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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Tonight, the 7th of December, Jews in multiple time zones are lighting their first candle for Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights. The history of the festival dates back to 165 B.C. in the Jewish homeland, when the famous Maccabee soldiers defeated Israel’s ruthless enemy pagan King Antiochus IV. Their hard-fought victory made way for the cleansing and rededication of their desecrated Temple, their re-lit glowing menorah, Jewish culture, Scriptures, and freedom in the Holy Land. The Hebrew word hanukkah means “rededication.”

Lighting the first candle tonight happens amid the most profound darkness in Israel’s modern history. In this, Israel’s 75th year, the October 7 traumas relentlessly invade the emotions, minds, and memories of every Jewish Israeli as additional first-person stories of barbaric brutality emerge from released hostages.

Needed now are fervent, loving prayers for the new Maccabees—the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fighting for Israel’s existence. In their small nation, it is said that every Israeli knows someone in the IDF, Israeli police, Mossad, or Shin Bet. These brave soldiers, intelligence officials, and security personnel have sacrificed their lives or suffered serious injuries to defend their country.

King Antiochus’s attempts to wipe out the ancient Jewish people and culture with forced Greek pagan worship can be seen as a historical backdrop for the Hamas terrorists—the New Nazis. The Maccabees were a comparatively small force of no more than 12,000 men up against a 40,000-man army. Today, the Israel Defense Forces has amassed upwards of 400,000 soldiers determined to put Hamas, Hezbollah, and other modern Islamic regime proxies into the dustbin of history for good. And they will.

It is worth noting that since the fourth millennium BCE, Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, has been attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, besieged 23 times, and destroyed twice. However, Israel is eternal, because during every darkness the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reassures Israel with His unbreakable promise: “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you. Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride” (Isaiah 49:16-18 NIV).

The steadfast Maccabees from long ago set a historical precedent of Jewish resilience that is reflected within today’s IDF. In a speech to Israel’s citizens, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant proclaimed, “You have someone to be proud of, you have someone to trust. The IDF and all the security agencies are the defensive shields that ensure our lives in the State of Israel.”

Also inspirational are stories about Jews held captive in Nazi death camps—those who, despite their inhuman imprisonment, created inventive ways to celebrate the Maccabees and subsequent Festival of Lights. Author I.I. Cohen relates his own story in My Auschwitz-Spoon Hanukkah. Before being transferred to the Kaufering concentration camp, Cohen had smuggled a spoon out of Auschwitz. He also kept a mental calendar of Jewish festivals and thus knew Hanukkah was approaching. Holding any kind of prayer or Jewish practice was sure to bring punishment or death—yet some 500 prisoners were determined to celebrate anyway.

Cohen commented, “We tried whenever possible to … maintain a self-image as God-fearing Jews, despite all the dangers that involved.” One man donated a small piece of butter he had saved from his daily ration to use as “oil.” Others unraveled threads from their uniforms for wicks. Yet, what could serve as a menorah? Cohen pulled out his spoon, which served as a tiny menorah once they’d added the wicks and oil. They lit the candle and recited the blessings, with memories from past Hanukkahs at home. Mr. Cohen explained that it “kindled a glimmer of hope.” He survived three concentration camps.

Another story comes from Bergen-Belsen in 1943 via Yaffa Eliach’s book, Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust. In it, he recounts how Rabbi Israel Shapiro managed a plan to celebrate Hanukkah. The men saved up bits of fat from their skimpy food allotments; the women pulled threads from their ragged clothing and twisted them into wicks. The candleholder was fashioned from a raw potato, and toy dreidels for children were carved out of the wooden shoes worn by prisoners. Risking their lives, the inmates stealthily walked to Barracks 10. Rabbi Shapiro put together the parts, and while chanting the blessings, broke into tears of grief—he had lost his wife, only daughter, son-in-law, and only grandchild. Everyone gathered wept with him as they attempted to sing Ma’oz Tzur, a traditional song proclaiming their faith in God, the Rock of their strength.

Rabbi Shapiro also lamented about why God had given miracles to their ancestors but not to them now. He then answered his own question: “By kindling this Hanukkah candle we are symbolically identifying ourselves with the Jewish people everywhere. Our long history records many bloody horrors our people have endured and survived.” He prophetically added, “We may be certain that no matter what may befall us as individuals, the Jews as a people will outlive their cruel foes and emerge triumphant in the end.” His declaration reflects that even a tiny light pierces the dark reality of physical imprisonment—and that Jewish spirits are not bound in chains.

Finally, a simple Hanukkah celebration held during World War I at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, would turn out to have planted a world-changing seed. Jews stationed there in 1917 awaited their overseas orders to Europe. To celebrate Hanukkah—with few supplies and no chaplain—the Jewish soldiers made a menorah from shell casings collected from the firing range. Eddie Jacobson, a Jewish soldier from Kansas City, Missouri, invited his Christian friend, Captain Harry Truman, to attend. Several Jewish women from nearby Lawton, Oklahoma, brought the traditional potato latkes. Jewish soldiers told the story of the victorious Maccabees, lit the candles, and celebrated. 

It is said that Truman, who was experiencing Hanukkah for the first time, listened closely and then commented, “I think the Jewish people should have its own land again.” Thirty-one years later, when Truman served as president, he and Eddie Jacobson had remained friends. Jacobson became instrumental in convincing his friend to vote in favor of a modern Jewish state at the United Nations. President Truman cast his vote on May 14, 1948—the first world leader to do so.

Since the beginning of the Hamas War—two months ago today— 401 soldiers have sacrificially given their lives to oppose evil-minded men. The IDF has entered another phase of their strategic war to eliminate Hamas Nazis in Gaza’s south, where they have created a detailed map split into hundreds of locations that pinpoint safe zones for civilians. No other military on earth takes these kinds of measures to protect civilians.

The modern Maccabee army has erected a 15-foot menorah in Beit Hanoun in Gaza as a symbol of the IDF’s remarkable achievements thus far. It is a Chabad project of IDF reserve soldiers led by Rabbi Yosef Aharonov at Tzach of Israel. Rabbi Aharonov reported that they will erect more than a dozen menorahs in Gaza and give out personal menorahs and the traditional Hanukkah doughnuts to over 10,000 Israeli soldiers deployed in Gaza. “We also plan to have volunteers light the large menorahs each night of Hannukah,” he said, “bringing light to the darkest places.”

Let all of us in the Christian community join in by lighting one candle in our homes to celebrate with the modern Maccabees on December 7, along with raising up prayers for their safety and complete triumph over evil.

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team once again to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6).

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the security cabinet, and all IDF leaders.
• Pray for the IDF, which has already destroyed 500 of the 800 Gaza terror tunnels.
• Pray for 137 hostages still imprisoned in Hamas’s version of concentration camps.
• Pray for the mental health of all Israelis who face varying degrees of trauma.
• Pray for your advocacy to shed glimmers of light to Jewish friends here and to Israel.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

On December 15, 1961, a court in Jerusalem, Israel, sentenced Nazi SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann to death for crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and war crimes. Presiding Judge Moshe Landau articulated that Eichmann’s goal was “to obliterate an entire people from the face of the world.”

Eichmann organized and oversaw “The Final Solution” by dispatching trains from all over Europe to Auschwitz and other death camps. Each train held 1,000 people. Judge Landau observed, “It is as though he committed a thousand acts of premeditated murder each time.”

Hamas’s barbaric murders on October 7, 2023, are codified in their 1988 charter that in part “rejects any alternative to full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.” It further directs: “The day of judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them.”

The Hamas charter imitates the Nazi’s Final Solution described by Judge Landau to “obliterate an entire people [Jews] from the world.” Hamas’s 1,000-plus premeditated murders in one day—inside the Jewish homeland—made it the bloodiest day since the Holocaust. Hamas stays fanatically committed to reaching its future goals. Like Nazis, they burned victims. Like Nazis, they raped victims. Like Nazis, they desecrated bodies.

Since the Holocaust, world organizations have codified laws that address these evils. Within the International Criminal Court, the 1949 Geneva Convention’s Article 8 clearly defines war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross prominently include the same definitions in their documents.

As you read this partial list, apply it to Hamas. Willful killing. Rape. Torture. Inhumane treatment. Extensive destruction of property. Hostage taking and more. These crimes against humanity shock the consciences among people of goodwill.

Hours after Hamas’s barbaric assaults and murders on October 7, 2023, news quickly circulated around the globe prompting reactions of shock and compassion for 1,400 murdered Israelis and those from other countries. Nevertheless, only a few days later, shock faded into new Nazi shouts of “Kill the Jews” in a pandemic marked by another kind of virus, a pandemic of Jew hatred.

