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Delivering Food to War and Terror Victims

October 7, 2023, changed the lives—and expectations of survival—for all Israelis. Since that day, the Hamas attacks have displaced over 250,000 people. Finding themselves under constant threat of rockets and terrorists, many moved into bomb shelters, afraid to go out. And they were running out of food.

“We do not have a safe room, so we ran to the basement,” explained Daria. “I tried to stay calm, to keep my kids from seeing how terrified I was.”

After escaping the Russian invasion of Ukraine the year before, Daria and her family had moved to Israel and sought refuge in Ashkelon, near the border with Gaza—only to come under siege from Hamas. “We left one war and ended up in another.”

Another victim, an elderly shut-in, was in bed when terrorists attacked. “One rocket hit the building next door—the whole first floor was gone,” she said. “My daughter wrapped me in a blanket and helped me get to a hospital. Then she found this apartment, and we moved here.

But thanks to kindhearted friends like you, CBN Israel’s team of brave volunteers walked down Ashkelon’s ravaged streets, searching for families like these who were trapped in their homes and in shelters. Caring donors made it possible to deliver bags of nutritious groceries to their door—letting them know they are not alone.

Daria was thrilled. “A very big thank you to all the people helping families like mine in such a difficult situation. We try to stay inside as much as possible. This was a big deal to us.”

And the elderly woman exclaimed, “My daughter and I are very grateful! Yesterday, we couldn’t leave the house, and you brought us food. I can eat today—thank you very much!”

Your gifts to CBN Israel can provide a lifeline to those caught in the crossfire—while offering compassionate relief and hope to others in the Holy Land who need our help.

Please join us in blessing those in crisis at this perilous time!

GIVE TODAY

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Biblical Israel: Bethlehem

By Marc Turnage

Bethlehem gains its notoriety as the birthplace of Jesus (Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:1-7); however, by the time of Jesus’ birth, the village already had quite a history. Bethlehem first appears in the Amarna Letters (14th century B.C.) as a Canaanite town. Its name comes from this period and means “house” or temple (“beth”) of Lahmu, a Canaanite deity; it did not, as is commonly assumed, mean “house of bread.” Bethlehem played an important role in the Old Testament, as it was the home of David (1 Samuel 16). 

Bethlehem’s location along the central watershed route that ran north-south through the Hill Country accounts for much of its importance. Located five-and-a-half miles south of Jerusalem and thirteen-and-a-half miles north of Hebron, it served as a major juncture of roads coming from east and west that connected to the watershed route. Its strategic position and close proximity to Jerusalem led Rehoboam, king of Judah, to fortify it as part of his defenses of Judah. So, too, Herod the Great built his palace fortress Herodium to the east of Bethlehem, guarding a road that ascended to the Hill Country from En Gedi in the first century B.C. 

Bethlehem sat at the eastern end of the Elah Valley (1 Samuel 17), whose western end opened onto the Coastal Plain, the land of the Philistines. Thus, when the Philistines moved into the Elah Valley (1 Samuel 17), Bethlehem was their goal, which explains the interest of Jessie and his son David in the conflict taking place in the valley. During the wars between David and the Philistines, the Philistines eventually set up a garrison at Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23:14-16; 1 Chronicles 11:16), indicating David’s struggles to control the major roadways of his kingdom. 

David’s connection to Bethlehem derived, in part, from its location within the tribal territory of Judah, in which it was the northernmost settlement of Judah (Judges 19:11-12). In the fields around Bethlehem, David’s ancestors Boaz and Ruth met, and the prophet Samuel anointed David in Bethlehem, at the home of his father Jessie (1 Samuel 16). 

In the first century, Bethlehem remained a small town on the southern edge of Jerusalem. The proximity of these two locations is seen in the stories of Jesus’ birth (Matthew 2 and Luke 2:1-38). Early Christian traditions, as well as the earliest Christian artwork, depict the birth of Jesus within a cave in Bethlehem. Homes in the Hill Country often incorporated natural caves into the structure. Animals could be kept within the cave, having the main living space of the family separated from the animals by a row of mangers. 

