Zechariah 8:1–23: In the previous chapter, a delegation from Bethel questioned the necessity of continuing to fast over the destruction of Solomon’s Temple. Zechariah did not address the issue directly; instead, he used the question to reflect…
Sin has dire consequences, both for individuals and nations. This insightful article on Lamentations 1 examines what Judah’s sin wrought.
Lamentations 2 reveals three areas of Judah’s destruction and paints vivid word-pictures of the torment the Jewish nation endured as it went into captivity.
They called it the dungeon of malchiah, but it was actually an abandoned cistern near the center of the prison courtyard in Jerusalem (Jer. 38:6). The floor was a slimy quagmire covered…
The southern kingdom of Judah was in trouble with God. About a century earlier, the Lord had allowed the Assyrians to destroy the northern kingdom of Israel. That event should have served as a graphic…
You’ll feel as though you were in Jerusalem in 586 b.c. as you explore Lamentations 4—5 and the anguish of the Roman destruction.
In every nation’s history there are great disasters. Turbulent times amplify feelings of insecurity and vulnerability on a grand scale. calamities threaten the comfort of familiarities. catastrophes destabilize civilized societies. Such were the conditions in Judah…
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a tremendous impact on the nation of Israel and the history of the ancient Near East. He is referred to by name over 90 times in the Old Testament…
Zechariah 5:1–11: Zechariah’s first five visions greatly encouraged and comforted the Jewish remnant returning from Babylon. They revealed that the lord would return to Jerusalem with mercy, give Israel victory over its enemies, reestablish and enlarge Jerusalem…
When the pundits look back on 2004 and the attempts at an Israeli-Palestinian solution, the word disengagement will probably top…
The phrase God’s holy mountain appears 18 times in the Old Testament; and though it defines two significant locations during different periods…
From the moment the Lord formed the nation of Israel after the Exodus, He desired to dwell with His people as their King. Hence, the Tabernacle was built; and the Lord’s Glory indwelled it…
No other city is more treasured by the Lord than Jerusalem. The prophet Ezekiel said that Jerusalem is set in the middle of the nations (Ezek. 5:5); and the prophet Ahijah called Jerusalem the city…
That’s the dream. But dreams rarely reflect reality. And nocturnal pleasantries inevitably vaporize when exposed to the harsh light of morning. Such will be the case when foreign interlopers, dreamers, and wishful thinkers impose..
Irrefutable evidence validates Judaism’s claim to the Temple Mount. But Muslims are rewriting history, and the final result could be devastating.
The Jews called him a madman. He called himself a god. And his determination to eradicate Judaism led to the Maccabean Revolt.
No man-made treaties will end this world’s bitter fight over Jerusalem. God will end it Himself—in a most definitive and remarkable way.
Repentance and an end to sin, idolatry, and false prophets all await Israel in the spectacular final days before the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom.
Is it wrath or blessing? Is it one day or many? Actually, the Day of the Lord contains all these components, as this outstanding article clearly explains.
Someday God Himself will return to this planet to set up an eternal, unrivaled Kingdom. What will it be like? Here is a biblical glimpse into that glorious time.
The West Bank? The West Bank of what? Subtly slanted journalism is shaping the thinking of people around the globe—and it is not pro-Israel.
Israel has a role unlike any other nation in the world. This outstanding article explains what America’s response should be to events in the Middle East.
Joseph Akiva is known by Jewish people around the world as the famous Rabbi Akiva. Though he lived from A.D. 50 to 135, he is deeply revered among Jews today for his amazing insights…
You’ll almost feel as though you were there after reading this illuminating article and learning how Jesus used this feast to point people to Himself.
We have commented often in this space about the issue of revisionist history—the writing of fiction while calling it fact. The most recent blatant example is the Arab contention that the Jewish people have had…
THE JERUSALEM POST—Fatah has issued a leaflet vowing to escalate the intifada and to make the lives of Gilo residents “hell.” The leaflet praised the recent killing of Israeli motorist Tzahi Sasson on the Bethlehem…
When, during the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli Colonel Mordechai “Motta” Gur uttered the electrifying words, “The Temple Mount is in our hands!” Jewish people danced in the streets; and Bible-believing Christians shared their unbridled joy.
According to a recent report in Ha’aretz, Israel is weighing the prospect of international control over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Israeli newspaper reports that “Israel is not ruling out the possibility of acceding…
As bizzare as it may sound, some people propose turning the Temple Mount over to God! But whose God will it be?
JERUSALEM—In an attempt to enlarge an exit to an underground mosque, the Muslim Wakf has been illegally excavating underneath the Temple Mount and dumping the dirt by the truckload into the Kidron Valley.
