To be honest I’ve never given more than a glancing thought to Israel. As a believer and a pastor the Old Testament has always been examples of what not to do as I and others relate to God. The New Testament is the gospel for the Jew and gentile alike, salvation through Christ, the inclusion of all into the Kingdom of God. For me the Jews had been washed out through history, lost in the shuffle of rebellion and cruelty. But being here in the land of Israel I see their earnest yearning for Messiah, the devoutly religious practice, the hope that through extreme orthodoxy their Messiah might come. For all of their devotion they remain in the dark. For all of their religious structure they are confused, walking very deliberately, yet on their way to nowhere. Even as Christians come and go in their land worshipping the God who seems so far from them Israel waits for the appearing of the One who has already come. I can now better understand Paul’s frustration with his brethren at their unbelief and unwillingness to hear the truth. I can sense the fervor of Paul when he prayed that if it would bring his brothers into the Kingdom he would sacrifice his own place. I now have a better grasp of the depth of his faith as the tradition of his fathers found its completion in Christ. I am ashamed that I have been so glibly ignorant of the people called Israel. The Father awaits His beloved to awaken to His love that has never changed and never will. The peace that I pray for Israel to know is not political or an end to the period of military conflict, but peace with God that comes from being justified in Christ alone (Romans 5). The promise of God is that it will come, when the hardening of Israel’s heart is over and the number of Gentiles is complete, it will come.