What About The Father

Greetings from Jerusalem. Jan and my mind and heart are full as we visit people and places. And our little group has become family these two weeks.The weather in Israel has been unusually warm here for this time of year. 

 As you might guess the only farming pictures this past week are the ones the kids and crew have snap-chatted us. You in Iowa know better than I but it seems it's been a busy week of harvest. One morning when we got up I saw the crew was still working. As a father I missed our kids, our help, and my occupation when I realized they were working day and night. However as most of you already know, our harvest is in very capable hands. Thanks for the picture Karl.

So this week our visit is going to be a little different. Our time here has been packed from 7 am to evening every day with people, places, events, and food. So let's start with people. Last Sunday we went north up into the Golon Heights and Miria briefed us on Syria and Lebanon after spending the day touring Biblical sights. We left the Sea of Galiliee area on Tuesday singing on the bus, How Great is Our God. On Wednesday we stopped at the US Embassy. Below we had lunch with Ambassador Freidman on Thursday.

 We also had lunch with Joel Rosenberg who has citizenship in both our country and Israel. Joel is an author, a friend of TFL, and a friend of Jan and I. If you enjoy political thrillers and follow his series of books let me know and you would be welcome to join us and others to meet him in Des Moines, March 21, when he releases his newest book, The Jerusalem Assassin. 

Excavation by archaeologists is happening on an ongoing basis in Israel discovering Biblical cities.   The director of International Affairs took us underground showing us how they have started excavating below while supporting and not bothering the modern city above. He visited about how Israel's neighbors and even folks in our country are opposed to excavating old cities here because it absolutely proves the Bible is true. 

Thursday we drove down through the West Bank. In Bible times this area was called Samaria. We stopped at Shiloh. Shiloh is where the Israelite's first came when they entered the Land of Canaan. It's where Joshua divided the land among the 12 tribes of Israel. Shiloh is where the Tabernacle was for 369 years. That's where the Old Testament Jews worshiped and prayed until Solomon later built the Temple in Jerusalem. Elieana talked to us about the site there which is 3500 yrs old and the power of prayer. This is where Hannah prayed to God for a baby and she became the prophet Samuel's mother. Elieana told us about many modern day answers to prayers that were prayed here.

The last of the folks I'm going to show you are the Israeli police. It's a region of constant tension. The police and military carry AR15 rifles. All citizens are required to serve in the military after high school. Men for 3 years. Women for 2 years. I wanted to add this picture because I thought these two fellows looked alot like our son Kurt and his friend and our neighbor Brent. Brent is a deputy sheriff and Kurt is a reserve deputy. 

Now let's share about just a few of the dozens of places we have visited this past week. Let's kind of start when God talked to Abraham 4000 years ago and told him he was going to be the start of a great nation. Today that nation is Israel. Abraham and Sarah finally had a son Isaac when they were in their 90s. God tested the father's faith by asking him to sacrifice his only son. He and Isaac journeyed three days obediently following God's directions. When God saw Abraham's faith he provided a ram caught in the thicket to sacrifice instead. We saw those rams wandering across the road yesterday. We saw the valley where Abraham and Isaac took that three day trip.

Now let's jump forward to David. He built a city called the City of David. I always thought the City of David was Jerusalem. It is today however 2500 years ago it was on the south edge in the hills. He put his palace on top of the hill. We were in his palace. The foundation of it is under the modern day visitor center. Standing on his balcany in the picture below kind of gives you an idea of how he could see Bathsheba bathing those many years ago. David wanted to build a permanent temple for worship. God said no. I will have your son Solomon do that. So as a father he bought a threshing field to the north of his city in preperation. And that's where Solomon built the temple. 

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There have been wars in Israel for centuries. Who controlled what areas and when is confusing. The temple Solomon built was destroyed. Then it was rebuilt and destroyed again in 70AD by the Roman siege. When the Turks took over after King Herod they were Muslim. Today an Islamic shrine is located where the temple used to sit.

Now lets jump ahead to the time of Jesus about 2000 years ago. Of the dozens of places we see, few have been more gripping to me than this one. It's on top of a cliff in Nazareth. Where Del is pointing is the mountain next door where many years earlier Gideon and his 300 men defeated the Midianites. Behind Del is the Valley of Armageddon. Back to Nazareth. This is where Jesus grew up. He helped his earthly father Joseph as a carpenter. Mary and Joseph know they are raising the Messiah. When Jesus is 30 years old he starts his ministry. At some point during his ministry he comes to his hometown. The folks in town see the crowds following him. They say, "Who does he think he is? He's claiming to be the Messiah". Isn't he just a carpenter's son? In Luke 4 it says they take him to the top of this cliff and try to throw him off. As I'm reliving this story I'm thinking, what about his father and mother? Even today it's so much easier to condemn folks than confirm them and genuinely appreciate who they are. 

We walked down the road from the Mount of Olives that Jesus walked on Palm Sunday. Then we walked into the Garden of Gethsemane. Del reflected on the night before Jesus was crucified. We were thinking about how hard that night would have been. Something I hadn't thought about until we were here was What about Jesus's Heavenly Father? I know He is God. It still had to hurt to see His son suffer for us folks who He loves so much.

 That night in the Garden Jesus was arrested and taken to the High Priest home. The High Priest would have been a church leader. The Bible says the church leaders had him beaten. Obviously he wouldn't have been beaten in the kitchen or living room. He was taken down the basement to a dungeon. We could still see the metal bars where prisoners hands would have been tied to the wall.

 Since the church leaders needed the Roman government to sentence him to death, they sent him to Pontius Pilate, a Roman official. Below are the actual steps Jesus walked from the High Priest home to the Roman governor's house.

Most of us know the rest of the story. Jesus own people rejected him and had him killed. That act was Jesus paying for our wrongs. Three days later he rose from the dead. That's our Easter. What about the Father? When the Jews rejected Christ God used Peter, Paul, and others to bring this gospel to the rest of the world.

That's us. We are the rest of the world. We are also the others that are to bring this good news to our families, our friends, and our neighbors. Thanks for the visit.