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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Two glorious celebrations converge on December 25, 2024: Christmas Day and the first day of Hanukkah. Also called the Festival of Lights or Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah lasts eight days. The first candle is lit at sundown on December 25. Although it is a time of gift-giving in the Jewish community, its significance is spiritually splendid. 

The Feast of Dedication marks two compelling events. First, an unexpected military victory when the brave Maccabees, beginning in 164 B.C., reclaimed their desecrated Second Temple from the Syrian dictator. Secondly, the Maccabees discovered one small cruse of Temple oil that proved to last eight days—far beyond its normal capacity—while a batch of specialized olive oil was made by Temple priests for the candelabrum. These miracles transpired 165 years before Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) birth. 

We will return to Jesus’ profound words as He walked in Soloman’s Portico during the Festival of Lights, as written in John 10:22-23. You may ask, how does the United States Congress fit into my Hanukkah perspective? And what is the connection between the Festival of Lights and Christmas?

It has to do with Judea and Samaria, Israel’s biblical heartland. For 369 years the Tabernacle, located in ancient Shiloh, served as Israel’s capital and thrives today! Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Judaism’s two Temples were located in Judea.

These historic credentials were reinforced a few short days ago, on December 5, 2024 (Hebrew month Kislev). Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (R-A.R.) and House Member Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) introduced legislation to dismiss using the term West Bank in federal documents. The short title of the bill is the “Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act.”

The bill requires using only “historically accurate terminology” to align U.S. policy language with the geographical and cultural significance of the region. Senator Cotton emphasized, “The Jewish people’s legal and historic rights to Judea and Samaria goes back thousands of years. The U.S. should stop using the politically charged term West Bank to refer to the biblical heartland of Israel.” Sen. Cotton and Rep. Tenny recognized Israel’s ancient and modern sovereignty by proclaiming the facts. Congresswoman Tenny added, “At this critical moment in history, the United States must reaffirm this.” 

How did the senator and congresswoman come to their historically correct conclusion? It goes back to 1967. It is commonplace among Christians worldwide to refer to Jesus’ birthplace as Bethlehem. However, it is easy to overlook the fact that Bethlehem and its fields were and are in Judea. After Arab armies instigated the 1967 Six-Day War against Israel, part of Israel’s victory took place when Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recaptured Judea and Samaria and reunited Jerusalem, also located in Judea. 

Since then, however, much of the world refers to Bethlehem as being in the West Bank and refuses to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital. The description “West Bank” simply refers to the region west of the Jordan River. After Israel’s modern independence was announced on May 14, 1948, Jordan had occupied Israel’s biblical heartland for 20 years before the IDF liberated it from Jordanian occupation. Like so many other dismissals of the heritage of Jews in the land of Israel for thousands of years, the West Bank nomenclature has overtaken the true geography called Judea and Samaria, Israel’s biblical heartland. Jews are historically the indigenous people of Israel. 

It is not surprising that the Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act is already creating controversy. The idea of a two-state solution, one for Palestinians and one for Jews, has served as a sacred cow for decades and was promoted by successive U.S. administrations (both Democrat and Republican), the United Nations, and the European Union. President-elect Trump briefly considered the idea in his first administration, but it is crystal clear now that after the October 7 war was launched, Israelis will not consider it. Nor should they. The inhuman nature of terrorists and oppressive Islamic ideology and actions are in plain view everywhere the Israelis turn. No “peace” partner exists.

Cotton and Tenny are following in big footsteps. During President elect-Trump’s first term he opened doors wider for Israel’s biblical heartland, populated by 500,000 Jews, when he announced that what the world calls “settlements” are not illegal, nor are they a violation of international law. Returning the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem (in Judea) marked the implementation of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, when most of the Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, passed the law to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv back to Jerusalem. 

Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden bypassed the congressional decision in a loophole that allowed them to delay the embassy move every six months. Then and now, some members of Congress are opposing Cotton and Tenny’s legislation. Let us pray for success in this important legislation—as a Hanukkah gift to Israelis in their time of war.

When it comes to the eternal plans of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, no amount of opposition will hinder His timetable. When Jesus attended the Feast of Dedication, walking in the Second Temple, He made Himself clear. John 10:22–42 are the only verses in the Bible about Jesus celebrating the victorious Festival of Lights. Questioned by crowds pressing in to tell them “plainly” if He was the Messiah, Jesus created an uproar with his answers. He declared Himself to be both Messiah and Son of God (10:24) and added, “I and the Father are one” (v. 30). Jesus already knew His destiny as the Light, the Redeemer. 

