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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

I daresay humankind has asked the question “Where was God?” trillions of times over the centuries when trying to untangle the reasons and pain of personal or national tragedy. Certainly this question must have occupied the minds of Jews held in Nazi death camps.

Since we are living in a season of upheaval, disappointments, and sorting through truths and untruths, I hope my column this week with its little-known Holocaust story—combined with a famous conductor’s reply to the question “Where was God”—will be helpful. As Christians and believers in Jesus, it is absolutely essential that we take to heart this beautiful truth Paul conveyed to the Corinthians: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV).

When I attended a concert a few years ago at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia, I heard a quote from the conductor, Maestro Murry Sidlin, that immediately grabbed my attention. The concert was titled “Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezin Composers.” The name Terezin (pronounced teh·ruh·zeen) was unfamiliar to me until the concert, where I learned that Nazis in Terezin—Czechoslovakia’s Theresienstadt Concentration Camp—tragically and expertly used it as a highly effective cover-up tactic.  

Let’s take a look now into past and present history and how these extraordinary concerts came to be. Seventy-seven years have passed since the Nazi death camps were liberated in 1945. The Nazi machine snuffed out 6 million European Jews—men, women, and children—between 1933 and 1945. During that time, Nazis set up more than 44,000 camps of varied sizes and functions. In ghettos, labor camps, and those erected for mass murder, the question, “Where was God?” had to have lurked in Jewish minds as they faced unimaginable evil.

Today, Israeli Holocaust survivors number around 165,000. In the United States we have some 50,000, the youngest now in their late 70s. During the intervening years, Holocaust survivors have found success and built families, yet far too many in the U.S. and Israel face poverty. The traumas of the Holocaust—the Shoah—still reverberate today. Our generation is the last that can make a significant difference for Holocaust survivors who need adequate food, housing, and attention. Often, it is Christian organizations like CBN Israel that are actively giving help and hope to this aging population through tangible relief and caring friendship—reminding them that they are not forgotten, and they are not alone. 

Other positive responses include a notable conference that was hosted by the Czech Republic on November 3 of this year. This meeting was based on the Terezin Declaration of 2009, which was signed by 47 governments including the United States. The recent conference served as a follow-up to prior commitments and addressed those concerns. These included restitution of Holocaust-era stolen properties and providing humanitarian aid for survivors plagued by inadequate food and housing. You may access the entire Terezin Declaration of 2009 here: https://wjro.org.il/cms/assets/uploads/2019/06/terezin_declaration.pdf. 

At the concert, “Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezin Composers,” I sat transfixed in the synagogue balcony. The program skillfully interwove narratives, films, soloists, photographs, and the Hours of Freedom Chamber Players. The composers and performers were 15 gifted Jewish musicians trapped in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, in what is now Czech Republic. They would have become famous if they had survived the war. Most of them were in their 20s and 30s before they were sent to Auschwitz to die. The poignant music and narrative showed me the original composers’ will to live—by choosing to rely on the arts to escape the grim realities of their lives under the Nazi regime. 

Two films were intermingled in the Atlanta concert. The first, a documentary titled Terezin Diary, was created to set the record straight about the horrors of this camp and reveal the enormous breadth of Nazi lies. Terezin was the so-called model camp established by the Nazis in 1941 at Terezin, an old fortress town near Prague. Its purpose: to fool the world about what they claimed was “humane” treatment of Jewish prisoners. 

Terezin Diary starts with a 1968 reunion of the camp’s survivors—and their stories are chilling. One scene showed a hundred Jewish children singing. As I watched, a dreadful thought ran through my mind—as if the children were singing at their own funeral. Later, all of them would become part of the million-and-a-half children murdered. I felt as if I was walking again through the Children’s Memorial at Israel’s Yad Vashem, listening to their names in a darkness lit by dim candles—candles reflecting the millions of lights that were snuffed out. 

