Out of Zion

Susan Michael: Welcome to today's Out of Zion podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Susan Michael, and it's a real privilege today to have a dear friend, longtime colleague in Jerusalem working in support of Israel. And so I want to welcome to us today, Chris Mitchell.

Chris Mitchell: Susan, great to be with you.

Susan Michael: Chris, I've been around so long, I remember when you arrived in Jerusalem. You established the CBN Bureau there in the year 2000, and you now serve as the Middle East Bureau Chief for the Christian Broadcasting Network. Of course, we just love all things CBN. Pat Robertson was such a friend and lover of Israel and such a strategic man of destiny. One of the things he started was the CBN broadcasting network, and you've been producing news from Jerusalem for 25 years now.

So I'm sure everyone in our audience has seen you and has really benefited from your coverage of all the current events and everything in Israel. So I want to first, though, before we talk more about that, is just share a little bit of your personal background and how you ended up. That's a wonderful place to be, to be the bureau chief in Jerusalem. Tell us how that came about.

Chris Mitchell: It's an amazing place to be, and it started in 1996. I'm sure it started even before that, but in 1996, for the first time, I came to Israel. I fell in love with the land, I fell in love with Jerusalem and the people, thinking my one regret was that Liz, my wife, and three children weren't with me because you can tell stories, you can send photos or video, but it's not the same as being there. Not realizing that four years later, we would be there.

The next year, I came back on a second time on assignment, and I went to a message from Derek Prince, a late friend of yours as well and the great Bible teacher. He shared a story that in 1948, he was getting out of the British Army. He said that he was telling an elderly Jewish woman that he wanted to live in Jerusalem, and she said, "Well, Derek, Jerusalem, you don't choose Jerusalem. Jerusalem chooses you."

When he said that, it literally pierced my heart and I thought, "Lord, are you choosing us?" Well, the next year, they put out an assignment for starting a bureau in Jerusalem, and I was the only one to volunteer. Michael Little, our dear friend, in May 2000, saw me on the third floor of the headquarters building at CBN, and he said, "Get ready to go to Jerusalem."

So we came there in August of 2000—Liz, Philip, Kathleen, and Grace. They were 16, 11, and 8. Five weeks later, the Second Intifada began, and as you know, you lived through much of that, it was a four-year period of suicide bombings and terror attacks. But we just felt God had called us and He would protect us. More importantly, He would protect our children.

I had prayed a couple of years before we came and I sort of put my children on the altar spiritually, like Abraham did to Isaac literally. After I did that, there was such a sense of His fierce love for them that He would take care of them. So when the bus bombs went off and the suicide terror attacks, it was an anchor to our soul that He would not only protect us, but protect them.

Susan Michael: I can't imagine having just moved to Jerusalem with three children and be there for those suicide bus bombings. It was a very traumatic time. You never knew where the next one would be. You might be standing next to the bus, you might not even be on the bus, or your kids could be on the bus. So I can't imagine. What an introduction to your job.

Chris Mitchell: As Wayne Hilsden, our friend, said, we got thrown into the deep end of the pool. But the Lord was there and it was living out Psalm 91, that he that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. We just felt God would protect us and Liz and I never had that conversation you might've expected, that it's too dangerous, it's just too much. We never had the conversation because we just felt God had called us and He would take care of us.

Susan Michael: That's wonderful. Well, Chris, you've been in a very privileged position there in Jerusalem and you've seen a lot of current events, a lot of wars, terrorism, you've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. Tell us what kind of sticks out in your mind as a couple of those just amazing memories from your time there.

Chris Mitchell: Well, obviously the Second Intifada was our introduction to the land. Then there was a whole series of major stories throughout that time. The disengagement in 2005, we were there in Gaza talking to many of the Jewish people that set up farms and greenhouses for years, decades. We saw the tragedy of them having to leave, which actually set the stage for October 7th. That was a big one. 2006, Second Lebanon War. Then the successive wars with Hamas—2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021—all a prelude to what was October 7th.

In that time, though, we've seen prophecy unfolding and what the ICEJ has done, as many other organizations and ministries, bringing Jews back to the land. Seeing prophecy unfold before your eyes, to see the miracle of Israel thrive despite all the threats against it, to see the nations of the world coming against Israel. So you just see prophecy unfold. You're an eyewitness to these prophecies from 2,000 years and beyond. It's just remarkable.

Susan Michael: It's sad because some Christians, especially around the world, they're in other countries, other cultures, other settings, and they may miss what God is actually doing because the media is only going to tell you about the war, the terrorism, and a lot of times with a negative portrayal of Israel. But yet God is so at work.

One of the things that I just came recently to realize, which is just an astounding miracle of God saving Israel from complete destruction, was actually the Hamas attack on October the 7th, 2023. We look at it as such a horrendous attack. 1,200 people were murdered that day. Another 250 were taken hostage into Gaza, and it was such a traumatic moment for Israel. It looked like everything was like, "Where was God? Why are they being attacked?"

