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Weekly Devotional: Far from the Promise

“David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him” (1 Samuel 22:1 NKJV).

David found himself for a period of his life having to flee from Saul. Saul pursued him wherever he went. David felt so pressed that he even had to seek refuge with Achish, the Philistine king of Gath (Goliath’s hometown). As you can imagine, the Philistines mistrusted David and did not welcome him warmly. So, David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. 

Adullam sits on the border between the Philistine territory of Gath and the tribal territory of Judah (David’s tribe). It overlooks the Elah Valley where David defeated the Philistine champion, Goliath.

So, David flees from Saul, unaccepted even by Saul’s enemies, and finds himself in the cave at Adullam overlooking the site of his greatest victory.

When David defeated Goliath, he found himself at the top. He defeated Goliath, saved Israel, defended the honor of God and Israel, and was taken into Saul’s court. Also, he had been secretly anointed the future king by Samuel. Things looked promising. 

You have to wonder whether David thought his path from his victory in the Elah Valley to the throne was going to be a smooth, straight shot. To a certain extent, when he stood over the body of Goliath, cutting his head off with Goliath’s sword, the Philistine army fleeing with the Israelites in pursuit, he stood very close to God’s promise to him of the kingship, there in the Elah Valley. 

When he found himself in the cave of Adullam, overlooking the same valley, the location of his greatest triumph, he was the furthest from God’s promise than he had ever been. 

Every morning when he woke up, he looked over the scene of his greatest victory, and you wonder whether he found himself despairing of God’s promise. “Has God really said?” “Because I certainly don’t see the path from where I am today to what he promised me.” “Me, a king?” “I’m running for my life and living in a cave, hardly the house of a king.”

Have you ever found yourself in a place where you feel an overwhelming sense of despair? The vision that God gave you for your life seems like a million miles away, and God Himself seems even further away. You remember your victories, those moments when you felt triumph that God was right with you. But now all of that seems like a dream, and you find yourself in despair.

The cave of Adullam was not the end of David’s story. Nor will your times of despair be the end of your story. God is faithful. Rarely does He bring us straight from the victory field to the throne. Rather, He leads us on a winding journey where we learn to trust Him and His promises, even when He and they seem far away.

God is at work; therefore, we will not despair forever.

PRAYER

Father, wherever we find ourselves, please lead us in Your ways and to Your promises. We choose to trust You. Amen.

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The Enemies of Israel Call Evil Good 

By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

A tsunami of accusations against Israel, the Jewish ancestral homeland, is crashing ashore across the globe. Misleading headlines are flooding in, saying Israel is “Accused of the gravest war crimes in Gaza” (the BBC) and charge Israel with ethnic cleansing. Evil is valued and goodness is devalued. The brilliant prophet Isaiah, who today could be awarded the Nobel prize for literature, eloquently described this reversal in Chapter 5, verse 20: 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. We live in an upside-down world. It is frightening for our Jewish friends in Israel, the United States, and beyond.

Furthermore, strengthening our own faith is indispensable right now. Most evangelicals I know befriend Israel and the Jewish community because we value the entire Bible. Its clarity informs us that our Christian faith was born in the ancient cradle of Judaism. God, in His sovereign plans, created and chose Jews to write 65 books of the Bible—except for Luke, who was considered in ancient traditions to be a Gentile. The Jewish apostle Paul, a murderer-turned-believer in Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) on the Damascus Road, carried the Good News about our Jewish Savior to non-Jews.

Up until the time of Paul’s Damascus Road encounter with Yeshua, the early church for about eight to ten years was populated by Jewish believers, as well as some Gentiles. When the disciples traveled to the known world with the Gospel news after Jesus’ ascension, His Great Commission reached Jews and began seeping into the Gentile community. However, it was the brilliant Apostle Paul, commissioned by God, who would spotlight the Good News to the Gentiles. 