Following the Bar Kochba Revolt (A.D. 132-136), the Romans expelled Jews from Bethlehem and its vicinity as part of their expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem, which was renamed Aelia Capitolina. The Emperor Hadrian built a pagan sanctuary to Adonis above the cave identified as the birthplace of Jesus. The church father Tertullian confirmed that at the end of the second century A.D. no Jews remained in Bethlehem. 

In the fourth century, the Emperor Constantine—as part of his move toward Christianity—built three churches in Palestine (which is the name the Romans called the land at this time). One, the Church of Nativity, he built in Bethlehem over the traditional site of Jesus’ birthplace. Begun in A.D. 326, the church incorporated the traditional cave identified as Jesus’ birthplace into the building. St. Jerome came to Bethlehem and lived in caves around the church at the end of the fourth century to learn Hebrew from the local Jewish population, so he could translate the Old Testament from Hebrew into Latin (the Vulgate). A Samaritan revolt in 529 partially destroyed the Constantinian church. The Emperor Justinian ordered its rebuilding, which the modern Church of Nativity reflects with minor modifications.

Very little archaeological work has been done in Bethlehem. Most comes from around the Church of Nativity, but no systematic excavations have been carried out. The modern city of Bethlehem impedes the ability of much archaeological activity; thus, very little is known about Bethlehem’s archaeological past. 

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: The Path of Redemption

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city” (Luke 2:1-3 NKJV).

Luke places the birth of Jesus with the census of Quirinius (2:1-2). This event held bitter feelings for the Jewish people. Rome officially annexed Judaea as part of its empire with the census of Quirinius.

The Jewish people of the land of Israel were brought under pagan, Roman rule. In response to the census, a stream of Jewish philosophy emerged which taught that submission to Rome was a sin, since God alone was Israel’s king. The response to Roman rule was: Take up the sword, resist, and spill Roman blood; this is the path of redemption.

In the midst of this turmoil, God sent His Son, born to Joseph and Mary. He fulfilled His promise not through the resistance movement and bloodshed, but through a child, who would grow up to call upon those seeking redemption to repent.

Turmoil has the ability to make us yearn for God’s assistance. It can also lead us to seek our own means to make it happen. God is never deaf to our cries of help, yet He often uses means that we find ourselves blind to because of the turmoil of our circumstances.

Jesus entered a world of turmoil. Rome had taken over. The people of Israel cried for God’s redemption. The question became, how would He achieve it?

Some sought armed resistance as the path, yet God’s redemption entered the world through a baby born to a pious family. A baby who would grow up and tell people that the kingdom of Heaven (God) has come near and that returning to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pathway to receive God’s salvation.

This baby would grow up and one day offer His life as the ultimate sacrifice to bring about that redemption, but God would raise Him from the dead as evidence that His salvation has come near.

The Christmas season often heightens our feelings of turmoil. Financial troubles. Being alone. And many people feel sadness and turmoil during this season. The message of Christmas is that God steps into our turmoil. He is near. He does not abandon us. Yet we don’t always see Him or understand His purpose.

Into the turmoil of the first century, God sent forth His Son, who called upon the people to return to Him and to His ways. And He calls us to do the same today.

PRAYER

Father, even in the midst of our own turmoil and frustrated hopes, may we lean into Your presence realizing that You never forsake us. May we see that You still come to us inviting us to return to You and submit ourselves to Your plans and purposes. Amen.

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CBN Israel Prepares for ‘Tsunami’ of Counseling Israelis Will Need

By Nicole Jansezian

CBN Israel is preparing to deal with an expected “tsunami” of psychological and emotional counseling that will be needed as Israelis process the Hamas atrocities of October 7 which left 1,200 dead, tens of thousands displaced and 240 as hostages in Gaza.

“It wasn’t just those injured, and people directly affected that were impacted by this war—it affected the whole nation,” said Arik Pelled, director of CBN Israel’s Family Department. “The atrocities created a national trauma.”

