All posts tagged: Israel

Politicians try to criminalize sharing the Gospel in Israel

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A piece of legislation was recently introduced into Israel’s Knesset or parliament that would make it illegal for anyone to share their faith in Israel. If passed, anyone convicted of sharing the gospel by word or any other medium such as the printed page, radio, internet or TV could be sentenced to one year in prison. This would be increased to two years, if it involved someone under the age 18. It would essentially criminalize sharing the Gospel in Israel. The bill was introduced by two ultra-orthodox members of the Knesset, Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher. Gafni and Asher are both members Ashkenazi Haredi party United Torah Judaism that are helping keep Prime Minister Netanyahu minority government in power. Gafni and Asher stated that they were motivated to introduce the legislation, because there has been a noticeable increase in Christians sharing their faith: “Recently, the attempts of missionary groups, mainly Christians, to solicit conversion of religion have increased. At times these attempts do not involve monetary promises or material gains and are therefore not illegal …

Survey: Nearly 1 in 4 Dutch young people believe the Nazi holocaust never happened

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According to a survey commissioned by The Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, nearly one in four Dutch young people (Millennials and Gen Z) believe the German Holocaust is a myth, CBN reports. The survey also found that a significant number of Dutch people also think the number of Jewish deaths was exaggerated and believed less than 2 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. The actual number was over 6 million. And even though, 70% of Dutch Jews (102,000 of 140,000) were hauled away and killed by the Nazis in their concentration camps, over half of Dutch of all ages do not believe Holland was affected by these events. The Nazi holocaust was one of the motivating forces behind the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, an event prophesied in the Bible. He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11:12 ESV) READ: Survey: Nearly 1 in 4 Dutch Young …

The significance of five ‘unblemished’ red heifers that were delivered to Israel

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Recent news about the arrival of five ‘unblemished’ red heifers at Tel Aviv’s International Airport in Israel has caused quite a stir among those who study end-times prophecy. The red heifers were sent from Texas and were previously inspected by Jewish Rabbis to confirm that they were unblemished. What is interesting is that Evangelical Christians helped in the procurement of the cattle. The Mosaic Law required an unblemished red heifer to be sacrificed for the sins of Israel outlined in Numbers 19. It involved one of the most key sacrifices associated with the Temple. And according to a Christian website, theIsraelguys.com, the arrival of the red heifers is important prophetically because it paves the way for building the third temple in Jerusalem: “According to rabbis and leaders in the Orthodox community, these heifers could be used to reinstate many of the practices of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, even before the 3rd Temple is rebuilt. “[…] “At the welcoming ceremony, the small group witnessed the unloading of the heifers, recited blessings of thanksgiving, sang and …

Historic first: Jews enter the Temple Mount through the Gate of Tribes

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From a Jewish perspective, it was a historic event. On August 28, 2022, Jews were allowed to enter the Temple Mount through the Gate of Tribes located on the Northeast corner. It was the first time that Jewish worshipers were allowed to enter through this gate since Israel became a nation in 1948. There are 12 gates surrounding the Temple Mount and as well six sealed gates. Over the years, the Muslims have entered the Temple Mount using the Gate of Tribes, named after the 12 Tribes of Israel. To this point, the Jews have only been allowed to enter via the Mughrabi Gate, (also called the Dung Gate, Hallel Gate or Gate of forgiveness). Technically, it wasn’t the first time that Jews entered through the Gate of Tribes. In 1967, Israeli paratroopers used gate when they liberated the Temple Mount during the seven-day war in 1967. Shortly after the group of approximately 50 people entered, six broke off and prostrated themselves on the ground and were quickly removed by Israeli police. According to Jewish …

BLM co-founder called for ‘end of Israel’

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Patrisse Cullors, the self-proclaimed trained Marxist, co-founder of Black Lives Matter and multi-million dollar home-owner, can now add another to her list of left wing accomplishments. According to the Daily Mail, while speaking on a panel sponsored by Harvard University’s Human Rights Program in 2015, Cullors called for an end to Israel’s existence as a nation.

Israel and Gaza: Is this Armageddon?

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Do you remember life two years ago? It’s blurry in my memory. If someone said COVID or words like Astra Zeneca, we might have guessed they were speaking another language. Then, a pandemic came on us, and life has not been the same. We are told that change will come on us: “The day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 2 and 3) That just happened. Everything seemed normal; I remember making decisions and plans for the next few years. I went to a work site one day, and I remember sheets of plastic hung from the ceilings to keep customers, people off the street, away from the workers at the counters. I had a bad feeling about that, and then someone noticed me. The workers looked at me like I was a strange alien creature, and they explained that I …

Stopping COVID … in Israel?

