NO. 633 LIVING WATERS

by Epiphany Bible Students


“Whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:17)

Ezekiel 47:1-12 ─ “Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house: and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.

“Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.

“And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.

“Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.

“Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.

“And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.

“Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

“Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea; which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.

“And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.

“And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-egla-im; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

“But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.

“And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.”

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Ezekiel’s prophecy is full of symbolism, and has appropriately been termed the apocalypse of the Old Testament. It was written in Babylonia in the Chaldaic language.

Many of the particulars connected with this vision described by Ezekiel are so circumstantial to the land of Israel as to give considerable ground for belief that it will have a literal fulfillment in the future; and in connection with the vision is shown a new division of the land of Canaan amongst the twelve tribes. But whatever literal fulfillment the vision may have, we may be positive that it is to have a grand fulfillment as a symbol, for the life-giving river here brought to our attention is undoubtedly the same one described six hundred years later, by John the Revelator, and referred to in our text.

Ezekiel was one of the captives of Judah taken to Babylonia by King Nebuchadnezzar on the occasion of his first invasion, when he placed Zedekiah on the throne, eleven years before his later invasion when the city was destroyed. The captives taken at that time included many of the chief men of the Jewish nation, princes and nobles, the brightest and the best. His object in taking these seems to have been to strengthen his own empire, for the captives were not treated as slaves, but were granted great liberty, some of them, as in the case of Daniel, rising to positions of very high honor in the kingdom. Ezekiel had great liberty, and his prophesying was done for the Jews of the Babylonian captivity ─ exiles. The Lord’s testimony through this prophet was undoubtedly intended to cheer and comfort those of his people who were Israelites indeed, and to fan the spark of faith which still remained in their hearts ─ to lead them, as in the case of Daniel, to hope for the return of God’s favor and the end of their captivity with the end of the appointed seventy years’ desolation of the land.

The matter as heard by the Jews in exile undoubtedly was pictured as referring to earthly Jerusalem, and the blessings as appertaining to the Jews as a nation. The restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple are clearly and explicitly foretold, and no doubt the hearts of the captives leaped with joy as they thought of the future blessings, and no doubt, also their faith and hope were encouraged. But so surely as Ezekiel’s prophecy was the Word of the Lord, so surely the prophecy did not relate to blessings to be conferred upon that people at the time of their restoration from the land of Babylon, for the predictions of Ezekiel’s prophecy were never fulfilled. Just so surely they belong to the future. Spiritual Israelites may realize that the prophecy not only related to natural Israel but also to spiritual Israel, not only to a deliverance from literal Babylon but also a deliverance from mystic Babylon, “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots” (Rev. 17:5), whose power is soon to be completely overthrown as precedent to a full deliverance of all who are Israelites indeed and the establishment of the Kingdom (Rev. 18).

River of Life: Our lesson deals with one of Ezekiel’s visions, which predicted the springing into existence of a wonderful river whose waters would bring to the land of Israel and to the Dead Sea verdure and life instead of drought, desolation and death. The ordinary interpretation of this lesson is that the Gospel is represented in this river, which now for a considerable time has been flowing onward and bringing life. We cannot accept this interpretation, for several reasons: First, the description is in such close agreement with the Millennial Age blessing of Revelation 21 and 22 as to leave no doubt that the same thing is referred to. In Revelation we see that the Church is the Bride, and the Church glorified is symbolized by the heavenly Jerusalem and the river of the water of life, and whose leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations and whose fruit is for their sustenance and whose water is the water of life, living water. There can be no doubt that the two rivers are identical.

A Refreshing Picture: Thus seen God has rich blessings in store for mankind in general in the day when His Kingdom shall be established amongst men, in Immanuel’s day. The restitution of that time is pictured in the leaves of the trees; the abundance of instruction and nourishment, mental, moral and physical, is represented in the fruit of the trees. More than this, wherever the water of this river went life resulted, until finally it emptied itself into the Dead Sea with the effect that the waters of the latter were healed. Fishes thrive well in sea water, but the water of the Dead Sea is about nine times as strongly pregnated with salts, and as a consequence fish taken from the Mediterranean and put into the Dead Sea die in a few minutes ─ hence the name, Dead Sea.

