This past week, on Thanksgiving no less, twenty young leaders from all over America crowded into our Beit Shemesh office for pizza and pasta. They were the newest cohort of the Keep God’s Land Young Leader Fellowship—Christians and Jews united in their commitment to stand with Israel. These young Americans had already spent days in Shiloh, walked the Gaza border, prayed in the Old City. As we broke bread together, I could see the journey written on their faces—the weight of what they’d witnessed, the connections they were making between ancient text and present reality. After lunch, in our Modern and Open Space office they would return back to the Bible, this time to explore Emek Ha’elah, the Valley of Elah, where David faced Goliath.
Here’s the question that confronts every serious student of Scripture: Why does location matter? If God’s Word is eternal and unchanging, why should it make any difference whether we study it in a church basement in Ohio or standing in the Judean hills where the events actually unfolded?
The God of Israel didn’t deliver abstract philosophy. He acted in history, in specific places, through a specific people.
The Bible, God’s instruction, emerged from a particular patch of earth. The covenant was given at a specific mountain. The battles were fought in actual valleys. The kingdoms rose and fell in real cities whose ruins you can still touch today.
When Christians study the Hebrew Bible in Israel, in Judea and Samaria, something shifts. The text stops being a collection of isolated verses suitable for greeting cards and becomes what it actually is: the record of God’s covenant with a people in a land. You cannot separate the promise from the property. You cannot understand the patriarchs without understanding the hills they walked. You cannot grasp the prophets’ message without seeing the strategic geography they addressed. And you cannot understand the people without understanding the land.
One participant, visiting Israel for the first time, told me he was struck by the nation’s unity—how Christians and Jews work shoulder to shoulder here in ways unimaginable back home. He spoke of Israel’s resilience, the way ancient stones and modern construction tell the same story of a people who refuse to disappear. What moved him most was the realization that the Bible isn’t just a book about faraway events. It’s the living story of a people still walking the same hills, still defending the same valleys, still trusting the same God.
Standing in Emek Ha’elah, you understand why Goliath’s challenge was military genius. The Philistines held the high ground. The valley represented Israel’s vulnerability, their perpetual defensive posture against enemies with superior technology. David’s victory wasn’t just individual courage—it was the God of Israel demonstrating His power in the exact location where Israel’s weakness was most exposed. The place teaches the theology.
The young participant I spoke with plans to return home and lead by example. He wants to bring what he learned here back to his community—not just information about Israel, but a deeper connection to the Bible itself. He understands that faith without action is dead, that showing up matters.
This is what the Keep God’s Land Young Leader Fellowship offers: the chance to see Scripture come alive in the land where it was written. To meet families living in the biblical heartland today. To serve alongside Israelis who see themselves as continuing what Joshua began and what David defended. To learn that “Judea and Samaria” aren’t political talking points but the actual names of the territories where most of biblical history unfolded.
Standing with Israel isn’t merely political alliance. It’s standing with the Bible itself. It’s affirming that God meant what He said, that His promises are as real as the land they’re written on, that His covenant remains in force. When the nations challenge Israel’s right to their land, they challenge the authority of Scripture itself. To stand with Israel is to stand with God’s Word made manifest in history. Those who would truly understand Scripture must reckon with both the words on the page and the ground beneath their feet—because in God’s economy, they are one and the same.
Want to experience the Bible come alive in the land where it was written? The Keep God’s Land Young Leader Fellowship brings Christians and Jews together to serve, study, and stand with Israel in its biblical heartland. Join us for a life-changing week in Judea and Samaria, where you’ll walk where the patriarchs walked, serve alongside IDF soldiers, meet families living in biblical communities, and return home equipped to advocate for Israel and Scripture itself. Limited spots available for our next trip! Learn more at https://keepgodsland.com/keep-gods-land-young-leader-fellowship/