The other was a Nazi propaganda film, The Fuhrer Gives a Town to the Jews. It showed Theresienstadt as a “model” setting where Jewish families comfortably lived, worked, and played. (Prominent visitors and even a Red Cross team came to Theresienstadt to see for themselves and then voiced their approval.) One scene in this film depicted the Hours of Freedom Chamber Players, with prisoners applauding and trying to look content. They were somewhat well dressed, no doubt only for the film. On its website, the National Center for Jewish Film calls the movie “an elaborately staged hoax presenting a completely false picture of camp life.” During the concert here in Atlanta, the 15 chamber players on stage played with the 15 Terezin musicians in the film. Jarring, sobering moments unfolded as these 30 musicians played together seven decades later. It was a vivid and haunting remembrance of the Terezin musicians’ unfulfilled hopes that would be so violently extinguished. 

The “Hours of Freedom” referred to the prisoners’ times of composing and writing on tiny pieces of foraged scrap paper and then playing their instruments after horrific 15-hour workdays and scant food. The concert’s “Nine Chapters” included titles like “The Broken Heart,” “Longing,” and “The Eyewitness.” Some of the music was agonizingly mournful yet brilliant in composition. A fascinating interplay of cello and violin portrayed a dissonance, an inharmoniousness, that superbly expressed the paradox of pain and pleasure amid horror. Surprisingly, some of the compositions were upbeat as if to recall better times and future hopes.

The concerts were created by Murry Sidlin, a famous conductor and president of The Defiant Requiem Foundation, which promotes the concerts worldwide. It is his quote that I found so compelling. Stuart Eizenstat, chairman of the Defiant Requiem Foundation and former ambassador to the EU, introduced his friend Murry Sidlin. (Eizenstat is also a key activist for the Terezin Declaration of 2009 and this year’s November 3 conference in the Czech Republic.) In his glowing remarks, Eizenstat noted that Maestro Sidlin is often asked, “Where was God when the Holocaust happened?” The maestro’s reply: “Where was God? Instead, the real question is, ‘Where was man, who had free will?’”

I identified with Maestro Sidlin’s quote instantly. I consider it one of the best answers for the age-old questions about life’s tragedies. I wonder if your conclusions about the maestro’s answer are similar to mine. We live in an often-mysterious paradox of completely relying on God’s sovereignty, yet the problem of evil is ever present, and it is easy to ask, “Where is God?” 

Part of my conclusion is that we cannot blame God when we choose to passively sit back, complain, and/or do nothing. A level of responsibility rests upon us to oppose wrongdoing or alleviate suffering. It may be speaking up about an anti-Semitic remark, donating to trusted programs for others in need, contacting our congressional leaders to keep our cooperation with Israel strong, or encouraging anyone around us who needs help or hope.  

Where was God? Well, I am choosing to trust God as best as I can and am asking myself, “Where will I oppose the toxic spread of anti-Semitism toward Israel and the Jewish community? Where will I show compassion to those in need throughout our world?” 

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

• Pray for the Christian community to remain steadfast in prayer and action on behalf of Israel and the worldwide Jewish community. 
• Pray that the warmth and love between Jews and Christians will increase to make us stronger together. 
• Pray against the rising tide of anti-Semitism in our world, which ultimately threatens the very existence of the Jewish nation and people. 
• Pray for the 165,000 Holocaust survivors who live in Israel today. Tens of thousands of them live in poverty and need compassionate people like you to remind them that they are not forgotten, and they are not alone. 

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

Boris and his family lived in Belarus, one of the poorest nations of the former Soviet Union. Even after gaining its independence, the president alone still wields most of the country’s power. Wanting a better life for his people, Boris spoke out against the system. But his political activism caused the government to target him and his family. 

Fearing more repercussions, Boris’s family moved to Kiev in Ukraine, and planned to make it their home. Then, with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, it became unsafe to remain there. So, they sought refuge in Israel, in the small, welcoming northern city of Karmiel. 

Because they had to leave in haste, they had little time for planning or packing. They came without furniture or belongings. Like many refugees fleeing the Ukraine war, the family received basic help when they arrived, but it soon ran out. So where could they turn? 

Thankfully, friends like you were there for them through CBN Israel. Caring donors helped furnish their home and provided vouchers to purchase nutritious groceries. And they are helping them find jobs, learn Hebrew, and adjust to life in Israel. Boris exclaimed, “When we came here, the apartment was completely empty. But thanks to you, we now have basic furniture, appliances, and food on the table. I am deeply grateful… I will never forget it.”

