Day 504 of SWORDS OF IRON WAR.

Nahariya, Israel. Thursday 22.02.2025

Since Thursday I've stayed at home. Unable to go far, bed-kitchen-etc-bed. Praying, waiting, mourning, not communicating much.

My nation is in mourning.

The horrible actions of Hamas, murdering 2 babies with their bare hands, cut right down the hearts of us all.

Israelis are family. We feel what others feel, we mourn when they mourn, and we are glad with their gladness. We have one land, one country. And we believe in one God.

Don't assume because our expression of beliefs differ that we believe in idols; our trust in God is strongest during the difficulties and horrors we experience together.

Our God doesn't change.

(Deuteronomy 28:1-2) “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

(Isaiah 26:3) You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You.

(Philippians 4:8) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Shabbat today, people go to worship filling the synagogues and churches. Only He can help us to overcome.

(Number 6:23-27) “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

Day 495 of SWORDS OF IRON WAR.

Nahariya, Israel. Thursday 13.02.2025

שקדיה - Shkedia (Almond Tree)

Happy *Tu Beshvat* Everyone.    

Today we plant trees, even in the rain.

May God's blessings allow your planting to take good roots, in a nourishing land.

(Psalm 1) 

 1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law, he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

DAY 492 - 2025 HOLOCAUST of SWORDS OF IRON WAR.

 

These are the 17 hostages still to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal with Gaza. Eight of them are dead. Hamas won’t tell us which.

Our history is full of pain, trauma and wars. This war emerged as a second holocaust in the modern area. The Second World War was the first holocaust and in 1945 when it ended, Modern Israel became a State with UN full backup, but the restoration is yet to be over. This year, 2025, the War of Iron Swords, is the second holocaust. I have no idea what will emerge. So far, we have seen our hostages returning home starved and abused in ways we cannot imagine, and there are more in captivity.

Five generations between the two holocausts. Five generations of hope for a peaceful living in a free land that was given to us by God thousands of years ago.

Five generations are carrying in their hearts hope and in their minds the horrors of tramuas. Five generations of surviving against all odds.

It is not over yet.

If you believe in God, please pray for my people. Israel is like a big family, at this time, it fights and mourns.

Only God can help. We need Him.

(Psalm 121)   I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

Day 489 of SWORDS OF IRON WAR.

Nahariya, Israel. Friday 7.02.2025

Northern Arrows, Lebanon Front is still in a cease-fire agreement. But the death toll is still rising.

Why did I not write for so long?

A few of you wrote to ask what happened to me.

Nothing.

I still pray.

I still mourn over the young men who went through horrors in Gaza, Lebanon, Judea and Samaria, who survived it all, then died by friendly fires.

I still mourn over the families that were abducted and held in horrifying tunnels without food or air and some came home to start the long hall of recovery, knowing that the trauma will take years if ever to leave them.

I still tear over the little ones that no one knows for sure if they are alive or dead and over the ones who were murdered.

I am still in quiet shock that the citizens who are not directly involved suffer with the families who are and the rest of our nation.

The trauma and the shock are not over, they only escalate to different heights and in different directions. Hope continues but no one believes it will be the end of the killing or the end of the war no matter how many cease-fires are signed or how many people are moved around or returned to their homes, in the Galil, in the Negev or in Gaza.

The devastation is not only in the abandoned homes and farms, the rats and wild animals that moved into the empty spaces, but also in the hearts and minds of the population that still hopes beyond hope for an end to the fight.

We will never return to October 6, 2023.

Some left, unable to live in Israel any longer from the trauma they experienced. A few were traumatized to the point of suicide. Some are trying to cope with the reality. But most just want to be at peace. To go on. To stop this horrible comparison to the Holocaust. 

The Red Cross lost all of its glory, along with the UN honours and what it used to stand for. The pain is so deep, and the abandonment feels so cutting, that I doubt another generation will be able to trust again.

Israel is a survivor. It has survived as a people for over 4,000 years and will survive this time as well.  Only it is hard to walk this road with my nation. 

Why did I not write for so long?

Because I had nothing to say. My tear ducts are dry, and it seems so is my pen.

(Psalm 46) 

 Let be, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.'

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high tower. Sela

477. SWORDS OF IRON WAR & IRON WALL FRONT

 

Day 477 To The Conflict. Sunday, 26.1.2025

A Psalm of David. 26

Vindicate me, O Lord,
For I have walked in my integrity.
I have also trusted in the Lord;
I shall not slip.
2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me;
Try my mind and my heart.
3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked in Your truth.
4 I have not sat with idolatrous mortals,
Nor will I go in with hypocrites.
5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers,
And will not sit with the wicked.

