The topic was the coming millennium and what we can expect to see develop in the future. Panelists on the television show were secular, running in persuasion from moderately conservative to rather radically liberal. A nattily dressed man, representing the views…
The apostle Paul evidenced surprise when the first generation of Christians began to pass away. Today the second millennium of church history is about to give way to a third. Well might witnessing saints in glory be whispering…
If there is one question that seems to come up more than any other these days, it is this one: “Do you believe that the coming of the Lord is really near?” For almost 2,000 years believers have been looking forward to that…
On the 31st of this month, at the stroke of midnight, the world will finally enter the much-awaited Year 2000. Will automatic teller cards still work? Will electricity still flow? Will America conduct business as usual, or will the Y2K…
Over 2,000 years have transpired since Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born in the land of Israel. While He was here, He said, “I will build my church” (Mt. 16:18). Through His death on the cross for the sins of the world, burial in a tomb, and bodily resurrection…
Two thousand years ago the Mediterranean world belonged to the Roman Empire. This empire stretched from Britain in the northwest to what is now Morocco in the southwest, and it proceeded east across North Africa and southern Europe to…
Hosea 2:2–23: Today in America, the divorce rate is at an all-time high. Most people view fidelity, chastity, and commitment differently than they did a generation ago. In the past, those who entered matrimony dedicated themselves…
He could have been a poster boy for a Jewish magazine. Reared in an observant home, he had celebrated bar mitzvah at age 13. He graduated from Hebrew school at the age of 18, and it was clear he had a firm grasp of Jewish history and culture as well as…
In the not-too-distant future, El Al will spray its airplanes with aromatic smells, in response to the offensive odors that often permeate airplanes. A “sample” plane will be sprayed on each flight at first, and after studying…
Matthew 19:28 records a prophecy Christ delivered to His apostles: “Verily I say unto you that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve…
Israeli lifeAn Israeli politician once told me that Prime Minister Ehud Barak is “Bibi compatible.” That is to say that Barak, who spent the major portion of his life in the military and is the nation’s most highly decorated soldier…
Since the recent election here, the ultra-Orthodox have been devoting much energy going from house to house, talking about repentance and telling people that good deeds are a shield against retribution. They make a big noise, but…
When the Sharm Agreement was signed at Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, last month, a mini-eruption of euphoria flowed into statehouses and liberal editorial offices all over the world. At long last, the spin was, we are on the road to…
“My father spent his adult life as a prince one day and a pauper the next.” So said a friend speaking of his father who was addicted to playing the stock market. Winning big and losing bigger brought the man to an unenviable situation…
As I sat in the Israeli Government Press Office auditorium with many “weathered” journalists from around the world, a scene unfolded on the large-screen television before me that amazed us all. There in Washington, D.C….
Israel’s volatile political scene was struck by lightning the middle of this year with the election of Ehud Barak as prime minister. The One Israel party leader was the choice of nearly six out of every ten voters on May 17. Unlike the late Yitzhak Rabin…
With a new Israeli prime minister who appears more open to negotiating with the Palestinians than his predecessor, it is appropriate to raise this question: What would a Palestinian state involve?