The Old and New Testaments were written by Jews, for Jews, and to Jews. Evangelicals do not support the Jewish people in America, Israel, or any other nation because Jews are perfect. They are not perfect; we are not perfect. We are all imperfect. But God has codified His words in a legacy written through the hands and minds of the Jews. The legacy remains today and for eternity with its world-changing redemption story. Guinness World Records documents the Jewish-written Bible as the bestselling nonfiction book of all time. In its research, the non-denominational British and Foreign Bible Society estimates that since the invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s, between 5 and 7 billion copies were printed.

I took a few moments to highlight the Bible as our foundation in our personal lives and in reference to our support for Jews. Because too much of the world is undergoing unwitting disregard for biblical facts about God’s love for His people, the Jews. Daily reading of our guidebook, the Bible, is a spiritual survival habit, lets us learn more about our relationship with the God who made us.

Take a small tour with me to connect with examples globally where anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiments are fomenting. Israeli American Hillel Fuld, a respected Orthodox Jewish Zionist and tech advisor, was scheduled to speak in Australia at fundraising events for Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Cross). Fuld’s visa was canceled when false accusations labeled him a “merchant of Zionist hate.” Fewer than 120,000 Jewish people live in Australia—out of an estimated 27.5 million. Yet Jew hatred manifested in more than 2,000 anti-Jewish incidents between October 2023 and September 2024—an astonishing number given the small size of its Jewish population.

Moving on to France, their Ministry of National Education reported 1,670 antisemitic acts in schools for the school year 2023–2024. Jewish children, as young as 9 and 10 years old, are badgered at school and do not talk about the Jewish holidays they celebrate at home. Even in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, which views itself as a neutral nation, anti-Jewish social media is rapidly escalating. There were 1,789 incidents in 2024—an increase of 89.5 percent over 2023. Forty-two physical attacks include some schools—all too accurately described as the “new hotbeds of hatred.”

In Germany last November, an under-17 youth soccer team in Berlin from TuS Makkabi, a Jewish sports club, was chased by a crowd from the opposing team wielding sticks and knives. They yelled “Free Palestine” and spat on the Jewish team.

The United States, in the last few weeks, has felt the shock of two Israeli Embassy staff being shot dead by a terrorist, and then reeled from another horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, when members of a peaceful Jewish group were set on fire. One-third of American Jews report that they have experienced antisemitism, in person or virtually, at least once in the past year. Fifty-six percent mention they have changed their behavior—men choosing not wearing their kippahs and women not wearing their Star of David necklaces. Only 6.3 million Jews live in the U.S.—not even 2 percent of the total population.

This week, the 2025 Israel Summit scheduled for June 9–11 in Dallas, Texas, was canceled due to the threat of violence. Commented former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman: “This is America in 2025. A pro-Israel conference,” he said, “was forced to cancel because of threats from violent jihadists. Law enforcement was completely cooperative, but the threats were of a nature that required cancellation.”

In closing, our short tour now leads to one more terror tunnel discovered below yet another hospital in Gaza—this time, the European Hospital. It offers more proof that Hamas leaders weren’t just hiding underground; they were running their terror network from beneath a hospital. IDF spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin describes the weapons, cash, and ammunition stored in the tunnels under the hospital’s emergency room. Standing in the tunnel, Defrin says, “We found here in this infrastructure a lot of funds, a lot of money, cash used by Hamas—of course, not for the people but for terror activities, weapons.” Here is the link if you wish to watch or share it: [view here].

Given the mindset of those described in Isaiah 5:20 who call “evil good, and good evil,” they would likely refuse to believe facts about this under-the-hospital-terror-post or the massive amount of visual evidence that has been available since October 7, 2023. 

Let us be among those who dwell on biblical hope and then commit to honoring God by supporting His chosen people.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to join us in prayer this week recalling Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” 

Prayer Points: 

  • Pray for Jewish communities worldwide to discover shalom to calm their fears. 
  • Pray for the safety of Jewish schoolchildren living outside of Israel.
  • Pray for members of the IDF in their highly dangerous search for hostages in terror tunnels.
  • Pray for Israeli families whose adult children in the IDF bravely sacrificed their lives. 