6 I will wash my hands in innocence;
So I will go about Your altar, O Lord,
7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
And tell of all Your wondrous works.
8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house,
And the place where Your glory dwells.

9 Do not gather my soul with sinners,
Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 In whose hands is a sinister scheme,
And whose right hand is full of bribes.

11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;
Redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My foot stands in an even place;
In the congregations, I will bless the Lord.

473. SWORDS OF IRON WAR & IRON WALL FRONT

Day 473 To The Conflict. Wednesday, 22.1.2025.

Nahariya

Ceasefire? Not quite.

Emotional charging days? Yes, and it's very tiring.

Chomat Barzel, an Iron Wall - is the new name for the front in Jenin, a city in Judea and Samaria with a history of blood shade and violence as bad as Shchem. That front has a new name and increased active warfare this morning.

IDF's top general, Ha-Levi, will resign as of March 6, 2025. I will be sorry to see him leave; he led the IDF troops in this war with bravery and wisdom.

There is a talk about a Trojan Horse. Many words but no explanations.

There are too many fronts ...

The agreement to release the hostages was twice violated by Hamas. Hamas postponed ALL exchanges by 24 hours while telling Trump that they would sit with him for negotiations peacefully.

The Air Force is flying overhead all morning.

Sorry family, friends and readers, I know only that Willie and I are moving between prayers and praise.

A couple pre-arranged visit this morning but did not call and did not come; this is a very unusual behaviour in Israel, so we pray that they are safe.

(Proverbs 16:1-3) The preparations of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs the spirits.

Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.

They called to apologize, it was a simple mix-up with the dates. However, God knew: The two hours we spent praying for their health and safety, hit its mark as the guy was not feeling well. And the chicken I took out of the freezer to thew turned out to be 3 very small pitas. So our lunch was smaller than anticipated anyway.

Praise God that He is looking after us all.

SWORDS OF IRON WAR, DAY 470

Nahariya Sunday, 19.1.2025.

When the more serious negotiation started, we heard about 38 live hostages coming home in exchange for.... they were still talking.

Today, they are talking about 3.

How would I react if I was a close family member? a mother, a sister, a wife?

You can see why I don't post too often. These changes occur a few times a day. By the time the blog was published, a change had taken place.

Only 3? Alive? What happened to the rest?

Until tomorrow comes and some concrete news emerges, I trust no one and nothing for any outcome. All I know is that God dwells in the praises of His people and I need to keep praising Him regardless of what I see.

Yet Thou art holy, O Thou that art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.(Psalm 22:4)

SWORDS OF IRON WAR, DAY 467

 Nahariya Thursday 16.1.2025.

After shot

The last of the abducted hostages, 38 of them alive? still in Gaza at that point in the early morning.

God knows what is going on, He fights for Israel. We can only ask for an understanding of what is going on. Most things are hidden from the public.

There is a
heaviness on us that it felt even now at 6 am. We don't know who will come out and who will not.

We've been praying for understanding. We pray for the families who are waiting and that the shock will not overwhelm them. We pray for the restoration of the hostages and their families. We pray... pray... pray...

(Isiah 40: 1-2) “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God.
“Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.”

We ask that God will forgive us when men are given the glory that belongs to God. 

SWORDS OF IRON WAR, DAY 464. 13.1.2025.

Nahariya, Israel. 

Willie's test. All is well.

Willie reminded me this morning that “all is temporary”.

God had been reminding me that He is time itself. His name is YHVH – “haya” = was, past; “hove” = is, presence; “yhiye” = will be, future.

God is the only constant in the universe. Since He is time itself, all the events don't change a thing for Him or in Him. He knows the beginning and the outcome of everything. This is a comfort to me.

(Hebrew 13:8) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Wars will cease, fires will die down, leaders will be raised and will fall, children grow and generations will die and live... all is temporary but He reigns.

Our prayers come out of our hearts but God put them there to start with, so He knows that they will be answered. He sees all in the light of eternity. 

God, please, give me Your vision to pray. 

SWORDS OF IRON WAR, DAY 459. 8.1.2025.

The heading for my life in 2025:

(Proverbs 16:3) "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Today is the third day of corporate fasting and prayers in our Khila.