There is no outlet to the Dead Sea, and its low level and warm climate have tended to make this sea the saltiest water on earth. Its main supply of water comes from the Jordan River, which empties into it an average of 6,000,000 gallons of water every 24 hours. The sea is about 47 miles long. It reaches about 1,300 feet depth, so that its own surface

level is almost exactly half way between its bottom and the level of the ocean. Like the Jordan River, this sea is also one of the most remarkable bodies of water on earth. No other is known to occupy so deep a hollow on the surface of the globe.

It would not at all surprise us if in the beginning of the Millennial Age, not only the nation of Israel would receive the blessing of the Lord lost at the beginning of this Gospel Age and become His representative people in the world ─ the Church having been taken from the world, glorified spirit-beings ─ but neither would it surprise us if, in the Lord’s providence, some miracle were wrought by which the Dead Sea would become connected with the Mediterranean, possibly refreshed also by some such river as is here described by Ezekiel, a picture of the symbolical river of life flowing from the New Jerusalem. But however interested we might be in the thought of such a literal fulfilment of this prophecy, our interest is still greater in the fulfilment of it as a symbol in accord with the river of Revelation. From this symbolical standpoint the Dead Sea represents the dead world, and the coming of life-giving waters would represent the resurrection power of the Lord and the Church exercised amongst men during the Millennial Age. As the apostle expressed it, it would mean, for the Gentiles, life from the dead.

Returning to the Prophet’s vision, we note that the waters flowed out from the House of the Lord, from the Temple, and that wherever they went they brought vitality and refreshment, healing, restitution, life ─ even to the Dead Sea. This to our understanding is a picture of the grace of God during the Millennial Age, when from the Church, the House of God, the Temple, “the habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22), the stream of the water of life, healing, restoring, rejuvenating, shall flow to all the families of the earth, whose condition is represented by the wilderness eastward of Jerusalem. The result will be the blessing and restitution of all the living families of the earth willing to receive the blessing. And it means more: for the Dead Sea fitly represents the vast multitude of mankind which has gone into the tomb, and the water of life shall reach even these, and bring to them also awakening from death, opportunities of restitution.

Jerusalem being twice sea-level height above the Dead Sea’s surface represents that Jesus and the Church as God’s Kingdom are not simply one nature, i.e., spiritual or angelic nature, higher than human nature, but are two natures higher than it, i.e., are of the Divine nature. It will be recalled (Rev. 22:1-3) that out of God’s and Christ’s Throne and out of Christ and the Church as God’s Temple and Altar the stream of Millennial Truth will come and will flow into the symbolic Dead Sea, the Adamic death state, bringing forth from the grave all the Adamically dead, and restoring to human perfection all of them, except those who will not reform (Isa. 65:20; Ezek. 47:11), who are represented by the Dead Sea’s miry and marshy places, and who will die again, the Second Death.

Turning to the description of the same symbolic river furnished us in the Book of Revelation (chapter 22), we find abundant evidence that it does not refer to the present time, but to the Millennial Age. For instance, it is symbolically pictured as having trees of life on either side, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations not for the healing of the Church, which at this time is the glorified temple from which this river proceeds ─ and the healing of the nations signifies, as plainly as a symbolic picture could indicate it, restitution, the healing of the woes of the groaning creation, its sin and sickness and imperfection.

We notice also that the proclamation which will then be made will not be restricted, as at the present time, to “even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Acts 2:39) It will not be to an “elect” class; it will no longer be said, “No man can come unto me, except the Father draw him.” The call at that time will be general ─ to every creature ─ “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” We notice further that that broad invitation is extended by God through the Holy Spirit and the glorified Church, as it is written, “The spirit and the bride say, Come!” We notice further that this expression, “the bride,” unquestionably places the call in the future, because, although the elect Church of the Gospel Age is called out from the world to become the Bride of Christ, she does not become such, does not enter that exalted station, until in the end of the Age she is perfected in glory and in the likeness of her Lord. Then will come “the marriage of the Lamb”; and not until after the marriage will there be a Bride; and not until after the Bride has thus been accepted as such can “the spirit and the bride say, Come!” to the nations.