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.

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New Immigrants: Simeon and Liza’s Story

Simeon had a good life in Ukraine. “My family was well off,” he said. “We had everything we needed.” Then, the war took it all from him—including his father, who went missing in action. Simeon recalled, “I had absolutely nothing. It was humbling.”

Forced to leave his homeland, Simeon and his bride, Liza, sought refuge in Israel, and soon they had a baby boy. Yet, starting over in a new country was challenging.

To support his family, Simeon worked long nights at one job, then served half days at an army base. With no bed, he slept a few hours on the floor. Utility bills kept piling up as he earned barely enough for rent and food. Then things suddenly got even worse when their landlord sold the apartment where they lived.

Despite all that, Simeon said, “We trusted that God would provide.” Liza added, “We prayed a lot, hoped, and relied on God.” And their prayers were answered, thanks to you!

Friends pointed them to CBN Israel, and caring donors helped them move, pay off their bills—and paid for several months of rent, along with providing groceries and basic furniture. Plus, they gave Liza private instructions to learn Hebrew—so she can study and stay at home with her son.

“It all happened in a miraculous way,” Liza said gratefully. “We can raise our son and not worry about tomorrow. I thank God we’ve gotten through this and can focus on moving forward!”

Your gifts to CBN Israel can help other immigrants move forward, along with assisting single moms, terror victims, and Holocaust survivors.

So many Israelis are in desperate situations. Your support can provide groceries, housing, furniture, and other financial aid needed to survive.

Please join us today in bringing help to those who are hurting!

GIVE TODAY

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Biblical Israel: Mount of Olives

By Marc Turnage

The Mount of Olives is a north-south ridge that sits on the eastern watershed of the hills around Jerusalem. To its east, the land slopes drastically down towards the Jordan River Valley and the area around Jericho, towards the Dead Sea. 

The steep fall-off of the topography east of the Mount of Olives, together with the weather patterns coming from the west off the Mediterranean Sea, which causes the rain to fall along the heights of the hill country, means that the land to the east of the Mount of Olives sits in the rain shadow, with little vegetation. This wilderness provided refuge for those seeking concealment from the authorities. When David fled Jerusalem from Absalom (2 Samuel 15:13-23), he went over the Mount of Olives into this wilderness seeking refuge.

The Mount of Olives in antiquity never belonged inside the city of Jerusalem. It always sat as its eastern boundary separated from the city of Jerusalem by the Kidron Valley. The Mount of Olives also served as Jerusalem’s cemetery beginning in the Chalcolithic period (Stone Age). Tombs from the time of the Judean monarchy (Old Testament), as well as the first century (New Testament) have been discovered on the Mount of Olives. At the foot of the mountain sit three monumentally decorated tombs from the first centuries B.C. and A.D., one of which is the misnamed Tomb of Absalom. 

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on His “Triumphal Entry” (Luke 19:28-29), He approached the city from the Mount of Olives. Pilgrims to Jerusalem today can walk down the Mount of Olives on the “Palm Sunday” processional route, but this would not have been the path Jesus took, as it led through a first century cemetery, which would have rendered Him ritually impure prohibiting Him from entering the Temple. Most likely His route would have taken Him over one the saddles of the ridge on either its northern or southern part. 

The prophet Zechariah proclaimed that at the end of the age, when God’s kingdom is revealed in all the world, that He will stand on the Mount of Olives, which will split east to west, opening a chasm that will cause the mountain to move to the north and south (Zechariah 14:4). The Mount of Olives is not only connected to Jerusalem’s history in both the Old and New Testaments; it is also directly linked to its future. 

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

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

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Weekly Devotional: As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem

“Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forever” (Psalm 125:1-2 NKJV).

