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There was a song in the late fifties called “Hearts Made of Stone.” I’m sure the writer of this song had no idea he was quoting Scripture. The promise to Israel in Ezekiel 11:19 is, “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh.”

When we were in Israel we walked along the shore in Natanya. As we were walking on the beach we noticed hundreds of smooth pebbles shaped like hearts. We collected as many as we could carry back with us to the States. Many in our tour put these hearts in baskets, and as they prayed for the peace of Jerusalem daily, they lifted up the basket to the Lord and proclaimed this Scripture promise: “I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.”

Although the entire civilized world recognizes the teaching of Messiah, His promise of blessing extends beyond the spiritual realm into everyday life. In fact, if you have a cell phone, a huge company in Israel probably made your antenna.

In the reading this week drawn from Genesis 12: 1 17: 27, the Creator tells Abram He is going to bless the world through his descendants. In case you’re thinking He’s talking about all people, including biological and even spiritual descendents, He’s really not. He’s talking about Jews.

It was a passage in Zechariah 14 that clinched it for Susan Jones, a Christian supporter of Israel from the United Kingdom. Immediately after reading the passage, Susan knew the time was right to plan her first trip to Israel.

“I was reading the book of Zechariah where it says that the nations will come up to Jerusalem after Jesus comes back,” she said. “I thought, ‘I need to do this now, before Messiah comes back. I need to come up to Jerusalem on behalf of my nation and worship Jesus.”

Torah-observant Jews are extremely respectful of the Torah scroll. In each synagogue, the Torah scroll is placed in a special case called an ark. The scroll is rolled up, and a beautiful, embroidered cover is placed over the scroll to keep dust from collecting on it. When the time comes to remove the scroll for reading, a man is appointed to carefully remove the scroll from the ark and uncover it, placing it on the platform for the speaker.

The speaker actually never places his finger on the scroll itself but will use a metal or wooden instrument about eight inches long, called a yad, which resembles a small hand with a single index finger pointing upward. Called the finger of God, this object is used by the reader and speaker to follow the lines of the text. This serves a dual purpose: it preserves the sanctity of the scroll, and it prevents oily, human fingers from eventually erasing the black-inked letters on the parchment.

In the second weekly reading of the Torah, Noach (Noah), we meet a man of God building an ark at his Master’s direction. This ark, built in a dry desert must have seemed so strange to the neighbors. “Hey, look at that nut, Noah; his god told him to build a huge boat, far from water, and he is doing just that. How odd, they must have thought. But Noah persisted because he was “righteous, wholehearted and walked with God.”

Yet, as godly as this man was, one of his sons didn’t inherit much of that spirit. In fact, Ham, one of three sons, was cursed through his son, Canaan. What would cause a godly man like Noah to curse the descendents of one of his own sons, his actual grandchildren? Did he have a bad temper? Was he given to fits of anger? Was he just hung over from his drinking bout the night before? All this might be possible, but there’s a greater meaning to this curse.

Last week, Simchat Torah was celebrated in synagogues all over the world. Immediately upon reading the last portion of Deuteronomy, the Torah scroll containing the Five Books of Moses, is rolled back to the beginning, to B’resheet and Genesis 1:1-5 is read.

This way we remember that the Torah is God’s never-ending teaching for right living. It’s a handbook for how to obtain blessings in our lives. This is a fun time, when we actually “dance” around the ark or building, holding the scroll in our arms. It’s always exciting to have a new beginning, which is why we enjoy Simchat Torah so much.

Nearly everyone has a special place he would like to visit during his lifetime. For many people, that place is Israel.

The mere mention of the country’s name evokes a wide range of emotions, one of which is longing. For thousands of years, Israel has held great significance for people from all walks of life, and those who have a heart for the land yearn to see it.

Though Jesus clearly said of His return to the earth, “Of that day or hour no one knows” (Matt. 24:36, NKJV), there are signs throughout Scripture that point to the second coming of the Lord. One of them is the increasing number of Jewish people who are coming to recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah, and another is the growing body of Messiah in the land of Israel itself.

The Messianic movement refers to the growing number of Jewish people who have become believers in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel. This movement began with the Jewish disciples, continued into the first four or five centuries and then was lost. After a terrible season of forced conversions during medieval times, more reasonable attempts to help Jewish people find Jesus began during the post-Reformation period.

The Israel Antiquities Authority in Migdal near the Sea of Galilee discovered a 2,000-year-old synagogue from the Second Temple period this month during archaeological excavations.

The 390-square-foot synagogue contains mosaic floors and walls covered with frescos. Also, a square stone featuring sides adorned with reliefs and engraved with a seven-branched menorah was discovered in the hall atop a pedestal with a triangular base.

In Psalm 119, the writer expresses his devotion and love for God by seeking to obey the Word. He says, “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!” (Ps. 119:10). When we were children we might have rebelled against our parents’ instructions, not realizing the purpose for their rules. But once we became adults and parents ourselves, we learned that boundaries are necessary to keep children safe from harm.

