Dear friends and readers,
Thought I would take a few moments today and share my heart with you about what being in Israel is really like. In a world gone completely nuts, Israel is actually a very peaceful place to be. Yes, there are terror attacks and political intrigue at an unprecedented level. But, for many (dare I say most) Christians to set foot on Israeli soil for the first time is an unforgettable experience leaving hunger for more.
We had dinner a few nights ago with a man by the name of Gerald and a couple of his friends. Gerald put the feeling of being in Israel in the old proverbial "nutshell". When he returned, he told his church family that his bible had just gone from black and white to "technicolor"! How graphic, I could not have said it better myself.
Have you ever been on a long vacation---a fun one---but when you finally arrived home and stepped through your front door, you had that moment of sigh and the feeling that it was SO good to be home? After all, the age old sentiment that "theres no place like home" is pretty well universal for most of mankind.
Without the slightest prompting, I cannot tell you how many people have had that distinct feeling of "coming home" when they first stepped foot on the tarmac at Tel Aviv airport.
Brandy and I have had the pleasure to lead a few groups to Israel---church groups one and all. These were teaching tours and to be a group host in Israel is 24-7. Someone always has a headache, an argument with a spouse, tired and grumpy, Ladies forgetting that it is "just a potty break" and rather than getting back on the bus, find themselves snared by yet another shopping line (-: And a plethora of other maladies that strike mankind on long trips away from home. On the flip side of that is the absolute pleasure of sharing with folks, the joy they feel at being in a place like no other. Literally the most beautiful and fascinating place on the globe. Now when I say "beautiful" I am not speaking esthetically because in all honestly with few exceptions Israel could never compare to the beauty and grandeur of Yosemite, the Grand Tetons or Lake Tahoe.
No, Israel is not so much physically beautiful as it is a place of "unforgettable experience". What it lacks in esthetics is more, far more made up for in Biblical history and ancient grandeur that leaves one in a sort of etherial shock that takes months to sort thorough after a visit. I tell each tour group that after day three of the tour you will have seen and experienced so much, you will have trouble remembering day 1.
Then there are the preconceived ideas that most folks seem to experience before a trip. I remember when leaving on a missions trip to Malaysia and India, Brandy and I pictured Kuala Lumpur as a smoky little jungle town surrounded by jungle and infested with monkeys. When we arrived we stepped into a humongous modern airport in a city with multiple story shopping malls and (at the time) the tallest building on planet earth. But guess what? When we arrived at our guest housing there was in fact a monkey sitting on the back fence.
On our first trip to Israel, we were guests on someone else's tour. We had heard that tour groups by law must have a qualified Israeli tour guide. Even with lot's of travel under our belts, we pictured our tour guide as wearing a long robe (obviously hiding a curved dagger), a turban, drooping mustache, patch on one eye and a monkey on his shoulder. Another wrong assumption! What we discovered over the years are a cadre of extremely well educated men and women who are one very small step below archeologists, all with college degrees and great levels of humor mixed with the kind of knowledge that would be the envy of anyone seeking higher education.
Ah, Israel. That first trip was back in the day when cameras required rolled film. I remember well that I had an extra bag along containing 60 roles of film and exhausted every one of them long before the tour had ended. The plan was to rush home and have them all developed. That was many years ago and today, somewhere out in storage are 60 roles of undeveloped film. No need because Israel is a place that literally burns it's own landscape, ancient culture and locations deeply into your permanent memory.
Why?
Well for starters, we as Americans think it great because we have buildings in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia that are over 250 years old. Israel has buildings that date back well over 3000 years and in fact a recent article claims an archeological team outside Jerusalem may have uncovered the remains of a house nearly 10,000 years old. No matter where you look in Israel, it is either ancient or built on ancient ruins. Lot's of people go to the Holy Land to see the antiquities, and admittedly they are fascinating. But the most fascinating part are not the ancient dead stones but rather the current living stones represented by the only civilization in the entire history of the world that has been repeatedly trashed and thrown onto the scrap heap of history, only to come back again and again and ad-infinitum!
The sights, sounds and visuals of a culture and land that has been trodden down by thousands of generations of people, both Jewish and conquerors, is simply something that defies adequate explanation. The City of Jerusalem for example. It could never qualify as a modern city the like of which can be seen in New York City, Moscow, London, Paris or yes even Kuala Lumpur. And yet it is the most valuable real estate on earth. Fought over generation after generation, lived in, died in, tortured in. Conquered, re-conquered but always returned eventually to Jewish control. The reason for that is simple: The Jewish people were chosen by God over 3000 years ago as His own special people and Jerusalem according to the Bible in 4 different verses including Zechariah 2:8 is the APPLE OF GODS EYE! Daniel 9:19 states clearly that both God's people (the Jews) and the City (Jerusalem) are called by His Name. Jerusalem is mention in the Bible 800 times. Today it is the mostly hotly contested city on earth by everyone from Arab nations, Persian, Turkish, Eastern European, to the United Nations and of course the actual eternal, legal owners of Jerusalem, the Jewish people.
To walk the old city streets of Jerusalem is an experience beyond all others. It is actually possible (in a few spots) in Israel to step on the exact stones tread upon by Jesus Christ. The Sea of Galilee, Tiberius and surrounding country side will leave a permanent lump in your throat. Too climb the Arbel and look past Galilee and over the Golan Heights into Syria in the extreme distance is breath taking. To ascend the mountain fortress of Herod the Great (Masada) and step where 960 Jews gave their lives in a suicide pact rather than submit to the Roman Army is heart wrenching. But also brings a level of permanent reality as with one slight turn of the head you can see at the bottom of the mountain the exact foundation stones of the Roman Army barracks while also seeing the proud Israeli flag still flying, proclaiming that never again will Israel be overrun by conquering armies.
But not all is that ancient. Israel has been fighting once again for it's very existence since the day it proclaimed statehood of May 14, 1948. We came across something that most tour groups sadly ignore. Outside Jerusalem some distance away is the AYALON INSTITUTE of REHOVOT. Circa 1945 through 1948 the "HAGANA" (Part of the Israeli military of the time) established a top secret ammunition factory below (literally underground) a laundry facility right under the noses of the British army. During these years, over 2.25 million bullets were made for the 9 mm Sten sub machine gun used by the Israelis coming into the war of Independence. To visit this remarkable place is a memory all unto itself.
I could literally write pages more and not scratch the surface of what is represented in Israel from the Hall of Independence in Tel Aviv to Caesarea and on up to Caesarea Philippi in the north and Eilat in the south. We have been to the majestic ancient city of Petra in Jordan and stood upon the very top of Mount Nebo where Moses overlooked the promised land.
Folks, if you have never been to Israel, do yourselves a favor. Save up, start your planning. Take the plunge because I guarantee that your Bible reading time will never again be the same. When you return you will open your Bible and picture yourself standing in the very spot written about.
Ah, Israel. According the scripture, the place that all followers of Christ, both Jew and gentile will spend all of eternity. The NEW CITY OF JERUSALEM. Revelation chapter 21:2 and Ezekiel chapter 40. I urge you to go now and see what the ages have preserved. Experience Jerusalem now to get an idea of where you will live forever more.
God bless you all,
Pastor Rance.
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