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“Remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not” (Deuteronomy 8:2 NKJV).

Remember! One of the most frequent commands throughout the Bible is “Remember!” Remember the road you’ve traveled, the struggles and trials you’ve faced. And remember Who brought you along your path.

Remember Who provided for you, cared for you, and calls you to remember and obey His commandments. Remember.

We often turn to God in our times of need. When relationships, circumstances, finances, diagnoses, and life are too overwhelming, then we turn to God. We cleave to Him through those wilderness times of our life, relying upon His presence and provision.

But, once He brings us through those times and we find ourselves upon a firm footing, standing in the Promised Land, how quickly do we forget, rely upon ourselves, and ultimately turn from His ways? Remember.

The festivals that God gave Israel within the Old Testament served two purposes: 1) They were connected with the agricultural cycle, particularly the harvest times, and 2) they called the people to remember what God did for them in the wilderness, how He led them and provided for them.

The agricultural nature of the festivals called upon the Israelites to remember Who sent the rain in its season so the crops could grow, and ultimately Who was responsible for their sustenance and provision. The connection with the wilderness wanderings called upon the people to remember a time when their need for God and His provision was more acute, to remember where they came from.

During the fall harvest festival, Sukkot, God instructed the children of Israel to construct temporary shelters, or booths, that they lived in for the duration of the festival:

“Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt” (Leviticus 23:42-43 NIV).

Dwelling in booths was to remind future generations—those that did not experience the hardships and uncertainty of the wilderness—how God provided for His people.

When later generations found themselves living prosperously in the land, the booths reminded them of a time in their history when their forefathers lacked such prosperity, and in that moment, they should remember God, Who brought Israel out of Egypt.

What is the ultimate goal of this remembrance? We find it in the passage from Deuteronomy quoted initially: “Remember … whether you would keep His commandments or not.”

We confront our limitations and smallness in times of need. We realize how finite we are. It becomes easy to turn to God in those moments. And, as a loving Father, He comes to us. But when we find ourselves in times of prosperity, it’s too easy to think we stand alone on our own two feet, and turning from God and His commandments becomes easy.

Remember where you have come from. Remember where He has taken you. Remember His commandments and purposes for your life. Remember that He is your Savior and King.

PRAYER

Father, thank You for taking us through the wildernesses of our lives and providing for us. May we always—in good times and in bad—remember You and all that You have done for us. Amen.

By Julie Stahl

“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. … Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 23:34-35, 42-43 NIV).

Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, is one of the three major festivals in Judaism. It is both an agricultural festival of thanksgiving and a commemoration of the forty-year period during which the children of Israel wandered in the desert after leaving slavery in Egypt, living in temporary shelters as they traveled.

Some call this holiday a Jewish camping trip with the conveniences of home. It’s an ancient biblical command that’s still being kept today and it begins just four days after Yom Kippur. For thousands of years, Jewish people around the world have followed the biblical injunction to live in temporary dwellings during the week-long Feast of Tabernacles.

“It helps us remember,” says Israeli Seth Ben-Haim. “First of all, we’re commanded to remember the Exodus from Egypt and how we needed to wander through the desert for forty years without permanent dwellings, but it also reminds us that even though we’ve been brought into the land of Israel, we haven’t reached our final destination,” he says.

Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimage festivals, when Jewish people were commanded to go up to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to worship.

For seven days, families eat, sleep, study, and pray in the sukkah or “booth.” Rabbis say it must have at least three sides and the roof must be made in such a way that the stars are visible through it at night and it’s open to the elements. Most people use either palm fronds or a straw mat for the roof. And many are decorated at least in part by the children.

“Otherwise, we’d be in the protection of our homes and the purpose of living temporarily in this flimsy tabernacle is so that we can remember that ultimately we’re under HaShem’s [God’s] protection,” says Ben-Haim.

Another part of the Sukkot celebration is recorded in Leviticus 23:40 (NLT), where the Bible commands the Israelites to take four species of fruit from beautiful trees—a citron or Etrog, a palm branch, a bough of leafy trees (myrtle), and a willow branch and “celebrate with joy before the LORD your God for seven days.”

Great care is taken to choose an Etrog without a blemish but with many bumps. During morning prayers each day, Jewish men wave the Lulav (the three branches) and Etrog before the Lord.