In this particular passage, Jesus does not declare Himself in the phrase, “Light of the world.” Nevertheless, the Apostle John emphasizes that Jesus had proclaimed earlier in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of life.” While the Maccabees recaptured, then restored, the Temple from the darkness of evil, Jesus’ birth in Judea fulfilled prophecies and brought Eternal Light to our world. His light cannot—will not—be extinguished. 

Jesus is the eternal Hero that John declares in John 1:5, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John goes on to write later in Revelation 21:23 that “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” 

Just as Jesus attended the Feast of Rededication, let us take a moment to rededicate ourselves and our families to Him in this 2024 season of Light with luminous candles, Advent, and Hallelujah choruses. May Israel miraculously experience The Light during their eight days of Hanukkah. 

Our team welcomes you to celebrate with us while reflecting on Yeshua’s assuring words in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of life.” 

Prayer Points:

• Pray for more Christians to rediscover the Jewish roots and foundation of our faith. 
• Pray that Israeli Jews will be able to observe Hanukkah 2024 in peace. 
• Pray for the hostages and all Israel that Light will shine into their traumas. 
• Pray for Israel’s IDF, the new Maccabees, for victories and security. 
• Pray that the Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act is passed.

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.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Attending a sing-along of Handel’s magnificent Messiah is one of my favorite traditions during Christmas. Singing carols in our church choir is also a fresh reminder of the past and a hope for the future. Our decorated tree and our simple, gently used manger scene are displayed. On Christmas Eve we will open my 80-year-old family Bible and read about Messiah’s birth in Luke, Chapter 2.

I choose to keep those traditions. However, exploring Genesis 35:21 and Micah 4:8—and doing research about the Tower of the Flock and the professional role of Bethlehem shepherds—add the richness of the Jewish context.

Recognizing the Jewishness of the Bible is more necessary than ever due to Israel’s defense of its ancestral homeland and the resulting tsunami of accusations against it. Christmas 2024 is an excellent opportunity to quietly emphasize Messiah’s birthplace in Bethlehem, Israel, and His Jewish background through Mary. God chose the young Jewish virgin, the only woman in history to receive this singular miracle. Emphasize the fact that our Christian faith was birthed in Israel, and we honor God for enlisting His Jewish scribes to preserve His words in our Bibles.

Neither war nor antisemitism can erase Messiah’s birthplace. Yet, hating Israel is by association a hatred for our Messiah (Y’shua). God in human form chose to come to a little land in a humble act of world-changing redemption as noted in the Bible, which is distinguished by Guinness World Records as the best-selling nonfiction book of all time. In research by the British and Foreign Bible Society, their best estimate is that between 5 and 7 billion copies have been printed since the printing press was invented in the mid-1400s. 

In a recent column, I mentioned research suggesting that King David and Jesus were born in or near Migdal Eder (Micah 5:2), where Levitical shepherds raised and oversaw the births of Passover lambs. Today I’d like to more deeply explore. In ancient times, Migdal Eder (the Tower of the Flock) stood on the road between Bethlehem Ephrath (Bethlehem’s ancient name) and Jerusalem. Migdal Eder no longer stands, but it was known long before Messiah was born.

Genesis 35:19-21 informs us that Jacob (renamed Israel) cast his tent at Migdal Eder, where he buried Rachel, the love of his life. “So, Rachel died and was buried on the way to Bethlehem Ephrathah. Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb and Israel moved on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.” Today it still marks Rachel’s tomb.

Micah 4:8, a prophecy written around 700 years before Jesus’ birth, reveals, “As for you, watchtower of the flock, stronghold of Daughter Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.” God offered His planned intervention into humankind for Messiah’s coming birth at Migdal into the established Jewish ancestry.

Fast forward to Caesar Augustus’ imperial census decree that set the stage for Joseph to lead Mary, sitting astride a donkey, on the 90-mile trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Caesar ordered all Jews to their ancestral home for a census. Bethlehem was the couple’s destination, as Joseph, Jesus’ adoptive father, was in King David’s lineage.

It was part of God’s plan that Mary would give birth to Jesus in Bethlehem—within or near the Tower of the Flock. Micah 5:2 reiterates, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me One who will be ruler over Israel, Whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” The Tower of the Flock, where sacrificial Temple lambs were born, seems the perfect place for The Perfect Lamb’s birth, which signified His sacrifice for us 33 years later.

