Travel to Israel: Are there Security Concerns?

I am going to Israel again. This will be my fourth trip to visit, walk and see the land of the Bible. These trips are always exciting, and I am inviting you to go with me this time. The date of the trip is May 5-18, 2018 (which gives enough time to plan and to save). For details about the trip (a brochure) you can click on the link, or visit my website www.KosherCopy.com.  

Elevator at Ben-Gurion Airport where we enter Israel

Each time I go to Israel, and every time I return home, people say to me, “I would like to go to Israel but I am scared of terrorists.” They often add, “Were you afraid when you were over there?”

Golan Heights looking at the Damascus Road

I reply to them, “Not at all,” because on my three journeys to the Promised Land I have neither been fearful nor have I felt any concern. On the contrary, I have felt a sense of joy and renewal as stories of the Bible come alive for me when I walk the land where the events recorded in scripture occurred. I feel sorry for those who avoid travel to Israel due to their own trepidation.

Bar Mitzvah

In preparation for each trip to Israel, I spend time in prayer. I make sure the time is right for me to go (as I do with many other events in my life). I seek out the things the Lord would want me to learn about Israel as I go, for if the trip is dedicated to the Almighty, I will be under His protection. I go with the knowledge that if God wants me to share testimony to His protection and love, I will return home safely.

Temple Mount and Jerusalem

I remark to people that there is a greater chance of being harmed here at home (at the mall, due to road rage or just by chance) than there is with a tour group in Israel. Terror attacks occur randomly both in the United States and around the world.  Assaults happen most often in unprotected areas because they are unexpected. The nation of Israel is on guard and well rehearsed in order to prevent actions of hatred.

Scary thing crawling out of the sea

I have been pleased with the great protection offered by Israel’s army, which has alleviated any threat or fear. The truth is, wherever I look in the tourist areas there is a military presence. The country of Israel enlists all young adults for a period of two years for women and almost three years for men. These recruits are trained and stationed in the areas where conflict could occur if not guarded. The security forces also include local police who keep an ear out for any potential problems.

Chelsea with new friends near Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem

As I approach my next trip to Israel during the month of May 2018, I plan in prayer and look forward to the presence of God who will protect the group. I look forward to the experiences God has planned for me while I am in the land. And I look forward to sharing those experiences upon my return to the United States. I hope you will sign up to go with me, and do the same.

Passover Preparation - Day 2 - Meeting God

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. … Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” And Moses said unto God, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:1-2, 10-11)

     Moses was a person like us, with a few advantages. He was born during the time the family of Israel was crying out to God over the atrocities visited on their people. This included the male children of the Hebrew people being thrown into the Nile River. This fate would have been visited upon Moses, save for his mother’s quick thinking. She protected him with a basket boat and put him into a field of bullrushes near the place Pharaoh’s daughter went daily to bathe. She then stationed Moses’ sister Miriam to look after her new brother.
     In time, Moses was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter and taken into her father's palace. This adoption afforded Moses the best education possible in the world at that time. For many years he enjoyed the benefit of his placement - until two eventful days. On the first, he saw a Hebrew slave, one of his people by birth, being beaten by an Egyptian overseer, and Moses killed the perpetrator. On the second, he stopped a fight between two of the Hebrew slaves, and became fearful when one of them said, “Are you going to kill me, too?”

     Moses escaped to the wilderness, where he met Zipporah, the daughter of a Midianite Priest. They were married, and Moses became the shepherd of his father-in-law's flock.
     While Moses was watching the sheep, God appeared to him in a burning bush. God called Moses to a monumental task - to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Moses attempted to escape the call, but God's instruction is inescapable.
     God prepares each of us, giving us a spiritual gift so we can accomplish a task. Do you know your gift and calling? God will show us in His own time and way where we are to be involved, and in what kind of ministry. Can you describe how God called you? Is the calling something you attempted to escape? To avoid God’s call is to miss a blessing.
     When you answer a call, you will in a sense guide people from enslavement to God’s blessing and desire for their life. Pray today to find your calling.