Worldwide, masses of violent demonstrators occupied cities while small rogue groups vented their Jew hatred by attacking Jews in schools and on the streets of many countries, including the United States. Once again mainstream media are accomplices and purveyors of Hamas’s propaganda by giving immediate credence to their made-up reports against Israel, as if the Jewish state were the perpetrator.

Although some news outlets occasionally backtrack from dishonest reporting, by then the Jew haters are already consuming and spreading the lies as described in Isaiah 5:20 NIV: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” 

Surely, “woe” is called for in a legal tribunal for justice against Hamas. Isaiah 1:17 expresses tragedies among hostages, their families, and all Israelis. “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” 

Meanwhile, top leaders of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal, live luxuriously in Qatar. They operate in exile while Palestinians serve as their pawns to carry out terror directives backed by Iran’s Islamic regime. Oil-rich Qatar is a small Persian Gulf peninsula next to Saudi Arabia, ruled by a monarchy led by Sheikh Amir Tanim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Qatar has over two million citizens and runs on a combined legal system of civil and Islamic law. Haniyeh and Mashal live lavishly in five-star hotels, fly in private planes, and manage their billion-dollar bank accounts. After the Hamas murders, they prostrated themselves in thankfulness to Allah in their fancy office.

A Times of Israel article reported that Hamas leaders made their fortunes partly in a 20 percent tax on all goods that passed through tunnels from Egypt into Gaza since 2014. Al Majalla, a Saudi weekly, published a comment the same year from a Palestinian Authority official saying that tunnel-smuggling had turned 1,700 senior Hamas members into millionaires. Almost a decade later, the combination of wealth and hatred are a deadly motivation for Hamas leaders.

Meanwhile, Hamas mainstreams hate into children’s minds though schoolbooks and specializes in brainwashing children in summer camps. The students wear uniforms, shoot guns, and learn terror tactics. Adele Raemer, a survivor of Kibbutz Nirim, is an Israeli educator. Sometimes volunteering in educational initiatives with Palestinian teachers, she saw some of their books. “These children are taught hate in their textbooks,” she explained. “They’re taught, ‘If you have six Jews and you kill four of them, how many Jews do you have left?’”

Pause and consider for a moment: According to a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report on Gaza, in 2020 a full 60 percent of Gazans lived below the poverty line. In 2022 “almost 63% of households faced moderate food insecurity.” The UNDP estimates that these figures will skyrocket since Hamas terrorists instigated war.

This begs the question of Hamas’s war crimes against Palestinians, too. In 2005, Israel turned Gaza over to Palestinians by forcing its 8,000 Jewish citizens out of Gaza in a difficult and heartbreaking decision that deprived those Israelis of everything. Israel’s ill-founded hope was that Palestinians would develop their own peaceful state.

Instead, Hamas developed Gaza into the largest, most sophisticated terror headquarters in the world, situated purposely under Al Shifa Hospital. They regularly stash weapons and explosives in apartments, schools, hospitals, and mosques knowing that Israel does not intentionally target civilians. Part of the Hamas strategy is to use women and children as human shields. That is a war crime. 

NO JEW HAS LIVED IN GAZA FOR 15 YEARS. ISRAEL DOES NOT OCCUPY GAZA. GAZA IS OCCUPIED BY HAMAS AND FUNDED BY IRAN’S ISLAMIC REGIME.

The precedent for holding a war crimes tribunal in Israel was established in 1961, when a Jerusalem court issued a death sentence for the unrepentant SS Lieut. Col. Adolph Eichmann. At midnight—bridging May 31 and June 1, 1962—the Nazi was hanged at the Ramle fortress prison outside Tel Aviv, whereupon Jewish authorities cremated his remains and scattered the ashes in the Mediterranean Sea beyond Israeli boundary waters. 

Now is the time to plan arrests. The IDF is searching for Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the October 7 atrocities. Sinwar and the top Hamas leaders in Qatar must be transported to an Israeli prison where Israel can initiate a war crimes tribunal to be conducted in their capital.

After World War II, it took years of searching but the Israeli Security Service (Mossad) found Eichmann in Argentina after he escaped in 1946 from U.S. custody. They brought him to Israel to stand trial.

Locating the top Hamas perpetrators is a job that Mossad would welcome.

Please join our CBN Israel team to pray with us, meditating on Proverbs 24:24-25: “Whoever says to the guilty, ‘You are innocent,’ will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations. But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his security cabinet, and all IDF leaders to make wise decisions.
• Pray for families and friends suffering the loss of brave IDF soldiers, as well as all civilians who were murdered or are still captives.
• Pray for the Druze community, a small Israeli minority that valiantly serves in the IDF. They have suffered the loss of six soldiers thus far. 
• Pray for mainstream media to report honestly with unbiased, proven facts.
  
  

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

On November 14, my husband of 47 years and I flew to Washington, D.C., excited to stand with Israel at the March for Israel rally on the National Mall. We are Evangelicals who joined with upwards of 300,000 Jews there. We traveled with a Christian organization called Passages, which on short notice recruited 700 Christian college students. Since its founding in 2016, Passages has hosted more than 11,000 students to Israel with a focus on developing educated, pro-Israel leaders for the future.

Passages converged at the Museum of the Bible, where we received excellent briefings, some of them from my good friend, Passages CEO Scott Phillips. Afterward, walking five blocks to the National Mall, we enjoyed the musical renditions of popular Jewish performers Ishay Ribo, Omer Adam, Matisyahu, and The Maccabeats.

Besides Passages’ student contingent, Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), was part of the massive, unified crowd. Penny remarked, “Along with other Christians, I was honored to be here with our Jewish brothers and sisters who need our support.” On her first trip to Israel, Penny and other Christian leaders had visited Kfar Aza, a group I helped host on behalf of the American Israel Education Foundation. In the hours we spent at this beautiful kibbutz close to the Gaza border, we marveled at their delight living in their homeland—despite years of frequent rocket barrages from Hamas. We felt deeply touched by the love for their land. When Penny returned from Israel, she added support for Israel to CWA’s core issues which include the family, sanctity of human life, religious liberty, education, sexual exploitation, national sovereignty, and support for Israel.

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem’s USA branch also mobilized its members and joined in with 300,000 enthusiastic shouts of “Am Yisrael Chai”—Hebrew for “the people of Israel live,” which is an affirmation of the Jewish continuity throughout the millennia.

Throughout the afternoon, Jews and Christians together rang out in one voice for the one Jewish nation in the world!

The word “exhilarating” does not fully describe what we experienced at the largest pro-Israel gathering in American history! Members of Congress—Christian and Jewish, Democrat and Republican—stood together on the stage, among them recently elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

Reverberating over the National Mall were comments from rabbis and university students, as well as heartbreaking stories from hostage family members who participated in the programming. Pastor John Hagee voiced his longtime support for Israel. Everyone gathered in peace, listening to speakers who brought us to tears and others who resounded with hope and commitment to stand with our ally, Israel. No violence, no hatred, no destruction of buildings or monuments. The obvious atmosphere of peace and friendliness among Jews and Christians showed a stark contrast to the opposite atmospheres of violent, crazed, and uninformed demonstrators who glorify the barbaric deaths that Hamas committed on October 7 against 1,200 people—mostly civilians.

Passages CEO Scott Phillips’s description of his experiences reflects mine. “We were met with countless hugs, high fives, gratitude and even tears, truly a humbling experience to stand at ‘such a time as this’ with our Jewish friends.”

As I have been advocating for Israel for almost 25 years, my personal blessings came due to the Passages T-shirt I wore emblazoned with “Christians Stand With Israel.” My best moments unfolded when many within the Jewish community walked up to me with big smiles and warm thanks. I replied to everyone who expressed their thanks, “You are not alone.” I felt that my longtime calling to advocate for Israel was affirmed with their smiles and gratitude!

The Israel Rally was timely. The pressures on Israel are intensifying at breakneck speed. An outpouring of compassion from Jews, Christians, and others is evident. However, deepening our prayers and practical help for the long haul is essential.

We Evangelicals must also suit up to pass along facts to oppose Hamas’s propaganda. Find your facts from trusted sources like CBN News. Be aware that the world media rush to report whatever Hamas announces—forgetting or not caring for facts—and that terrorists are not only addicted to hate and murderous, unholy barbarism. They are expert liars and not to be trusted under any circumstances.

