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In Psalm 42, the psalmist describes his yearning for God: “As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God” (Psalm 42:1 HCSB). 

He imagines a deer thirsty from the heat seeking out the refreshing water of the stream, and he says that he thirsts after God in the same manner. What brought about this yearning in his heart?

We realize upon reading the psalm that the psalmist is not in a great place in his life; in fact, he is being led off into captivity. He comments that his tears have been his sustenance night and day. Those around him look at his circumstances and question, “Where is your God?”

In the midst of his present circumstances, he recalls those times of great joy and celebration as he joined the festive crowds traveling to Jerusalem and the Temple. His memory of these festive times stands in stark contrast to his current situation, where he finds himself in an uproar and downcast. 

Yet even in the midst of his present circumstances, the psalmist encourages himself to hope and trust in God, convinced that he will see the Lord’s salvation.

He then proceeds to describe how he feels washed over by his circumstances. He feels forgotten by God and oppressed by his enemies. Toward the end of the psalm, those around him still mockingly question him, “Where is your God?” His circumstances have not changed. 

The striking feature of the psalmist in this psalm is that regardless of his situation he never loses sight of who God is—the One who commands His covenant loyalty—and because he knows who God is, he never despairs that God will eventually right his circumstances.

In other words, his situation never dictates his reality or perception of God. He recognizes that God answers those who cry out to Him. He responds to those who long for him as the thirsty deer does the streams of water.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by your circumstances? Have you ever felt forgotten by God? Do  those around you scream, “Where is your God?” Don’t allow your situation to dictate what you know about God.

The God of the Bible is the true, living God. His ear is not deaf to our cries, nor is His arm short to save us in our time of trouble. Do we have the confidence to say like the psalmist, “Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God”? 

PRAYER

Father, my soul thirsts for You as a thirsty deer longs for streams of water. Regardless of my circumstances, You are my rock and my salvation. Amen.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

Israel and the broader Middle East are not the only targets of Iran’s brutal theocratic government. Intent on controlling their 88 million citizens with tools of fear and intimidation, Iran’s Islamic leaders are grievously neglecting their citizens.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s internal abuse is widespread, and the country’s economy is shrinking. These failures are due in part to outside sanctions against Iran—sanctions that exist with good reason. As the world’s biggest exporter of terror, combined with its ever-growing pursuit of nuclear weapons, Iran is viewed with distrust by many nations.

As a side note to the Biden administration, might they pay attention to the way Iran’s leaders treat their own citizens instead of seeking to restart the failed 2015 Iran deal? A quote from Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989) and winner of the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize could be instructive: “A country which does not respect the rights of its own citizens will not respect the rights of its neighbors.”

Iran’s Center for Human Rights (CHRI) Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi recently sent out a plea to the international community pointing out internal abuse. “The Iranian government has a documented pattern of using lethal force to crush protests while cutting off internet access to prevent the world from seeing the state’s violence.” 

The CHRI also notes that suicides rates began rising—even before the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the economy and public health—against a backdrop of public protests from teachers and other workers struggling to support their families on inadequate salaries. One former steelworker told the CHRI: “In today’s economic conditions, when a worker loses his job, he might not be able to survive a week. Workers have no savings or benefits that would keep them afloat for a month or two until they find another job.”

In the Bloody November protests of 2019, hundreds were killed via live fire and the dissent quickly went nationwide. They protested rampant unemployment and inadequate water supplies, all due to the government’s oppressive domestic policies. Workers are known to hang themselves from construction cranes or set fire to themselves. Iran’s national medical examiners say that there has been a 4.2 percent increase in suicides over the previous year. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime states that Iran has the highest rates of heroin and opium addiction. With Afghanistan right next door as the world’s biggest opium producer, access is too easy. 

Open Doors, a Christian organization that reports on the countries committing the greatest numbers of Christian persecution, in 2021 listed Iran as among the top 10 most dangerous countries for Christians. Iran designates house churches as enemies—of being part of a “Zionist Christian Cult” seeking to undermine national security. Church properties are seized, and Iran has also increased its prison terms—up to five years—for Christians who engage in what is now considered “deviant” propaganda against “the holy religion of Islam.”  