Psalm 125 is the sixth psalm of the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120–134). Pilgrims sang these psalms as they approached the Temple at times of pilgrimage, especially the festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles).

The psalmists often used realities that people knew to illustrate and articulate what God or people were like. The Bible and the biblical mind functioned in concrete ideas and images instead of abstract ones, as we tend to do.

The psalmist in Psalm 125 described those who trust in God as unmovable as Mount Zion. What provided such surety?

When David conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital, the city resided on a hill known as the eastern hill; the Bible refers to the northern part of this hill as Mount Zion. The eastern hill is surrounded by hills higher than it. People settled on the eastern hill instead of one of the higher hills due to a water source, the Gihon Spring, a karstic spring that continues to produce water, at the base of the eastern hill. The city remained on the eastern hill until the eighth century B.C. 

The population grew and began to settle on the western hill—what today is referred to as Mount Zion—which was included in the walls of the city toward the end of the eighth century B.C. At that time, the western hill rose above several of the surrounding hills. Thus, Psalm 125 was written when the city only existed on the eastern hill, for only then did the mountains surround Jerusalem. 

It sounds beautiful. “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people.” That is, until you stand on the eastern hill and realize that strategically all the other hills look down on you. The position is vulnerable. Attacking armies could position themselves on the higher hills looking down into the city. In such a vulnerable position, what made Mount Zion unmovable; what would protect it?

God served as its protection, and therefore, Mount Zion cannot be moved. He defends Jerusalem—and those who trust in Him. 

Trusting God sounds easy. Our world often makes it difficult. The question gets asked to us many times a day, “Has God really said?” “Can God truly protect and deliver?” “Can I really trust God?” 

The inhabitants and pilgrims to Jerusalem when it sat on the eastern hill were confronted by similar questions. It seemed too vulnerable. Yet, God protected. He takes care of those who do good and choose to obey Him. Trusting in God is not a mere mental exercise. It means that we do what He commands, confident that He will prove true to His word. 

PRAYER

Father, we trust in You. You are our defender and protection. You repay those who obey You and choose to do good. Amen.

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Hatred Has Become Their God

By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

The shocking May 21 murders of a soon-to-be-engaged Jewish couple is still reverberating among Jews, Christians, and people of good will. Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky—who had been on staff at the Israeli Embassy in D.C.—have been laid to rest: Sarah in Overland Park, Kansas, and Yaron in Jerusalem. On June 1, another terrorist, this time an illegal alien, threw homemade Molotov cocktails into the Jewish crowd at a peaceful pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado—setting some on fire. Twelve innocent people suffered injury, some critically. 

The national Run for Their Lives rallies—peaceful run/walk events—spotlight the freeing of hostages from Hamas. However, the attacker shouted his cold-blooded message: “Palestine is free” and “End Zionists.” The violence took place on the eve of the Jewish festival Shavuot, which Christians call Pentecost. 

Our unity with the Jewish community is more essential than ever amid today’s outbreaks of evil. Wherever possible, we must choose to oppose lies with truth. Gaining more education about the nature of radicalized minds is essential, especially if we have not directly encountered embedded evil. Yet, the rampant, outsized propaganda too easily reported by mainstream media is often overwhelming, making it easy to say, “What’s the use? I am only one person!”

The first step is choosing to obey God’s unbreakable biblical mandates about Jews, Israel’s indigenous people. The next is to realize that each of us is no longer just one person. We are uniting with millions of Christians and Jews—growing into a force to be reckoned with. 

Although Nazi propaganda focused mostly on Europe, now—with the aggressive power of social media—the entire globe is infected with lies aimed at Jews and Christians. Now, lies travel at warp speed. And the vastness of such propaganda pounds lies into minds, thereby erasing facts.