In his newsletter, Mission Brief, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, IDF spokesperson to the international media, regularly gives operational updates. While Israel-haters lash out with lies and slander against the IDF, on November 21 Hecht included these illuminating words from Commanding Officer of the 36th Division, Brigadier General Dado Bar Kalifa: “During the last days of the fighting of the 36th Division in Zaytun, we constantly encountered an enemy hiding behind children, women and civilian infrastructure. The soldiers of the division, including soldiers of the Golani Brigade, the 188th Brigade and the Bislamach Brigade, operated in a complex war zone in an urban area, exposed terrorists who were hiding in civilian areas and eliminated many terrorists.”

Hecht must also report statistics that no Israeli wants to hear. Since Israel is such a small country, it is probable that every Israeli—whether Jewish, Ethiopian, Bedouin, Christian, or Israeli Arab—knows someone serving in the IDF and often those who have sacrificed their lives fighting an existential war. Lt. Col Hecht reported on Sunday November 19 that 59 soldiers have been killed in action since the IDF entered Gaza and a total of 383 have fallen since Hamas’s attacks.

Until ALL hostages are released, Hamas must free Jewish civilians, Jewish soldiers, and others from more than two dozen countries. They include Argentinians, Germans, Americans, French and Russians. You can immediately take a valuable action by clicking this link. It is a petition addressed to the United Nations, International Red Cross, Heads of State and G7 Governments, and Heads of State in every country which has hostages kidnapped into Gaza. The brainchild of Israeli Jonathan Feldstein, President of Gen123 Foundation, the petition FREE THE HOSTAGES NOW has already garnered multi-thousands of signers worldwide in less than 10 days. I have been working alongside my friend Jonathan since he envisioned the idea, but time is running short! Sign, then forward to your churches and everyone you know.

Fifteen seconds of your time to sign and a few minutes to forward and/or put on your social media makes you an instant Christian champion for the hostages and their families.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to pray with us this week, remembering at our Thanksgiving celebrations that our faith was birthed in Israel. Romans 11:17-18 NIV reminds us: “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches.” 

Prayer Points

• Pray for safety for the IDF in the network of 300 tunnels.
• Pray thanking God for lifesaving miracles that are unfolding among the soldiers.
• Pray for families and friends of hostages in Israel and abroad.
• Pray that Christians will sign and share FREE THE HOSTAGES NOW.
• Pray that media grow suspicious of any Hamas “facts” and then report fairly.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

For our Israeli friends who are suffering a genocidal catastrophe in their land, it is easy to become overwhelmed, stricken with grief and shock. That goes for the Jewish people worldwide. Christian advocates are quickly coming alongside Israel to help. Our motives are heartfelt and matched with deep compassion for the terror victims, hostages, and displaced families.

During a recent phone call with my friend Pastor Victor Styrsky, former national educational director of Christians United for Israel, he commented, “I feel as if I have been sitting shiva for weeks and it will go on indefinitely.” “Sitting shiva” is the term for the Jewish seven days of mourning for the dead. It usually begins right after a funeral. Non-Jewish friends are welcome to make their condolences in person. I embraced my friend’s description, which represents my feelings, that Israel’s Christian friends are sitting shiva in our hearts. While no comparison exists for the depth of anguish that Jews are undergoing, we are creating outreaches in every way imaginable to embody our grief through compassion amid the evil that has befallen Israel.

The examples I mention here are big and small, yet do not begin to quantify the kindnesses overflowing from people of goodwill worldwide. Nevertheless, it is my hope that everyone who reads my column this week will reach out to any Jewish friends, to a nearby synagogue, or contact a Christian organization like CBN Israel to send a card or a donation for humanitarian aid. Our message to Jewish friends everywhere is simple, “You are not alone.” This thought comes from Jesus’ earthly sojourn as described in Isaiah 53:3—“He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief.”

The Jerusalem Post’s Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman reported on November 9 about 15 Christian cowboys from Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Montana. These Americans landed at Ben Gurion airport looking as if they’d stepped right out of a Western movie. Their photo went viral. Several had left their own farms and families to help. They traveled to Judea and Samaria and set to work at HaYovel, a Christian organization to help Israeli farmers. Calling it Operation Itai (a Hebrew boy’s name meaning, “the Lord is with me”), HaYovel is raising $29 million for security supplies to be distributed throughout the biblical heartland. Thus far, more than $2 million has been raised.

A similar fundraising operation, Civil Squad Israel (CSI), is focused on tactical equipment for northern Israel and the Gaza “envelope” (populated areas within four miles of the Gaza Strip). Their goal is to equip civil security squads on kibbutzim with much-needed equipment. On October 7, some of these squads were the first (or only) source of defending their civilians against terrorists for many hours. The CSI team has set up a network of suppliers in the EU and U.S. Then, by CSI’s partnering with El Al and their security team, the tactical equipment will quickly go to Israel. The gear includes knife-proof/bulletproof vests, medic backpacks, night vision binoculars, handguns, M16s, and encrypted radio communications.

Civil Squad Israel has adopted a fitting Bible verse from Nehemiah 4:15-17:

“When God ended the plans of our enemies, we returned to rebuild what had been destroyed. Those who carried on the work were equipped in such a way, that each labored with a trowel in one hand, and a weapon with the other.”

From cowboys to firefighters, CBS news reported that Miami Beach sent 13 firefighters to Israel for two weeks to help shore up this beleaguered nation’s fire departments—since Israel’s firefighters have all been deployed.

Other expressions of compassion have emerged in creative and symbolic ways.

A heartfelt message from Arab-Israeli journalist Yoseph Haddad lashed out against Hamas while he was standing in front of Jerusalem’s City Hall. The families of hostages and volunteers had set up a display of 239 empty beds and cribs of all sizes. CBN Israel’s Julie Stahl described it as a “mute cry of anguish.”

On a beach in Durban, South Africa, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies at the Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre spread out 242 red beach towels with a hostage poster. Atop 32 towels are 32 buckets and spades poignantly symbolizing the children who have been missing since October 7. A group of Christian pastors who walked the beach stopped at each blanket to express their sympathy and solidarity, linking arms and praying. Alana Pugh-Jones Baranov, the Centre’s social and political justice liaison, pleaded to God that He let this “be our last event” after the group had installed red balloons along Nelson Mandela Bridge and lit up the Israeli flag in Johannesburg. She noted the positive responses from South Africans.

By October 20, i24NEWS, the Tel Aviv-based television news channel, reported that more than 50 countries have followed the example of setting up a Shabbat dinner table with 203 empty seats (the number of hostages at the time). In 50 countries, participants symbolically observe a global Shabbat ceremony each Friday.

At Prayer House DC in Washington, Reverend Eve Nunez leads robust prayers in their headquarters and throughout the District on location at the White House, Supreme Court Building, and other landmarks. She set Prayer House DC’s Shabbat table in honor of the hostages and leaves it beautifully set each week. Her foundation, Help 4 Kidz, is also raising money that provides meals for an IDF unit to be delivered each week by her friend, an Israeli rabbi.

Compassion from Christians is more important than ever. Israel is demonized as it conducts its just war against genocidal evil. While the world mostly turns away in denial or hate, one of the most significant truths articulated comes from Dr. Qanta A. Ahmed, a world-renowned British forensic scientist, commentator, and author. In her Wall Street Journal article about her 10-day visit to Israel beginning October 19, Dr. Ahmed observed, “This was not an emotional frenzy of killing like the pogroms of the 1880s. It was methodically planned.”

Dr. Ahmed is a human rights observer whom Israel’s Foreign Affairs ministry invited. Working at the Israeli morgues alongside other scientists, she “examined bodies and ashes, incinerated teeth and bones” and described “toddlers, teens, and adults young and old, many of them bound, tortured, and burned alive.”

Calling out Hamas’s war crimes, Dr. Ahmed noted, “The monster is easy to recognize. This isn’t the first time I have seen Islamist jihadism.”

One word continually came to her mind: “Genocide.”

About her time in Israel, Dr. Ahmed declared, “As an observant Muslim I felt a duty to come and bear witness. What I saw will remain with me forever.” In one of her frequent interviews, she challenged: “I want to hear Muslim leaders condemn Hamas.”

In closing, let us recall the words of Jewish writer Franz Kafka (1883–1924), one of the 20th century’s most famous novelists: “Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will come back in another way.”

For all the beloved family, friends, and homes that Israel and the worldwide Jewish community have lost, I pray that the massive acts of Christian compassion will somehow ease the suffering—with love returned to them in a different way.

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team in prayer at this heartbreaking time, where we also count on hope! 