Your gift to CBN Israel can offer encouragement and vital assistance to so many hurting refugees, Holocaust survivors, single mothers, and more. As the needs in the Holy Land are escalating, your support can provide crucial food, housing, job training, and financial aid to those who are desperate. 

Please join us in reaching out to others in crisis!

GIVE TODAY

By Marc Turnage

The Jordan Valley is a narrow valley the extends from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. It is part of the great Syro-African Rift, the longest scar on the face of the planet, that spans from Syria to Lake Victoria in Africa.

The southern stretch of the Jordan River as it exits the Sea of Galilee passes through this valley on its way to the Dead Sea. From the southern end of the Sea of Galilee to the northern shore of the Dead Sea is roughly sixty miles, yet over these sixty miles, the Jordan River meanders a little over two hundred miles. Today, the Jordan Valley serves as the international boundary between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel, and the West Bank.

The Jordan Valley served as an interior travel route between the hill country of Cisjordan (west of the Jordan River) and Transjordan. It enabled east-west travel between these two regions, as well as north-south travel through the valley. In the first century, the Jordan Valley served as one of the three routes Galilean pilgrims could take to Jerusalem. The Gospels record Jesus following this route on his final journey to Jerusalem (Luke 19:1-11).

The northern stretch of the valley, from the Sea of Galilee until south of Beth-Shean, received good rainfall, and therefore, had rich agriculture. South of Beth-Shean towards the Dead Sea, the high mountains of Samaria restrict rainfall and the climate becomes harsh, dry, and unfriendly. Along the Jordan River, however, vegetation grows and as recently as the 19^th century served as the habitation for lions, among other wildlife that still live there today.

Throughout the periods of the Old and New Testament, settlement existed within the Jordan Valley. Sites like Beth-Shean, Jericho, Pella, Deir ‘Alla (biblical Succoth), and Rehov provided important administrative, religious, and commercial centers within the Jordan Valley. It served as the route between many biblical stories that involved places in Cisjordan and Transjordan.

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

“Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3 NKJV).

We remember Moses as God’s chosen leader for the children of Israel—to bring them out of Egyptian bondage and through the wilderness to the edge of the Promised Land. But what was Moses’ occupation? For forty years before appearing in front of Pharaoh, he was a shepherd.

Moses’ time shepherding flocks in the desert prepared him to lead God’s people. In the harsh climate of the deserts of the Middle East, the shepherd cared for his flock—making sure the animals found water, food, and shelter and protecting them from potential threats. Moses’ time as a shepherd prepared him for the role that God chose for him to deliver and lead Israel. 

Likewise, Moses’ time in the desert herding sheep and goats helped form his character: How so? The climate of the desert is incredibly harsh. Temperatures can fluctuate as much as 80 degrees within 24 hours; the scorching heat of the sun can give way to the cold of the night. Water and food are not easy to find; the sheep and goats rely on the shepherd to find them sustenance. 

The desert presents the threat of dangerous enemies, both four footed and two, that the shepherd must protect the flock from. These are the brutal conditions faced by the shepherd in the desert. His life and that of his flock faced imminent dangers within its wild expanse. 

The desert served as God’s classroom in the Bible. God takes people into the desert to teach them and build their character. One of the principal lessons that He imparts to them in the desert is humility. There are no “self-made” individuals in the desert. You cannot overcome the harsh and threatening conditions by yourself—and that realization humbles a person. 

Moses spent forty years in the desert, and he learned this lesson well. He understood the need for decisive action in leading the children of Israel, but he also recognized his need to take advice from and rely on others. He was humble. He learned the vital lesson of the desert: One cannot survive alone. Community is essential. 

The lessons of the desert often fly in the face of the rugged individualism we honor in our Western culture. That individualism often spills over into our spirituality, where we tend to think solely in terms of our personal relationship with God. Such attitudes are absent within the spirituality of the Bible.  

God still leads us into the wilderness to teach us humility and the foolishness of our self-reliance. He used Moses mightily for His purposes and glory because Moses learned humility. Do we allow Him to build the same character within us by leading us into the desert?