President Ronald Reagan spoke of the Soviet Union as the “evil empire” in 1983. Although spoken in a political context at the time, there is more truth to that phrase than the former president may have realized. The Union dissolved…
Hosea 1:2—2:1: Hosea’s marriage to Gomer and the birth of their children become the texts of God’s message to Israel. Israel’s unfaithfulness is portrayed in Gomer’s infidelity, and the removal of God’s covenant relationship…
This earth began with God’s theocracy as its government, but the theocracy was lost through the Satan-prompted fall of mankind. If God does not restore His theocratic kingdom rule before this earth’s history comes to an end, then Satan…
Do you remember the old TV program Star Trek? In that series, the expression “Live long and prosper” became a familiar utterance. It was used by First Officer Spock as a greeting and a farewell to special people visiting the starship…
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the Iranian regime has significantly increased its funding of the Hamas terror organization to permit an escalation in attacks at a time when the government of Israel is working to advance…
Christians who understand what it means to be a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people were horrified upon learning of the tragic shooting of Jewish children in Los Angeles last August. Anti-Semitic violence is always unspeakably…
Israel is a small country, and at times we feel as if we are sheep among wolves. But even though we are small, we remain strong because the Lord is with us. Most people living in Israel, both Jews and Arabs, do not know the Lord. The Arabs…
An Orthodox Jewish rabbi recently wrote about his understanding of where society would be positioned just before the coming of the Messiah. The rabbi’s words have the ring of an Old Testament prophet. “Just before the Messiah comes, humanity…
An early Zionist leader was fond of speaking of the land that was to become Israel as “a land without a people for a people without a land.” Although his observation was, in large measure, accurate, it was not quite the whole of…
There is a Muslim family living on a kibbutz in Israel today. How they arrived at their new home is a story that defies virtually all conventional wisdom about the ability of Jewish people and Muslims to coexist. The family is from Albania. They were forced…
When God called Abram to leave Ur of the Chaldees, He was demanding that he strip himself of his identity. Abram was to leave all that made him who he was—his family, his possessions, and the land that he had known as…
A growing alliance of Jews and Christians is attracting increasing attention today. It is an alliance rooted in Judeo-Christian values. The Christians involved are known as evangelicals or Bible-believing Christians. They are joining…
Possibly the most disturbing event in our nation’s recent history took place in a cozy mountain state in upper middle-class America. At a time when young people concern themselves with test scores, term papers, and final exams, students were…
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,” wrote Charles Dickens…
Jesus Christ will play the key role in crushing Satan. His work of redemption through His death on the cross in His First Coming gives Him the authority to do this future work as mankind’s Kinsman-Redeemer (Heb. 2:14; 1 Jn. 3:8). Seven years before…
For many of us, food is an emotional experience. The sights and aromas of various food items evoke wide-ranging passions, both positive and negative. It is not uncommon to observe grimaces and other contortions as people view…
“This one we call Yirmiyahu, that one is Tikva and this one here is Fortuna Ziona,” said Col. Dan Engelhard, a pediatrician, pointing to the three newborns under his care. The three were born in the refugee camp hospital—delivered by…
Soon Jewish people around the world will observe the high holy days, culminating with the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. As it is written in Leviticus 17:11, “the life of the flesh is in…
With the dexterity of an old Pony Express rider, America’s current administration appears to have leaped into a new saddle with bewildering speed. Dust raised from the change of direction is causing great consternation in Jerusalem…
There is a threadbare story that I tired of hearing years ago. It had too much of the smell of musty homespun about it to appeal to me and many of my generation, but it made a point. The story had to do with a crusty farmer and his mule.
Possibly no subject in history has been as inflammatory to the Jewish people as the question, Who killed Christ? Time and again, the accusation of Christ-killer has been hurled against the Jewish people. Centuries of hatred have been built…
Pontius Pilate was awake early. It appeared that it was going to be a normal spring day in Jerusalem. At least that’s what he hoped. He had been appointed as the fifth Prefect to the Roman province of Judea and Samaria by Emperor Tiberius…
Near the end of his life, as the Roman Emperor Domitian was making claims of divinity and persecuting the church, the Apostle John wrote, “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 Jn. 5:19b). John was teaching that earthly rulers…
On Nisan 14 in the year 73 A.D., Jerusalem was quiet. Normally the city would have been full of Jewish pilgrims waiting in line for the Temple priests to sacrifice their Passover lambs. But on this day there were no pilgrims. There were no…
Revelation 22:6–21: All the purposes of God, from the inception of creation to the close of human history, have been completed. Christ has assumed His sovereign rule and reign over creation and has restored creation to the original…
In Revelation 4 and 5, where John was introduced to things that “must” take place in the future (4:1), the apostle saw Christ take a scroll from the hand of God the Father. The scroll was sealed with seven seals. Christ took the scroll…
“Steve, I can’t do it, I just can’t do it. I know all about the plans we’ve made, but this is not going to happen. I’m Jewish; this would be too much for my family.” The voice on the other end of the phone was quivering with emotion. This was not…
