Category: Blog

Whiplash: from serving the poor in Tel Aviv to serving in uniform

As usual, last Thursday I was with our volunteer team serving the homeless in south Tel Aviv until late in the evening. Just several hours after returning home, there was an air raid siren announcing that we had begun a war with Iran, and, at the same moment, I received a text message saying that I needed to return to my reserve unit immediately.

I am a large equipment operator in the army, and I was called to be a part of the Home Front Command rescue teams in Gush Dan in case of missile impacts. On Friday evening, Iran fired its first salvo of missiles in retaliation to Israel’s attack, and there were several significant missile impacts killing three and wounding dozens in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Rishon L’Zion. I realized that another war had not only come to my nation, but it was hitting my home city.

War on our doorstep

On Saturday, June 14th, I spent the day helping clear rubble at the impact site in Ramat Gan, which is not far from our congregation and where a number of our congregation members live. It was startling to see so much destruction: Iranian bombs carry massive payloads for maximum destruction

As I have been serving daily on these frontlines in my city, my heart is first and foremost with my wife and children. When I heard that there was a major strike in Bat Yam where we live on Jun 14th, my heart just fell: my wife Anna was alone with our six children at home during that missile attack. For a while I couldn’t get a hold of her, so I had try to get information through army channels to verify exactly where the bomb had hit to make sure it wasn’t in my neighborhood. I was so relieved that the strike wasn’t in my neighborhood, but when I got to the bomb site on Sunday morning, I wept for all the people on that street who were killed, wounded and all those who had suffered such devastation.

But then I had to get to work: this was a major rescue operation, and we feared that up to 35 people were trapped under the rubble. I was shocked by the magnitude of the destruction at the impact site, and it was difficult to work in a destroyed neighborhood I know so well, in the city where I and others from our congregation live. It is a miracle that none of the people I know personally from this neighborhood were wounded or killed. Just from the impact of this one missile in Bat Yam, ten people were killed, hundreds were wounded, and 20 buildings will need to be torn down due to the serious damage they sustained. 

Search and Rescue – a difficult task

All day Sunday (June 15th), I helped rescue crews looking for people stuck under the rubble. I operate a large excavator which we used to remove concrete beams and slabs under which people might be trapped. At one point, we had to move destroyed cars that were hindering our search, and, between the wrecked cars, we found the body of an eight-year-old boy who had been thrown together with a wall from his building by the great shockwave of the blast. That was a really difficult point for me.

Worrying whether personal friends are killed or wounded

During the time I was working in the area for rescue, I had in the back of my mind that the mother of one of our worship leaders lived in that destroyed neighborhood. I tried calling her and her husband all morning to check if she had heard anything from her mom, but there was no answer. Finally, the husband got in touch with me to let me know that his mother-in-law had decided to stay with them for the weekend at the last minute on Friday, which was a huge relief for me. In addition to being members of our congregation, this family are dear friends of mine, and they suffered the devastating loss of their only brother in the line of duty ten years ago.

Reserve duty mixes with pastoring

This has been a very disorienting time: in an instant, I went from preparing myself mentally and spiritually for our Friday service to suddenly finding myself in uniform, serving my country on the streets where I live and serve as pastor.

Everything has been all mixed together: one moment I’m clearing rubble and the next I’m trying to communicate with the team. I even joined a zoom prayer meeting we had on Friday from the reserves. As challenging as it is doing everything together, I have been so encouraged to see how our congregation is coming together (albeit through zoom at the moment) for prayer, everyone is checking on everyone else, and helping each other where they can.

 

The city where we we serve is a war zone

Whenever I have had a moment to stop and reflect in my duties, it is overwhelming to me that this war zone I am serving in is my home city, it’s where our congregation is, and these are areas we pray for routinely.

We love this city, and it’s our calling as a congregation to show the love of God to our city. I find myself in areas of the city which have suffered massive destruction, and I know that these are areas where people from our congregation live. Whenever I have a moment, I call people to make sure they’re ok.

Caring for the congregation from reserve duty

This has been a terrifying time for people, and, as a ministry team, we had to make sure everyone in the congregation was ok. Our team embarked on its own “operation” of sorts – I called it “operation telephone”. We took a day and called everyone in the congregation personally to make sure they were ok, to see if they needed any help or support, and to pray with those who needed it. Then in our team zoom meeting, we all shared our updates and what the specific needs are for help and support, spiritually, emotionally and practically.

Our team has been doing an amazing job taking care of everyone, especially considering the fact that they all live close to areas that have been directly hit with missiles, they are themselves running to their safe rooms and bomb shelters at all hours, dealing with the fear and stress of it all, and not getting a full-night’s sleep.

Hours after the US attack, more missiles from Iran

Early this morning, we woke up to the amazing news that the US had struck Iran’s underground nuclear sites and again to sirens across Israel as Iran launched a barrage of 27 ballistic missiles in response, targeting Haifa, Gush Dan (Tel Aviv Center) and Jerusalem, with several direct hits it Gush Dan and Haifa. Praise God no one was killed, but over 80 people were wounded and some are in serious condition. Again, we sent out our now disturbingly regular WhatsApp message: “Is everyone ok???” By God’s grace everyone is, although quite a few were very close to the missile impacts.

Of course, Tiferet Yeshua is providing help to those who’ve been affected, and we are also looking for opportunities to minister to and bless all those who have been impacted in the greater Tel Aviv area. Yet, with everything that is going on around us, we know and proclaim that the Lord surrounds His people and the victory belongs to Him!

Your prayers and support for Israel during this war, which is unlike any we have ever endured, are critical and we value your time as you lift us up for protection and safety.

Thank you for your love, prayers and support!

Moti Cohen

Every year when we approach the biblical holiday of Weeks (called Shavuot in Hebrew) as Jewish believers in Messiah, we primarily think of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit two thousand years ago on the first Jewish believers who were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Weeks (called Pentecost in the Church). This holiday nearly two-thousand years ago was indeed the beginning of the Holy Spirit ministry in the New Testament context which jump started the gospel from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Indeed, after His resurrection, Yeshua Himself told His disciples to wait to answer the call He had given them until they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit:

“Tarry in Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high”

Luke 24:49

But, when we consider the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we tend to first think of the gifts, the power and anointing which the Holy Spirit imparts. While that is an important and exciting element of Holy Spirit’s ministry, I believe that the Spirit is asking us to first spend time meditating on the word that defines the Spirit – Holy.

“Be holy for I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:15-16

It is natural that our attention tends to stay on the dramatic and outward manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s ministry, but the ministry of Holy Spirit should first and foremost empower us to live holy lives. Unfortunately, we all discover sooner or later that when someone operates in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit – whether it be powerful teaching, healing or giving accurate prophetic words – it does not mean that the person’s personal walk with God is in good standing. In fact, someone can be living in egregious sin and still minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. If that minister does not repent, eventually the sin will be revealed, and it brings shame on the name of Messiah and places a stumbling block before young and immature believers. Therefore, to focus on ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit without living a life of holiness through the Holy Spirit (producing the fruits of the Spirit) is damaging and dangerous.

