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By Marc Turnage

Located on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, about seven miles south of Jericho and twenty miles north of Ein Gedi, sits the ruins of Qumran. Eleven caves around Qumran yielded, arguably, the most important archaeological discovery of the twentieth century: the Dead Sea Scrolls. The current name, Qumran, comes from the Arabic word qamar (“moon”), so it was not its ancient name, which remains unknown. Some have suggested that it may be Secacah (Joshua 15:61-62).

In 1947, in a cave just north of the ruins of Qumran, Bedouin shepherds discovered seven leather scrolls hidden inside. This set off the frantic search by scholars and Bedouin alike to discover more caves and scrolls. Around Qumran, eleven caves were discovered between 1952-1956 that contained scrolls. The discovery of scrolls in the caves around Qumran led archaeologists to excavate the ruins of Qumran in 1951 and from 1953-1956.

The library of scrolls discovered in the eleven caves yielded approximately 30,000 fragments of scrolls, comprising about 1,000 manuscripts written on leather, papyrus, and one on copper, in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The library proves incredibly important for our understanding of the text of the Old Testament, as well as ancient Judaism, the Judaism of the first century.

Every book of the Old Testament, except for Esther, was discovered among the Qumran library. The most copied books were Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah, which are also the three Old Testament books most frequently quoted in the New Testament. The library also contained non-biblical works written by Jews from the second century B.C. to the first century A.D., with a unique collection of writings belonging to the Jewish sect that lived at Qumran, a group most scholars identify as the Essenes, which are mentioned by several ancient writers.

Most scholars identify the ruins of Qumran as belonging to a group of Essenes. The site consists of rooms, which have been identified as a scriptorium, where the community members copied the scrolls, a dining room, which is the longest room at the site and had a pantry filled with bowls, plates, and cups. The site also contains pottery kilns, water reservoirs, as well as several large communal Jewish ritual immersion baths.

The site, which sits in a dry, desert climate, used a series of dams and water channels to bring water from the nearby wadi, which flooded during the winter rains. The dams and channels ensured that water flowed into the settlement and filled the water installations.

The discovery of the scrolls significantly advanced our understanding of the text of the Old Testament, as well as the world of ancient Judaism, which is the world of the New Testament. 

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

“Then Peter came up and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven’” (Matthew 18:21-22 RSV).

Peter came to Jesus asking how often he should forgive his brother, offering up to seven times. Jesus responded by multiplying Peter’s seven seventy-fold. Not once. Not twice. But seventy times seven. 

Forgiveness is hard. It’s not easy. 

To underscore his message to Peter, Jesus told a parable in which a servant owed a king an impossible debt, which, when the servant besought him for mercy, the king forgave.

Yet, after being forgiven such an incredible debt, the servant found a fellow servant who owed him a rather small debt. Instead of responding mercifully to his fellow servant’s pleas for mercy, the first servant had him thrown into prison. 

The king, when he became aware of the first servant’s actions, had him thrown in prison for not being merciful to his fellow servant. He had not shown mercy toward one like himself. In fact, the king (God) judged him because of his failure to show mercy. 

We like God forgiving us. Yet, according to Jesus, if our forgiveness from God does not lead us to forgive others, then we stand to face God’s unmerciful justice. 

Elsewhere Jesus said, “In the same way you judge others, you will be judged” (Matthew 7:2 NIV). If we judge without mercy, we will be judged without mercy.

If we show no mercy, we will receive no mercy: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7 NKJV).

If we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV).

We cannot seek pardon from the Lord for ourselves and not be willing to extend it to others, including our enemies. That’s hard.

But think of the statement that it makes in our world. When we forgive others, we actually unleash God’s power in the world. We partner with God in bringing His redemption into people’s lives when we forgive them, even forgiving them seventy times seven. 

PRAYER

Father, forgive us our sins as we forgive our debtors. Amen.

By Mark Gerson

In Exodus 5-6, God prepares to free the Jewish people from many years of torturous and murderous slavery. Yet when God’s prophet, Moses, tells the Jews about their impending change of circumstance, their response is not jubilation, exhilaration, gratitude, or hope. In fact, they had to be commanded to prepare for freedom.

Why did the Jewish slaves respond this way? The text, combined with what we know from lived experience, enables us to figure it out. In Exodus 5:7-8, the Pharaoh intentionally made it much more difficult for the Jews to do their work—while forcing them to maintain the same quota. This intensification of an already extraordinarily brutal slavery had its effect. When Moses tells the Jews, in Exodus 6:9, that they are about to be freed, “they did not heed Moses.” Why? “Because of shortness of breath and hard work.”