One reason for Iran’s rising Christian persecution is the 2021 election of Ebrahim Raisi as its new president, a man whom the New York Post calls a “monster.” Voter turnout was low, since the election was viewed as rigged from the beginning. Raisi, a former Islamic judge, is known for ordering thousands of dissidents to be killed in mass executions in 1988. In 2009 and 2010, Iranians rose up in peaceful protests against the repressive government. As the protests spread throughout Iran, governmental response was terror against its own people. Not surprisingly, Raisi’s first congratulations came from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now, under President Raisi, public executions may be staged again. In fact, the first public hanging to occur in two years took place on July 24 in the city of Shiraz. 

Despite the oppressive Islamic theocracy, it is good to know that there’s a tool of love—rather than intimidation—to combat the sorrows of Iran’s citizens: a Good News satellite beams hope 24/7 into the beleaguered nation. Dr. Hormoz Shariat, founder of Iran Alive Ministries, broadcasts the Gospel from Dallas, Texas, to Iran and the Middle East. Some have nicknamed Shariat the “Billy Graham of Iran.” 

Dr. Shariat encountered Jesus while earning his Ph.D. in computer engineering at the University of Southern California. (His Muslim family had fled Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.) Then in 1987, he planted a church in San Jose—now one of the largest Muslim Background Believer churches in the United States. In 2001, he founded Iran Alive Ministries. 

Approximately 99.4 percent of Iranians are Muslims, with minorities of Christians, Baha’is (who follow a religion founded in Persia during the 19th century), Zoroastrians (an ancient Persian religion), and those that claim no religion at all. Reliable numbers are hard to come by, but a survey conducted by a Netherlands group and published by Christianity Today estimates that possibly 1 million Iranians have become Christians. These believers from Muslim backgrounds face the highest risk from Iran’s Islamic government. 

The following hopeful statistics represent the lives of Iranians who are blessed and influenced by Iran Alive Ministries. Since the ministry’s founding, 200,000 Bibles have been distributed and 75,000 documented decisions for Jesus recorded. Their daily satellite broadcast reaches 6 million viewers and is used for their 4:12 Training School to educate 710 Iranian ministry leaders. 

Dr. Shariat comments that in Iran, when one family member professes Christ the others tend to follow their example. The ministry website quotes the Operation World Manual, which claims Iran has the fastest-growing evangelical population in the world, increasing from hundreds of believers to hundreds of thousands. The growth does not seem to be slowing down, with an estimate that the Evangelical population is doubling every four years. An interesting verse to ponder is God’s declaration in Jeremiah 49:39: “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come.” Some Bible scholars deem Elam to be ancient Persia, the site of modern Iran. 

The missionary satellite reaches 6 million Iranians daily, and the ministry is quick to credit dedicated prayer for its broad reach. Iran Alive Ministries is continually asking for Christians to join them to pray for this closed country that is overcome with what they call a dark spirit of Islam. It is not easy to own a satellite in Iran. In March, the government swept through Iran and destroyed 100,000 satellite dishes. Iranian law bans satellite dishes and fines the owners. Nevertheless, most Iranians keep (and hide) their illegal satellites whenever possible, while officials continue to raid balconies and rooftops. Satellite dishes are made in underground workshops with an unofficial estimate of satellite owners at around 8 million.

Iran Alive Ministries is busy on the ground, too. Next month, they are hosting an international summit in Venlo, Holland, designed for leaders, TV partners, and supporters from all over the world between August 4–7. 

We welcome you to join CBN Israel this week for prayers that satellites will remain plentiful among Iranians for the good news transmissions:

• Pray for Iranians trained as leaders via satellite so they may effectively reach the lost and disciple new believers.
• Pray for increased hope among Iran’s believers living under a cloud of hatred.
• Pray for more donors and prayer groups for Iranian ministries. 
• Pray for the missionary satellite to increase engaging programming and win the attention of non-believing Iranians.  
• Pray for Iran to fail completely in its quest for nuclear weapons to use against Israel and other enemies. 
• Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the entire Middle East region. 

