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.