The phrase “shortness of breath” is understood on two levels, both of them true. First is the physical. The Jewish slaves were forced to work so hard that they suffered from physical shortness of breath. The Hebrew term for “breath”—ruach—also means “spirit.” The Pharaoh had crushed the spirit of the enslaved Jews. 

How does a crushed spirit present itself? A person with a crushed spirit is one who no longer identifies himself as someone who is suffering through or from something but rather as one who believes that he is that thing. Their spirits crushed, the Jews did not think of themselves as a proud people—children of God—who were suffering through a horrible period that would give way to something better. Instead, they thought of themselves as slaves. In that condition, not even Moses or God could get through to them. 

Rabbi Efrem Goldberg of the Boca Raton Synagogue makes the analogy to a congregant who was struggling mightily with his weight. Rabbi Goldberg suggested to the congregant that, as a weight loss measure, they go for a walk together every day. The congregant demurred, saying that he was an obese person. His obesity had become an immutable characteristic, and there was nothing that he could do about it. His spirit was crushed. 

In Exodus 7, the biblical author provides the antidote to the crushed spirit. God is providing Moses and Aaron with perhaps the most important direction ever given—how to be God’s partners in telling Pharaoh the Jews are about to be freed. This divine instruction is interrupted, however, by the biblical author, with a bit of biographical information about Moses and Aaron: “Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.” 

Any reader would be rightly stunned by this interpolation and led to wonder: Who cares how old Moses and Aaron were? One can safely presume God’s instruction would not have been different if Moses and Aaron were, say, 44 and 41. So why are we being told about their ages, particularly at one of the most dramatic and consequential moments in the Torah? 

It helps now to remember what the genre of the Torah is. It is a guidebook, designed to enable us to live better lives today. This seemingly irrelevant interruption must exist to instruct us about something—and something important enough to warrant its inclusion at this moment in the text. Let’s try to figure out what it must be—realizing, as always with the Bible, that the same text can teach multiple truths. 

First, 40 is the biblical number of transition. This probably derives from the fact that the time from conception to delivery is 40 weeks. We see 40 used as the number of transition throughout the Torah—with Noah and the flood, with Moses on Mount Sinai, with the Jewish people in the desert. Moses had transitioned from Egypt to Midian. At 80, Moses is about to lead the most significant transition of them all—of the Jewish people from slavery to freedom. 

Second, we only really speak of ages when they are interesting and instructive. For instance, we hear a lot more about Tom Brady’s age now (he is 43) than we did 15 years ago. And it is easily evident why: it is expected that a top player in the NFL would be 28 but completely intriguing when he is middle-aged! 

So, why would it be interesting that Moses and his brother are so old? Because they, like Tom Brady, are assuming the task generally accorded to much younger people. We do not think of octogenarians as people who lead revolutions. They are generally at the stage when they can wisely counsel the younger people who are in the position of responsibility. 

But a hint that the biblical author and Moses do not agree with this assessment of old age is foreshadowed even earlier in the Exodus story. When God tells Moses that Moses is going to lead, Moses comes up with numerous objections—he is not credible to the Jews, he is not a man of words, et cetera. Though Moses thinks of just about everything to decline his mission, there is one striking omission. He does not tell God he is too old. 

Why not? Because though Moses might be old, he does not think of himself as old. In other words, Moses may happen to be old—but he is not old. And Moses in this case is a model any of us can follow. The most energetic, enthusiastic, hardworking person my wife and I know is Dr. Ruth Westheimer who, pre-COVID, came to our home for Shabbat every Friday night when she was not traveling for work. We’ll always remember Dr. Ruth last year, at age 91, asking a friend of ours what he did. Our friend said he just retired. She stared at him. “You may not retire! You may rewire—but not retire!” 

Dr. Ruth’s great spirit was shared by the Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, who died in 1994. People from all over the world would visit the Rebbe, seeking a blessing and/or advice. Whenever anyone said that someone retired, the Rebbe would effectively say that such an activity was forbidden! There is always more to do in God’s bountiful world, for everyone at all stages.

The Rebbe turned 80 in April of 1982. He celebrated his birthday by starting a speech at 9 p.m., concluding it at 3 a.m., and giving gifts to his audience until 6:15 a.m. The Rebbe, Dr. Ruth, and Moses all turned 80—but none ever saw themselves as “old” or “elderly.” They kept on making new, creative and enduring contributions to the world for years to come. 

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

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!

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