In John 8:44, Jesus clearly described the origin of lies when confronting the Pharisees: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning not holding to the truth, for there there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

Last week, I listened to Chuck Holton’s expert explanation of lies based on Jesus’ words about the origin of lies. At this time in world history, we face the dangerous byproducts of around-the-clock indoctrination. Chuck has been a war correspondent with CBN News since 2003. He hosts The Hot Zone, offering authoritative analysis and perspective.

Chuck explored minds radicalized by intolerance—the intolerance of opposing views, embracing violence, and rejecting the existing social order. These are not mental illnesses. Those with mental illnesses do not choose to have a mental illness. Rather, they want to learn how to navigate their brain disease, choosing to live full lives and making a helpful difference for others.

He describes the perpetrators in the Middle East, Europe, and now in America as operating out of ideological possession. The word “ideological” or its root word, ideology, is defined as a set of beliefs/ideas, especially about politics, economics, or society. It is a blueprint for how to think and act. Extreme identification with a belief system can lead to fanaticism and a propensity to engage in acts of cruelty toward others.

Chuck Holton’s insights reveal a terror blueprint:

  • Ideological possession. 
  • A cause becomes a god. 
  • Reprograming the conscience. 
  • Erasing empathy. 
  • Mainstream media funneling lies.
  • Internet algorithms shaping identities.

Ideological possession displays a sprawling pattern of how societies have been drifting into lawlessness since October 7, 2023. This often leads to a sense of entitlement or an obligation to commit violence against innocent Jews and the Christians who stand with them.

“Violent ideology can happen,” notes Chuck, “when a cause becomes a god.” 

His observation helps explain degrees of terrorism—from murderers to masked demonstrators on college campuses using violent words, slogans, and memes to dehumanize Jews. An ideology becomes more than a belief system; it becomes someone’s identity, not just an influence on their behavior. The words reprogram the person’s conscience to where anything, absolutely anything, can be rationalized. Perceived enemies are not people. They are obstacles, “faceless others.”

Bowing down to a dangerous ideology is what happened via the American murderer’s ideological possession when he shot two peace-loving strangers to death. “Free Palestine” took over as the killer’s god. As Chuck noted, Sarah and Yaron were “only symbols of his hatred toward Zionism. His concept made murder noble.” 

Holton describes ideological possession as seductive, giving the radicalized mind a purpose and a sense of belonging. The process finally results in erasing empathy. As Chuck points out, “With no empathy, brutality becomes thinkable. Before pulling the trigger or raising the knife, a murderer must have convinced himself that the targets are not fully human.”

Dehumanization begins with words. Someone is not a person; they are a problem. Debating Jews is resisting Zionists. Israelis are occupiers and baby killers. Jesus was a Palestinian.

Memes, slogans, and hashtags aid and abet the disappearance of moral guardrails to the point where murder, assaults, and slander are not wrong. History is full of this phenomenon. In the Rwandan genocide, the Hutus called the Tutsis “cockroaches.” Nazis called Jews “rats.” Otherwise-normal people become capable of antisemitic acts.

Internet algorithms shape identities and start to bleed into real life. No longer anonymous, terrorists are soldiers for the cause and the world they believe will notice them. They consider themselves heroic. Holton adds “that media should not say the name of murderers.” Relentless propaganda enabled by mainstream media overtakes minds that have abandoned biblical truths.

A glaring example from most mainstream media is an MSN article published about the Boulder attacks. In its last few lines it reads, “Israel’s subsequent military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians … said Gaza health officials.” Gaza health officials? It is actually Hamas that mainstream media have consistently used as their source—and Hamas promotes nothing but lies and propaganda.

Mainstream media then becomes an accessory to ideological possession and every Jew-hating act.

Mike Huckabee, our U.S. Ambassador to Israel, released this statement: “We are demanding an immediate retraction of the lies and are appealing to all media sources to act with objective professionalism to cover actual events instead of being a partner of terrorism by blindly following Hamas news releases.” The Ambassador highlighted the “reckless and irresponsible reporting by major U.S. news outlets … contributing to the anti-Semitic climate that has resulted in the murder of two young people at an Israeli embassy in Washington last month and the attempted murder and terror attack on a group of pro-Israel demonstrators in Colorado on Sunday.” 

