The Western Wall is a portion of the retaining wall that surrounds the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on top of Mt Moriah, “the place where YHWH sees.” It is believed to be a holy place of connection to God, the closest spot Jews can get to the Holy of Holy’s. A special place that God looks upon or has set his sight upon. Though Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt time after time, the original western wall still remains from the second temple period. Every year millions of Jews from all over the world visit the wall to pray and slip notes of request into the cracks between the stones. Before approaching, people will wash their hands and when leaving the wall, they back away, as to never turn their backs to it or to God. Some will not even look directly at the wall while praying.
I want to start by saying that if there’s one thing that the Race has shown me is how judgmental we are as American Christians of other religions, more specifically, people who follow religions other than our own. Now, hang with me. Please don’t get defensive. I did it myself, because I didn’t know any better. I was ignorant of the world around me. What do you think of when you hear the word ‘Islam?’ Do you think of Muhammad? Or ISIS? Or maybe even peace? What about Hinduism? Or Judaism? What do you think the rest of the world thinks about Christianity? So, here’s the thing…
There are people, all over the world, of all different religions, earnestly seeking God. Yes, right now they may be praying to one that isn’t real, but that’s what they have been taught their whole lives. Can you honestly say that if you were born an Arab in occupied Palestine that you wouldn’t be Muslim? You father and his father and his father were all Muslim. They are good people who treat others with respect and go to their god for comfort and guidance. They give back to their communities. They lead their families with love and trust. Wouldn’t you want to believe in their god too? Can you really say that you would be a Christian still? ((If so please read “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus” by Abeel Quereshi))
What I have learned is that people all over the world are truly seeking God. And it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart because they are all so close yet so far from the truth. They are missing the point. They are missing Jesus. They are missing Yeshua. Let me tell you about the time I prayed at the Western Wall.
Yesterday I wanted to go exploring around the Old City. I hadn’t gone to the western wall yet. I had seen it from a walkway above that leads to the Temple Mount but not actually gone up to it. Kate, Justin and I headed through the Damascus Gate winding through the streets and alleyways of the Old City and finally found it. First we went through security. There are Israeli guards everywhere. When you approach you see wash basins for people to wash their hands and a dividing wall. Men on the left. Women on the right. The women’s side is about a third the size of the men’s. You see the Israeli flag flying high. At first glance it is a beautiful sight. And it is, truly. Men and women of all ages, all walks of life, from all over the world, coming together to cry out to their God. This God is the same God the you and I worship. The God of the Old Testament. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I go to the women’s side. With each step closer I felt the heaviness more and more. I am right next to wall, waiting for an empty space. Women are sobbing, rocking back and forth. They have their hands stretched to the heavens praising and revering their God. One girl who looked about my age had her hands on the wall with her face on her hands. Her fingers wet with her tears. A space opened and I approached the wall. The little girl on my right was slipping a note in a crack. The elderly woman behind me sitting in a chair with her face literally in her Torah. The pregnant woman to my left could barely hold herself up. I couldn’t understand her words but I knew she was crying out in grief unimaginable.
Then there were the tourist with their selfie sticks. But what got me was that the Jewish women didn’t care that they were a spectacle. They didn’t care who heard their cries, who watched as they prayed.
I put my forehead to the wall and joined them in their cries, but at this point it changed from something beautiful to an overwhelming sadness. The enemy cannot create anything. Only God creates. But the enemy distorts. He twists. He changes something just slightly so that it seems right but it is totally off.
This morning Kate and I went back to the wall.
We sat in the midst of 100s of women and cried with them. We cried out to our God, who is so much bigger than a wall. To our God who sent his son to this very city to die for them. To die for these women so that they could live in freedom. To the Savior that will return on the mountain just on the other side of this wall they are praying at. Even as I type this tears run down my cheeks. My heart is breaking for these people who are so close yet so far. Who are earnestly seeking the God of the Bible but cannot seem to accept Jesus.
Katie and I backed away from the wall to be respectful of their tradition. We held hands and wept.
I cannot even imagine the heartache the Father feels for his people.
What can we do? We can pray. Pray that the Holy Spirit will invade this country. That they will see Jesus as their Messiah. That the scales will be moved from their eyes.
You tore the veil, Father. Now remove it from their eyes!
And let us, as American Christians, have compassion. People are seeking. People are crying out. Let us pray that they discover the true Hope of Glory. The true Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and the End. The one true God.