PRAYER

Father, in every place You lead, may I learn to rely upon You and others. May I never become arrogant or self-reliant in anything I do. May I always recognize my dependence upon You and those around me. Amen. 

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

According to the World Bank, we are in a global food crisis. Food shortages across the world are mushrooming like unwelcome weeds amid a nourishing crop of golden wheat. 

In the United States, the Center for Security Policy (CSP) published a revealing report on November 3, 2022, titled “Food Security is National Security.” Presently the U.S., other countries, and concerned organizations are meeting to assess vulnerabilities and discuss solutions. CSP lists varying food security challenges in the U.S.—from cyberattacks and suspicious fires at food-processing plants to power outages from snowstorms and hurricanes, supply chain slowdowns, and trucking interrupted by critically low diesel fuel reserves. The United States is the biggest producer of food worldwide, yet we do not have a strategic food reserve or a plan to deal with inevitable disruptions.

The World Bank also sounded an alarm about food shortages in its latest Food Security Update on October 31, 2022. Delving into only a few primary reasons here, the World Bank’s update is sobering for the poorest of the poor who for decades have already experienced the tragic suffering that famine and inadequate clean water bring. However, for multilayered reasons, Western nations and others are now facing challenges with food supplies. 

Among them: Inflation and oil shortages are driving up food prices. COVID-19 shutdowns slowed the transportation of goods around the globe. In its war against Ukraine, Russia has caused a worldwide crisis, since both nations are top wheat sources. (Russia is also a top fertilizer producer; a shortage affects farmers’ yields.) In response to ongoing food concerns, the World Bank Group has decided to set aside up to $30 billion for the next 15 months for agriculture, nutrition, water, and irrigation. Much of the monies have been earmarked for the most vulnerable populations.

Where else can we turn for answers to this urgent and growing problem?

In pre-state Israel—beginning with the first significant wave of immigration (Aliyah) in 1881—land reclamation, innovation, and determination marked the labor and spirit of Jewish Zionists. Today, the diminutive nation of Israel is an outsized world leader in abundant AgTech, Food Tech, and Water Tech research, development, and production. God’s promises to Israel and all nations in Genesis 12:3 are, once again, a blessing to the world in the face of food shortages. Israel’s innovations in an array of technologies improve planting and harvesting crops, and desalinating water.

Israel’s history proves that there is hope. Against all odds—the backbreaking work, the malaria outbreaks—the Zionists’ and Israelis’ determination fulfilled God’s promises in Isaiah 35:1-3, making His promise a reality. “The desert will rejoice, and flowers will bloom in the wastelands. The desert will sing and shout for joy. … Everyone will see the Lord’s splendor, see His greatness and power.” Indeed, as verse 3 exclaims, God “gave strength to hands that were tired and to knees that trembled with weakness.”

When deserts and desolation greeted the first Jewish immigration wave, the early Zionists were undaunted. Committing themselves to the soil, they were driven by a national longing for their ancient homeland. They were also moved by awareness of 2,000 years of prayers for those living during the Jewish diaspora. The Ottoman Empire was in control of what was then called Palestine until 1917 when the British defeated the Ottomans. Although the Muslim Ottomans ruled for 400 years, they did not cultivate the land. 

Four more early Aliyah waves were followed by the fifth wave in 1939—a 58-year span. Mark Twain, who visited in 1867, could not have imagined what Israel would one day become. In The Innocents Abroad, Twain described the pre-state Israel that he and other travelers toured: “The further we went the hotter the sun got, and the more rocky and bare, repulsive and dreary the landscape became. … There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.” That is, until the first five waves of Aliyah kept coming to plant and cultivate the land until World War II broke out. As an interesting historical note, Twain stayed in the Imperial Hotel right inside Jerusalem’s Jaffa gate. The New Imperial Hotel still welcomes guests in its upgraded 19th-century building.

Israel has been helping other nations with agricultural tools for some time—as it helps itself.

For years, Africa and India have used water and crop technologies through Tel Aviv’s Nitsan Sustainable Development Lab to aid their populations. Nitsan focuses on small farmers, as noted by Director Ram Fishman: “Many farmers around the world look to Israel as a model of how to manage and flourish in conditions of water scarcity and a hotter, drier climate.” 

