The promise

I have been there. I have walked where Jesus walked. I know without a shadow of a doubt that this land was promised to the Jews.

"And the Lord said unto Abram ... Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" (Gen. 13:14-15).

When I stood on Masada, I knew just how far the eyes could see and I knew how grand the promise was that was made.

"I will give to thee (Abraham) and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession" (Gen. 17:8).

Everlasting. Forever. Never ending. We cannot take away what God promised. It is not ours to take. It is not ours to negotiate. It belongs to the Jews.

"Unto thee (Isaac) and unto thy seed will I give all these countries" (Gen. 26:3). "The land whereon thou (Jacob) liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed" (Gen. 28:13). "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise" (Heb. 11:8).

When I sat by the Sea of Galilee, when I walked in Caperneaum, when I lifted my eyes up to the hill of Jerusalem and saw the Holy City, I saw what we mean when we pray “thy kingdom come….on earth as it is in heaven”. I saw where the kingdom will one day be. I saw heaven on earth.

The music to the slide show is by Terry Hendricks. The photos were taken while I was there.