Thursday November 29th: 21 Kislev There’s an old Jewish adage that says something like this: “The truly penitent come nearer unto God than even those who have never stumbled or fallen into sin.” That’s a profound statement when you consider what it’s saying. And while it’s true that we don’t find this particular wording in […]
Dotting the mountainsides of northern Israel are various castles, fortresses and other strongholds. Once such stronghold is called Nimrod’s Castle. Actually, it has nothing to do with Nimrod but is a sprawling Crusader fortress, a stronghold, that sits atop a mountain in the upper Galilee. Another fortress, or at least the ruins of a fortress […]
According to some traditions, it was on this day that Noah and his family departed from the ark, just a little over a year after entering into the ark. Scripture records this in Genesis 8:18, 20-21: “So, Noah went forth, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Then Noah built an […]
We recall, today, that the month of Cheshvan is considered to be a time of darkness and gloominess. We also recall that, according to Isaiah, the Galilee was a place of spiritual darkness that was shone a great light as Christ ministered in that area. “Now when Jesus heard that John had been cast into […]
It was on this day in the year 109 B.C. that King John Hyrcanus destroyed the city of Samaria, the capital of the Samaritans. Eventually, this day became a national holiday in Judea. However, the ancient sect of Samaritans has survived to this very day. For centuries, they were considered as an internal threat to […]
When traveling in the Middle East, certain things become very clear very quickly. One of those things is the value of water. It’s badly needed. It’s scarce and, consequently, a very valuable commodity. The value of water is accentuated by the fact that, in Israel, water was needed for a person immerse himself in a mikveh(ceremonial […]
According to tradition, it was on this day in 164 B. C., that the stones of the sacred altar were defiled by the Greeks and removed from the Temple. When it comes to God’s house, anything that has been deemed holy is not to be contaminated with those things that are considered to be common […]
It was on this day in 1917 that the British Army captured Gaza from the Turkish Empire as they advanced toward Jerusalem and beyond. The area that we now know as Israel is part of a region called the Levant, which stretches from the fertile regions of Mesopotamia, through Syria and Israel and down to the […]
As God’s people, we are called to be holy which is also understood to be “set apart,” or in Hebrew, kadosh, holy. “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). You “shall be holy” seems to indicate that there is a process involved. When we are born again, we are […]
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13) All of us want to be considered His […]
Today we want to recall theconversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman in John’s gospel. In that day and in that culture, this conversation would have been borderline scandalous. But there’s some very interesting things in that conversation that all believers need to take to heart. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when […]
There is a principle in Scripture that is reinforced repeatedly throughout the Bible which conveys this message: without suffering, there is no glory. Of course, everybody wants glory, but few are willing to embrace the suffering that precedes it. Yet, Messiah made it very clear, on many occasions and in many different ways, that this […]
