Features
From the Editor Nov/Dec 2018
When my younger daughter was about 12, she took figure skating lessons. She got pretty good, too. Since we were always at the rink about two hours, I’d bring work with me. One day a girl who sometimes skated with my daughter sat down beside me...
O Jewish Town of Bethlehem
This Christmas season, as we gather in our churches to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and sing the carols of Christmas, we no doubt will sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” one of the most beloved hymns of all time...
A Night in the Fields
Birth announcements are exciting. Parents share the news first with family, then with close friends, and later with the community. In the first century, however, it was unthinkable to send birth announcements to the poor and to those who held lower-class occupations, like shepherds...
The Incredible Incarnation
I have some Christian friends who do not celebrate Christmas. They object to the many pagan traditions that have crept into the holiday and argue that Jesus was not even born on December 25. I don’t disagree. They are quite correct...
Our Wonderful God of Christmas
For more than 50 years, Charles M. Schulz’s animated classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas, has touched millions of television viewers. In it, Charlie complains, “I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy...
The Tyrant Who Tried to Kill Jesus
King Herod was a complex man. He was a brilliant builder and politician, yet a ruthless and brutal tyrant. He makes a brief appearance in Scripture as the cold-blooded killer of baby boys in Bethlehem and surrounding areas...
More In This Issue
Inside View Nov/Dec 2018
As I travel and speak, people often tell me they no longer hear teaching about Israel and Bible prophecy in their churches. Their comments reveal two distinct realities: (1) There once was a time when they did hear such teaching in church, and...
Making Something Out of Nothing
Somehow Israel always seems to find itself in the middle of a controversy. Israel’s parliament recently passed a bill called the Jewish Nation-State Law, and immediately it made headlines around the world...
The Flap Over Israel’s Nation-State Law
The Knesset recently enacted a new law that declares Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and that they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it...
Christian Persecution Nov/Dec 2018
IRAN—“We told them many times that Jesus is our Lord and you cannot take Him away from us,” Iranian Christian Marziyeh Amirizadeh told the audience at the recent Ministerial to Advance...
Q: What is the Unpardonable Sin?
According to Jesus, the unpardonable sin is “blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit” (Mt. 12:31). However, it is important to study the context of Matthew 12:22–32 to understand what this means...
Divine Affirmation
“Who were those people? What just happened?” Mary and Joseph may have asked themselves these questions following their brief encounter with Simeon and Anna at the Temple in Jerusalem. They had gone there to...
The Men from the East
The story of the wise men, or magi, is one of the most interesting and captivating accounts recorded in the Bible. Countless Christmas cards, carols, and plays present the story of their journey to see Jesus, the one “born King of the Jews” (Mt. 2:2)...
How Do We Know the Exodus Happened?
“The actual evidence concerning the Exodus resembles the evidence for the unicorn,” declared Pennsylvania State University Jewish Studies Professor Baruch Halpern.1 The ancient Israelites created...
God is Faithful
Paul’s concluding words in this epistle are extremely important. He revisited prominent themes of prayer, sanctification, the Lord’s faithfulness, spiritual commitment, and preparedness for the Rapture of the church...
The Bucket List
If today were your last day on Earth, would you be satisfied with your life? Many people who have unclear answers to such a question create bucket lists. Making a bucket list has become a popular exercise to help define what constitutes a satisfactory life...
Jewish World Update Nov/Dec 2018
“Holocaust memory and Jews are under attack [in Europe],” said Elisha Wiesel, commenting on the recent desecration of the childhood home of his late father, renowned...
Apples of Gold Nov/Dec 2018
I have lived in Jerusalem for 57 years, and I have seen many advertisements for special synagogue meetings where distant rabbis come to speak. Recently, I saw a poster advertising a rabbi who was coming to talk about...
Daily News from Israel
December 14, 2018
The IDF shot and captured one of two Palestinian terrorists who committed a shooting attack at the Ofra Junction on Sunday (9th), according to media reports. The baby boy born prematurely as a result of Sunday’s...
December 13, 2018
“As long as I am the prime minister of Israel, not a single Jew will be uprooted from his home,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday (11th) at the dedication of a new interchange in the West Bank...
December 12, 2018
The condition of a baby delivered after his mother was critically wounded in a shooting attack outside the town of Ofra on Sunday night (9th) has deteriorated, the hospital said Monday (10th). The pregnant woman was...
December 11, 2018
A pregnant woman was left in critical condition and six others suffered moderate injuries in a terror attack Sunday evening (9th), when shots were fired from a passing car at a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop outside...
December 10, 2018
On Thursday morning (6th), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu briefed ambassadors in the north near where the Israel Defense Forces are operating to expose and destroy Hizbullah tunnels. He provided the...
December 7, 2018
One of the main lessons Hizbullah learned from the 2006 Second Lebanon War was the need to revise its objectives in the next war with Israel, alongside the need to devise advanced defensive and offensive capabilities...
December 6, 2018
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday (4th) vowed to take additional steps, including clandestine operations to protect Israel against Hizbullah’s efforts to attack the Jewish state, hours after the IDF started a...
December 5, 2018
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman lambasted the United Nations on Monday (3rd) over its anti-Israel bias, using the occasion of Hanukkah to highlight Israel’s legitimate claim to Jerusalem. Friedman, the first US...