Since the war, Israel has seen an increase in anxiety, fear, and insecurity, according to experts who spoke with CBN Israel. And Israelis who were directly affected by the atrocities are not the only ones impacted. An estimated 120,000 residents have been displaced and are living in hotels. Many still live under the threat of rocket fire and every resident is watching the morbid news on a regular basis.

“The 7th of October was a change in the mindset, I think, of the Israeli society,” said Talia Levanon, CEO of Israel Trauma Coalition. “We’re going to carry it for many years, also for more than one generation.”

CBN is teaming up with the Israel Trauma Coalition to meet this need including training more therapists, introducing emergency early-intervention therapies and building mobile therapy units.

“We are making it possible for more people to get the counseling they need either on an emergency basis or regularly,” Pelled said.

Pelled noted that the October 7 attacks shattered many securities that Israelis held onto as terrorists invaded their guarded communities and their homes with weapons that penetrated even the bomb shelters.

“The entire country is in a place where personal security has been shaken. A home is no longer a safe place, a shelter is no longer a safe place, parents are no longer a safe place—they can suddenly disappear. The army is no longer a safe place, the police, authorities—everything has been shaken.”

Rina Matigil, who operated One Heart, has been counseling residents in Sderot, a southern Israeli city that has come under rocket bombardment for more than 20 years.

“Even before this war, when I spoke with people or did interviews, I always said, ‘We are all, unfortunately, in a state of trauma,’” she said. The recent events, she added, add more layers to the existing trauma.

Two months out from the onset of the war, most people are in survival mode and have not reached out for therapy, but when they do, experts are expecting a tidal wave of demand.

“They are very busy at the moment with finding themselves, whether in hotels or looking for a job or taking care of the kids,” Levanon explained. “So, people will not now turn to therapy. What we know from our experience is that after the event, we have a tsunami of people who want therapy.”

Levanon said another assumption is that not only will there be more people seeking help, the types of situations they need to cope with are unprecedented.

“We need also to take into consideration that the issues that we will be dealing with are very different. It’s not just a higher number of people—it’s people who are dealing with grief, people who are dealing with very traumatic events, not to mention being a hostage and so on,” she said. “And so the therapists need to be trained to do things that address issues they’ve never dealt with before.”

“Now with residents scattered around the country after evacuating their homes, CBN Israel is working with Israel Trauma Coalition to create a national call center that will connect people to the closest therapist in their new location,” Pelled said. “We are trying to open one national center, not in one geographic location because everyone in the country is scattered and displaced.”

CBN Israel also hosted a workshop for Israeli counsellors, psychologists, and family therapists so they can implement an emergency intervention method in their counseling. Dr. Gary Quinn, a psychiatrist based in Israel who specializes in crisis intervention, anxiety, depressive disorders, and PTSD, led the workshop at the CBN Israel office. Quinn pioneered ISP, Immediate Stabilization Procedure, a type of intervention was successful in Ukraine.

Pelled said the purpose of this early intervention therapy is to break the loop of repeating a negative experience in the hopes of preventing PTSD.

“Of course, it is possible to work with a person at any point, but if you catch the person in time, this will start the healing process sooner,” he said.

CBN Israel is also building a similar program for leaders of congregations around the country to equip them as well to deal with these unprecedented traumas.

Nicole Jansezian is the media coordinator for CBN Israel. A long-time journalist, Nicole was previously the news editor of All Israel News and All Arab News and a journalist at The Associated Press. On her YouTube channel, Nicole gives a platform to the minority communities in Jerusalem and highlights stories of fascinating people in this intense city. Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., she lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Tony, and their three children.

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Good and Evil, Side by Side

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Hanukkah 2023 ends on December 15 after eight days filled with both hope and horror. In Gaza, Israel Defense Forces (IDF)—the modern Maccabees—recaptured what Hamas, the new Nazis, called Palestine Square. On October 7, terrorists paraded hostages through this symbolic heart of Hamas authority. Huge crowds of Palestinians cheered and abused hostages as they passed by.