“We wave them in many different directions, and we really look above and that’s what this type of roof helps us to remember. We’re looking above because that’s where our help is going to come from,” says Ben-Haim.

The New Testament records that Jesus went up to Jerusalem for Sukkot: “The Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, so His brothers said to Him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea so Your disciples can see Your works that You are doing.’ … When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple complex and began to teach” ( John 7:2-3, 14 HCSB).

For Christians (actually the whole world), the Feast of Tabernacles has prophetic significance. In the book of Zechariah, the prophet says that one day all nations will come up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast.

Since 1980, thousands of Christians from around the world have come up to Jerusalem every year to see prophecy fulfilled and to celebrate at the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem’s Feast of Tabernacles event. Other Christian ministries also hold Feast celebrations now.

“They’re following the invitation of Zechariah 14, where it says that one day all the nations will come up to celebrate this biblical feast here in Jerusalem, to worship the Lord and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Our showing up here now for this feast is a statement of faith that there’s coming a day when the Messiah will rule here,” says David Parsons, ICEJ spokesman.

Zechariah 14:16-18 says, In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, and to celebrate the [Feast of Tabernacles]. Any nation in the world that refuses to come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will have no rain. If the people of Egypt refuse to attend the festival, the LORD will punish them with the same plague that he sends on the other nations who refuse to go (NLT).

Holiday Greeting: Hag Sameach (“Happy Holiday!”) and during the intermediate days, Moadim L’Simcha (“a joyful holiday!”).

Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel full-time for more than 20 years. Julie’s life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN—first as a graduate student in Journalism at Regent University; then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91; and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009. She is also an integral part of CBN News’ award-winning show, Jerusalem Dateline, a weekly news program providing a biblical and prophetic perspective to what is happening in Israel and the Middle East.

By Marc Turnage

Many travelers to Israel make the mistaken assumption that the boundaries of the modern State of Israel overlap biblical Israel. Apart from the fact that even within the Bible what constitutes the boundaries of Israel shifts from period to period, the modern State of Israel does not share the same footprint as biblical Israel. 

Biblical Israel extended east of the Jordan River into the area of Gilead. The southern part of modern Israel south of the Beersheva basin, towards the Gulf of Elat, lay outside of biblical Israel; in fact, this area comprised the Wilderness of Zin and Paran. Thus, one can tour the Wilderness of Zin in modern Israel and discuss how Moses sent spies from here into the promised land (Numbers 13:21). 

So, Moses made it into the modern State of Israel, but not inside the boundaries of biblical Israel. What further compounds this confusion is the use of biblical place names within modern Israel that do not refer to the same geographic areas, for example, the Negev. Today, the Negev refers to the land south of the Hebron Hills down to Elat. In the Bible, the Negev refers to the Beersheva basin, which cuts east-west across the central hill country that continues to the south. This can be confusing to the modern traveler to Israel. 

The largest river west of the Jordan River is the Zin River, which extends from the hills south of the Beersheva basin east towards the Jordan Valley. This river does not always run with water, but around Avdat (a Nabatean trading center) springs flow into the Zin year-round. It is fitting that in this area Moses sought water for the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness (Numbers 20). It was here that Moses in his frustration with the people struck the rock to bring water from it rather than speaking to it as God had commanded. 

Because of his disobedience, God did not permit Moses to enter the promised land; he could only look into it from Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 34). Water was essential in the dry wilderness, yet shepherds, like Moses, often herded their flocks in such inhospitable terrain. The sheep depended upon the shepherd to provide water for them; thus, shepherds became adept at finding water in seemingly waterless wastes. 

The Nabateans, a desert people, who lived in the region in the first century, whose capital was the rose red city of Petra, learned to navigate the desert by sophisticated water collection. Their water reservoirs were known only to them, which enabled them to traverse the harsh dry land and capitalize on the trade routes between Petra and the port-city of Gaza. Avdat, which sits above the Zin Valley, served as one of their stations along these desert trade routes.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

The Day of Atonement (Hebrew: Yom Kippur) is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish community worldwide. It began yesterday at sundown and ends tonight, September 16, when the stars become visible in the night skies. No work is done. Traditions of fasting and prayer fill the day with themes of repentance and forgiveness. The prayers are called selichot, which means “forgiveness.” Yom Kippur ends with shofars sounding to confirm the ideals of repentance, forgiveness, determination, and optimism for the year head. 

