming lives today and strengthening Christian support for Israel for generations to come.

This week’s Torah reading is Parashat Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20). Read on Shabbat, September 20, 2025 / 27 Elul 5785. The following is a special devotional drawn from this week’s reading.

“You are all standing today before the LORD your God, your tribal heads, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, small and great, that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which He is making with you this day, that He may establish you this day as His people and that He may be your God, as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob” (Deuteronomy 29:9-11).

Moses summons all Israel, leaders and ordinary people alike, to stand together in covenant before God. This is not merely a ritual assembly but an urgent declaration of identity and commitment. They are called to recognize that God’s promises to their ancestors are real and that these promises come with responsibility. The covenant is not exclusive to the powerful but embraces every generation, every status, every person in Israel.

He reminds them that the covenant demands fidelity: leaving behind foreign gods, returning to the one true God, and following His commands. What God requires is within their reach. To choose life and blessings, to reject disobedience that leads to destruction, these choices are set before them clearly. They will remain in the land, not be driven into exile, if they turn to God with all their heart and soul.

In our own lives, this passage invites us to pause and examine our standing before God. Are we aware of the covenants we inherit and accept? Do we live with faithfulness, or do we drift toward apathy or compromise? Standing before God means owning both our privileges and our responsibilities. We may have inherited promises we have not yet experienced but that are still part of our story. We also carry the weight of how we live with the blessings of God, whether we reflect His character in justice, love, and humility.

If you feel distant or unsure, this week offers hope. The covenant remains open to all who turn back with sincerity. Choices of small integrity matter: kindness when it costs something, confession when guilt weighs heavy, consistency when it is tempting to quit. And if you are in a place of fulfilled promises and blessing, remember that how you represent God in these moments is just as important as when you are struggling or facing difficulty. Your covenant faithfulness to God in all situations can display His goodness and wonder before a watching world that may otherwise doubt His existence.

This week, find concrete ways to stand in covenant before God and those around you. Speak truth, practice mercy, or make amends. Let everything you say and all that you do echo what Moses calls Israel to: to be God’s people in word and in action.

PRAYER
Lord, help me stand fully before You today. Grant me courage to embrace both Your promises and the responsibility they carry. May my life reflect covenant faithfulness. Amen.

By Stephen Faircloth

Rising quietly in the rolling hills about twenty-five miles north of Jerusalem, Shiloh once stood as the spiritual heart of Israel. After the conquest of the land, the Israelites set up the Tabernacle and placed the Ark of the Covenant here (Joshua 18:1). For centuries it served as the center of worship and pilgrimage.

Festivals were celebrated at Shiloh, and families from across the tribes traveled the main north-south road through the hill country to offer their sacrifices and prayers. The road itself became a path of expectation, carrying worshipers toward the place where God had chosen to make His name dwell.

It was to Shiloh that Hannah came with her desperate plea for a child. Here the priest Eli blessed her, and here God answered her prayer with the promise of Samuel’s birth (1 Samuel 1). When Samuel was old enough, Hannah returned him to serve the Lord, and in this sacred setting God began to reveal Himself to the young prophet (1 Samuel 3:21). This quiet settlement became the stage for some of the most tender and powerful encounters recorded in Scripture—moments of answered prayer, divine calling, and the unfolding of God’s purposes for His people.

Yet Shiloh’s story also carries a sobering warning. News of the Ark’s capture by the Philistines reached Eli at Shiloh, along with the deaths of his sons (1 Samuel 4). Archaeological excavations reveal a layer of destruction caused by fire in the eleventh century B.C., a date that matches the period of Eli and Samuel. By the time David and Solomon reigned, the Tabernacle was gone, and Shiloh was no longer the center of worship. Centuries later, the prophet Jeremiah pointed to its ruins as a living parable: “Go now to My place that was in Shiloh… and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel” (Jeremiah 7:12).

Shiloh teaches a timeless truth. The presence of God’s house is not a guarantee of His favor. The people of Israel trusted the symbol of His presence but ignored the God who dwelt among them. Their disobedience brought judgment, and the Tabernacle that once hosted His glory fell silent. Sacred space is never a substitute for a surrendered heart.

Today, visitors to Shiloh can still see the remains of its sanctuary and the evidence of its fiery destruction. Stones and earth bear witness to the message the prophets proclaimed: God desires obedience more than outward ritual, and His blessing rests on those whose hearts remain faithful.

This ancient ruin invites us to examine our own lives.

Are there places where we rely on outward appearances, religious habits, or spiritual memories rather than genuine devotion? Shiloh reminds us that God is not impressed by activity or ceremony but by hearts that love Him and walk in His ways. His presence is a gift, but His favor rests on those who obey.

Is there an area of your life where you are trusting a “symbol” of faith instead of living in daily surrender to God? How might you renew your devotion and obedience today?

Stephen Faircloth is the President of CBN Israel, an initiative dedicated to sharing the true story of the Jewish nation and inspiring a global community of Christians to stand with Israel and support her people in need. Our vision is to reshape the global conversation about Israel by fostering understanding, hope, and healing between Jews and Christians around the world. For more than 50 years, the Christian Broadcasting Network has supported Israel. By joining CBN Israel, you become part of this enduring legacy, transforming lives today and strengthening Christian support for Israel for generations to come.