Since what one fasts is up to each person, we chose to eliminate lunch, which is the main daily meal in Israel. I have no idea how other people are fasting or what they eliminate. I just know that I feel hungry. I have so much food during the rest of the day that there is no place for that hunger feeling. It must be only a symptom. It is not real.

It makes me think that much of what I experience is not real. It is only but a symptom.

The Bible tells me that when Yeshua was crucified He gave me salvation and healing. By faith, I accepted both.

Believing that I am saved since He was my atonement for my sins, forever, gives me eternal life. The same faith in the same Lamb of God gives me total health.

While I know without a doubt that I am going to heaven, that I am saved from sin, the health issues are wavering in my responses, in my mind.  Yes, I will have a new, perfected body after death, but meanwhile?

But.... I live on earth with the assurance of salvation. Why do I suffer the symptoms of ill health on earth? I know He heals. I know that He healed me repeatedly during my lifetime in various ways. Some healing came with prayers of myself and others, some came with medication and medical care, some with moving my body specifically as I felt He leads me to do, some came while I recited verses of healing, and lately more healing came when I started a healthier lifestyle journey.

All healing came from God as I learned to listen, obey and follow His directions, and as my faith in Him strengthened.

But symptoms of pain, reduced hearing, darkened vision, and other such “joy” still manifest themselves in my body, daily. Why?

I started to pray, “Thank You, God, for totally healing my body. I believe that I am healed and the symptoms will disappear on your time”.

When I pray for others, “Thank You, God, for healing ... please help him/her to trust that You will remove the symptoms.”

I don't know if that is the right way to pray, but my heart aches for the pain that so many are suffering. So many more now as a result of the abduction of October 7,2023 and the war that is still cutting down young lives of our people, and leaving so many maimed and hurting. These are not cases of symptoms alone, neither are the ones who suffer from various diseases such as chronic pain and cancer.

So where are the miracles and wonders that are to follow the believers?

With Isaiah, I call out, “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
“Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”

SWORDS OF IRON WAR, DAY 452. 1.1.2025.

A new year. The old one's official statistics:

2024 By The Numbers: The Population Authority has published statistics on Israel's growth and decline rates for 2024. A slight negative trend was detected in emigration; however, Israel's population passed 10 million for the first time. 

Day 450 to War of Iron Swords.

Monday. December 30. 2024.

Almost 2025.

450 days.

I am listening to the cry of our hearts in this powerful music. I am crying.

How Long God? How Long?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd-4clk0M-E

Day 448 to War of Iron Swords.

 Shabbat. December 28, 2024.

The year 2024 was a learning experience for me. I learned how to pray deeply and to notice daily answers from God, both for what I prayed and for what I did not realize the need to pray.

I came closer in my heart and my thoughts to my people and found that I am thankful to be an Israeli and a Messianic Jew. Even my love for the Hebrew language increased and intensified.

I also learned how to live a healthier life, eat healthier food, and lean on God for each change. Most of these experiences felt harsh and challenging, some more than others. I cried a lot, felt the pain of my people and my country more than ever, learned to deal with trauma, personal and national, and learned to live in war.

Last week, God sent us to a few days of R&R that included a prayer assignment. While in the Dead Sea with a couple of our close friends we prayed for the Eastern Border. He specifically showed us that the next heavy front of the war would be on the East Side of Israel. While the North Border with Lebanon seems quieter, other fronts remain at war.

On Sunday, the first night of our prayers, the sirens sounded in Arad. We returned home on Wednesday night, and by 3 am that night Yemen sent rockets toward the Tel Aviv area and sirens sounded in the middle of the country and in the Dead Sea. Last night they sounded again. The Air Force and the Iron Dome had diverted the rockets but the attacks are still coming each night.

Our prayers continue.

We are in the habit of asking God for verses as references for His assignments. On the train from Nahariya, we looked it up and found verses prophesying the attack from the East. Below are some of them:

Ezekiel 27 & 38-39, talk about Gog, Magog, Tarshis, and Sheba – the northern and eastern countries that are attacking Israel at the end of time and Yemen is thought of as the modern time eastern country of Sheba.

(Daniel 11:44) But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.

(Revelation 16:12) Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.

God is still on His throne. The year 2025 will bring what He

Planned. We pray that in the year 2025:

• His people will be gathered home to Israel from every corner of the earth, as He promised.

• That the hostages to return, even before 2024 ends.

