All articles in category Israel

May 2018

Articles > World Mission > Islam > Israel

Abraham’s nation

Some years ago, we aired a series of Arabic radio Bible discussions under the title, God’s original purposes for the Hebrew nation. It was blessed with much lasting gospel fruit. The Holy Spirit stirred the hearts of many Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa to understand the ultimate purpose of God’s call to Abraham: the coming of the ‘Seed’ or ‘Offspring’ — the promised ‘Seed of the woman’ (Genesis 3:15). Through his coming, blessing comes to all families of the earth (Genesis 12:3; 22:18). Two couples from eastern Saudi Arabia were converted. At the time, there was no SMS text-messaging or internet available...

May 2017

Israel

Reaching out to Holocaust survivors

Grace and Truth Congregation at Rishon- Le-Tzion, Israel, hosted a concert featuring Finland’s Nina Åström on 7 March 2017, in which she performed gospel songs and shared her Christian faith with attendees. In a Grace and Truth newsletter, the organisation expressed gratitude to Nina, who was called to minister to prisoners in Russia, the Ukraine, Holland and other Baltic and Balkan countries a few years after performing in the Eurovision Song contest. Eddie, a Grace and Truth evangelist, organised buses for 160 people from different veterans’ clubs to attend, and the church hall was packed with more than 200 people. The newsletter said, ‘It was...

By David Zadok

March 2017

Israel

Encouragement in Israel

On 20 October 2016, the Grace and Truth Christian Congregation, Rehovot, celebrated its 40th anniversary. It was an historic event, not only for this congregation, but also for the body of Christ in Israel. Not many congregations in Israel were established before 1976, and this was certainly a sure sign of the faithfulness and goodness of the Lord to our people. By his grace, we were able to celebrate in our new building. Some 250 people gathered, including recent and previous members of the congregation, representatives from other congregations in Israel and guests from overseas. From the beginning, the planning committee had determined that...

Redressing the balance

By Phil Hill

March 2012

Israel

Redressing the balance

Redressing the balance Israel is a fascinating, frustrating, friendly and sometimes plain mad place to live! The fascination comes from living within the pages of the Bible. The frustration arises from Middle Eastern attitudes to life. The madness stems from the clash of cultures between Arabs and Jews, and the rightward shift of Israeli politics. Over 1.5 million Russians have immigrated following the fall of the Iron Curtain and these are often more influenced by Russian autocracy than by Israel’s western democratic tradition. There are now more Russians than Arab Israelis and they generally do not like each other, a worrying trend when Israel...

Israel after sixty years

By Baruch Maoz

May 2008

Israel

Israel after sixty years

Israel after sixty years The State of Israel was founded on 14 May 1948 and recognised by the United Nations the same day. The new State was the focus of Jewish hope. Hounded, humiliated, abused and misused by the nations for 2,000 years, the Jewish people would at last be an accepted member of the family of nations — sharing mankind’s hopes, burdens and victories, and making its contribution to the resolution of mankind’s woes. The State was founded in a largely depopulated land covered with malarial swamps, denuded hills and deforested mountains. Decades of coura-geous, sacrificial struggle resulted in a blossoming agriculture,...

Is Jesus the Jewish Messiah?

July 2005

Israel

Is Jesus the Jewish Messiah?

Richard Gibson of Christian Witness to Israel reports on a recent meeting in Durham: Over seventy students came to hear Nick Howard, son of Conservative Party leader Michael Howard, address the question: ‘Is Jesus the Jewish Messiah?’ The event was part of a ‘Hot Potatoes’ series of talks organised by the Durham Intercollegiate Christian Union. Describing himself as a Jewish believer in Jesus (Yeshua HaMashiach), Nick went through some of the major Messianic prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures and, in particular, Daniel 9. This Bible chapter played a big part in his own voyage of discovery, leading to faith in Christ. Nick’s discussion of...

God’s peace in Bethlehem

By MERF

December 2003

Israel

God’s peace in Bethlehem

The Baraka Christian congregation in Bethlehem held its annual family conference recently. Pastor Victor Atallah spoke on the theme: ‘In Christ — one people of God and one offspring of Abraham’. Most families participating are Palestinians from Bethlehem and the nearby towns of Beit-Jalla and Beit-Sahour. Some were able to secure Israeli government permits to come from the Jerusalem area. The Baraka congregation also includes international members from as far away as Korea and Sweden. Believers from other Palestinian communities, like Ramallah, Jericho, Gaza and Nazareth, were not able to secure passes to travel to Bethlehem. Participants in the conference prayed fervently that their testimony...

JEWISH WORLDVIEW

By Maurice Bowler

March 2001

Israel

JEWISH WORLDVIEW

Maurice.I would like to thank you, Joseph, for sparing the time to explain the Jewish worldview to me. I have read the Old Testament and spent some time reading about the background of the Old Testament books. Again, of course, in my New Testament reading I have come across the Pharisees and Sadducees, together with the High Priest, chief priests and priests of the Jewish Temple. I have also read about the Jewish ruling body, the Sanhedrin. Joseph. I hope you do not think that this kind of material gives you an understanding of the Jewish worldview today. You mention the Old Testament. For...

Messianic believers threatened but encouraged

May 1998

Israel

Messianic believers threatened but encouraged

Antagonism towards Messianic groups in Israel has been increasing since the introduction of a bill in the Jewish parliament to outlaw ‘missionary material’. Opposition from ultra-orthodox Jews is thought to be the source of a number of incidents over the past few months in which Messianic believers have had their property damaged and threats made against them. However, leaders of Messianic (Christian) groups are encouraged by the scale of worldwide support for their case that the proposed legislation would not only hinder legitimate missionary activity but be a positive barrier to freedom of information. It would amount to religious censorship and undermine the freedom of...

Israel – fifty years on

By Baruch Maoz

May 1998

Israel

Israel – fifty years on

From poverty to plenty The modern State of Israel, established fifty years ago, is a remarkable phenomenon. A nation exiled for almost 2,000 years returns home under the most distressing circumstances the world has ever known. Torn and battered from the Nazi ‘holocaust’, the population has swollen from an initial 600,000 to now over 5 million. Israel has constructed a highly modern infrastructure, established world-renowned centres of learning, renewed the use of its ancient language (Hebrew), once spoken by prophets, and adapted that language for genetics, computers and space travel. Even though the nation has faced economic blockade and seven major wars, its standard of...

The church in Israel today

By Baruch Maoz

March 1995

Israel

The church in Israel today

There is no doubt about it: the church of Christ in Israel has grown numerically over the last few years. Evangelism and the immigration of believing families, particularly from the former Soviet Union, have been the major sources of this growth. In addition, the number of Jewish-Christian families in Israel has also grown over the years, naturally leading to a growth in the number of children born to Jewish-Christian parents. New congregations have been formed in Jerusalem, Haifa and the centre of the country. The national Evangelistic Committee has continued to conduct co-operative evangelistic campaigns in various regions of Israel and on suitable occasions. Efforts...