President Donald Trump said it well: “The future of Iran belongs to its people. They are the rightful heirs to a rich culture and an ancient land. And they deserve a nation that does justice to their dreams, honor to their history, and glory to God.”

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, a guest columnist at All Israel News, and has frequently 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 Facebook.

By Marc Turnage

Visitors to the Old City of Jerusalem today can enter the city through seven gates scattered around its eastern, southern, western, and northern sides. These gates, like the walls of the Old City, date to the Ottoman Period (16^th-20^th centuries). 

Along the northern stretch of the Old City walls are three gates, from west to east, New Gate, Damascus Gate, and the Flower (or Herod’s) Gate. The current Ottoman Damascus Gate stands upon the remains of a triple-arch gate that dates to the Roman remains of Aelia Capitolina, which was the name given to Jerusalem in the 2^nd century A.D. by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The center arch was the largest, and the two side arches were lower. 

Gates are named for what lies outside of them; therefore, Damascus Gate gains its name because the northern road towards Damascus leads out of the city from there. In Hebrew, the gate is referred to as Shechem Gate because the road to Shechem (modern day Nabulus) led out of the city from there. 

After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70, the city’s footprint changed due to the damage caused by the Roman forces in certain parts of the city, particularly the southern area of the city. This caused the city to shift north and west in the Late Roman Period. From the 2^nd century A.D., Jerusalem began to look like a Roman city, which the Old City of Jerusalem more or less parallels until today. 

The Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed Jerusalem, Aelia Captitolina, and the province Judaea, he changed its name to Palestina. As part of the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Aelia Capitolina), the triple-arch, on which Damascus Gate now stands, was constructed. 

This triple-arch gate marked the northern limit of the city. The triple-arch gate was originally free standing, but in the late 3^rd century, it was connected to the city’s wall. Entering through the arches, one encountered a paved plaza (similar to what one does entering through today’s Damascus Gate) in which Jerusalem’s two main north-south roadways came together. It seems that a column stood in this plaza, probably with a statue of the emperor on it. 

A mosaic map of the Holy Land in the floor of a church in Maedaba, Jordan that dates to the 6^th century A.D. depicts the column, without the statue, standing in the plaza in front of the Damascus Gate. Until today in Arabic, one refers to Damascus Gate as Bab al-‘Amud, the Gate of the Column, which retains the memory of the column in the plaza. 

The triple-arches of the Later Roman Period were built on a stretch of wall that dates back to the first century.

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

“If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15 NKJV). When we speak about love, we often refer to an emotional feeling, something that moves our emotions. Love for another, ourselves, and even God often boils down to that which we feel. If my feelings are high, then my love is stronger; but if my feelings are low, then my love is weaker. 

In the Bible, love is an action. Jesus tells His disciples that the sign of their love for Him is how they keep His commandments. The same remains true today; our obedience demonstrates our love of the Lord, not our emotions.

Jesus’ statement to His disciples parallels Moses’ instructions to the Israelites: “Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always” (Deuteronomy 11:1; emphasis added). In the Old Testament, one showed his or her devotion to the God of Israel by obeying His commandments, doing what pleased Him. Action. Obedience.

The Bible is consistent in its message that we exhibit our love for God through our obedience to His commandments. Jesus asked His disciples, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). So, we not only display our love and devotion to Jesus by obeying Him, but we actually verify whether or not we truly identify Him as Lord, by our obedience. 

We demonstrate our love for God, not by announcing it to others, or what we say on social media, or how excited we get singing in church; no, we demonstrate our love for God in our obedience, and specifically by how we love others (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 7:12; 22:35-40; John 15:12). 

Do we see our love of God demonstrated in our pursuit of obeying Him? 