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I remember this time last year, when we were told that COVID 19 would be gone by now. We had a spike in the number of infections in March of 2020, and then the numbers declined. I was one of many people who were told to stay home from work, in March of 2020. My employer was good to us, and kept us on the payroll for weeks; and then, when everyone thought that COVID-19 was disappearing, we were sent back to work, with safety precautions. And now here we are. Where I live, the virus is active and now we have mutations of the virus, that may or may not respond to vaccines. The medical authorities are warning us that the mutations, variants, are spreading rapidly. Also, there is growing concern about vaccines that are not fully tested, and are only permitted for emergency use, and are not widely available. Where I live, people are arguing in public places. A man tried to correct some strangers who were not wearing masks in a shop, …

Sorting Out the Israeli Elections

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By Dr. Michael L. Brown Do you have your scorecards ready? We’re going to do our best to sort out the results of this week’s elections in Israel, the fourth in a period of just two years (can you imagine that?). But first, a disclaimer: by the time you read this article, the outcome may have changed. That’s how inconclusive the final voting turned out to be. A shift in affiliation by one of the many parties receiving votes could change things overnight. Plus, on Friday, 450,000 double-sealed votes will be counted (including military votes, votes from abroad, and votes sent in because of COVID). That could shift things as well. Let’s start with an overview of how a government is formed in Israel. The Knesset (Parliament) has 120 seats, and so, to form a government, you need 61 seats. The problem is that there are many parties in Israel, quite the opposite of our two party system in America, in which smaller parties are virtually meaningless. And in Israel, although the parties are led …

First example of the ancient ‘Royal Purple’ found in Israel

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According to report in the Daily Mail, archaeologists working in the Timma Valley in Southern Israel have discovered the remains of a fabric that was coloured in royal purple. This was the first time an example of this expensive and rare colouring has been discovered. It was apparently preserved because of the area’s dry climate. This ancient purple was reknown for its ability to hold its colour for long period of times. According to radio carbon testing the fabric was 3,000 years old. Purple was extremely rare because it was produced in small amounts from a gland inside the mollusks found in the Mediterranean Sea. Each gland produced the equivalent of a single drop of the dye and according to reports it took about four million mollusks to produce a pound of dye. At times, the purple dye was so expensive, it cost more than gold. As a result of its rarity and expense, the colour quickly became associated with royalty in Biblical times. Speaking for the Israel Antiquities Authority, Naama Sukenik stated: ‘This is …

Dozens of Muslims mourn death of Jewish man

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Hundreds of Jews and Muslims attended the funeral of a Jewish man, Michael Ben Zikri, 45, who died after saving a Bedouin woman and her three children from drowning after a sinkhole opened beneath them in a shallow lake near Tel Aviv, Israel. United with Israel writes: The 40-year-old woman and her three children hail from the Bedouin town of Hura, just north of Beersheba, and had joined other Israeli families at the popular swimming area on Friday. Ben Zikri rescued the mother, two girls, aged 14 and 7, and their 10-year-old brother. The exhausted Ben Zikri apparently slipped under the water himself and his body was found later by Magen David Adom rescue workers, but it was too late and he could not be revived. “Today it’s hard to find a hero like this,” one of the Bedouin family members said in a TV news interview. “The entire family apologizes for what happened.” Even though limited by the coronavirus pandemic, scores of Bedouins from Hura attended the funeral, holding posters with slogans praising Ben …

Israel and Egypt: The future does not look good

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While the whole world is focusing on the Coronavirus Pandemic, there is other news. Some interesting things are happening in the world, and there are lessons that we could miss. As I write this, Muslims are in their month of Ramadan which according to the information I have runs this year from April 23 to May 23. About 1.8 billion people are counted as Muslim, and this year’s Ramadan is complicated with the restrictions of a pandemic lock down. A few years ago, I worked as a trainer for a bus company, and that meant I drove a school bus when a driver phoned in sick; and someone always phoned in. One morning I drove some children for a bilingual Arabic-English program, so they were from immigrant families from the Middle East. I heard two little girls talking behind me, about ‘those people’ which meant people like me. One little girl said “and they don’t have Ramadan!” They both seemed shocked by this information. That was a lesson for me; these people take their beliefs …

Is the Age of the Gentiles About to End?

