July/August 2009

From Bill Sutter’s Desk Jul/Aug 2009

Making her way to me through the crowd, Helene spoke with emotion: “It’s because of your kind of Christians that people like me even exist. They hid my father and his parents…

Map of the Middle East.

Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2009

We hear much talk these days about carrots and sticks. Should U.S. intelligence officers attempting to pry information from captured terrorists use physical methods or persuasive conversation to convince the bad…

Silhouette of man speaking.

Looking Back to See the Future

The mantra of the moment embraces the idea that we should never look back because all hope and promise are found in looking to the future. Or, to quote Satchel Paige…

Reading a Premature Obituary

To hear the secular news media tell it, Christianity in America is one small wheeze away from death. Well, that isn’t exactly accurate. Here’s the rest of the story.

Daniel’s Prayer for Israel

Darius the Mede was appointed king over Babylon in 539 B.C.(Dan. 9:1). In the first year of his reign, the prophet Daniel, by now an old man who had spent…

They Cry in Silence Jul/Aug 2009

Iran is an increasing concern for the Middle East and the world, and no one seems to have a workable plan for how to control it. Its radical Islamist leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad…

The Kingdom and the Power

Political turmoil, power struggles, wars and rumors of wars. The prophet Daniel lived through such times. And his record gives us hope while teaching an essential truth for today.

Daniel or Denial?

Although the text of the book of Daniel is the same for Christians and Jews, profound differences exist in its interpretation. If understood literally and historically, the book is easy…

Facing the Furnaces of Life

Why do bad things happen to good people? Many have tried to deal with that question. Here is an answer from the book of Daniel that may both surprise and comfort you.

Daniel’s Long Life

The Jewish prophet Daniel was born to Judean nobility, probably during the time of King Josiah’s reforms (621 B.C.). As a boy, he endured Josiah’s tragic death at the hands…

Antiochus and the Antichrist

Some say the unspeakably evil man in Daniel is Antiochus IV only. That is not correct, and here is why.

Every Knee Shall Bow

As a child I loved to read adventures set in the far-flung future or the wild and woolly West. These tales held my interest, especially as the heroes interacted with the villains. Almost every…

The Future Roman Empire

One of the more intriguing prophecies in the book of Daniel concerns the final of the four Gentile kingdoms that will rule the world. It is represented in Scripture by legs…

The Great World Kingdoms

God ordained that four Gentile kingdoms will rule the earth before His Kingdom comes. He gave this amazing prophecy to Daniel, and everything is playing out exactly as Daniel wrote it.

A Kingdom Made Without Hands

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a dream of an image made of various metals, representing different periods of Gentile world rule (Dan. 2:34–35, 44–45). In the dream, a stone cut without…

Who’s Who in Daniel 11

Daniel 11 tells the future. In Daniel’s day, it pulled back the curtain of time and revealed what would take place among the nations after Daniel’s death in 536 B.C. Even today…

Belshazzar’s Bash

Babylon was surrounded by Medo-Persian troops, yet the palace rocked as King Belshazzar hosted a riotous banquet for more than a thousand. Believing the city was impregnable and the food…

A More Perfect Union Jul/Aug 2009

Thomas Jefferson once famously said, “Almighty God hath created the mind free….All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens [burdens]…are a departure from the plan of the Holy…

A Sure Hope Hebrews 6:9–20

In the previous eight verses of this chapter, the author encouraged new believers to leave Judaism and press on toward maturity in Christ. Failure to do so, he warned, would disastrously…

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…

Israel in the News Jul/Aug 2009

Warnings abound that the Obama administration’s policies will leave Israel to face Iran and Hamas alone. The warnings are summed up in recent articles by the West’s two main pro-Israel…

Daniel’s 70 Weeks

If you adhere to the literalist-premillennialist interpretation of Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks (Dan. 9:24–27), here is what you believe: The 70th “week” (seven-year period, also known as the Tribulation) still remains…

Zvi Jul/Aug 2009

Believe it or not, many schoolchildren in Israel have never heard of the Holocaust. So when Holocaust Memorial Day draws near in the spring, schools look for survivors to come and tell…