The View From Mt. Nebo

Above is the view of the "promise land" from the top of Mt. Nebo... just as lush and green as you imagined, right? I'd also like to remind you that this picture was taking just after the rainy season.

I am so grateful for having received this opportunity to spend a semester in Israel. The majority of my days were eye opening, mind blowing, and life changing. I’ve experience more in these short months than I have in my entire life previous. And I’m sure the remaining years God decides to grant me on this earth will be spent unpacking this incredible experience. The reality of my time in this land surpassed all of my expectations, and the gratitude I feel right now is more than overwhelming. Every time I look across the landscape of Jerusalem from the rooftop view of my room, I feel unworthy of such a grace and can only imagine the grace stored up for me in the age to come if this is the grace granted to me now. I can’t express my appreciation for all the thoughts and prayers of my friends and family back home. I definitely believe it was those prayers that made this experience what it was –difficult, challenging, uncomfortable, haunting, sleepless, weighty, and full of joy. I can’t thank you enough.

This trip was truly a wilderness experience for me (that is the best way I know how to describe it). Like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus, Jesus going into the wilderness after his baptism, and Paul spending 3 years in the wilderness of Arabia after his Damascus road conversion, I too felt drawn into such a wilderness season. Detached from all familiarity and normality, God took me into the wilderness to teach me the path of a disciple. And very quickly, I leaned the only path of a true disciple of Christ is the Calvary road. I had often hoped that this semester would be a sort of mystical, spiritual high, but the reality was much different. This semester was real and grounding, as I felt a consistency of the Spirit moving, purging, and refining within me throughout all of my days in Israel. But now I am leaving the wilderness and plunging back into the realities of everyday life. Like Moses, I stand on Mt. Nebo, gazing into the land of promise; and if God allows, I will leave this wilderness and enter the land. But I am filled with much uncertainty, because everything I’ve learned in the wilderness will now tested. My season of preparation is over. The time has come for me take action; the time has come for me to enter the land. And if I’ve learned anything from my experience in Israel, it is this –the “promise land” is not a promise of God giving his children everything they want, but a promise of God caring for his children no matter what. And with the promise of such a faithful God despite the faithlessness of his children, I can boldly enter the land.

Confident in the promise,
Danny

The End

I just finished all my work after a Greek and Hebrew test today…. I couldn’t feel better. It’s the completion of my first almost real semester of college. We’ll have to wait till next year for a real semester of college completed.

This will be my last blog post. I’ll be in Jordan from Saturday till Thursday, then leaving for home on Friday afternoon and get in late in the day to Cleveland the same day. So for this last one, I wanted to thank you all for following and for praying. God has been revealing, convicting, encouraging and strengthening me while being away, and I think I will always look back on this time as shaping and valuable- intellectually, but especially spiritually.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned about God, and in my relation to him is just how far I am from being the Godly man I desire to be. I’ve realized I don’t even know where to start but on my knees when it comes to that. I don’t know how to lead, but I desire to grow in that area. I want to be a fearless, bold, humble, meek leader of men. I want to “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let everything you do be done in love” as Paul commanded the Corinthians. That’s my vision, but I’ve realized I’m lost in that pursuit. I’m striving with all I am towards that goal, and hope you continue to pray for me in that effort. I’ve made a lot of plans this summer to be taught many leadership lessons from people I highly respect, so hopefully God continues to mold and shape me into this.

During this last week, I just have one more prayer request of you. Just as an aside, I was reading yesterday, and read about how Paul constantly asked for prayers for himself and his ministry. I wonder how much power Paul possessed was due to the prayers of the saints for Paul. If Paul, who had such spiritual power and influence, pleads with prayer, I figure I should get in that habit early. But anyway, I ask you to pray for this last week to continue to renew and refresh my vision of God and His mission for me. God’s been incredibly gracious in answering that prayer thus far, but I always long for more of Him, and would love the Spirit to pour into and out of me as I return home. So, not only for this last week, but for the transition period as well- that I’ll continue hold Him in preeminence in my life.

Thanks again for all your prayers and all your support.

Looking forward to see you soon.
Sos

Christ, Our Passover Lamb

Yesterday, Danny and I had the privilege of attending the Samaritan’s Passover sacrifice. As I was standing, observing on the fence beforehand, a couple things hit me in the face about the process of sacrifice. But a few clarifying comments first.

First, the Samaritans are a people group that never departed from Samaria (North of Jerusalem) because they believed that’s where God’s temple should be. In the first 5 books of the Bible, Jerusalem is never mentioned, but the area of Samaria is. So they’ve never departed from that. Now, there are about 700 citizens of this village and they are fairly exclusive.