But now, a tall menorah sits in the center of the Square, a symbol of light and rededication lit by the IDF as they voiced traditional prayers: “Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who performed wonderous deeds for our ancestors in days of old at this season.” Our Christian community can echo the same prayer to God, Sovereign of all.

Good and evil have coexisted throughout 69 days of war—and wide is the gulf between them. Let’s consider a story that powerfully illustrates the vast difference between light and darkness—and leaves no doubt as to which side is the bearer of light. As lies about Israel circle the world with a vengeance, may you remember the following incident, which began at 2 a.m. on the fifth day of Hanukkah.

An IDF team noticed movement on a nearby horizon. To their astonishment, it was a child, about four years old. She was walking around barefoot and with many wounds. After gently carrying her to the IDF field doctor, who treated and wrapped her wounds, they took her to one of the humanitarian safe zones the IDF had set up. They then learned the truth: that Hamas had deliberately sent the child into a war zone to see if the Israeli soldiers were alert and awake. 

Friends, when you read or hear libel or slander against Israel—yet diabolical support for Hamas—remember this Hanukkah 2023 story of a 4-year-old Palestinian girl sent by cowards to her likely death. The expansive divide between good and evil, light and darkness, is obvious to those who are truly paying attention.

Hamas terrorists habitually use their civilians as human shields, even a 4-year-old girl. Hamas is still firing rockets into Israel from Gaza’s Al-Mawasi safe zone. Hamas knows that Israel does not intentionally murder civilians, a fact that the world’s demonic Jew haters would do well to understand. At its foundation, the war is satan’s rage against God. The new Nazis and satan both idolize evil power.

Nonetheless, God’s rescue mission—expressed in His life on earth for 33 years—overrides evil’s history with outrageous, sacrificial love. John 10:22 is the only verse in the Bible to mention that Jesus attended the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah). Scripture does not clearly indicate that He quoted these words at the Feast, but it seems reasonable. John 8:12 tells us that “Then Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.’”

The everlasting Light of the World shines today, exposing what is hidden in the darkness of sin yet illuminating the Holy Spirit’s presence in the hearts of those who believe and repent.

Light is also shining brightly among Muslims and Jews. The well-known Egyptian-born pastor Michael Youssef recently conducted an evangelistic event in Cairo and reported the good news that among 17,715 people, more than 7,850 put their faith in Christ. Reverend Youssef only expected around 6,000 at the event.

Among Jews, leaders and staff of Behold Israel and Jews for Jesus comment that Israelis are requesting Bibles and asking questions about their messianic Jewish faith!

More contrasts between light and darkness emerge in widespread support amount Christians. Before and during the Holocaust, a minority of churches and Christians rescued Jews from Hitler’s Third Reich. Today, with Jew hatred exploding, a significantly greater number of Evangelicals, governments, and churches worldwide are speaking out about the terrors Hamas unleashed on Israel. Their words are matched with actions to send vast amounts of humanitarian aid to Israelis.

The popular Dr. Phil eloquently spoke up on his TV show after three elite U.S. university presidents—at MIT, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania—were questioned by the Congressional House Committee on Education. In defective moral clarity, not one of the women could bring themselves to agree that Jewish students are at risk amid genocidal protests with the potential to grow into physical attacks.

Lights are shining into the darkness of propaganda and money. Qatar, a small Middle Eastern country, is the home of Al Jazeera, a longtime Hamas media mouthpiece spewing lies against Israel. Al Jazeera has extensive credentials for access in the U.S. House Press Gallery for 136 Qatar employees. Compare that astonishing number to 82 New York Times employees with credentials.

Now illumination is showing via Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Michigan) in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson asking him to revoke Al Jazeera’s credentials. It seems our government and elite universities have welcomed the Qatari propaganda against Israel and Jewish students. Al Jazeera reports that it broadcasts to over 150 countries, with 3,000 employees from  95 countries, and globally into 430 million homes. Now illumination is showing via Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Michigan) in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson asking him to revoke Al Jazeera’s credentials.

