Israel Is
Real
“This is the disciple which
testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his
testimony is true.” John
21:24 (KJV)
Connor O’Flannery once said, “Truth does not change based on our ability
to stomach it.” In a culture of relativism, where your
truth, their truth and my truth are “just as important as another’s truth,” those words are never more important. However, faith has a reality side that cannot
be denied.
The Apostle James
wrote in his book, “Faith without works is dead.”
However, we could just as easily parallel that truth with the statement “Faith
without facts is ‘deader’” In other words, your faith is only as strong
as the object of your faith and the object of your faith must exhibit a
mountain of evidence in order to pass the “sniff” test of truth.
This week, I returned from a brief stay in
the Holy Land in Israel. Though only the size of the state of Rhode
Island, this small place on the planet (on the eastern part of the
Mediterranean Sea) holds facts unlimited and yet untold to the validity of the
Christian’s faith on which you can base your faith.
Translation, they are either factual or
unfactual and either acceptable or objectionable. God has easily made your beliefs both an “over”
and “under” reality…over-whelming and under-standable. Overwhelming in that thousands and thousands
of archaeological facts (over 25,000), historical people (2,500 names of the
people), and revealed places (over 1,250 cities) are being discovered as
valid. Understandable in that even a
child can ascertain its truths. As well, the God of the Old Testament and New
Testament famously intertwines His revelation unequivocally with histories most
noted empires including the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Roman reigns. No college professor would doubt these
records, making God’s work in them undeniable.
The reality of Israel gives a preponderance of
evidence that confirms that your faith is substantive and reliable. Let me give you 10 of my favorite places,
that still stand today, that testify to what God did and still does:
- Sea of Galilee (Where Jesus calmed the Sea, walked on water, and called His disciples.)
- Nazareth (Where Mary and Joseph departed to Bethlehem after the announcement from the angel Gabriel of Jesus imminent birth.)
- Jordan River (Where Jesus was baptized and earlier the Israelites passed under Joshua’s leadership.)
- Jericho (The fallen city that the Israelites marched around to bring the famous victory.)
- Caesarea (Location of Paul’s departure one of his many missionary journeys.)
- Joppa (The sight of Peter’s fulfilled vision in Acts 10 and Jonah’s infamous exit before being swallowed by the big fish.)
- Bethlehem (While far larger today, it maintains the Church of the Nativity,built just 300 years after Christ’s birth at the believed location of Christ’s birth.)
- Valley of Elah (The most famous Old Testament story of the battle of David and Goliath still reveals the brooks where the five stones were removed.)
- Via Dolorosa and Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Both where Jesus carried His cross and the approximate area of His crucifixion.)
- Garden Tomb (The Resurrection Tomb reveals the importance of the foundation of the Christian faith in that He is risen indeed.)
Now, these are only a handful of thousands
of places and cities that have been revealed. Hugh Ross, renowned
astrophysicist and head of the Christian Research Institute, references what he
calls the “Vulnerability Factor” in matters of beliefs. He
reasons that most faiths are carefully constructed and have concealed ideas
which give limited amounts of historical proof for “fact checking.”
These faiths tend to take the 5th
amendment. As The Miranda Rights appropriately state, “You
have the right to remain silent, anything you say can or will be held against
you in a court of law.” While we
can admire people of faiths of all kinds, each faith’s believability should be
able to marshal an abundance of evidence that pinpoints its validity causing
greater credibility or collapsibility of its merit.
In contrast, Christianity simply can’t keep
quiet. In essence, “It keeps talking and talking and
talking.” Like a star witness in a jury trial, fact after fact gives a
person the ability to “cross-examine” the places, people, and events that
either validate themselves or incriminate themselves based on God’s message and
plan for each person. In Christianity,
you have just that. It puts itself so far out there on a limb, that it either
laps the field multiplied times or must limp weakly away as pathetically false.
It’s hard to grasp the human mind’s penchant
to deny what is so clear. “Israel is real” and “His story is history.” Mountains
of historical, rational, and evidential truths espouse it. However, it leads us to realize the problem
is much more a problem of the human heart.
The Bible calls it “pride.” What
else would cause us to defy such an apparent faith? In a clash of wills, either we will go God’s
way and win or go our way and lose.
While we started
with James, we end with John. At the conclusion
of John 21:24,
in the second to the last verse of the gospels, he writes, “This is the
disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know
that his testimony is true.” With so
many reasons, now that’s something I really can stomach and stake my life on
it. And if Jesus could stake His life on
it, we can too!
Terry
Risser
Reflections:
1) What causes your greatest doubt in your
faith?
2) How can we trust Him more today?
Consider reading the Word today:
Copyright 2014- Terry Risser
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