Yom Kippur originated in the desert. In Leviticus 16:30, God enshrined the Day of Atonement, saying through Moses, “For on this day He will forgive you, to purify you, that you be cleansed from all your sins before God.” The Israelites were on their 40-year trek from enslavement in Egypt. Yet, when Moses ascended Mount Sinai, sin abounded below. Israelites built the golden calf idol to worship, and sinfulness went wild in the wilderness. Enslavement of another kind emerged. 

Moses had quite a climb, since the mountain is 7,497 feet high. However, when Moses walked down, the Israelite iniquities required a radical remedy: a Day of Atonement. 

Two goats were at the center of the ancient priestly ceremonies in the sands near Sinai. One goat was sacrificed. The living goat—the scapegoat (Azazel in Hebrew)—was sent out of the Israelite encampment, symbolically carrying the Israelites’ burdens of sin. 

“Scapegoat” is a familiar word, but less known is its origin. In Leviticus 16:21-22, God gives detailed instructions about the scapegoat. “Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their sins, putting them on the head of the goat; and it shall be sent off to the wilderness through a designated man. Thus, the goat shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.”

The ancient Day of Atonement is another signaling shadow in the Old Testament of our Lord Jesus in the New Testament. Psalm 103:12 encapsulates Jesus’ sacrifice as our true, perfect, holy scapegoat: “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” His sacrifice was not a complicated annual ceremony like the ancient ones. It was a one-time event in the history of the world, so profound in its unconditional love that that we can barely grasp it. When we bow before God through the words of the Bible, we can—with deep sorrow and repentance for our own sins—invite Jesus into our lives. Not one of us is an exception, because we all sin. Nevertheless, all of us are welcome at the foot of the cross. 

Jesus is now our High Priest advocating for us with God the Father. He shoulders our burdens daily in a trustworthy relationship of grace. In His resurrection, God’s beloved Son seals our opportunity of new life forever. Hebrews 9:12 describes Him this way: “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

In our brief Yom Kippur tour here, we move from ancient times, when the Israelites left Egypt in 447 B.C., to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, then on to the modern Jewish state in 1973. Only seven years after the Six-Day War—when Israel victoriously united their capital, Jerusalem, and regained their holiest site, the Western Wall—Egypt, and Syria triggered the Yom Kippur War. The day chosen for the attack—October 6, 1973—was no mistake. Egypt and Syria knew Israel would be shut down on its holiest day.

At the time, Israeli intelligence failed to detect the clandestine Egyptian and Syrian preparation months before Yom Kippur. Israel, of course, was praying, fasting, not working, and the IDF was observing the holy day, too. The surprise attacks left Israel completely exposed in a mad scramble, with their enemies attacking on two fronts—in the Sinai and on the Golan Heights. Israel had recaptured them in the 1967 war. Nonetheless, Israeli victory seemed completely out of the question on October 6, 1973, the first day of the war.  

 The Arab attacks indicated a quick victory while Israel rushed to get the IDF and their reserves into action. The Israelis were losing ground and equipment fast. After four days—on October 10, beset by indecision and domestic crisis—former U.S. President Richard Nixon finally decided to send armaments to Israel. Made nearly half a century ago, that decision has been mostly overlooked due to the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s subsequent resignation. 

However, since the communist Soviet Union was supplying the Arab nations with weapons, Nixon understood the seriousness of an Israeli defeat in the surprise attacks. Jim Byron, executive vice president of the Nixon Foundation, penned an article on October 8, 2010, “How Richard Nixon Saved Israel,” in which he listed the incredible, against-all-odds facts: “180 Israeli tanks faced over 1400 Syrian tanks; closer to the Suez Canal, a mere 436 Israeli infantry were poised to fight over 80,000 Egyptian soldiers—this even after Israel’s military buildup. The attacks by Egypt and Syria were backed by nine Arab states—as well as one non-Arab state: the Soviet Union. “He [Nixon] knew that his enemies… would never give him credit for saving Israel. He did it anyway.”

 The operation Nixon authorized was an airlift code-named “Operation Nickel Grass.” It replaced all of Israel’s lost munitions. “Planeload after planeload of supplies literally allowed munitions and materiel to seemingly re-spawn for the Israeli counter effort. 567 missions were flown throughout the airlift, dropping over 22,000 tons of supplies. An additional 90,000 tons of materiel were delivered by sea.” Nickel Grass was an astonishing and timely rescue by any measure and resulted—at the time—in forcing the Soviet Union out of the Middle East. 

