The enemies of Israel are also the enemies of Israel’s God. And they roar with rage against God’s Jewish people, especially when those Jews thrive on the soil of the Promised Land. In Psalm 74 Jerusalem’s worship leader Asaph raises his intercessory lament about this very situation to YHVH, the God of the armies of […]
The German word ersatz is commonly used around the world today to refer to an “artificial and inferior substitute or imitation.” During WWI, the shortage of coffee in Germany catalyzed the development of over 11,000 ersatz products, including a coffee substitute using roasted acorns, chicory and beechnuts. Thousands of U.S., British soldiers, primarily airmen, captured in […]
The last three verses of the Book of Genesis have a prophetic glow to them: Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will assuredly take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then […]
This is the third of a three-part newsletter investigating Russia’s stated reasons for invading and destroying Ukraine. President Putin and Russian media repeatedly stress that Ukraine is a fascist country run by neo-Nazis and anti-Semites. Is there any truth to these charges? This third newsletter weighs Ukraine’s history regarding anti-Semitism, fascism and neo-Nazi movements, and […]
This is the second of a three-part newsletter considering the subject of Russian propaganda and disinformation regarding their purported reasons for invading and destroying Ukraine. President Putin and state-controlled Russian media repeatedly stress that Ukraine is being run by neo-Nazis and anti-Semites. This second newsletter weighs Russia’s role (both in history past and present) […]
The word of YHVH came to Jonah, commissioning him to, “arise, [and] go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.” But instead Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of YHVH” (Jonah 1:1-3). Jonah was a bona fide prophet who had a spiritually sensitive […]