Farewell, O Jerusalem!

’til we meet again.

I’ll leave you with this…

Isaiah 62
Zion’s New Name

¹ For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.

² The nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.

³ You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

⁴ No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah (My Delight/Desired),
and your land Beulah (Married) ;
for the LORD will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.

⁵ As a young man marries a maiden,
so will your sons marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.

⁶ I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the LORD,
give yourselves no rest,

⁷ and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem
and makes her the praise of the earth.

⁸ The LORD has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain
as food for your enemies,
and never again will foreigners drink the new wine
for which you have toiled;

⁹ but those who harvest it will eat it
and praise the LORD,
and those who gather the grapes will drink it
in the courts of my sanctuary.”

¹⁰ Pass through, pass through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!
Remove the stones.
Raise a banner for the nations.

¹¹ The LORD has made proclamation
to the ends of the earth:
“Say to the Daughter of Zion,
‘See, your Savior comes!
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.’ ”

¹² They will be called the Holy People,
the Redeemed of the LORD;
and you will be called Sought After,
the City No Longer Deserted.

{wrapping up}

So, one week from today we’ll be headed back to the U.S.  We’re really excited to see everyone, but sad that our time here for now is at an end.

Easter Sunday we were able to attend a service at the Garden Tomb, which just outside of the Old City walls.  It’s such a peaceful garden, filled with the presence of the Lord.  Wheter or not it was the actual place that Jesus was buried is not the important part, but that he’s not buried in any tomb in the world!

We had Monday-Wednesday off of work b/c of Passover, so we decided to take a couple of day trips.  Monday a few of us went to hike at Ein Gedi near the Dead Sea.  It turned out to be a hot day in the Negev and we worked up a flowing sweat hiking up the mountain trails.  After the hike, we took a float in the Sea to cool off… Akon even took his first dip that day!

Tuesday we took a trip over to Tel Aviv… mind you, all of these places are usually within an hour to hour and a half drive!  Small country.  We didn’t spend a ton of time there, but enjoyed checking out their massive shuk (outdoor market)!  Also, on Tuesdays they have a local arts/crafts fair down one of their main streets… it was really neat to see so many of the local artists’ work.  Tel Aviv is definitely the most modern city of the state and secular as well.  Random:  I always hesitate to wear athletic shorts in Jerusalem b/c you get looks and feel guilty about it (definitely the most religious city in the country)!  Not so in Tel Aviv.

With the rest of our time off we enjoyed some ultimate frisbee playing and not-so-much some research for things like health insurance, rental property, cell phone plans, etc.   We’ll be busy these last few days starting to pack, organize and say goodbye to friends.

Side note:  the new NBC show Kings is really neat so far, and it’s based in the Biblical account of David.  I’ve started reading in 1 Samuel, and while the show is certainly not an exact copy, it does noticeably follow the story.

We’ll post one last time from Jerusalem, then we’ll see you on the flip side!

Passover

(Andrew Peterson – Passover Us)

Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is one of the biggest Jewish holidays every year. It is the celebration and remembrance of God bringing the Israelites out of Egypt under pharaoh into a land He had promised them. We were reminded by Chuck Cohen yesterday at Bible study that God used a man, the blood of a lamb and faith to spare the Hebrew people on the night of righteousness judgment. Sound familiar? When I tell you that Jesus is just as much the centerpiece of this feast as is God delivering the Hebrew people, I am not exaggerating.

Pesach, like many of the Jewish holidays, revolves around a dinner table where families often invite others to partake together in this very symbolic meal, songs and even a sort of  “game.” Often, Jewish families invite soldiers, holocaust survivors and widows/widowers to share in Passover.  The whole meal and ceremony is called a Seder /say der/. There is also a Seder plate that contains symbols that are integral to the meaning of Pesach (more on that in a minute).

We celebrated this feast with the Parsons family Wednesday night. David Parsons has been at the ICEJ for many years and is in charge of the media department. He was gracious to invite us over to share this meal of “worship” with them. He did a great job of explaining the Seder plate. Here is a shot of it.