Not only has Qatar welcomed top Hamas leaders live there; we now know that Qatar has donated billions of dollars to American colleges and universities. That fact combined with Al Jazeera’s influence also explains the demonic protests worldwide. Once-hidden truths are coming to light that also explain the irrational answers from presidents of three universities who recently testified before Congress.

As for the United Nations’ 193 member countries, the majority have blackened Israel’s reputation for decades by weaponizing truth and turning it into lies—lies against the only democracy in the Middle East. Their Jew hatred and bias against Israel has resulted in hundreds of unjust resolutions against the world’s only Jewish nation while ignoring numerous human rights violations perpetrated by dictatorships.

In a recent resolution, however, the United States shed a ray of light by voting NO on a Security Council resolution that called for another ceasefire without mentioning Hamas atrocities. (Ceasefires are always broken by Hamas, who not only use civilians as human shields but divert humanitarian aid to themselves.)

On the other hand, the United States and the European Union keep pressuring Israel into a two-state solution. Israel already did its part to unilaterally offer Palestinians a state in 2005. Israel forced their 8,000 Jewish citizens out of the Gaza Strip and tuned it over to Palestinians—who trashed it, then voted for the Hamas terror organization in 2007. October 7 is proof that Israel will never agree to a two-state solution. Even suggesting it is insensitive and insulting.

Sixty-nine days of war have passed. The modern Maccabees are conducting a necessary war against the new Nazis who began it. As the Allies moved against Hitler and his armies, so must the IDF of the modern Jewish state respond. I encourage Evangelicals to volunteer as truth-tellers to oppose, via social media and conversations, the lies inhabiting the darkness. I hope you will spread these facts of light, and others, realizing that facts can indeed lead you to informed prayer.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to join us this week reflecting on Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV:There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”

Prayer Points:

  • Pray for the innocent Palestinian children whom Hamas continues to use as disposable human shields.
  • Pray for Evangelicals to join a legion of truth-tellers to oppose lies against Israel.
  • Pray for the IDF to continue gaining victory over evil.
  • Pray for Israeli families making their own sacrifices, as hundreds of thousands of active and reserve IDF must serve their country away from home.

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

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Victim of Terrorism: Lina’s Story

For 30 years, Lina had lived in Ashkelon, a target for Hamas rockets near Gaza. She had grown used to missile attacks, sirens, and running for shelter. But October 7 was different.

“This time it was like a horror movie,” she recalls. “So many children, so many people were killed for nothing. Ashkelon is like a war zone now. There is a smell of burning everywhere—the smell of war.” Where could she and her children go to feel safe again?

Fortunately, caring friends like you made a way for Lina and her children to stay in Eilat, a peaceful area away from the attacks. Through CBN Israel, donors are providing temporary shelter for families and offering therapy to help them process the terrible trauma they’ve experienced. They are also supplying them with hot meals and basic necessities. As Lina shares, “We fled from our houses with practically nothing, and we are left without work or income.”

She added, “You gave me a complete hygiene kit—toothbrush, deodorant, and everything we needed.” Donors also enabled her to purchase clothes and toys for her kids. She said, “I couldn’t bring toys at all—I didn’t think of that. What you’re doing really helps a lot. Thank you!”

In addition to rushing relief aid to these terror victims, your gifts to CBN Israel can also deliver ongoing assistance across the country to elderly Holocaust survivors, single mothers, immigrants, and those struggling to survive.

The war has devastated thousands of lives across the Holy Land. Your support to CBN Israel can rush emergency relief to those escaping battle zones, while offering groceries, housing, financial aid, and more to others in need.

Please join us in providing a lifeline to those who need our help!

GIVE TODAY

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Biblical Israel: Nazareth

By Marc Turnage

Nazareth—the boyhood home of Jesus—sits on a limestone ridge (the Nazareth Ridge) in the Lower Galilee that separates the Jezreel Valley to the south from the Beit Netofa Valley to the north. Nazareth first appears in ancient literary sources in the New Testament (Matthew 2:23; Luke 1:26; Luke 2:4, 39, and 51). According to Luke, Jesus’ mother, Mary, came from Nazareth (1:26). Matthew relates how the Holy Family, after returning from Egypt, relocated to Nazareth (2:19–23). Jesus taught in Nazareth’s synagogue (Luke 4:16-30), and as His popularity grew, He became known as “Jesus from Nazareth” (Matthew 21:11).

