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
November 16, 2018
Ahead of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s resignation due to his opposition to the ceasefire deal with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the truce agreement, saying there were reasons unknown...
November 15, 2018
A 48-year-old man was killed when a rocket struck his house in Ashkelon late Monday night (12th). Mahmoud Abu Asbah, a Palestinian worker who hailed from the town of Halhul near Hebron, was the first fatality since...
November 14, 2018
The IDF officer killed during a battle with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip Sunday night (11th) was laid to rest at a cemetery in his hometown Monday afternoon (12th). On Sunday night, an IDF special forces unit...
November 13, 2018
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin held an impromptu conversation Sunday (11th) in Paris, their first since the downing of the Russian plane in Syria on September 17. Moscow holds...
November 12, 2018
Jewish students in Berlin on Wednesday (7th) marked the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, The “Night of Broken Glass” when Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria. Some 30 students from the Jewish...
November 9, 2018
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit Austria at the end of the month for a summit on anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, as well as bilateral talks with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Kurz announced the...
November 8, 2018
The Shin Bet Security Agency has thwarted 480 Palestinian terrorist attacks so far in 2018, agency Director Nadav Argaman told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday (6th). The Shin Bet’s efforts...
November 7, 2018
A Palestinian terrorist on Monday (5th) attempted to stab Israelis at the entrance to the Israeli community of Kiryat Arba in the Hebron area. IDF forces stationed in the area shot and wounded the terrorist, stopping the...