It may seem counter intuitive that people living in sin (ongoing sinful behavior without repentance) can still continue serving with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which include anointed teaching, healing, words of knowledge and prophecy. The natural human reasoning is, “If a person is actively living in sin, would that not negate the ‘holy’ gift at work in them?” While that reasoning seems to make sense, focusing on the nature of the word “gift” in the context of salvation through faith and not by works shows us how indeed “God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.” (Rom. 11:29) If the gifts of God were contingent upon our “behavior”, then it could be said that we “earned” those gifts which would then lead us to start judging one another’s level of holiness by the spiritual gifts in which they serve.

Religious Holiness

At the same time, some believers emphasize holiness without the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit. A holiness emphasis without the power of the Holy Spirit is equally damaging and dangerous because it can lead people into a religious mindset and an attempt to struggle against sin without the help of the Holy Spirit. We also cannot experience God’s love for us without the Holy Spirit. In fact, we cannot truly know God and have an intimate relationship with Him without the Holy Spirit because God reveals Himself to us through the agency of the Holy Spirit:

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”

~Romans 5:5

What does it mean to live holy lives?

Like many basic spiritual truths, there is quite a bit of misunderstanding about what it means to live a holy life. Most would describe living “holy” as hardly ever stumbling in sin. That definition makes “living holy” seem like a near impossibility. But the fact is, that is not what it means to live holy! Living holy is first and foremost the mere desire to do what is right in God’s eyes, repenting when we fail, and continuing to desire to do God’s will. That is the standard of holiness for us. The more we desire to do God’s will, the more the Holy Spirit fills our souls with grace, strength and conviction to choose the good and reject the evil. Over time, we will experience more victory in our struggles with sin. But it doesn’t mean we become immune to sin and live perfect lives. There is only One Righteous Man who did that, and it is by His blood we are saved!

The End-Time Bride: holy and endowed with Power from on high

Each year when we celebrate the Festival of Weeks, I am filled with the urgency for the need of the Body of Messiah to step into the full calling God has given us – to live holy lives and to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. Not one on the account of the other. In these end times, the Spirit is calling all of us to desire to experience God’s love poured out in our hearts, to live lives of holiness, and to earnestly desire and operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 5:5, 1 Pt. 1:15-16, 1 Cor. 14:1)

*origianly published on 24 May 2023

On November 11, 2024 while on a bus ride from Ramat Aviv to the centre of Tel Aviv, I received Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, into my heart and into my life. Here is my testimony of how the Lord called me back into His flock.

My name is Geri Berman, and I was born in Singapore, baptised as a Roman Catholic when I was an infant. My family practised Catholicism with a salad mix of Taoism, Buddhism, ancestral worship and the occult. This was considered the norm amongst many Singaporeans who considered themselves Catholics. At that time, I knew of Jesus, but I didn’t know Him intimately as my Saviour. Most prayers were said to Mother Mary as the main intercessor to God. The Catechism was the authority, not the written word of the Old or New Testament. There was a lot of tolerance to incorporate superstitions, practices and beliefs from religions inherited from my Chinese ancestry. The Catholic church does not warn against idolatry, and this is evident in their version of the 10 commandments which eliminates the second commandment of the Hebrew bible which speaks against idolatry.

A PROFANE MIXTURE – Christianity, Buddhism & Witchcraft

How this laxity of the church resonated in our home is that I grew up with several altars set up in our house. There would be a crucifix hung on the wall next to a statue of Mother Mary which was next to pictures of dead loved ones with food offerings. At Chinese New Year, our doors would have festive pictures of the Chinese God of Prosperity and the Chinese Zodiac. We quoted Taoist sayings more than bible verses. We often consulted fortune tellers, and we considered it our duty to burn incense and paper money for dead relatives to spend in hell whenever the Hungry Ghost Festival came along. My grandmother didn’t allow me to go swimming because she was convinced there would be water ghosts lurking in the waters to drown me. Children were warned against playing near banana trees because evil spirits would be residing within them.

There was little discernment taught in the church. My mother was a single-mother, and raising a child was challenging for her financially and emotionally. Instead of turning to God for help and guidance, she consulted a female neighbour who was a Malay “bomoh” (or shaman) to cast spells in order to secure a good job and to get a romantic partner. Occasionally, she would also visit a Chinese male shaman for protection against evil spirits. She brought me along to these spiritual visits, and I would always feel ill-at-ease at these sessions, which at that time, I didn’t recognise as witchcraft. As you can see, my family opened all sorts of doors to all kinds of spiritual entities. The mixture in religious worship was not discouraged, in fact, it was desired. In case one god was not effective or didn’t respond quick enough, then we could easily call upon another for help and intercession. There was a naivete that led to the thinking that all gods are benevolent, and we surrendered to whichever entity that would bring us more immediate results.

The culture that I grew up in was steeped in superstition and fear of the spiritual realm, and the Catholic Church didn’t seem to have either power or authority over these foreign spirits or gods. It too was based on fear as an organizing principle for control, and it didn’t offer a definitive path to salvation: no matter how many devotional works were performed or how many prayers said, how many sins confessed, there was only the promise of continued suffering in purgatory after death.

In order to release dead relatives from purgatory, we had to pay indulgences to the church because the average person is not going to be canonized as a saint, and only saints are guaranteed a place in heaven. In addition, there are a whole slew of patron saints that people can turn to for different problems in their lives. Each saint was empowered by the church for specific patronages. So, if I had a stomach-ache, I would pray to this saint. And if I lost my keys, I would pray to that saint. This system introduced the thinking that there isn’t a sovereign God that we should turn to but rather a host of patron saints or co-gods sharing divine power. This, in fact, is not so different to the host of gods that exist in Buddhism or Hinduism.

TERRIFYING ATTACKS

One troubling and alarming event happened when I was a year old which amplified my fear of the impotence of the church. I was too young to remember any details of this event, but it was related to me by my family when I was old enough to understand. At one year old, I was possessed by a demon for an extended period of time. Whenever the possession would occur, I would speak in a male tongue in an Indian language, and I would become so strong that 5 grown men would not be able to hold me down. My family sought deliverance for me from the Catholic church, but the church bureaucracy delayed their arrival to help me. When they finally came, the priests were not successful in exorcising the demon. In the end, my family had to turn to a Chinese medium in order to cast this demon out of me.

When the family told me about this when I was old enough to understand, I wondered why they continued to go to the Catholic Church religiously since it proved to be ineffective in a spiritual war. As I said, I don’t remember at all this period of time when I suffered demonic possession, but I do remember that up till I was in my twenties, I often suffered from sleep paralysis. When this happened, I would be woken up from sudden panic and intense fear, and I would be made immovable with what felt like a huge foreign body bearing down on me, preventing me from breathing. Instinctively I would say The Lord’s Prayer in my head which would release me from the oppression:

“Our Father who art in Heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name,

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done”

Matthew 6:9-10

Usually when I recited that in my head, the oppression would leave me. At other times, when I was in too much of a panic, then three words would suffice to expel this nefarious presence: “Father, Jesus, Help!”

Through these experiences, I understood that there was perhaps some kind of higher power at work in the Catholic church. At the same time, I didn’t understand why my membership in the Catholic church didn’t exempt me from these terrible experiences. Perhaps there was something truly rotten inside me, and this is the punishment I deserved, the purgatory on earth that I had to endure even before death arrived. So, I had better pray more and do more good things to earn my way out of eternal damnation.

