1/26/2026
"Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him,
and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your
righteousness as the light, and your justice
as the noonday."
Psalm 37:5-6
Israel is rejoicing today, because the last hostage taken on 10/7/2023 is finally home! Ran Gvili was noted as being the first to rush into battle, in spite of his own serious injury, to fight the enemy at the entrance to Kibbutz Alumim until his ammunition ran out, and he was killed and his body taken hostage to Gaza for 843 days. He was "First to enter. Last to return." After months of intelligence work by the Shin Bet unit his body was finally retrieved from Gaza along the yellow line, buried alongside other bodies from Gaza. We rejoice with the family, and with Israel who at last will be able to close this chapter and begin to heal.
In this morning's weekly prayer watch from Kehilat HaCarmel we rejoiced with Israel and with the many families who have gone through the worst years of their lives. Perhaps now they can begin to rest, as they continue their fight to raise awareness for the continuing obstacles they face in Israel. The pain Ran's family was suffering was compared to a gaping wound that would not heal until his body had been returned. I know a bit about such things in the natural, as I have had a surgical wound open, whereby the decision was made to keep it open and cared for until it sealed on its own. Daily I had to tend that gaping chasm across my abdomen. Over the years there have been times when the incision would appear to be reopening, and once more I had to tend the site until it had resealed and healed. In the meantime the short incision grew in length each time this happened until now a once shorter surgical scar has spread almost across my entire abdomen. I imagine this is what Josie meant this morning about the wounds and scars of Israel since 10/7/2023. The former hostages, families of all who were lost in the massacre, and the trauma of war inflicted on so many citizens and the IDF soldiers themselves. Perhaps now healing can finally begin for all Israel's sons and daughters.
As the body was brought back, the army was singing the National Anthem of Israel, "Hatikvah" which means "Hope." An article was written in 2024 by Noemi Bowman explaining the great meaning behind their national anthem. The lyrics were written in 1886 by Naphatali Herz Imber, a Jewish poet, and the melody, was composed by Samuel Cohen.
“'Hatikvah' stands as a significant piece of 19th-century Jewish poetry. It resonates deeply with the Jewish community, encapsulating their 2,000-year-old aspiration to return to and re-establish the Land of Israel as a free and sovereign state. Imber initially composed the poem in 1877 while staying with a Jewish scholar in Iași, Romania. This work profoundly reflects the Jewish people’s enduring hope and determination to return to their ancestral homeland."
On May 14, 1948 Israel became a State when their independence was won, but the initial status go back to 1917 with the Balfour Declaration. But when we check Biblical history we see that the call to Israel goes all the way back to Genesis when God covenanted with Abraham, confirming through his son, Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob. The words of the national anthem are as follows:
"Kol od balevav penimah,
Nefesh yehudi homiyah,
Ulefa-atei mizrach, kadimah,
Ayin letziyon tsofiyah.
Od lo avdah tikvateinu
Hatikva bat shnot alpayim,
Lihyot am chofshi be-artzeinu,
Eretz tzion, virushalayim."
English Translation
"As long as in the heart within,
The Jewish soul yearns,
And toward the eastern edges, onward,
An eye gazes toward Zion.
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope that is two-thousand years old,
To be a free nation in our land,
The Land of Zion, Jerusalem."
The soldiers were also singing a song, "Hineh Lo Yanum" or "Behold He will Not Slumber" based on Psalm 121:4. We rejoice with Israel, and we pray that they feel the LORD's manifest presence surround them. May He bring healing and His shalom peace in His Holy Presence.
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