Pilgrims' Progress 5

Realised I hadn't finished telling the last instalment of the Pilgrims' Progress ...

Be'er Sheva

We leave the Dead Sea Region behind and hit the road again, heading for Tel Aviv, where we will spend the next three days before flying out to Turkey and Berlin respectively.

I thoroughly enjoyed this drive across to the coast and should I ever return to Israel I would love to spend more time in the Negev.  As it was Shabbat the roads were fairly quiet, which made the drive a lot more comfortable for Dad.  Driving through Be'er Sheva it was happenstance that we came across the War Cemetery.  I'm so glad that we were able to walk through the cemetery and had time to reflect on the contribution the Australian Light Horseman made to this land.

The eucalyptus trees planted around the perimeter made it even more meaningful.




Maybe it was because it was Shabbat the city was relatively quiet, but I was quite surprised by how much I liked the feel of the place.  The flip side of it being a quiet Shabbat was that we were unable to visit the historic wells or other places because they were closed....but maybe for another visit at another time.

 Ashdod / Ashkelon

The road took us past the tip of Gaza and on to the Mediterranean coast line where we passed through Ashdod and Ashkelon.

Driving through the places that last year experienced a barrage of rockets made one realise again the very real threat to Israel's existence.  However, whoever we spoke to expressed no fears regarding their safety or future but seemed to have complete faith in the IDF to defend them.


Shavuot in Tel Aviv

We drove into the very busy city of Tel Aviv and found our accommodation, which was perfectly located, but more on that shortly.  This was our last stop and we had three more days to enjoy Israel.  We discussed whether to find a messianic fellowship to celebrate Shavuot with but decided that we'd rather spend the day together.

Dad muted the idea of driving up to Haifa for the day and going to see the Ba'hai temple gardens.  He was still keen to visit the gardens and gave it a last ditch effort, however this didn't get much of a vote from the rest of us, and it seems from YHVH Himself as the gardens were closed for the day.  Coincidence or design?  As the Ba'hai temple is situated on Mount Carmel, and in fact takes up quite a portion of it, maybe it required someone with the faith of Elijah to call down fire!

Jaffa (Joppa)

We spent our last day at Jaffa, which is now a suburb of Tel Aviv.  Unfortunately Glenys had injured her ankle so was unable to explore as much as she would have liked but was stoic enough to hobble to the central plaza while we explored a little.  

The narrow winding streets were quite delightful and I enjoyed popping in to see some of the art galleries.  Once again, walking the same locality that Yeshua and the disciples walked and ministered in was quite surreal.  Of course the Catholic church would have you believe that Simon the tanner's house is still in existence and even though it was interesting to see I didn't believe for a minute that it could have been the actual house.  It would have been easy to focus on how the Catholic and Orthodox churches had built their churches at these locations and continue to steer people away from the truth of the torah, but it was such a blessing to be there that nothing could have dimmed the experience.

 As I mentioned, Glenys injured her ankle and was unable to walk so we had to make the quick decision to head home rather than stop over in Istanbul on the way home.  YHVH proved His care by situating our accommodation around the corner from the Medical Centre that had an international unit that quickly and efficiently attended to Glenys.  Dad was even able to borrow a wheelchair to whisk her to and from the appointment before we hurriedly made our way to the airport.

Once again YHVH's providence ensured that we were able to secure flights through to Adelaide and we said good-bye to Mum and Dad before they head off to Berlin via Rome.

What an amazing and blessed time it was and one I will always remember fondly.  However, I was surprised by how my perceptions of some things altered and how vividly it was demonstrated that the church system is such an anathema to the message of torah and Messiah.  I'm already thinking of how and when I can return and spend more time in Israel because my heart was taken completely.  

May the chosen people of YHVH be blessed and drawn to the Messiah Yeshua.