A few more success stories of Israel developing new technologies to give Mother Nature a helping hand:

• Yatir Forest—planted by the Jewish National Fund to provide work for new immigrants in the 1950s—is now one of the world’s only fully functional forests in hot, semiarid climates. 

• Fish in the desert, unthinkable? Aquatech Fisheries, founded in 2012, raises fish using water technologies that Israel has employed for decades in its water-empty landscape. Aquatech’s near-miraculous efforts result in thousands of tons of fish in the Negev Desert without any environmental damage. 

• To meet the challenges caused by population growth, depleted soils, and weather unpredictabilities, BetterSeeds is devoted to the production of seeds that adapt to many climates and also contain more nutrients. 

• And with worldwide bee populations dwindling, Israelis are addressing this critical issue. They have created an artificial pollinator service and BeeHero “smart” hives to better protect the tiny winged heroes that play such an important role in continuing our food supply.

• Every three years, Israel hosts AgriTech Israel, an international exhibition and conference that draws thousands of delegates from dozens of countries—people at the forefront of technological innovations in agriculture.

Various regions in the United States use Israeli agricultural and water technologies, too. For example, via a public-private partnership between Israel and San Diego, California, the Carlsbad Desalination Plant provides clean, safe water from the ocean to more than 300,000 Californians. With the worst drought in 1,200 years gripping Western states, this plant—completed in 2015—pumps out 50 million gallons of fresh water daily. 

Partnerships take place in many contexts. Challenges, solutions, and opportunities are what brought together Israeli and Florida scientists, tech experts and growers. In 2020, the Florida-Israel Agriculture Innovation Summit met for four days in Tallahassee with a crowd of 600 registered attendees hearing from 63 speakers and panelists from 27 companies—all interested in discussing innovations and prospects in agricultural technology. The future of food security in Florida and other states looks bright for those combining U.S. and Israeli production plans.  

As Scripture beautifully notes, “In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit” (Isaiah 27:6). Now more than ever, hopefully, the World Bank, United Nations, and citizens of the earth will recognize Israel as a light to the world, a powerhouse in food technology. As believers, we are thankful to God for equipping His people to export their food and water miracles into a world concerned about food security. 

Please join CBN Israel in prayer this week for Israel and the entire globe:

• Pray with thanksgiving to God for empowering Israel with big ideas for blessings.
• Pray for smart, effective management solutions for countries to increase food security.
• Pray for international institutions to donate wisely to countries and limit corruption.
• Pray for the poorest nations to benefit from food supplies to alleviate their vulnerability. 

By Marc Turnage

The land of Edom lay south of the land of Moab in the Transjordan. The Zered Ravine, which empties into the southern end of the Dead Sea, formed the boundary between these two kingdoms. The Bible refers to Edom also as Mount Seir (Genesis 36:21; Ezekiel 35:15). 

The plateau that forms the heartland of Edom, south of the Zered, is over 5000 feet above sea level, and some of its peaks reach a height of 5696 feet. Deep gorges cut through the western part plateau opening into the Rift Valley; only on the eastern frontier does the form of a plateau remain. Only a narrow strip on the western edge of the mountains received sufficient rainfall (200 mm) to produce any significant vegetation, mostly in the form of natural forest. Along this line, a line of towns was established. 

The limited agricultural potential of this region is acknowledged in Isaac’s blessing of his son Esau, who the Bible identified as the father of the Edomites (Genesis 27:38-39). Its agricultural limitations were compensated for by its presence along the southern end of the King’s Highway, the gateway from the Arabian Peninsula for incense, gold, and other luxury items. 

Also, Edom controlled the copper mines and trade in the southern Aravah (the southern portion of the Rift Valley north of the Gulf of Eilat). The port of Ezion-Geber on the northern shore of the Gulf of Eilat also received goods from the Red Sea, which would then be conveyed to various destinations via the trade routes that ran through Edom. 

The capital of Edom in the Old Testament period was Sela. Edom’s location along important trade routes put them in conflict with Judah for control of the Aravah (south of the Dead Sea) and Ezion-Geber. 