We live in a world filled with talking, but do we daily seek to allow our actions to show the depth of our love and devotion to God? Do we see ourselves as Jesus’ disciples in how we keep (or obey) His commandments? Jesus identified obedience as the evidence of our discipleship. “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

PRAYER

Father, today I submit myself to Your will and commands. In everything I say and do, may I show the depth of my love and devotion to You. Amen.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Readers may be surprised to know that Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”), a book first published in 1925, is still read today. From 1925 until 1945, when the book was rightly banned in Germany, it sold 12 million copies in German and was translated into numerous other languages. 

With traditional cultural values collapsing around us, it is vital that we educate ourselves and prepare spiritually and practically as best we can. I urge Christians to read this article’s summary of several Nazi strategies that created a devastating culture. I am also highlighting a much newer book, published in 2020, featuring wisdom and Christian testimonies about how to live amid cultural shifts that seek to erase freedoms. Its title: Live Not by Lies.

Nazism promoted World War II’s deadly cancel culture. Hitler himself boasted that his propaganda technique was so “colossal” that no one would believe an attempt to “distort the truth so infamously.” Hitler hired Joseph Goebbels as his Reich Minister of Propaganda, who promoted and fostered Germany’s Jew-hating culture into the eventual takeover of that nation’s newspapers, radio, magazines, and films.

As we read a few of Hitler’s evil strategies, the rapidly growing popularity of the Nazi Party and resulting Holocaust make it all too clear that the gradual tactics worked: 

• The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly—it must confine itself to a few points.
• An essential Nazi priority shows how the hatred was propagated. If you repeat a lie over and over, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself. 

In other words, the lies become occupiers of the mind, emotions, and soul. High-ranking Nazis and their power-hungry friends clothed themselves in normality with sophisticated culture, elegant parties, classical music concerts, and the like. However, their imitation of normalcy allowed hatred to lurk in the shadows and grow like a malignant cancer. With their minds twisted and warped by the deceptions, they came to believe the lies themselves.

After Hitler’s suicide on April 30, 1945, followed by a series of Allied victories, the world was relieved, thinking, “It is over.” But decades later it is, sadly, far from over.

Some of the Nazi strategies that powered their propaganda machine are still grinding out lies from many quarters toward the Jews and Israel. The misguided offenders include the United Nations, Iran’s leadership, most worldwide mainstream media outlets and, grievously, several mainline church denominations. The media tolerates anti-Semitism by omitting context in its unrelenting warfare of distortion. 

Today’s biased outlets may not be marching in lockstep like Nazi troops in Nuremberg stadium, but they are marching through wide-open doors in media of all kinds, including the mainstream media and social media. It should be no surprise, then, that anti-Semitism is multiplying. For example, last year some 430,000 Twitter users wrote 3.5 million posts containing anti-Semitic content. 

Despite flagging these offensive posts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok chose not to delete 84 percent of the depraved content. Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, observes that online there are no limits, and “people become radicalized without any boundaries.” He goes on to say that the social media giants’ failure “is a cost that’s paid in lives.”

In an unequivocal contrast to Hitler’s anti-Semitic manifesto, Live Not by Lies, written by Christian author Rod Dreher, is subtitled “A Manual for Christian Dissidents.” Amid rising anti-Semitism, the hostility toward Jewish men, women, and children has expanded into the intense persecution and denigration of Christians and people of various faiths across the globe.  

Dreher’s book is timely. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reports that 1,546 victims of various religions are presently either detained, in prison, forced to renounce their faith, under house arrest, or have disappeared. Open Doors, in their World Watch List, estimates that more than 360 million Christians currently live in dangerous nations like Afghanistan, China, Cuba, Iran, and Nigeria.

The title of Dreher’s book comes from a saying by Russian historian and author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (December 11, 1918–August 3, 2008), who won the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature. Solzhenitsyn’s troubles began when he was arrested for private letters that he had written to a friend criticizing Joseph Stalin, the Russian tyrant. 

Subsequently Solzhenitsyn, an Orthodox Christian, was arrested and sent to a series of gulags. The bleak prison labor camps punished citizens for anything or nothing, and they came down harshly on dissident intellectuals like Solzhenitsyn. Upon his release, the author’s books and speeches elevated him as a famous global critic of godless communism and totalitarian governments. 