The Hebrew translation of the word “law” is “Torah.” But the word “law” doesn’t capture the true essence of Torah, which actually means “instruction as from a father to a son.”

Over the years I have accompanied thousands of people to the Holy Land. I am always thrilled to see people on these tours with their Bibles open, eagerly reading Old and New Testament passages that identify the very places they are seeing for themselves. I’ll never forget an elderly gentleman in one group who kept peppering me with questions about biblical prophecy such as: “When Jesus returns, exactly where will He appear?” and “What else must happen before the Second Coming?”

His questions reflect an understanding about Israel that is so important for us as Christians to have. It is that everything God does on this planet, He does according to His dealings with Israel.

How do you define “revival”? To some, revival means longer, louder, emotionally packed services complete with signs and wonders. To others, revival is a semiannual, Sunday through Wednesday, camp-meeting style service that includes a guest speaker. Still others see it as an evangelistic campaign in which salvations and rededications are the only thing that matter.

While the intellectuals and religious pundits sort it out, I wonder what revival means to God.

To me, the answer is simple: Revival is God’s people wholeheartedly returning to Him. Revival occurs when God’s chosen ones can no longer be distracted from their commitment to Him, don’t need to be entertained to remain interested in Him and find deep satisfaction in a world that is centered on Jesus alone. Camp meetings and evangelical campaigns have their place, but unless the focus becomes all about Jesus and not about us, we have not seen revival.

The Bible says a person who wins souls is wise. If you want to lead your Jewish friends to faith in Yeshua, it’s important to know and understand who they are and their contributions to the world. Whether a Jew is Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or Reconstructionist, he or she is part of Klal Yisrael, the community of Israel.

There’s an organic connection between your friend and Jews everywhere. We Jews are all part of one people, and we have been chosen by God to be a light to the Gentiles (see Isaiah 49:6).

There is a wide range of theological views among my people. Some Jews believe the land of Israel is essential, whereas others don’t think too much about it. Some believe in the afterlife, and some don’t. Some Jews think the Messiah will come one day, while others think He is not real. Some Jewish people keep kosher, and others couldn’t care less. Even though my people have different opinions about various topics, there are certain views most Jews hold true.

Today’s Palestinian-Israeli conflict can be reduced to one basic question: Who owns the land? To the Arabs, it was illegally seized from them after World War II by pro-Israel international governing bodies. To the Jewish people, however, the territory has always been rightfully theirs and was given to them by almighty God Himself.

The three great religions of the world—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—were all birthed in the Middle East and share one common denominator. They trace their lineage to Abraham.

Once, when I was in Jerusalem, I was introduced to a woman who was passionate about building financial support for Jewish settlements all over Israel—including the West Bank (biblically known as Judea and Samaria). She told me in no uncertain terms, “This is our land. God gave it to us, and we don’t really care what politicians think or say. It will never change.”

If ever there was a justification for despair and terrorism, the Holocaust provided it. After the Nazis and their allies systematically murdered 6 million Jews, it would have been easy for survivors to abandon their faith in God and humanity and succumb to hate. Yet the Jews who survived the Holocaust never sought revenge or destruction. They wanted only to get on with life, to build families, homes and cities.

This embrace of life characterizes Israel down to the present day. But those who wish to destroy Israel—and the Jewish people—remain. They have armed themselves and continue to attack. Meanwhile, the Israelis continue to build.

Every time I go to Israel I am struck by its progress. The Tel Aviv skyline continues to grow broader and push higher. An ever expanding list of Israeli companies churns out a steady stream of innovations that improve our daily lives. Israeli culture produces books, poetry and music at astounding rates.

There comes a time in a nation’s history—and there comes a time in the church—when spiritual fog and religious deception must be removed by a clear, unbiased, passionate pursuit of truth. America and the church are now in a spiritual fog over the issue of Islam.

But Islam and Christianity are not “sister faiths,” and a side-by-side examination of the texts of the Bible and the Quran will quickly identify some of the differences related to Islam’s teachings about Christ and the truths of our own Bible about the Son of God.

Islam instructs its followers to kill their enemies, but Christianity in-structs its followers to love their enemies.

The Quran says to “fight and slay the Pagans wherever you find them” (Surah 9:5). But our Holy Bible tells Christ’s followers to: “Love your ene-mies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44, KJV).

Television evangelist and author Benny Hinn documents his unique perspective of Middle Eastern world affairs in the new release Blood in the Sand. The book—Hinn’s first major release in several years—centers on the cultural war between Muslims and Jews for control of Israel and how it affects the rest of the world.

“I have spent all of my adult life as a student of prophecy, and I believe these recent developments in Israel and across the Middle East are signaling a hot, accelerated and unprecedented prophetic season that will quickly change the course of history,” he writes.

Hinn’s perspective on the conflict is unique. He was born in Jaffa, Israel, to parents of Armenian, Greek and Lebanese descent, and through the years he has traveled extensively to the area to meet with Jewish and Arab leaders.