Secondly, Christ as being slaughter as a lamb probably sounds weird to those outside the faith, and common to those inside. So, as a brief overview to those outside, here are a few comments. There’s a Jewish festival celebrating the Exodus when God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. They had to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood on their door posts, so that the Lord would “pass over” there house and have mercy on their firstborn. This was just a shadow of what was to come. Christ came to fulfill this shadow with a true reality of forgiveness and covering. His blood covers us, so that God’s wrath passes over us on the Day of Judgment. God sees Christ’s blood and righteousness, and not our own sin and dirtiness. By His blood we are made clean.

Now some notes on the sacrifice. We actually did not get to see the deed done, which was disappointing. The highlight though was them bringing the dead, skinned, gutted sheep and set them up and cleaned them literally right in front of me. The similarities of the sacrifice and of Jesus’ sacrifice came before the slaughter, mainly because that’s all I saw. The parallels could be more modern, or they could reach back to antiquity. Anyway, before the sacrifice the people were mocking the sheep and afflicting them. They beat them and slapped them. They lifted up and carried them by their fur. They were making a show of it, just as they did to Jesus. Even though they were supposed to show remorse for their sin, it was more of a celebration. Also, the sheep almost strangely knew something was going down. They tried skirting away. They were making noises. I see this in Jesus’ prayer in the garden. If there was a way out, He asked for it. But there wasn’t. So he didn’t try to run, because there wasn’t another way. Isaiah says,
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?"

For the joy set before him, he endured the shame and embarrassment of the cross. He said not a word to Pilate under accusation. He knew the path he had to walk, and He walked it obediently. He did not try to escape. He raised not his voice.
Maybe this is a more modern comparison, or maybe this tradition was passed down. Either way, I think it provides some good insights to what Biblical Passover may have looked like- and more fully what and why Jesus’ crucifixion was described as it was.

Praising the Perfect Sacrifice,
Sos

Frightening Leadership Lessons on Mt Nebo

The last stop on the last day had us at Mount Nebo- Moses last stop and ours- fitting. It was a really good time of reflection and looking forward while remembering what’s behind.
One idea was in my mind as I looked at a similar view, if not the same view Moses had of the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 34.1-6. I can imagine Moses excitement of seeing this site. “We’re here! This is it! God is faithful! I can finally enter in!” God shows Moses the Promised Land and says, “This is it. And you’re going to die on the top of this mountain.” Wow… Moses, God’s chosen leader, dies not receiving the promise himself. The rest of the Tanakh constantly refers to Moses as a servant of the Lord- almost every time is mentions Moses again. There are some important leadership lessons in this- lessons that put the fear of God in me as I prepare to be a leader of God’s people. It’s truly frightening and awe-inspiring.

God says Moses died and could not enter the Promised Land for two reasons- “because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel” (Deuteronomy 32.51). Two sins inclined God to kill him. Seems harsh. On top of this, Moses is the one that saved the whole race of people through his intercession! “And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they” (Numbers 14.11). God says step aside Moses, I’m going to kill all these fools and start over with you. But Moses pleads with God and saves the whole nation. Moses could have been the only one entering the Promised Land, but because of His prayer, he saves a people.

Leading God’s people is a terrifying task for me. Hebrews 13.17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.” On top of this, James 3.1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” I’m going to give an account and be judged with greater strictness as a leader of God’s people. Not many should presume to be teachers and leaders for sure. I’m not saying I’m better, and that’s why I’m doing it. There would be a thousand others things that would be easier or more comfortable. But God used those things to call me to ministry. God’s called me to this, so I’m going to chase after it. That’s scary, but God has promised me grace through the race. Oh how I need His grace.

Two things I learn from Moses- 1. He is a servant of the Lord. That makes him adept for leadership. A bit of an oxymoron- but true. Serving the Lord will equip me for leadership to people. 2- He was still able to bless the Lord at the end of His life. Why? He lived in obedience. In Deuteronomy 33, he blessed God and the people. He was not bitter. He ran the race and was satisfied with God, not His success in ministry. I hope that can be me at the end of my life and race.

In need of much grace,

Sos

Petra

The third day started with 6 hours in Petra. You may not know how much time we spend at each site usually, but it’s 2 hours max. Soooo…. You can imagine how incredible this site was and all there was to see. Just for background information, this was a Nabotean city of the first century mainly, and absolutely incredible. I’ve never seen anything like this place. Again, words will not do justice, pictures come closer, but you really just need to go there yourself. (Sorry!) But I’ll do the best I can to try to explain, and hopefully I can put pictures to accompany this post, but no promises. Again, you might just have to wait for facebook pictures. It’s one of the 7 man-made wonders of the world. So pretty big deal.