The 1973 war took a terrible toll, killing 2,688 Israeli soldiers. The Nixon Foundation also offered this commentary: “The Yom Kippur War would instantly go down in infamy as the bloodiest military confrontation between Israel and its Arab neighbors totaling nearly 53,500 total casualties on all sides involved; compared to 5,500 casualties during the 1967 Six-Day War, and 10,000 casualties during the 1956 Suez Crisis.”

Golda Meir, Israel’s prime minister (1969-1974) during the Yom Kippur War, referred to Richard Nixon as “my president.” Her accolades for the 37th president speak volumes. “For generations to come, all will be told of the miracle of the immense planes from the United States bringing in the materiel that meant life to our people.”

In the ever changing, surprising history of the Middle East, on November 19, 1977, Egypt’s daring president, Anwar Sadat, landed at Ben-Gurion Airport—the first Arab leader to visit Israel. He spoke at the Knesset in a groundbreaking speech saying, “I declare it to the whole world, that we accept to live with you in permanent peace based on justice. We do not want to encircle you or be encircled ourselves by destructive missiles ready for launching, nor by the shells of grudges and hatreds.” 

Sixteen months later, Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin stood on the White House lawn hosted by former President Jimmy Carter. They signed the peace treaty on March 26, 1979, which took effect in January 1980. Their warm handshakes and smiles set the treaty on a course that has thankfully lasted 41 years.  

Now, with the Jewish New Year off to its start in 5782 and the end of Yom Kippur 2021, we convey our sincere wish to Israelis and the Jewish community worldwide: “May you be inscribed in the Book of Life.” 

Please join CBN Israel in prayer on this Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement: 

• Pray for the Jewish nation and people that they would experience a renewal of faith and hope on this holy day.
• Pray in overflowing gratitude for Jesus’ sacrificial death carrying our burdens and sins away for us.
• Pray with thankfulness for the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, and for the rich meanings in ancient Jewish practice and culture.
• Pray that other world leaders will follow the peacemaking examples of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and nations in the Abraham Accords.   

Today, may we Christians meditate on this wonderful verse that symbolizes Jesus’ gift of life for all who believe: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). 

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.

By Julie Stahl

“Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets. You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:27 NLT).

Yom Kippur is the Holiest Day in the Jewish year, the “Day of Atonement.”

The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the “Ten Days of Awe.” This is your chance, so to speak, to get your heart and relationships right before Yom Kippur. According to Jewish tradition, this is the time that one’s name is either inscribed or not in the Book of Life for another year.

“These are heavy, heavy days of repentance, reflection, and seeking God’s face as we prepare to go stand before Him in a state of fasting, a state of humility on the day of Yom Kippur,” says Boaz Michael, founder of First Fruits of Zion.

In some traditions, worshippers pray Selichot or slichot prayers (“forgiveness”) as much as a month before Rosh Hashanah to make sure they are prepared for that day.

“The Bible speaks about Yom Kippur in terms of being a great day of judgment, of us standing before God. It’s traditionally, according to a Jewish perspective, a time in which we will literally be standing before the Father on that Day of Judgment,” says Michael.

It’s customary to wear white on this day. In some traditions, men wear a white robe or, in Yiddish, kittel. That tradition comes from Isaiah 1:18 (NLT), where God says, “Come now, let’s settle this. … Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”

Yom Kippur has five prayer services throughout the day, which is more than any other Jewish holiday.

“The Viddui is the central prayer of confession and forgiveness of the Jewish people on Yom Kippur. And it’s a prayer that they pray not only on behalf of themselves but on behalf of all the Jewish people around the world,” says Reverend David Pileggi of Christ Church in Jerusalem’s Old City.

He says that the Viddui prayer recognizes the words of Jeremiah: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”
(Jeremiah 17:9 NLT).

“One thing we learn from the Jewish people about Yom Kippur is that it’s not enough to say you’re sorry. You have to confess, say you’re sorry, and then at the same time take practical steps to change your behavior,” says Pileggi.

He says there’s a parallel between Yom Kippur and the teachings of Jesus.