Slogans like “From the River to the Sea,” “End Zionists,” and “Free Palestine” are genocidal shouts. Since October 7, 2023, radicalized minds have left Jewish children orphaned, entire families wiped out, and demonstrators assaulting Jewish students. Chuck observes, “In a culture which abandons a biblical worldview, anything can be justified. By choosing an individual truth, feelings outweigh facts.”

As evangelicals acknowledge Jesus’ words about the origin of lies and become more educated, it is is crucial that we accept Chuck Holton’s admonitions to “carry light into the darkest places, not just mourn the victims. Let us honor them by standing for truth and refusing to let the world go numb.”

John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States, was a great anti-slavery president and later a member of congress. He repeatedly pushed resolutions and legislation against slavery to a unresponsive Congress. Let us adopt his quote as we stand with the Jewish community: “Duty is ours; results are God’s.”

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to pray with us this week with an admonition from the Apostle John: If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth (1 John 1:6).

Prayer Points:

  • Pray that Christians increase their courage in troubling times.
  • Pray that Christians remain spiritually vigilant gaining strength in the Bible. 
  • Pray that the Jewish community receives encouragement from Christians. 
  • Pray for American Jews growing more fearful with antisemitic acts.

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.

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Holocaust Survivor: Natalia’s Story

When she was just 13, Natalia had to flee her home in Ukraine to escape the Nazis. As World War II raged, this young Jewish girl survived by working in a factory that supported the war effort. She eventually returned home.

But years later, in 2022, she relived the same nightmare—as war broke out in Ukraine with Russia.

She recalled, “A rocket hit our neighborhood in the middle of the night. The explosion killed over 30 people in my community.” Terrified, this elderly woman sought refuge in Israel, making Aliyah to become an Israeli citizen.

Yet as a frail senior who arrived with nothing, Natalia has had other battles to fight. At age 95, she must use a wheelchair to go outside. Because of her handicap, she had to find another apartment with an elevator. And in addition to needing help getting enough to eat, she also lacked basic furniture. Alone in a different country, where could she get help?

Thankfully, friends like you came to her rescue through CBN Israel. Caring donors are there delivering nutritious food, and she says these visits from our team mean as much as the aid itself. Donors also provided her with a special bed and essential furniture, to make her apartment feel like home.

Natalia exclaimed, “Thank you so much for your generous help. I have been overjoyed to receive the regular provisions of food and groceries, and I am so grateful for the furniture… Your kindness means more than you know!”

Your gifts to CBN Israel can be a blessing to Holocaust survivors like Natalia, and to refugees, single moms, terror victims, and others struggling to survive in the Holy Land.

And you can make a tremendous difference for those in need by providing hot meals, safe housing, necessities, and financial assistance.

Please join us today in extending God’s love and compassion to the hurting in Israel!

GIVE TODAY

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Biblical Israel: Temple Mount

By Marc Turnage

The Golden Dome of the Rock provides one of the most iconic and recognizable images of any city’s skyline within the world. The Islamic shrine completed in A.D. 692 by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik stands upon the platform of the Temple Mount, which was constructed during the first centuries B.C. and A.D. The Temple Mount refers to the platform and complex upon which stood the Temple constructed by Herod the Great. This was the Temple known to Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Peter, and Paul. It stood on the northern end of the eastern hill of Jerusalem, what the Bible calls Mount Zion. 

Around 1000 B.C., David conquered the Jebusite city of Jerusalem and the stronghold of Zion, which sat on the eastern hill. He made this the capital of his united kingdom, Israel. When his son, Solomon, succeeded his father as king, he extended the city to the northern height of the eastern hill where he built his palace, administrative buildings, and the House of the God of Israel, the First Temple. This building remained situated on the height of the eastern hill until the Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed it in 586 B.C. The Babylonians carried the Judeans into exile. When they returned to the land around Jerusalem, they rebuilt the Temple, under Zerubbabel. This building underwent renovations and additions in the subsequent centuries; however, our knowledge of this is limited due to the absence of clear descriptions within ancient sources and a lack of archaeological excavation in the area of the Temple Mount.

