Israel is for lovers. Passionate lovers. Lovers of her God. Lovers of her people. Lovers of her heritage. Lovers of her destiny.
Take a moment to drink in God's passion for His Land and people with these words:
"'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness'" (Jeremiah 31:3).
"'When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son'" (Hosea 11:1).
"'Therefore I am going to allure her...and speak tenderly to her...then she will sing as in the days of her youth'" (Hosea 2:14).
These are all statements written by the Hebrew prophets as they heard, through the Holy Spirit, God reveal his heart toward Israel. Can you hear the pathos in these words? Can you feel the heartthrob? Does this sound like a dry doctrinal treatise on "God's love for Israel?" Or does it, as one Israeli author has stated, sound like "a hot-blooded Middle Eastern love story--a divine "A Thousand and One Arabian Nights"?
Guess what? This is your story, too. God loves you this much also. And if you have responded to His love, He will imbue you with His heart for the ones He loves also. And He has a special place in His heart for the land and the people of Israel.
When you go to the Land, you will see abounding evidence of that love. You will see abounding evidence of God's faithfulness. Vibrant, bustling towns that didn't exist 60 years ago are now home to major tech centers, seaports, and resort areas. Cities that had been largely deserted have grown into modern metropolitan centers. The population has grown from 250,000 in 1882 to over 10 million today. Jerusalem alone has blossomed from a backwater village of 14,000 to a bustling metroplex of over 600,000 today. Everywhere you go you see old and new lying side-by-side...ancient buildings and ruins lying next to (or in close proximity to) modern high-rises and office buildings.
Even the language testifies to God's faithfulness. Hebrew--a dead language for over 2000 years--fills the streets and the airwaves.
And the environment? Well, these pictures are ample evidence of God's faithfulness--especially when you consider that Mark Twain dubbed the land "a desolate country...given wholly to weeds...a silent mournful expanses."
You will see abounding evidence not only of the faithfulness of the God of Israel, but also of His warrior-like anger toward any and all who deny her right to this land. And...if you have ears to hear...you will also hear the Father whispering in your ear that He loves you with that same kind of warrior-like passion.
Come to Israel. You truly "never will be the same."
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