**** I am sorry this is a bit late- I forgot to post it. But it is still meaningful so please take a moment to read it***
The Journey
Between: Deceived.
As I sit here in the beauty and serenity of
the Garden Tomb where Jesus rose from the dead, my heart is broken and burdened
by all the lost and deceived souls here in the land of Israel. Here in
Jerusalem three major religions and many other faiths come to a head. There is
a feeling of spiritual heaviness in this city. The weight of lost souls weighs
heavy on a person who is aware and believes in Jesus Christ. Coming to this
place my spirit is burdened and yet awakened to the reality how lost and
deceived so any people are. Among the Jewish people there is such severe and
extreme deception and blindness. They, God’s chosen people, have been so
blinded that they fail to see the savior that came to save and rescue them!
They believe that Jesus wasn’t the Messiah, and they are still waiting (in
vain) for “their” Messiah to come.
What I have come to learn since being in
Israel is that the Jew’s really do not like Christians. The Rabbis even teach
against Christianity. They blame Christians for many of the atrocities that
have happened to them. There is a great divide between the Jewish people and
Christians when it comes to faith and belief in the Bible. The Jews focus
primarily on the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible – especially the
law of Moses), but they also accept the Old Testament as spiritually
authoritative. On the other hand,
they believe that the New Testament is full of deception and is only for
Christians, and that basically it is a bad book and not from God. I was not
aware of the extent of their blindness until people started to share with me
how things really are in the Jewish faith.
I read a book that was at one of our host
family’s house, and it was testimonies about Jewish people coming to faith in God.
It was amazing to see how many people had come to faith and to realize that
Jesus is the Messiah by reading the New Testament, and seeing the fulfillment
of scriptures through Jesus Christ. There are many passages in the Old
Testament that point to Jesus as the Savior, the Messiah and even as God. But
Jews have been told other explanations of these verses and they have even been
taught that the person they point too hasn’t come yet, that they are still to
be fulfilled.
How heartbreaking it is know that these
people, the ones God chose specially as His own people, are so lost. They have
the scriptures (part at least) yet they fail to see the Truth in them- they
fail to see Jesus in them! They are so mislead. What is called the Holy Land is
more like the Deceived Land. People all over claim to be religious but are so
far from the truth and the reason for our hope and salvation.
Jews cling to their religiosity to get them
into heaven and to a right standing with God. They think that by following all
the rules of the Torah (which are many) that they will gain acceptance by God.
Basically they are modern day Pharisees who fail to see that Jesus Christ is
the Way, the Truth, and The life- the Messiah who died for our sins and rose
again.
One saddening place we went to was the
Wailing Wall. It is in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. It is the only last
remaining part of the Temple. They believe that this is a connection to God.
Since God came to dwell in the Temple in the Bible times, they hold this wall and
area as a very sacred place. People come to pray, to worship, and bring their
requests to God. It is actually quite an oppressive place for Christians.
Especially to see people who think they know the truth but are so far from it.
We know that God isn’t in a place, but that He is everywhere.
Another thing that Jews believe regarding
the Temple is that until the new Temple is built they no longer have to offer
sacrifices. Sacrifices were a big part of Biblical Jewish faith, they offered
sacrifices to God as a way to have their sins forgiven. Since the Temple has
been destroyed (for 1000’s of years) they no longer have a place to offer
sacrifices- so how do they ignore that huge part of their history and
scriptures? Well I have come to learn that they believe that they have to wait
for a new Temple to be built and then they can offer sacrifices again and until
this happens they live a good moral life, fasting and praying will somehow make
them right with God. This is so sad to me. As believers we know that Jesus came
to be the ultimate sacrifice, to bear our sins on the cross that we might have
life, and life eternal in Him. But Jewish people do not believe this. They do
not believe that Jesus came to die for our sins, that the shedding of His blood
signified the final sacrifice. They ignore His dying as our sacrifice and
instead wait (and wail and pray) for their new temple to be built.
Of all the passages in the Old Testament
that speak of Jesus (Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah and more), it is hard to
understand how the Jewish people cannot accept Jesus as their Savior. In a
sense, they are like modern day Pharisees. The Pharisees in Jesus’ time had
Jesus the Messiah right in front of them, yet they were so hardened and blinded
that they could not believe or accept Him as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
Savior, the Messiah! The Jews today have the scriptures (part of them) and the
death and resurrection of Christ as their proof, but they still deny that He
was the Messiah. For years now, they have been waiting for “their” Messiah to
come. One who will come in splendor, in great and mighty power to save them.
What they are waiting for and expecting is a lie - Jesus already came. He came in a humble, submissive manner,
unlike what the Jews believe “their” savior will come as.
I sit here, looking at the Garden Tomb
where they believe Jesus was laid and rose again and I am burdened for all the
lost souls here in this land who have all the history, all the remains, all the
places to visit that speak of Jesus’ coming, dying, and rising, yet they still
write it off and deny it.
How can we as believers reach these people?
How can we show them the light, the way, the truth, and the life that is found
in our savior Jesus Christ? How can we reach a people who claim to already have
the truth? How do we open the eyes of those who are so blinded that they cannot
see their own deceit?
It comes by prayer. It comes through
persistence. It comes from boldness. It comes from declaring the Word of the
Lord. It comes from preaching the Gospel. It comes from the Power of the Holy
Spirit revealing the power of the Cross to people. It comes from believers
praying for the salvation of lost souls. It comes from living a life that is a
testimony to the death and resurrection of our Savior. It comes from the Word
of God as it goes forth and opens people’s hearts and eyes to the truth. It
comes from sharing the life giving Words of Jesus to the lost.
So what can we do?
We can come before the Throne of God,
pleading for these people. We can pray in utmost sincerity for the salvation of
the Jews. We can pray that as they read the scriptures that God will reveal
Himself to them in a mighty and powerful way. We can pray for those who are
ministering in this land, that they would be a light in the darkness. That the
believers here would have strength and boldness to fight the battle here, as
there is one raging. We can pray for God’s Holy Spirit to pour out on this land
and reach this land and once again make it a Holy place.
Please partner with me and spend some time
praying for the land of Israel. That God’s power and name would be made famous
here. That blind eyes would see; that hardened hearts would be softened, and
that lost souls would find life in Jesus Christ!
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