Among the pastors traveling on this Israel trip, the oldest was Pastor Deborah, aged eighty-one. She leads a 24-hour Davidic prayer tabernacle in New York and has spent many years ministering in Guizhou, China. The Lord has taken her to the third heaven many times. Hearing the Lord's voice and communicating with Him has become a habit for her. She said the Lord told her that this trip to Israel was significant and that she must come. This is her fourteenth time in Israel, and each time feels different. This eighty-one-year-old looks like she's in her sixties, has a good appetite, and walks lightly. She says it's all God's gift.

Above: Pastor Deborah is in the front row, center.

These are the thorns from a tree on the Mount of Olives. The crown placed on the Lord Jesus at His crucifixion was made from these – very large thorns that would immediately pierce the head and draw blood. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head; they dressed Him in a purple robe. (John 19:1-12)

The Upper Room – where the first great outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place (Psalm 88).

Outside the Upper Room: a statue of David.

Walking down from the Upper Room carrying the flag of Israel.

Inside the Upper Room.

 

Before His suffering, the Lord Jesus prepared to eat the Passover meal with His disciples in the Upper Room (Matthew 26:17-25; Mark 14:12-21; John 13:21-30).

 

The owner of the house: "The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?" He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there. They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. (Luke 22:7-13)

Looking out from the Upper Room toward the Mount of Olives.

The night before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus was thrown by the Romans into a deep pit. Next to the entrance of the pit is a colorful door inscribed with Psalm 121: "The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." (Psalm 121:8)

At the entrance of the pit is inscribed Psalm 88:

"I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care." (Psalm 88:5)

"You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths." (Psalm 88:6)

"You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;" (Psalm 88:8)

"my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you." (Psalm 88:9)

"But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you." (Psalm 88:13)

"Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?" (Psalm 88:14)

Mina, weeping inside the pit where the Lord Jesus was held, reading Psalm 88. I stood beside her, tears streaming down like rain.

Bethlehem – I didn't see the manger where the Lord Jesus was born (unfortunately – did our guide miss it?)

But I saw a statue of Jesus born in the manger.

Passing through this narrow gate.

Priests reading scriptures. The Catholic church was resplendent with gold – very different from Protestant churches. I am a Christian; I didn't like being here.

A door made of olive wood from 1,400 years ago (at the entrance of the church).

We visited the official Israeli Holocaust Memorial Museum, located on Mount Herzl in western Jerusalem. It is the world's largest and most influential Holocaust museum. Established in 1953 by the Israeli Knesset through the "Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Law," it commemorates the more than six million Jews murdered by the Nazis.

It is said to be seven million, one-quarter of whom were children.

Shoes left behind by Jews who were slaughtered.

On the hill in front of the Holocaust Museum stand 20,000 trees. They commemorate the non-Jews – called the "Righteous Among the Nations" – who, at great personal risk and even death, rescued Jews during the Holocaust. This tree honors Raoul, a visa officer at the embassy in Budapest, Hungary, who gave visas to 3,000 Jews, saving their lives. "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matthew 5:7)

At the entrance of the museum – lovely Israeli female soldiers.

Finally we came to a Christian church in Jerusalem (Bethlehem Miniseries). It felt very comfortable inside. When the spirit is right, everything is right.

This pastor is Dr. Naim. Throughout Jerusalem, there are about ten Christian churches; this is the largest (though it doesn't look very large). Ministering in the Arab world is extremely dangerous, and Christian churches here face the same danger. He said his younger brother, also a pastor, was already killed. He himself has been shot four times, and this church has been bombed by Islamic terrorists more than ten times. Dr. Naim said that after he was born again decades ago, he heard God's voice, and his soul no longer belongs to this world. He has followed in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus ever since. For the salvation of more souls in Israel, his life has long ceased to be his own. The world must remember this great pastor and this church! – I cannot write any more – What more can we Christians who minister in peaceful regions say? The material world is full of suffering and injustice. Only in God's kingdom is there true righteousness and justice, and a crown in heaven to come. God is a God who rewards and punishes clearly (Revelation 22:12). He will not only judge unbelievers; one day believers will also stand before the judgment seat of Christ, "that each one may receive what is due for the things done while in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10).

There is a crown to be received in the future: "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8) The crown represents glory and authority – exactly what God intends to reward those who love Him, serve Him faithfully, and obey His teachings. Paul said this crown is stored up not only for him but for all who long for His return. When you go to heaven, what do you hope to receive?

Night of February 23, 2018

 

Deborah Blessings, Jerusalem, Israel