Although Nazareth is not mentioned in ancient sources prior to the New Testament, archaeologists have uncovered remains from the Middle Bronze Age (time of the Patriarchs), Iron Age II (time of kingdoms of Israel and Judah), and the late Hellenistic eras. The discovery of tombs from the early Roman period (first century B.C. to second century A.D.) indicates the limit of the village, as Jews do not bury their dead inside of cities or villages. The site in the first century covered an area of about sixty 60 acres, with a population of maybe perhaps 500 people. 

Ancient Nazareth sits 3.8 miles (about an hour-and-fifteen-minute walk) to the south of Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee when Jesus was a boy. Its proximity indicates its dependency upon Sepphoris; moreover, its location between the Jezreel and Beit Netofa Valleys, both of which contained international travel routes, suggests that Jesus was anything but “a hick from the sticks.”

Archaeologists uncovered what they tentatively identify as a Jewish ritual immersion bath from the early Roman period. If they are correct, it may point to the location of the synagogue of Nazareth (see Luke 4:16-30). This, as well as early Christian structures, are now enclosed inside the modern compound of the Catholic Church of the Annunciation, built in the 1960s. 

Later Jewish tradition identifies Nazareth as the location where the priestly course of Hapizez settled after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in A.D. 70; an inscription discovered in the coastal city of Caesarea, from the Byzantine period, repeats this. The church fathers Eusebius and Epiphanius indicate that the population of Nazareth was Jewish into the sixth century A.D. 

By the fourth century A.D., Christian pilgrims began to journey to Nazareth and were shown a cave identified as the home of Mary. It remains a place for pilgrims to this day. It has housed churches since the Byzantine period. Today, Nazareth contains two main pilgrim churches: the Catholic Church of the Annunciation and the Orthodox church built over the spring of Nazareth. 

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: Mary’s Song of Praise

“He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever” (Luke 1:51-55 NKJV).

The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) and the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79) voice the Jewish redemptive hopes and aspirations of the first century. They yearned for God’s removal of Rome, freeing His people so they could worship Him. And they anticipated the reversal of the social order. These were subversive ideas; they upset those who resided in palaces and felt comfortable with the status quo. They hoped God would exalt the lowly and bring down the mighty, that the hungry would be filled and the rich would be made poor. 

God’s redemption was not merely inward and personal. God’s redemption impacted all His people and manifested itself in visible, tangible ways within the social and political order. Mary’s words are anything but safe; they are radical. Israel’s long-held hope for redemption has now come, and it will disrupt the established world.

We tend to view Christmas through our own lens—what God has done for me. In doing so, we can all too easily fail to feel the collective sense of hope and upheaval that the message of Christmas originally articulated. It’s there in Mary’s song; in the song of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist; in the angelic proclamation; and even in Simeon’s utterance about the newborn Jesus in the Temple. 

God is fulfilling His promises to Israel’s fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—with the birth of Jesus. The hopes of His people, and the world, are being realized in the baby in Bethlehem. But this redemption will upset the social and political order of the day. 

It’s hard for us sometimes—wrapped in the lights, sounds, and smells of Christmas—to hear the disruptive and subversive tone of the first Christmas. But we need to. What God did in sending Jesus was more than for our personal benefit. It manifests itself in visible and tangible ways to all humanity—the mighty and the lowly. 

Jesus articulated the message of Christmas when He read from the book of Isaiah in the synagogue of His hometown Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19). 

PRAYER

Father, manifest Your redemption this Christmas in the world among the hurting, suffering, poor, and oppressed. And help us to be present where You are. Amen.

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Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights

By Julie Stahl

During such dark times, it’s heartening to remember that Hanukkah began after a time of utter devastation and desolation in Jewish history.

