Next Year In Jerusalem Yes. This is me at the center of the world, at the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem. This is also the site of the ancient Jewish Temple. The Muslims have their mosque there now. I traveled back and forth to Jerusalem for years to with a Palestinian Christian organization in Jerusalem for years called Sabeel. Sabeel means “The Way” or “Spring of Living Water” in Arabic. I have also spent a lot of time there with Israeli Jews. My last trip was to the West Bank. The West Bank is the west bank of the Jordan River but the Jews there still call it Judea. The word Jew is actually derived from Judea, Judah, one of the tribes of ancient Israel. My last trip was with the Jews of Judea. They believe God has called them home to reclaim the land of Israel for the Jews. I love that place like I love Meadows of Dan and would be there if I wasn’t so deeply rooted here. I heard on the news yesterday that the U.S. is once again getting involved in the conflict and pressuring Israel to make a final agreement with the Palestinians. I was there with the Palestinian leadership, even at the president’s complex, Yassir Arafat, when George W. Bush’s Road Map to Peace was on the table. How did a hillbilly from Meadows of Dan land at Yassir Arafat’s house? I was at Frank Levering’s house leafing through a magazine. His parents had been world renowned peace activists. I noticed an article about an organization called “Christian Peacemakers Teams”. I had been studying the Bible passionately and had a passionate interest in The Holy Land. So I applied for a position with the Christian Peacemaker Teams in the Middle East. The Christian Peacemakers Teams introduced me to Sabeel. I was totally blown away and wowed when I received my itinerary for my first trip with Sabeel. I would meet with all the Arab leaders including Hamas and Yassir Arafat. Wow. The Lord works in mysterious ways. You know how it is in America with the liberals and conservatives both passionately thinking they are right? That is how it is between Israel and Palestine. They both passionately believe they are right and the other is wrong. There are 100 million Christian Zionists around the world. 60 million of them live in the United States. Christian Zionists believe that God is aligning world history around Israel and the forming of the new government and new state of Israel in May of 1948 is the prophesied ingathering of the Jews. The sign of the beginning of the end of the age. The Arabs believe that the Jews have taken their land, are taking their water and other resources away from them, and are pushing them out of their homeland. There are literally billions of Arabs in countries surrounding tiny Israel, that is actually about the size of New Jersey or Rhode Island, who hope to see the state of Israel destroyed. I was actually interviewed by the Boston Globe while I was in Israel about the way liberals in the U.S. tend to align with Palestinians and conservatives in the U.S. tend to back Israel. I mean even in the Christian churches. Christian liberals back the Palestinians and Christian conservatives back Israel. Generally but not always. I fall apart with a microphone in front of my face though or when I’m trying to speak to a large group. I have a picture hanging on my living room wall commissioned by a religious Jew who is a member of our Tuesday Meeting. In the picture there is the Dome of the Rock alongside the New Jewish Temple, which actually has not been built. That is a major contention in Jerusalem. The rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. He is trying to spread seeds of thought that there is room for both religions, both peoples, on the Temple Mount. And even room for us Christians there too. A place to worship The One True God according to our own customs. Hear O Israel. The Lord our God is ONE. (Deut.chapter 6 verse 4). For my part, I believe Israel was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a demonic attempt to wipe the people of God from the face of the earth. The Jews MUST have their own homeland and Israel is the place for it. Most of the Palestinians and even most of the Arabs are just regular people like us. They are victims of the radicals in their society and victims of their own corrupt governments. And they are children of God just like I am. I was scanning through the tv channels one Sunday morning and happened to catch a glimpse of a preacher I had met when I was in The Holy Land. Meno Kalisher, pastor of The Jerusalem Assembly. He is a Messianic Jew. A Jew who has accepted that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. As I listened to him speak I thought this man has the closest answers to the truth that we will find. His desire is to bring Jews and Arabs together in the Love of Christ in his church in Jerusalem. If I lived there I would join his church and help him in his endeavors. You can find him yourself I think here on the internet on Day of Discovery. At dod.org. As for our president trying to force Israel into compliance with our government’s will, this conflict cannot be fixed politically. We only make it worse by sticking our political noses in it. It is totally up to the Israelis and Palestinians to make the peace. And that is what I learned in Jerusalem. In closing I will say on this Sabbath Day in Israel, Shabbot Shalom to my Jewish friends and Salaam to my Arab friends. Peace. And I hope to see you again one day. “Next year in Jerusalem”.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 13:28:45 +0000