In the eighteenth year of Herod the Great’s reign as king of Judea, he began a massive remodeling and reconstruction of the Temple area, which ultimately resulted in the construction of the Temple Mount. The construction, which continued into the first century A.D., after Herod’s death in 4 B.C., created a series of four retaining walls that supported the platform, which covered the high point of the eastern hill turning it into the largest enclosed sacred space within the Roman world. The main portion of construction took nine-and-a-half years. Herod apparently oversaw the building of the Temple building, which stood twice the height of the golden Dome of the Rock, and the remodeling of the sacred precincts, an area of five hundred cubits square, during his lifetime. 

The heart of the Temple Mount was the Temple building and the surrounding sacred complex, which including the Court of the Women, the Court of the Israelites, the Chambers of Wood, Oil, Lepers, and Nazirites. Inside the Temple building was the Holy Place, which housed the golden lampstand (the menorah), the Table of Shewbread, and the altar of incense. Beyond the Holy Place was the Holies of Holies, which was entered only by the high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement.

The construction of the Temple Mount continued into the first century as the southern and northern portions of the platform expanded. The four retaining walls of the Temple Mount contained gates that offered access onto the Temple Mount platform. The northern retaining wall contained the Tadi Gate, which rabbinic sources claim was not used at all. The Shushan Gate stood on the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, of which portions seem to predate Herod, and it was lower than the other walls that surrounded the Temple Mount. 

The present eastern gate, known as the Golden Gate (or in Arabic, the Mercy Gate) was built much later than the first century. It was sealed, like most of the gates onto the Temple Mount by the Crusader, Knights Templar, who made the Temple Mount their headquarters. The western retaining wall had four gates. Two were upper and two lower, and they alternated lower and upper. The northernmost gate opened onto a street that ran alongside the western retaining wall. Today it is known as Warren’s Gate (named after the British explorer, Charles Warren, who found the gate). 

In the first century an arched bridge spanned from the western hill to the western wall of the Temple Mount. This bridge conveyed an aqueduct that provided water for the Temple worship. The bridge and the arched gateway that provided access onto the Temple Mount were identified by Charles Wilson in the nineteenth century and bear his name today. Today a portion of the western retaining wall serves as the prayer plaza of the Western Wall, a functioning synagogue, a site holy for Jews. In the women’s section of the Western Wall remains of a third gate can be seen. This gate, known as Barclay’s gate, after the American missionary, James Barclay, who discovered it, also provided access to the street that ran along the western wall. 

The fourth and final gate also offered another elevated access onto the Temple Mount platform. It was supported by a large arch with steps that ascended the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount. The arch, which was the largest arch in the Roman world at the time of its construction, is known as Robinson’s Arch, bearing the name of the American Edward Robinson who identified the spring of the arch, which is all that remains. The southern entrances of the Temple Mount served the majority of Jewish pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for the festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Two large double gates stood at the top of stairs providing access up a ramp onto the Temple Mount platform. Pilgrims entered on the right of the two gates and exited through the left two gates unless they were in mourning. If they were in mourning, they went the opposite direction in order to receive comfort from their fellow worshipers. 

The western and southern retaining walls were built in the first century A.D. Their construction enlarged the Temple Mount platform to the south, which created a large court outside of the sacred precincts. They also supported a large colonnaded structure that stood on the southern end of the Temple Mount known as the Royal Stoa. 

Herod’s Temple and the surround complexes were destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. During the second and third centuries a pagan shrine stood on the Temple Mount. During the period of the Christian Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, a couple of churches stood on the Temple Mount. With the coming of Islam in the seventh century, the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque were constructed. These two buildings stand on top of the Temple Mount until today.