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GOD TV, an evangelical organization out of England, has just received approval to preach the Gospel of Jesus in Hebrew on a cable channel in Israel. GOD TV recently signed a seven-year deal with HOT to distribute a new Christian channel entitled “SHELANU TV” (translated “Ours TV” in English). HOT controls about 50% of the Israeli cable market. Before this could happen, HOT had to receive permission from Israel’s Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council that regulates cable TV in Israel. According to Ward Simpson, GOD TV’s CEO, their organization believes this will be the first time, that this type of broadcasting has been allowed. While other Christian channels are broadcasting on cable channels in English, this will be the first one that broadcasts in Hebrew. The English broadcasts are largely watched by the thousands of English-speaking Christians in Israel. The significance of a Christian organization broadcasting its message in Hebrew has certainly caught the attention of the media, as it showed up on several major Israeli news site. Haaratz reported the new with this headline: …

A photo of a Gilgal site revealing its distinctive sandal shape. Photo: Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel

¿De dónde vienen las huellas gigantes de Israel?

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English version: Where did Israel’s giant footprints come from? En el valle del Jordán en Israel, los arqueólogos han descubierto un fenómeno curioso: seis enormes huellas hechas por el hombre. Estas estructuras, donde el muro de piedra exterior inferior tiene una forma distintiva del pie, son bastante grandes. Uno conocido como el-‘Unuq tiene 228 pies de ancho y 816 pies de largo, aproximadamente dos campos de fútbol de tamaño. Quizás el más famoso de estos sitios con forma de sandalia es uno que se encuentra en el monte Ebal descubierto en 1980, su característica más singular es un enorme altar que se encuentra en el centro y mide aproximadamente 23 pies por 30 pies de tamaño. También es una historia alta – 10 ′. Por supuesto, este altar, creado de piedra no tallada, requería una enorme rampa para llegar a la cima. También encontraron huesos de animales carbonizados y cenizas en y alrededor del altar. Aparentemente era un sitio religioso donde la gente hacía sacrificios de animales. Aquí es donde se pone interesante. Adam Zertal, el …

The Temple Mount Credit: Ben and Ash/Flickr/Creative Commons

Discovery of three small coins confirms the Jews ancient connection to the Temple Mount

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Archaeologists working on the remains from the Temple Mount have discovered five small coins that speak of an incredible time of religious freedom in Israel’s history. Though only three of the coins are legible, they are dated to the fourth century. This puts them at the time when King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return their homeland from their Babylonian captivity and rebuild Jerusalem and the Jewish temple in 538 BC. The archaeologists believe the other two similarly sized undecipherable coins are from the same set. Seven millimeters wide, the coins have an image of a barn owl on one side. The Jews basically copied the Athenian Abol, a Greek coin used in ancient times. It is curious that they used the owl because it was considered unclean under Jewish law and it also represented the goddess Athena to the Greeks. Instead of having the Greek letters ΑΘΕ used to signify Athens, the three legible coins had the Aramaic word YHD. According to an article on ynetnews, this is the shortened version of …

Old Jerusalem Credit: Ronan Shenhav/Flickr/Creative Commons

The US accelerates its decision to move embassy to Jerusalem

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On Saturday, Feb 24, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced that the plan to set up the American embassy in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, made late last year has been moved up. With expectations that the move would not be made until 2019, Trump stated the embassy will begin its transfer to Jerusalem in May this year. The first step will see American Ambassador David Friedman and a small support staff set up an office in the Jerusalem neighborhood Arnona giving it official American status. Over the next several months, the rest of the staff will be moved over as facilities are prepared for their arrival. A new building will also be constructed at a different location. In his February announcement, Trump said it was an anniversary gift for the Israelis. May 14th is Israel’s Independence Day and this years marks the 70th anniversary of Israel’s restoration as a nation. Shortly after Trump made his May announcement, Guatemala stated it would be moving its embassy in mid-May as well. For security reasons, the government …

