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…
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Zvi Jul/Aug 2005
It is written in Deuteronomy, “You shall not pervert justice;…You shall follow what is altogether just” (16:19–20). What organization on Earth should be the best example of this command? The biggest organization: the United Nations…
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…
You Only Get One Mistake
I have a friend who spent his military career in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a sapper—a military demolitions specialist. His job was to defuse land mines and other lethal explosives. Upon being inducted…
Can Abbas Deliver?
None should have any illusions about newly elected Palestinian Authority (PA) president, mahmoud Abbas. He was the number two person in the Palestine Liberation Organization and a founder of the Fatah terrorist …
Emerging Shadows of the Hammer and Sickle
When the Soviet Union collapsed, America breathed easier. “Russia is vanquished,” we said. Well, folks, it’s time to reevaluate our thinking.
Perusing the Future Matthew 24:1–14
Some people believe the Olivet Discourse has already been fulfilled. This excellent article explains why they are wrong.
Understanding the Olivet Discourse
Jesus’ instruction to His disciples from the Mount of Olives (Mount Olivet, giving it the name the Olivet Discourse) appears in Matthew 24—25; Mark 13; and Luke 17:20–37. It is one of the Bible’s most…
The Time of Jacob’s Trouble Matthew 24:15–31
There’s no mystery about what the future holds. The Old and New Testaments fit together like a hand in a glove to reveal what is to come.
They Cry in Silence May/Jun 2005
And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure (1 Cor. 4:12). In a strikingly significant way, this verse expresses what Indonesian Christians practiced in the aftermath…
Illustrations From the King Matthew 24:32–51
Learn what Jesus meant when He answered the question, “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
The Judgement and Return Matthew 25:31–46
What will happen when Christ returns to Earth? A lot. And not everything will make everyone happy.
Finding Eden
Long ago, in the misty echoes of ancient time, there was a first man and a first woman. They walked in the cool, green shade, surrounded by lush, fruitful trees and benevolent beasts. The region…
The Lamb in the Apocalypse
Students of Scripture have long observed that the central message of God’s Word is reflected in the motif of the Lamb, who is Jesus. The Lamb in the Old Testament is seen on the altar. In…
Making the Wrong Assumptions
Never assume anything.” This well-known adage works particularly well when applied to the science of biblical interpretation. Assuming too much about a scriptural text can lead to inaccurate conclusions that miss…
Staying Alive
In answering their questions regarding future events, Jesus gave His disciples a ray of hope: “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mt. 24:13). What did He mean? The key is the phrase…
False Teachers
False teachers can pose a health hazard. Perhaps you remember some from our own time. On November 19, 1978, 913 followers of Jim Jones committed suicide at the People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, by drinking…
Fasting Without Fidelity
Zechariah 7:1–14: A delegation from Bethel arrived in Jerusalem seeking counsel from priests and prophets concerning fasting. They asked whether the annual fast commemorating the destruction of Solomon’s Temple should be continued since a rebuilt…
God and Wisdom Part Two
The Scriptures indicate that the revelation God has given to mankind is wisdom. The statutes and judgments that God gave…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2005
The Palestinian leadership has proven its ability to keep the situation under control. It has also proven its ability to coordinate the activities of all Palestinian organizations, including those who hold tough positions…
Hannah and the God Who Hears Part One
Our greatest tragedies in life sometimes produce our greatest triumphs. And when our answer more clearly than ever and to use our sorrows to draw us infinitely closer to Him. I know from firsthand experience. After…
Israel in the News May/Jun 2005
Two sisters who had not seen each other since the start of World War II have been reunited through the Yad Vashem database. Hannah Katz, 78, and Klara Blire, 81, were separated in 1939…
Zvi May/Jun 2005
Not long ago I got together with some of the men I served with in the army. We first met 56 years ago when we were young. And we served together in all of Israel’s…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Mar/Apr 2005
Joyce Shoff found herself in a quandary. perhaps it’s one that is familiar to you too. She had a God-given love for the Jewish people and believed He wanted her to reach out to them…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2005
Late last year a number of positive developments appeared to be taking place in the middle East. For starters, Egypt’s president Hosni mubarak freed an Israeli druze who had been convicted of spying for Israel…
When Forgetting Is Unforgivable
It is the choice of the educational system on both sides of the Atlantic. The West buries the grim realities of historical atrocities beneath a gloss of contemporary superficiality. Our obsession to pursue pleasure…
Myths/Facts: Israel & the Middle East Mar/Apr 2005
“Hamas as a political organization does not mean that every member is a militant and we do not do political vetting and exclude people from one persuasion against another.” Although Hansen makes specious distinctions between…
Playing the Blame Game
In today’s upside-down world, right looks wrong, wrong looks right, and the good guys are getting the short end of the stick. If you don’t believe that, read this.
