Remembering Gush Katif: 10 Years Later
On Wednesday morning, August 17, 2005, some 10,000 Israeli soldiers fanned out across 21 Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip. Their mission, following the Israeli army’s order eight days earlier, was…
LAND OF ISRAEL
Gush Katif Under the Palestinians
Gaza’s Jewish settlements were situated on about 30 percent of the Gaza Strip’s land. Former World Bank Group President James Wolfensohn intended that once the last Israeli left…
Origins of the Pullout
The concept of Israel leaving the Gaza Strip and receiving nothing in return was first floated unofficially by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in an address to an academic conference…
A Life-Changing Journey Through Samaria
The Bible simply identifies the first stop on our journey as “the pass.” Most travelers know little about the site, but it is where King Saul’s son Jonathan and his armor bearer climbed from…
Inside View May/Jun 2014
Life is filled with questions. Questions help us focus on a subject and motivate us to seek answers. Many questions are simple; others can be complex. Arguably, the…
Banias
Banias, or Panias in Greek, is situated near the ancient remains of Caesarea Philippi at the base of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights in northern Israel. In the…
Caesarea Maritime
Caesarea is located on the Mediterranean coast between Haifa and Tel Aviv and was originally a Phoenician trading post called Strato’s Tower (c. 250 BC). In 25 BC…
Capernaum
Blue skies mirrored in the waters of the Sea of Galilee, the gentle breeze, the aroma of exotic vegetation under the hot sun, the dusty basalt and limestone ruins, the…
Mount Carmel
When most Jewish people hear the name Mount Carmel (“Vineyard of God”), they think of the wine used to celebrate Jewish holy days. The triangular-shaped, wooded…
The Dead Sea
The name Dead Sea does not appear in the Bible. Biblically, the body of water is called the “Salt Sea” (Gen. 14:3), “Sea of the Arabah” (Dt. 3:17; 4:49), and “eastern…
The Sea of Galilee Part One
Rabbis have said that Jehovah created seven seas, but the Sea of Galilee is His delight. Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, called it “the ambition of Nature.”
The Sea of Galilee Part Two
On one of my early trips to Israel, I stood one blustery evening on the pier of Kibbutz Nof Ginosar on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee and watched as whitecaps…
The Garden Tomb
North of the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City is a peaceful burial cave called the Garden Tomb. A peasant first discovered it in 1867. In 1874 a German missionary…
Jerusalem’s Old City
Though I’ve lived in Jerusalem almost 17 years, sometimes I still find the place bewildering. People who don’t live here probably think primarily of the Old City and its…
What and Where Is East Jerusalem?
When we bring visitors to the Sherover-Haas Promenade in our Talpiot neighborhood, with its magnificent vista of the old and new Jerusalem skyline, they often ask…
Joppa, Down by the Sea
Jaffa is the modern name for Joppa, which was and still is a major sea-port on the Mediterranean. God gave the region to the tribe of Dan (Josh. 19:40–46). The timbers…
Masada
Masada is spectacular. It’s a mighty fortress on a massive rock plateau. The mountain is about 1,500 feet above the shores of the Dead Sea. The fortification is about…
The Temple Tunnel
Above ground the Western Wall, or Kotel, measures around 187 feet long. But it actually runs another 1,350 feet underground, beneath homes in Old City Jerusalem. For centuries…
Valley of Jezreel
Standing atop the plateau of Tel Megiddo, the Valley of Jezreel (Megiddo Valley) stretches out like a verdant patchwork of farms, kibbutzim, and moshavim. Lying to the…
The Western Wall
Many people journey to Israel as pilgrims to visit the only place the Lord calls the “Holy Land” (Zech. 2:12). Others go there to see the reality of the Zionist dream birthed…
The Mount of Olives
One of the most spectacular places to visit in Israel is the Mount of Olives. The view from this elevation is breathtaking, and people gaze in awe at the Eastern Gate and…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2014
Communion at the Garden Tomb is always one of the highlights of our Up to Jerusalem tours to Israel. As I sat in the serene gardens on our tour last fall, preparing to celebrate…
Insult to Injury
Talk and turning up pressure on Israel have obviously replaced rational movement toward peace in the Middle East. The prevailing powers seem to prefer to reward…
A Memorial Day Unlike Any Other
I can’t move. My legs are beginning to cramp, and I can’t move. Harriet and I have been wedged in a corner standing beside Michael’s grave for more than three hours…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2013
