A United Jerusalem

July 8

So, today was yet another wonderful day. To start off the day we went to the Mount of Olives which was pretty awesome. It was pretty great to be at the place where Yeshua ascended to Heaven and will be returning for His Second Coming. We also talked about how God is doing all He can do in order to go back to the way things were at the Garden of Eden. The craziest thing to think about is how God’s PHYSICAL presence was in Eden. I mean, just imagine, God is with us obviously now in Spirit, but can you imagine if His actual presence was with you all the time? I mean, that just blows my mind.

I also got to ride a camel for the first time. That was pretty fantastic. Tyler and I got to ride together and almost everyone else got to ride as well. It was so much fun. The poor camel didn’t like getting up and down for everyone to get on and off of him!

One of the most interesting things we did I think was go to the Garden of Gethsemane. We got to see olive trees that were so ancient they were hollow inside! This is where Yeshua agonized in prayer and was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the soldiers. We talked a lot about Yeshua praying. Gethsemane means “oil press” and Yeshua’s soul was definitely being pressed… just like an olive. I mean, for the first time He was going to be separated from the Father. Seriously, I am in awe of the fact that the Son of God gave up everything to humble Himself and die… He knew what the pain was going to be… but we were worth it to Him. WE were worth it to HIM! Think about that! It’s insane!

After that we went to the Holocaust Museum. This was very hard for me. The thing that made this museum harder for me than any other was the faces. They had a children’s memorial and they had pictures of children and there were names, ages and where they were from of children that died. There were some candles in a dark room, but there were mirrors so it looked like millions. I think they said 1.5 million children were killed. Children! Then, in the regular museum they still had so many pictures… so many faces. They had testimonies playing and movies playing… it was their eyes I think. Their eyes that made my heart break. The emptiness I saw… my heart is literally in pieces.

From there we went to the Knesset which is the Israeli Parliament. The Knesset building houses the Israeli’s government body. We were able to get a tour and learn more about how the government worked. I have to be honest with you, some of the things didn’t stick with me because it’s a little bit harder for me to understand government stuff and I was really tired, but one thing I do remember is that in the Declaration of Independence, they couldn’t agree on whether to use the name of God, so they settled on using “the Rock of Israel” because then it could be interpreted as the strength of Israel, or the strength of Israel comes from God! I thought that was interesting.

After the Knesset we went to Shalom Yerushalayim which is the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus. It was so interesting! Actually, the man Josh is known as one of the top 50 influential people in the world! And I can see why. He has such a dedication to keeping Jerusalem united and a huge love for Israel. He told us about how everyone is against Israel even though it is the only country out of the twenty two Middle East countries that has more freedoms. He also talked about how a lot of Christians today are against Israel because of their Replacement Theology. But, the important thing is, is that the more prophecies that are being fulfilled, the more threatened these other theologies become! (That could also be a bad thing I guess because who knows what people do when they feel threatened.) Anyway, he really emphasized the fact that Jerusalem is extremely important, and it is very important that it remains one and undivided.

It was pretty cool because we got to sign the Jerusalem covenant which is a doctrine signed by leaders of Israel that confirms their commitment to Jerusalem. We need to never forget and always be binded with love towards Israel. We need to support Israel and Jerusalem being holy and UNITED.

One thing that I’m going to try and commit to is praying for Israel! Specifically for Jerusalem since so many people are trying to divide Jerusalem and it is the only place that the Bible tells to specifically pray for. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is actually one of the safest places in the world, so if you’ve ever thought about visiting, do it!! It’s such a neat experience!!

But not only is it a neat experience, I’ve learned so much about the ignorance of America. People just don’t know and are unaware of what things really are. That’s why anti-Semitism arises. Because of ignorance. And it is our responsibility to raise awareness. Whether it’s promoting this organization on facebook or youtube or signing the covenant or just recognizing Jerusalem, every step counts! Their website is iacf.org if anyone wants to find more information about it!

I mean, seriously, if they divide Jerusalem, things would be much different. A united Jerusalem is better for everyone because of the freedoms that Israel provides. So it’s not only just Biblically important! But it is a Biblical basis to support Israel and a united Jerusalem no matter what the news propagates. Just read Isaiah 62:6-7. God is going to bring back to Him the things that He has promised. We must not give Him any rest, we must keep knocking and reminding Him until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. When He fulfills His promises, God will get all the glory!

That’s why Friends of Israel is not too political, because it ties in hand in hand with the Bible! You can’t have either or, standing by Israel is a “both” and “and” because it has such a strong Biblical basis and glorifies God. Israel is not a living museum, it is God’s Land and His people have come back to it!

From there we went back to the hotel and we met up with Gal and Sonia and some other people from the Kehila and ORIGINS alumni! We all went to Ben-Yehuda street for some shopping!! Heather and I were pretty excited because we got some pretty good deals. (We think anyway…) It was so much fun to shop and get ice cream and just be surrounded by these people. We got to dance with strangers and it was just a really good experience and memory.