Prayer Points:

• Pray that Christians will rise in massive numbers to speak up for Israel and rush emergency aid to terror victims and displaced families.
• Pray for the scientists and experts who are in the morgues still trying to determine the identity of the bodies.
• Pray for the Christian community to continue their prayers for Israel and her people—especially the hostages still being held in Gaza and the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks.
• Pray for the families of hostages who are suffering from anxiety, trauma, and sleepless nights as they await the outcome.
• Pray for Israelis to maintain patience in supporting the IDF to implement their strategies in what will likely be a long war.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Prayers for Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at war are ascending from worldwide Christian prayer meetings online, in person, and personal prayers day and night on the lips of millions of believers. I recently spoke at a church that requested an update on Israel’s war against unleashed evil. When the gathering concluded with a season of prayer for Israel, one of the pastors prayed with a focus on 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.

As the biblical and historical account goes, Judah’s King Jehoshaphat and the Jews faced a huge army headed their way made up of their ancient foes—the Moabites, Ammonites, and men from Mount Seir. When fear gripped them, prayers and fasting began, and Jahaziel, a Levite, shared a word from the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

God then gave specific directions for the coming battle, whereupon  “Jehoshaphat bowed his head … and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem … bowed before the LORD.” Assembling early the next day, King Jehoshaphat appointed singers to lead the army. As they marched, they sang, “Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever.” The Lord Himself set up ambushes where those in Mount Seir were defeated—with a final result that Israel’s enemies destroyed one another. I am not a prophet and I do not claim to know how God will enact His purposes in this war, but I do know that prayer is foundational, that this biblical account is full of hope, and I will “pray” it.

Getting much of my daily news from international Bible teacher and Israeli Jewish believer Amir Tsarfati on his Telegram channel, I was captivated by a video clip. One of the IDF soldiers who had been on the ground in Gaza for a week said, “Please continue to pray for us. We see miracles there. Your prayers work.” Other short clips show IDF members singing together in various battle locations. It is inspiring to hear their jubilant, strong voices raised in praise of God as they face possible death or injury, yet they are determined to have victory over evil.

The IDF, the most humanitarian army in the world, is encountering dangers we cannot imagine. Dangers within the 300 miles of tunnels underneath Gaza (doubtless booby-trapped by the terrorists), dangers from IEDs (improvised explosive devices), and dangers in northern Israel—with increasing threats from Hezbollah right over Israel’s border with Lebanon. They face an implacable foe called satan, expressed in ancient Jew-hatred that never seems to die.

Today’s venomous demonstrations are not new, either. Beginning in the 1930s, Hitler perfected a mesmerizing style of oratory that kept German crowds riled up until the shocking murders of six million Jews burst into the open in 1945. With only radio broadcasts and scant reporting available, much of the world was in the dark about Hitler’s genocide of European Jews until the end of World War II.

The Third Reich’s wickedness was widely revealed through on-site photographs ordered by General Dwight D. Eisenhower in liberated concentration camps. He wanted to ensure that evidence was accumulated and maintained to silence any doubters of Nazi atrocities. Today, however, Hamas and other Islamic regime proxies have modernized Hitler’s propaganda and brutality into indescribable acts of evil. Terrorists themselves—with their body cams and victims’ mobile phones—videoed their cruelty with elation. One terrorist called his parents, excitedly bragging that he had murdered 10 Jews “with his bare hands.” His father praised him.

Hamas unleashed its weighty war crimes on October 7, which too quickly flashed around the world—accusing Israel of war crimes instead. While Hamas is targeting Jews, we cannot ignore Mahmoud al Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas. “We are not talking about liberating our land alone,” he said last year. “The entire 510 million square kilometers of planet Earth will come under [a system] where there is no injustice, no oppression, no Zionism, no treacherous Christianity.”

Anglican Theologian Reverend Dr. Gerald McDermott recently authored an article in Christianity Today that is well worth reading: “Christians Have A Duty to Hate the Evil of Hamas.” Part of his explanation includes commentary for believers who may struggle with Israel’s defensive war. “First, we are called by both Testaments to hate evil. Proverbs says to fear the Lord is to ‘hate evil’ (Proverbs 8:13), and the Apostle Paul urges us to ‘hate what is evil’ (Romans 12:9). We should hate the evil of Hamas—and not be afraid to say so publicly.”

The war crimes accusations launched against Israel around the world as verbal (and sometimes violent) weapons are aimed at the wrong target. In another timely article, Bruce Hoffman at The Atlantic wrote a summation called “Understanding Hamas’s Genocidal Ideology.” Documented on August 18, 1988, Hamas’s original founding goals included four main themes:

• The complete destruction of Israel to set up a Shia Muslim theocracy
• Unrestrained holy war
• Total refusal to negotiate an agreement with Israel regarding claims to the Holy Land
• Repeating propaganda, conspiracy theories, and Jew-hating figures of speech.

Nothing has changed!

In other words, on October 7, 2023, Hamas—with minds long occupied by hate—enjoyed hours of unrestrained, brutal jubilation to enact their goals. That is, until Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel’s cabinet officially declared war the following day: October 8, 2023.

Hamas is guilty of war crimes. Here are a few that are prohibited and listed in numerous world bodies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva Conventions of War in 1949, and the United Nations: Murder. Torture, including mutilation. Hostage-taking. Intentional attacks against civilians. Pillage. Rape. These crimes do NOT describe Israel, a nation founded on democratic principles.

The Holocaust was—and remains—a horror embedded within Jewish hearts and history, and although Germans kept meticulous records to please Hitler, they nevertheless did their best to hide their evil. Today, it is truly staggering that Hamas’s evil doings are being glorified by protestors worldwide, with Israel and Jews equally vilified. This, despite social media filled with hundreds of hours of Hamas’s own raw footage. The world now knows the horrific truth of baby beheadings, dismembering children, a father and child tied together then burned alive, and women raped before and after murders. Clearly, satanic lawlessness has broken out with a vengeance.

The raw footage of barbaric facts was released to 200 international journalists in a private showing after Israel’s military struggled for days debating whether or not to show the horrific footage. Eilon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, commented, “I can’t believe … we have to do this as we try to defeat a terrorist organization that is brutally slaughtering our people.” He added that Israel is seeing in “real time a phenomenon akin to Holocaust denial unfolding, as people cast doubt on the scale of the atrocities Hamas has recorded to glorify all this violence.”

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari explained, “We will not let the world forget who we are fighting.”

More than almost any other IDF policy, one of the most outstanding (and unusual) is to send warnings to Gazan civilians to evacuate to designated safe locations before any bombings begin. I daresay no military on earth follows the example of the Israel Air Force, which has repeatedly dropped leaflets, made telephone calls, and sent text messages to alert Gazan civilians about impending attacks.

Conversely, Hamas acts by cleaving to its policy of using civilians as human shields, killing Palestinian civilians or blocking them from the roads leading to safety, and using mosques and hospitals as weapons depots and hiding places. Add to this, among their many other war crimes: terrorists hide in Red Cross ambulances trying to escape or fight. Now you might understand why Israel targets particular ambulances.

For facts and prayers, I suggest you remain updated with CBN News and IDF’s daily update. Commit to passing on at least one fact and one prayer a day to honor our Jewish-birthed faith and help Israel oppose lies and slander. We must be the sources of facts! 

We welcome readers to join our CBN Israel team this week to read and meditate on 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.

Prayer Points:

• Pray that the IDF experiences miracle after miracle—for their safety and for their anxious families.
• Pray for the safety of our American soldiers stationed in northeast Syria since 2015. They are under constant attack from Iran.
• Pray for families who know that more than 340 of their sons and daughters have already died defending their homeland.
• Pray for the continuation of massive humanitarian aid flowing into Israel from Christians worldwide.
• Pray for believers to commit to sharing facts that oppose the propaganda against Israel’s just war.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

As seen in recent events, the moral differences between Israel and Hamas could not be clearer. To protect Gazan civilians, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have repeatedly dropped leaflets, sent texts, and made calls warning Palestinians to move into southern Gaza and out of harm’s way during Israel’s counterattacks following the October 7 invasion and massacre. Hamas, on the other hand, threatens the safety of its residents by blockading the predetermined escape route and then cowardly using its innocent civilian populations as human shields. In fact, Gazan deaths are welcomed by these new Nazis—to further their hate-filled propaganda purposes..

Good and evil, light and darkness are openly opposed to each other both in spiritual battles and in battles on earth. Prime Minister Netanyahu announced in a recent press conference that “this war will be long and hard” and called it “our second War of Independence.”

The “long and hard war” includes information warfare, where mainstream media use their own quick-trigger responses as weapons, often within seconds. They report Hamas’s lies as facts. Thus, anti-Israel media actually incite violence in a Jew-hating world that is eager to blame Jews for evil-doings. For Christians—and anyone of sound mind and conscience—disbelieving anything Hamas claims is a good idea. Namely, the initiative that infects terrorist minds with unrestrained hatred: “Slaughter Jews anywhere and everywhere.”

