3 Things I Learned Last Semester in Israel

1. Valuing Every Word

Every word, place, and name in the Bible matters. IBEX made that reality come to life — on a page, “Gezer” is just a five-letter word, and you skip over it because it doesn’t seem relevant to you at the moment. But when you’re standing at Gezer and see how God used His land to shape the actions of His people, it matters. IBEX really taught me that nothing in the Bible goes to waste; every part of it is valuable.

2. Seeing Gospel Opportunities

Our Jewish thought and culture teacher helped us realize that we as Gentiles have more opportunity to share the gospel with the Jewish people than Messianic Jews themselves. Because conversion to Christianity from Judaism is viewed as one of the worst betrayals, Jewish people will often immediately walk away if they hear a fellow Jewish person talk about Christ. But because Gentile Christians are not viewed in the same light, we have a unique freedom to talk with them about the gospel.

3. Appreciating Scripture’s Prophecies

Micah foretells the destruction of Samaria in the Old Testament, saying that because of her sins Samaria will lie in ruins forever. In IBEX, we had an eye-opening experience seeing the fulfillment of that prophecy by reading that passage while standing on the ruins of Samaria. The Bible just comes to life when you’re in Israel — when you’re standing there where it all actually happened.

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