At that time, I didn’t have the vocabulary to vocalise what bothered me about the church, but I stuck to it mainly because I simply followed what my family and friends did. The church after all was my entire social circle. Now as an adult I can say that it is a church based on salvation through works and not by faith through the grace of God. I write this not to criticise anyone in the Catholic faith but to give an honest testimony of my experience, and I definitely don’t think that every Catholic experienced what I experienced. However, while I was a Catholic, there was always the shadow of guilt and shame that followed me no matter how hard I tried to “be good” as dictated by church standards.

My childhood was shaped by this mindset as I received my first ten years of education in an all-girls Catholic missionary school. Since I was taught by a school led by a nun that I respected, there was a time that I even professed that I would grow up to be a “bride of Christ”. I didn’t know exactly what that meant but I desired living a sanctified life the way the nuns did. There was definitely a longing inside of me for a relationship with God, but I didn’t know how to achieve that outside of the religious construct provided by the church. I did what I was taught to do: I religiously went to Sunday school and church services every Sunday. I prayed the rosary diligently several times a week and was confirmed at age 12 into the Catholic faith.

SHOCKED BY ABUSE AND COVERUP

Then in my twenties, I was horrified by reports of widespread pedophilia performed by priests of the Catholic Church. What disappointed me the most was that instead of being repentant, the Church was more concerned with covering up the transgressions of the guilty within its ranks. While we were told as Catholic parishioners to confess our sins to priests, they themselves as church leaders seemed to be exempt from the laws of their own doctrine. As a young adult, I became disillusioned by the sheer hypocrisy of the Church and renounced it, and I stopped practicing as a Catholic. When I left the church, I also further distanced myself from Jesus. I thought that this was liberation from an oppressive, corrupt religion and the evil programming of its institution. However, little did I know then that despite cutting myself off from an “unclean spirit”, that “it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first.” (Matt. 12:45)

In my ignorance, I turned from religious worship in the Catholic Church to secularism, not having the discernment that secularism was just another variation of religious worship. Being secular is in itself a portal that opens up the doorway to a plethora of idol-worship modalities. The mantra that I proudly held onto for the next 30 years is that “I am spiritual, not religious”. It was trendy and attractive to be in “Christ consciousness”, while denying that Christ is fully God and reducing Him to just another holy man or prophet. I believed that He was one among many other gods and goddesses. I also embraced the idea that there’s a benevolent universe, or mother earth, that granted abundance to me if I remained a “good person”. My morality would be defined by my own rules and on my own terms.  I was basically crafting my own secular god that was fueled mainly by the god of self-worship because I reasoned that “each person should be entitled to their own definition of truth.”

During this season of my life, the deception and lies intensified. I was open to all kinds of spiritual practices that have ties to the demonic and the occult. Of course, I didn’t see them as demonic but as self-help, self-love, or self-improvement techniques. There were many new-age practices and ideologies that I was deceived into embracing – like yoga, Hindu and Buddhist chanting, automatic writing led by “The Way of the Artist”, manifesting, Zen meditation, numerology, fortune-telling, astrology, necromancy, energy work, tarot-reading, worshipping the divine feminine, and studying with a spiritual medium. This is just a truncated list of what I infused into my “secular” life. I picked and chose from a whole buffet of divinations and forbidden fruit. I thought that I was “spiritually free”, but, in fact, I was enslaved and chained to sin and to death, making contracts with dark entities that I didn’t know or understand. I considered myself more “evolved” in my spiritual practices compared to my mother when, in reality, I had simply inherited from her the idolatry of foreign gods and the worship of self.

For years as a devout secularist, I was stuck in my own version of Egypt, wandering without purpose, lost, and bound in darkness. I was so deeply captivated in the dark tunnel of deception that I was convinced I was living my best and brightest life. I was busy in the pursuit of happiness to run away from the deep despair I felt within. The verses in Isaiah 5:20-21 accurately describe the woe that I couldn’t escape from:

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”

A SERIES OF SUPERNATURAL ENCOUNTERS

By the grace of God, beginning in the last week of June 2024, I started to experience a series of supernatural events that was God’s way of delivering me from this woe and ushering me back into his kingdom.

The first event that happened in June 2024 was when I was going through a very difficult time related to work. There was a growing amount of pressure placed on my shoulders, and I didn’t know how to solve it alone. This work crisis also brought up many personal issues that were lurking beneath the surface. My false sense of self crumbled under this crisis. Then one night, when the mounting pressure was reaching a climax, I found myself desperate and anxious with zero solutions. I went to bed defeated that night, already exhausted by stress and long hours at work, and tried to get the sleep required to get through the following day. However, I was suddenly gripped with painful leg cramps in both calves that lasted more than two hours. This never happened to me before, and it made me even more anxious. When the pain finally abated, I spiraled into an abyss of nerves and agitation. The more I wanted to sleep, the more I couldn’t. In a state of desperation, I called out to my “spirit guides” for help. Now please understand that this was something that I had not done before. In fact, the last time I remember calling out for help in this way was in my teens during sleep paralysis encounters. This time, since I assumed I had no Father in heaven and no Jesus to call out to, I called out to my “spirit guides”.

What responded to my cry for help took me completely by surprise. The best way for me to describe it was a visitation of “beings” or “angels”. Their presence immediately put me at ease and lifted the weight off my chest. For some reason, it triggered an overwhelming feeling of peace and relief, and I couldn’t stop the rush of overflowing tears. They had a calming presence and came with a list of specific solutions for what to do at work. I was partly in shock because they seemed to know in detail what I was dealing with at work. In addition, they knew that what I was most concerned about was that there wouldn’t be enough time to finish what had been planned for the next day’s timeframe. However, the angels reassured me that I wouldn’t go overtime at all but would instead finish 2 hours ahead of schedule. Finally, they told me that it was useless to try to sleep a wink, but I shouldn’t worry about it because I would have double the energy to accomplish all that was required of me with ease and all would proceed smoothly. Everything that they proclaimed came to pass, and I passed the next day with awe and wonder at how everything they prophesied came true.

It was beyond a doubt that something supernatural had happened, and yet the solutions that the angels brought were anchored in the material world. And it seemed that I was experiencing 2 dimensions at the same time. The next day, when I sat in silence to process all that had happened, the second supernatural event occurred. A voice sounded in my head proclaiming 2 things:

• “I am the way, the truth and the life; nothing comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
• Go read the Bible beginning with Genesis

THE DELIMMA 

This was when I went through a period of confusion because I was presented with a series of what I thought were mixed signals. I had called out for my “spirit guides”, but now there’s a quote from Jesus. So, what and who exactly was the presence that came to my aid? Could it be that Jesus sent angels to help me in place of what I expected to be my “spirit guides”? And what is the connection of Jesus to the Old Testament? Didn’t He appear only in the New Testament? Was I going crazy? Perhaps I was just imagining it all and what I was experiencing was not really what was happening.

Now the voice that spoke was insistent and kept repeating the above 2 sentences to me in the following days. The more I tried to ignore it, the louder it became. I resisted the instruction to go read the Bible simply because of my pride. What was the point? I was sure it was going to be a boring endeavour, and besides, I presumed that I knew all there is to know in the Bible from my previous Catholic programming. But because the voice didn’t leave me alone, I negotiated: instead of reading the Bible, I could just watch The Chosen series on YouTube and that would be enough! So, I began watching the series.

