Sunny Side of Darkness

Israel Journal IV: Final Impressions

Photo by Ann Fossa on Unsplash

Until now, I have focused on personal lessons, divine interventions, and the wonders of Jewish resilience in adversity. In this, my last journal of impressions of a nation and a people at war, I will illuminate the darker side. I searched and continue to search for a better title, but so far, the above keeps impressing upon me. I don’t yet know its meaning, but I trust it will unfold—perhaps by the end of this blog. If so, I will share it with you, dear reader.

I suppose it should be evident that Jerusalem, a metropolitan city, is, in many ways, like other large, fortified burgs; they have their particular brands of connivance. I would be remiss if I only gave the sunny side of Jerusalem while minimizing the darker, deceptive side. Ah, perhaps this is the title’s meaning?

I will point to a deception I first-handily heard and found myself engaged. My hostess told me that Israel’s laws forbade the proselytization of Jews to Christianity—a redundant oxymoron in my view: What is a Jewish follower of a Jewish Messiah but fully Jewish? How does one “convert” from a faith into the fullness of that same faith?

I was given two cautions. Again, my hostess and others working in the house provided first-hand examples of those arrested and deported for spreading the Gospel. Also, they cautioned that there would be those who “persuasively” attempt to get money from tourists by first engaging them in conversation.

During my first week, I encounter a younger man asking for the time—his phone in hand. I knew he didn’t actually need to see the time. Stepping out of the sun into the cool architectural shade (an alley), he asked if I was Jewish. I said “no,” that I was a follower of Yeshua. Speaking only of Jesus, he asked about his rejection by Israel…cunning! Of course, I wanted him to know the truth of Isaiah 53. I shared the text from Isaiah and Jeremiah 31. As I read, he asked if I was reading from the New Testament. I said, “No, this is the Tanakh.” I spoke for about twenty minutes on the history of the Greco-Roman occupation (I don’t know why), and I only cited text from the Tanakh. He wanted to meet later, but it was the coming in of the Shabbat. I told my hostess what happened, and she forbade me from meeting with him, urging caution and reiterating stories of arrested guests.

As I meditated on this cunning form of connivance, I recalled a verse and realized God’s hand of protection.

“And when they bring you to the synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how you should defend yourself or what you should say because the Ruach ha-Kodesh will teach you at that time what is necessary to say.”

Luke 12:11-12 TLV

You see, I only spoke from the Tanakh, so there could be no charge for proselytizing. Moreover, I gave the guy a first-century view of Greco-Roman politics, which surely became a challenging and confusing rabbit trail—oy vey!

Maybe the title of this post highlights two points: God shines truth in dark places and moments, and secondly, the coming King will restore the streets of Jerusalem.

My second dawning realization as I walked Jerusalem’s streets was the metropolitan filth—the city grime we all know and have experienced. There are the wafts of fresh baked goods, yet the stench of city “living” is as near as the next block. One will encounter a potpourri of shifting sensations, mentally cataloging where one must or mustn’t breathe. Indeed, homelessness continues with us, as Yeshua pointed out to Martha. To this end, I spent my time working in a soup kitchen when I wasn’t walking and praying. Others worked on farms because the men had gone to war, and there were no pickers to pick the spoiling produce. I imagined next year’s food shortages. Still, others I met prepared medical kits for frontline warriors. There is great spiritual and physical need. I found myself lamenting for a city in no condition to receive her coming King.

I recounted the admonishment, “Prepare the way of the Lord,” realizing at once that Yeshua would restore the glory of Jerusalem—her streets shining like the sun. In this, our blog’s title has the surest meaning and the sunny side we can expect!

“Then he carried me away in the Ruach to a great and high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God—her radiance like a most precious stone, like a jasper, sparkling like crystal. She had a great, high wall with twelve gates and, above the gates, twelve angels. On the gates were inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of Bnei-Yisrael—three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve emissaries of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:10-14 TLV).

Baruch HaShem, Marana-tha!