The last week or so has been really exciting! I just love the things God has been speaking out during times of prayer. There is a storm coming but when you can hear what God is saying the storm loses much of its fear factor. Ultimately God is in control. Sometimes we hear the report of the Enemy’s actions and we allow ourselves to fear that he is able to defeat our God. If we know God, and trust God then we will have no fear of the Enemy. Remember, we are to listen to the Caleb’s and Joshua’s of our day and not the other 10. Does this mean life will be all flowers and sunshine? No, we will have to endure some very difficult things, but we are not to lose hope when we walk through the fire for He is with us and ultimately He will win. There just is no other option for the end, He will win.
Last week someone said she had been seeing the Lion of Judah as she traveled around Israel and every time she saw Him she was struck by the fact that He was not roaring (we often hear of the Lion of Judah roaring). When she said this I saw a picture of this huge lion laying down (with his head up so he could look around). All around the lion were things (animals, people) coming against the lion trying to scare it, but he was looking at them all with an expression of “is that all the better you can do?” This picture has made me so excited! That is why the Lion of Judah is not roaring, He is not the least bit threatened by the plans of the Enemy. I suggest you read all of Psalms 2, here is what verse 4 says “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.” This verse is referring to those coming against the Lord and His people. He is not threatened by the Enemy because He knows who He is and that when He does roar the Enemy will run. So instead He yawns, as bored cats often do, and doesn’t pay him anymore attention. When His Bride is dressed in white and ready for her wedding He will roar and make a final and complete end of Satan. How exciting is that!
I was able to get out and do a few fun things recently, the first was going through Hezekiah’s tunnel. When David captured Jerusalem to make it his capital, it was a heavily fortified city on a hill with a strong wall. However, it had an underground tunnel that went to the Gihon Spring outside the city wall at the bottom of the hill so that the inhabitants could get water without being easily seen. David sent his men up through this shaft and took the city from the inside out. There are ruins from this tunnel that date back to the time of Abraham and the King of Salem, Melchizedek. Salem was an ancient Jebusite city, it was later renamed Jerusalem. This section of present day Jerusalem is very small and generally referred to as the City of David (not to be confused with Bethlehem), because this is where he built his palace and also where the Tabernacle of David stood. At the very top of the hill where this portion of the city sits is the Temple Mount. Near the bottom of the hill is the Gihon Spring. During the reign of Hezekiah he had the underground tunnel system expanded so that it went from the Gihon Spring all the way to the Pool of Siloam inside the city, this way they could be under siege for a very long time without their water being cut off. As soon as he completed this tunnel system he went to war against Assyria. Much of this is in II Kings 18-19.
Anyway, we got to walk through the entire water system (takes 30-40 minutes). There were a few parts where the water came up mid-thigh, and it was cold! I highly suggest doing this if any of you visit Israel. They have also recently uncovered a portion of the original Pool of Siloam (this is where Jesus sent the blind man to wash after He had put spit and mud in his eyes). Siloam means sent. Interesting! They have also uncovered a road which lead directly from the Pool of Siloam up to the Temple Mount since the Pool was used as a Micvah (place of cleansing before going to the Temple). This road won’t be open to the public for several more weeks but we were able to walk partway up it! They have also been making major progress in the last 5 years on excavating David’s palace. God is uncovering some ancient things all of a sudden! I think He is trying to shine the light on David once more.
The second fun thing we did was gathering olives in the City of David! This required lots of tree climbing, which resulted in some very happy but very scratched up people. Afterward we were rewarded with an Arabic meal made by our friend’s Arab landlords. We were in the trees for hours picking and shaking. The olives were not the type you want to eat straight from the tree, maybe after they are pickled! The landlord gathers them every year and has them pressed to make olive oil.
Many blessings to all of you! I love and miss you all. I hope that you are using all of the information I am sending you to pray. Please do not forward these emails to other people without my consent as they sometimes contain sensitive information about the things we are doing here. You can always give them my blog site where they can read portions of my updates and request to be added to my mailing list.
Big hugs to you all!
Pictures: #1 Me in Hezekiah’s Tunnel
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