Fully aware of this terrorist mindset, Israelis are unified in existential combat to save their people and their land. On the battlefield, the IDF’s Swords of Iron are demolishing the darkest evils in a just war. Unity also characterizes Christians and Jews mobilizing together with Lights of Kindness for traumatized Israelis.

Although big evangelical Christian organizations such as CBN Israel, Samaritan’s Purse, and Christians United For Israel (CUFI) are undertaking massive humanitarian operations for Israel, hundreds of churches, state governments, and smaller charities are also shining Lights of Kindness—working hard to gather supplies for delivery to Israel. Proverbs 4:9 comes alive: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.”

The Eldan Hotel in Jerusalem is one venue for Lights of Kindness from smaller entities such as the non-profit Genesis 123. The foundation of my friend, modern Orthodox Jew Jonathan Feldstein, is another Light—devoted to building warm bridges of cooperation between Jews and Christians for numerous projects.

Shortly after evil’s ruthless October 7 invasion along Israel’s Gaza border, Jonathan’s friend David Nekrutman—executive director of The Isaiah Projects—asked Jonathan to join him to contribute to the first week in the Eldan Hotel where around 60 Jewish evacuees are housed. Evacuees include families of three generations—most from Moshav Mishan, near Ashkelon, immediately north of the Gaza border. Before they came to Eldan Hotel in Jerusalem, they could not leave their homes and bomb shelters.

A dad with three young children described the continual Hamas rocket fire and staying in bomb shelters for hours at a time. His children “are afraid.” Others at the hotel who live in Sderot include a Holocaust survivor. Jonathan and David mobilized both their networks of Jews and Christians, which paid the evacuees’ expenses for the first week. As the second week approached, Jonathan’s friend Jeffry Mark (J. Mark Interiors Ltd.) asked how he could help. He has now financed evening activities, meals, and Shabbats, turned his nearby showroom into a place for the families to relax, with his staff volunteering. At this writing, Jonathan says thus far at least $35,000 has been donated for hotel accommodations, food, and activities.

The evacuees are expressing genuine gratitude that Christians around the world have donated much of the funding. They are overwhelmed with such kindness. One mother observed, “My child smiled for the first time in weeks.” Some evacuees in the Eldan Hotel are also commuting to jobs, because despite the war they still must work. Dozens of volunteers are stepping up.

Jonathan Feldstein explained that efforts are open ended, since many evacuees have no homes to return to. Those who still have homes are afraid to return because terrorists are still firing rockets. Jonathan has initiated The Israel Emergency Campaign under his Genesis 123 non-profit to make immediate and practical differences “for as many people on the ground as possible.”

Feldstein is looking long term, based on assessments from Prime Minister Netanyahu and the IDF. He acknowledges, “We will need a lot of help.” He has included donations for soldiers and first-responder civilian security teams, which is a big need. Jonathan mentions, “I’m not asking anyone to smuggle through a dirty [Hamas] tunnel; just to give. We will continue to invest to make the best impact to save and heal as many lives as possible.”

Other worthy efforts include Maasay Yahdav, which was founded by Doris Mintz in 2007. Throughout the year, Doris and her team gather humanitarian aid and ship it to Israel. Their teams also travel to Israel twice a year to help distribute these items. Collaborating with a range of Jewish organizations and Israeli hospitals, Maasay Yahdav teams especially enjoy showing mercy and love in visits with Holocaust survivors and giving them beautiful handmade blankets.

Another relief organization is Kad-esh, whose founders Rabbi Baruch and Archbishop Dominiquae Bierman are on the ground in Israel. They are equipping a village in Samaria with tactical equipment for self-defense and providing tents and sleeping bags for soldiers on Israel’s northern border.

A big Light of Kindness among churches is Reverend Dean Haun and Morristown, Tennessee, First Baptist Church. His Harvest of Israel outreach has over the years shipped more than a hundred 40-foot containers of humanitarian aid to Israel with the involvement of many other churches. Rev. Haun, who has led tours to Israel 35 times, describes their current focus on obtaining and distributing “Kevlar helmets, body armor, boots, ballistic plate carriers, and more.”

The vast array of help from Christians and Jews together includes acquiring aid from government officials in states like Alabama and Tennessee. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced their Treasury’s decision to increase its investment in Israel bonds. The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to all 123 Virginia sheriffs asking them to consider donating any expired law enforcement gear for the IDF. He visited Israel again earlier this year, meeting with men and women in the IDF. Miyares expressed his support, commenting that they “are willing to give their lives to maintain peace in this region. … They are committed to democracy and the public safety of their land, and I am proud to stand with them.”  

Prime Minister Netanyahu commented about nations standing with Israel: “Our allies …  understand today that if Israel does not win, they will be next.” He added, “Many around the world understand well that Israel is fighting not only its war, but humanity’s war against the barbarians.”

Let us consult our Jewish Lord Jesus to ask what part He wants us to play in helping our Israeli friends who fight on the front lines of freedom for all of us—as they oppose the Islamic Regime behind it all. 

Join our CBN Israel team this week in reflecting on Ecclesiastes 4:10—“If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Christians to consistently pray and offer practical help.
• Pray that Christians use emails, social media, and conversations to communicate facts from reliable sources like CBN Israel and CBN News.
• Pray for God to confuse Israel’s enemies: Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthis.
• Pray with thanks for Christians who are donating whatever they can to help ease suffering and gain victory in Israel’s defensive war.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

“We are 12 days [now 20] into the war, and we still have not been able to bury all our dead. … We cannot tell families if their loved ones have been kidnapped or whether they are dead.”   

In her solemn statement, Anat Sultan-Dadon, Consul General of Israel to the Southeastern United States spoke at one of many functions last week. Her grave manner and impassioned statements of truth about Hamas’s deadly attacks drew multiple standing ovations during a joint North Carolina-South Carolina forum of the National Federation of Republican Women. I experienced the privilege of interviewing her at my alma mater, Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, which hosted the event.

During the interview, Sultan-Dadon reiterated that “The human mind cannot comprehend the brutality—wiping out entire families, the slaughter, and the beheading of babies.” She repeatedly underscored Israel’s determination “to be strong for one another” and their “duty as a sovereign country to eliminate the terror threat.”

The savage assaults, which began on the Shabbat morning of October 7, 2023, are incomprehensible. The slaughters, hostage kidnappings, and unspeakable rapes can only be understood as a demonic, Hitleresque blitz committed by bloodthirsty terrorists. The Consul General described the “profound pain” that shattered every Israeli beginning on that horrific day. Their lives have changed forever in this small nation—the only Jewish country in the world. The appalling numbers are increasing; the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced 224 abducted—some of them Americans and other foreign citizens—1,400 Israelis massacred, and over 5,240 wounded.

Some of the results of October 7 and since have meant the displacement of over 120,000 Israelis from their kibbutzim along the breached Israel border. I have often visited Kfar Aza, a once-beautiful community inhabited by wonderful Israeli civilians. Terrorists murdered one hundred residents there. Twenty Israeli communities in Israel’s north—where Hezbollah is embedded in Lebanon—have also been relocated due to critical safety precautions. Many of these refugees, who have no homes to return to, are currently housed in hotels. Those in somewhat less-dangerous locations are staying in homes and bomb shelters with other Israeli families.

My conversation with Consul General Sultan-Dadon covered a range of important topics. These must not only be understood but also memorized as talking points to oppose information warfare against Israel. Her factual assessments are critically important. I urge Christians to view them as lessons that will enable all of us to be educated advocates for Israel.

“Standing with Israel is not just about Israel,” she said. “It is standing alongside all the values that we hold dear: freedom, everything holy and sacred in stark opposition to death and destruction.” In a resolute voice, she declared, “If you are not standing with Israel you are standing for terror and hate.”

Confirming the Islamic Regime’s role, Consul General Sultan-Dadon stated, “Without a shadow of a doubt Iran funds, guides, provides weapons, and trains its proxies even far beyond our region. Iran is not only a threat for Israel, but also a threat to destabilizing the Middle East, and a threat to the free world. She concluded, “All the values that we hold dear [are] everything that they oppose.”

Last week, Hamas and most of the world circulated the lie that Israel bombed a Gaza hospital. Israel does not bomb hospitals. The Consul General spoke intensely about media and the fanatical demonstrators “instantly taking the word of a brutal terror organization” that had just committed atrocities instead of accepting the facts and evidence that Israel presented. “That is not acceptable and should be called out.” She recounts what really happened: “One out of five rockets that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad launch at Israel to target civilians, misfires and falls in their own territory—harming their own civilians.”