In other words, there is a measure of selection or election as respects the class invited to constitute “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” “No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called.”

But with the end of the Age will come the end of the elective process; then the Divine message will be free grace, an offering and opportunity to every creature of Adam’s race. All blind eyes will be opened that all may see; all deaf ears will be unstopped that all may hear; and the knowledge of the glory of God shall fill the whole earth; none will need to say to his neighbor, “Know the Lord, for all shall know him from the least unto the greatest of them." (Jer. 31:34)

Here is that glorious city (government), prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2), and early in the dawn of the Millennium the nations will begin to walk in the light of it (v. 24). These may bring their glory and honor into it, but “there shall in no wise enter into it [or become a part of it] anything that defileth,” etc (v. 27). Here, from the midst of the throne proceeds a pure river of water of life (truth unmixed with error), and the Spirit and Bride say, Come and take it freely (Rev. 22:17). Here begins the worlds probation, the world’s great judgment day ─ a thousand years.

This same glorious city (kingdom), the glorified New Jerusalem, the Church and the river of the water of life gushing forth there from, are brought to our attention in Psalms 46: “There is a river, the rivulets of which shall spring from the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. God shall help her early in the morning.” The connections here also show that these rivulets are not to be expected to flow out as a river until the Millennial morning, and the context refers particularly to the Time of Trouble with which the present age shall end and the Millennial morning shall be introduced.

The Outflowing Stream: “Out of the body shall flow a stream of living waters.” (John 7:38) This verse was not fulfilled at Pentecost, where the Lord’s followers merely began to drink of the spiritual truths, and by them to be united into one body of many members, of which Jesus is the head. It is from this one body that ultimately the stream of the water of life shall flow during the Millennial Age for the blessing of the whole world. Our Lord referred to this saying “My word shall judge you in the last day” (John 12:48) ─ in the great day, the Millennial Day; the world shall be judged by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The water of life represents the truth, and the amount of the water of life or truth that shall proceed from the mouth of the Lord, from the mouth of the glorified Church, shall be such a stream, such a flow, as will reach to every part of the earth. “The knowledge of the glory of God shall fill the whole earth.” (Hab. 2:14)

A river of water of life is seen and trees of life whose fruit sustains life, and whose foliage heals the people. How this calls our minds back to the paradise from whence Adam was driven on account of sin, and to the tree of life in the midst of Eden, from which he was debarred, and from the lack of whose fruit Adam and his race died.

Oh, what a picture of the “restitution of all things which God hath spoken” ─ the healing of all the curse, the blotting out of sin, and with it misery, pain, and death, because a ransom has been paid and He who ransomed is the one who gloriously restores.

The water of life which will there flow from the throne is a picture of the future; for not yet has the throne been established on the earth. We still pray “Thy kingdom come,” and not until that prayer is answered, can that river of water of life flow. The water of life is knowledge ─ truth ─ for which mankind famishes now. It will flow out bountifully when the tabernacle of God is with men (Rev. 21:3). Then thirsty humanity, groaning in painful bondage to sin and death, will be refreshed and restored.

This river of the water of life represents the blessed influence that will proceed to humanity from the glorified Christ, Head and Body ─ from the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. When the blessed opportunities of that time are thoroughly open to the world, when the Sun of righteousness shall have scattered all the darkness of ignorance and sin, when Satan shall have been bound (Rev. 20:2), when the river of the water of life shall flow freely, then the invitation that will go forth will no longer be a call of the elect, but an invitation to every creature, every member of the human race, to partake of the blessings and privileges which God has provided in Christ, that they may have the everlasting life and everlasting joy which is to be the portion of those who love righteousness and hate iniquity, and who avail themselves of the gracious provisions in Christ.

