BIG NEWS from Israel! (I'm going in July!)

Last week was a BIG week in Israel!

First, Naftali Bennett was officially sworn in as the new Prime Minister, after Netanyahu's historic 12-years of service. 

PM Bennett represents a coalition government, made up of parties from left, right, and center. It's the first of its kind to be in power. He will hold the PM position for 2 years and 3 months, and then Yair Lapid will be PM for the same amount of time.

Second, Gaza announced a new Prime Minister as well. Their new premier is Issam al-Da'alis, and he was also sworn in on Sunday.

Third, on June 15, Israel officially lifted all mask mandates for both inside and outside. Now, the only people who have to wear them are either traveling on planes, on their way to quarantine, or people in long-term care facilities.

But, the biggest news for me, was that ISRAEL IS OPENING TO FOREIGN TOURISTS JULY 1!!!!

Which brings me to MY big news- I'm going to Israel! As of the date I'm writing this post, I'm still looking at tickets, but I know it will happen sometime next month! Remember how my trip for April 2020 was cancelled? I'm so thankful that it has worked out for this year, and I cannot wait to get there and explore this incredible, amazing Land and culture!

Ceasefire in Israel!

This news has already made its way around the world, but I was on vacation last week and unable to update this blog. But no time like the present!

On May 20, 2021, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu signed a unilateral ceasefire, that began at 2am the next morning.

As Behold Israel's Amir Tsarfati says in this video, ceasefire is always significant (and good news), but what is important to note here is that this was a unilateral decision. Despite what the media says, it was not negotiated by a 3rd country (like Egypt). Israel did not make any agreements with Hamas. They did not give territory or permission for anything, and by this being a unilateral decision, they retain the right to future operations if needed. Israel not only won, but showed its autonomy in a way it hasn't been able to in the past. 

Here are some important things to know:

• Up until 7pm on Thursday (with still 7 hours to go), Hamas had launched 4340 rockets at Israel. At least 640 of those actually fell in Palestinian territory, killing civilians and decimating more homes. Unfortunately, that civilian death toll (more than 100) is counted against Israel, instead of the ones firing. Over 1,900 civilians were injured and 200 Hamas terrorists were killed.
• 12 Israeli's were killed, one soldier and 11 civilians. 2 were children.
• There were over 320 miles of tunnels under the Gaza strip, under homes, hospitals, and schools, so Hamas could hide behind women and children while moving around. Over half of this network has been destroyed by laser-directed bombs, in order to minimize civilian casualties.
• Israel's Iron Dome held- it stopped over 90% of the bombs sent its way. The ones it didn't stop were going to unpopulated areas/non-strategic areas. 
• Humanitarian aid has already entered Gaza.
• The Temple Mount, where this all started, as the Al-Aksa mosque was used to house rocks for people to throw as Jews celebrated 'Jerusalem Day' at the Western Wall (which led to Hamas firing 5 rockets at Jerusalem- which started this whole thing), is now open to Jews again.
• On May 23, as previously announced, Israel opened to 20 tourist groups from specific countries (with approved vaccines). This is the first big step to opening the international tourist industry.

This has increased relational division between the 2 races throughout the land, as there were demonstrations and protests in other areas. The pain of these past 12 days is incalculable, added to the weight and pain of the past 73 years. 

More than ever, peace is needed in Jerusalem. 

Latest Update from Israel (From Sunday, May 16)

Yesterday was the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) in Israel, and like last year, people celebrated close to their homes. Last year, it was because of a pandemic; this year because of violence.

The most recent number I've seen at the time of writing this blog post, since last Monday, Hamas has fired over 3,000 rockets at Israel. 

The best summary I've seen so far for what's happening now is from Behold Israel's Amir Tsarfati. He gave this update last night from his home in the Galilee, steps away from his bomb shelter, with flashes in the background and the sound of F-16's taking off nearby.

Click here or on the image above to watch. I guarantee it's worth it!

Oh, and as Amir points out at the end, Shavuot comes 50 days after Passover. It's a celebration of when God gave the Law to Israel through Moses. And it was being celebrated almost 2000 years ago when the Holy Spirit came to the Upper Room with flaming tongues of fire. Which means one thing:

Happy birthday, Church!!!

(thanks for that reminder, Amir!)

Historic Peace Treaty between Israel and the UAE

Back in June, I talked about how Israel was supposed to annex Gaza and the West Bank on July 1. As time passed, I wondered what happened; why I wasn't reading stories saying "it happened". Then, last week, this incredible news was announced:

WOW!