Jerusalem Police Chief Yair Yitzhaki confirmed recently that members of a Denver, Colorado-based doomsday cult have entered Israel. Their agenda, however, is reported to be anything but the usual tour of the Holy Land. Cult watchers…
Squeezing Israel to make concessions to belligerent Gentile nations, whether they happen to be Arabs or others, falls into precise alignment with what is laid out in the prophetic Scriptures. The last days will be tumultuous times for the Jewish people…
The beauty and grandeur of the Temple complex testified to the majesty of the God of Israel. Its intended impression on the Israelites was that God was so holy that He was virtually unapproachable. The Temple was laid out so that Gentiles, Jewish women…
“He who has not seen Herod’s Temple has never seen a beautiful building.” With those deliberately exaggerated words, rabbis extolled the magnificence of the Temple that was in Jerusalem during the first century A.D. Although the religious Jews often despised…
The most volatile 35 acres on earth are undoubtedly those comprising a rectangular platform in East Jerusalem on which the ancient Jewish Temple once stood. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament affirm that a new Temple will once again occupy…
On July 30, two young Arab men embarked on a suicide mission with the intent to kill and maim more innocent Israelis. Their target was Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market, an open-air shopping strip jammed tightly…
The Senate passed a major foreign relations bill [recently] that authorizes $100 million for construction of a new US embassy in Jerusalem. The bill has three other Jerusalem components.
Last December, a group calling themselves “Christians for Middle East Peace” placed an ad in the New York Times calling for Christians to lobby Washington to politically partition Jerusalem into capitals for Israel…
When Captain Scott O’Grady emerged from the Bosnian underbrush and gave a relieved America the “thumbs up” sign, Newsweek magazine hailed the young pilot as a gutsy American kid who had “the Right Stuff.”
A few short months ago, a bill was introduced in the Congress of the United States to recognize city of Jerusalem as Israel’s national capital and move the U.S. Embassy to the city by 1999.
“We want a piece of the action!” This seems to be the prevailing attitude when the international community talks about Jerusalem. Until the Jewish people began to wind their way back toward the Holy City…
The ground in front of the beautiful Golden Gate was still soft from the recent heavy rains. An archaeology student confidently stepped back from the gate to capture its entire view in his camera…
Jerusalem will remain the capital of the Jewish people forever, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told the conference of Jewish National Fund leaders recently. He was responding to a statement by PLO leader Yasser Arafat that…
Lord Byron, in “The Destruction of Sennacherib,” caught in vivid poetic form not only the essence of a battle long gone, but the final convulsions of the “times of the Gentiles.” Thus, human observation confirms…
As with so many important chapters in God’s Word, Matthew 24 actually begins at the end of the previous chapter. The 23rd chapter records what was undoubtedly the hardest-hitting message Jesus delivered during His earthly…
Among the material possessions Maxine and I hold dear is an old oak dining room table. It was the object of a rescue effort launched years ago when we discovered the table…
Whenever the Lord calls a person to serve Him, opposition usually follows. Sometimes it comes in a very subtle manner, and at other times it comes through strong, open resistance. Unbelievers and believers alike can…
Being a leader is an unenviable calling. It appears glamorous and glorious, but it is more often lonely and thankless. The best training for a would-be leader is to observe closely the model…
When the Jewish people returned to their homeland after the Babylonian Captivity, Jerusalem lay in ruins. The Temple, the city walls, and the gates had been destroyed as a result of the three invasions…
The Jews who were living in their homeland during the 440s BC (93 years after the Babylonian Captivity had ended) had a great heart for God. Perhaps all the opposition, affliction, and reproach they had…
On August 31, 1993, the Israeli Government approved a draft declaration of principles designed to implement extensive Palestinian self-rule in the areas of Jericho and Gaza.
A barren ruggedness marks the eastern side of the Judean Hill Country. Virtually year-round the face of these slopes is covered with only sand, stones, and deep gorges…
Regardless of your point of origin in Israel, with rare exception, if you are headed for Jerusalem, you are going up. Its elevation is nearly 3,000 feet above sea level.
It has been 25 years since those battle-begrimed young paratroopers stood looking up at the Western Wall, the last artifact of the Herodian Temple. Their faces graphically mirrored the awe engendered in the heart…
Jerusalem! The very name commands a fascination. No other city in the world has been both adorned and devastated so many times by so many different peoples over so many centuries.
The ancient rabbis said, “Ten measures of beauty descended to the world. Nine were taken by Jerusalem and one by the rest of the world.”
The future of the city of Jerusalem is of vital concern to the three main monotheistic religions of the world—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each has an historical claim to and a compelling interest in this city.
Anyone who has stood on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem, and overlooked the city of Jerusalem will never forget the sight. This is especially true if it is seen as the early…
Tisha be-Av, or the Ninth of Av (Av is the fifth month in the Jewish calendar, corresponding to July/August), not only commemorates specific tragedies in Jewish history; it also symbolizes all that has been dismal…
Perhaps no city on earth is more loved than Jerusalem. The psalmist has well written, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion … the city of the great King”…
Interest in rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem rose to a fever pitch last October when a group calling themselves the “Temple Mount Faithful” attempted to lay a cornerstone for the “Third Temple” at the Western…
Many Bible students are aware of the Old Testament Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary of the Lord described in graphic detail in Exodus 25-40. Fewer students however, have paid close attention to the Temple, the permanent…
Since the early days of the Davidic kingdom, when David first had a desire to build a permanent dwelling place for the Lord, most Jewish people have longed for such a central place of worship.