• We believe that the prophecy in Isaiah 45:17 will become a fact: “But Israel shall be saved by the Lord, With an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever.”

• That God's people will know how to pray according to His will and learn to always lean on Him.

Personally, I pray that God will continue to heal us. That we will hear His voice clearer and be closer to Him on a daily basis. That we will have the physical strength and the spiritual closeness to continue His assignments for us.

Happy New Year in 2025 - May God bless us all. 

Day 438 of SWORDS OF IRON WAR

Nahariya, Israel. Tuesday. 17.12.2024    

Meanwhile in Canada.

It's been quiet for a few days. Today, there are some sounds from the border, but it is not anything to worry about—not on our side.

But we are in readiness.

But we are expecting a bomb or a siren or...

Tel Aviv was attacked from Yemen – hard to understand – I heard the sirens on our app on the phone. Shocked us a bit.

But we are aware of others' movements and are not relaxed. We are still feeling tired and ready to pounce, almost like a spring ready to let go and shoot itself into space.

It is time to go for a holiday. Fourteen months is long enough. Many people went outside of the country for a break and visiting family and just breathing less stressful air, so we stayed put. We feel we need a bit of time.

No, we are not going to other countries. Waiting for 4 hours in the airport who might tell you to stay another four or go to places that have riots or... too stressful. So we decided to stay in Israel. We booked 3 nights in a 5-star hotel; A good neighbour is looking after the cat, and we are taking public transportation down to the Dead Sea. At our age buses and trains are free to us in Israel, so we leave the driving to them. A couple friends will be coming with us to play in the mud, eat in good restaurants and soak in the healthy pools.

We are leaving on the morning train next week and yes, a few days later we'll be back again.

We'll be home for the first light of Chanukah and for Christmas. 

God took time off, He will be with us on ours. 

Genesis 2:2-3

And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Day 434 of SWORDS OF IRON WAR.

Nahariya, Israel. Friday. 13.12.2024  

Israeli flag on Golan

(Just to clarify – online banking has a watch on the sight which notes that it is the 433rd day of the war today. News media reports say we are on the 434th day of the war. Maybe each in its own global time, it feels way longer than either one).

Israel flag was raised in Syria after a unanimous vote by six Druze villages to be under Israeli rule. So the Golan is now Israeli by agreement. What a great turn of events.

I've been mourning all week. But raising a flag on Golan brought with it a release. I'm breathing again.

Mourning because of a Cease-fire that is not true peace and young people are killed; because of the 100 hostages that only 30 are named alive; because of people that I have known for many years who died this week and others who are seriously ill, and also because of personal losses which come with age, but are losses non-the-less.

Death all around us causes emotions to be dragged down lower than one expects.

But the Israeli flag flying on the Golan raises new hope. And words of a friend reminded me what is important and allowed me to raise my head again. She wrote, “The light of God surrounds me. The love of God enfolds me.
The power of God protects me. The presence of God watches over me. Wherever I am, God is.”

Times of mourning are reminders of times of Joy. We need to experience the one so we recognize the other.

(1 Peter 1:8) Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

Israel is built on hope. The people are breathing hope in their daily life and faith is strong. We remind each other Who is in control and we spring each other back to life. The one song I hear daily is a simple declaration of faith, “God be blessed, He always loves me and goodness follows me all the time” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLWw9s0QSOA&list=RDHLWw9s0QSOA&index=2

- copy and paste, it is a good song to live by.  

All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it

(Isaiah 18:3)

Day 429 of SWORDS OF IRON WAR.

Nahariya, Israel. Monday 9.12.2024

Four more boys fell today in South Lebanon.

Reservists.

We are supposed to be in a Cease-Fire in this area.

I don't remember feeling so angry and so helpless as I'm feeling since the ceasefire. That's so typical of the history of the Israeli wars in the Middle East. Why does no one stand up and shout that this is not a ceasefire? We heard last night bombs blowing up and Aircraft going through up here. That is not a ceasefire it is a sham!

Pray? I'm asking for revenge! I remember October 7 and onward. No more praying for our enemies. The hit in Yavne fell close to the home of childhood friends of ours. Enough!

I don't write because I'm praying for things to end, for the hostages to return home, for God to take over... I don't know what is happening in the heavenly but I feel helpless to affect what is happening on earth.

(Psalm 13)

1. How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?

2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

Having sorrow in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

3. Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;

4.  Lest my enemy say,“I have prevailed against him”;Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

5.  But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

6. I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.