When Israel sojourned in the Transjordan, they sought to pass through the land of Edom following the King’s Highway, but the king of Edom denied their request. They had to circumvent Edom using the Desert Highway, which lay further east of the kingdom of Edom (Numbers 21:4; Deuteronomy 2:8; and Judges 11:16-18). The Old Testament condemns Edom’s lack of hospitality (Deuteronomy 23:3-6). 

Throughout the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, conflict arose between the people and the Edomites, especially with the kingdom of Judah. During the reign of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, a coalition of the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites sought to invade Judah (1 Kings 22:47-49; 2 Chronicles 20). The Edomites revolted in the time of Jehoram and established their own king (2 Kings 8:20-22). 

The prophet Obadiah condemned the Edomites for gloating at the destruction of Judah (Obadiah 1:13-14; see Psalm 137:7; Ezekiel 16:57; 25:12-14; 35). The Babylonian deportation of Judeans left a population vacuum in Judah; this led to a number of Edomites immigrating into the biblical Negev and the southern Judean Hill Country around Hebron. 

In the Hellenistic period, these Edomites living in the southern Judean Hill Country and the biblical Negev were known in Greek as Idumeans. Herod the Great’s (Matthew 2) family came from Idumean stock.

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

“As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, ‘Where is your God?’ I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts. Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:1-5 HCSB).

Do you ever find yourself longing for God? Do you ever feel so overwhelmed by your circumstances that you cry out to God in absolute desperation yearning for His help? Do you ever find yourself asking, “God, where are You?”

The writer of Psalm 42 felt that way. He found himself overwhelmed by his circumstances, downcast within his soul. He felt buried under the billows and waves. His memories of the past—when he experienced the joy of traveling to the house of the Lord on pilgrimage—didn’t soothe his torment; they actually added to it: “Why, my soul, are you downcast?” He longed for God, for His deliverance.  

His circumstances, those around him, and even he himself questioned of God, “Why have You forgotten me?” It’s understandable when we find ourselves overcome with life and our circumstances to feel forgotten by God, to feel isolated and alone. The author’s strength, however, comes from his ability to affirm his hope in God within his circumstances: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.” 

He asks the question twice (verses 5 and 11), “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” The answer, in part, pertains to the very real and overwhelming circumstances in which he found himself. Yet, both times, he answers his question affirming his belief that God had not abandoned him.

By the end of the psalm, his circumstances have not changed and neither have his emotions; he closes the psalm asking why his soul is downcast. But, in spite of his circumstances and emotions, he confesses his confidence in God and that he will yet praise Him. This is not merely the power of positive thinking. His conviction emerges from a deep realization that, regardless of his situation and feelings, God had not abandoned him; God is still his hope. 

Faith is not willing ourselves to believe. Faith doesn’t require a lot in moments of joy, fulfillment, and security. The test of our faith appears in those moments when, even after professing our belief in God, nothing changes. Maybe the depression even deepens. 

Do we have the deep, penetrating conviction that God has not abandoned us regardless of how things seem? Can we remain convinced that He is our hope, even when we do not see or feel it? When we feel abandoned by God, do we still long for Him even as the parched deer longs for the cool streams of water?

PRAYER

Father, regardless of our circumstances or feelings, You are our hope and our God. Come to us in our desperation. Amen.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

When I want to watch an outstanding movie, I often gravitate to 1940s classics. Gaslight, one of Ingrid Bergman’s most famous movies, is a gripping 1944 thriller. In the film, Bergman played a newlywed, Paula, whose husband was a master at “gaslighting”—manipulating her into questioning her own sanity. Paula grew frantic as her husband—driven by his goal of dominating her—repeatedly insisted that she did not see what she saw, that the problem was in her mind. Eventually, a detective rescued her, reassuring her that she was not crazy. The Oscar-winning movie popularized the word in its title, Gaslight, which has become part of our culture. 

Gaslighting can be viewed as propaganda’s first cousin. They both distort the truth, repeatedly lying for their own gain to control a narrative. Gaslighting is considered not only manipulation but emotional abuse, as well. It is exploited person to person, or toward large groups that leaders and dictators wish to control.

Isaiah 5:20 does not use the word “gaslighting.” However, God’s ancient Jewish scribe records such deceitful tactics simply and powerfully: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (NIV).

