No, This is Not the End

the end of the Days

June 5, Wednesday

travelling home…

So, this is the end…we have just shared our last meal together and have been told when to have our bags ready for pickup in the morning, when to be down for breakfast and when to head for the bus.

I have loved this Country, the very smell of the land, the color of the deserts, it's heights and it's lowlands; I have loved the waterways; the seas and rivers and lakes...the swimming in them and I have loved the bright sun, the heat of the day and the breezes of the night. I have loved the people, watching them in their diversity and steadfastness.  Israel, taking in the whole of it, loving it and now... leaving it. 

Yes, we are heading home, suitcases packed, keepsakes and souvenirs carefully wrapped in the already over stuffed corners.  Last looks at the countryside and the views around us.  And memories tucked safely inside our hearts and minds; in our very souls. Memories of new friendships made, made from the common desire to know more…more of our faith.  Memories of places seen, places where regular people and Kings have made their homes, where they walked...where we walked too.  And we have been made aware of time; time forever changed because now we see it in a whole new light, we have seen history in its time through the perspective of Gods land, God’s word…His unchanging word.

I think this is one of the most amazing things I have learned, God’s unchanging word, His word proved true through tradition, through discovery in excavations, through the findings of inscriptions, proven by way of found boats, unearthed coins and seals, proven by the finding of His written word in places so hidden that only He could have arranged it…His unmoving word.

His Word proven true by fulfilled prophecy; in those days; in past days and even in these days. 

How amazing to have seen these things in the context of the land where they have happened; artifacts and places that have been protected for centuries by the Orthodox, the Catholic and even the Muslim…amazing…and there is more being discovered fresh and new every day, things old and of historic importance protected by God for such a day as this.  God acts in mysterious ways, what an honor and privilege to know some of this mystery and to have been here, to His House.

As we are travelling along this highway back to Tel Aviv, leaving Jerusalem, we are silent, watching the scenery pass us by, feeling blessed that we have been part of this land and the story it tells.  As we go, David entreats us to spread the word as we head into the places we know, our own cities and towns and homes to spread the word of the good news of Israel…of that we have no choice, I feel I will never stop talking about it!

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. 

You have come to thousands of angels gathered together with joy.  

You have come to the meeting of Gods firstborn children whose names are written in heaven.  

You have come to God, the judge of all people, and to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect.  

You have come to Jesus, the One who brought the new agreement from God to His people, 

and you have come to the sprinkled blood that has a better message than the blood of Abel.”

Hebrews 12:22-24 

Though this is the end of our days together, this is not the end.  Yes, we are leaving here, yes, we are going home; but what we have learned here, we will be taking with us, we will not stop talking about it, or leaning in to hear something more about it, or taking in every word we come across that is speaking to it.  No, this is not the end, we have heard a better message, we have been part of it... following the dots of bloody dirt.

I love that.