Many sources have agreed with the Consul General’s facts, including the Associated Press—the largest media source in the world. She asserted, “Rather than take Hamas terrorists’ word for it, stand against it. Shame on all the networks for taking the word of terrorism over the word of Israel with the facts and evidence.”

She added that Israel makes every effort to minimize harm to civilians but “Hamas intentionally places their military assets in heavily populated areas—in mosques, hospitals, schools, and homes, using their own people as human shields.”

The Israeli Air Force’s policy is to drop leaflets into Gaza, make calls, and send text messages to warn them of impending attacks. In that vein, for days now Israel has informed civilians in northern Gaza to move to the south. The Consul General informed us that “not only is Hamas calling on civilians to stay put, but they are also actually setting up roadblocks to physically prevent them from evacuating.” She added that if civilians are killed, it offers a gold mine of propaganda that she described as “their distorted vision to accuse us as the perpetrator.”

One of the most heartbreaking facts that Consul General Sultan-Dadon shared is the following: “We are 12 days [now 20] into the war, and we still have not been able to bury all our dead. We cannot identify those who have been tortured or burnt, since for some all that remains are a few bones and fingernails. We cannot tell families if their loved ones have been kidnapped or whether they are dead.” Of Israel’s Holocaust survivors, she said, “Holocaust survivors who have already survived hell on earth are meeting hell in the form of Hamas.” 

A two-minute video clip was shown at the end of the Consul General’s heart-wrenching remarks. But before it began, Mistress of Ceremonies Jennifer Stefano warned attendees and Live Stream viewers about the deeply disturbing footage, inviting them to exit if needed. In the brief clip from Hamas body cams and call recordings, we viewed and heard the agonizing screams, murderous gunshots, and frenzied Arabic shouts.

Afterward, the audience sat in stunned silence. Stefano, a well-known commentator, called for moments of silence then offered a quiet goodbye. She rightly reminded us that we must “bear witness” as the Consul General had said earlier: “We need for all our friends to stand strong and remain strong in speaking the truth. The voices of humanity must drown out voices that support terror and hate.” Consul General Sultan-Dadon emphasized that the war will be “prolonged” and that the “very, very difficult visuals of atrocities are important so that all of you can bear witness to what has happened.” That evening at Winthrop University our deeper understanding tied our hearts even more securely to the traumatized hearts of Israeli Jews.

Now, additional barbaric acts are becoming known. On the October 23 airing of The 700 Club, Gordon Robertson interviewed Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States. Oren bluntly described the lethal butchery: “Anything that could be done to the body was done except for cannibalism.” Also that same day, the IDF briefed 200 foreign journalists using raw, unedited footage of murder, decapitation, and torture. Major General Mickey Edelstein, who briefed reporters afterward, said, “We have evidence” of rape but “we cannot share it.” He declined to elaborate. The journalists were not allowed to record the screening, which took place at a closed Israeli military base. However, with all the propaganda darkening the world, is it too much to ask that these 200 journalists now responsibly report the facts about the Islamic Republic of Iran—that its goal is genocide through one of its proxies?

Not surprisingly, the Consul General’s inspiring words were met with a lengthy standing ovation. “While we are facing the most painful chapter in the modern state of Israel’s history,” she said, “I want to assure you that we are strong, we are proud, and we are not going anywhere!” Let all of us join her in unity and strength!

At the minimum, I am urging Christians everywhere to pass along the Israel Consulate’s daily update of facts, which will help us inform others to stand as an army of truth to oppose the lies. Here is the link to sign up for their excellent official digital resources to share anywhere possible: [Learn More].

Meditating on Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJV, we welcome you to pray with our CBN Israel team:

“The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for every member of the IDF for safety and victory anywhere they are defending their country by land, sea, air, and cyber security.
• Pray for thousands of expert civilians who are using intelligence platforms on computers to locate hostages in Gaza.
• Pray for staff and soldiers who face the trauma of collecting and examining remains to identify bodies.
• Pray for concerted efforts among Christians providing humanitarian aid.
• Pray for Christians to act massively by forwarding and talking about facts to oppose the Information War against Israel.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

In 2006, Hezbollah terrorists—embedded in Lebanon—ambushed an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) border patrol. In a cross-border raid, Hezbollah kidnapped two IDF soldiers and killed another three. A few days after Israel’s Second Lebanon War began on July 12 of that year, my good friend Earl Cox called me. I had been volunteering with him since 2002 on his personally financed projects aimed at blessing Israel. His next words amazed me: “Arlene, I think the Lord wants us to go to Israel as soon as possible.” I countered, “Earl, why would we go now?” His reply made all the sense in the world to me. “When friends are in crisis, true friends go and stand with them.”

He and I had traveled to Israel leading groups both large and small during the Second Intifada (2000–2005). In that offensive, based on untrue allegations that Israel was taking over the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, Palestinians murdered more than 1,000 Jews. We were not tourists—either then or during our 2006 Second Lebanon War trip.

We rushed into action implementing the next steps. Immediately after Earl called, we quickly swept through our list of contacts with the help of Earl’s wife, Kathleen, and my husband, Paul. Just seven days later, Earl and I landed at Ben Gurion Airport with 25 Christians. Our agenda rested in four words: ENCOURAGE OUR JEWISH FRIENDS.

And what a reception we got! Israelis were overjoyed to see us at empty restaurants in the Galilee and on Jerusalem buses, where we declared, “We are American Christians. We are here as friends.” At Haifa’s Rambam Hospital we visited wounded IDF soldiers. I still recall how shocked the staff of the Israeli Red Cross was when all 25 of us walked in to donate blood. Our team traveled up to the Israel-Lebanon border as bombs were falling. Israeli tanks were lined up with surprised soldiers who gladly accepted our small American flags. We frequented the Western Wall to pray and left 10 days later after sharing many hugs with senior citizens, leaving toys for children in bomb shelters, and listening to families awaiting word on their loved ones serving in the IDF.

I describe our trip to emphasize that Israelis treated us like family and were deeply touched by our friendship. Yes, when friends are in crisis, true friends stand with them. When any of us are in crisis, we deeply appreciate our friends and family supporting us in our time of need. We are assured that in this war, Israelis will deeply appreciate anything we do!

We must remain motivated by keeping this fact in mind: If we are passive, propaganda will proliferate. Within a few days of the massacre of Jewish men, women, children, and babies in Israel, a hurricane of lies blew through the airwaves of the world villainizing Israel as if photos and descriptions about the Hamas “Nazis” had not previously circled the globe revealing these unspeakable and barbaric killings. Hamas took its own photos during their executions of innocents, using on occasion their victims’ cell phones to post on their own Facebook pages. 

The blood of beheaded Israeli babies cries out for justice amid this existential threat to Israel, which is now clearer than ever. Despite the sound evidence, Jew-hating crowds commit another kind of unholy jihad: a jihad of lethal words. Demonstrators echo a Holocaust theme to “Gas the Jews!” While Hitler’s Nazis generally attempted to hide their mass murders, the Islamic Regime—its surrogates Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps embedded in Syria—wear their hate as a badge of honor. The Jew-hating crowds are pushing full-throttled, murderous messages.

Hellish demons are dancing and igniting fires among these rebellious voices as they rail against the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus—in fact, against Jews anywhere. We Christians must beware, as we lay aside apathy and embrace bravery.

Our proactive postures in small and large ways must override this revival of genocidal evil. Slightly reshaping my friend Earl’s compassionate reasoning, I say now, “When friends are in crisis, true friends stand with them.”

There are many ways to do this, and they are available right now, right where we are. Let us stop wringing our hands in frustration and suit up in an Evangelical Army of Truth. Facts and biblical truth must take precedence, not hysteria and ugly name-calling. We must grasp our reality from Ephesians 6:11-13—“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Friends, the “forces of evil in the heavenly realms” are fully deployed on earth promoting and propagandizing unimaginable evil. We must be prayerful, proactive, and put on our spiritual armor daily. Ephesians 6:14-17 directs us to “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Now, more than ever, is the time to fulfill our God-given calling to stand with Israel and Jewish people! We urge you to watch out for the anti-Israel propaganda you see or hear in the global mainstream media. They have already returned to their habitual, ignorant, and hostile reporting against Israel. Use discernment in consuming the news and guard against faulty information and conspiracy theories. The media listed in this article are factual, trustworthy, and important tools to inform others through your social media, emails, in person, Bible studies, and churches. And please do not believe anything reported by Hamas; they are notorious for threatening their media.

