Our Worthy Brief is a daily Christian newsletter designed to encourage, inform, and edify believers in their daily walk with God. Our online Christian magazine incorporates our daily devotional (Worthy Devotions) along news from around the world provided by our Christian News service, Worthy News.

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Worthy Brief - 8/23/2024

Friend, it's all in His wonderful timing!

Judges 13:6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. 17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, "What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?" 18 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?" 21 When the Angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!"

The children of Israel were delivered into the hands of the Philistines for 40 years for doing evil in the sight of YHVH. Then a wonderful event takes place: an announcement to a barren and childless woman that she will conceive and bear a son. The announcement is given by one who is called "malach-YHVH", literally "Angel (of) YHVH. This messenger, in two separate appearances, reveals God's commandments concerning the boy to be born. At the angel's behest, the couple offers a sacrifice to YHVH, then they ask to be told his name.

What happens next opens the eyes of the woman's husband, Manoah. The angel asks why do they desire his name for it is, "פלאי", a Hebrew word translated variously as, "miraculous", "wonderous", "supremely wonderful", "secret", "beyond understanding", and a word seeming to be used as both an adjective and a noun. But then, as the flame of their sacrifice blazes up from the altar toward heaven, this angel of YHVH ascends in the flame! At this, Manoah exclaims to his wife, "We are doomed to die! We have seen God!" From this, we conclude that the Image of God, the pre-incarnate Yeshua has once again appeared to His beloved servants for deliverance at a critical moment in the history of His people Israel.

Forty years, often described as a number of testing, a long season during which time the Lord allows the sins of His people to produce their inevitable fruit of judgment and subjugation. Then, at His chosen moment, our God returns for deliverance. And He returns in Person, with unequivocal authority and deep wonder.

Friend, are you also wondering, "When will God show up!?" The story of the birth of Samson may hold an answer. God will show up precisely when His time of testing has been accomplished! And when He does, you may need to deal with the divine impact of His revelation, and as you worship Him, stand in awe of how "absolutely and supremely wonderful" He is. So, don't be impatient during the time of testing. The deliverance and the wonder will be well worth the wait.

Have a great weekend ... Shabbat Shalom!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Baht Rivka, Obadiah and Elianna (Missouri)
(Baltimore, MD)

Editor's Note: During this war, we have been live blogging throughout the day -- sometimes minute by minute on our Telegram channel. Be sure to check it out!

Editor's Note: Dear friends — we are now booking in the following states. Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, West Virginia, Tennessee! If you know Rabbis, Pastors or Leaders who might be interested in powerful Israeli style Hebrew/English worship and a refreshing word from Worthy News about what’s going on in the land, please let us know how to connect with them and we will do our best to get you on our schedule! You can send an email to george [ @ ] worthyministries.com for more information.

Around the World
US-China Military Standoff In Taiwan Strait
The United States and China came close to a military confrontation Thursday as the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet received a Chinese warning when one of its warships passed through the Taiwan Strait, military officials said.
Switzerland Starts Instant Cashless Payments System
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) unveiled a new instant payment system Monday, saying it will bolster the future of cashless payments in Switzerland.
Italian Experts: ‘Evidence About Jesus’ Burial Clothing
Italian researchers have reopened the 600-year-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, the linen cloth that some believe was used to wrap the body of Jesus after his crucifixion.
Netherlands Shaken By Turmoil Over Nord Stream Blasts (Worthy News Radio)
The Netherlands has been shaken by political turmoil over revelations that Dutch government members knew about Ukraine’s involvement in blowing up Nord Stream pipelines transporting Russian natural gas to Europe, even before it happened. Information about the planned sabotage in September 2022 was shared by the Dutch secret service with the United States, officials say, which raised questions about former Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is due to become the secretary general of the NATO military alliance.
German Chancellor Defends Less Support For Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that Ukraine had not informed Berlin about its August 6 shock incursion into Russia, and he defended his government’s decision to reduce military support for Kyiv by billions of euros.

Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Extensive Strikes Target Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday that it conducted "extensive" overnight airstrikes on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, targeting weapon depots, buildings used by the group, and a rocket launcher across 10 areas, signaling an escalation in the conflict.
Second US Aircraft Carrier Arrives in the Middle East Amid Iranian Sabre Rattling
While Israel continues to prepare and brace for a threatened attack by Iran, the United States has deployed a second aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, to the Middle East to help defend the Jewish state if necessary.

Inside the United States
California Advances 0 Down, No Payment Home ‘Loans’ for Undocumented Immigrants
he California Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a bill to allow undocumented immigrants to make use of the state’s zero down, no payment home “loan” program, an expansion the legislature says would create “significant cost pressures.”
SCOTUS Declines to Enforce Protections for LGBTQ Public School Students
The US Supreme Court last week (August 16) rejected a request by the Biden administration to enforce a new federal rule that Title IX's prohibition of discrimination in public schools "on the basis of sex" includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, Reuters reports.
Pro-life Democrats Condemn Planned Parenthood Mobile Abortion Clinic Outside DNC, “It Overlooks the Need to Provide Support for a Pregnant Woman”
The Democrats for Life anti-abortion organization has vehemently condemned the Planned Parenthood abortion provider for offering free abortion pills from a mobile van parked near the ongoing Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, the Christian Post (CP) reports. Abortion giant Planned Parenthood Great Rivers in St. Louis announced last week that its mobile van would be parked near the DNC on Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of this week’s convention.

Christian News
Pakistan: Judge Allows Three Christian Children to Return Home After Islamic Employer Held Them Captive
A judge in Punjab Province, Pakistan has allowed three young Christian sisters to return to their parents after their employers held them captive and tried to forcibly convert them to Islam, Morning Star News reports.
‘Russia Destroys Hundreds Of Churches, Religious Buildings in Ukraine’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia turned hundreds of churches and other religious sites into rubble since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Whereabouts of Abducted Pastor and 13-Year-Old Daughter Are Not Known Despite Ransom Payment
The fate of a Protestant pastor and his 13-year-old daughter who were abducted in Gusau, northwestern Nigeria last month is not known, despite a ransom having been paid for their release, Christian Daily International (CDI) reports.

Worthy Insights
CAMERA yields its most corrections at once from wire story, after ‘AP’ emends Gazan death toll
When the Associated Press published an article about top presidential race issues upon which U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are “worlds apart” on Aug. 18, the more than 175-year-old wire service stated that “the civilian death toll has now exceeded 40,000” in Gaza.
‘Christian role in Lebanon has ended,’ says Hezbollah-affectionate commentator
Pro-Hezbollah commentator Reda Saad stirred up a virtual storm in Lebanon following a sharp attack against his Christian compatriots, when he claimed that the Christians’ role in the country is over and American battleships are coming to the region to take them away.