Our first reality check is on behalf of the American Jewish community, Jewish college students, and Israel, the Jewish homeland. Our Jewish friends here and abroad experience gaslighting. And while they do not doubt their sanity, they suffer the abuse of rising anti-Semitism, which may take an emotional or even a deadly toll. In the United States, Jew-hatred—pushed by the global mainstream media, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and the United Nations—pops up on the landscape of many universities and creates fear among Jewish students 

Hillel—the top Jewish student organization on campuses—and the Anti-Defamation League joined forces to conduct a detailed survey in 2021. It indicated that anti-Semitism keeps growing. Today it presents a worrying threat on college campuses, sometimes preventing Jewish students from joining clubs and participating in other activities. Verbal abuse is frequent, and many Jewish students hide their identity by not wearing their kippahs. Nearly a third of those surveyed reported offensive comments in person or on social media. In one example, at a party someone gave a Nazi salute after learning the student was Jewish.

Gaslighting’s origins on campus emerge not only from mainstream media’s biased Israel reporting but also from organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine. In September, Alums for Campus Fairness reported that college newspapers published an astonishing 1,450 articles about Israel in the last five years. Of these, only 17% were positive. 

Freedom of speech is enshrined in our First Amendment; nevertheless, civility must be restored. For 77 years, since its modern statehood, the Jewish homeland itself has been targeted with manipulative gaslighting by much of the world’s media. Stories are packed with bias where the Jewish state is equated with terrorists—most often blamed for starting conflicts instead of defending their citizens from terror. Be aware of misleading headlines or a lack of context in articles. For instance, articles about conflict with Gaza typically omit the fact that Israel unilaterally withdrew its 8,000 citizens from Gaza in 2005—and this area is now run by Hamas terrorists, an Iranian proxy.  

Our second reality check is the gaslighting so prevalent in our country today. What we see, do, and hear is often written off by an administration trying to survive the upcoming midterms as the electorate is waking up. This reality check is based on what we ourselves experience throughout the course of our daily lives. We insert the gas nozzle into our tanks and the final price still has a shocking effect. We go grocery shopping, and eggs have doubled in price.

Taking a jog in the park can be a fraught decision now due to out-of-control crime. Our children come home from school with questions about assignments fixated more on issues of sexuality and woke ideology than the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmatic. Parents attending school board meetings may face accusations of being domestic terrorists simply for challenging the curriculum. Transgender permissiveness is abusive to children. A father is falsely arrested in his home—in front of his wife and children—by armed FBI agents. His crime? Peaceful protests at an abortion clinic. 

When opening our electric or gas bill, we shake our heads, wondering how we will pay it with winter approaching. We hear from members of Congress who travel to our southern border and return with first-person stories of massive human trafficking and cartels brazenly loading fentanyl in the open to cross our border. Parents are attending funerals of loved ones who have died due to an overdose because fentanyl is the leading cause of death for those between the ages of 18-45. The cruelty of wide-open borders and cartels extends to allowing rainbow fentanyl in pills that look like candy but are laced with the deadly synthetic opioid.  

Indeed, I am sure most of you reading my column are exceedingly familiar with what is happening in your hometown and our country. You recognize it because you cherish the Bible as a guidebook for living. Holy Scripture also educates us about good and evil. Most of the mainstream media follow the lead of the governing administration, which repeatedly calls us crazy, wrong, domestic terrorists, fascists, and stupid. Gaslighting has spread not just to individuals but half of our citizenry—including conservatives, people of good will, and Christians. 

I am thankful that we refuse to be convinced that we are crazy. We know that gaslighting distorts the truth with lies, and tempts us to doubt our memory, reality, or sanity! We are sure that our culture, institutions, entertainment, schools, and yes, some churches, are rapidly trending away from our Judeo-Christian heritage. 

Our third reality check is the worthiest of all. It resonates with sustaining truths from the ages with God’s ancient texts transmitted through Jewish scribes. God’s words in the Bible remain our standard of truth and hope. “Praise be to the LORD, for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was in a city under siege. In my alarm I said, ‘I am cut off from your sight!’  Yet You heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. Love the LORD, all His faithful people! The LORD preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD” (Psalm 31:21-24 NIV). 

