She is already experiencing some of the same things I did. We talked about the way people react when you tell them you are going to Israel. There are three main reactions:
1. The non-believer: “What the hell are you going there for?” (while nervously laughing the same kind of laugh you would hear if you told them you were really a Martian).
2. The nominal believer: “Oh really? . . . Uh . . . that’s . . . . uh . . . . interesting. Aren’t you concerned about the violence?” (The answer to that question is, “Yes, I am, but the layover in New York is for only a couple of hours.”)
3. The spirit-filled believer: “When are you leaving? Is there still room to sign up?”
She could have gone anywhere in the world. Some friends even suggested they go to a resort destination like Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Vallarta. My daughter’s reaction was, “I’ve got money to go to one place. Why would I want to go anywhere else than Israel?”
I am excited for her because she will undoubtedly have some very unique and wonderful experiences there. As I remember my trip it is easy now to recognize that God was delighting in allowing me some experiences and showing me some scenes that he knew I would never forget.
For instance there is a famous Zion Gate that was the scene of a crucial battle in the 1967 Six Day War when the Israeli Army broke through and finally entered Jerusalem. The stones that make up this gate are filled with the pock-marked evidence of that battle. As we were huddled around our guide (a former IDF Major) and he was telling us the story, we start hearing the singing of what sounded like a youth group coming our way. Their choruses echoed between the buildings and grew louder as they approached. Male and female voices singing songs we couldn’t understand, intermixed with laughter reached us long before we could see the group. Finally they rounded a corner and headed past us. It was an army troupe. About 40 young soldiers, an equal amount of boys and girls, all fully armed with rifles or Uzi’s, marched, walked, skipped, past us in loose formation. They turned another corner and disappeared from site. Their singing and laughter faded as they went away. We were left there alone again, staring at Zion's Gate, with the old IDF major, our tour guide still talking about the miracle battle that happened there.
Now use your spiritual eyes and tell me what we saw. The significance of that whole scene affected us then. It affects me more now as I recall it. If I had do over’s I would have gone up to them and asked them to tell me who their captain was. I am not sure any of us were ready for the answer they might have given us. See Joshua 5:15.
In Israel it is not uncommon to be standing in a place where an incredible miracle had taken place. It happened in Joshua's time, and in Jesus time. At that very spot in 1967 it happened again. Were we seeing another before our eyes in 1992? I should have taken off my shoes.
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