It was entertaining, but then questions started to bubble up within me. I noticed that there were times when I was aware of being emotionally manipulated and what was portrayed on the screen didn’t seem to line up with what I remembered the Bible stories to be. This was surely an interpretation of the creative team of The Chosen, and they took some artistic license to present the stories from the New Testament. I felt a growing annoyance and dissatisfaction at my inability to decipher what was actually written in the Bible and what was interpretation from the drama series. This irritation at my lack of knowledge planted a growing desire within me to crack open the pages of the Bible.

In addition, when I began watching The Chosen videos, I was immediately plugged into the YouTube algorithm that kept sending me recommendations to watch Jews for Jesus videos. At that time, this was fascinating to me, because I’ve never known anyone personally who is a Jew and believed in Jesus. I studied at Brandeis University, a Jewish university in the United States, and I’ve lived in Israel for  more than 17 years. How is it that I’ve never met a Jew who believes in Jesus? That led me to binge-watching video testimonies of Jews that have found faith in Jesus. From other videos, I saw Jeff and Elisha (from Jews for Jesus) standing in the familiar streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, evangelising and handing out Bibles.

The most embarrassing thing to admit was that while I was in the Catholic church, I was complicit in suppressing the Jewishness of Jesus. Hearing Jeff and Elisha talk about Jesus, I was discovering for the first time who Jesus actually is and that He came into the world to be the Messiah not just for the Jews, but for all nations. Watching the videos was a surreal experience because it felt as though I was a 1st-century gentile living in the Holy Land, being preached to by 1st-century Jews who were the first believers in Jesus–just like how it was portrayed in The Chosen – but a similar thing was happening 2000 years later! This was when the desire to read the Bible started to take full bloom within me, and as instructed, I finally surrendered and arrived at the first page of Genesis.

THE LIVING WORD OF GOD 

Once I started, I couldn’t stop. It felt like my eyes were opened to new meanings, symbols and analogies that I’ve never seen before. And I started to see Jesus infused into almost every page of the Old Testament. I expected the experience of reading the Bible to be completely boring. On the contrary, it was riveting, and I couldn’t put it down. I drank it all in like someone finding an oasis in the middle of a desert. And it still feels this way whenever I read the Bible. It was clear to me then that a supernatural force was again at work from within the pages, and it reached out and gripped me by the heart.

However, because of my “stiff-necked” resistance, a part of me couldn’t reconcile in my head what was happening, and I made another negotiation. This time I said out loud, “If the God in these pages is real, and if Jesus is real, then a Jesus-believer in Israel, would approach me without any effort on my part and hand me a Bible written in Hebrew with the Old and New Testament in it.” When I pronounced these terms, I was picturing someone like Jeff or Elisha handing out a Bible to me on the streets of Tel Aviv. Then I sat back and waited. I continued to Bible-binge, but I felt the ball was now in God’s court. So I waited. A few uneventful weeks passed by.

A DIVINE APPOINTMENT

Then on Oct 1, 2024 when Iran sent its second barrage of missiles to Israel, I posted a picture of cookies on my Instagram stories, explaining that I was stress-baking. One of my followers, Lavinia, responded soon after to that post, and sent me good wishes. She said she empathised with how I felt because she was sheltering with friends in Jerusalem. This was an out-of-the-blue message because at this time I didn’t know Lavinia personally at all. Now, I do not freely communicate with my followers on DMs, but I saw from our chat history that a year prior, she had asked for recommendations for places to fabric-shop in Singapore. Back then we happened to be in Singapore at the same time, and I complied by sending her my recommendations.

This lowered my guard, and I responded warmly to her, and then she sent me a picture of the group of women she was sheltering with. One of the faces in the picture immediately caught my eye. I recognised her as one of the members of FIRM Israel which is a Gospel related ministry. When I asked Lavinia if that was her, she responded in the negative, but added “But all Jesus-believers in Jerusalem know each other.” This was when I perked up. Here was a Jesus-believer in Israel, approaching me without any effort on my part, and declaring herself as a Jesus-believer. This was at least a partial fulfilment of the terms I requested from God, so I asked for Lavina to speak to me on the phone. I said to her, “You may think I’m crazy, but I have a feeling you’re someone that God might have sent to me.” I was afraid she would think I was a mad woman or some strange stalker, but she graciously agreed to come meet me the next time she was going to be in Tel Aviv. A few days later, I found myself sitting across from her in a cafe in the centre of Tel Aviv.

As I began explaining to her the supernatural events that had been happening to me, in the back of my mind I thought that God was only fulfilling half of what I had asked for. He brought to me a Jesus-believer, but where was the Bible that I asked for? As soon as this thought flashed in my mind, Lavinia reached into her bag and handed me a Bible as a gift. When I flipped through the pages, my jaw dropped when I saw that it was written in Hebrew with the Old and New Testaments in it. I felt a burning in my gut that welled up within me. I knew with absolute certainty that with this grand gesture God was saying to me that He is real and Jesus is real! God had answered my request and now the ball was back in my court. And now, what was I going to I choose to do?

WHAT DO I DO?

At that moment, I knew my life was never going to be the same again. I immediately asked for guidance from Lavinia. Where do I go from here? How do I move forward? Where is there a group of fellow believers near me that I can get encouragement and support from? Before we ended our meeting together, Lavinia graciously prayed for me, and I felt the power of her words spoken in the Holy Spirit. That day I started to pray to God. Lavinia responded to my questions the next day with a few links and contacts, and I chose to take the next step forward by contacting Annie from Jews For Jesus.

Annie was very patient and encouraging with me in our phone conversations, and she helped me understand how to begin walking the path of righteousness with the Lord. I realised that the Holy Spirit has been guiding me towards a deeper understanding of the word of God. My eyes were opened to see how I had turned my back towards God, and He was calling me to repent and return to Him. I am a sinner, and my salvation was secured through the blood of Yeshua HaMashiach when He willingly died on the cross for us.

Annie then referred me to Deborah at Tiferet Yeshua, and she warmly invited me to worship and service held there. Before I attended my first worship and service, I repented for my false worship of a spiritual medium and renounced my studies with this entity that I’ve consulted regularly for more than 17 years. I left this group on a Wednesday and entered the house of God on that same Friday. When I attended Tiferet Yeshua, it was a kind of homecoming. I was surprised and encouraged to be welcomed into a congregation that was made up of believers coming from different backgrounds, all united in the body of Christ, and Paul’s words came to mind: “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Col. 3:11)

After that, Annie asked me if I’ve received Jesus into my heart. That was the first time someone asked me a question like this, and my honest reply was that I wasn’t a hundred percent sure, and that there were still doubts and fears that I held. Annie reassured me that God is patient and when the moment happens, I would know. We went ahead and made an appointment in a week’s time, to have our first physical meeting in the Jews For Jesus office. For a few weeks, Annie had been guiding me through phone conversations and we hadn’t met face to face.

