The ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing;
Isaiah 35:10
Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
They shall obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
From the biblical times to the modern days countless number of believers in the Bible have ventured to make a pilgrimage trip to the Holy Land. Especially the pilgrimage to the Holy City of Jerusalem is an unquenched aspiration of the pious people to encounter the living God, to taste the blessed life of the Holy Spirit, and to pray for the fulfillment of the divine promise.
The Holy Land has the places where the biblical people had their vivid spiritual experiences. Jerusalem, for example, is the place where Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac, where King David established as the capital of Israel, where his son Solomon built a magnificent temple, and where prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah admonished the people of Israel. Standing on the Hill of Zion, where the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, we too feel like praying the infilling of the same spiritual power.
Treading on the same land where the prophets heard the voice of the LORD GOD, or where Jesus and his disciples ministered, we can vividly envision the dramatic stages of the Bible and are urged to pray for the similar spiritual experiences of the divine Spirit.
Moreover, as we see the modern State of Israel building a nation with the Bible as its blueprint, we witness the fulfillment of the biblical prophecies which had envisioned the desert turning to the green field and the land flowing with milk and honey. The survival of the Jewish people and the development of modern Israel are the solid proofs that the words of the Bible are true and that the divine promises are faithfully materialized.
Over 8,000 Makuya members have made pilgrimage trips to the Holy Land since Teshima Ikuro first visited Israel in 1961. They give thanks to the redemption of the Lord God and pray for the true and lasting peace in Israel and in the Middle East. Bringing back these blessed experiences to Japan, and sharing the joy with other Japanese, we hope the faith of the Bible also illuminates the path of our homeland.