Jerusalem
Caught in the Crossfire
It
is a sad irony of history that a city named after the word “Peace”
should be the constant battleground between those who claim
Abraham as their Father. This struggle for Jerusalem is primarily
between Arabs and Jews — each claiming a God-given right
to Jerusalem as their capital. But whose right is it really?
God recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel when He gave
the city into the hands of King David over 3,000 years ago.
To those who trust in the Judeo-Christian Bible, there is no
question that Jerusalem has been the very heart of Israel. When
Jewish people from around the world began to regather to this
tiny Nation in 1878 — buying houses and land at exorbitant
prices — a once desolate wasteland began to "blossom
as the rose." Isaiah 35:1
But while Israelis have been jubilant over God’s providence
in restoring the Jews to their homeland, the worldview has been
indifferent at best and resentful at worst. Whole Jewish communities
have been systematically expelled from their homes. Arab nations
have voiced relentless cries of foul play when Israel reacts
under violent provocation. And, world opinion of Israel has
remained negative due to carefully crafted propaganda which
claims that Israel is “occupying Arab territory.”
As evidence of the effect of this propaganda, sitting U.S. presidents
have been treating the status of Jerusalem as “disputed
territory," even though the U.S. Congress recognized Jerusalem
as Israel’s capital in 1995. Breaking with this disrespect
of Israel’s right to name its own capital, the current
sitting president, Donald Trump, is now boldly declaring Jerusalem
as the rightful capital of Israel. In consequence, Palestinians,
who in every peace negotiation have demanded Jerusalem to be
the capital of the state of Palestine, are outraged and are
calling for widespread violence. What's more, they are threatening
that this will be an end of any hope for peace in the Middle
East. But have attempts at peace been effective when deliberate
campaigns of violence constantly erupt?
What is God’s Peace Plan for Israel?
The nations of the world all wish to have a say in forging a
plan which will bring about peace in the Middle East. But concerning
these attempts, Jeremiah the prophet foretold: “Peace,
peace; when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 8:11) As long
as the nations fail to recognize that this Land belongs to God,
their peace plans will fail. God said, “This Land is Mine!”
(Leviticus 25:23) The people of Israel know the biblical significance
of their country, and their desire is to make Jerusalem a City
of Peace once again — it will happen, but in God’s
time, in His way and for His purpose.
To understand how God will use Israel to accomplish His purpose,
we must review biblical history to see the steps God has already
taken toward His promise to Abraham. Four thousand years ago
God expressed, as an oath to Abraham, “...in thee shall
all families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)
This oath-bound promise is the key to understanding prophecy,
and as the central theme of the Bible, it is the key to understanding
the importance of Israel in God’s plan. God chose Israel
out of all other nations to be a channel of His blessings to
the world. This oath was again confirmed to Jacob — God’s
blessings will flow through Israel — “in thy seed”
— to the rest of the world. Genesis 28:14
When God repeated this promise to Jacob — whom God renamed
“Israel” — his twelve sons inherited the promise
when their father Jacob died. Since that time, the twelve tribes
of Jacob have been known as the Nation of Israel. Israel’s
history has been full of incidents in which God alternately
blessed and disciplined His people, for they had covenanted
with God to remain separate from the world in every way. The
disciplines dealt by God had the effect of developing a class
of people who steadfastly hoped for the fulfillment of God’s
promise to Abraham. The most severe discipline of all, the dispersion
or Diaspora, began about 70 A.D. and continued until Zionism
brought in a great regathering to Jerusalem. In 1878 AD the
Berlin Congress of Nations opened the Land to Jewish settlements,
and the Jewish colony, Petach Tikvah, “Gate of Hope”
was established by Jewish refugees from Russia.
The ancient books of Ezra and Nehemiah speak of the first regathering
to Israel of the Jewish people after they had been taken captive
by Babylon. But Isaiah prophesied that Israel would regather
this second time. “And it shall come to pass in that day,
that the LORD shall set his hand again the second time to recover
the remnant of his people... and shall assemble the outcasts
of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the
four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:11-12) Jeremiah
confirmed this thrilling prophecy: “Behold, the days come,
saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth,
that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel
from the land of the north and from all the lands whither he
had driven them: and I will bring them again into their Land
that I gave unto their fathers.” Jeremiah 16:13-15
Never before has a nation been scattered throughout the world
for nearly 2,000 years and then reborn in accordance with prophecies
written over 2,500 years before. Our generation has witnessed
this astounding fact, and we recognize that only God could accomplish
such a miraculous work. The yearly prayer of the Jews, “Next
year in Jerusalem,” is even now in process of fulfillment.
Is it any wonder why Israel is so dear to the hearts of the
Jewish people? And still the world continues to resist God’s
choice.
Who Has the God-Given Right to His Land?
Some disagree that the Jews now have a God-given right to possess
His Land. They argue, if God wanted them to have the Land, why
did he allow the Jews to be expelled from Israel by the Romans?
