Author: Aaron Rich

We’ve been in Jerusalem since Wednesday. I’ve been here twice before and this time is entirely unique. It’s still a delight to be in Jerusalem, of course, it’s just different.

The other two times the experience was filled with crowds. In the streets of the Old City we would be squeezing through crowds standing shoulder to shoulder. At every turn there was a merchant yelling after us trying to get us to enter their shop and a restaurant filling the air with the smell of their delicious food. There was no silence or calm; the streets were filled with humanity.  

This time, most of the streets are empty. Some shops are open in the Old City, but very few. I can only recall the smell of fresh bread and nothing else wafting into the street from the local eateries. We were able to roam several streets that were entirely vacant with the only sound coming from pigeons flapping their wings. The merchant streets are actually quite beautiful and colorful in many instances. There’s still a vibrance to them in spite of their vacancy.

There was a stark contrast between the merchant streets and the areas where people live though. If we stepped off the main paths and into the areas where people live, we once again see life! Prophecy is still thriving! As children were running and playing, the prophecy of Zechariah came to mind. In chapter 8 HaShem tells us that “once more old men and old women will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with his staff in his hand because of his age. The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in the streets.” (Zech 8:4-5)

In spite of the year of COVID dampening the travel industry, this place still has life. HaShem is still fulfilling His promises. If we step outside the walls of the Old City and into greater Jerusalem, those verses carry the reality into a grand scale. A population that once was less than 10,000 Jews has now become 850,000. Strolling the streets of Jerusalem revealed many children playing and the men and women with their canes as Zechariah promised. People rushed about running errands and living life.

During our time at the Western Wall we watched several bar mitzvahs. In spite of everything these families still went about celebrating these children becoming participants of the covenant. These events draw entire families out to celebrate as they dance, sing, blow trumpets and hold a chuppah over their child. These celebrations carry some deep prophetic allusions with the trumpets and chuppah. In spite of a media storm trying to convince people to be afraid, they continue to celebrate the milestones of life.

Across the street outside the walls of the Old City we were able to visit the City of David. The calm absence of tourists gave us plenty of time to reflect on what it means to see this archeological site. Even though this year has stopped tourism, the Antiquity Authority is still working to bring the City of David out of the dirt. Why is that important? It’s helping to fulfill even more prophecy! The City of David is the ancient city that David would have built and where his palace would have been. They have found astounding evidence at this site to corroborate that.

Two prophecies come to my mind when I look at this site. In Isaiah 52:2 God speaks over Jerusalem saying “Shake of the dust and arise! Be enthroned, O Jerusalem.” I’ve visited this site three times now and it is continuing to shake off the dust. Ancient Jerusalem is arising from the dust and one day it will be enthroned in all its glory.

Of note at this site is the palace. They have models and a fantastic light show in the evenings (during regular non-COVID times, of course) to show what it would have looked like before it was destroyed. This is the site where ancient kings of Israel once dwelled. More importantly, this is where *the* King will dwell and that brings up the second prophecy that comes to mind. This one can be found in Jeremiah 30:18 where God once again is speaking over Jerusalem and saying “I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on its mound and the palace shall stand where it used to be.”

In spite of the year of COVID that seems to have so many petrified and wondering what terrible thing comes next, God is still working. HaShem is still comforting His people and raising up the banner among the nations to call them home. He’s still performing miracles, even if we don’t recognize what is happening before our eyes. If we allegorize it, we miss it. If we read it and accept what it says we may just see a city shaking off its dust and arising from its mound.

As I was confirming the “address” of the Zechariah verse, it struck me that the following verse (v. 6) seemed to fit well with the time we’re living in. “It may seem difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, but will it also be difficult in my eyes?” It’s been a really hard year for this country that depends so much on tourism. For God, it seems as though He’s at ease and setting the stage for His next great work. How shall we respond? Should we be scared of what the world fears or awestruck by the wonders HaShem is performing before our eyes? It occurred to me to check other translations of the same verse and in many instances, it speaks of the amazement the remnant has rather than the difficulty. In others it speaks of the remnant marveling at these events. When life seems difficult, perhaps we should try a different translation or in other words, try a different viewpoint. You may discover the beauty and wonderous acts of God amid that suffering.