From Throne to Scrub Mop Lamentations 1
Sin has dire consequences, both for individuals and nations. This insightful article on Lamentations 1 examines what Judah’s sin wrought.
Structure of Lamentations
The book of Lamentations is one of six Old Testament books of poetry. Three are didactic (teaching): Proverbs teaches wisdom; Ecclesiastes, the futility of life apart from God; and Job, patience under trials.
Suffering God’s Wrath Lamentations 2
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.
How We Got Easter Sunday
Christians originally observed the Jewish passover, which begins at sundown on the 14th day of Nisan. Thus they were called Quartodecimans, Latin for “fourteeners.”1 However, instead of feasting on lamb, they fasted until dawn…
The Measure of Success
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…
Awaiting a ‘Song in the Night’ Lamentations 3
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…
The Children Who Remain
My friend brenda Giles is no stranger to suicide bombings. An evangelical christian who spends about as much time on her knees as she does on her feet, brenda lives in the Jewish neighborhood…
Bring Us Back to You, O Lord Lamentations 4—5
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.
Shoulders to Cry On
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: A ‘King of Kings’
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…
Babylon
Babylon. The very name inspires all types of hedonistic, dissolute images of not only a city, but an attitude of rebellion against God and all that is righteous and good.
On the Way to Canaan Land
George W. Bush had just won the presidential election for a second term. The confetti was still lying on the floor of GOP headquarters when Britain’s prime minister Tony Blair jumped forward…
Messiah’s Coronation and Reign
Zechariah 6:1-15: What a long night Zechariah must have experienced. He had already received seven apocalyptic visions unveiling Israel’s future, and the eighth was soon to come. This final vision would reveal God’s judgment of the nations…
God and Wisdom Part One
In three previous articles we have seen that the triune God of the bible is inseparably related to truth. God is the source of ultimate, valid truth. In a closely related way, the triune God…
They Cry in Silence Mar/Apr 2005
For most people, coming home to family, friends, and loved ones is a cherished privilege. In the West, where physical persecution for our faith is virtually unknown, it is something we take for granted.
The End of the Line Conclusion
Nothing thwarts the God of Israel. He alone is sovereign. He alone declares the end from the beginning “and from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘my counsel shall stand…
Israel in the News Mar/Apr 2005
Israeli security figures show that Palestinians nearly doubled the number of Kassam rockets they fired from Gaza after the Israeli cabinet approved the disengagement plan. And their smuggling operations have netted them a Strella missile…
Zvi Mar/Apr 2005
In Proverbs 13:3 it is written, “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.” Today so many people curse at one another.
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Jan/Feb 2005
As services at the Jerusalem Assembly in Israel came to a close recently, I realized that those of us in attendance had witnessed the compelling truth of Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek…
School’s Out for Aviel
Three-year-old Aviel Atash was excited as he boarded the bus with his mother headed for his first day in school. Aviel never made it. A short distance from where he and his mom boarded…
Expecting a Call at Any Moment
Are you looking for the undertaker or the “uppertaker”? Theological complexities certainly do exist. But the vast majority of the Bible is unmistakably simple.
Covenant Theology: What’s in It for Israel?
Most “mainline” denominations subscribe to Covenant Theology: They believe they are the “new” Israel. But on close inspection, the Bible disagrees.
Strike Three! You’re Safe!
Turn a few Americans loose anywhere in the world and what do you get? Baseball! While most of the media in Iraq were chasing blood-and-guts stories in other parts of the country…
PLO Uses Violence to Suppress News
Suppressing news by threatening reporters with violence or death is one of the dirty little secrets of Middle east journalism.” so wrote Jeff Jacoby last year in The Boston (MA) Globe.