Jewish sages writing in the Mishnah (Jewish oral tradition) and the church historian Eusebius (deemed the Father of Church history) confirm the existence of the Tower of the Flock. Eusebius lived from about 260–339 A.D. The tower’s existence was also reinforced by shepherds retelling stories around campfires for hundreds of years before a Byzantine monastery was built over Migdal Eder in the fourth century.

For millennia, shepherds were familiar with the Tower of the Flock. The tower and the Bethlehem fields were their workplace. The Sadducees, in charge of Temple sacrifices, chose the Bethlehem shepherds, who were experts in animal husbandry. Sadducees viewed them as Levitical Shepherd Priests—because the lambs they helped birth and tended among the hay-filled stone mangers were lambs destined for Temple sacrifices.

Migdal Eder was a two-level stone structure, allowing the Chief Shepherd to look out over the flock for predators. At birthing time, shepherds led the ewes from the fields to the tower. The ancient veterinarians reached into the ewe’s womb to pull out the newborns, then snugly wrapped the lambs in strips of swaddling cloths. If the lambs harmed or scarred their limbs, Sadducees rejected them at Passover as Temple sacrifices. Exodus 12:5 instructs, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year.”

After the Levitical shepherds herded the lambs into Jerusalem, the Sadducees examined them at the Lamb’s Gate on Palm Sunday (called the Day of Lambs in ancient times). Perfection was the rule in the Temple hierarchy.

When the angel and heavenly host appeared to shepherds in the Bethlehem fields, although stunned the shepherds immediately understood the lyrical directions in the angelic birth announcement. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a Baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Shepherds knew that Bethlehem Ephrath meant the fields and “town of David.”

As a shepherd boy, David was surely familiar with Migdal Eder, too. We do not know how far the shepherds ran to see the promised Messiah, but no GPS was needed. The Tower of the Flock was their ancient veterinary office.

These glistening threads of ancient Jewish history connect Jesus’ birthplace with the Tower of the Flock where the Temple lambs were born. It is a richer context for Messiah’s destiny as the Sacrificial Lamb. Imagine the glorious songs the Levitical shepherds heard in the night skies, then running toward Migdal Eder to see baby Jesus all in one night! Is it possible that 33 years later, they marveled again while herding that year’s scampering lambs for Messiah’s final Passover as He rode among them?

May this ancient insight into Messiah’s birth shine far brighter in 2024, dispelling darkness now and always! The Lord is our Perfect Lamb and Shepherd!

Our CBN Israel Team welcomes you to join us in celebration focusing on Luke 2:14, Gloria in Excelsis Deo! Glory to God in the Highest!

Prayer Points:

• Pray gratefully for any personal blessings received since last Christmas.
• Pray for various Christian denominations in Israel for their safety in war.
• Prayers and praises for Israel’s commitment to freedom of religion.
• Prayers and praises for Christian freedoms in Israel, the safest place for them in the Middle East.
• Pray for increased unity among believers in the Christian, Arab, and Messianic Jewish communities.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Often lost in the pages of American history was that 41 pilgrim fathers signed the Mayflower Compact, with their endorsement coming even before our Pilgrim fathers and mothers disembarked from their ship, the Mayflower. The Compact became the first document of the New World’s government. It was signed on November 11, 1620. At the first Thanksgiving, some historians believe the Pilgrims fashioned their celebration after the Jewish fall festival of Sukkot.

Our early founders derived many of their best concepts from a Judeo-Christian perspective. Since May 14, 1948, when the modern Jewish state declared its independence, our alliance has combined into massive blessings for both nations.

As citizens of the United States, we have endless reasons to thank God for our freedoms, family, and friends at our Thanksgiving tables. For Israeli families, weekly Shabbats (a day of rest) are like Thanksgiving each week! Despite their current seven-front war, Israelis have proven the observation of an early 20th-century Zionist, Ahad Haam: “More than the Jews kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews.” Rabbi Abraham Heschel described Shabbat as a “palace in time.”

The array of mutual blessings for our two nations is wide-ranging. I have chosen a few, to celebrate our mutual ideals of freedom, economic prosperity, equality, rule of law, and security. With Israel described as the start-up and genius nation, Jews—with a small population, living in their small strip of land—have made profound contributions to our world. First and foremost, it is not surprising when we recall God designating Abraham as the first Jew. He then fashioned the Jewish culture and tasked His chosen vessels in ancient times to reveal the Old and New Testaments in a 66-book Bible that has transformed the world with truth.

