Worthy News
New York City’s latest crime data reveals a troubling trend: while overall hate crimes have declined, Jewish residents continue to bear the overwhelming brunt of these offenses.
Israeli forces have dismantled eight Hamas tunnel routes and killed dozens of terrorists in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The operation concluded a two-month deployment by reservists from the 205th Brigade in northern Gaza.
Tensions across the Middle East intensified Monday as Iran launched a new wave of missile and drone attacks against the United Arab Emirates, striking critical infrastructure and further straining a fragile cease-fire.
Second-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed his redrawn congressional map into law.
The U.S. Supreme Court will temporarily allow women to obtain abortion pills through the mail, without visiting an in-person doctor.
Tensions in the Middle East surged Monday as Donald Trump warned that Iran would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if U.S. vessels are attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring the high stakes surrounding America’s newly launched maritime operation, “Project Freedom.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has welcomed Belarus’s release of journalist Andrzej Poczobut as part of a multinational prisoner exchange involving Poland, the United States, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.
Christians have expressed concern after India’s central Chhattisgarh state adopted what they describe as the country’s toughest legislation against “coerced or forced religious conversions,” amid concerns about a broader crackdown on minority groups in the Hindu-majority nation.
Remembrance Day commemorations for Dutch victims of World War Two, including those who perished in the Holocaust and in later conflicts or peace missions, were overshadowed Monday by protests and vandalism blamed on suspected anti-Israel activists.
At least two people were killed and eight were injured after Russian drones attacked minibuses in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, officials said, underscoring mounting concern about strikes on civilian areas.
This is the code to run Worthy News with Pagination which allows for archive pages.
[worthy_plugins_news_stories detail_page_uri="/worthy-news/" excerpts=true limit=10 pager=true image=thumbnail image_position=left]
Worthy Devotions
Elul is unlike any other month. As we mentioned yesterday, it is the 12th month on the civil calendar and the 6th on the prophetic calendar. This dual position gives Elul a unique character — it both closes a cycle and prepares for a new one. That is why the shofar sounds each day during Elul: it is a wake-up call, reminding us to reflect, repent, and return to the Lord before the great and awesome days of the Fall Feasts.
This begins a very special season on God’s calendar — the month of preparation before the Fall Feasts. The month of Elul is unique: it is the 12th month on the civil calendar and the 6th month on the prophetic/biblical calendar. Each day of Elul is marked by the blowing of the shofar, a trumpet call that awakens the soul. These daily blasts prepare our hearts for Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah) and ultimately for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).
We have come to the final meditation in this journey through the Z’roah, the Arm of the LORD. From the Arm that redeemed Israel out of Egypt, to the Arm that pierced the dragon, to the Arm that is coming with reward — all of these revelations lead us here: the Arm that brings His people into rest.
Isaiah’s vision looks ahead — not only to the Arm of the LORD revealed in the Exodus or even in the cross, but to the day when that same Arm will come again in glory. This is not a picture of brute force but of purposeful arrival. The Z’roah — the Arm of the LORD — comes clothed with strength to establish His rule, and He does not come empty-handed. His reward is with Him, and His work is before Him. The promise is sure: He is coming, and He is rewarding.
Isaiah recalls the Exodus as the supreme display of God’s Z’roah, His Arm of glory. Though the people saw Moses raise his staff over the Red Sea, it was not Moses’ power that split the waters. Behind the prophet’s hand was the Arm of the LORD — majestic, glorious, and unstoppable. The sea parted not to honor Moses, but to exalt the Name of the God who sent him. The Red Sea became a stage for God to reveal His glory, so that His Name would echo through generations as the Deliverer of His people.
Jeremiah uttered these words when everything around him looked hopeless. Babylon’s armies surrounded Jerusalem, the city was on the brink of destruction, and yet God told Jeremiah to buy a field as a prophetic sign that restoration would come. The prophet responded in awe: the God who created the heavens and the earth by His outstretched arm (bizroa netuyah) is not bound by human circumstances. The same God who set galaxies in place and boundaries for the seas is the God who still moves to redeem His people. Truly, nothing is too hard for Him.
Isaiah’s words summon one of the most dramatic images of God’s saving power: the Z’roah — the Arm of the LORD — cutting Rahab in pieces and piercing the dragon.
Here, Rahab is not the woman of Jericho but a poetic name for Egypt (Psalm 87:4), often symbolizing arrogant nations and the dark spiritual powers behind them. In Hebrew poetry, Rahab also evokes the sea monster of chaos, a stand-in for the forces that oppose God’s order. To say the Arm “cut Rahab in pieces” is to recall how God shattered Egypt’s pride and broke the grip of the powers that enslaved His people.
Psalm 98 is a victory psalm — a call to lift up a “new song” because the Z’roah, the holy arm of the LORD, has brought decisive triumph. In Hebrew thought, the arm is the active extension of the will, the power that brings intention into reality. To call it “holy” is to declare that it is set apart, dedicated fully to God’s purpose, incapable of corruption. The psalmist celebrates that salvation is not a hidden act, but an open demonstration — God’s righteousness revealed before the eyes of the nations.
This is one of the most intimate revelations of the Z’roah in Scripture. God looks for a human intercessor but finds none. No man can bridge the gap. So His own Arm accomplishes the work. In Hebrew, v’tosha lo zeroa — “His arm saved for Him” — reveals that salvation originates from within God Himself, not from any outside help. Isaiah adds that His own righteousness sustained Him — it upheld His resolve to save — and His fury upheld Him, a holy passion that would not rest until justice was accomplished.
To “bare” the arm means to roll up the sleeve and reveal the full readiness for action. In Isaiah’s prophecy, this is a global unveiling — no longer hidden, the Z’roah is on display for all nations to witness. This speaks directly of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) public ministry and, ultimately, His crucifixion.
This is the code to run Worthy Devotions with Pagination which allows for archive pages.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_list detail_page_uri="/worthy-devotions/" excerpts=true limit=10 pager=true]