There was one Christian leader even who said they were attacked because they don't believe in Jesus. And yet, it was the attack that saved them from destruction because Hamas did not go according to plan. The plan was their ground incursion would be met by missiles from Lebanon and Iran, and Israel could have been destroyed in a day. But Hamas goes out and attacks on their own and makes the other two mad, so they don't fully join in and that saved Israel from destruction.

You can't make this stuff up. It's such a God story. But being there on the front lines is when you realize those things, where you see through the media's coverage of it. That's why we so appreciate CBN. You've been there covering the daily lives of the Israeli people—the good, the innovation, their achievements, as well as the tough moments.

Chris Mitchell: The innovation that has been coming out of Israel is changing the world. It's becoming more and more a light to the nations, like Isaiah said. Also, in 25 years, we've seen, almost 26 now, archaeology prove the Bible over and over again and prove the Jewish connection to the land back to the times of King Hezekiah, King David, and beyond, even all the way back to Melchizedek. And I would say, as you said, it really was the preemptive strike by Hamas that really upset the plans that Iran and all its proxies had to destroy Israel. It would've been overwhelming if they had done all simultaneously.

Susan Michael: Of all the things you've seen since 2000, October 7th was really the major watershed that really has changed Israel's history, the region, and the world. Tell us how. Elaborate on that a little bit.

Chris Mitchell: Well, I feel because it was an opportunity for Israel to defeat those enemies that had sworn to destroy them. Hezbollah, Hamas, even Iran are now basically a shadow of what they were. It was an opportunity for Israel to become a regional superpower. Such a change from October 7th. Who would've known two and a half years later that this would be Israel rising in the region? Its economy is thriving despite being in a war for two and a half years.

But I think that also the change has been the world has turned against Israel in such a dramatic way and an exponential way that reminds so many people of the 1930s. I think this is a litmus test for many nations right now that are in the valley of decision. What are they going to decide about Israel?

We talked to a man, I think you know Doug Hershey's written a book called *Israel Rising and Jerusalem Rising*. We interviewed him recently and he was making the point that nations that are on the other side of the world are deciding what they're going to do about Israel. They're not deciding about what they're going to do about Canada; they're deciding about Israel. God has put the spotlight on Israel in such a way that it's biblical.

Susan Michael: And it's just a tiny little dot on the map. I heard an Israeli comedian say, "You have to zoom down 17 times just to see it." He said we're the one country in the world our name doesn't even fit in the country on the map. They have to put it on the ocean. It's so small, yet it is the center of world attention—not just one time, every day, every week, ongoing. Such attention on it and that's when you know God is at work.

I was with a Christian just a few minutes ago in another area and he said he'd never been to Israel and he said, "Why is it so controversial over there? If that's the land where Jesus was born, why is it so controversial?" I said, "Because that's the land where Jesus was born and where He's returning." The battle is all against stopping the return of Jesus to that land because that day is the end of evil. Evil is demised and so evil's doing everything it can to fight and to prevent that day. You have been on the front lines and still are. You could be on the front lines the day that happens.

Chris Mitchell: Wow, well, that would be what an honor. That would be exciting. That's the second coming headlines that everyone talks about. What an honor that would be. But we do see the signs of His return over and over and the focus on Israel is such a major sign of the end times.

I used to look at the Book of Revelation and it was so beyond me figuring it out and it just seemed kind of preposterous. And now it's like you see it coming to pass. It is coming to pass and so fast. That's why what you do is so important, to help people understand Israel right now, understand what Christian Zionism is all about. It's become such a pejorative term, but it's really simply understanding that God is bringing back His people to the land of Zion. But what you do, ICEJ does over the decades, is so valuable.

Susan Michael: Thank you, Chris. And what you're doing now is along those same lines. So let's talk about the new series that you put together and why you're doing that.

Chris Mitchell: Well, last August we marked 25 years. We came on August 17th, 2000. So it was 25 years that we've been reporting. My sense was, well, let's do a video series on all the things we've reported on for 25 years, the ones we've talked about: the disengagement, the wars, the archaeology, and the focus on Israel.

But the more I thought about it and prayed about it, I thought it's important to do something to counteract the lies and the misinformation that is coming from not only the left but also the right now, and to help pastors and Christians have a biblical foundation, a prophetic foundation, a historical foundation of why Israel matters, and to counter all the accusations that have come against Israel, especially since October 7th. Are they committing a genocide? Is it an apartheid nation? Are the Jews of Israel today the same Jews as the Jews of the Bible?

