A Modern Day Connection of the Past With the Future

Thursday began with most of us having had a really good night’s sleep.  Following a wonderful breakfast, we loaded our bus (Driver’s name is “Shimshon” or Samson) and headed for the Palmach Museum.  The Palmach, military wing of the Haganah, were an Israeli strike force trained by the British during World War Two.  The story told at the museum follows a group of young people who were part of a youth movement and were trained as soldiers in a Kibbutz.  It follows their journey through the war of Independence, through the losses and the wins.  It shows the courage, faith and determination it took to see the nation re-established according to God’s prophetic word.

Next we visited a Kibbutz.  Look it up for a definition.  This particular kibbutz supported the war of Independence by making 9 mm bullets in a hidden factory.  It was amazing to hear of their ingenuity and passion.  No one knew what as going on except the people who worked in the factory, not even the others who lived there.

Following a fun lunch, including our first falafel in the Carmel Market, we drove to Shalom Tower to view pictures of early Tel Aviv.  It was fascinating to see how small and unimportant Tel Aviv was at that time.  But God moving the hearts of people to fulfill His prophetic promise to bring Israel back as a nation was fulfilled on the exact day He said it would happen.  God is amazing.

We ended our day at Jaffa (or you may know it as Joppa) This is where Jonah headed toward  Tarshish rather than Nineveh.  It was here a servant by the name of Tabitha or Dorcas, was raised from the dead by Peter. And Peter received a vision here, opening the Gospel to people like us, Gentiles.  Pastor Ken taught briefly here.

All these things remind us of the God who has acted in the past; the God who is working in the present; and the God who will bring all history to a close one day.  Today connected it all.

Tomorrow we head north and by nightfall we will be in the region where Jesus spent the majority of His time on Earth.  Here are some pictures from our day today.