Already/Not Yet?
Progressive Dispensationalism was introduced publicly through the 1992 publication Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church by Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock. Two more books, Progressive Dispensationalism by Blaising and Bock and The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism…
Open Theism or Veiled Heresy?
Does God know the future or does He just make allowances for what happens? An open theist’s answer to that question may surprise you.
A.D. 70: Preterism’s Prophetic Dead End
Christ returned in A.D. 70, the Jewish people have no future, and almost all prophecy has been fulfilled. You don’t believe that? Then you’re not a preterist.
The Rise of Preterism
Preteristic interpretation first appeared in a commentary on Revelation by the Spanish Jesuit Luis Alcazar (1554–1613). He interpreted symbols in Revelation as the victory of the Roman Catholic Church over paganism…
Moses for You, Jesus for Me?
Gentiles need Jesus to get to heaven; Jewish people only need Moses. A synagogue teaching, you say? No, this Dual Covenant doctrine is in churches.
Closing the Book On Arafat
At long last the book has been closed on the life and times of notorious terrorist king-pin Yasser Arafat. In the years ahead historians will mull over the impact and legacy of the life…
Perfect Injustice: Jesus’ Trial Before Pilate
It was early in the day. Yet Governor Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect, was already facing a busy docket. He really didn’t want to be bothered with the political intrigues of the Jewish high priest…
Israel’s Wickedness Removed
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…
God Is True and Truth Conclusion
The Source of Knowledge Concerning Ultimate Truth Divine revelation to mankind is the source of knowledge concerning ultimate truth and, therefore, ulti-mate reality. God’s Word, the Bible, is God’s most significant means of revealing truth…
Myths/Facts : Israel & the Middle East Jan/Feb 2005
Israel is not a theocracy. However, it is governed by the rule of law as drafted by a democratically elected parliament. It is informed by Jewish values and adheres to many Jewish religious customs…
‘Sometimes it Gets Scary’
Haiti has been an independent nation since 1804. In the West, only the United states is older. The tragedy of Haiti is that it has been ruled and ruined by unscrupulous dictators, the worst…
The End of the Line Part One
World War II was a little before my time—a very little. But I don’t recall a day in my life that I didn’t know about it. Growing up Jewish, and being a first-generation American…
Israel in the News Jan/Feb 2005
As Palestinian mortar shells and rockets continued to pound the Jewish settlement of Gush Katif at the rate of over three per day, destroying homes and sending people to the hospital…
Zvi Jan/Feb 2005
Wherever you go in Jerusalem these days, you see many pictures of the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel schneerson of New York City, who led the lubavitch movement of Hasidic (ultra-Orthodox) Judaism for forty-four years.
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Nov/Dec 2004
History in the making or merely window dressing? This was the question on the minds of many of us who gathered recently at United Nations headquarters…
Bill Sutter’s Remarks to the UN Conference on Anti-Semitism
Many thanks to the panelists who have helped make this conference a worthwhile occasion. I note that among the panelists were a Roman Catholic and a person…
The Wahabi Invasion of America
In February of 2003 a University of South Florida professor and six others were charged with aiding Islamic Jihad, a global terrorist organization. In July a federal grand jury…
The MBB’s ‘Dirty Little Secret’
It was a meeting like the hundreds of others we have experienced over the course of twenty years. My brother Emir was gently debating another Arabic Christian…
Presbyterians Come Out of the Closet
Yes, it is true that the Presbyterian Church (USA) manhandled Israel at its 216th General Assembly last summer. Not that the denomination has been soft on…
Backlash
When the hierarchy of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) declared that it wanted to send a “strong message” to the international community to convey…
Jerusalem: The Missing Link
When the pundits look back on 2004 and the attempts at an Israeli-Palestinian solution, the word disengagement will probably top…
The Ever-Expanding Reach of Islam
From its inception, Islam has been committed to being a witness to the world. And that commitment has yielded phenomenal results. Today Islam is…
Islam’s Bogus Peace
Islam, amazingly lauded as a religion of peace since September 11, 2001, is built on violence. Its founder, Muhammad, established this religion by plundering…
God’s Holy Mountain