His saying, “Live not by lies,” was the title of a 1974 essay Solzhenitsyn wrote to those in his homeland, when the Soviet Union exiled him before he immigrated to the United States. He wrote about ways to peaceably dissent by evading lies at all costs. It is a risky yet necessary choice for those who want to devote themselves to truth and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our determination to lead a life not lived by lies is affirmed in 1 Peter 3:13-15: “And who will harm you if you are deeply committed to what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed, but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”

What makes Dreher’s book so believable is the in-person meetings with Christians who had lived under communism. Some found refuge in the United States once the Soviet Union began crumbling (after the Berlin Wall was opened on November 9, 1989). While the book’s focus is Christian persecution from Soviet state socialism between 1945 and 1980, Germany’s Third Reich and communism are cut from the same demonic design. “Totalitarian” is another word for a centralized, dictatorial government forcing obedience to the state. 

Dreher interviewed dissidents who formerly lived in the Soviet Bloc. Speaking from Baptist, Catholic, and Orthodox Christian backgrounds, they maintained their faith under communism with spiritual and physical valor. Survival rested on family, underground churches, trusted small groups, and their Bibles—if still in their possession. These were essential in their determination to live not by lies in a peaceful way.

In his travels to interview these heroic Christian role models, Dreher heard a common theme from the Americans who had immigrated here. Asking them if they thought the U.S. was shifting into some version of totalitarianism, they all said “yes,” often forcefully. To a person, what they observe in the United States is eerily akin to the communist takeover in their native countries. A professor living in the Midwest weighed in about threats to our liberty: “I was born and raised in the Soviet Union, and I’m frankly stunned by how similar some of these developments are the way Soviet propaganda operated.”

Dreher says that we are experiencing a profoundly “anti-Christian militancy.” He calls it “soft totalitarianism,” which veils the loss of freedom where we are lulled by our comforts and a prosperity that far outweighs the former Soviet Bloc’s deprivation. He suggests that we are not paying enough attention to what is happening and are ill-equipped to resist. A dissident Soviet Baptist pastor described our American lifestyles in this way: “Living within reduced expectations of worldly success, it becomes easier to stand for the truth.” An entire chapter worth close attention is “The Gift of Suffering.” 

After reading my article, I hope you will read Live Not by Lies in order to become more aware, more prepared, and more encouraged by how our Lord Jesus walks with us through all circumstances we encounter—giving us strength to endure. 

In 2022, whether we call it fake news, misinformation, bias, propaganda, or lies, the Nazi-style tactics are being widely employed today in a storm of slander against Israel and a growing series of policy decisions and movements in the U.S. that defy biblical values, common sense, and our cherished Constitution. 

Seventy-seven years after the war ended, a downline of lies thrives again. It requires all believers to become “brilliant propagandists” for truth!

Join with CBN Israel this week to pray that truth will prevail against the lies: 

• Pray for God’s direction on how He wants each of us to stand for truth. 
• Pray that persecuted Christians will sense an infusion of God’s strength and peace. 
• Pray for wise ways to speak out against hatred toward Israel and our Jewish friends. 
• Pray for believers to stay educated and pray about sinful ideologies.

As we join together in prayer, may we consider Proverbs 12:22 as an integral reminder of our spiritual duty to oppose lies and uphold the truth: “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.”

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, a guest columnist at All Israel News, and has frequently 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 Facebook.

When Anna learned her baby might be born disabled, her husband pressured her to get an abortion. She refused, and he left her. So she moved in with her mother, found a great paying job—and her baby boy was born with no disability! Life in Israel was good… until disaster hit. 

First, her mother suffered a severe heart attack, and Anna took out a bank loan to pay the huge medical bills. Then, her employer went bankrupt, and her high salary job was gone. Drowning in debt, she worked three jobs to make ends meet. But when her son shared in class that he longed to see his mom more, the school threatened to report her to social services. 