When the IDF, the most humanitarian military on earth, enters Gaza en masse, much of the world will forget Hamas’s most depraved, barbaric murders in Israel’s 75-year modern history and since the genocidal Holocaust. They will forget that the Islamic Regime is the world’s worst, most prolific terror-sponsoring country—reaching far beyond the Middle East while terrorizing their own population! If we are targeted, let it be because we follow the Jewish Messiah. In the media resources I list below, primarily educate yourself with Israel’s Official Digital Resource available to you and everyone from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Give Support to Israel:

• CBN Israel: [Donate Now]
• International Christian Embassy Jerusalem: [Donate Now]
• Operation Life Shield: [Donate Now]
• Friends of the IDF: [Donate Now]

Media Resources:

• Stay updated and informed with Israel’s official site from the Prime Minister’s Office. Read and share its insightful resources with your churches, ministries, contacts/social media, friends, and family: [Learn More].
• Watch the biweekly CBN News show, Jerusalem Dateline, which is hosted by veteran reporter, Chris Mitchell: [Learn More].
• Download the CBN News App to stay updated and informed about what is happening in Israel and the Middle East—all from a biblical perspective: [Learn More].
• Follow Lt. Colonel Jonathan Conricus (res.), Intl. Spokesman for IDF. He is interviewed worldwide on mainstream and Christian media: [Learn More].
• Follow Brig. General Amir Avivi, Founder, Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF). Subscribe free to receive briefing notifications: [Learn More].
• Stay updated and informed with Joel Rosenberg’s All Israel News: [Learn More].
• Follow Amir Tsarfati, President of Behold Israel: [Learn More].

The best way to remain informed and educated is to subscribe to the media and humanitarian organizations I listed.

I am grateful that the United States is expressing its support for our great ally Israel by deploying the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group. It is now anchored in the Mediterranean Sea along Israel’s coast. U.S. Air Force fighter jets are also in the region, and the Pentagon has ordered the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to begin moving to the Eastern Mediterranean. These military moves were explained by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, “As part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack on Israel.”

Despite our U.S. military strength, it is not enough. This war looks to be a long one. The global pro-Israel Christian community must remain vigilant and proactive in both prayer and advocacy for Israel. We each have a role to play, as expressed in Galatians 6:2—“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Since we are the recipients of the deepest treasure imaginable through the Jews, our scripture, and our Savior, carrying the burdens of God’s Land and God’s people is a holy work and a way to honor our Lord.

Please join our CBN Israel team in prayer this week:

• Pray for the IDF as they enter the Gaza Strip with its three hundred miles of dangerous underground tunnels.
• Pray for traumatized families of the missing, murdered, and hostages. As of Sunday, the Sukkot War’s toll includes 30 Americans murdered and 13 missing.
• Pray for Gazans to ignore Hamas’s threats not to leave Gaza as warned by Israel to save civilians.
• Pray for each Christian to wear the mantle of spiritual warfare matched with practical support and advocacy for Israel.
• Pray for our CBN News team headquartered in Jerusalem as we work around the clock to report the unbiased truth during these unprecedented times.
• Pray for our CBN Israel team as we rush emergency relief to terror victims, war zone evacuees, and others impacted most by these horrible attacks.

Scripture verses are quoted from the New International Version.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

On a beautiful night in the southern Israel desert, thousands of young men and women were celebrating the final hours of Sukkot—one of three main festivals, this one known for great joy. Billed as a “friends, love, and peace” festival, it instead ended in a shocking display of hatred and evil. Iran-backed terrorists cruelly began shooting to kill partygoers who scattered, running for their lives. In a cowardly, terror-laced version of celebration, Hamas infiltrators aimed their weapons at innocent civilians whose only “crime” was that they were Jewish.

Reportedly, the genocidal terrorists encircled a large group and shot all of them dead—like they were animals or pests. The numbers are still mounting, but at this writing over 1,000 people were slaughtered or kidnapped.

“Never Again” is Again!

To carry out this three-pronged incursion by land, sea, and air, the Islamic Regime and its proxy Hamas must have plotted for months to develop such a sophisticated strategy. Many ask, “How did this happen to Israel?” In a country known for its vigilance and advanced technology, this question will be debated and examined in the weeks, months, and years ahead. But for now, here is my perspective as a longtime advocate for Israel.

First, Israelis had celebrated their annual weeklong Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) this year between Friday, September 29, and Friday, October 6. Sukkot commemorates the 40 years Jews spent in the desert after escaping slavery in Egypt. Secondly, the next day, October 7, was Shabbat. Families throughout the country slept in a state of contented exhaustion, with Israel shut down as it is each Shabbat. And then, out of nowhere, the Hamas air attack utilized bomb-carrying drones that targeted IDF outposts near the Gaza fence, also disabling the technology. Thousands of coordinated rockets began falling in Israel as bulldozers breached the supposedly impregnable Gaza fence. Bloodthirsty terrorists zoomed in on motorcycles and in pickup trucks packed with men who were all too eager to kill, kidnap, and rape. The sneak attack from Israel’s cowardly enemies is all too reminiscent of the 1973 Yom Kippur War attacks on their holiest day of the year.

Meanwhile, showing the true nature of Iran’s leaders, video clips appeared shortly on social media showing their Parliament members on October 7th chanting, “Death to Israel. Death to America.” You can be sure they saw the first unspeakable photos of the murderous rampage into southern Israel’s kibbutzim and towns.

The trusted non-profit organization Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), which specializes in skillfully translating Arab media into English, reported a sample of Palestinian Fatah hatred with this headline: “Strike the Sons of Apes and Pigs … slaughter everyone who is Israeli.” Fatah controls the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is led by President Mahmoud Abbas, the 87-year-old tyrant who has not held an election since 2009. Fatah has now called for violent Palestinian uprisings in Judea and Samaria. Early on, Abbas “…stressed the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves against the terrorism of settlers and the occupation forces.”

Again, the true nature of another dictatorship, with a man who leads a movement that glorifies terrorists. Abbas enforces the “pay to slay” policy aimed at recruiting Palestinians to become “martyrs”—and then financially rewards their families for a lifetime.

The above examples of the Iranian-backed proxies, Hamas, Fatah, Hezbollah—and others like them—reflect the dreadful and dangerous reality of the evil terror mindset. Hate has deformed too many Arab minds through using media and an educational system that begins with kindergarteners. Tutored by hate, these indoctrinated children grow into adults manipulated by their leaders. Millions are victimized by the poisonous emotions pouring into the minds of those living in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria (in Palestinian-controlled towns) or under Imams weaponizing fanatical Shia Islam. It is my hope that the horrific photos and video clips of these human beasts will finally wake the world up to what Israelis have dealt with for decades.

Similar to the unspeakable Nazi genocide of six million European Jews—rounded up, incarcerated in prison camps, and killed en masse using industrialized methods—these Islamic murderers are enacting the same, malicious Jew hatred. Shouting their Arabic “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is the greatest”) as they paraded in the streets of Gaza with American, Israeli, and other hostages with ghastly cheers and shouts while abusing dead bodies and Jewish men, women, and children still alive.

Numerous Israeli military and political leaders tell us this will be a “long war.” For the first time in 50 years, since the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the 37th Israeli government’s Security Cabinet officially declared war. On the night of October 8, 2023, as per Article 40 of Israeli Basic Law, they stated: “The war that was forced on the State of Israel in a murderous terrorist assault from the Gaza Strip began at 06:00 yesterday” (Saturday, October 7, 2023).

While I understand the comparative magnitude of the terms, “Israel’s 9/11 and Israel’s Pearl Harbor,” the moniker of this war must be distinctly Jewish. I am calling it The Sukkot War.

Since 2020, the Abraham Accords have been a welcome breakthrough with Israel amid ongoing talks with Saudi Arabia. Likely this plays into Iran’s demonic strategy launched on October 7, a threat to their hegemony in the region and beyond. Nevertheless, it is time for Arab nations to resettle—into their nations—Arab civilians from Gaza who are not part of Hamas.

Israel, the U.S., the UN, and Europe have supplied Gaza with almost-daily humanitarian aid since 2005, when the Israeli government forcibly evacuated every Jew (around 8,000) from their homes, businesses, schools, and synagogues. The same day the last IDF soldier closed the gate as he departed, Palestinians tore through Gaza destroying every asset left behind to help them. Two years later they elected Hamas, beguiled by promises to help them—promises that are still unfulfilled. Israelis literally handed Palestinians a state hoping they would create a “Singapore by the Sea.” Instead, 18 years later the Jewish state is facing a dire existential crisis.

We are witnessing a crossroads in world history. American churches must make serious decisions. Will we advocate openly for the world’s only Jewish state? (Not because the Jewish nation and people are perfect; they are not, and we are not.) We advocate for Israel because we love Jesus, He loves them, and He loves us unconditionally anyway.