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM GOD 

When the appointment day rolled around on Nov 11, 2024, I anticipated Annie would ask me again if I had received Jesus into my heart, and I knew that I would have to say “no” because nothing seemed to have altered much since the last time I spoke with her. That week leading up to the meeting, I was reading the book of Isaiah and had completed it the morning of our meeting. I noticed that the prophet was repeatedly chastising kings and rulers of nations that failed to protect the fatherless and the widows. That was interesting to me because I had grown up without a father, and I was also widowed by my first husband when he died suddenly because of a stroke. So technically speaking, these passages were referring to how kings and rulers have failed people like me. Then for some unknown reason, I jumped to Psalm 68 and finished reading it just before getting on the bus from home in Ramat Aviv to meet Annie in the centre of Tel Aviv.

I assumed that this was just going to be another ordinary bus ride into town, but as soon as I sat down on a bus seat, I heard these words resonate loudly from Psalm 68:5-6.

“Father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows,

Is God in his holy habitation.

God setteth the solitary in families;

He bringeth out those which are bound with chains:

But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.”

A flush of fire rushed from my head to my toes, and I was overcome with an onslaught of simultaneous grief and joy. At that moment, as I was crying unstoppable tears, I saw in the depths of my soul that all God wants is to have an intimate relationship with me as my Heavenly Father. In response, I’ve spent 50 years running away from him, insisting on being separated from him, dwelling in a dry land. Yeshua, as our Messiah, is the Son that came to reveal the Father to us, and that is how he “is the way, the truth and the life; and no one comes to the Father except through Him.” In addition, I understood why God repeatedly refers to Himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob and the God of Israel because He is underlining the value of His fatherhood and our sonship and the inheritance bestowed upon us because we are children of God. He wants to build and cultivate the relationship between Himself as Father and us, as his children. Our greatest inheritance is Him, as our all-loving provider, our all-giving Father. Jesus, His son came to tell us that:

“Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.”

 John 8:34

This is a call for us to come out of slavery to the god of this world into sonship with the Heavenly Father, our Lord and God.

All my life, I had carried the pain and bitterness of being abandoned by my own human father, and, in an instant this megaton of emotional baggage fell away from my shoulders. I forgave my own father completely at that moment. Then I saw a flash of events that have happened in my life. I realised that even when I was in the darkest season of rebellion against my Heavenly Father, He has always been there. He has always been ready to forgive, and, in the fullness of His grace, He extracted me countless times from terrible situations of danger, despair or desperation and still continues to do so.

Now, once again, He was extending His hand towards me, inviting me to return to His Kingdom. This time, I reached out my hand and held on tight to my Good Shepherd that left the 99 to pursue the one lost sheep. My eyes were opened to the trail of breadcrumbs that he left for me to bring me home to him in order to receive the bread of life that lives and reigns through Jesus:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

This is how patient and gentle He is. He is full of grace and is grace itself. He met me right where I was, imperfect and lost. In my ignorance and blindness, when I called out for help from my “spirit guides”, He cracked open the darkness and guided me back into His light. He walked me back to His Kingdom in faithfulness and with forgiveness. He is truly God of gods, Lord of lords, King of kings! I also understood that this was a spiritual invitation that was different from any kind of religiosity that I’ve experienced in the past: He was inviting me to trust in Him, to have a relationship and a sacred covenant with Him. In response, I accepted, and invited Him to be my “shield and helper, and (my) glorious sword” (Deut. 33:29), to be my Lord and God.

So, this was my bus ride of salvation that transported me back into the arms of Abba, my Heavenly Father. He delivered me from the enemy’s deception and lies and led me to His truth. I receive and accept Yeshua as my Saviour, my Lord and living God fully into my heart, and offer up my life to serve the Father’s will and follow His commands. Ever since that day, He has led through the Holy Spirit to turn away from a life bound to sin. He has gently and patiently guided me to true freedom through forgiveness and repentance. On December 3, 2024, I was baptised by Pastor Moti and Kosta of Tiferet Yeshua in the waters of Tal Baruch beach. Yeshua is my rock, my redemption, my shield, my refuge, my shelter and my glorious sword. Praise God for giving me this opportunity to become a witness to Him, to proclaim his glory and magnify his eternal goodness!

As followers of Messiah Yeshua, we know very well the spiritual significance of blood – Yeshua paid with His blood for our transgressions and wiped away our sins.  We also know the significance of water, the living water Yeshua promised to the woman at the well, water that quenches spiritual thirst once and for all.

It is no surprise, therefore, that these two elements appear all throughout Scripture – from Genesis to Revelation: the Spirit of God hovers over the waters, the blood of Abel calling unto God, the flood, the endless sacrifices in the tabernacle, just to name a few. Blood and water flow through the redemption story that the Word of God weaves, imbuing the literal with deep symbolic meaning.

Unsurprisingly, blood and water are also integral elements in the Exodus story which Jews all over the world recount during the first night of Passover.

THE FIRST PASSOVER – starting and ending with blood

The Bible tells us that blood is the vehicle of life: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11)  In the natural, spilling blood is a euphemism for killing and death. But in God’s wonderous plan, it becomes protection and life – to all who believe!

During the Passover seder meal, the ten plagues are recalled as everyone at the table dips a finger in their wine and drips it on their dinner plate, exclaiming the name of each plague. The first plague called out in unison is “blood!” Indeed, God’s opening volley of judgement against Egypt was turning the waters of the Nile, Egypt’s life source, into blood. In His amazing symbolism and foreshadowing, God offered protection through blood from the 10^th and final plague, His judgement against Egypt in the death of every firstborn:

“They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs… The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.…” (Exodus 12: 7, 13)

Not only Jews exited Egypt the next morning after the 10^th plague, but many people from other nations joined them as well. The blood of the first Passover lamb beautifully foretells the redeeming blood of Yeshua, the ultimate Passover lamb, which offers protection from judgement and freedom from sin to everyone who believes.

WATER – life and death

Water is the most critical compound for life on earth. Nowhere is this more apparent than in desert regions like the Middle East. It is the reason ancient Egyptians worshipped the Nile whose yearly flooding produced rich agricultural soils which supported the Egyptian empire. Yet, just as with the blood, examining the biblical meaning of water reveals that it is also a metaphor for death or dying: in baptism, going under the water symbolizes death to the old self. Only when we die to ourselves, can we then receive living water from the only source able to provide it – God.

After the night of Passover, those who were spared the 10^th plague by the blood of the lamb and fled Egypt then gained their lives yet again when they crossed the Red Sea: they went through the sea on dry land while Pharaoh’s army, those who did not trust in the blood of the lamb, died in those waters.  After the passing through the Red Sea and seeing God’s judgement on Israel’s enemy, God provided the children of Israel and all the peoples with them life-giving water that flowed from the Rock in the desert.

“I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea…and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Messiah.”

(1 Cor. 10:1-2, 4)

And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.

(Col. 2:12)

THE ULTIMATE PASSOVER

As significant as it was for the children of Israel, the first Passover, called by Jews “the first redemption”, was only a foreshadowing of God’s ultimate plan of redemption – the ultimate Passover that provides the way of salvation and eternal life to all who believe.

