DAY 728

 Nahariya, Israel   11 Tishri 5786

Joshua 25:14
 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.  

Almost 2 years to the war. 

Most Israelis know that "it'll be fine in the end. If it is not fine, it is not yet the end".

I come to the place where I believe in no one and nothing.  If it is in the bible, it is truth; if not, it could be anything from AI to fantasy.  

The Prime Minister of Israel's job has to be the worst, the least appreciated, and the hardest job that there is.  It takes a dedicated and brilliant person to do it day and night, who keeps focused on the vision for this nation.  We pray for him daily.

Sons of Jacob, Children of Israel, The Jews, were plucked from slavery and thrown into the desert to become a free nation. A generation that walked in the sand was only the beginning. We, 3,000 years or so later, are still "finding ourselves" individually and as a nation. (According to biblical chronology, some religious scholars place the Exodus from Egypt around the year 1312 BCE or 1446 BCE, but there is no definitive or scientifically agreed-upon date.)

It seems that neither the nation of Israel nor the nations of the world are willing to accept the change. We often look at others seeking to be "like the other people" while they don't want to accept that we exist as a different nation - a free people - with our own unique purpose.  We are the people of the Book, the people of God, the One that He loves, we are Jews, free in Israel, our promised land, and have a God Given right to exist. 

While we expect other nations to recognize us as a free people, a Jewish nation living free in Israel, we forget that we need to accept ourselves. We not only need to say, but also acknowledge and believe that we are a free nation under God. 

The continual friction between the religious and the secular is only one such conflict that is based on trying to understand what the first and most important command looks like in practice:

• "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall not have other gods beside me": (Exodus 20) 

Our entire culture is based on "Pilpul"- debates - and our Knesset with 13 political parties at this time, with as many as 100 at one time or another, just an example of that cultural base. It is a part and parcel of us, debates and questions and answers. It is no wonder we have an issue with accepting God in daily life. But somehow, we need to accept the fact that without Him, we are not a nation. His purpose and sovereignty over us is the core of our being. 

As for other nations,.... well, the last page of the bible tells us of a world that knows Him. Thus, we have a hope and a future. 

Joshua 25:15 But if serving the Lord seems desirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”                                 As we pray for our PM daily, we also pray for our nation daily, which is essential for the existence of Israel.