My wife and I are in the early stages of planning another vacation to Israel this summer. I’ve never enjoyed a vacation as much as the last time I visited this fascinating land. Touring that country is like watching the Bible come alive. For forty years I’ve read with interest about Jericho, Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee, the Temple on the Mount, the Dead Sea, Nazareth, the Garden of Gethsemane, Golgotha, and so forth, but to actually stand at those places and view them with your own eyes is something very special. My wife and I were re-baptized in the Jordan River in the same location it is believed that John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ. That was very special too.
If you’ve never been to Israel, then I highly recommend that you do so, (maybe you might want to join my wife and me next summer). Many folks ask me if I felt safe there and my answer is yes. Most of what we see on the news occurs far to the south of the tour routes and on our trip we never once felt unsafe, or saw any of that. I’m more concerned that I might see a few mangy looking protestors beating on drums in NYC if we have a layover there.
Could I die on this trip? Well of course, but I could also stay home and fall off my horse, or out of a deer stand at Honey Lake and do the same. If it’s my time to die and go to heaven, I can think of no better departure site than God’s chosen Holy Land, (and second to that Honey lake Plantation).
When in Israel it is amazing how God dominates the entire population’s thought process. Christians, Jews, Muslims all publically pray, be it at the Wailing Wall, one of the thousands of churches, or some of the tens of thousands of special Holy sites. God is on everyone’s mind, all of the time, and dominates life in this small country. It is wonderful to be among it.
I can only try to imagine what it must have been like for Moses to climb Mount Sinai and see God face to face. What a glorious experience he enjoyed being in His presence and talking with Him one on one and receiving His commandments. When he returned to the base of the mountain his face glowed so brightly he had to wear a veil to keep from blinding those who saw him.
I will never forget returning to the United States after 14 days in Israel. I was glowing inside from being inundated with God 24/7 for 14 days. It was a wonderful feeling. It was depressing to return to our secular society where the thought process is dominated more by money, greed, violence, and politics, and God is mentioned more in curse words, than in awe and reverence.
I kind of felt like Moses after he came down from the mount; he wanted to keep the feeling going so badly that he continued to wear the veil, even though the glow had worn off and disappeared. I desired to keep my special feeling of being close to God with me a while longer, but alas not many in this country seem preoccupied with God or Godly things. And like Moses it’s tough to not be influenced by it and my inner glow seemed to dissipate.
I look forward to its revival.
I stood on the ground that the Bible prophecies that God will set foot when He returns. It’s an amazing sight to look down upon Jerusalem and the temple from that hilltop and envision what that event will be like. Just around the corner from that spot is the Garden of Gethsemane. It was there that I selfishly prayed that God would hurry up and usher that day in.
I say selfishly, because there are so many lost souls that need to come to the Father who will be forever lost if that day were to come today. Similar to the example set for us by Jesus Christ I am concerned for them and I pray that many will come to the Father even today.
If you are not sure that if you were to die today that you will see heaven, then surrender your heart to Him at this very moment. God wants all of us spend eternity with Him in paradise. Believe in Jesus and follow Him and not the world, and you will glow in His glorious presence like Moses on the Mount and the feeling will last forever.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”