Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your prosperity.
Psalm 122:6-9
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
Matthew 23:37
There is a common theme throughout the Bible of the centrality of Jerusalem as God's special dwelling place.
In both Old and New Testaments it is the place of Temple sacrifice - a place where people, including Jesus Himself, went up to celebrate the feasts as prescribed by the Lord.
Of course, we as believers in Jesus, know it as the place of Jesus' crucifixion for the sins of the world, resurrection defeating death and glorious ascension into Heaven.
But now that the Temple has been destroyed is it still so important in the grand scheme of God?
And, why is it such a bone of contention now and down through history about who claims it as their capital city?
The only way to view this politically sensitive issue is from a spiritual perspective.
Jerusalem is going to be the site of the Lord's final victory over His enemies.
God has especially chosen this city, for His own reasons. Whatever God loves, Satan tries to spoil, pervert and destroy.
Jerusalem is the place to which Jesus is going to return and when His feet touch the Mount of Olives something immense is going to happen:
The Lord Comes and Reigns
A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.
I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake a in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.
On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
Zechariah 14:1-9
In Revelation 21:1-4 we see the prophecy of a new Jerusalem and, for those who are super worried about climate change, we see that God has taken it on Himself to redesign the whole of creation and make it new:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and there was no sea anymore. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Now God’s presence is with people, and he will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain, because all the old ways are gone.”
Fellow believers - "pray for the peace of Jerusalem", it's going to be your home too!
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