#10-Reunion

I went to the Wall Monday night to meet with God.

It was the first time I went up to the Wall to pray....it was interesting.
Since I have gotten here, I have had a hard time and struggling with the idea of a location making a difference in how I approach god and how He approaches me.
So for the past two weeks or so I have gone down to the Wailing Wall complex, but thats as far as I have gone..I would get down there and just sit and observe and think.
There are always so many Jews praying to God down there.

I, for many Biblical reasons that I will mention and explain on this blog sometime soon...(hopefully in video format)....I try and stay away from Rabbinical Judaism and the traditions of men. So going down to the Wall, I could not help but think that going down to the Wall to pray is ridiculous....I mean, why don't they go to the southern wall to pray? Its the same wall (yes, I understand that the Western Wall is the closest they can get to the Holy of Holies...). So why specifically at that section of the wall? The western wall takes up barely 1/10 of the total amount of the Wall....so why there?

Well, for the Jew, it's because that is where God dwelt. That was where God's Sukkah (סוכה) was on this earth. So that is where we go now.
But then I have been thinking of why we do anything locationally with God:

Why do people go to church, or Synagogue, or anywhere to meet with God and His people?
Because we are all interconnected because of God. Read my paper on the definition of "Ekklesia". This is corporate time with God.

Why do I take time to pray? Or, why do I spend time with God individually? To have a relationship with God.
and does geographic location matter on that matter? No.
But at the same time...
If location does not matter for me to spend with God,then why don't I go pray every morning to Him in a strip club???

Ah. Because how can I meet with God in a place that goes against HIS Will???
The answer is: you can't. Because He will not be there.
Why DON'T I go worship God in a Satanic Temple? Or how about a Buddhist Temple???
Because those are not places God called His OWN!

Therefor, what BETTER place for me to pray to God then the Western Wall??? It is a pure place...and that is why I am drawn to it. Because there are people there who know they do not live life the way God asked and so they go and beg for forgiveness from God...

I can and I do pray to God in my bed.
I can and do pray to God in the shower.
I can and do pray and meet God in community worship.

However, I can and I do meet God at the Temple mount BECAUSE He put His name there thousands of years ago. I do not know how to define all of this, nor do I understand it...all I know is this true: I feel God at the Mount in a way I don't anywhere else.

So when I was down at the complex....

I was sitting as far from the Wall as possible and was just praying and trying to wrap my head around this stuff....

When I saw something that blew my mind:

I was sitting on the ground and a Hasidic Jew and his very young daughter (she looked like she was 2) were walking by and stopped in front of me. The Father said something to His daughter and was trying to pull her a certain direction...he was obviously trying to guide her in where to go.

She flat out ignored him...and actually took off in the other direction. She went the complete opposite way then where her father wanted her to go.
But instead of picking her up and bringing her where he wanted her to go....

He followed.
he did not intervene...he just followed behind her....in the complete opposite way then he wanted to go.

but then, she climb up on a stone bench and stood on it.....
and now that she put herself at risk in getting hurt...he walked over to her and picked her up off of the bench and sat her on the ground. Then she just kind of hung around there; her Father started to talk to another Jew.....

then after a few minutes...the daughter and the Father left....and walked the way the father originally wanted to go.

I saw this happen and suddenly I had a clear fact in my mind that this was and is my life and where I am at...and many people I know.

God loves us...end of story.
But He wants us to rely on Him by choice, not by force.
He has a specific way He wants to lead us....the Way to Israel...the Way out of Egypt...the Way to redemption...the way to HIM.

And we, over and over and over again, go the other way.
It made me think of the Exodus. After the people met God at Sinai....they still went a different way. They did not follow God out of Sinai....they followed Him out of Egypt. But not out of Sinai.....and God allowed them that.

God didn't pick them up and bring them to where he wanted them to go.
God did not punish them for their choice....He simply let them do what they asked for...God said "fine. You don't want to enter into the land? Stay here."
and that is what they did.
they stayed there.

I think the theological significance of what happened in Sinai is greatly over looked by the church today.
The Israelites were redeemed from Egypt. It is not an issue of salvation...God had already saved them....
But God wanted HIS people to live with Him in Israel.
And they said no...they said we will only follow you this far.

God i hope I do not let my stupid mind keep me from going where God wants me to go....cos' I know my actions and thoughts keep me in Sinai, and prevent me from going into God's Land: the life lived under Him.

After this I went up to the Wall and prayed.....and it hit me after words: I met God not at the Wall. I met Him as soon as I decided I wanted to Meet Him...He was just patiently waiting for me to come to Him with the right motivation.

I run into all of the time having to explain myself and having to try to prove to others who I am and what I believe....constantly.
Which I am ok with...

However, there are things I believe that I can't explain. I believe them not because of logic or theology...but because of my experiences with this God.

So in the end..whats is my point?

my point is this:

"And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel."
(Deuteronomy 34:10-12)

Out of everything the Israelites experienced....they never got to the point God wanted them. What point was that? To know Him face to face.

Only Moses did.

That thought makes me so sad.....

every time God peeks out behind the bush to show Himself to His people, we run from Him.
But Moses stayed and saw God.

That is what I want. To not run in the opposite direction of God....but to follow Him.
I know I run in the opposite way than what God wants. And I know when I do this, I know he is standing back just watching me with a twinkle in His eye saying, "that is not my plan for you.....but one day you will see that." So God just waits patiently for me to return to Him.
This is why I keep Sabbath.....Sabbath is the day God rests....I can rest any day I want to.....but there is only one day when God rests.

I want to go where He goes. Not lead the direction.

This is Shalom.
And I think this is what God is trying to get at in the Scriptures: He wants to people to rely on Him and follow Him and His will....

He WANTS to show us His face.

But we can't when we don't follow.



Shalom!

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