Evangelicals Recall Jericho's Walls
Pastor Dale Morgan
Evangelicals Recall Jericho's Walls*
By REGAN E. DOHERTY,
Associated Press Writer AP
EIN GEDI, Israel - The walls of Jericho came crashing down again at this
spa resort on the Dead Sea, with all the bright lights and fanfare of a
Broadway show.
Actors dressed in biblical garb blasting ram horns and riding camels
re-enacted Joshua's siege of the ancient city for some 5,000 Christian
pilgrims on Thursday, kicking off a weeklong demonstration of solidarity
with the Jewish state.
The performance at Ein Gedi, about 20 miles south of Jericho itself, was
part of a celebration marking the Feast of the Tabernacles, or Sukkot, a
seven-day Jewish holiday during which the pilgrims believe the Old
Testament invites all nations to come to Jerusalem.
The crowd's excitement was palpable, with believers exclaiming
hallelujah and blowing large ram horns, or shofars, throughout the show.
Walls replicating the ones that came tumbling down when Joshua blew his
ram's horn came down during the performance.
Organizers said that Christian tourism in the Holy Land reaches its peak
during Sukkot.
Evangelical groups have forged a tight alliance with the Jewish state,
and Israeli officials have welcomed the pilgrims for years. Israeli
Orthodox rabbis have tolerated them but have become increasingly
concerned they may have an ulterior motive: conversion of the Jews.
The Christian groups oppose territorial concessions to the Palestinians,
who want to establish a state in areas Israel captured in the 1967
Mideast War. Many Evangelicals believe Jews must return to the biblical
Land of Israel to facilitate a Second Coming of Christ.
The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem has hosted Sukkot
celebrations in Israel for 27 years. The embassy says that pilgrims have
been instructed to refrain from missionary activity while in Israel.
"It's time for gentiles to repay their debt to the Jews," said Anthony
Gibson of County Kildare, Ireland. Without the Jews, he said, there
would be "no patriarchs, no prophets, no messiah, no salvation."
The weeklong festival will include a parade and a musical tribute to the
40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast
war, in addition to performances by Jewish cantor and Broadway actor
Dudu Fisher.
Lollie De Manielle of Malmesbury, South Africa, said that her interest
in Israel is not seeing the "dead stones" of archaeological sites.
"I'm more looking forward to meeting the living stones, the (Israeli)
people."