Why Israel Is Important To Christians

Recently, I with twelve other people set off for Israel. Israel is a small country of 60 miles which is about 90km. It is called the land flowing with milk and honey” despite being 60% a desert. I and my friends who I went with on this journey visited a lot of famous places we read about in the bible like Mount of Olives, Jericho, river Jordan and many more.

Mountain of olives is a place where Jesus went up into heaven, as you slope down this mountain you find the garden of Gethsemane. On top of the next hill, it’s where the city of Bethlehem is. This hill is also known as the city of Zion (Mount Zion). Mount Zion is also known as Mount Moriah, a place in the old testament where Abraham took his son Isaac for sacrifice, but God replaced him with a lamb. On the side of Mount Zion, there is the city of David.

The people I traveled with to Israel

Jericho is the city the Israelites surrounded, and the wall fell after 7 days. Currently, this city is occupied by Palestinians. This city is in the valley of the western bank, further below it is where River Jordan is located, and this place is also known the Jordan valley. It has been written that the Israelites would have taken 3 weeks from Egypt to Israel, yet it took them 40 years. Today by use of the road, it would take you 5 hours to travel from Egypt to Tel Aviv.

Going to Israel and visiting the places we read about in the bible brought the bible to life and most definitely increased my faith. Some people look at the bible as a historical book, others as a magical or fictional book and to Christians, it is a spiritual book. Yes, the bible is a historical book because all that was written happened in real places with real people. And yes, it is a spiritual book because God inspired the writers of the bible. I encourage those that have not yet had the chance to make the trip to Israel to not only read the bible but to read around its history and geography and this will help you interpret and relate to the bible more.