In exploring the modern contributions of the start-up, genius nation, I begin with two of my favorites. I witnessed these Israeli inventions at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conferences during my nine years on AIPAC staff. Thousands of us watched as a paraplegic walked onto the stage in a “ReWalk,” a robotic exoskeleton. Moments of astonishment and an extended applause filled the Washington Convention Center. Available to the public since 2014, ReWalk uses a wrist-mounted remote control to give movement signals from a backpack of batteries, enabling its user to stand, walk, and take stairs—rather than sitting in a wheelchair. 

Creating water out of air? We gasped as we watched an amazing demonstration at another policy conference inside the Washington Convention Center. Someone held a glass up to the WaterGen machine and pushed a button. We watched the glass fill, then the product demonstrator drank the high-quality water extracted from the air. Now in 65 countries and backed by a 24/7 tech support team, WaterGen invites you to “Enjoy a Sip of Fresh Air.”

Thank Israel for the Flexible Stent. You or a loved one may have benefited! It has saved millions of lives. Physicians use the tube-shaped device to open arteries up to treat coronary heart disease and blockages. Its use can significantly reduce the need for open-heart surgery.

Technology we rely on to protect mobile phones and computers is a security invention through Israel’s cornerstone firewall, Check Point—the original protection from cyber threats across the digital world. From pioneering firewalls to our AI-powered, cloud-delivered security solutions, they are committed to safeguarding organizations with an industry-leading 99.8% prevention rate.

Israelis invented another important water-related technology in 1967: Netafim’s drip irrigation, using pipes that drip water onto crops, thereby reducing water usage. This boon to crops is now used in 110 countries, including the USA, where it helps farmers “Grow More With Less”!

In TIME magazine’s 2024 best products, 10 of Israel’s products are included. Here are a few: Nuvo’s wearable Invu remote pregnancy monitor performs non-stress tests on babies before birth. OrCam Hear is an upcoming AI-powered hearing amplification tool for those needing focused hearing help. BeeHero, a beehive management system. InnerPlant’s CropVoice, where plants inform farmers about funguses. NanoxAI helps identify undetected chronic conditions by analyzing CT heart scans of the heart, liver, and bones.

Looking at some sectors of our valuable partnership with the Jewish state, Israel invests in our economy, creates American jobs, and promotes our innovation. Their partnership supports more than 255,000 American jobs. Likewise, the U.S. is the largest foreign investor in Israel, a business hub for more than 2,500 U.S. companies. Our free trade agreement with them since 1985 has provided billions of dollars for Israelis and Americans.

Our two nations are pioneering together in future challenges in cybersecurity, healthcare, artificial intelligence, water scarcity, food security, climate change, and renewable energy. When you board a flight or use your computers, be aware that Israeli technology and expertise help protect American airports, cities, cyberspace, and other infrastructure from terrorist threats.

Israel can be described as our “aircraft carrier” in the Middle East. Israel is our eyes and ears in the region. With its military strength, location, and our shared intelligence cooperation, it helps our homeland security and American soldiers. Our annual congressional approval of security investments in Israel directly increases our security and safety here at home. Unlike other U.S. allies, Israel insists on defending itself by itself. They rely on our help only to guarantee Israel’s added ability to defend itself with U.S. funding, most which is spent here in America. 

Christian advocacy for Israel in the United States makes a huge difference in influencing congressional appropriations for Israel’s security. Those decisions in turn increase our security. Our partnership also protects our American troops with military technology, helping us to counter missiles, tunnels, and drones. Israel is also a leader in helping soldiers from both nations cope with PTSD—a much-needed service.

At your Thanksgiving table today and in the future, you may place a prayer in the Western Wall (Kotel) for Israel and its people especially during war. AISH.com, which overlooks the Western Wall Plaza, will print your prayers. The AISH staff gathers all the prayers, takes the short walk to the Kotel, and places them in the crevices: [Submit your prayer here].

Our CBN Israel team wishes our readers and supporters a most blessed Thanksgiving 2024! Together let us recite Psalm 107:1, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for the ongoing emotional traumas suffered by Israelis.
• Pray for upwards of 6,000 wounded IDF soldiers.
• Pray with thanks for senior medical officers stationed with each company.
• Pray for the 101 hostages still captive in Gaza and their heartbroken families.
• Pray with thanks for our longstanding friendship with Israel.