There are no racial barriers in God’s church

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I don’t think we fully appreciate the significance of what happened when the Holy Spirit fell upon a group of gentiles as Peter was preaching in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:44-48). It took a vision for Peter, where God declared a number of animals clean, and an angelic visit for Cornelius to get these two groups together. After the Holy Spirit fell, it caused such a controversy in the early church they called a meeting to figure out what do to with the hundreds of gentiles becoming Christians. But a few Bible verses and even archaeology provide a hint of what a radical change this was for the early church that was initially made up of solely Jews. In 1871 a stone slab from the Jewish Temple that existed in Jesus day was discovered by archaeologist Charles Clermont-Ganneau. On the slab written in Greek was: “No foreigner is allowed to enter the courtyard and enclosure surrounding the temple. Whoever is caught will be responsible to himself for his death, which will ensue.” Greek was …

Roof of booths set up in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles Credit: Yoninah/Wikipedia/Creative Commons

Converging end times prophecies of Orthodox Jews and Christians

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Breaking Israel News (BIN) has always been a source of interesting articles. Published by a group of Orthodox Jews, I find that they have much in common with Christians. They believe the Old Testament is the inspired Word of God and though they reject Jesus as the Messiah, they nevertheless are looking ahead to the coming Jewish Messiah. And while we look at events taking place on earth as a sign of Jesus second return, they interpret many of those same signs as evidence of the Jewish Messiah’s coming. Recently BIN published an article listing five Biblical prophecies fulfilled in 2017 that pointed to the soon arrival of the Jewish Messiah. In her article, Eliana Rudee the first one she discusses is: “Jerusalem as a place of assembly for non-Jews.” There were a number of Old Testament prophecies that spoke of the gentiles pouring into Israel at the end of the age. In her article, Rudee cites a verse out of Zechariah: 16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the …

Wailing Wall in Jerusalem Credit: Fernando+Merced/Flickr/Creative Commons

Is the church actually the continuation of Israel?

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It’s an age-old question. Is the church the continuation of Israel or something completely new that God started after Israel failed to fulfill God’s will? The church under this latter scenario is God’s second choice, an afterthought. To bring some perspective on this I was intrigued by an article on Breaking Israel News about a sermon recently preached by a famous Hasidic Jewish Rabbi Alon Anava. He was speaking at the 23rd anniversary of the death of another renown orthodox Rabbi, Menachem Schneerson. In his sermon Anava spoke of the coming of the Jewish Messiah. Though the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah, orthodox Jews still believe in a promised Messiah. In fact, many believe signs suggest that the Jewish Messiah will be revealed very soon. But Anaya said in order for the Messiah to come, the Jews must first preach the Torah to the gentiles: “You know what is missing? The nations of the world. Now all we need to do is involve a couple billion people from the other nations to be part of the redemption.” …

¿Un antiguo papiro habla de las plagas del Éxodo desde una perspectiva egipcia?

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English version: Does an ancient papyrus speak of the Exodus plagues from an Egyptian perspective? Hay un antiguo papiro egipcio que algunos creen dice de las plagas que Dios envió a Egipto durante la liberación de Israel de esa tierra bajo Moisés. Curiosamente, el antiguo documento no ha captado la atención de muchos cristianos simplemente porque no encaja en su calendario de quien fue el Faraón del Éxodo en realidad. La mayoría cree que el Éxodo ocurrió bajo Tutmosis III o Ramsés II, pero este documento lo pone mucho antes que estos faraones. Pero encaja perfectamente con mi teoría de cuándo tuvo lugar el Éxodo y creo que este papiro, escrito desde la perspectiva Egipcia, describe los días caóticos y las plagas asociadas con la liberación de Israel. El documento oficialmente llamado Leiden I 344 está en exhibición en el Museo Nacional Holandés de Antigüedades en Leiden, Holanda. Fue descubierto en 1828, pero no fue traducido hasta 1909, cuando el profesor Alan Gardner descubrió que era un lamento hablando de un momento muy caótico en la …

Streets of Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea Credit: Keith Martin/Flickr/Creative Commons

Did a mystical Jewish rabbi foresee 22 years ago the rising threat of North Korea?