The Sukkot War looks like it is only about an argument between Israel and Palestinians—like nothing but a political tug of war, with different sides pulling hard on a rope. Yet it is much bigger and deeper. Satan has fashioned a deadly rope around the necks of nations to destroy Israel. It is a war against God, against His land, and against any believer who stands in the way. Are we ready?

Evangelicals cannot imitate the apathetic German church during World War II. Most churches looked away as trains full of Jews stuffed in cattle cars rolled by on the tracks while church members sang hymns. A remnant of Christians risked their lives, but it was not enough. Will we be enough in the dark days ahead?

We must prepare ourselves. Media will drop any current sympathies and revert to their habitual condemnation of Israel. It has already begun. A rebellious world is embroiled in a storm of accusations. Be ready as believers.

Choose to be truth tellers by remaining close to our Savior, drawing strength from Him, fellowshipping with believers, and reading our Bibles often. Consult trusted media: CBN News, Erick Stakelbeck, TBN’s The Watchman, Amir Tsarfati on Telegram, and All Israel News. Grab this fact now: Remember that the Islamic Republic of Iran, the new Nazis, are responsible for endangering the entire Gazan population as pawns. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reports that already more than 74,000 refugees are in shelters. They have become refugees at the hands of their hateful dictators.

Unquestionably, pray. Multiple prayer efforts are well underway. However, actions must emerge from our prayers.

Lastly, the U.S. Congress remains a bastion of passing bipartisan legislation that bolsters Israel’s security needs and in turn benefits the U.S. with vast cooperation and intelligence-sharing with Israelis. I served on staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee between 2007-2016 as their first Christian Outreach Director covering 69 congressional districts in the Southeast. Reaching out to members of the U.S. Congress via AIPAC and its lay leaders is important and effective to make sure we help our spiritual homeland by appealing to Congress to remain pro-Israel. Lay aside your disdain for politics and put it to holy use on behalf of God’s land and people. You can easily learn and act right away.

Israel needs humanitarian aid right now. Victims of terror and violence need emergency relief. Evacuees from the warzone need food, clothing, and shelter. Your loving support can help fulfill the words of the prophet in Isaiah 40:1, “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. Please give a special gift to CBN Israel as they mobilize coordinated relief efforts. Donate today.

Join our CBN Israel team this week to repeatedly pray for Israel. Lamentations 3:46-48 NIV describes the shock, trauma, and grief Israelis are experiencing. “All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us. We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction. Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed.” Verse 66 is a request: “Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.”

Prayer points:

• Pray for the 300,000 plus Israeli Defense Forces reservists and those who are currently active military as they defend their homeland in the air, sea, land, and cyber security.
• Pray for the hostages kidnapped into Gaza (including Americans) and for a leader to negotiate with Hamas effectively.
• Pray for the many families who are already burying their loved ones among more than 1,200 dead and 2,700 wounded.
• Pray for Americans who have lost family members or do not yet know where they are.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Israel the Miracle is a significant and beautiful new book brainstormed by Jonathan Feldstein, an Israeli Orthodox Jew and founder of Genesis 123, a cutting-edge nonprofit. Israel the Miracle is no ordinary book. It elegantly portrays growing friendships between Jews and Christians within Jonathan’s calling to create projects banding Christians and Jews more closely together. Standing with Israel now, amid its increasing peril, is a welcome project to celebrate during Israel’s 75th anniversary year—and those to come.

Based on our shared faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our relationships are timelier than ever, since Israel needs steadfast Christian friends doing as much as humanly possible to advocate for the Jewish homeland.

Feldstein’s anthology of short, inspiring stories gathered from 75 Christian leaders worldwide honors Israel in its 75th year as a modern Jewish state. These authors have stood with Israel in numerous and varied ways—hosting tours to Israel, leading prayer movements, educating legislators worldwide, plus encouraging donations, humanitarian aid, and more. Combined, these 75 leaders are a small yet important sampling of an estimated 600 million evangelicals worldwide who identify consistently as supporters of the world’s singular Jewish country.

The stories are captivating, with “picture perfect” an apt description for the photographs vividly portraying the Holy Land’s beauty. As you turn one stunning page after another, you will rejoice that this coffee table book carries the foundational messages of cooperation and respect between evangelicals and Jews—particularly in the last four decades.

A reflection of more than 40 years of Christian ministries pioneering on the ground in Israel, Israel the Miracle is a source about small seeds growing into large fruitful trees. As an active years-long advocate for Israel, since 1980 I have observed the important founding of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and several other concurrent evangelical organizations such as Bridges for Peace, Christian Friends of Israel, and King of Kings Church. Devoted Christians who pioneered in the early 1980s have grown into nearly 70 ministries called Fellowship of Israel Related Ministries (FIRM).

Present-day Christian ministries are also legacies from pre-state Israel under the Ottoman Empire during its 600-plus-year rule between 1300-1923. It is likely that the earliest Christian ministry in the Holy Land was established in the 19th century under the Ottomans. Prominent Chicago attorney Horatio Spafford and his wife, Anna, moved to Jerusalem in 1881 to establish what locals later called “the American colony.”

Their ministry began after a horrific tragedy in 1873 where the Spaffords’ four young daughters drowned. Horatio had sent his wife and daughters ahead to Europe on the luxurious French passenger ship Ville du Havre, but an ironclad clipper plowed into their ship in the dark of night and split it midships. Twelve minutes later, the ship sank. Two hundred and seventy-three souls drowned in the frigid waters; only 47 survived. Despite Anna’s frantic, desperate resolve to save her daughters, they slipped out of her arms into the fearsome high seas. Anna survived. 

Horatio quickly boarded a vessel sailing to Europe and wrote a beloved hymn near the location pointed out by the ship’s captain where his daughters had drowned. “It is Well With My Soul” is a hymn that has comforted millions of us for 150 years!

Later, believing the unmistakable biblical relevance of the Holy Land, the Spaffords moved to Jerusalem with 17 Americans and established a clinic, orphanage, soup kitchens, and a hostel. They served everyone in need— Jew, Muslim, Christian, Arab, and Bedouin. Their mercy ministry was respected and admired by all. In the lead-up to World War I, Jerusalem was invaded by hunger, typhus, field-ravaging locusts, and weapons of war. The Colony’s ministry became even more pronounced by managing the military hospitals—where they treated both Turkish and European POWs.

The American Colony, now a five-star hotel, is rich in history, displaying valuable photographs by the Spaffords and their colleagues who superbly embodied 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”

Indeed, the commitment exhibited by Christian leaders featured in Israel the Miracle propels the American colony legacy from Jerusalem’s desolate, dusty streets 142 years ago into modern Israel’s thriving innovations and beauty. Evangelical ministries have prayerfully sensed the same call of the 19th-century believers. Like those diverse communities living under Ottoman rule, many Christian organizations today reach out in similar ways to Israel’s diverse populations of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Palestinian Arabs, Christian Arabs, Israeli Arabs, and Bedouins.

Israel the Miracle is a beautiful book to place in your home or office or give as a gift. When you hold this symbolic book in your hands, you may use it to pray for Israel and for the leaders and ministries represented. Inspired by these 75 stories, you might be encouraged to take on a dual mantle: one of prayer matched with practical helps. Along with Jonathan’s non-profit foundation Genesis 123, the ministries represented in the book offer examples of practical helps you may select. The Christian Broadcasting Network’s remarkable founder, Pat Robertson, and his son Gordon (who has skillfully taken up his father’s mantle) are both featured.

In closing, I thank my friend Jonathan Feldstein for inviting my endorsement: “Essays from 75 devoted advocates share gleaming insights about our spiritual homeland. During its 75th sapphire anniversary year, God reveals His design for Jerusalem in Isaiah 54:11 to use blue sapphires for its foundation. Israel is the only place on earth where rare deep blue Mount Carmel sapphires are found. Israel itself, shining as a rarity, is the only nation on earth where God declares in Leviticus, ‘the Land is mine.’”

You can order your own copy of this special book at IsraeltheMiracle.com.

Prayer Points:

• Pray with thanks for the warm friendships and cooperation between Christians and Jews in Israel and abroad.
• Pray for both Christians and Jews who are at odds with each other and do not reflect the mutual friendships of those featured in Israel the Miracle.
• Pray for Israel’s detractors to recognize the worthwhile projects shared by Christians and Jews.
• Pray for Jonathan Feldstein, a genuine and kind influencer, writer, and project creator who honors God, our shared values, and the strong bridges he is building between our faith communities.