Higher Authority – a Personal Testimony
- Jonah
- Aug 29, 2023
- 3 min read
Ahavat Yeshua
Jerusalem
I moved to Israel from Ethiopia at age 6 together with my parents.
We started in an absorption center and then moved to an apartment in Jerusalem. I was brought up in a household of faith in Yeshua in the 1980s when Messianic Judaism still felt almost like being in a tiny underground movement, and religious persecution was common.
At age 18, I was drafted into compulsory IDF service. There, I went to a combat commander’s course and afterward officer training school. As a believer, I wanted to have a good influence on the soldiers around me and under my command. Soon I signed on to continue as a career officer. I felt it was a calling. Some of my positions involved training young soldiers. As I rose up through the ranks of authority, I was exposed to dreadful situations – such as the aftermath of suicide terror bombings, with dead bodies, and children still alive but with limbs severed by the explosions. This was around the year 2001.
In spite of the horror, I felt I needed to keep on serving. But I began to question:
"Why? Why is this happening?"
In my crisis I was drawn to deal with the pressure the way my fellow soldiers did, drinking in order to calm our nerves, and I drifted away from the faith.
The security challenges became even more difficult as I became responsible for hundreds of soldiers and policemen. What gave me a measure of stability during this hard time, was the values I had learned in my believing home: Love. Sacrificial giving. Caring for others. Living for a higher calling. And love of the land of Israel.
I had almost been killed several times due to stray bullets. Four times, the military vehicles I was in overturned and were totaled, but I emerged unharmed. One day my father said:
"If you are having doubts about faith, and if you want to check it out, come with me to Africa for one week, and see if God will speak to you."
My father knew this was my chance to encounter God, to re-examine who I was. I agreed to go. In Africa, we attended several conferences. I saw miracles, supernatural healings in front of my eyes. A man we did not know spoke to me, prophetically in public. He said he had something urgent to tell me. He told me that in spite of my considerable salary and honor in the armed forces, that if I were to continue 4 more months in those dangerous roles I would die. He told me that the enemy had tried to take me out 11 times.
I was in shock at this and other words of knowledge. I repented and received the Lord anew. Then I retired from the armed forces.
While adjusting to civilian life, Congregation Ahavat Yeshua reached out to me and embraced me. I felt God sent them to me as part of his plan. Over time it became clear that God had prepared me to serve in full-time ministry. Now, I help lead the congregation, and share with the young people about the identity of belonging to God within the Israeli context. I am married with four young children. My family is a great blessing. My wife also serves in helping and counseling needy families. Together, our heart is especially for young couples.
