Life is not easy. Roadblocks come. God is with us.

Shabbat Shalom!

There’s a family of ministers in Marseille, France that took care of us for the six days following the massacre on October 7, 2023. Elana and I were supposed to be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. We had one last ministry engagement, and then we would have four days to be in France. We were stuck in France and not able to get a flight home until the 13th, and we were in no celebratory mood.

These dear friends, Bjorn and Brita Lutke, and their daughter and son-in-law, Simon and Darja Reichor, housed us, fed us, and loved us. This week we were able to host Bjorn and Brita in our home in Israel. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to bless them the way they blessed us. 

A Russian-speaking Messianic congregation invited Bjorn to Eilat, so we decided to come south with him and Brita. Perhaps you may already know that Eilat is on the Red Sea. From there, you can see Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, all at the same time. And you cannot get here without traveling through the barren desert.

When we passed through Mitzpe Ramon, we were able to see several yaelim (Ibexes), the desert mountain goats native to the region. When David went into hiding, the Bible says, “Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. (1 Sam. 24:2). It speaks of Ein Gedi, where the yaelim roam freely in the Dead Sea region. When Habakkuk confesses “he makes my feet like the deer’s” (Hab 3:19), it is most certainly speaking of the yaelim or nubian ibexes (as we have no deer here). Life is not easy. Roadblocks come our way. But God can give us the ability to navigate life’s curveballs as the yael does the ragged, rocky mountains. 

But you can see even more at Mitzpe Ramon. Mitzpe Roman is what we call a machtesh. There is no word in English for machtesh. It refers to a place where the earth literally split and the largest canyon that has been made from one is at Mitzpe Ramon. Maybe it was made when the earth split in Gen. 10:25?

It's pretty amazing to wake up looking at the Mediterranean Sea, and then a few hours later, be at the shores of the Red Sea staring off into Jordan. Elana and I would be right now leading a tour if it had not been for the massacre on October 7. We are blessed that we are able to at least show some dear friends this beautiful country.