Walking up to the main entrance, on both sides there are intricately designed, stunning carvings into the rock. The Naboteans were incredible rock carvers. They would carve these things into the mountain face themselves. So it’s not like they took it down and carved it and put it somewhere. They carved the rock face itself. How they knew where and how to cut to get these visual affects while hanging down and having little knowledge of where they were respectively, I have no clue. But they were master craftsmen.

Their entrance to the city was ridiculous. It’s called the Siq. It’s basically a continuous canyon that is 1 kilometer long and 500 feet high- winding and turning in a narrow passage the whole time. I don’t know if you know how long a kilometer is, but it’s no small distance. This thing was incredible. Walking in the canyon, there is an aqueduct running on the sides that used to carry rainwater to the city. Carved into the rock face and over and in the aqueduct were again intricate, splendid designs- the most famous is a man leading a camel caravan. It’s faded, but it’s there. Wild.

The Siq opened up into a courtyard area with an indescrible structure called the Treasury. This was in one of the Indian Jones movies, but it’s been a while for me so I don’t know which one, but that’s what I hear. The Treasury was just a super huge, elaborate designed, amazing building/carving/tomb- I don’t know what to call it. Here words truly can’t describe it and you need to see a picture. This thing was massive and so detailed in the design and carving.

The rest of the site included more of the same- carvings I can’t describe in words and majestic views. It was a lot of climbing to high places, but again, some sites that I will probably never experience again in majesty and grandeur. God is big, I am small, but he still cares for me and orders and sustains the universe. I don’t understand and it’s a simple thing that everyone repeats, but I’m constantly shocked that he’s shown regard for me.

Blown Away by mercies,

Sos

Jabbok River

"So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, 'For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.' The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip." -Genesis 32:30-31

Danny

Limping in the Jabbok

During the second half of the second day, we made a fairly quit stop at the Jabbok river wadi. Just for clarification purposes, a wadi is a river cut valley that water flows through continuously, or just when it rains. It’s basically a valley. They create some pretty awesome views.

The significance of this story comes in the story of Jacob wrestling with the man/angel/God in Genesis 32. If you are a faithful follower, you know that this was referenced in my first post in preparation for coming here, so it had a special place in my heart. It was fitting that I would start with this passage, and on the last trip, actually see it.

Here’s the gist of the story. Throughout Jacob’s whole life, he was a deceiver. That’s what Jacob literally means in Hebrew. Some call it cheating, some call it cleverness, but he was deceitful. The context of this story has to do with Jacob’s deceiving coming back to bite him in the butt. Jacob deceived Esau for the birth right by disguising himself as Esau, so that Isaac would bless him first. Thus, he holds the inheritance of his father. After this, Esau wants to kill him, naturally, and Jacob flees. After about 12 years, he’s on his way back through the land, and a messenger tells Jacob that Esau is on his way towards him with a large people group. Jacob sends forth most of his belongings in succession, and finally his own wife and children, as he stays alone at night in the Jabbok wadi. This being the only water source in the area, the animals (lions, etc) come down at night to catch easy prey. You could imagine his fear and anticipation that night as he sits alone at the bottom of this huge valley. You could also imagine his hurt and anger at God for bringing this upon him- his deceitfulness has finally caught up with him. What characterized him- his name literally- has caught up with him. It always hurts when what is most deeply engrained in you is exposed and shown- that’s never a pleasant experience- especially when that’s a sin and not anything Godly. But Jacob wrestles violently with God that night until morning. He won’t let go of God until he blesses him. And then there’s this line- Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” What defined Jacob- his name and character- is changed. His essence and what was so deeply engrained in him is changed- how? By wrestling with God. And notice what it’s changed to- Israel- to strive with God. He is no longer going against God in a deceitful manner, but is striving- determined, motivated, ruthless- running with God. He wasn’t satisfied with his sin. He wasn’t content. He wanted more of himself and of God. His sin was exposed and he hated it. He wanted God’s blessing and victory.

I’m not going to give myself a self-proclaimed nickname, but I do hope that I have been striving with God and striving for God and against sin and all things evil. Sometimes sin’s exposure is all that can do that- as painful as that is. And for that I’m thankful. God came and wrestled with me, and like Jacob, I am changed forever by an experience with God and now walk with a limp- of God’s power and my sin.

No swagger Sos