It should not be overlooked that the healing and refreshment mentioned in this symbolization does not pertain to the “little flock,” the Church, but to the world, the nations. The Little Flock will have been glorified, perfected in the First Resurrection, before this offer of healing and restitution of the world is made. Israel will be the first to be blessed, but subsequently all the families of the earth, as God’s Oath-bound Covenant has promised.

“And there shall be no more curse” (Rev. 22:3) ─ the curse will be gradually removed and man gradually released under the blessing of that glorious Age.

ANOTHER PICTURE

Realizing their deliverance from bondage, and the Divine Power exercised in their behalf in the overthrow of the Egyptian army, the Israelites were joyful. The journey toward the land of promise began. At length, fatigued and thirsty, they came to a fertile spot, where there was an abundance of water, but alas, it was bitter, or brackish! The disappointment was great. The song of reverence was forgotten; the mighty Power of Jehovah in bringing them through the Red Sea was forgotten; even the taskmasters of Egypt were forgotten. The people murmured against Moses for bringing them away from the fertile fields of Egypt and its abundance of good water. They declared that it would have been better if they had remained in Egypt or even if they had died there. They declared that Moses and Aaron had misled them into leaving the land of plenty, and had brought them into the wilderness, to die there of hunger and thirst (Ex. 16:2,3).

As we consider God’s dealings with Israel, and the instructions given them in the wilderness, we see that these were evidently intended to prepare a nation for self-government ─ a nation which for nearly two hundred years had been in bondage, almost slavery. The first of this series of wilderness lessons may be designated a lesson of trust; and as we note Israel’s experiences and the Lord's guidance of their affairs, doubtless we will all find lessons that will be helpful to us.

Three routes led from Egypt toward Canaan, and the Lord chose for His people the most roundabout way of the three. He had in view from the first their need of training. Their long bondage had made them servile and weak, lacking in self-reliance in the new way and fearful that their leader, in whom they trusted remarkably, might yet prove incompetent for their deliverance. What a resemblance to all this we find in ourselves when first leaving the world and its rudiments ─ although trusting in Christ, our fully accepted Leader, how apt we are to feel fearful of our ability, even under His guidance, to gain the promised glorious deliverance from sin and its slavery!

The first disappointment in the journey was when the supply of water which they were carrying became exhausted and they had reached the waters of Marah (bitter) and found them brackish and unfit to drink; their disappointment was intense and they murmured against Moses. He in turn cried unto the Lord for help, and in response was shown a tree which being cast into the waters purified them. This was the first lesson of trust, and the Lord impressed it upon them as such (Ex. 15:25,26).

HEALING THE BRACKISH WATERS

Moses, the mediator of the Law Covenant,

typified the Christ (Head and Body), the Mediator of the New Covenant, and the tree that Moses cast into the waters for their sweetening represented another tree ─ the one referred to in the statement, “Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” (Gal. 3:13) The tree represented the cross of Christ, the agency through which the water of truth and Divine Law become waters of grace and blessing for the world of mankind in general when, in the Mi11ennia1 Age, they shall be delivered from the bondage of Satan and sin, represented by the slavery of Egypt. As the Apostle points out, it will not be possible for God to make a new law under which to bless mankind for the Law given to Israel was good, was perfect, as the Law of God must always be. The Divine promises represented by the water were poisoned by sin ─ by Adam’s disobedience ─ and hence were unsuitable and could not give the desired blessing. The cross of Christ, by canceling Adamic sin, canceled also the condemnation of the Divine Law against mankind, and eventually will permit the great antitypica1 Mediator to make the gracious promises of God good, refreshing, applicable to all who seek to walk in the ways of the Lord. The New Covenant between God and Israel, in which all the families of the earth are to share the benefit, will shortly be sealed with the precious blood ─ be confirmed, made operative.

But the Lord’s wisdom guided Moses to a certain kind of tree, which, put into the water, made it sweet and palatable. Moses explained to the people that in murmuring against him they were really murmuring against God, for he was merely God’s agent in the matter. A further journey for a season, and they were far from the bitter waters ─ at Elim, a delightful spot, where they rested and were refreshed.