The United Arab Emirates has become the 3rd Arab nation to strike a peace deal with Israel, the first being Egypt in 1967 and Jordan in 1994.

According to Amir Tsarfati of Behold Israel, "Israel and the UAE have been working together in developing new methods to more efficiently combat COVID-19. As part of this new partnership, the two countries will share in trade, travel, tourism, and even technology." Behold Israel notes that while Palestine, Iran, and Turkey are against this peace deal, other Arab states support it (and might even follow with their own). In fact, one report I heard said that OMan will sign one in the next 2 weeks and Bahrain will follow (Bahrain has already picked out a building for an Israeli embassy!), Morocco, and then maybe even Saudi Arabia. Already Saudi Arabia is allowing Israeli flights to cross their airspace to get to the UAE. 

For more of the implications of this peace deal, you can watch Amir Tsarfati's update here:

What do you think of this historic event?

Reading the Bible in Color

In Bishop T.D. Jakes' panel discussion with Christine Caine, Judah Smith, Carl Lentz, Dr. Caroline Leaf, and Ron Carpenter that I shared last week, Bishop Jakes recommended the following book:
Is Christianity the White Man's Religion by Antipas L. Harris. I was so intrigued that I ordered it last week and read it.

I highly recommend this book, as it gives an in-depth, Biblical and historical exploration of how the myth of Christianity being the white man's religion came about—and how centuries of this impacts us today. 

But what stood out to me was Part II, titled "Have we been taught to misread the Bible?". This section, and specifically Chapter 6: "The Color of the Bible" specifically reminded me of the chapter on race and ethnicity in the Bible in Misreading Scriptures with Western Eyes, which I discussed here. In fact... as I re-read this chapter in order to review it on this blog, I just realized that Harris quotes Randolph and O'Brien on this very topic!

Harris points out on page 82 that "... very few people in the Bible had white skin. In fact, most of the central figures in the Bible were people of color and were born in difficult circumstances, including many of the biblical patriarchs and prophets stretching from Abraham to David and, yes, Jesus.... Additionally, most of the authors of the books of the Bible were people of color. In the New Testament, the author of the Gospel of Mark was a Jew from Cyrene, which is located in the modern northeast region of Libya. Most scholars believe that the book of Mark was the first of the Gospel writings, and that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke use Mark as a guide for their outline. This would mean that the author of the first synoptic Gospel was an African Jew" (pages 82 and 83). He goes on to point out, that Apollos, was an Egyptian Jew from Alexandria, and he is believed by some to be the author of Hebrews.

Ultimately, "the Bible features members from a kaleidoscope of ethnicities. From Israelites to Kushites, Egyptians to Babylonians, Romans to Jews, and North Africans to Greeks, the Bible contains rich ethnic threads with accompanying ideological influences" (pages 83-84).

However, it's so easy to miss this as a modern Western reader, partially because some of the clues given don't translate to us (for instance, in the sentence above, a reader might have to look up Kush to know that it was in Africa. The other part (and a big part) is the history of how Christianity became Eurocentric, which Harris describes clearly in pages 85-94. "From Genesis to Revelation, the majority of the Bible in the Bible are from an Afro-Asiatic context with a range of brown skin, thick and thin lips, broad and slender noses, tall and fat structures, and so on. There are indeed people of a European descent in the New Testament, but they have a much less prominent presence than Hollywood would have us believe" (page 97).

I highly recommend Is Christianity the White Man's Religion? because I think it asks a lot of important questions and is a biblically-based exploration of what the modern, Western Church has missed. It's given me so much to think, pray over, and consider as I continue to study God's Word and live for Him. 

In this review, I'm only focusing on one small part because it connects with the topic of both modern-day and ancient Israel, mainly that I encourage every Christian to slow down as they are reading a story or text in the Bible and instead of reading "Apollos from Alexandria" or "the Ethiopian Eunuch" and moving on quickly to the action, to reading the Bible in color.

I'm convinced this will add so much more context and understanding to our comprehension and exposition of the Scripture. Harris is as well, as he calls for more theologians of color (and women), for he states, "We must not continue to trick ourselves into thinking that people's experiences are not important when interpreting Scripture. Of course, we must be faithful to the text, but human experience is as a significant part of interpreting the Word of God in Scripture" (page 73). This is because we all read through the lenses of our own experiences. For instance, as a woman, I might have more questions about stories of women and mentions of women that men might have, an immigrant living in foreign country would read passages about foreigners differently, a single will read differently than a married person or a widow, a child might have a different view than an adult, etc. "Indeed, life experiences inform the questions we bring to the biblical text. Scripture invites all of God's children to the theological task of connecting the narrative of the biblical text with the reader's lived experience" (page 77).