So the seven-part series is now called *Israel Under Fire: History, Prophecy, What You Need to Know*. It has seven parts and it starts off with Abraham to today's headlines. We went up to Elon Moreh where God first appeared to Abram in the land of Canaan and He promised him the land. So that's where we start. That's really the foundation of Israel today, is that promise to Abraham more than 3,000 years ago. So we start there, that it is so important to understand today's headlines.

We interviewed Eric Stakelbeck, we interviewed Ambassador Mike Huckabee, we interviewed Rabbi Ken Spiro. He's a Jewish historian about that particular segment. Then we go on to October 7th and the battle for truth. October 7th is like a demarcation of truth and lies and misinformation. We talk to a couple of survivors of October 7th, one who survived the Nova Music Festival, her name was Rafali, and she went into a bomb shelter which used to be a protection against the rockets, but on that day was really a death trap. 37 young Israelis went in there, only 10 survived. She was one of them only because she was literally under the dead bodies.

We talked to her, we talked to a lady named Adele Raemer from Kibbutz Nirim who actually spent 11 hours in a safe room and said she never faced death like she did that day. That's October 7th. We also talk to Gil Hoffman who talks about the reporting by the mainstream media and how it's presented a skewed version because they took Hamas's figures, they took Hamas's understanding of the war. Also, Doron Kedar, who actually served in Gaza more than 400 days, talked to him about what was it really like fighting against Hamas and why Israel was doing all they could not only to protect their own lives but the lives of Palestinians.

Then we go on to the miracle of Israel, the rise of Christian persecution, prophecy. The last episode called *Rendezvous in Jerusalem: A Call to Pastors, Prayer, and Prophecy* because it really will all end in Jerusalem with the return of the Lord and all the prelude that we see before His coming.

Zechariah had it right that he said all the nations will come against Jerusalem and we're seeing that unfold. I wrote a book about 10 years ago called *Dateline Jerusalem* and the theme of that was 2,000 years ago, all roads led to Rome. 2,000 years later, all roads are leading to Jerusalem.

So the series is designed to help pastors and believers to understand the prophetic, the historical, the biblical foundation of Israel and why pastors, for example, don't have to be afraid of preaching about Israel. The Bible's on their side and if they understand that and if they have even a simple foundation, they could preach about Israel, teach about Israel, because many are afraid right now because they don't feel like they know enough. So if they start preaching about Israel, then maybe somebody in their congregation is going to challenge them, they might not have the answers. So that's what the whole series is about.

Susan Michael: Wonderful. When's it coming out?

Chris Mitchell: Well, it's come out already. We have a seven-week series, we put some of the videos on. It's a live Zoom Q&A that we have. Then it's going to be released in probably the spring. If people want to know more about it, they go to chrismitchellnews.com. It's a project I'm working on with the blessing of CBN, but it's not a CBN project.

Susan Michael: We'll be sure and put that URL in the show notes for today's show. But that's great. It's exciting because we really need to equip our pastors. And that's your heart, that's really why you're doing this. We want to help them to understand. I can't imagine a pastor that doesn't get the Israel piece, how they even are able to preach the Bible because the Bible just makes so much more sense once you understand the role of Israel and the Jewish people and how that's so connected to what's happening today before our very eyes.

Chris Mitchell: Part of that is replacement theology, this understanding that the Church has replaced Israel. So every time you see Israel, put the Church in there. But it's, as Ambassador Huckabee said, it's just not right. And if you understand that piece, the Bible makes a lot more sense.

Susan Michael: Well, Chris, we hope to partner with you in getting this out to pastors in any way that we can be a part. Of course, we work very closely with CBN and we have for decades both in Jerusalem with you and both here in the United States with Gordon and Regent University. So we feel like family. You've got your specialty in the news and we feel like family and so we appreciate you coming on today and being a part of our show and sharing your story with our audience. So do you have any final word you want to share? After a lifetime in this, what would be your encouragement to our listening audience?

Chris Mitchell: This is a time I think we all need to draw closer to the Lord. These are going to be perilous times. They are already, but if we believe the Bible, they might get even worse. So I believe it's a time to draw close to the Lord, to your family, to your community, to your church, to be rooted and grounded in the word, rooted and grounded in love.

Be like the sons or daughters of Issachar who understood the times, to really see the Bible and see current events and interpret them and how to understand them. And I would say keep in the word, stay in the word during these times. That's going to be indispensable.

Susan Michael: Perfect word for our audience. Thank you so much, Chris, and thank you so much for listening in today. Please check out our show notes for today's show to be in touch with Chris and to be able to see the series that he's putting out soon. So God bless you.

Hey, just give me one more minute. I want to offer you one of our free resources. We have wonderful resources in our show notes and if you go to our website at icejusa.org/shownotes, you'll find links for a number of our free offers. We have downloadables to help root you in Scripture, help you to understand the issues surrounding Israel and the importance of Christian support for Israel. And don't forget, please, follow us on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn and stay connected. Thank you and God bless.