STILL ANOTHER PICTURE

A certain stream carried brackish water through an otherwise favored district. Elisha took a handful of salt, went to the head of the brook and poured it there, commanding in the name of the Lord that it should henceforth be pure water. Looking for a typical significance of this in the Millennium, we remember that a stream of water represents a stream of truth, and that brackish water would represent impure doctrines. A purification of the stream at its foundation would well represent what the Lord has promised through the Prophet respecting Messiah’s day. “Then will I turn unto the people a pure message that they may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:9)

The salt cast into the spring reminds us of the Master’s words respecting His true followers, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” (Matt. 5:13) It will be in and through the glorified salt of the earth that the blessing will come, the streams of truth for human refreshment for a thousand years. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God will be made to fill the whole earth, as the waters cover the great deep (Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14).  (Reprint 484, May 1997)

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THE TEL AVIV CLUSTER

Jews are a famously accomplished group. They make up 0.2 percent of the world population, but 54 percent of the world chess champions, 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates and 31 percent of the medicine laureates.

Jews make up 2 percent of the U.S. population, but 21 percent of the Ivy League student bodies, 26 percent of the Kennedy Center honorees, 37 percent of the Academy Award-winning directors, 38 percent of those on a recent Business Week list of leading philanthropists, 51 percent of the Pulitzer Prize winners for nonfiction.

In his book, “The Golden Age of Jewish Achievement,” Steven L. Pease lists some of the explanations people have given for this record of achievement. The Jewish faith encourages a belief in progress and personal accountability. It is learning-based, not rite-based.

Most Jews gave up or were forced to give up farming in the Middle Ages; their descendants have been living off of their wits ever since. They have often migrated, with a migrant’s ambition and drive. They have congregated around global crossroads and have benefited from the creative tension endemic in such places.

No single explanation can account for the record of Jewish achievement. The odd thing is that Israel has not traditionally been strongest where the Jews in the Diaspora were strongest. Instead of research and commerce, Israelis were forced to devote their energies to fighting and politics.

Milton Friedman used to joke that Israel disproved every Jewish stereotype. People used to think Jews were good cooks, good economic managers and bad soldiers; Israel proved them wrong.

But that has changed. Benjamin Netanyahu’s economic reforms, the arrival of a million Russian immigrants and the stagnation of the peace process have produced a historic shift. The most resourceful Israelis are going into technology and commerce, not politics. This has had a desultory effect on the nation’s public life, but an invigorating one on its economy.

Tel Aviv has become one of the world’s foremost entrepreneurial hot spots. Israel has more high-tech start-ups per capita than any other nation on earth, by far. It leads the world in civilian research-and-development spending per capita. It ranks second behind the U.S. in the number of companies listed on the Nasdaq. Israel, with seven million people, attracts as much venture capital as France and Germany combined.

As Dan Senor and Saul Singer write in “Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle,” Israel now has a classic innovation cluster, a place where tech obsessives work in close proximity and feed off each other’s ideas.

Because of the strength of the economy, Israel has weathered the global recession reasonably well. The government did not have to bail out its banks or set off an explosion in short-term spending. Instead, it used the crisis to solidify the economy’s long-term future by investing in research and development and infrastructure, raising some consumption taxes, promising to cut other taxes in the medium to long term. Analysts at Barclays write that Israel is “the strongest recovery story” in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Israel’s technological success is the fruition of the Zionist dream. The country was not founded so stray settlers could sit among thousands of angry Palestinians in Hebron. It was founded so Jews would have a safe place to come together and create things for the world.

This shift in the Israeli identity has long-term implications. Netanyahu preaches the optimistic view: that Israel will become the Hong Kong of the Middle East, with economic benefits spilling over into the Arab world. And, in fact, there are strands of evidence to support that view in places like the West Bank and Jordan.

But it’s more likely that Israel’s economic leap forward will widen the gap between it and its neighbors. All the countries in the region talk about encouraging innovation. Some oil-rich states spend billions trying to build science centers. But places like Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv are created by a confluence of cultural forces, not money. The surrounding nations do not have the tradition of free intellectual exchange and technical creativity.

For example, between 1980 and 2000, Egyptians registered 77 patents in the U.S. Saudis registered 171. Israelis registered 7,652.

