TO SAY that Covid-19, also dubbed one of the “modern-day plagues,” has changed our lives dramatically is an understatement.
As we approach the holiest holidays for both Jewish and Christian believers, our faith in God as a people has not been tested as much as in this time of the global pandemic.
Starting yesterday, April 8, until April 16, the Jewish people will celebrate Passover (Pesach in Hebrew), or the remembrance of how God saved them from being slaves in ancient Egypt.
Christians, on the other hand, will observe Holy Week, or the time of reflecting on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is amazing how these two religions have similar religious holidays in a calendar year. While the Christians follow the Gregorian calendar, the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles, that’s why their religious holidays are marked by a full moon.
But while there are a lot of differences, both groups share a season of remembering beautiful stories of salvation—a much needed spiritual respite in this time of great fear.
I believe our God is a God of order. He does not create chaos. I liked what one vlogger said, “Peace is not the absence of chaos. Peace is the presence of God amidst the chaos.” If you believe and have faith in God, you will be familiar with his great power and the accounts of all the miracles he has displayed throughout history. I hope my story will encourage you.
Visiting Israel is like being in the Bible stories I had seen and read as a child. It has always left me spiritually refreshed and provided growth as an individual, as I continue to learn about a culture so full of wisdom that I believe is God-given. Let me share with you five significant things I have learned from the Israeli culture that we could use in this time of crisis.
1. Plagues have happened and will continue to happen. But they always end. If you watched a lot of TV as a child, you probably sat through the three-hour The Ten Commandments during Holy Week because there was nothing else on TV. Do you remember the scene depicting the parting of the Red Sea? I still do. It felt so good to see the Israelites cross the sea and continue on with their journey out of Egypt, more popularly known as The Exodus. Yes, it was the marvelous end to the 10 Plagues that was experienced by the Egyptians.
Since the Pharaoh did not release the slaves despite the pleas of Moses, God sent the 10 Plagues, one of which was the death of first-borns. But because the Israelites marked their doorposts with lamb’s blood, their first-borns were spared. The movie eerily shows a night mist as the cause of death. It could have been a disease that swept across the country. In this story, the plagues ended because the Pharaoh was forced to stop running after the Israelites due to all the suffering inflicted upon his people.
In Noah’s story of the great flood that destroyed the whole world except for his family, God himself promised not to bring another flood again to punish people. In Genesis 8:21, we can read that “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma (from Noah’s burnt offering) and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.’”
2. When fear strikes, pray and have faith. Jesus himself is a great example of a prayerful man. There are various verses in the Bible that recount how Jesus prayed. He even prayed in the wilderness or the desert. The deserts of Israel are beautiful, in their quietness, you can talk to God and just pour your heart out.
Aside from the Red Sea, another water body that I have seen in Israel is the Sea of Galilee. Fun fact: it’s not a sea but a freshwater lake. Also known as the Kinneret, the lake is famous for the miracle of Jesus walking on water. In Matthew 14, Peter asked Jesus if he could walk on water, and Jesus told him to do so. However, when Peter saw the wind, fear overcame him and when he started to sink, he cried, saying, “Lord, save me.” Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand, caught him, and said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
3. God is our Healer. One of the must-see sites in Israel is Capernaum, the hometown of Jesus. Although Jesus was a Nazarene, he spent most of his life and ministry in Capernaum. There you will find the synagogue where Jesus preached and performed many miracles, including healing the sick. It was in Capernaum that Jesus healed the paralytic who was lowered from a hole in the roof. He even raised the dead, as in the daughter of Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. But as always, Jesus talked not just about physical healing, but spiritual healing as well.
One activity that brought me to tears was retracing the Via Dolorosa, the route of Jesus’ painful journey to Calvary that begins where he was charged with the punishment of death on a cross and ends at the site of his crucifixion. Located in the old City of Jerusalem, the rough cobblestone roads make your imagination of Jesus’ suffering real. But his death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice so we could have eternal life. A favorite verse summarizes this beautifully: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
4. Wash hands, observe proper hygiene habits. Washing one’s self with water has always been associated with spiritual cleansing in Christianity. The practices of baptism, blessing and washing of feet are done using water. Yardenit, located on the banks of the Jordan River, at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, is popular among tourists. It is the site where Jesus was believed to have been baptized by John the Baptist. I guess Christianity, which is based so much on Judaism, adopted these cleansing practices because of this symbolism. But in Israeli culture, the washing of hands is a big part of their faith. You can find hand washing sinks in synagogues and in holy places. Called netilat yadayim in Hebrew, there is a ritual that Jewish people follow in washing their hands. Some articles say that this custom dates back to the time of Moses when God instructed Aaron and his sons to wash their hands before entering the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Even Pontius Pilate, a Roman official, understood the significance of hand washing for the Jews and used it to show them that he was washing himself off the guilt in the crucifixion of Jesus.
5. Eat healthy, drink water. Israelis love fruits, theirs is one of the populations with the highest life expectancy rankings. Known to be a leader in agriculture, Israel invented drip irrigation, which is an efficient way of using water for growing plants. In 2000, agriculture output was reported at $3.3 billion. You should try pomegranates, figs, olives and their seedless watermelons when you visit. Jesus, in his parables, used fruits, vineyards and water as symbols, because they speak so much to the people.
In Jerusalem, you can find Mary’s Spring, a place where the mother of Jesus stopped to drink water when she came to see her cousin Elizabeth to tell her about her pregnancy. It is beautiful in its simplicity, a lot of tourists hold prayer sessions and bible studies here.
In the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus reveals that he is the messiah for the first time and told her that he is the “Living Water.”
More imagery with water is included in this basic verse about salvation, Jesus said, “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” (John 4:14)
I hope you have learned something from what I’ve shared. In this time of lockdowns and quarantines, our faith in God should be greater than our fears. He is in control. No one else is.