Overwhelmed, Anna decided to escape Israel. But there was an injunction filed against her leaving, due to her debt. Desperate, Anna used her Russian passport, and took her family to Russia. Eight years later, they returned to Israel. But her debt with interest had risen from 120,000 shekels to 700,000 shekels. Any income she earned would be taken. She felt trapped. 

Thankfully, friends like you were there. Through CBN Israel’s family department, donors gave this single mother food and essentials to survive. And, they hired an expert lawyer, who helped Anna with her finances—and got the entire 700,000 shekel debt erased! It gave her a fresh start. She now has a terrific job, and says, “You gave me help and hope when I had nowhere to turn!” 

And your gift to CBN Israel can give help and hope to Holocaust survivors, terror victims, refugees, and others struggling in the Holy Land. In fact, your support can provide a lifeline for those in need across Israel—offering groceries, housing, financial aid, medical care, and more. 

Please join us in blessing those who are hurting today!

GIVE TODAY

By Marc Turnage

The Western Wall refers to the western retaining wall built to support the Temple Mount platform. In the first century, this wall faced the city of Jerusalem, and as such, it had four gates in it that led onto the Temple Mount platform. 

The gates alternated in their access lower and upper. A street ran along the western wall in the first century. The two lower gates offered access to the Temple Mount from this street. The two high gates were accessed through a bridge and a stairwell supported by a massive arch. 

Today, we refer to these gates by the names of the modern explorers who rediscovered them and identified them. From north to south, they are Warren’s Gate, named after the British explorer Charles Warren. The next gate, accessed by the bridge that led from the Upper City of Jerusalem is Wilson’s Gate, named for the British explorer Charles Wilson. 

The third Gate, which today can be seen on the women’s section of the Western Wall prayer area, is Barclay’s Gate, named for the American missionary doctor, James Barclay. The final gate was named after the American explorer, Edward Robinson. Robinson identified the spring of an arch protruding from the western wall, which was the remains of a large arch that supported a monumental staircase that led onto the Temple Mount. 

Today visitors to Jerusalem encounter three areas of the Western Wall. The most famous in the Western Wall prayer plaza. This has served as a place of Jewish prayer for hundreds of years. It was a small area of the western wall of the Temple Mount retaining wall that was left exposed where Jews could come and pray. 

The Western Wall was not considered holy when the Temple stood but developed into a place of Jewish prayer centuries later. Today it functions as a synagogue and is the most holy site for Jews around the world. Men and women have two separate areas designated for their prayers. 

North of the Western Wall prayer plaza, one can go through a tunnel created by construction in later periods of buildings up against the western wall that follows the Western Wall. In these tunnels one sees the pillars that supported the bridge in the first century leading to Wilson’s Gate; one can even see Warren’s Gate, which is sealed up. 

Following along the tunnel, the first century street is visible in places, as are the massive hewn stones used to build the Western Wall. On the northern end of the tunnel, one encounters a pool, which was an open-air pool in the first century known as the Struthian Pool (or “Sparrow’s Pool”). 

South of the Western Wall plaza, one can walk along the first century street that ran along the Western Wall. On the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount, the spring of Robinson’s Arch is visible as are the small shops where vendors sold sacrifices for the Temple and changed money in the first century. 

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans can be seen in a pile of large hewn stones from the Temple Mount, which remains where they fell in the first century. So too, the buckling of the street from the collapse of the walls of the Temple attest to the destruction inflicted by the Romans. 

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

Have you ever wondered why God brought Abraham from Ur in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan? After all, Mesopotamia was far more developed culturally and economically than Canaan. 

Did you ever speculate why Samuel—after making his circuit around Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah judging Israel—always returned to Ramah, his hometown, to judge Israel (1 Samuel 7:16-17)? Or why Paul chose to reside in Ephesus for more than two years? 

All of these locations—Canaan, Ramah, and Ephesus—share the same feature: They sit at a crossroads. The land of Canaan sits along the eastern Mediterranean coast, wedged between the Mediterranean Sea and the desert. It provides the natural land bridge that connected the continents of Asia and Africa. 