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

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

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Weekly Devotional: First Fruits

“You are to count seven weeks, counting the weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. You are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you. Rejoice before Yahweh your God in the place where He chooses to have His name dwell—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow among you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; carefully follow these statutes” (Deuteronomy 16:9-12 HCSB).

Moses outlined for the Israelites the ordinances of the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot or Pentecost). This festival commemorated the harvest seven weeks and one day (50 days, hence “Pentecost”) after the first Sabbath following the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

The festival was to be a celebration marked by a freewill offering—an offering “that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you.”  

The festivals and rituals that God gave to the Israelites served as reminders of His participation in their daily lives. Agriculture did not depend upon the farmer and his ingenuity or the luck of the weather; rather, God Himself blessed and provided for the daily needs of the people. The rituals and festivals functioned as reminders of God’s nearness and called upon the Israelites to give thanks, to rejoice.

The Israelites celebrated Pentecost not only within their families but also with their communities. Three groups of people are specifically identified as participating in the celebration of the festival: strangers, orphans, and widows. These three groups lacked a legal advocate within ancient Israel, which is why God often describes Himself, the just Judge, as the defender of these three groups. 

In the midst of the celebration, God calls on the Israelites to remember those on the fringes of their society and to bring them into the festivities. The basis for this action is provided in Deuteronomy 24:18 HCSB: “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt.”

You were once an outcast, someone at the bottom of the social world, so remember and bring those at the bottom of your world into your celebration of the Lord’s blessing. 

Do we see God’s care in every facet of our lives? Do we celebrate it and remind ourselves to rejoice at His provision? Do we share our blessings with those on the fringes of our own society? This was God’s expectation of the ancient Israelites when they celebrated Shavuot. He expects the same from us.

PRAYER

Father, thank You for Your daily provision in my life. As a sign of my thanksgiving, may I share Your blessings in my life with others. Amen.

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Shavuot (Pentecost): The Festival of Weeks

By Julie Stahl

God commanded the Jewish people to come up to Jerusalem three times a year. One of those occasions is for Shavuot.

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed” (Deuteronomy 16:16).

And in Exodus 34:22 we read, “You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.”

The New Testament records that Jews were gathered in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost.

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).

What’s the connection between God giving the Law to Moses and pouring out His Holy Spirit? Both are celebrated on the biblical Feast of Weeks or Shavuot, known in the New Testament as Pentecost. 

Fifty days (about seven weeks) after Passover, the Jewish people celebrate Shavuot (“weeks” in Hebrew), also known as the Feast or Festival of Weeks. In the same way, Christians celebrate Pentecost (“50 days” in Greek).

Many Jewish people stay up all night on Shavuot to study the Scriptures. Before dawn, those in Jerusalem head to the Western Wall on foot where they pray and bless God. The Ten Commandments are read, and in many communities, the book of Ruth is also read.

According to Jewish tradition, it was on Shavuot that God called Moses up to Mount Sinai and gave him the Law—the two tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, as well as the entire Torah.

“There are so many beautiful parallels that take place for Shavuot,” said Boaz Michael, founder of First Fruits of Zion. “Imagine Mount Sinai with the mountains above it, the covenant given to the people of Israel. This reminds us of a chuppah (canopy) over a bride and a groom. It tells us that God is making a covenant with His bride, Israel. There’s a marriage that takes place.”

Michael told CBN News: “Shavuot is a celebration of the giving of the commandments, but more than that—we’ve been redeemed from Egypt. We’ve wandered through the wilderness. We’ve come to Mount Sinai, and we enter into an intimate relationship with God through the giving of His commandments and then the covenant that He gives to us, the Torah, at Mount Sinai.”

He further explained, “That links us to Acts 1:8, where tells His disciples to take His message to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and to all the ends of the earth.”

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

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