The phrase God’s holy mountain appears 18 times in the Old Testament; and though it defines two significant locations during different periods…
If the Maccabees Had Lost
Each year around December, wherever there is a significant Jewish population, television screens across America flash the greeting…
Sharia: It’s Closer Than You Think
Amina Lawal, a 30-year old woman accused of adultery, was tried in a Nigerian court and found guilty. She was a divorced mother who bore a child…
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…
Serving in God’s Spirit
Zechariah 4:1–14: The official seal for the State of Israel was unveiled on February 10, 1949. It consists of a seven-branched menorah (lampstand/ candelabra) with…
God is True and Truth Part Two
The previous article demonstrated how the Scriptures associate what is true and truth with God. Those associations indicate several facts concerning…
The Greatest Gift
Tis the season to fight your way through crowded malls, spend every dime you have, and max out your credit cards trying to buy gifts for those you love…
They Cry in Silence Nov/Dec 2004
We often report in this space statistics related to Christian persecution. We’ve publicized the horror of the genocide being committed by Muslim radicals…
Are You A Naomi? Conclusion
Vacation Bible School was just around the corner. And a welcome corner it was, too. The weather always seemed perfect in North Carolina, and I looked forward to…
Israel in the News Nov/Dec 2004
“The Painful Truth: All the World Terrorists are Muslims!” So writes Abdulrahman al-Rashed, general manager of AI-Arabiya television, in his…
Zvi Nov/Dec 2004
Here in Israel, one of the best places to meet people is at the clinic. They all sit around, waiting their turns to see the doctor; and…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Sep/Oct 2004
Thus reads the headline on the brochure from Volunteers for Israel (VFI). Since VFI’s inception in 1982, more than a hundred thousand people from thirty countries have volunteered their time and energy to immerse themselves…
Where Do We Sign Up?
Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, later to become the twenty-sixth president of the United States, was certified as an American icon during the Spanish-American War of 1898. The Spanish presence in North America, especially in Cuba…
No More Villages to Burn
Christians are being killed in record numbers. If you think Muslims want to dominate the Middle East only, you are dangerously mistaken.
The Babylonian Captivity
God always keeps His promises, even the unpleasant ones. The issues surrounding this captivity will take you from mere history to important theology.
Tisha B’Av — Israel’s Day of Tragedies
People often have days when nothing, absolutely nothing, goes right. The Jewish people have such a date, when so many tragedies occurred that they established a national day of sadness, fasting, mourning, and remembrance.
The Second World Empire
After the Babylonian Empire, Media-Persia took over. This outstanding article sorts out that kingdom’s rulers and what they accomplished.
Daniel and Darius
Daniel in the lions’ den (Dan. 6) is probably one of the best-known accounts in the Bible. It’s the encouraging, satisfying triumph of faith, righteousness, and justice over wickedness and evil in high places.
The Exiles Return
God may have removed the Jewish people from their land, but He faithfully brought them back. Learn how He did it and who He used.
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2004
I am a former Moslem, born and raised in the Middle East. I am very disappointed and almost scared after watching your presentation about Islam. One of the reasons I fled to the United States
The Ten ‘Lost’ Tribes Weren’t Lost
The phrase the lost tribes of Israel emits a certain ring of mystery that romanticizes the disappearance of the Israelites taken captive by Assyria in 722 B.C. Although the phrase is nowhere in Scripture…
Nehemiah The Leader
Nehemiah was a contemporary of Ezra and cupbearer to the king of Persia. He heard of the sorry situation in Jerusalem and the pitiful plight of its inhabitants, was moved with compassion…
Vision Four: Israel’s Cleansing
God specifically chose Israel to be a holy nation in which He could manifest His grace and truth to mankind (Ex. 19:5–8). Failing to live up to her elective calling, Israel committed gross immorality…
Targeting Hamas
The goal of Hamas is clear. As stated in the organization’s covenant, the Islamic Resistance Movement “strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.” No negotiations or compromises are possible.
God is True and Truth Part One
The Scriptures repeatedly associate what is true and truth with God. The primary Old Testament word used for this association is emet. Its foundational concept is “certainty, dependability”; and it is used “in several categories…