It was also located between the major superpowers of the ancient world—Egypt in the south and the Mesopotamian powers to the north. If you wanted to travel within the ancient world, you had to pass through the land of Canaan; it was the crossroads of the known world.

Ramah sits at the juncture of the major north-south and east-west roadways through the hill country of Israel, where the majority of Israelites lived. The best way for Samuel to judge the people was to place himself at the crossroads, and the people would come to him.

Ephesus served as the major east-west gateway of the Roman Empire. Traders and travelers journeying from east or west passed through the city. It was also a major pilgrimage site as it boasted one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis (see Acts 19:24-34). Pilgrims throughout the Roman world journeyed to Ephesus to worship the goddess.

This why the geography and physical setting of the Bible are so important. The selection of these locations was strategic. They served as significant crossroads, places where God and His message could impact the most people. 

At the same time, He demanded that His people live in obedience to Him at the crossroads to demonstrate to the world His kingship. Even in the midst of a pagan city like Ephesus, Paul did not isolate himself; rather, he lived at this crossroads, and his life and message impacted the paganism of the city (see Acts 19:24-34). 

Where are the crossroads of our world today? Where are your crossroads? God still desires to place people at the crossroads of our world to affect the world for His glory and to display His kingship.

PRAYER

Father, today make me mindful of the crossroads in my sphere of influence. Help me to be strategic in my actions to bring glory to Your holy name. Help me to live obediently at the crossroads of my world, so that the people around me may see You in me and glorify You. Amen.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

When former President Donald J. Trump officially launched the Abraham Accords from the White House lawn, it marked the beginning of unprecedented transformative relationships in the Middle East. Since then, the benefits have soared as high as the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, in United Arab Emirates (UAE). The original four signers—United States, Israel, UAE, and Bahrain—have since been joined by Morocco and Sudan. 

The Abraham Accords Peace Institute’s June 2022 newsletter discloses numerous reasons for jubilation from Trump’s important legacy. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reports that trade between Israel and UAE has increased 130 percent and reveals a 94 percent increase with Morocco, which is also opening an embassy in Jerusalem. 

Other positive initiatives include UAE’s Emirates Airlines offering direct flights daily between Dubai and Tel Aviv. For sports lovers, Moroccan and Israeli women’s basketball teams signed on to play matches and tournaments. In June, Bahrain hosted a meeting of six countries’ foreign ministers who are slated to meet yearly to discuss and cooperate on a range of issues including security, food, and water. Egypt and Jordan, which have historic peace agreements with Israel—in 1979 and 1993, respectively—are expanding their participation. 

Clearly, the Abraham Accords have fostered considerable benefits. However, one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest, for the Abraham Accords’ formation is to curb the Iranian menace. Israel is not alone in its security troubles; the entire region views Iran as an enemy. With apocalyptic imams directing their elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—which helps train and fund terrorists in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza—danger is always afoot. Iranian warships now ply waters near the Red Sea, and their small gunboats harass U.S. ships in the Straits of Hormuz on the Persian Gulf. Forty percent of the world’s oil tankers navigate in and out of the Straits to resupply. Iran itself, directly north of the Straits, has a 90-nautical-mile coastline. 

President Biden arrived in Israel yesterday and will also travel to Saudi Arabia. Biden’s visit has the real potential to build on the Abraham Accords established by the Trump administration. One significant goal of the trip, according to the president, is “to deepen Israel’s integration in the region.” He also stated that Israeli leaders came out “strongly for my going to Saudi.”

However, the president’s visit raises fundamental questions about the U.S. commitment to Israel, considering the Biden administration’s plans to revive the failed 2015 Iran deal. The currently stalled meetings suggest that they again suffer from America’s naive negotiations—which first rewarded Iran for nothing. In addition, if Israel is forced to defend itself from an Iranian nuclear breakout, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren is unsure of U.S. support: “What’s America going to do? We often rely on the United States during these battles both for ammunition and for diplomatic support, what I call the diplomatic Iron Dome.”