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…
As the United States moves to revive the stalled Israeli-Syrian peace talks, Defense Minister Moshe Arens said recently that the only way Damascus will make peace is if Israel withdraws from the entire Golan Heights. He is against…
I recently received a telephone call informing me that a dear friend of our family was sick in the hospital, so my wife and I immediately went to see her. Visiting a sick person in the hospital is not like going to a wedding. There are no…
The assumption now is that some sort of Palestinian state will soon be a fact of life for Israel and the Middle East. With the U.S. administration manifesting a perceptible policy shift in favor of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians, coupled with…
A few weeks ago I had lunch with an Israeli diplomat, a man for whom I hold great respect, in Washington, DC. We discussed, among a host of other things, the inescapable tensions that often arise between the Christian and Jewish…
Prospective pilots for major airlines are trained on flight simulators, which are designed to present them with a variety of problems they might encounter while flying. The candidates are first tested with simple challenges and are eventually…
It is all too common today to hear Christians disparage doctrine or theology as entirely theoretical, productive only of pride and division, and therefore almost entirely irrelevant to the real issues of life. The cry is for greater emphasis on…
Talk is cheap. In the minds of some people, the mention of the term politician seems to bear this out. Not only do some elected officials make promises they cannot keep, but some Christians do not practice what they preach. As a modern proverb states…
The average person speaks nearly 30,000 words each day—enough to fill a good-sized book. Do we realize that each of us is writing an unwritten book every day of our lives? As we read a book, we often form certain opinions about…
“Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts…
Revelation 21:9—22:5: To most people, the thought of home brings a feeling of warmth and comfort, a sense of security. It is a place where one can shut out the cares of this world and find a refuge for the soul during the pilgrimage…
“God created man in his own image” and gave him dominion “over all the earth,” including its plant and animal life (Gen. 1:26–29). The fact that God gave mankind this dominion reveals the original form of government that He ordained…
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…
Egyptian Foreign Minister Moussa recently sent the Israelis a message meant to influence voters to dump Prime Minister Netanyahu in favor of, in their view, a more flexible candidate. Moussa urged Israelis to embrace a Palestinian state…
Brown suede gloves worn by a Mossad agent who helped capture Nazi SS leader Adolf Eichmann 38 years ago have been donated to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, the institution announced…
Here in Israel we are facing new elections, and there is great competition among the political parties. Every party and every politician wants to be the greatest, and there is no love or consideration among the candidates. Everyone wants…
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…
When people hear the word Jericho, they naturally think of Israelites marching, trumpets sounding, and walls falling down. It is a wonderful story of faith and victory that we enjoy reading and telling in Sunday school class, but did it…
The call had gone out nationwide to assemble at Mount Carmel. Now the peak was bustling with thousands of people. King Ahab was there. Also present were 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah. Standing before the throng…
Recently, my daily newspaper began a weekend feature page on religious events in the community, including an interfaith calendar detailing the religious holidays for the coming week for the various faiths. The faiths represented on…
Nothing is more terrifying than being in the clutches of occult activity. The demonic forces of darkness can seize a person with overwhelming intensity. The powers of Satan and his demonic hordes have led many to mental and spiritual…
There has been much talk over the last few years about the state of religious freedom in Israel. Some have accused the government and Israelis in general of being hostile toward those who believe in Jesus as their Messiah. This perception is…
Revelation 21:1–8: The subject of eternity piques people’s interest as no other theme in Scripture. People intuitively know that there is a more fulfilling existence beyond this life because the transitory events on earth do not satisfy. But…
If it is true that Jesus Christ was sinless, what is meant by the Apostle Paul’s statement that God sent “his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom. 8:3)? The word translated “flesh” refers to “a human being in contrast to God and…
There are many religions in the world. While some seem to overlap and even share common beliefs and practices, most have distinctive characteristics that mark them out or set them apart. Many have unique, identifiable practices, including…
Jewish people who are questioning if they should leave Russia and join their kinsmen who have made the exodus to Israel or other countries would do well to exit while they can. Less than a decade after the Soviet era of discrimination against…
In view of the turmoil now being experienced in the Middle East, we have decided to replace Israel In The News with an interview Elwood McQuaid conducted with Mr. David Bar-Illan on November 18, 1998. He is the Policy and…
In Israel, many of the ultra Orthodox people follow the age-old tradition of merrymaking at the graves of famous rabbis. They do this every year—it is a big part of their religious life. When they go to these graves for their annual time of…
