Thursday, March 21, 2013

Thoughts on Israel #3...


Why do I care about all this “Jew” stuff?

That is a funny question that was posed to me today. Not directly at me, but part of a larger conversation that opened up into this question. It has stuck with me. And for what it is worth, I think it is a great question.

This morning, I was reading 1 Kings. The beginning of this book is about the transition between David and Solomon as king. Much detail is given to things that before now, I hadn’t even cared to notice. Now that I have been here and seen the land, the cities, the climate diversity… everything has changed.
Why this person in that place? All the strategy, the provision that had to take place and the innovation needed to pull of supporting life in these places is so crazy!

But beyond that – and why I care about it so much – how can anyone say that they understand anything about the Bible without connecting it back to its roots? How can anyone divorce the writing of the Scripture from the customs, people, and conversations that it was birthed into? How can I say I love the Word without steeping myself in its cultural and historical context? I can’t! And I won’t even try to do that anymore.

I have been wrestling with what to do with all this.  What do I make out of all the things that I am being exposed to? Today, I got to stand at Masada. I sat in the seats of the synagogue that the rebels who held out at Masada sat in the day before they died. What prayers did they pray? What scriptures did they read? What’s more, what example did they leave behind of what people who live with conviction live like?

I am drawn to this place. I am compelled to open the eyes of people that I speak to every week. I cannot help but realize the great need that we all have to experience this place at least once. I will be part of that solution for those who have not yet seen what I have seen.  I am so blessed.

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