THE HOLY LAND

I get brochures advertising trips to "the Holy Land." They describe these trips as taking one to the supposed crucifixion site, the burial cave of Jesus, the place where the temple stood, the route of Jesus to the cross, etc. I received an advertisement selling vials of "holy" water from the Jordan where Jesus was baptized.

Battles have been fought, and continue to be fought, over who would possess these "Holy" places. The Crusades of long ago were dedicated to reclaiming this land from the "infidels." One of the obstacles to peace in present-day Israel is who shall occupy the temple area of Jerusalem. So on and on goes the conflict and the promotions pertaining to "the Holy Land."

Under the Old Covenant the temple was holy and Jerusalem was a holy city and after their desecration and destruction by the Babylonians, Nehemiah, Ezra, Zerubbabel, and others labored exceedingly to restore the temple, the town and the worship to their former glory.

But Jesus taught a lesson in John the fourth chapter in regard to physical places. The woman of Samaria said, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship" (John 4:20). Jesus answered, "Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." (vs 21) "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." (vs 23)

That hour has come. The Old Covenant was fulfilled bringing it to an end and with its ending, no mountain nor place of assembly is any more holy than any other. What makes an assembly of people pleasing in God's sight is when their worship is "in spirit and in truth."

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

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