Day 545 For Hostages in Gaza

Nahariya, Israel. 

Friday, April 4^th, 2025          ו' בניסן, ה'תשפ"ה

The last Friday of the last week before Pesach (Passover). Everything and everyone is geared toward this Holy Week.

I love Pesach. It is the start of Spring, of the Biblical year, the start of the nation, a new beginning all around. As if God gives us a new start in our lives.

Inside the houses, all are “doing Pesach”; in reality, a whole nation is working on spring cleaning. A cultural/national behaviour. If we are late to an appointment, or forget to call, or miss the bus, or... all is forgiven, after all we are “doing Pesach”.

In Nahariya, we don't feel the war. Airplanes flying above us often, on their way to Syria, Lebanon, or further north to Turkey, we don't really know their destinations. We know the war continues on other fronts. We are told that there are 24 live hostages still in Gaza, starving underground. How many of them are still alive today is unknown.

But my people, who are called by His name, are humbled and often pray and seek His name ... waiting for Him to turn things around and bring the abducted hostages home and be done with this horror of a war.

Waiting for a miracle... Maybe by next week, on Pesach.

Day 543 For Hostages in Gaza

Herbal Morning Tea

Nahariya, Israel. Wednesday, April 2^nd, 2025          ד' בניסן, ה'תשפ"ה

On October 1^st, 2023, when I started to blog again, I had no idea why the Lord told me to do that.

By October 7^th, 2023, the war broke out, and I understood.

Since then, there were a few times that I followed the directions God gave me, not understanding the reasons behind them, but later on that became clear.

At some point in March 2025, I stopped blogging altogether. I paid more attention to my physical well-being and prayed more for my health and my eyes. After 12 shots into my right eye, the improvement was too small to see well enough for blogging.

Yesterday, April 1, 2025, the Lord directed me to blog again.

This morning finds me at the computer needing to express my feelings but not having words.

I have the Bible I cannot read clearly beside me, as well as the herbal tea I've become used to drinking lately. I am asking God to direct my writings as I cannot find the needed words.

During the early morning prayers, Psalm 139 was read:

1. O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2. You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3. You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4. For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5. You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

Day 517 of SWORDS OF IRON WAR.

Nahariya, Israel. Friday. 7.3.2025                      ז' באדר, ה'תשפ"ה

Walking Daily

Almost Purim. When Adar comes in, Joy increases.

Esther 9: 22 as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor.

Israelis live in hope. Every month, a new saying gives a reason to hope and trust that God will do a miracle.

Purim is a feast for the miracles in the book of Esther. As the Jews were saved at that time, God will save the hostages, the IDF and the nation now.

But the pressure that is put on Hamas and the illegal Palestinians this week by our government and by the American government, although it brings a smile to the readers' faces, it also causes fear. We know the reactions of the Hamas. Putting pressure on them can end with them murdering the live hostages. After all, they killed the babies in cold blood and squeezed the throats of the last two red-haired ones with their hands. Crazy whatever-they-are capable of untold violence.

So we pray for miracles, non-stop now for 517 days, believing that the hostages will return alive and the war will end.

Meanwhile, the latest news of our government's decisions bring smiles to our faces:  ☺ 

▪PEACE FLOTILLA & DEF. MIN - Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to allow activists threatening to arrive to Gaza in a ‘peace flotilla’ to reach the Strip without interference - and then to confiscate their vessels, leaving the activists stranded in Gaza.  and then allow the residents who wish to leave Gaza to use the ships to evacuate from Gaza.

Day 506 of SWORDS OF IRON WAR.

Nahariya, Israel. Monday 24.02.2025

(Psalm 83)

18 That they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, Are the Most High over all the earth.

We woke up this morning to a dark and heavily clouded sky. It was on the black side. (4c degrees.)

On the Carmel mountain, there was snow.

My mood was brooding as well. As if the heaviness was sitting on our entire existence.

Thousands of high school students from across the country are planning a gathering at the funeral of the Bibas' babies, even though we are not told the time of the funeral. The mourning is extensive across the nation.

Argentina declared 2 days of mourning for the babies.

PM Netanyahu is in court, asking for a private session to protect the country's secrets from the enemies. This great leader of ours is expected to explain why he received some cigars as a present 20 years ago. He also had to beg for 2 days a week hearings so he could continue to govern during the war. Political enemies are at times as bad, for the nation, as the murderers who took babies for hostages.

I lay in bed looking at the dark sight thinking that I feel depression coming on me.

Willie came and lay beside me and we started to pray. “God, thank you for helping us to go forward. We need to get out from under that heavy cloud of mourning and depression, but only you can take us out from under it”.

Sometimes, it is hard to pray.

Then, God spoke.

He showed us that we are in transition. He told us to join a small group of believers downtown in Nahariya. He explained what the changes are that affect us, physically emotionally and spiritually. He reminded us of the gifts He gave us to be used for the body of the Messiah. He explained the connection between a new centre for helping trauma victims to our own current work. And we understand that this day is but a transition; like the winter turns into spring, so this will change in time.

Our prayer group met yesterday. Today, seemed to be an answer to some of the prayers we prayed.

Yes, we are in a place of mourning, but the sun came out by 11:00, the temperature rose to 9c, and our eyes opened to the understanding God gave us for some of the next steps in His plan.

Spring is coming. God is still on the throne. With His help, we are moving forward.

Blessings to all of us. 

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.”