For all of the political turmoil we’ve been experiencing in Washington, DC, things are much worse in Russia—that is, for the United States, Christians, Jewish people, and the Russians themselves. In the former mecca of communism…
On November 19, 1997, something extraordinary happened. Bobbi McCaughey of Carlisle, Iowa, gave birth to seven healthy babies. With the news of the successful septuple deliveries, the world seemed to pause and reflect in…
The Jewish writings have much to say about the Messiah. Very little, however, is written about His identifying characteristics, aside from His being from the family of David and bringing peace. Gershom Scholem agreed with this when he wrote…
The clearest declaration about the historical facts of the Christian gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures…
In this well-known carol, “Joy to the World,” Isaac Watts expressed the thrill of the Messiah’s birth by describing events that just don’t seem to exist. I still weed garden beds and prick myself on thorns. The curse has not been lifted. The nations of…
Revelation 20:11–15: On July 8, 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards held the manuscript so close to his face that the congregation was unable to see his expression as…
The first issue results from the combination of two truths. First, the Bible teaches that each human being who has been procreated through natural means since the fall of mankind is in a state of sin with a sin nature from the moment of…
Potato latkes, sufganiyot (Hebrew for jelly donuts), special songs, special food, and special times with family and friends are all part of the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah, a festival that commemorates the Jewish victory over…
Picture this: A Jewish family spending quality time decorating a Christmas tree. Does this sound odd to you? When I was 17, I was invited to a Christmas tree decorating party at the home of a Jewish acquaintance. Confusion would best describe my initial reaction…
Palestinian militants were pleading “wounded pride” following last summer’s retaliatory strikes against terrorist bases in Sudan and Afghanistan. A leader of Islamic Jihad said he hoped Muslim militant groups would carry out attacks to punish…
Long lines of potential immigrants formed outside the Jewish Agency offices in Moscow…for the first time in years as the ruble continued to fall, according to Jewish Agency emissaries. In Israel, Absorption Minister Yuli Edelstein predicted that…
This year, as every year, the people of Israel are facing with fear and misunderstanding the time when Christians celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Some acquaintances approached me the other day and said…
Following the detonation of nuclear devices by India and Pakistan, a collective chill seemed to run down the spines of thinking people across the face of the Western world. So much so, that there was a flurry of activity among the folk who…
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…
To the casual observer of life in the Middle East, the real struggle there appears to be about the issue of soil. Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs are arguing over “land rights.” At times, this struggle has erupted into violence over how…
The American College Dictionary defines the word obstacle as “something that stands in the way of or obstructs progress.” In order to understand the Middle East Peace Process, we must investigate the facts surrounding the…
Israel is a thriving democracy in the heart of the mainly Muslim Middle East. The Jewish state is the only full and stable democracy in the region, although a few other countries are attempting to move in that direction. However, Israel’s rambunctious…
The year 1998 is the Year of Jubilee—the 50th birthday of the State of Israel! What is going through the minds of Israelis on the state’s 50th birthday? What are the expectations of its citizens? Since Israel is a nation of immigrants…
Revelation 20:1–10: Mr. U Thant, former Secretary General of the United Nations, addressed 67 scholars and statesmen on the requirements for world peace. He asked these questions: “What element is lacking so that with all our skill and all our knowledge…
Have you ever been driving along the highway when, seemingly out of nowhere, you hear the shrill sound of sirens? At first you are startled as the high-pitched sound seems to engulf you from almost every direction. Instinctively you try to…
It is often difficult to feel certain you are getting the straight story when listening to spokesmen for the Palestinian Authority and their cohorts in the Middle East. The new Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheik Ekrima Sabri, recently appointed by Yasser Arafat…
Israel’s high-profile rescue team in Nairobi continued to search for survivors in the rubble of the bombing of the us embassy in Kenya…,after having succeeded in rescuing a man, a woman, and her son. The army home front command rescue teams…
This year we are celebrating 50 years since our Declaration of Independence in 1948, which created the modern State of Israel. It seems like only yesterday. But, with the Declaration of Independence came a declaration of…
Repeated denials by U.S. officials of any intention to pressure Israel into a posture of appeasement in the interest of approving nods from Yasser Arafat are refuted by their own actions. The heat is on Israel to acquiesce to Washington’s…
The stepping aside of the United States, even temporarily, in favor of intervention in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians by the European Union brings to mind an end-times scenario. There is a strong indication that…
Hidden somewhere deep in the recesses of our memories is the record of those who, in biblical times or since, have forfeited their lives for their faith in Christ. This generation, saturated by its affluence, has forgotten the price our forefathers paid…
The mounting persecution of Christians eerily parallels the persecution of Jews, my people, during much of Europe’s history. Today, minority Christian communities have become chosen scapegoats in radical Islamic and remnant…