A parting exhortation: Let’s focus on the truth! Like the detective who rescued Ingrid Bergman’s bewildered character in the famous 1944 film, each one of us must be sure to help rescue ourselves, our families, and our country by voting. One aspect of gaslighting is to discourage us from going to the polls. All of us can reject that effort, which is designed to keep voters at home. 

We can instead help remedy the gaslighting in America by taking time to vote. Invite your family, friends, and neighbors to go to the polls with you and to ask themselves, “Are our lives better or worse in the last two years?” Voting is an example of our freedoms. We must embrace and act on it. Let us commit to help establish truth again in our nation by voting our values!  

Please join CBN Israel this week in praying for both the United States and Israel:

• Pray for a tsunami of voting to help turn the U.S. back to safe harbor. 
• Pray for all candidates to speak the truth in their final days of campaigning. 
• Pray that Christians will be examples of truth wrapped in civility.
• Pray for breakthroughs in mainstream media to focus on all facts.
• Pray for safety at all polling locations for workers and voters. 
• Pray for Israel that their election earlier this week ultimately produces the best leadership for their democracy. 

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

Israel leads the world with innovations in technology, medicine, and defense. Yet, it also faces a demographic crisis, as over a fourth of its population lives below the poverty line. Sadly, this means more people are dealing with the threat of hunger, due to low incomes and inflation. 

Even more tragically, as impoverished families cut back spending on groceries to meet other expenses, a third of all Israeli children face not having enough to eat. With the influx of immigrant families from Ukraine’s war, plus more elderly and Holocaust survivors struggling on fixed incomes, food insecurity is a real threat for many homes in the Holy Land. 

But thankfully, friends like you were there to help through CBN Israel. For example, during the Jewish High Holy Days this year, caring donors delivered over 1,000 high-quality food packages to households in need. By partnering with Israel’s leading national food bank, they brightened the holiday season for low-income families, as well as seniors and aging Holocaust survivors. 

“It warms my heart!” said Hanna, a Holocaust survivor who lives alone, and was grateful for the food packages. “I hope people won’t forget us, because we’re still here; we’re still alive.” 

And your gift to CBN Israel can let so many in desperate situations know they aren’t forgotten—by offering food, housing, financial aid, and encouragement. As colder weather arrives, the cries for help are escalating. Your support can provide hope for refugees, single moms, and others who are vulnerable. 

Please join us in reaching out today!

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Excavations in the 1990s at the site of Dan in northern Israel, which sits at the foot of Mount Hermon, uncovered three fragments of an inscription from the 9^th century B.C. Written in Old Aramaic the fragments form part of a victory stela of an Aramean king (Hazael?) who claims to have killed the king of Israel and the king of the “House of David,” i.e., Judah. It seems that this stela was erected in connection with the events of the revolt of Jehu (2 Kings 9-10).

From its initial discovery, scholars have noted the significance of this inscription, and especially the mention of the “House of David” with reference to the king of Judah. This is the first ancient inscription that connects the royal house of Judah with David. Moreover, this language, “House (meaning a dynasty) of David,” appears a number of times in the Old Testament.

For example, in 2 Samuel 7, God makes a covenant with David that his heirs will sit on the throne in Jerusalem: “Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:11-12; see also 1 Kings 12:26; 14:8; 2 Kings 17:21; Isaiah 7:2; 22:22; Jeremiah 21:12; Zechariah 12:10; 13:1).

The inscription from Tel Dan indicates that within the 9^th century B.C. the royal house of Judah identified itself as belonging to the House of David, as can be seen from the biblical text. Since the discovery of the Tel Dan stela, an inscription discovered in the 19^th century in Transjordan, the Moabite Stone, which is also a victory stela of Mesha, king of Moab, has been reread, and some scholars have detected a reference to the “House of David” also in the Moabite Stone.

The Tel Dan inscription is also important because, if it refers to the rebellion of Jehu, it provides extrabiblical evidence that can shed light on how we understand this event recorded within the Bible. It suggests that Hazael, king of Aram-Damascus, and Jehu conspired in the rebellion, which may be hinted at in 1 Kings 19:15-18.

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.

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