My Israel journal so far mainly tells about what we saw and did. Let me take just a few minutes to share some things that I was learning up to this point.
When Jesus claimed that he would rebuild "the temple" in three days, I can now better picture how crazy that would have seemed to the Pharisees. One rock I saw on the Western wall - just one rock - weighed as much as our tour bus. Yet, wouldn't it be easier to rebuild the Temple than to raise oneself from the dead.
Rocks are speaking a lot to me these days! The phrase that keeps echoing in my brain is "If these keep silent, the rocks will cry out!"
At the Triumphal Entry, people were swept up with emotion - elation. But, how did Jesus respond upon entering Jerusalem? He wept for a people that had chosen not to be gathered as chicks under the hen's wing. Do I cry when He cries? Do I rejoice over what thrills His heart? Good questions!
As I spent a day in the wilderness, I was challenged to think on this question. "If Jesus is my model, what are the implications of this experience?" The wilderness was a place of prayer; time alone with the Father; and facing temptations. The temptations were basically challenges for Jesus to value self-protection, self-provision and self-promotion.
The Scripture talks about the wilderness a lot. The wilderness in Scripture was a place of:
- Judgment
- Rest
- Provision
- God's leading
- God's refuge
- Miracles
- Testing (proving character)
- Justice
- Grace
- Prayer
- Danger
- Discipline
- Wondering
It was good to have some time to ponder in the wilderness. May I leave here ready to walk by faith like Abraham and willing to follow in Jesus' footsteps.
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