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Breaking Israel News (BIN) is reporting on the strange prediction that Rabbi Levi Sa’adia Nachamanii made in a 1994 speech, one month before he died. In it, he discussed who would be the greatest threat facing Israel. He said it would not be Arab countries, but in fact North Korea. “Not Syria, not Persia (Iran), and not Babylon (Iraq), and not Gaddafi (Libya),” Nachamanii said, adding that “Korea will arrive here.” Nachamanii is from a mystical branch of Judaism called Kabbalah. It is a centuries-old tradition in Judaism that is derived from two ancient texts — the Zohar and Sefer Yezirah. They tend to spiritualize every word and number in the Bible. Some believe they stray into the occult through magical rites such as using amulets for healing, the belief that lost souls can inhabit people requiring deliverance that Kabbalists perform and forcing oaths on demons. But Kabbalists also have an intense interest in the end times and the coming of the Jewish Messiah. Perhaps one of the strangest stories to come out of this …

The Temple Mount Photo: Jordan Pickett/Flickr/Creative Commons

Shocking news: Jewish Sanhedrin appoints a High Priest

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Breaking Israel News reports that Israel’s “Nascent Sanhedrin” has just appointed a high priest. His name is Rabbi Baruch Kahane, a prominent Jewish scholar knowledgeable in Jewish sacrifices. The announcement was a bit surprising considering there is no Jewish Temple. But a spokesperson for the ‘Nascent Sanhedrin’ explained that they wanted to have a High Priest in place in case there is a sudden change in policy on the Temple Mount. The ‘Nascent Sanhedrin‘ also called the developing Sanhedrin was set up in Israel in 2004. It is considered a national court of Jewish Law. Over the last 500 years, there have been six failed attempts to establish a Sanhedrin. This is the most successful so far. The major obstacle to constructing a Temple is that the Temple Mount with its Al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock is controlled by the Muslims. Because of this, the Israeli government limits Jewish access to the site and forbids prayer on the Temple Mount. When Jews visit they are not allowed to pray including bowing their heads …

Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio De Janerio Photo: Artyominc/Wikipedia

Bad Idea: Keep the Jews off the Bus

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A story has recently come from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Lebanese participants blocked Israeli Jews from getting on a bus. Lebanese athletes were already on the bus and they refused to share. The Lebanese team in these Olympic games will always be remembered as the people who kept the Jews off the bus, and that will overshadow anything else they do. It’s all about a brief conversation at the door of a bus. This is one of those issues that will never go away. In our times, stories are recorded and published, and the interesting ones stay with us forever. Nothing can be done in a corner anymore because informal news comes from cameras in cell phones, and it travels quickly to the whole world, through venues like Twitter and You Tube. For official journalism, this incident happened at the Olympics, while the whole world was watching. The popular saying is ”all eyes are on Brazil.” The Olympics always attract large numbers of news reporters who desperately need something to write about. …

Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, Jerusalem Photo: jordan Pickett/Flickr/Creative Commons

UNESCO to vote if Jews have any connection to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

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This week the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced it is postponing a vote that would put Jerusalem’s Temple Mount firmly in the hands of the Muslim. Whether Israel would actually implement UNESCO’s recommendations is anther issue. But if the motion passed it undoubtedly would embolden the Muslims in their attempts to control the site. The vote is part of a Palestinian-Jordanian initiative that would declare the Temple Mount  a “Muslim-only” site. The vote would see the Temple Mount returned to its status before the 1967 Six Day war. Prior to the Israel Arab conflict, the Jordan Waqf that operates the two Muslim buildings on the site — the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock — controlled every aspect of the Temple Mount including who could visit the site. But perhaps the most disturbing part of the motion is that it would deny any historical Jewish connection to the Temple Mount. The original motion also referred to Israel as an “occupying force.” When Israel protested the motion later revisions tried to …

Hundreds of Orthodox Jews turning to Christ. Photo: Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem Claudius Prober/Flickr/Creative Commons

Report on Israeli website states hundreds of Orthodox Jews are accepting Jesus

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An article published on a Hebrew website, MyNet, intended to warn Jews living in Petach Tikva, Israel of Christians/Messianic Jews preaching Jesus has instead revealed hundreds of Orthodox Jews are accepting Christ as the Jewish Messiah. Kehila News, a Messianic website, was the first to report on the curious article on MyNet which functions as a news portal for the Israeli City of Petach Tikva.  Kehila describes the reaction among Orthodox Jews as a “spiritual meltdown.” Located in Central Israel, Petach Tikva has a population of 225,00, of which 70,000 are considered Orthodox Jews or haredim. The strength of the Orthodox population is seen in the 300 synagogues and eight ritual baths in the city. MyNet accused Christians/Messianic Jews of sharing propaganda. Even the city’s acting Mayor Uriel Boso waded into the controversy voicing his concern. Boso specifically cited Jews for Jesus as one of the main offending groups. According to Kehila, Boso described the number of Jews becoming Christians as a “dire phenomena.” The article on MyNet is in Hebrew, and below is a rough …