Going Up to Jerusalem with The Friends of Israel is never the same twice. I’ve been on our tour more than two dozen times, but our recent fall trip was unique. Here is a…
Wingate the Zionist
An aircraft suddenly plunged to earth and burst into flames. The cause for the crash near Imphal, India, on March 24, 1944, has remained a mystery. All nine men aboard…
Selling the Big Lie
Explaining why she left her job, a reporter for a major organization in Washington, DC, said recently, “I feel like I am, as a reporter in the Capitol, lied to every…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Jan/Feb 2012
The world is filled with travesties of justice, and among the worst is the demonization of Israel. Yet Israel wants peace, and almost all its neighbors want…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Nov/Dec 2011
“Thus says the Lord Gᴏᴅ: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her’” (Ezek. 5:5). Every trip to Israel is a life-impacting…
Israel in the News Sep/Oct 2011
Israeli doctors recently saved the life of 7-month-old Odai al-Kafarna of the Gaza Strip by repairing a hole in his heart. His grandmother, who brought him to the Israeli hospital…
The Jewishness of the Temple Mount
So prolific is Muslim propaganda that many Westerners today question the Temple’s historicity. So it’s time to review the evidence.
Turning Their Backs on a Jewish Israel
Eleven years ago, Israeli-born Meyrav Wurmser, then-executive director of the distinguished Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), wrote an article titled “Can Israel Survive Post-Zionism?” Israel, she said, was “in the midst…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk May/Jun 2010
On my first trip to Israel in 1989, I remember thinking how much the Israelis struggled to live in the land of God’s promise. Soaring inflation, high unemployment, and persistent…
Israel in the News Mar/Apr 2010
While the world marveled at the speed and efficiency with which Israel responded to January’s Haitian disaster, The New York Times found fault. The tiny Jewish state launched such a massive…
Israel: The Inscrutable Enigma
Mark Twain, the famous American author, humorist, narrator, and social observer, had great personal problems with the religionists of his day and many other aspects of the world he occupied…
God Is Jealous Part Three
When God established the Mosaic Covenant marriage relationship with Israel at Mount Sinai, He declared, “You shall worship no other god, for the Lᴏʀᴅ, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2009
As the preacher phrased it in Ecclesiastes, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days” (11:1). Well, there may be a twist on the truth…
The Israel to Come
The world has a plan for Israel. It thinks it knows how to bring peace to this tortured land. Yet all its attempts—the Camp David Accords, Oslo, Wye River, and the Road…
His Eye is on the Sparrow
In the spring of 1905, Civilla Martin and her husband, Pastor Walter Martin, visited their friends the Doolittles in Elmira, New York. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for 20 years…
The IYA Salvage Project
We woke up early Tuesday morning, grabbed our coffees, packed our lunches, boarded the bus, and headed for Tzurim Valley National Park located atop Mount Scopus, northeast of the Old…
He Cannot Deny Himself
A popular song from the 1960s claimed that all the world needs is love. Love, of course, is fine. However, the world needs much more, such as godly wisdom; integrity…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2008
Reading the dictionary can be an exhilarating experience. Not that an overwhelming number of young people might find it so. Nevertheless, it is an exercise in personal enlightenment that is well worth the time.
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Jul/Aug 2008
Over the years, many people who have traveled “Up to Jerusalem” with us have told me about the sites and experiences on our tour that affected them the most. The list usually includes our boat…
Religion and the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel
Israel, once so secular, is becoming more religious. Plans are afoot to build a third Temple, and several interesting events are confirming the truths of Bible prophecy.
Inextinguishable Israel
In a world stricken by the compulsion to forget and plagued with perpetually erratic behavior, it is not surprising that some people no longer see Israel as a little David struggling for survival…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Mar/Apr 2007
We have experienced a little taste of heaven on earth.” This comment, shared toward the end of our recent Christian/Jewish journey to Israel, struck a responsive chord in all our hearts…
Great Cities of Jesus’ Day
With Christmas around the corner, we invite you to tour four cities in firstcentury Israel that testify to the Savior’s power. Two of them are still there today.