In a time where the 4.5 million annual tourists are absent from this country, the 7 million+ diaspora Jews are taking a new look at emigrating home. Something is afoot in the Kingdom. How you respond and react simply depends on what you’re focusing on.

Over the past several weeks we’ve been gifted with a unique view into Israeli culture. It’s a view that we don’t receive when we’re here touring the Land as we rush from place to place with little time to rest in between. I’ve experienced Israel twice before and both times were incredible, life-changing experiences. But, both times left little time to meet the Living Stones of Israel and little time to experience the rest that’s available. This experience has been entirely different.

One of my favorite days each week has become Preparation Day – more commonly known to the rest of the world as Friday. In Israel, living with a family who cherishes the Sabbath, we have received a true vision of what Preparation Day looks like in a Scriptural sense. I’m left wondering how Earlene and I can incorporate it into our own lives when we settle back into the American culture we’re used to. How do we embrace this and make it part of our life rather than leaving it behind when God sends us home?

Preparation Day is meant to prepare the home for the Sabbath. It’s meant to make all the necessary arrangements so that the entire home may enter into a time of rest, restoration and worship for the entirety of the Sabbath – Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. This is something Earlene and I are used to of course, but only to a point. We have been observing Shabbat (the Sabbath) for five years now, but we haven’t really taken in the idea and the heart of Preparation Day. That lack of preparation inevitably negatively impacts the desire to enter into a full rest on Saturday. We still had to figure out our meals each week and because of our service to our community, true rest was a rarity.

While we’re here we watch how the entire home is busy all day on Friday. Ashley, the wife of the family we’re living with, spends a large portion of the day cooking the elaborate and beautiful five-star meal that will provide the food for Friday evening and Saturday lunch. As Scripture teaches us, she is preparing a “double portion” in anticipation of the Sabbath (Ex 16). She spares no energy in this preparation as she is providing for both the family and her King whom she is honoring for Shabbat. Micha’el, the husband of the couple, spends some of his day preparing a teaching for those that he helps to embrace Shabbat and the weekly Torah portion. The children usually spend their day watching videos that help them learn more about Shabbat and other aspects of honoring God – of course in between playing. Earlene and I have fallen into a routine of helping to clean the house before we enter into Shabbat.

If chores have gone undone during the week for any number of reasons the families around us are rushing to complete them before sundown. Laundry dries on many area balconies and most people can be seen cleaning their homes, brushing their broom full of debris out the door and vacuuming balconies and trimming gardens. It’s a full fledge preparation! On a walk around the neighborhood you can barely pass a home without catching a delightful scent wafting through the air as they all prepare their Sabbath meals. The more observant families shower and clean themselves just before sundown in an effort to honor HaShem when He tells the people to wash and change their clothes to sanctify themselves for their meeting with God (Ex 19).

In town, the stores and parking lots are full for their busiest day of the week. A mixture of excitement and frustration fills the air. Some are joyously preparing for the Sabbath while others are angry at the crowds. Most families rush to the market to purchase any necessary items as they make final preparations for their Shabbat meals and rest. At 2:00 p.m., or thereabout, the country, as a nation, shuts down and rests to honor the God of their ancestors. It’s all in preparation for worshiping the Great King, God Almighty, and for the Believers – Yeshua the Messiah.

On Saturday, if enough food was prepared on Friday, a hotplate is available to set the food on a few hours before lunch and one must simply set the food on the plate and allow it to warm before the lunchtime meal. As some have described this to me in the past, I thought of it as burdensome or maybe “over the top” – but as I’ve watched it, it’s beautiful and natural and during Shabbat, it’s simple and restful. Food preparation is completely minimized leaving more than enough time to spend with family and time to worship.

The picture is a stark difference from what we see in the United States among the hubbub of life during weekends. There is no rest. Everyone thinks they need to perform their chores every day of the week and we don’t plan out our meals to fully embrace a Sabbath rest. We are busy living life and exhausting ourselves with no regard for separating the holy and common. Even for those of us that have embraced the Sabbath, unfortunately, the differences are overly apparent.

I can’t help but see a larger picture of the Kingdom in this as well.