Messiah Yeshua was crucified at the time the Israelites were slaying their Passover lambs in the Temple ahead of the Holy Day. Blood flowed from Him when He was beaten, crowned with thorns, and then nailed to the cross. There was also water – when a soldier pierced him, making sure the King of the Jews was dead, water flowed from the wound in His side—the water of purification which purified anyone defiled by the “impurity of the dead”, the water Ezekiel prophesied that God would sprinkle on Israel to make them clean. (Num. 19, Ezek. 36:25-28)

Just like in the first Passover, Yeshua’s followers received the living water, the Holy Spirit, only after being sealed in the blood covenant of the Passover lamb. The Israelites drank living water from the Rock in the desert after the first Passover, and Yeshua’s disciples “…drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Messiah.” (1 Cor. 10:4)

Today, as we are preparing for Passover, Israelis are awaiting the return of 59 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for over 550 days. IDF soldiers are fighting in Gaza again to pressure Hamas to release every single one and stop their reign of terror over the people of Gaza. There is much pain, desperation, and death all around us.

Yet we have hope. We have the promises. We have the blood of the Lamb of God and the living water of the Holy Spirit which give us strength and desire to see the future God has prepared for those who love Him.

Happy Passover!

 

Tiferet Yeshua regularly hosts special holiday events for Russian-speaking Holocaust survivors in the greater Tel Aviv area. Three times a year—at Passover, the Feast of Trumpets and Hanukkah—our very own Moti Cohen rolls up his sleeves and cooks almost 100 bountiful meals, including specialty Russian dishes, for these precious people who always show up with smiles and enthusiasm. In addition to the amazing food, we organize a concert of holiday songs and share a short message from the Word.

 

 

This year, Hanukkah fell on New Year’s Eve – the most important secular holiday celebrated in Russia which focuses on family and light. For the second year in a row it was my privilege to share a short encouraging message about the light of the world, Messiah Yeshua.

The creation of light is the first recorded words of God, and Yeshua testified that He is the Light of the world. During this time of year when the days are shorter and when “spiritual” darkness is increasing in the world, it can be easy to focus on the presence of darkness around us. Light, however, has a unique power: darkness can never overcome light, but even a small amount of light pushes back the darkness.

We are called to shine our lights before others (Matt. 5:16), and if Yeshua is the Light of the world, then we are to be like Him: humble servants of all. These Holocaust survivors holiday events are an amazing opportunity for us to do just that. Our team of volunteers spreads through the hall serving our important guests and taking time to chat with them, to give them attention and get to know them better. It was clear to us all that God’s love and light were in the room.

Seeing the smiling faces of people who lived through some of the darkest times in Jewish history, hearing their words of gratitude as they held our hands, and noticing the twinkle in their eyes as they received our love was a tangible demonstration of the power of God’s love and light to transform and give life. These Holocaust survivors are living examples that with God’s grace people can overcome great suffering and sorrow and live a life of faith and hope. Please join us in prayer for all the precious survivors who are receiving the witness of the Light of the world, Yeshua, and that they would open their hearts to Him!

When you support Tiferet Yeshua, you are helping us shine the light of God’s love to precious Holocaust Survivors here in Israel!

 

This summer in Israel there was an overwhelming feeling of heaviness and dread. Everyone knew a war with Hezbollah was imminent, and, with one accord, Israel’s military and security experts were saying that in such a war would be incredibly difficult: we would most likely be spending weeks on end in our bomb shelters, potentially without electricity, because Hezbollah had the ability to rain down large quantities of precision ballistic missiles and attack drones on Israel, overwhelming our air defense systems.

Adding to that, experts were also warning that fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon would be more difficult than with Hamas in the Gaza Strip: Hezbollah is a more professional fighting force, has better and more armaments, and is literally entrenched in the higher ground.

The Prophetic Word

Then in August, Oren, a teacher from Tiferet Yeshua, shared a prophetic word with the congregation leadership. Last year, Oren gave an amazingly accurate word before the October 7^th massacre: it was a great help and comfort to us when we were reeling in fear and confusion after the attack. Tiferet Yeshua’s elders prayed about this new word Oren received and felt that it was from the Lord. While the second part of the word deals with warnings about challenges Israel will face in the more distant future, the first part was a clear and bold encouragement for right now:

“Do not fear war in the north.

A great miracle is at hand.

A miracle that will strike the world with amazement.

Remember Hezekiah.

Remember Jehoshaphat.

Remember what I did in their day, and that I will do in these days.

There is no enemy that can hurt my people unless my people turn from me, leave me, forget me and go after other gods:

You shall not forget the covenant I made with you and do not fear other gods, but the LORD your God you shall fear and He will save you from the hand of all your enemies.

(2 Kings 17:38-39)

Do not be impressed by the balance of military might. Cease counting cannons, rocket launchers and armed fighters…

My name will be on everyone’s lips when the overwhelming victory against all odds comes.”

The Miraculous Turnaround

The month of August continued with a sense of mounting tension that Hezbollah and even Iran might launch a massive attack against Israel. Then in mid September, a series of events occurred which brought about a dramatic turn. On September 17th, the pagers of thousands of Hezbollah operatives exploded, killing 42 and wounding over 3,000. The next day, the walkie talkies of Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon and Syria exploded, killing 12 and wounding 2,750. (Hezbollah had stopped using cell phones to communicate for fear that Israel tracks their locations and communication.) In one fell swoop, the entire Hezbollah communication infrastructure was crippled. Across the Middle East, jaws dropped at this sophisticated attack against the strongest terrorist army in the Middle East. Following the attack, people across Lebanon and Syria unplugged their wireless routers and television sets fearing more widespread attacks.

The Decisive Blow

In the wake of the fear and confusion engulfing the Hezbollah organization, Israel started aggressively attacking their strategic weapons stores. But the surprises weren’t over: ten days after the pager attack, Israel struck and killed Hezbollah’s supreme leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who was meeting with his top commanders in a bunker in Beirut. To say the jaws of everyone in the Middle East dropped yet again at the death of this terror kingpin is an understatement.

The death of Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s powerful and charismatic leader, is a massive blow to the terrorist organization, Iran and the rest of Iran’s terrorist proxies. In a matter of days after Nasrallah’s assassination, Israel succeed in killing Nasrallah’s replacement. And then his replacement’s replacement. Not surprisingly, the next man in line announced his plan to take some time off and devote himself to religious studies in Iran.

The Dreaded Ground Invasion

In the weeks following the strategic attacks and the assassination of Hezbollah’s top leadership, Israel launched the ground invasion into southern Lebanon which we had been dreading: sending our forces into southern Lebanon where a hardened, disciplined, highly armed terrorist force was entrenched in the higher ground with an extensive network of terror tunnels at their disposal.

The reality that met Israel’s ground forces was quite different: they found many Hezbollah command centers, force outposts and villages used for staging operations completely abandoned, with vast quantities of high quality and advanced weaponry left behind. A Hezbollah terrorist the IDF captured told his interrogators that, after the assassination of Nasrallah, first the field commanders fled and then the majority of the terrorist force followed. IDF forces in southern Lebanon have been engaging in battles with remnants of Hezbollah terrorists in the area, and there is hard fighting and causalities. But, it is nothing compared to the scenario they were preparing for.

Adding another dimension to the amazing military accomplishments in this past month, last week, the Hamas terrorist leader and architect of the October 7th massacre, Yahyah Sinwar, was killed by young soldiers from an infantry command course operating in the southern Gaza Strip. His death is a major stepping stone in the dismantling of Hamas fighting power and control in Gaza. His death has also renewed hopes for a possible release of our over 100 hostages still held in Gaza.