The tech boom also creates a new vulnerability. As Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic has argued, these innovators are the most mobile people on earth. To destroy Israel’s economy, Iran doesn’t actually have to lob a nuclear weapon into the country. It just has to foment enough instability so the entrepreneurs decide they had better move to Palo Alto, where many of them already have contacts and homes. American Jews used to keep a foothold in Israel in case things got bad here. Now Israelis keep a foothold in the U.S.

During a decade of grim foreboding, Israel has become an astonishing success story, but also a highly mobile one. (By David Brooks, Published: January 11, 2010)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Sister Marjorie and all the class at Epiphany Bible Students:                                                         

       Once more we find ourselves preserved alive (Psa. 80:18,19), “Keep us in life, and we will give praise to your name,” in what has become more and more a world of dense darkness and mostly full of sorrows and all manner of problems and ill’s. How clearly we see that the human race is in that condition foretold (2 Tim. 3:1-4). It was well attested to in the latest newsletters Nos.629/630, gratefully received. It caused me to consider as to whether because of the now common place reporting in all the various mediums, TV-papers-radio-magazines ect. Am I? becoming deadened to the impact! through the constant viewing of these matters! forgetting somewhat that these sorrows are befalling the “Heavenly Fathers” children en mass through out the earth.

Hopefully we can all give some reflection in our deliberations and petitions when before “Him” assuring that we are not untouched, unmoved by all the sufferings of our fellow brothers earth wide. Just as we know for a certainty “He” cares beyond measure, and if we seek “His” image in all things, our spirit of thought and action will be in like measure, for the “Heavenly” gave “His only begotten” to ultimately put asunder these terrible afflictions pervading the race of men. Clearly we see the only true refuge is “THE KINGDOM.”

The “little green” letters you so timely send out are most lovingly received with all heartfelt gratitude, and never fail to spark a response in some manner, they are “Manna” in due season. Thank you all so much for the written blessing on page 8 of No. 629.

 Christian love and fond wishes to you all. In “His service, Brother Rick                 (LONDON)

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Dear Marjorie,

Thank you for your letter of August. Sorry to be slow to answer, but the Fall was an extremely busy one with guests coming for my Bed and Breakfast rooms. It was good to see more tourists in Israel as Spring had been slower I think mostly due to the economic situation. I had some guests over the holidays, but January and February are usually slower months.

The 15th of November I went to the States for the first time without Lev – a new step for me! The main reason for my trip was to see my only sister in Colorado. She is 86 years old now and in a nursing home.

I flew straight to California, a long 15 hour flight, and spent some days with dear Elva Lanowick. She is doing well on her own and we had a wonderful time of sharing and fellowship. Then also saw other family and friends in California, Oregon, Washington and Vancouver, Canada in the month there. It was a blessed trip with good health, good weather, good travels and many good visits. However I did come back with a super case of jet lag. It always seems worse coming this way!

Thankfully I came back to a rainy Israel! We have had wonderful “early rains” this year, which we so much need to refill the Sea of Galilee! So we pray for a rainy Winter here!

I am glad that the things I wrote a year ago about the war in Gaza blessed some there. It seemed so out of date, but then the whole Goldstone Report made it again a current issue against Israel! So it never seems to be over for Israel to get the negative hits.

Thank you for your end of the year points on the world and Israel which I just received, and look forward to reading.

What can I say about Israel for the year ahead? God has all in His hands as we see Iran going forward with their agenda. How long can Israel wait for a solution?

Then the pressures on Netanyahu are tremendous, and I think even more behind the scenes. He is trying to stand, but it does not look too hopeful these days. We just pray that he will not be willing to give more away of the Land! Also that the Arabs will not accept any offer Israel makes.

The bright spot here is the economy of Israel, which is doing well. That does not mean there are no problems, BUT if we can keep the rest of the west from putting sanctions on Israel it will be OK. God knows the timing of all things.

Hope you and all there are well. Please give my greetings from Israel.

                                                                                     Shalom and love, Hava Bausch       (ISRAEL)