WATCH: Elana's interview with Revital, an extraordinary woman in the midst of war
Shabbat Shalom!
Should I tell you about today or should I tell you about yesterday? I’m going to tell you about today first. Elana and I woke up early and drove about 30 minutes south. In addition to it being the most beautiful time of the year, with yellow mustard plant flowers filling up the green fields after the winter rains, we like to be where our soldiers are.
I feel I need to remind you of this because if you watch the news, you may be deceived into believing that the IDF soldiers are heartless, stone-cold killers. Certainly, mistakes happen in the war, and the situation in Gaza is deeply concerning. While honored to serve, they really just want to go home. Their parents are terrified.
But sadly, there are still tens of thousands of Hamas terrorists embedded amongst their own people. I’m telling you, having spent the past four months with thousands of soldiers, these are people like you and me. They would much rather not be fighting a war, and at the same time, they are willing to defend the nation of Israel against Islamic Jihad.
Elana and I stopped at a makeshift rest area for soldiers. There, we met Revital. She shared with us about starting a hamal (a Hamal is a place that provides for the needs of soldiers). Since then, they have provided 91,000 Shabbat dinners, among other things. Elana interviewed her. Messiah’s Mandate, with your help, plans to donate $5,000 to their efforts.
This is one of the things I love most about Israel. Even though there are missiles aimed at us from all over the Middle East, this is where I want to be. We love our soldiers. That doesn’t mean we love war or death; it means we want to do everything we can to let the young men and women doing the fighting know that we are with them. What Revital is doing is happening all over the country.
I’ve seen videos of home kitchens being turned into factories for the mass production of sandwiches for soldiers. Others have turned their living rooms into storage facilities as they purchase tactical clothes from all over the world to give to the soldiers. I told you about Ziv, right here in Ashkelon. All three of her children are in the army! That is enough to make you insane—unless you stay busy. And that’s what she’s done, turning her home into a hamal, providing winter clothes, tens of thousands of meals, and so much more. Thanks to you, we were able to partner with Ziv to provide winter jackets, tactical shirts, socks, and other clothes to thousands of soldiers.
The mob came after me yesterday
I made the mistake of posting something on Twitter yesterday. The Archbishop of Canterbury posted an apology to a Palestinian pastor with whom he had refused to meet. This pastor is not only an advocate of replacement theology but has nothing negative to say about Hamas and condemns Israel as often as possible.
I responded, reminding the Archbishop of Canterbury of the barbaric savagery that took place on October 7, against our people and I offered to meet with him, as a Messianic Jewish pastor here in Israel. The mob came after me. Before I had to mute the notifications, there were over 100 responses and all of them were negative, many vicious. “You have blood on your hands,” one said. Another wrote that he had checked out my website and that we buy bombs and guns for the IDF, which, of course, is nowhere on our website. Some people told me that I’m not Jewish, and another group bunch told me, “You’re no Christian.” I tried to reason with some, explaining the history, but there was no reasoning with the mob—just venom.
This is a worldwide demonic flood against God’s ancient people. The world doesn't seem to understand that Islamic Jihad is not about the Palestinian people but nearly the entire Middle East. We in Israel are dealing with an existential threat to our country from Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, all backed by Iran. Hamas has said that there will be a second, third, and fourth October 7…until Israel is completely destroyed. So how does the world expect us to simply end this war, leaving Hamas intact?
A Powerful Testimony
On October 7, a Messianic Jewish family was sleeping at their home on the kibbutz when the sky began to explode. They took cover in their safe room and soon discovered that terrorists were in the kibbutz. On their security camera through their phone, they could see two terrorists in their home. Inexplicably, they walked right past the safe room. Watch Katya’s supernatural story!