The Temple of Jesus’ time was built by Herod the Great. Appointed by the Romans, Herod was king of Judea from 37 to 4 B.C. He had the dubious reputation of being the most unpopular…
Today many people are confused by the differing sects and denominations of Christendom. The Jewish community today is also divided into various groups -Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, etc.
Haggai’s message had stirred Judah from idleness. The sound of workmen removing sixty years of rubble, refacing stones and beginning to build on the foundation laid sixteen years earlier filled Jerusalem.
The country is in a building boom. Houses are springing up like mushrooms, dotting major expressways and rolling farmland, with price tags unimaginable to past generations.
Our world appears to be infinite. The more scientists measure the universe, the more they realize it is immeasurable. The more they seek to describe it within boundaries, the more they realize it is boundless.
Many of you I do not know personally, but we are all one family in the Lord, and I experienced this family-type closeness and concern very recently. As many of you may already know…
What a wonderful feeling it is to be one of the Chosen People of God and to live in the Promised Land which He has given to us as His people.
The Jewish holiday of Chanukkah originated in the year 165 B.C. It commemorates the victorious struggle of the Jewish people against Syrian oppression for national survival and religious freedom.
I was recently walking along the street in the old city of Jerusalem, and I saw two young orthodox Jewish students carrying what appeared to be a very heavy package.
How swiftly the years pass! For a person over fifty, it seems only a short time since graduation from high school or college. Twenty-five or thirty years of a good marriage pass by swiftly…
Recently I had to pay a visit to the local medical clinic, and, as I am sure is the case ail over the world, I had to wait a very long time before I could see a doctor and receive treatment.
Children are a blessing from the Lord. A happy home with little ones filling it is a delight that is beyond description. Many childless couples would give all of their resources to have youngsters of their own.
“Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?” (Ex. 15:11). Not many people know this truth; therefore they live their lives hoping that better times will come. They live in fear of the situations that surround them.
It is never easy to swim upstream – to buck the tides and resist the currents. But, by the very nature of the case, true Christianity calls for an upstream lifestyle.
Almost everyone has a home town. For many of us, it is the city of our birth. For others, it is the place where much of their lives has been spent.
The city was Jerusalem. The date was somewhere around 67 A.D. The situation was this: A group of Jewish people had been confronted with the messiahship of Jesus. They had listened to the scriptural claims concerning His person.
To promise is one thing. To do what is promised is quite another thing. It would be wonderful if men could plan great things and accomplish them. But for most men, their word of promise exceeds their reality of accomplishment.
The Prophet Zechariah had been sent to the Jewish people who had returned from the Babylonian captivity. They had experienced few blessings and had known no victory for a long time.
Reading chapters nine through eleven of the Book of Zechariah, one would begin to wonder. The Lord promised His King for Israel, who, when He came, she rejected. He provided for her a Shepherd, but she would not follow Him.
There were two important figures that stood out in the minds of Old Testament Jewry. The first was that of a shepherd. It was a common sight to see them leading their sheep to pasture.
In our first study in the Book of Zechariah we learned that God gave the prophet a series of eight visions in one night. These visions cover the first six chapters of the book, In the first vision the Lord did three things.
The relationships between Jews and Christians have always been characterized by an uneasy tension. This tension has broken out at times into violence of the worst kind. At other times the relations between the two have been more peaceful…
Discouragement was the mood of the day. Disappointment was in the heart of every Jew. They were disillusioned. If God himself had let them down, where could they turn?
History will attest that nations are born in molten flame and forged on the anvil of adversity. The hotter the flame and the more severe the adversity, the stronger the nation.
Jerusalem is a city suspended between Heaven and earth. Her spires stretch out from the hilltops to the skies; her ancient massive stones reach down to the very rocks out of which she was hewn.
A warm gentle breeze is blowing in from the sea; spring has arrived once more. Dusk, too, has come, and while darkness takes its grip on the city, the birds roost for the night. All is quiet.
I would like to tell you about an opportunity I had just a few days ago. On my way home from work, for some “unknown” reason I went by a different way than I usually take.
To say that we are living in perilous days is no longer newsworthy or shocking. Honest and informed men realize that the planet Earth is coming unglued. Traditional foundations are no longer eroding…
In a spirit of reverence, we loose the shoes from off our feet, part the veil and enter onto the sacred ground of the holy of holies to gaze upon the small golden ark of the covenant.
Two days after President Carter’s dramatic trip to Israel in March and the announcement of a peace breakthrough between Israel and Egypt, I had dinner and an extended conversation with Mr. Harry Hurwitz. Mr. Hurwitz
The years were written in the lines on the ashen face of the old priest. He stood in the place he and his neighbors usually used for a market. There would be no…
When I went to the polling place to vote in the recent national election, I met several people I work with. Immediately, some of them wanted to know whom I was going to vote for.