I’ve been absent from this space from the last few months as I prepared to lead a small group trip to Israel. I was reminded as I studied and traveled that no piece of real estate has had a bigger impact on my life than Israel. I was 10 years old the first time I visited, and life has never been the same since.

As I returned this time, friends have asked, “What difference does it make if I go to Israel? Is it really something I should consider doing?”

Let me first say, you can know Jesus, study the word of God, and love the church without ever setting foot in the land of Israel. Travel is certainly not a requirement for following Jesus closely.

But, IF it is possible that visiting Israel (or even studying the Land more) can help you understand the Word of God, recognize who He is with more clarity, and pursue Christ with greater understanding, why not consider the possibility?

First, God chose to work out His plan of redemption at a specific time and in a specific place. He told us what those places were for our confidence and edification. The place matters to Him. God told Abraham to take his only son on a journey from Philistia to a place ,would show him. It matters that three and a half days later, God brought them to Mount Moriah, that there, God Himself provided a lamb for sacrifice (Gen 22). It matters that King David bought the threshing floor of Aruna the Jebusite to conduct a sacrifice of repentance (2 Sam 24). It matters that that threshing floor, Mt. Moriah was where God chose to place His temple, to descend in a cloud and physically dwell with His people. It matters that Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, that He stood in that temple, and there proclaimed Himself to be the light of the world, the water of life. God’s plan of redemption is worked out on the stage of the land of Israel.

Often, the details and meaning of a Biblical story are more clear if the topography and geography are better understood. For example, the Gospel according to Mark says that Jesus healed a blind man as He was leaving Jericho. The Gospel according to Luke reports that Jesus was drawing near to Jerico when He healed a blind man. The skeptic might see a mistake in the reporting, but an understanding of the geography helps the reader identify the view of the writer: the Jewish writers, Matthew and Mark report Jesus was exiting the Jewish Jericho and the Greek writer Luke reported Jesus entering the Roman Jericho. The geography bears out the accuracy of the difference. Studying the Land can provide a confidence as the traveler sees the details of stories played out on the paths and rocks and streams.

Witnessing the topography of the Land can also bring a greater appreciation for the Biblical descriptions of God’s character and work. For those of us to grew up in verdant greenness surrounded by year-round rivers, what does it mean that God is refreshing to His people like streams in the desert? How do we understand the imagery in Isaiah 40 of mankind fading like grass withered by the hot breath of Providence unless we feel the burning proximity of the Arabian khamsin winds? Shepherd imagery? Lost coin? The wheat and the tares? Walking on the Sea of Galilea? How might a long, dusty, hot, hungry trek from Jerico to Jerusalem give the traveler a better understanding of the humanity of Jesus? Just a week or two in the Land can provide a lifetime of added depth of understanding of the Scriptures.

The Land serves as an encouragement to worship God for who His is and what He has done. Sitting on a site to read the Scripture that happened in that spot helps travelers remember the work of the Lord. Much of God’s communication with His people in the Old Testament was a warning: “Don’t forget what I have done for you. You are going to forget; you are going to say, ‘my hand got me these things’ and you are going to forget that I did it.” He told them, “write My ways on your doors, bind them to your forehead, tell your children, eat this feast to remember, take this journey to the Temple to commemorate My acts–just don’t forget!” They forgot, and we do too. Visiting Israel can help us to remember.

God invited His people to explore the Land. In the Old Testament, the people were to participate in the annual pilgrimage holidays. Men and women would travel to first Shiloh and then the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the works of God and to bring their sacrifices to Him. Families would walk the length of the Land, fathers pointing out heaps of stones to their children–See that? That is where God led us through the Jordan on dry ground. See that hill? On the other side of that is where King David grew up. See that little creek? God made it rain so much that His enemies’ chariots got stuck there.

The people went up to Jerusalem to worship, to remember God’s work, and to look forward to the fulfilment of the Lord’s promises for the future. Remember the story of the boy Jesus coming up to Jerusalem and staying behind in the Temple unbeknownst to Mary and Joseph who had started home? They would have sung the pilgrim songs (Psalm 120-134) together on the road, reflecting on God’s word among them.

Why visit Israel? The same invitation has been extended to us–look back, look around, and look forward to the work of our God.

We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!

Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.

Psalm 48

!לשנה הבאה בירושלים

Next year in Jerusalem!