All of you that know me, know I get emotional very easily. There are times that I weep while watching reruns of "Leave it to Beaver." So I knew it was inevitable that the moment would come during my trip to Israel where I would lose it.By The Way it came while I was at the Western Wall. Now I'm not talking about "western" as in Gun Smoke or Big Valley. This Western Wall shows part of what experts say may be left of Solomon's Temple. I put on my mandatory ya mica (the little skull cap) and slowly approached the wall. I was standing between two orthodox rabbis as they read from the Torah and prayed. I began to pray. All of a sudden it hit me. They were praying and longing for the Messiah to come. I knew that Yeshiva had already come. And They and all the other Rabbis were spiritually blind to that fact. The admonition from the Scripture came to my mind, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." That peace will never come until they acknowledge the Prince of Peace.
I began to weep as I prayed for their eyes to be opened. I thought of Paul's cry, "I would be willing to be accursed if I knew that in doing so it would lead to the opening of the spiritual eyes of my kinsman, my Jewish brothers."
It seems to me that we need to be more missionary minded toward the Jewish people. Jesus said, the Gospel would first be preached in Jerusalem, Judah, Samaria, and then the rest of the world. Now it seems to have made full circle.
When I got back to my group I was still blubbering. It was one of those special moments of blessing, and burden that God from time to time lays upon us.
THOT: JOIN ME IN PRAYING AND GIVING AND GOING THAT THE GOSPEL WILL BE HEARD AMONG THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE GROUPS OF THAT AREA.
2 comments:
I LOVE your 'blubbering' heart! I shed a few tears myself that week when I thought of where you were and what you might be experiencing. It was the trip of a lifetime and I was so proud you were able to take part.
I love you!!!
Broco,
It occurred to me that as I saw the wall, it was the very one where just in those days we were there that muslim extremists began to throw down stones from the top of the wall and upon those who prayed, creating an international incident. Indeed, praying for the peace of Jerusalem seems a fitting subject for prayer - especially in the face of the ongoing crisis between the age-old enemies. They need the peace of God's Messiah for it is He alone Who will be the peace before Whom all must and will bow.
Indeed, it was a great trip that I enjoyed taking with you and the other pastors.
Jim-Dad
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