God’s Name on Everyone’s Lips

On one of Israel’s most watched primetime news programs, a regular panelist who is a former head of the terrorism division in Israel Military Intelligence, said this about the developments in the war with Hezbollah:

“As an expert on Hezbollah and Lebanon, I say if you were to put all the heads of Israel’s security agencies – Military Intelligence (Aman), the Internal Security Agency (Shabak), and Foreign Intelligence (Mossad)—here in a line, and you would ask them, ‘Is there a chance that this might happen to Hezbollah in under a month, that we would see a flag of surrender?’ There would not be one who would honestly say that they would have imagined that even half of what has happened is possible. Within a month, Hezbollah has raised the white flag of surrender, and that is not the result of man’s actions but the hand of God.”

It is important to understand the enormity of the events unfolding before our eyes and to give glory to the only one who is responsible for them – not Israel’s amazing intelligence agencies or the IDF – to God alone. As believers in Israel, we have the burden and also the privilege to worship God with the ancient scriptures that speak of Him fighting our battles and defeating our enemies. It is a spiritual reality for all believers, but for us here in Israel, it is also a physical reality.

With modern media, God is performing these miracles before the eyes of the whole world, and as believers, we must give Him praise, glory and honor for them.

The War is Not Over!

God has given us amazing, encouraging victories, but the war is far from over. Even thought Hezbollah has been mortally wounded and is asking for a ceasefire, Israel is still engaged in a difficult and deadly war with the remnants of Hezbollah in Lebanon which are still launching daily missile and killer drone attacks against Israel. Israel’s war objective is to establish an non-militarized zone in southern Lebanon where our forces have found massive military buildup along our border that was poised for an October 7th-style attack against the Galilee. Israeli forces are still engaged in grueling and dangerous urban warfare against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip where the goal is to secure the release of our hostages, topple the Hamas infrastructure, and pave the way for a replacement civil authority to take over.

Hitting Iran – the head of the snake

Adding to the pressures of the multi-front war we have been engaged in for a year, Israel’s government is poised to deal a massive retaliatory strike against Iran. On the night of October 1st, Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles against Israel, an attack which was twice as large as Iran’s first direct attack against Israel back in April.

Since the October 1st attack, Israel has vowed a powerful response, one which has been delayed, apparently, due to intense pressure from the Biden administration to delay it until after the US elections. In the event that a regional war erupts in the wake of an Israeli attack against Iran, the Biden administration is worried that it will negatively affect their position in the upcoming US elections.

Please pray with us!

According to the word we received this summer from Oren, we believe that God will win this war for Israel in a miraculous way, but it is our part to stand in faith, to pray, and to give God alone the glory for the amazing victories He is accomplishing on Israel’s behalf right now. Our desire is to see spiritual revival in Israel and across the Middle East among Israel’s enemies. The Word of God tells us clearly that God’s heart and plan is to bring physical and spiritual redemption to the whole earth through dramatic events here in the Middle East. Our part in that story is to give Him glory, to stand in faith and pray like Yeshua taught us: “Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done here on earth”.

 

Israeli news commentators have been saying, “These are historic times.” Over the past two weeks, Israel’s pinpointed attacks against Hezbollah operatives, top leadership and their communication system brought the most powerful terrorist army in the Middle East to its knees. In the confusion and fear these attacks caused, the IDF began aggressively destroying their vast weapons arsenals.

A month ago, we all shuttered at the thought of what a war with Hezbollah would look like, and the nation’s moral has been at a serious low with the war in Gaza slowly dragging on without clear resolution or the release of our 101 hostages still held there. Then, in a moment, the tables turned, and everyone here in Israel has the sense that what is happening is historical, miraculous even. Despite that, we are fully aware that we are facing serious days of intense, dangerous warfare with a discipled and trained terrorist army who, if they can, will conduct reprisal bombings on the Homefront. As I write this, I am hearing the boom we’ve come to be familiar with of the iron dome shooting down rockets in neighboring towns and villages.

All of this is coming at a deeply significant time for Jews worldwide: the Day of Trumpeting (Yom Teruah), a biblical holy day which God commanded the children of Israel to observe. This day is most commonly called Rosh Ha Shanah (New Years), but it in fact has no connection to the new year – this was a rabbinic tradition that developed during the generations because a holy day just being about “trumpeting” seemed like there should be more to it. So what is the meaning of this day that requires us to blow the trumpets? The Bible tells us:

“Make two trumpets of hammered silver to be used for calling the congregation and for having the camps set out. When both are sounded, the whole congregation is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.… When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies.”

(Num. 10:2-3, 9)

The trumpeting described in the above verses is for two purposes. One is to gather the assembly of the people together and to send them marching forward. The second is to purpose of trumpeting is to act as a cry to God to save us from our enemies. What is the connection between these two purposes for trumpeting?  I believe that we are to cry out to God on this day to save us from our enemies, and, in response to our trumpeting, the armies of heaven gather together and begin moving forward in response.

We believe that this it is no coincidence that this historical and critical moment of war for Israel is happening right before the biblical Day of Trumpeting. Of course, this holy day points first and foremost to that day at the end of the age when the people of Israel will call upon the Lord as the armies of the antichrist overwhelm the Land. Then God will send the great ultimate salvation and redemption of Israel at Messiah’s return.

We know, however, that biblical prophesies also have partial fulfilments or foreshadowing throughout the generations. And we believe that a partial fulfilment of the prophetic meaning of the Day of Trumpeting is happening right now.

War violently broke in upon us a year ago on the very last day of the fall feasts – on October 7^th. Now, a year later, this war is entering a new phase, more intense and serious, but also the stakes and the upper hand have changed. Now is the time —the biblically appointed time, no less— to cry out to God, to blow the trumpet in Zion and plead for God’s mercy and protection from our enemies.

We ask that you, our brothers and sisters in the nations, would join us in this cry to God to grant us physical salvation from our enemies.  It is our prayer and belief that this physical victory will bring about a spiritual one: a revival in the land of Israel and in the lands of our enemies who need spiritual salvation just as much as we do!

Since October 7^th, Hezbollah has attacked Israel’s north with thousands of rockets and armed drones where over 100,000 residents have been evacuated. In surrounding areas which do not have evacuation orders, dozens have been killed in the attacks, but the worst came on July 27^th: a massive rocket hit a soccer field in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights, killing twelve children and injuring many others.

The entire nation was gripped with grief over the massacre, and, in the week after the tragedy, thousands of Israelis made the trip to Majdal Shams to stand in solidarity and express condolences to the bereaved families and the Druze community.

Shosh Navon, Tiferet Yeshua’s official savta (grandmother) at 92-years-old, suggested that we do the same: organize a group from the congregation to make the 4-hour trip to the Golan Heights to share our condolences in person. We tried organizing a visit during the public morning period in the week after the attack, but it did not work out. On August 19^th, six of us set out to Majdal Shams. Our visit was three weeks after the attack, but we would soon find out that God’s timing was perfect.

NAVIGATING WITHOUT GPS

Ever since the start of Hezbollah’s bombing campaign, Israel has scrambled the GPS signals in the north, making it impossible to use navigation apps. Before we left, I looks at the maps and tried to memorize the way to the village though the Golan. As we left, we all prayed that God would guide us and help us remember the way. Amazingly, Tamar was able to keep a GPS signal on her phone almost the whole way, enabling us to get to the village on the small winding mountain roads in the Golan Heights.