I also wanted to take this time to highlight a friend of mine who is doing this beautifully. Her name is Jennifer Lucy Tyler, and she is passionate about theology and Bible literacy (as well as an author, entrepreneur, and the founder of Soul Circles). I first met her years ago, and in addition to loving her as my sister and friend, have great respect for her walk with God and her calling. She is a leading voice in our generation as a woman who loves the Word, and I hope you check her site out! Click here or on the photo below to learn more about her ministry!

I'm going to end this post with questions to consider, and would love to know what you think in the comments below: Do you read the Bible in color? If you do, how has that impacted your reading of it? How has your life experiences inform how you read it?

A response to racial tensions in Israel

What I'm going to focus on today might seem off topic, because at the outset it doesn't seem to have anything to do with Israel. Ultimately, it's my blog, so I can talk about what I want, right?

But in light of what I talked about last week, and here in April, I feel charged to share this conversation about the Church and Race. Last week, Bishop T.D. Jakes hosted a panel discussion online about recent events in the US—and where to go from here.

At first, I wasn't sure I'd watch. I only recognized 2 faces other than Bishop Jakes (the women), and it's very clear what appears to be out-of-balance about this panel. Why was this about race, when all the invitees (other than the host) are white?

Well, Bishop Jakes explains this at the end, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone. But I will say here that the two women on this panel, Christine Caine of international anti-trafficking organization A21 and Dr. Caroline Leaf, a neuroscientist and mental health expert, aren't from the US. Caine is Australian and Leaf is South African. So they both had very interesting insights, not just from their professions, but as foreigners to the US (and especially Leaf's perspective as someone who lived through the apartheid-era in South Africa).

What I do want to say, is PLEASE GO WATCH THIS DISCUSSION. It's an hour and 37 minutes long, and I had to watch it in 30 minute chunks just because there was so much weighty TRUTH in there that I needed to take time and chew on it. It is worth taking the time to watch.

And, while the topic is obviously focusing on the specific response (and responsibility) of the Church for Race, especially in light of the current events and the horrific history of slavery, injustice, and racism in the US, I think there are truths in here that could be applied to the racial situation in Israel. It could be that these are apples and oranges, but I believe all racial tension has the same root, and connections can be made from this video that we don't want to miss.

I'd love to know what you think! Please watch it (click on the photo or the link above) and let me know below!

Israel to Annex the West Bank

In the past few weeks, a new BIG announcement has come from Israel, following the new government formation by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Benny Gantz: the plan to annex Israel's ancestral lands of Gaza and the West Bank by July 1.

This is a BIG deal, because it would mean that Israel would once again hold all of the land that was given to them by God in the Old Testament, and, as pointed out in this article, fit the Ezekiel's prophecy:

"For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.”

Ezekiel 36:24

This blows my mind, from a historical perspective. From the perspective I talked about here, I can't help but think of the Palestinian Arabs living in this region and what they are thinking/feeling. In light of what is going on in the States right now and knowing of the ongoing tension between Jews and Arabs in Israel, my continued prayer is for peace. Again, I do not feel qualified as an outsider to speak on this situation, but I know God has charged me to pray. So I will. And, as a student of history, continue to watch, wide-eyed at what is to come.

To see an excellent 25-minute short film on the Arab perspective, click here. 

Delilah: Treacherous Beauty

This week we're going to look at the final book in the A Dangerous Beauty series by Angela Hunt: Delilah: A Treacherous Beauty.

First of all, hello #coverlove. I can't stop looking at this cover, probably because it has my favorite colors.

Anywho, this book was interesting because it is a depiction of a woman we don't know that much about, something Hunt discusses in her author's note. We don't know that she was necessarily a Philistine, which raises some interesting questions for the author to explore in her depiction (she had Delilah being of Crete and Egyptian descent, living in Philistine-controlled Gaza.

Hunt's exploration of the reasons behind Delilah's betrayal of Samson is really well-written. As with all of her novels, the evidence of her research is clear throughout the novel (and there's a list of sources in the back). 

What I loved in this book was how Hunt focused on the cultural importance of family in the novel. By placing Delilah as not being from any of the local people as a contrast with Samson, who though Jewish, was set apart as a Nazarite, it drove home the importance of family as both community and identity in ancient Near Eastern culture. Ultimately, it was this conflict that drew the two of them together, the mutual feeling of isolation. It definitely gives a unique perspective on what could have happened!

You can find Delilah: Treacherous Beauty here on Amazon!