Israel, Day 4....Day of War
There's nothing like the calm of the Sea of Galilee to calm the soul. A group of us took a boat out this morning to the middle of the sea, and I sat along the railing with the Israeli flag flying overhead. This land and it's people have had more war, turmoil, and persecution than any other people group, and yet, there's a peace here that I've never experienced before.
I guess I found out what Shalom really means.
A Russian Jewish man from the Kabutz that operated our boat showed the group how to 'fish properly' with a net. He didn't catch anything, but he sure looked the part, and we clapped and cheered at his Peter-looking attempt.
We then drove north to the Golan Heights.
This cave entrance is literally called 'The Gates of Hell.' A pagan temple was built to the Greek god Pan (prior to Jesus time), and Greeks would come and throw the heads of animals into the cave to offer sacrifices. If the blood of the animal flowed out into the spring below, their sacrifice was not received, but if the spring remained pure, the gods were apparently pleased.
Many believe this is where Jesus talked to Peter in Matthew 16 where he said, "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hell will not overpower it."
Some scholars believe he was making the point that he was the one true God and that no other sacrifices to any other gods would prevail against His lordship. (Take that, Satan).
I stood pretty joyfully in front of the 'Gates of Hell,' proud to be apart of the triumphant church that has already won the battle. Now, if we could just believe it enough to live it out. (:
We then traveled to a Syrian bunker where the Jewish miraculously won the Golan Heights in the 6 day war of 1967. Israel had signed a treaty with Syria, giving Israel the valleys and Syria the higher ground on the mountains. In the treaty, Syria promised not to use their hilltop advantage, however, only a few weeks after the treaty was signed, the Russians began helping them fortify the hills overlooking the Israeli valleys. For 19 years, farmers had to plow in tanks, children couldn't come above ground to play, and the Syrian troops had their guns and bombs pointed on the Israeli valleys below.
When Israel finally retaliated against the violated treaty, their win was miraculous and against all odds. (Hello, God). They took back the tops of the hills, overtaking the Syrian bunkers, allowing the children, families, and villages down below to live above ground for the first time in 19 years.
We drove through several Syrian land mines that were supposed to be charted out under international laws of war, however, they weren't. There's heaps and heaps of land that's unable to be used because of these mines that are expensive to find and disarm.
The Druze people served our lunch (who broke off from Islam and formed their own religion offshoot incorporating elements of Gnosticism and Neoplatonism. They are also a completely closed religion, so you can't convert unless you were born into them, but many of them in Israel are Israeli citizens). I was a bit bummed when I found out our only options were falafel (which I've been eating every day) and a Druze meal called lebonae (no idea how to spell that). HOWEVER.....Lebon-whatever was one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth. It was a large, thin pita, a bit like a crepe, filled with goat cheese, homemade olive oil drizzle, then heated, served with olives. Sounds crazy, but it tasted like pizza.
Anyone read about the Syrians storming the Israeli border in the Golan a few days ago? Well, we could see the border they stormed from our restaurant today.
In fact, we saw Syria and Jordan today from afar, and the only fences were on the Israeli side....in defense.
There are no words to describe what's happening inside of my heart right now for these people. 7.5 million Jews are surrounded by 100 million Muslims, and a majority of the Muslims want to eradicate them from the face of the earth. (I'm not saying anything negative about Muslims here...I'm talking about the Muslims in the middle east, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, that have had a history of wanting to wipe out the Jews).
Hitler tried to exterminate them. A lot of the countries surrounding them want to kill them. So much persecution, so much turmoil, and yet such beauty among these people.
When we asked our tour guide, Ami, today why he believed that everyone wanted to war against them, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know why the world hates us." Such hate against a people who have professed to want nothing but peace. In fact, their military is called IDF (Israeli Defense Force), meaning, they're on the defense and not offense. They don't attack, they defend when attacked.
I've never understood "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" like I have today. In fact, it's burning in my heart.
I WILL be writing more on this topic, but for now....the mosquitos are biting, the eyelids are getting droopy, and my 6.30 wake up call is going to come early.
Love to all....peace to all.