Why was the door to Israel (renamed Palestine by the Romans)
generally shut to Jews for so many centuries? Jesus gave the
truth of the matter. Shortly after presenting himself to Israel
as King (in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9), he judged Israel
because they killed the prophets and failed to accept him. Jesus
said, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”
(Matthew 23:37-38) Similarly, Zechariah predicted that the LORD
would render double (Hebrew mishneh, an equal portion) because
they did not turn to Jesus, their Messiah. Israel would need
to experience a period of disfavor equal to their prior period
of favor from the Lord. (Zechariah 9:12) Regarding that equal
portion of time in the disfavor of God, Jeremiah predicted that
God’s “recompense [for] their iniquity and their
sin double” would be accomplished before the current massive
regathering of the Jews to their Land. “...and I will
bring them again into their Land that I gave unto their fathers.
Behold, I will send for many fishers [the Zionist movement],
saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send
for many hunters [anti-semitism], and they shall hunt them from
every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of
the rocks. For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not
hid from mine eyes...” (Jeremiah 16:15-17) The Old Testament
prophets and the Apostle Paul recognized what present day Christians
sometimes miss—that the Jewish people would be brought
back into God’s favor after their time of punishment was
completed.
Which Side Should Christians Support?
With so many conflicting and passionate claims, which side of
the battle should Christians support? Some Christians have the
idea that Israel lost her chosen status when she, as a nation,
did not accept Jesus as her long promised Messiah. These Christians
apply all prophetic scriptures about Israel to themselves, hence
the term “replacement theology.” However, the Apostle
warns against such a mistake, “For I would not, brethren,
that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be
wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened
to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And
so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall
come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall
take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies
for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved
for the fathers’ sakes . . . these also now believed not,
that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.” (Romans
11:25-32) Many theologians today preach that only 144,000 Jews
will be saved, however, this statement of Paul indicates that
Israel as a whole will be blessed and granted an opportunity
for salvation once the Church has all been gathered into the
heavenly garner.
God foreknew that Israel as a nation would reject Jesus as their
Messiah. But God did not allow this to preclude their receiving
the promises of the original and everlasting oath-bound covenant
through Abraham. The concept of Israel’s permanent forfeiture
of their Land and relationship with God is refuted by the prophet
Jeremiah. “Thus saith the LORD…if I have not appointed
the ordinances of heaven and earth, then will I cast away the
seed of Jacob… for I will cause their captivity to return
[Hebrew-return from exile] and have mercy on them.” (Jeremiah
31:35-37; 33:25-26) Then Jeremiah shows, “That the city
[Jerusalem of Old] shall be built to the Lord” by the
returned Jews and, furthermore, “It shall not be plucked
up, nor thrown down anymore forever.” (Jeremiah 31:38-40)
The descendants of Israel (Jacob) — not Ishmael or Esau
— will receive the city of Jerusalem — including
East Jerusalem — forever.
Earthly Agents of Blessing Ruling from Jerusalem
Many do not see the depth of meaning in God’s promise
to Abraham: “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
heaven and as the sand on the seashore.” (Genesis 22:17)
Note the two parts to this covenant referring to two different
aspects of Abraham’s offspring — the channel of
God’s blessings. The heavenly or spiritual part (alluded
to metaphorically as the “stars of heaven”) will
be the faithful Christians whom God has been selecting for the
last 2,000 years of the Gospel Age. And the earthly part (“the
sand of the seashore”) will be the regathered Nation of
Israel. God plans to bless everyone who has ever lived through
these two classes working together — the faithful Christians
as heavenly agents of blessing and the regathered Nation of
Israel as earthly agents of blessing. Galatians 3:8
In God’s Kingdom, the fathers of Israel — Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, David, Samuel, Elijah and the many other faithful
— will constitute the government of Israel in the City
of Peace — Jerusalem! They will be princes on earth, children
of the King and of his Bride. (Psalms 45:10-16) God will restore
— by raising from the dead — their “judges
as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning.”
(Isaiah 1:25-26) That which has its beginning as God’s
Kingdom on earth in Israel will eventually extend to the ends
of the earth. “And it shall come to pass in the last days,
that the mountain [Kingdom] of the Lord’s house shall
be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many
people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain
of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach
us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion
[the spiritual seed of blessing] shall go forth the law, and
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem [the natural seed of blessing].”
Isaiah 2:2-3
Thank God that His plan will extend from the New Jerusalem in
Heaven to Jerusalem of Old in the center of the Land of Israel.
(Revelation 21:1-5) When that time comes, the whole world —
the Arab peoples too — will come up to worship the God
of Jacob in Jerusalem, because they will recognize that God
is blessing Israel: “…Jerusalem shall be called
a city of truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy
mountain…O house of Judah and house of Israel; so will
I save you, and ye shall be a blessing; fear not, but let your
hands be strong….It shall yet come to pass that…
ten men shall take hold out of all the languages of the nations,
even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying,
We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.”
Zechariah 8:3, 13, 21-23
Yes, Israel, a nation of miracles, will share her blessings
with her Arab neighbors and all nations: “In that day
shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even
a blessing in the midst of the Land: whom the Lord of hosts
shall bless, saying, blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria
the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.” (Isaiah
19:24-25) God’s own peace process will succeed when man’s
has failed. The peace God will give Israel and the whole world
through the City of Peace will be all-comprehensive and permanent.
All the peoples of the earth, including Jews and Arabs, who
faithfully drink of the “water of life freely” and
who overcome “shall be blessed.” Revelation 22:17;
Genesis 28:14
Reprinted
by permission Associated Bible Student of Central Ohio