“We have a saying of Jesus, don’t we? It says, if you bring your gift to the altar and your brother has something against you, leave your gift at the altar and go and be reconciled with your brother. Jewish tradition says, to go get your relationship right with your neighbor, with your brother, with your family member, forgive and be reconciled and then on the Day of Atonement, when you begin to fast and pray and to confess, God will hear your prayer and forgive you as you have forgiven others,” says Pileggi.

“It’s the teaching of Jesus and it’s also something that’s part and parcel of Jewish tradition and here the two line up very nicely,” Pileggi adds.

In the synagogue, the Book of Jonah is read.

“Jonah is a symbol of repentance. He’s commanded by God to call the people of Nineveh to repent, but he himself was struggling through his own reflections about who receives God’s judgment and who receives God’s mercy,” says Michael.

“So, Jonah can so often symbolize our own actions—doubting God, disobeying God, and determining who’s worthy of His redemption. But, like Jonah, we’re invited to repent of our disobedience and prejudices so that we can rejoin God in building His kingdom,” Michael adds.

He affirms that Yom Kippur holds a deep meaning even for those who believe in Jesus.

“It’s through the work of Messiah that our sins are taken away. He is our great atonement. I think this is a beautiful biblical understanding for us to affirm and hold onto in the context of our daily lives, but at the same time, we also need to be reminded to live a life of repentance,” Michael concludes.

Holiday Greeting: G’mar Chatimah Tovah (“May you be sealed for good in the Book of Life”) and Tzom Kal (used to wish others an “easy fast”).

Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel full-time for more than 20 years. Julie’s life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN—first as a graduate student in Journalism at Regent University; then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91; and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009. She is also an integral part of CBN News’ award-winning show, Jerusalem Dateline, a weekly news program providing a biblical and prophetic perspective to what is happening in Israel and the Middle East.

As a 69-year-old widow, Dalia has two adult children who live on their own. Yet, one grown child still lives with her—a son who suffers from kidney disease. He is not able to work, and they survive mostly on Dalia’s pension. Living a simple life, they have managed to get by. 

But when 11 days of rocket attacks began from Gaza into Israel, Dalia’s city was in the line of fire. One day, they heard the 10-second warning siren. She and her son rushed to their apartment stairwell, which is their protected area. Suddenly, a rocket hit the apartment entrance, and the huge explosion caused Dalia to fall hard, suffering a stroke and trauma. 

Fortunately, her son was not injured—and after a few weeks in the hospital, Dalia recovered. Finally able to come home, she was glad her building was not destroyed. However, surveying the damage, many of her windows were cracked—and the blast left much debris, and damage from the shards. Living on a pension with a disabled son, how could she afford repairs? 

Thanks to friends like you, Dalia received help through CBN Israel. We offered her immediate emergency financial aid for food and essentials, as well as repairing the damage to her home. Plus, we are providing her with trauma counseling and encouragement, through local professionals who partner with us. Dalia exclaimed, “I thank you all very much!” 

And your gift to CBN Israel can help other terror victims recover—as well as providing for Holocaust survivors, refugees, and single mothers in need. So many in Israel are in crisis situations, with nowhere to turn. Your support can bring them food, shelter, financial aid, and other assistance. 

Please consider a gift to bless others in the Holy Land today!

GIVE TODAY

By Marc Turnage

The first century Jewish historian Josephus described the Jerusalem Temple in great detail. He noted that the large outer court was separated from the holy precincts by a balustrade that had inscriptions in Greek and Latin forbidding non-Jews from passing this wall. Non-Jews were permitted to be in the outer court, which lay outside the sacred area of the Temple. 

A thick marble slab with seven lines inscribed in Greek warning “foreigners” (non-Jews) from passing the balustrade of the Temple and entering its sacred precincts was discovered in 1871, north of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The inscription reads: “No foreigner is to enter within the balustrade and forecourt around the sacred precinct. Whoever is caught will himself be responsible for (his) consequent death.” It currently resides in the archaeological museum in Istanbul, Turkey. A broken marble slab with six lines inscribed in Greek was discovered in the area of Lion’s Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. It resides in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. 

