Impressions

 I suppose I can make the claim that, 'little by little we are making progress adjusting back to everyday routines after being gone for five weeks'. As promised, I will try and share a few highlights of our trip. One, which I will focus on this time, had the markings of a prophetic warning.  Having enjoyed our friends and family in Canada, with one week on an island in Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, we started to make our way to the U.S.  The impact of the experience I’m about to share accompanied us all the way back to Israel.   It started while waiting for our flight to Indianapolis, Indiana at Toronto’s Pearson Airport (after spending two days there due to flight cancelations).  Just before the call to board the plane, while we were relaxing near the gate, suddenly a Johnny Cash song came booming over the loudspeaker. I had hardly noticed that there was music in the terminal, but when I heard the familiar voice of Johnny Cash, who was one of my favorite Country Western singers in the 1960's and beyond, I perked up. The song that was playing was The Ring of Fire.  The chorus is as follows: “I fell into a burning ring of fire, I went down, down, down and the flames grew higher, it burned, burned, burned that ring of fire, that ring of fire”.

I immediately felt from the Spirit that these lyrics had something to do with our going from Canada down to the States.   I asked Rimona if it was making some kind of impression on her, but it did not. I shared with her what I felt and left it at that.  Our first destination was the southern State of Tennessee. While visiting friends there, a very strong thunderstorm with gale-winds and blinding rain blew through the area, downing trees and more. These types of storms have been quite frequent in that part of the country, along with very hot temperatures.  A week or so later the weather forecasters were using the term “Ring of Fire” for a high-pressure dome that had stalled in the middle of the US, causing a number of problems, with record-breaking heat and severe storms all around its huge circumference.   

Fast forward, about a week later, we were in Wisconsin enjoying much cooler temperatures.  Upon arriving at my sister’s residence, I was shocked to see that all the beautiful ash trees flanking her long driveway looked like they do in winter, after shedding their leaves.  Apparently, a worm from Asia was responsible for the plague that devastated these trees, all the way from New England to the Mississippi River.  Interestingly, it appeared about the same time that Covid landed in America four years ago.  Having grown up in Wisconsin, I also recalled the multitudes of insects, especially the mosquitos that were constant companions most of the summer, along with horse flies and other pesky bugs.  One could hardly drive down the road without insects splattering against the windshield.  What a surprise it was now to sit outside or go for a walk, free of these annoying critters! Additionally, in all the driving that we did from south to north, we did not have to stop and clean the windshield, as there were no bugs. One of the beautiful sights after dark was that of the “fireflies” a glowing bug, but even those were rare.  I couldn’t help but think about that “ring of fire”.  Another phenomenon that amazed us was the vast areas of farmlands in the Midwest, that grew nothing but corn and soybeans.  

We were delighted to meet family members and old friends in what was my home so many years ago, and especially the talks we had with my great-nephew and wife, who are a wonderful couple and enthusiastic believers in Yeshua. Nate informed us that the movie Sound of Freedom was playing in the area and that it had received a lot of attention, as it was based on a true story of rescuing children from human traffickers. I had not heard of it, but earlier that day Rimona happened to read an article in an Israeli News site about this very movie. Since it was playing that evening in a local theater, we decided to go and see it.  While I was about to pay for the entry tickets, we were both taken aback by the sound of Johnny Cash's song…. “Ring of Fire”.  During the entire time of watching the movie, we could not shake off the overwhelming feeling that the Almighty Elohim of Israel is warning the USA that sin and iniquity (“wild desires” mentioned in a verse in Cash’s song) will never be blessed, but will bring about the fires of its own demise.   The wages of sin are death, whether to an individual or a nation. Great empires of the past have all been found wanting in the balance of YHVH’s righteous justice, why would it be any different now?