A VIP DRUZE CONNECTION

Savta Shosh has connections with people all over Israel from all walks of life, including in the Druze community. On our way up to Majdal Shams, she called a friend of hers in the Druze community of Isafiya on Mt. Carmel (a Druze Sheikh she’s known for years) and told him, “We are driving right now to Majdal Shams to comfort the mourners. Please get me in touch with someone there who can receive us when we arrive.” Shosh’s friend gave us the number of his personal friend in Majdal Shams and instructed her to call him when we arrive.

GOD’S LOVE TOUCHES THE HEART

After a four-hour drive, we arrived at Majdal Shams and called the man whose number Shosh’s friend had given us. He told us how to get to a certain point and instructed us to wait there for him: he would arrive in ten minutes. I pulled over, put on my hazard lights, and we got out of the car to stretch our legs and wait. A  young woman came out of her nearby shop and called to us to come in and have a coffee, she just made a fresh pot. I told her I had to wait with the car because we were awkwardly parked while waiting for someone to meet us, but two of the ladies in our group went over to the woman to talk with her.

They shared with her about who we are  and why we had come. At one point, I noticed that Ma’ayan was praying for the woman; as she prayed, the woman started weeping. Ma’ayan tenderly embraced the woman while she wept, and I went over to ask if everything was ok. The woman told us, “I don’t know what’s happening, but I feel something so strong”. The love of God was powerfully present, and the woman was deeply touched.

“GOD IS WITH YOU”

The woman from the shop was standing with us when the man we were waiting for arrived, and she said, “Ah, this man is our father, he is our Sheikh!” The man with whom were we put in contact turned out to be one of the main village leaders and a prominent political figure in the Druze community. The woman began telling him in Arabic about what had happened when the ladies prayed for her, and he was visibly touched by what she shared.

I introduced myself to the Sheikh and presented to him, “Dr. Shosh Navon, 92-years old, who was willing to drive over four hours to comfort the mourners in Majdal Shams.” The Sheikh was amazed by this and said, “I don’t know who you are, but God is with you.”

The Sheikh then went on to explain that he had made some calls, thinking that he would be able to arrange for us to meet with one of the mourning families. However, he told us that it turned out that all the families of the 12 children were at that very moment in the community center – they had just finished a workshop the education ministry had hosted for them on grief and mourning. “The families are there waiting to meet you,” he told us.

AN INTIMATE MEETING WITH 12 MOURNING FATHERS

We arrived at the community center where the twelve fathers of the murdered children were there waiting for us. We all went and shook each one of their hands, telling them, “We have come to comfort you in your mourning and to tell you that God loves you.” They invited us to come sit with them – they arranged chairs and a table of refreshments for us. We also brought along food and refreshments that we added to the table. They asked us who we are, and I presented Shosh to them so that she could represent us before the mourning fathers. Shosh began speaking to them in such a loving and eloquent way, it was clear that the Holy Spirit was upon her as she spoke. Shosh explained that we are Jews from a Messianic fellowship in Tel Aviv. “If you are interested in learning more about who we are and what we believe, we have brought some brochures where you will find our website.”

When it was my turn to speak, I also briefly shared about our congregation and that several times in our main services we had prayed for their comfort, healing and protection. After several of us had shared, we asked if we could pray for them now in person, and they agreed. It’s hard to explain, but God was there in a powerful way: we spoke simple words of comfort, but the fathers wept there with us and were visibly touched by what we shared and when we prayed. The Shekh who had brought us to this meeting and stayed there throughout kept saying, “Something special is happening here.”

 

 

A COMMUNIUTY THAT INVESTS IN ITS CHILDREN

We stayed with the fathers for nearly an hour, and when it was time to leave, we parted with hugs to all of them. Before we left, one of the mothers who had stayed to listen approached me and began telling me about her 15-year-old daughter who was killed in the attack.

“My daughter was gifted, and she knew four languages.”

I asked her which languages she spoke, and her mother replied, “Arabic, Hebrew, English and German.” “Why German?” I asked her. It turns out that her daughter’s dream was to study at the University of Munich. Two weeks before the attack that killed her daughter, the whole family had been to visit the university of Munich to check out the dorms and meet students.

People in the village we spoke to shared that their community invests in the lives of their children and encourages them to higher education, and many of them go on to work in the medical field.

“I FEEL SOMETHING FROM GOD”

The ladies who were with us embraced this mother and asked if they could pray for her. She agreed, and when they did, she said, “I feel something, something from God!”

Often we heard from the people we met and prayed for at Majdal Shams, “You are bringing us the love of God!” In their brokenness and morning, the precious members of the mourning families and the community at large opened their hearts to us, and God graciously touched them with His love.

 

 

THE SHEIKH’S PERSONAL INVITATION

After visiting with the families for nearly five hours (they brought us to the soccer field to see where their children were murdered), I was amazed and blessed but starting to feel tired and thought we should probably get on our way. At the moment, the Sheikh said, “I want to host you at my home; it is important to me to introduce you to my family. I’ve already called, and my daughters are coming with the grandchildren.”

At the Sheikh’s home, a table was set before us with coffee and all kinds of sweets, including fresh cherries and apples from their orchards. The Sheikh introduced his wife and each of his daughters with their children. The Sheikh explained to us that he works as an interfaith and cultural advocate and has had many meetings with different religious groups in Israel. “But you,” he said, “have something different.”

I have to add that I was surprised to discover that three in our group knew Arabic, including Savta Shosh, and they were able to connect in a special way with the family members who did not speak Hebrew. At the Sheikh’s house, God continued to move, providing opportunities through the open and personal conversations we were having with the family and to pray for them. Before we left, I asked the Sheikh if it would be alright with him if I prayed for and blessed his family in the name of Yeshua’s. “Of course,” he said.

PARTING WITH TEARS

When it was time to leave, the Sheikh himself guided us out of the village and explained to us how to get to the Sea of Galilee where our GPS would start working. When he was saying goodbye to us, suddenly he broke into tears. “You are such special people!” he said. “In just these few hours you were with us today I feel a special connection with you.” On our way home, every 45 minutes or so he would call to make sure we were on our way safely. His last call to check on us was at midnight when we were close to Tel Aviv.

THE SHEIKH’S PERSONAL MESSAGE

Late at night, after I arrived home, I saw that the Sheikh had sent me a personal message right after we left. This is what it said:

“We were privileged to receive the visit from amazing people who came to comfort us in the loss of our precious children who were murdered in a painful terror attack, our twelve shining stars whom we will never forget. Despite the pain, you all were ambassadors of peace. You brought something precious, and we were privileged to meet people who are clean and pure. Your visit was a very emotional and special time for us with tears, sympathy and mutual affection. This disaster unified us and transcends all boundaries of religion, politics or language. You are an example of humanity, and you left a precious seal on our hearts. For me and my dear family, your visit has become a treasure. I want to thank you for your initiative and the effort you made to come from so far.”

Please pray for all the precious people we had the incredible privilege to spend time with in Majdal Shams, that God would continue touching their hearts with His love, that He would comfort them and reveal Himself to them as the one who seals ours hearts with His perfect love!

**The Druze are a religious sect which split from Islam in the 10^th century. The Druze are highly integrated in Israeli society, serve with distinction in the IDF, in the highest halls of government and military leadership.**