Hanukkah—which is also known as the Festival of Lights or the Feast of Dedication—marks a great victory over 2,000 years ago.

“It’s a holiday that celebrates religious freedom and our victory against oppression and our ability to rededicate the Temple,” says Rebecca Spiro, a resident of Jerusalem’s Old City.

In the second century B.C., the Jewish people in Judea revolted against the Syrian-Greek (Seleucid) conquerors.  

The Syrian-Greek King Antiochus IV ruled over Israel in 174 B.C. He tried to unify his kingdom by imposing pagan religion and culture on the Jews—forcing them to eat pork and forbidding them from observing the Sabbath, studying the Bible (Torah), and performing traditional rituals. As a supreme insult, the Seleucids defiled the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicated it to the Greek god Zeus.

Mattathias, a Jewish sage from the village of Modiin, took a stand with his five sons against the prohibitions and idolatry and fled to the hills of Judea. There, they raised a small army and engaged in guerilla warfare against the Seleucids. 

Before his death, Mattathias appointed his son Judah the Strong as their leader. Judah was called “Maccabee,” a word composed of the initial letters of the four Hebrew words, Mi Kamocha Ba’eilim Adonai, which means, “Who is like You, O God.”

Mattathias, a sage from the village of Modiin, and his five sons took a stand against the prohibitions and idolatry and fled to the hills of Judea. There they raised a small army and engaged in guerilla warfare against the Seleucid Empire. 

Before his death, Mattathias appointed his son Judah the Strong as their leader. Judah was called “Maccabee,” a word composed of the initial letters of the four Hebrew words, Mi Kamocha Ba’eilim Adonai, which means, “Who is like You, O God.”

King Antiochus sent his general, Apollonius, to wipe out Judah and his followers, but he was defeated. So he sent tens of thousands more soldiers to fight. The Maccabees responded by declaring, “Let us fight unto death in defense of our souls and our Temple!” They assembled in Mitzpah, where the prophet Samuel had prayed to God. 

Despite being greatly outnumbered, the Maccabees won and returned to Jerusalem to liberate and cleanse the Holy Temple from the idols that Antiochus had placed inside.

On the 25th day of the month of Kislev, in the year 139 B.C., the Maccabees rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem. The legend says that there was only enough sacred oil to burn for one day in the menorah, a candelabrum with seven branches used in the Temple in Jerusalem. But once lit, the menorah burned for eight days—enough time to purify more oil. That’s why Hanukkah lasts for eight days.  

Although Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Old Testament, it is recorded in the New Testament: It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade(John 10:22-23 NLT).

The Maccabees were also important in early Christianity. Recently, archaeologists uncovered Hasmonean tombs about a mile from the modern Israeli city of Modiin in the area where the Maccabees would have lived, about 20 miles from Jerusalem.

At the site is a mosaic floor with a cross on it. Archaeologists suggest that Byzantine Christians found the original tomb and decorated it with the mosaic.

“The Maccabees were Jewish leaders, Jewish rebels. They removed the Greek empire and Greek presence from what is now modern Israel and they established an independent Jewish state, which makes it significant to both Judaism and Christianity,” says archaeologist Dan Shachar.   

Today, Jewish people light a special Hanukkah menorah, called a Hanukkiah, with nine branches—one for each of the eight days plus the shamash or “servant candle” used to light the others. Each day an additional candle is lit, so that by the eighth day they are all ablaze. Hanukkah falls around and sometimes coincides with Christmastime. Children are often given presents each day of the holiday.

Rebecca Spiro observes, “This is a holiday about spirituality; this is a holiday about values; this is a holiday about connecting to God.”

She also adds that there’s a message in the holiday for today. “The world is coming up against Israel. The wolves are circling the sheep. This is nothing new, and the message for Hanukkah is no matter what happens, our candles burn bright,” she says. “Civilizations have come and gone, but the Jewish people are still here.”

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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The Modern Maccabees Wage War Against the New Nazis

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prayer Points:

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

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

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