The Myth

The other day we took a little trip to Jerusalem’s Western Wall. No, it wasn’t for praying purposes, but in order to ‘journey’ underground, along the 488 meters (approx. 550 yards) of the Western Wall, which is almost the entire length of the western side of the Temple Mount compound built by Herod. Our guide was a religious young woman, and very knowledgeable about the area. However, while questioning her about the First Temple, she said that there was no physical evidence that it had ever existed. I couldn’t believe my ears! I then proceeded to tell her about our visits to Joshua’s altar on the Mount of Curse (Eval). Again, she was refuting the authenticity of that site too. In my shock, I told her that her fellow orthodox Zionist settlers, who live in the area of Shechem, stake their claim for being there on such archeological evidence. She sat down for a moment on the mother rock of Mount Moriah, and confessed that she too believed that the altar was truly dated to Joshua’s time, but…. After returning home and pondering for a while why this government employee would try so hard to explain away her own biblical history, I was struck by a word - “myth”. A myth, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is a traditional story presenting supernatural beings, ancestors or heroes that serve a primordial types in a primitive view of the world; a fictitious or imaginary story, person, or thing; a false belief.

The enemy of the Word of God has basically one weapon that he uses for blinding and binding the people; deceiving his victims into believing lies. This is why Yeshua called him “the father of lies”. "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

If the so-called peace process, or land for peace, is going to succeed, an atmosphere of deception, against some basic truths must be created. One such deception in particular, which is very subtle, has to do with the most important issues of legal and legitimate claims to Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem; in other words, the entire land of Israel. The world, using its most educated experts in the professions of archeology and history, has come to the conclusion that there is no physical evidence of an ancient people called the Hebrews; no Exodus from Egypt; no First Temple in Jerusalem; no Joshua’s altar, etc. rendering any historical claim to the land null and void. If they manage to convince enough people in this generation to believe their lie, our children and grandchildren may just learn that the stories of the Torah are nothing more than mythology, and the God of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’acov will simply join the ranks of the rest of the gods of the Greek beast.

The Islamic religious authorities of the Temple Mount (the Wakf) dumped 900 truckloads of debris, which were hauled from the Temple Mount area, into the valley below. Our government (and the powerful Antiquities Department) purposely turned their back on this, and as a matter of fact arrested a student of archeology, for taking (“stealing”) from the dump precious artifacts of the Second and possibly First Temple Periods. Why is there such a blatant attempt to get rid of any, if not all, of these facts and evidence?

The land of Israel, our inheritance, is being contested like never before. Why? For the same reason that our identity is being warred against. This piece of real estate here in the Middle East is just as important to God’s plan of redemption as are the people. We cannot separate one from the other. Whether we find one archeological object or not, we still have the Word of Truth as written down by Moses and the prophets. This will stand as the one eternal testimony that God is who He says He is. Our heavenly Father wants us to be His witness on this earth, and has given us His Spirit for this purpose, to lead and guide us into all truth; a truth which will prove to be more than mere ‘head knowledge’, but rather will become a revelation of Him, through a people living in His land.

We, who have found our true spiritual identity in the Messiah and now also in ‘the natural’, as the seed of Israel, are also being challenged by the enemy; he wants us to continue to live as if we are not who God says we are. YHVH says that this nation, Israel, is to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation in the land, one that will show forth His righteousness and justice, as light to the other nations. Yeshua has come to set up His Father’s kingdom in us, the restored House of Jacob. Thus, to know who we are and to be sure of our calling, are vital matters. This truth of our identity as a redeemed first fruit people puts us back into a position that was lost in the Garden. We now stand, individually and corporately, through faith in what is true, as a beacon of light and as a sword in the hand of our God to destroy all the strongholds in the heavenly places. The lies and deceptions that have covered our souls like filthy rags are being removed in and through the death and resurrected life of our Messiah, who is replacing the lie with truth.

“Beware lest anyone deceive you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the myths of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to the anointing of Messiah (Colossians 2:8), Who is “the living way, truth and life”.