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Jul/Aug 2006
Much more than a trip—an experience of a lifetime! That’s the way it is when you travel to Israel with The Friends of Israel. And that’s the way all 128 of us felt during…
Judah’s Inheritance: The Dead Sea, En Gedi, Qumran, Hebron
Many of King David’s words were inspired by the animals at En Gedi. Visit En Gedi, the Dead Sea, Qumran, and Hebron through this excellent article.
JNF Blueprints the Negev
More than 6 million Israelis live on 8,000 acres less than Nebraska plants in wheat alone. With Israel’s population now at 6.6 million, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) is looking toward the Negev…
The ‘Heart’ of the Promised Land: The Shephelah, Jezreel Valley, and Jordan Valley
The Shephelah, Jezreel Valley, and Jordan Valley are key areas in Israel. Learn what’s happening there today, as well as what happened thousands of years ago.
Touring Northern Israel
Let a well-known journalist, whose home is Israel, take you on a wonderful tour of what he calls the most beautiful part of the Holy Land.
Praying at the Wall
Editor’s Note: The Western Wall in Jerusalem is the holiest site in all of Judaism. Historian Nancy Ceperley has a profound love for Israel and the Jewish people, imparted to her by her late…
How the JNF/KKL Makes the Desert Bloom
For years The Friends of Israel has planted trees in Israel through the Jewish National Fund, or Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (JNF/KKL). With each tree purchase comes a certificate that lists the activities…
Never Miss an Opportunity
Was Gaza enough? Not on your life. Now Abbas is beating the drum for a move on Jerusalem, while archaeologists uncover something wonderful.
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2005
For Israelis, Gaza is history—it’s over. The tears have been shed, and lingering, bitter memories still distress many of the displaced. For example, the evacuees from Kfar Darom will not forget the heavy price exacted…
Israel in the News Jul/Aug 2005
Police detectives searched the IDF soldier’s vehicle after they deemed his behavior suspicious. Heroin was found, and he was arrested. During his arrest, the soldier told the police officers that he was a neo-Nazi…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk May/Jun 2005
The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose (Isa. 35:1). With the founding of the modern State of Israel in 1948 followed…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2004
If oil is properly termed black gold, then one would suppose water could properly be termed liquid gold. Today the search is on for…
Show Us the Map
During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, President Ronald Reagan stood in front of the infamous Berlin Wall and issued a challenge. “Mr. Gorbachev,” he said, “Tear down this wall…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2003
Recent polls taken in a broad range of countries have revealed that many nations view the United States with increasing distaste. This situation…
The Promise Continues
God never makes promises He doesn’t keep. And He will keep these.
Who Took Whose Lands?
Although the British were instructed in 1920 to help the Jewish people resettle into land that had been designated for a Jewish national home, they did just the opposite. Instead of facilitating Jewish…
The Yom Kippur War
Anwar Sadat replaced Nasser as Egypt’s president after Nasser’s death in 1970. Sadat believed he had to regain the Sinai taken by Israel in 1967. Israeli intelligence warned the government that war…
Twenty Facts About Israel and the Middle East
The world’s attention has been focused on the Middle East. We are confronted daily with scenes of carnage and destruction. Can we understand such violence?
A History of the Holy Land
2126 B.C……………………..God calls Abraham to the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1–3).
The Miracle of Israel
Israel was still an infant when Victor Buksbazen toured the country and wrote this report, which is amazingly relevant today, fifty-two years later.
Five Facts You Should Know About Israel
Have you ever wondered why Jewish people have been scattered throughout the nations of the world more consistently than any other people? Why anti-Semitism persists in rearing its ugly head repeatedly throughout history? Why Nazism…
Downsizing the State of Israel
Going, going, gone? Learn why what’s being done to Israel today contradicts everything earlier Christian Zionists believed.
People for a Land
You would think that such a want ad would yield few, if any, applicants. Yet just after the turn of the twentieth century, forty thousand Jewish people made aliya (immigration to Israel)…
Lost Hope Reclaimed
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off on our part…
Never Missing an Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity
Speaking of Israel’s adversaries, someone once commented that “they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity!” If anyone wants proof of that wry observation, he need only consider the events that took place during…
Eye on the Middle East Feb/Mar 2000
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.
