Jewish Bubba: TBN Israel: What Is It and How We Christians And Jews Differ

Nadene Goldfoot

A station I go to for the latest information right from Israel is TBN. This is from the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Just what is this? It's a Christian Network. This was a surprise to me, a very old, Jewish news-junky and researcher of Israel's history who has dual citizenship and also loves Israel.

Yair Pinto and Erick Stakelbeck are one of my favorite young men who know exactly as much and more than I do about Israel's history, and also tell it so well. But when they enter the prayer part of their program, which is not included in all their reports, I duck out with my mouse, as they are Christians. Yair is serving in the IDF or has done this; can't keep up with them. They do such a good job in keeping me informed; I love their style. I am awed because they are not Jewish!!!

Erick Stakelbeck is not Jewish. He was (born January 21, 1976) and is an American television host and presenter of The Watchman on TBN and The Watchman Newscast on YouTube. As a Christian Zionist, the show is sponsored by Christians United for Israel, Stakelbeck being the director of its Watchman Project. Stakelbeck has also been noted as an investigative reporter and author on radical Islam, and is TBN's news director. He knows more about our history than most Jewish people, and so I'm very proud of him and would give him an A+ in Jewish history.

Stakelbeck graduated from the Holy Family University in Philadelphia, Penn. While a long-time supporter of Israel, he also became increasingly drawn to studying the roots of Islamic terrorism after the September 11 attacks, and began writing articles for FrontPage Magazine.

Yair Pinto was born to a converted Jewish woman now Christian in Israel. He's also in IDF, one of our soldiers, but he's a Christian. It happened like this. His mother converted first to Christianity; before he was born, coming from a secular Israeli family. The odd thing is, you'd never know that Yair wasn't Jewish.

Jewish and Christian customs come together. Yair is a third generation Israeli with his parents’ families originating from Brazil and Holland. As an officer in the Tanks Division (Reserves), he has successfully blended his Messianic Jewish Faith in a unit of men filled with Orthodox and secular Israelis. He and Anna King share strong common beliefs, and both have a tremendous ability to mix with everyone.

Without men like these, the Christians would probably not be as helpful towards Israel as they have been.

Anna and Yair married on May 30, 2013 in a sunset wedding at an organic garden in Jerusalem. The wedding will be quite Israeli, under a CHuppah, and with the traditional breaking of the glass at the end of the ceremony. The difference is that Yair is a Jewish Believer in Yeshua (Jesus) and Anna is a Believer as well. It is their desire to be a testimony of faith to their 300 “20 somethings” Israeli wedding guests from Army and school.

Anna will be studying Political Science and Anthropology at Hebrew University this fall.

In a recent news update from TBN Israel, IDF officer and a TBN reporter Yair Pinto provided firsthand accounts and reports from the frontlines of the Israel-Gaza War while actively serving with the IDF. The report highlights several key developments in the ongoing conflict.

I'm going to share some facts they might not be aware of, and it's why Jews have not converted to Christianity or Islam, for that matter.

First, at the time Jesus was born, the land was taken over by the Greeks. Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua. The name is derived from the Hebrew name Yeshua (Joshua) , which in turn comes from Isho in Aramaic.

The Greeks had brought with them their polytheistic religion, including worshipping Demi-gods (half-gods) like Heracles, a god with a parent that was of a mortal and one that was from the sky-Mount Olympus, they said. It was easy for some Judeans to follow Jesus for this reason. They accepted him as a half-god. The story of someone going into Egypt with an idol hidden in a camel's package is found in the Book of Genesis, specifically in chapter 31. It involves Rachel, the wife of Jacob, who secretly took her father Laban's household idols, also known as teraphim, when Jacob and his family fled from Laban's household. This happened before Moses' day and the Exodus where Israelites learned of just ONE g-d.

Moses has taught the Israelites that their was only one G-d, and that G-d was not to be seen; no pictures were to be drawn, an invisible G-d- a force. But the people were SO used to SEEING IDOLS of the many gods. It was almost traumatic to get used to the idea. Greeks believed that Many of the ancient gods, like Zeus, had children as a result of their romantic involvement with mortals. Demigods, being part god and part mortal, had great powers and abilities and often featured in the mythology of the Ancient Greeks.

Second, there was no viable research written about Jesus. It is as if we are to believe in a Superman. To Judaism, G-d does not take human form. Jewish belief strictly adheres to the concept of God's incorporeality, meaning God has no physical form and cannot take on human form. This is a core tenet of Judaism, distinguishing it from some other religions that posit God's incarnation in human form. While the Hebrew Bible uses anthropomorphic language to describe God's actions and interactions, these are understood as figurative language to make God's actions more understandable to humans.