Both inscriptions verify Josephus’ description of the warnings on the balustrade of the outer court of the Temple. Paul was accused of violating this prohibition by bringing non-Jews past the partition (Acts 21:26-30). Paul also used this physical partition, which separated non-Jews from the sacred areas of the Temple when he wrote to the Ephesians: 

“So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called ‘the uncircumcised’ by those called ‘the circumcised,’ which is done in the flesh by human hands. At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh, He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it” (Ephesians 2:11-16; emphasis added). 

According to Paul, that which served as a sign in the Jerusalem Temple for the separation between Jews and non-Jews had been abolished in God’s redemptive community, in which Jews and non-Jews were now reconciled.

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

“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” (Matthew 5:23-24 NLT).

The Bible describes three types of sins: 1) intentional sins that I commit against God, 2) unintentional sins that I commit against God, and 3) sins that I commit against my neighbor. For sins I intentionally commit against God, the only course of forgiveness is repentance: “You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart” (Psalm 51:16-17 HCSB). 

Jesus’ command (Matthew 5:23-24) comes from this biblical realization regarding the different ways in which we must deal with the broken relationships in our lives. For Jesus’ first-century Galilean listeners, the only place they could make an offering was in the Jerusalem Temple—a journey that took at least four days from the Galilee. 

It’s striking to hear Jesus’ words as His initial audience did: If you are at the altar in Jerusalem and remember that someone has something against you, leave your offering, go back at least four days’ journey, and be reconciled. Then return to Jerusalem and present your offering to God. According to Jesus, reconciliation with one’s neighbor provided the foundation for that offering to be accepted. 

Jesus’ instruction to His followers grew from the world of ancient Judaism. This commandment is still practiced today within the Jewish community in the days surrounding Yom Kippur (the “Day of Atonement”), the most holy day within Judaism. In the days leading up to Yom Kippur—a day when people fast, repent, and call upon God to forgive the sins they committed against Him—Jewish people first seek to be reconciled with each other. 

They ask for forgiveness and seek to make restitution. Why? Because of the belief that we cannot ask for forgiveness from God on Yom Kippur if we have unrepaired relationships with our neighbors. Those must be repaired first, even if it is necessary for us to make restitution. 

This same spirit stands behind the teachings of Jesus emphasizing that our relationships with others provide the foundation for our relationship with God. Zacchaeus told Jesus, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today” (Luke 19:8-9 NLT). 

When we think about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we often focus exclusively upon our relationship with God and His forgiveness of our sins. However, the Bible teaches that our repairing, making restitution, and reconciling ourselves with our neighbor is an indicator of the quality of our relationship with God: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love God he has not seen” (1 John 4:20 HCSB).

PRAYER

Father, may our diligent pursuit of reconciliation and making restitution with others be a strong indication of our relationship with You. Amen. 

By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

Saturday, September 11, 2021, marks the 20th anniversary of the terrorist flights of radical Islamic death and destruction that took place on a sky-blue Tuesday morning. The hijacked planes—United Airlines 175, American Airlines 11, American Airlines 77, and United Airlines 93—became weapons of hatred crashing into the iconic Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania. That day was seared into our memories: the day of the biggest terrorist attack in American history. 

It was all over in 102 minutes, from the time of the first crash and the disintegration of both towers, killing 2,997 people. Less than two hours changed our way of life, adding 9/11, al Qaeda, and the Twin Towers to our national vocabulary. 

At the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, a quote from the Roman poet Virgil is emblazoned on one of the walls: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” Surely this is a truth. 

It seems fitting to mention here that, in another demonstration of the strong friendship between our two countries, Israel is the only other nation that built a 9/11 memorial. Located 20 miles from Jerusalem, the memorial is a 30-foot-high bronze American flag that forms the shape of a flame to commemorate the flames of the Twin Towers. Metal scraps from the towers form the base of the monument. Completed in 2009, it includes the names of all who died.  

Like the question asked for years after November 22, 1963, “Where were you when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated?” so September 11, 2001, took its place as a traumatic landmark in our national psyche. On 9/11, I was a part-time teacher’s aide in a Christian high school. The principal turned on his office TV when he heard the first reports. I ran there in time to see the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. Somehow, I knew right away it was terrorism. I returned to my students and announced as calmly as I could: “Class, our nation has just been attacked by terrorists. You will remember this day for the rest of your lives.” Our hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan will become another of those days seared into our memories. 