Biden is also set to visit East Jerusalem, which Palestinians view as their future capital. He is the first U.S. president to make such a visit, in a move that is an affront to Israel’s sovereignty. It clearly indicates his overzealous attempts to persuade Palestinian leaders to make peace. With Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president, refusing to enter direct negotiations with Israel, Biden’s visit to East Jerusalem is not likely to yield any constructive outcomes. Abbas has rejected direct negotiations since 2009. 

Another flash point for many Israelis: Israel’s President Herzog is awarding Biden the Medal of Honor given to true friends of Israel. This may be understandable from a diplomatic viewpoint, but Biden’s pursuit of another Iran deal and his promise to open a Palestinian consulate in the Israeli capital do not engender hope. 

Nonetheless, signifying high hopes, the U.S. Congress established an Abraham Accords Caucus earlier this year. They recently introduced timely legislation to strengthen the agreements between the Israel and Arab states. The Deterring Enemy Forces and Enabling National Defenses (DEFEND) Act compels the U.S. to integrate air defense systems with Israel, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. The eight U.S. Senate and House lawmakers included in the caucus are evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. Their bipartisan cooperation deserves praise amid congressional gridlock on a number of other issues.

Israel’s Abraham Accords Caucus is also active in the Knesset. Defense Minister Benny Gantz recently announced that Israel was building a Middle East Air Defense Alliance that would cooperate with the U.S. to halt Iranian air aggression. Both Israel and the U.S. are continuing to make historic strides toward building unprecedented partnerships in the Middle East. 

However, Biden’s current visit, along with the recent decisions announced by both the U.S. and Israel’s Abraham Accords caucuses, have prompted worn-out claims of innocence from Iran. Nasser Kanani, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, described the U.S. and Israel’s air defense initiative as a “provocative move.” The Islamic Republic News Agency went on to falsely claim that the U.S. and the “Zionist regime” are pushing division and spreading “Iranophobia.”

When the U.S. caucus launched, Senator James Langford (R-OK) relied on Scripture in saying, “We will seek peace through expanding and encouraging the Accords and set the example for other nations who desire peace. Matthew 5:9 importantly reminds us that ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’”

For Christians who rely on the biblical accounts about God’s chosen people and His endless promises to them, we are called to pray for peace and surely need peacemakers. Nevertheless, we know that it is only the Prince of Peace who will offer the world perfect peace.  

Please join us this week in praying for Israel and the Middle East:

• Pray for the world’s people to meet our Savior, the Prince of Peace.
• Pray for the Abraham Accords’ bonds of cooperation to increase even more.
• Pray for peace in Israel and Saudi Arabia during the presidential visit.
• Pray for peacemakers equipped with anointed wisdom. 
• Pray for Iran’s citizens who are suffering under their oppressive leaders. 

May we continue to meditate on Isaiah 54:10—“‘Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you.”

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, a guest columnist at All Israel News, and has frequently 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 Facebook.

How can CBN Israel help youth within the believing community say “yes” to God? That’s a question echoed by many youth pastors around Israel.

“Our youth lack programs, such as youth conferences, youth trips, gatherings,” says one committed, long-term pastor. “That is why we need to invest in this future generation, prepare them, and teach them how to establish a strong faith—a faith that belongs to them and burns in their hearts.”

The faithful ministers who dedicate themselves to these young men and women organize youth camps twice a year. This year’s summer camp included various activities, worship, and studying the word of God together. The theme of this year’s camp focused on saying “yes” to God and working as a team.

“Our counselors have noticed wonderful outcomes from such programs,” says a local youth pastor. “They report that the camps open doors for new friendships for these young people and strengthen their faith.” 

We are so excited to have the strategic opportunity to invest in the future of these young people. Through CBN Israel, caring friends like you are helping to make these summer camps possible. 

Caring donors are also reaching out to Israel’s most vulnerable citizens—providing food, housing, medicine, job training, and so much more. 

Please join us in blessing Israel and her people in need!

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