From an eschatological view (a prophetic view), how are we as the Body of Messiah spending Preparation Day? One thing the Sabbath represents is the coming Kingdom where the Messiah will set up His Kingdom with His throne in Jerusalem. In the grand scheme of Scripture, the 1,000 year reign represents the Seventh Day or perhaps it’s the other way around with the Sabbath Day representing the millennial reign of Yeshua.

Most Believers are reading the signs of the times and feel we are incredibly close to Yeshua’s return. If that’s the case, that means we are in the midst of Preparation Day. That means we should be spending the vast majority of our time preparing for the Sabbath/the Kingdom. Most Believers I’ve talked to during 2020 see some pretty significant birth pangs through the historically profound events of the year, the year of Coronavirus. The King is coming soon. If not in our generation, I struggle to see it not being the next. For my own reasons and from my own study, at this point, I think “the generation” that won’t pass away before His return may be the generation of the holocaust. That generation is late in their life and so I am left with thinking, if that is accurate, I would guess we’re less than 30 years away from the conclusion of this “day” in history and we’ll be moving into the Seventh Day with our Messiah sitting on His throne in Israel.

If you are reading this on Friday, what are you doing to prepare for tomorrow? Are you busy preparing for your day of rest and worship?

From the bigger view, are you busy preparing for the Kingdom daily? Or are you taking part in a generation as Noah saw that busied themselves with self-indulgence while literally missing the boat?

These things have already been written. How are you participating? 

Shabbat shalom!

Never underestimate the power of “hello.” I wander through the world and walk streets and I say hello to people that I pass along the way. In Israel, we walk around our neighborhood and we get to say “shalom” to people as we pass. Not only are we saying “hello” to them, it’s also an opportunity to literally speak blessing into people’s lives by saying “shalom.”

The word for “hello” here is also a word of blessing and it represents the fullness of life. Not just peace or happiness, but really the fullness of ones being. It’s a deep and meaningful word that the right person could no doubt write an entire book about just to expound its meaning.

While Earlene and I were out for an evening walk yesterday we were up to our usual antics saying “shalom” to everyone we passed. Sometimes they have headphones in as they exercise and some flat out ignore us and offer no response. Others gives us strange looks and quietly respond. Some offer an alternate greeting of “erev tov” or “boker tov” if we are walking in the morning. It’s an eclectic mix of greetings or the absence thereof.

Last night was a little different though. It was the end of an exceptionally busy day for us here in Israel. I was sore from helping a family unload their shipping container as they had just moved to Israel a couple of weeks ago, but Earlene convinced me to take a stroll anyway. We were only a few houses from ending our walk and ran across a man holding his dog. It was a small dog and almost looked like he was preventing the dog from barking at us as we passed.

As we do with everyone, we said “shalom” and he quickly responded with a shalom in return. We were about five paces beyond him and he asked us “where are you from?” We responded that we are from the United States and he said “you definitely aren’t from here, because you greet people on the street.” He spoke of how it warmed his heart with appreciation.

We began to chat a little more and exchanged a few different bits of information. He’s from South Africa and lives nearby with his family. He guessed we were here because of our love of the people and the Lord. By the end of the discussion the man was saying we should come by for coffee and talk with him and his wife more. We exchanged numbers and went about our way excited to build another new relationship here in Israel. We had confirmed during the conversation that he didn’t know anyone that we are currently in contact with, which in this village so far seems rare. Everyone seems to know everyone else. In no uncertain terms we’re excited that we were blessed with a second divine appointment for the day. (See Earlene’s post “Itsik” to read about the first.)

Yesterday was by far the busiest day we’ve had thus far in Israel. By the end I was exhausted and pushing myself to study Hebrew before I went comatose for the night. The day began early as we delivered a package for a Holocaust survivor by 8:30 a.m., had our first unexpected divine appointment with Itsik, helped a family prepare 200+ love packages for more Holocaust survivors, helped our neighbors unload their shipping container (meeting several people in the process), and closed the day with our second unexpected divine appointment. The series of events that God leads us through is often confusing, but it’s continuing to be awe inspiring and fun along the way.

As Earlene’s post “Water” suggests, we’ve been in the calm waters for a time while we’ve been in Israel’s lockdown. In some respects, it looks as though HaShem is slowly reintroducing us to the rapids of life in preparation for the season ahead. We are both excited to continue meeting more people and really getting to know this land, her people and their language.