After 9/11, ordering our military into Iraq and Afghanistan grew into 20 years of sacrifice from our patriotic troops and their families. Now, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has left many Americans—and the world—thunderstruck. With the ensuing sorrow, anger, and desperation, quick responses of mercy and rescue have emerged. Like the deeds of unity and courage on and after September 11, 2001, and 20 years of service from U.S. armed forces, we are now witnessing more valor: the unity of private NGOs rescuing Afghans and Americans who were left behind. It’s a testament to what is best in us being motivated by a spirit stronger than evil. 

Numerous NGOs and 501(c)(3) ministries have interlocked their efforts to help rescue abandoned Christians, Americans, Afghan friends, and minority religious groups. After several weeks of rescue operations, where Glenn Beck’s audiences raised upwards of $30 million for the Mercury One missions, I interviewed Charmaine Hedding, founder and president of the Shai Fund, one of the rescue organizations. Since 2014, the Shai Fund has directly assisted over 100,000 vulnerable or persecuted people in nations worldwide, including Myanmar, Syria, Mozambique, Iraq, and Lebanon. When we spoke, I heard exhaustion and frustration in Hedding’s voice; nevertheless, her determination to keep moving forward was clear. 

Hedding said of the decision to help: “When we realized what was happening, we felt compelled to join the effort. If it’s within your hands to do something you should do it.” She immediately connected with others in Mercury One and put together safe houses in Kabul, since the Taliban had already sent threatening letters to the Afghan Christian community. She noted, “We wanted to make sure the Christian community was not forgotten.”

She observed that it’s difficult to know how many Christians have been killed since August 15. “Many people started moving toward the airport and a lot of people ran into northern Afghanistan and over the border into Pakistan.” She went on to say, “Our priority of getting the Christians out was because we knew the Taliban was targeting and hunting them down.” She herself amassed the details for flight manifests for the U.S. State Department, which approved them, but she reveals one of the reports that said, “When it came to actually opening the airport gates, they would not let us through. That happened time and time again. One time when a group got through and waited for a flight, a marine colonel threw them right back out again.” 

Hedding emphasized, “We are not going to stop. We still want to save as many souls as possible.”

Twenty years of mistakes, blunders, successes, deaths, and injuries will undoubtedly be discussed repeatedly in the coming years. However, the rescuers in the Mercury One coalition of private NGOs and military veterans understand reality: Lies are the Taliban’s native language and evil is their idol. Our military on the ground and in the air at Kabul’s international airport knew this too. Unfortunately, the United States commander-in-chief did not grasp the lies and evil that motivate terrorists. His decision limited our military’s capabilities, resulting in chaos and deaths, which began when he did not notify NATO allies prior to the United States abandoning Bagram Air Force Base.

Controversies are emerging about six planes awaiting clearance to take off from another airbase, Mazar-i-Sharif, to bring 1,000 Americans and Afghanis to safety. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) on the House Foreign Affairs Committee told Fox News, “The Taliban will not let them leave.” While the U.S. State Department has cleared flights, a spokesperson said, “We do not have personnel on the ground, we do not have air assets in the country, we do not control the airspace—whether over Afghanistan or elsewhere in the region.” What will transpire at the airbase is still unknown.

Remembering the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on Saturday and now reeling from this calamity, not on our soil this time, but in our hearts and emotions, many are asking themselves, “What now?” For us as believers, our prayers must continue for service members past and present, Gold Star families, and NGOs still working to rescue those trapped in Afghanistan. Donations to a rescuing ministry are still needed. Many of them already work on behalf of persecuted Christians worldwide. Those left behind are suffering in Afghanistan and in many other nations under the hateful hands of cruel terrorists. 

It’s a good time to remember that our Lord knows suffering because He experienced suffering for us. Now we have unconditional love and healing in our Savior’s nail-scarred hands. 

2 Corinthians 5:21—“For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Please join us this week in prayer for Israel, Afghanistan, and the Middle East:

• Pray that God will make a supernatural path of escape for those that have been left behind in Afghanistan.
• Pray the Lord will hide those at risk from enemy eyes who wish them harm. 
• Pray that God will send help to defeat the evil schemes of the Taliban and other extremist groups in Afghanistan.
• Pray that the truth of the Gospel will pierce the darkness and spread all throughout Afghanistan and the entire region. 
• Pray that God will continue to surround the people and nation of Israel with His protection in the weeks and months ahead. 

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.

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