Worthy News
Iranian authorities are moving to confiscate Tehran’s historic St. Peter’s Evangelical Church and evict Christian families from the church compound, marking another escalation in the Islamic Republic’s long campaign to suppress Protestant Christianity and restrict public Christian worship.
At least three people were killed and dozens more injured Wednesday as Russia and Ukraine exchanged fresh long-range attacks, while Kyiv struck deep inside Russia, forcing the shutdown of the country’s largest oil refinery and raising fresh concerns about the Kremlin’s fuel supplies.
The NATO military alliance, long seen as a symbol of unity among Western allies, faced growing internal strife Wednesday as Denmark vowed to defend its territory after U.S. President Donald J. Trump again insisted that the United States should control the strategically located Arctic territory of Greenland.
A court in Pakistan’s Punjab province has acquitted Dennis Albert, a Christian man who had spent nearly 19 months in custody in a blasphemy case, but concerns remained Wednesday over the safety of Christians in the region after reports that another Christian family’s home was torched in an alleged revenge attack.
More than 1,000 suspected human traffickers have been arrested and over 2,000 victims identified in one of the world’s largest coordinated crackdowns on modern slavery, the international police organization Interpol announced.
Italy says it will stop responding to what it called provocative remarks by U.S. President Donald J. Trump in an effort to avoid further tensions between the NATO allies.
Hungary’s state-owned public news broadcasters, long criticized for their close ties to former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, went off the air Tuesday after apologizing for what they described as years of lying to the public in an unprecedented move launched under the current government.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump ordered an “immediate” halt to trade with Spain on Wednesday, sharply escalating tensions with the NATO military alliance ally over defense spending and its refusal to support U.S. military operations against Iran.
China faced mounting challenges Wednesday after flooding killed at least 17 people and injured hundreds in the country’s south and center, while scientists warned the devastation could spread to other provinces with the approach of Super Typhoon Bavi.
At least seven children and a teacher were killed Wednesday when heavy monsoon rains triggered a landslide at the world’s largest Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh, officials said.
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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.
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