More than any other experience, a tour to Israel puts the real in “reality.” How? The experience changes the way you read your Bible. I’ve personally seen in the lives of hundreds of Christians. It absolutely can happen for you as well. Watch this video and see what I mean.
(Photo: On the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem’s Temple Mount)
Here are 3 iron-clad benefits you will receive when you journey to Israel.
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You will face disappointment today. I will too. When these frustrations shove their way in as unwelcome guests, the promise of God’s presence with us often feels thin. That’s just what Gideon thought.
(Photo: Ophrah, where the Lord met with Gideon. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Frequently, we respond to these disappointments like Gideon did while at Ophrah:
If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? (Judg. 6:13).
We say this (or think it privately) because we have a firm opinion of what God being “with us” looks like.
No pain.
But such a view treats the Bible like a buffet lunch where we pick and choose what we want to swallow about God. When we do that, the plate we hold in our hands represents a god in our image—a freak unlike the God whose tells us His ways are not like ours.
Why would we want to worship a God we can control or understand? Where is the awe in that?
There’s a better way to think about it—and a better way to respond.
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I have discovered that the most difficult battles in life simply mirror Jesus’ struggle in Gethsemane. His words to the Father remain the most challenging words we could utter:
Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done. —Luke 22:42
(Photo: Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus surrendered His will. Courtesy of Pictorial Library of Bible Lands.)
Surrendering your will to God in difficult times is often harder than the trial itself.
Our greatest challenges come not from those circumstances that press in upon us, but from the internal struggle to surrender our will to God. We enter Gethsemane daily and have to drag my will to the Father in prayer.
Here’s how.
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You’re ready for a change. You’ve asked God to open a new door in your life, and He has taken years to prepare you for it. Finally, you’re ready. There’s just one problem. Nothing happens. You just hover.
(Photo: Caesarea, where Peter met Cornelius. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
The plan of God includes preparation and waiting. But why do you have to keep waiting once God has prepared you? What else must you do for God to open the door?
The Apostle Peter experienced something at Caesarea by the Sea that may explain why your progress is delayed.
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The Old City of Jerusalem has a lot of gates. On the eastern side of the city walls, the Golden Gate stands bricked closed. It reminds me of the one massive gate Jesus refuses to enter.
(Photo: Golden Gate at Jerusalem’s eastern side. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
In front of the Golden Gate lies a massive Muslim cemetery. In fact, dotted along either side of the Kidron Valley lie thousands of graves. Some Muslim. Most Jewish.
Ironically, both cemeteries lie there, in part, because of the Messiah.
Here’s why.
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Most of us use Google Maps to find directions to somewhere new or to estimate the time a trip will take. But search the Web site for Jerusalem and the advantages take on a whole new level.
(Take a Virtual Tour of Jerusalem Using Google Maps)
You can take a virtual tour of Jerusalem. Obviously, you can sight-see anywhere in the world using this method. But Jerusalem offers unique benefits for Christians.
I suggest as a starting place searching for “Temple Mount, Jerusalem” in Google Maps. When you do, you’re screen will look something like the following image.
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We live in an age where avoiding obstacles, traveling great distances, and finding something to drink no longer prove a challenge. With a transportation system that requires little more than a basic understanding of road signs and airline gates, our world gives little attention to the importance of geography. But think about the times you visit a place you’ve never been before. It’s all strange.
(Photo: Mount Arbel and Sea of Galilee. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
The unfamiliar landmarks, the sudden turns, and the unexpected potholes are impediments to your progress. It’s the same with Bible study.
Those of us who seek to understand the meaning of the Bible strongly believe in interpreting a passage in its context. But context is more than words. When one reads the Bible, it becomes clear how geography is the stage on which the redemptive narrative takes place.
The land God chose was not arbitrary, for He designed even the land itself to develop the spiritual lives of His people. The land was never intended to be just a place to live.
The same is true where you live.
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Giving your child back to God can be a tough decision for parents. Eighteen or more years of sacrifice, commitment, and training suddenly bring you to a point of no return.
(Photo: Shiloh, where Hannah brought Samuel. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Whether it is for college, for the military, or in the natural course of growing up, giving your child back to God is a point every parent has to face.
Hannah’s story shows us how to prepare for it, and then, how to do it.
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We had no idea what following Jesus would require. Oh, we thought we knew. We had great ideas. The disciples had the same hopes one day in Capernaum. It didn’t include struggle in the Christian life.
(Photo: Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
That day in Capernaum, Jesus set straight some people who intended to make Him king by force, and He spoke some hard words. Afterwards, many no longer followed Him.
Jesus then turned to His disciples with a question.
It’s also a question for us.
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If we’re honest, reading the Bible sometimes seems like reading a TV Guide from 1975. Amusing and nostalgic, sure—but out-of-date. It seems better fitting in a museum. So why apply the Bible?
(Photo: Gospel of Luke 7.12-22, fragment. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
After all, any book that commands us not to eat shellfish or to refrain from mowing the yard on Saturday seems archaic. No wonder the world reads the Bible with a shrug.
But it’s too easy to pigeonhole the Scriptures as irrelevant just because its principles often hide in the context of yesteryear. Behind every oddball command sits a timeless principle that helps us apply the Bible today.
Our challenge? How to find it.
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