Bethlehem must have become very Greek for the gospel writers to call a man named Joshua as Jesus, the Greek word. The Greeks were trying to Hellenize the population. They had even tried to put idols in the synagogue. It was the Hasmonean family men to put an end to that.

Matthew wrote his gospel about 60 years later after Jesus's death saying that Jesus was teaching Judaism in that he said, " in the Gospel of Matthew, specifically Matthew 5:17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them".

The Gospel of Mark probably dates from c. AD 66–70, Matthew and Luke around AD 85–90, and John AD 90–110. Despite the traditional ascriptions, all four are anonymous and most scholars agree that none were written by eyewitnesses. (I count 25 years as a generation). Three of the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—are quite similar to each other when compared to the fourth Gospel, John. They tell the story of Jesus in similar ways, frequently including the same stories and sayings and often using the same words.

It seems that what Jesus was teaching was not new, but Judaism told in an up to date speaking style of that day.

Consider how Pilgrims in our Thanksgiving story spoke compared to today. Consider how bibles were translated during first printing press and today. There is even the translation about Mary and her condition.

Third : Reason is that Early Christians, particularly after the life and death of Jesus, started to diverge from traditional Judaism, although they were originally a movement within Second Temple Judaism. This divergence stemmed from a few key factors:

Belief in Jesus as the Messiah: The central difference is the Christian belief in Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament for Christians). Jews do not believe Jesus is the Messiah, whom they anticipate is yet to come.

Salvation: Early Christians, influenced by figures like the Apostle Paul, emphasized salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, who they believed died for the sins of the world.
Judaism, conversely, emphasizes righteousness and living a moral life through adherence to Jewish law.
The Law (Torah): While early Jewish Christians continued to follow Jewish law (Halakha), the inclusion of non-Jewish converts (Gentiles) led to debates about the necessity of circumcision and other Mosaic Law observances for these new followers.
Paul argued that faith in Christ was sufficient for salvation and that the Mosaic Law was not binding for Gentiles.
The Council of Jerusalem: This council, held around 50 CE, addressed the issue of Gentile converts, concluding that they were not obligated to follow most Mosaic Law rules, though they did need to abstain from practices associated with idolatry.

It came to the point where many Gentiles were converting to Judaism and the Roman government was against this. Their meeting in Rome in the 300's CE show this, and they considered Judaism as competition.

The First Council of Nicaea (325 CE):

This was the first ecumenical council, convened by Emperor Constantine I.
Its main purpose was to address the controversy of Arianism, which questioned the divine nature of Jesus Christ.
The council produced the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith that affirmed Christ's divinity as being "of one substance" with God the Father.
It also addressed issues like the date of Easter and other church matters.
The council is considered a turning point in early Christianity, establishing foundational doctrines and setting a precedent for future ecumenical councils. It didn't directly address Jewish issues, but its decisions indirectly impacted Christian-Jewish relations by further delineating Christian identity and practices, potentially contributing to the development of Christian anti-Judaism. Some historians argue that the Council's focus on Christian theology, particularly the rejection of Arianism, might have indirectly laid the groundwork for later forms of Christian anti-Judaism by creating a sense of "otherness" between Christians and Jews.

Where as Christianity still is trying to add to their numbers and

convert people, Judaism doesn't. We were stopped by the first

Roman Christian church, and haven't done it since. In fact, in a

way, we try to talk you out of doing it.

Approximately 187,900 Christians live in Israel, making up 1.9% of the total population according to the Israeli government. The Christian population in Israel has been steadily growing.

Several sources offer different figures for the number of Christians serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), reflecting the voluntary nature of their service:

Around 100 Christians serve in various positions and units.
Several hundred Christian Arabs serve in the IDF.
Approximately 400 believers (likely including Christians) are currently serving.
One source estimates at least 1,000 Christian Israeli soldiers.

It's important to note that military service is not mandatory for Israeli Christians, unlike for Jewish, Druze, and Circassian citizens. Christian Israelis who choose to enlist may do so for various reasons, including a desire to integrate into Israeli society. So thank you Yair Pinto for risking your life and serving with others in the IDF. We certainly need your help, both in the IDF and in broadcasting what's happening to Israel.

Also, thank you, Erick Stakelbeck for you diligence in knowing our history so well; not many like you, either. I also appreciate your care in wording; you understand.

Yair, I note that with the war and all, you were aghast at how tosay an ending prayer, being a Christian. I thought it nice you saidthat if only the Iranians could learn to love the Jews.

Resource:

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2023/07/who-was-jesus-as-seen-by-his.html

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-politics-in-religion-power-play.html

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/demigod/

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2021/11/differing-genealogies-kings-of-judah.html

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2024/12/how-we-jews-christians-and-muslims-view.html

Resource:

https://www.tbn.org/israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erick_Stakelbeck