Eye on the Middle East Jun/Jul 1999
I was sitting on the balcony of my hotel room in Tel Aviv, Israel, a few weeks ago. It was about three in the morning, and it seemed to me that, although I couldn’t sleep, the rest of the world should be in bed. But it was not—at least not…
Politics And Politicians
From the time of Israel’s inception as a modern state 51 years ago, the United States has been its consistent and loyal friend. In our country, many issues seem to be based on political affiliation. The treatment of Israel has not been one…
The Shrinking State Of Israel
The Jewish people had traveled a tortuous road for the better part of two millennia before Baron Lord Rothschild received, on behalf of the Jewish people, the official letter sanctioning a national home for Jewish people in Palestine. For 400 years…
Ezekiel 36: Among The “Great Chapters” of the Bible
A number of years ago I had in my library a book titled Great Chapters of the Bible. The author was the late Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, a renowned British biblical scholar and pastor.
Warning: God Is a Jealous God! Ezekiel 36:1–7
Of the many imaginative discourses offered by the Talmudic rabbis is one based on Genesis 28:12.
A Fruitful Land for A Redeemed Nation Ezekiel 36:8–15
Ezekiel 36:8–15 Israel is the key in God’s prophetic program among the nations of the world, for it was chosen to be His means of bringing blessing to the world.
Profaning God’s Name Ezekiel 36:16–24
Ezekiel 36:16–24 A few years ago a survey was taken to determine which events cause the greatest stress on a family. It was discovered that, next to the death of a spouse…
Back to Eden Ezekiel 36:22–38
Ezekiel 36:22–38 In the beginning, God planned a beautiful creation. He created seas and a place of lush vegetation. He made creatures to inhabit the seas and the dry land.
Eye on the Middle East Jun/Jul 1997
The debate that has raged over the Israeli building project at Har Homa, an area in southeast Jerusalem, has raised a fundamental question—one that reflects the central issue in Israel’s sputtering peace process…
Herzl’s Dream
Theodor Herzl had a dream. It was a dream born of the desire of the Jewish people to have a homeland in Eretz Israel under the recognition of international law.
The Betrayal of Balfour
So wrote Chaim Weizmann in 1919. Both God in heaven and Balfour in England viewed “with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”
Handshakes and High Hopes
It was a photograph far more captivating than the proverbial “a picture is worth a thousand words” theme. The Royal Jordanian jet with King Hussein on board was flying in lazy circles at low altitude…
The Gates Of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s Day
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…
Israel’s Babylon Experience
Only a remnant of Judah came back to the land in these returns, while a significant number, probably the majority of the population, remained in the East. At the time of Esther…
These Bones Shall Live
As you will discover, this edition of Israel My Glory is dedicated to Israel and issues related to the Jewish people and their land. Recent hostilities between Israelis and Hezbollah terrorists operating from Lebanon point…
We Will Hope
In what may be called a conservative expression of what has taken place between the Israelis and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, a “historic breakthrough” was announced on August 31, 1993.
Israel’s Political Patchwork
There is a saying in Israel that if you really want to learn about the political situation in the country, the person to ask is a taxi driver.
Homeward Bound
The United States of America was built by immigrants. In the earliest days, they came from England, Holland, and Spain, often seeking freedom from religious persecution.
What It’s Like to Live in Israel
Israel is a modern country, much like many Western countries. It has a modern economy and offers many of the comforts of the world’s most progressive societies.
The Land of Israel or Ishmael?
“This land is mine. God gave this land to me,” is the opening line of the beloved song “Exodus.” Although deeply moving lyrics to the ears of an Israeli, they are inflammatory words…
Israel in the News Dec/Jan 1992
Is expansion possible? Prospects of possible expansion to the south were surrendered by Israel when it returned the Sinai to Egypt. To the north? Israel regards its presence in southern Lebanon as a temporary security…
Approaches to Jerusalem Part Two
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…
Approaches to Jerusalem Part One
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.
Jerusalem of Gold Jun/Jul 1992
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…
A Land Flowing With Milk and Honey
Leviticus 25:8–17 provides for one of the more interesting statutes in Israel’s history. Beyond the rest that the land and the people were to receive every seven years, when the seventh seven came along…
The Sea of Galilee Part Three
Transitions can be very difficult, but most of us are called upon to make them from time to time. One of the most difficult transitions to make is a change of vocations.
The Sea of Galilee Part Two
My first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee came as the early-morning winter sun kissed the surface in a brilliant, shimmering display. We were coming down from Upper Galilee on a north-south course parallel…