The story of Jerusalem – City of David, City of God
Texts: Genesis 12 and Revelation 21:3 and 22:5
Introduction: December 2018 - Advent message
Great cities of the world include… NYC… Paris…London… Beijing…Rio De Janerio… San Francisco…Washington DC… Toronto…New Deli (Mumbai) (India)… Cairo… Rome… Vienna.
Perhaps the greatest city of them all is Jerusalem.
One of the world’s oldest cities. … founded 3000 years ago.
Perhaps no other city has been fought over, conquered, plundered and rebuilt more than Jerusalem.
Israel is often in the news…in 2018 the USA (after decades of promises) formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (which it is by history and government legislation) and officially opened it embassy in Jerusalem in May of this year.
This decision was distained by Arab nations and rioting ensued.
As citizens of the world and as followers of Jesus of Nazareth we may well ask, What is the role of Jerusalem in world politics and biblical theology? This is a matter about which we should be informed so that we can properly engage on the subject of Israel in the square of public opinion?
And to answer this question we must address the matter of Jesus’ first advent and his pending second advent
Jerusalem has been sacred to Judaism for roughly 3000 years,
to Christianity for around 2000 years,
and to Islam for approximately 1400 years.
• 1204 synagogues,
• 158 churches,
• 73 mosques.
T.s. … the story of Jerusalem will give us insight into the significance of Christmas … insight into world politics and therefore the ultimate destiny of the nations … and planet earth itself.
Our text today comes from the prophet Isaiah… words written 700 years before fulfillment.
Text: Isaiah 11:1-10
Subject; What Does The Story Of Jerusalem Teach Us About the 2 Advents?
Compl; Jerusalem Awaits It's King – And Then It Will Become The New Jerusalem!
BIG IDEA ? JERUSALEM – AND THE WORLD – WILL BE MADE NEW AT THE 2ND ADVENT!
** WHAT BEGAN WITH THE FIRST ADVENT – arrival of the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN - WILL BE COMPLETED AT THE 2ND ADVENT.
{“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse…” (Isaiah 11:1-10) }
11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
(Second advent)
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
***Show picture***
What is described in this passage is the 2 advents – the 2 comings of our Lord.
The first half of the text describes the arrival of Jesus as a teacher of righteousness… he is the shoot growing out of the stump. The stump is Israel. Jesse is the father of King David.
“from his roots a branch will bear fruit”
This is a picture of the birth of Jesus – the incarnation of the son of God – who is also son of David.
The second half of the text pictures the second advent/second coming --- when… “the lion will eat straw…babies will play in safety around snakes and even deadly cobras! It foresees a time when there is no violence and bloodshed.
Let’s begin with the early pages of the OT…
1. 2000 BC God calls Abraham. (Genesis 12). Makes a covenant. Gives him the land of Israel
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.[a]
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”[b]
Genesis 14 - Abraham meets Mel. King of Salem
*Genesis 22 - Abraham is brought to Mt Moriah and tested
Abraham…Isaac...Jacob are the patriarch’s of Israel…
Then Israel spends 430 years in Egypt – most of them as slaves.
Then around 1500 BC God raises up Moses to lead the exodus back to the promised land… the land of milk and honey.
Some 2 million jews travel through the desert… what could have been a three week trek, through unbelief turned into 40 years…
After moses comes Joshua and then for For 400 years Israel is led by a series of judges.
Then ask for a king… reluctantly, God gives them a king… his name is Saul – and he’s a disaster.
But true to his promise to Abraham… God gives another King – king David. David is selected by God while still a shepherd boy… and God anoints him with the Holy Spirit to lead Israel.
Israel becomes known as the “city of David.”
To be king, is to sit on David’s throne.
So, When Jesus is born, 1000 years later, the angel tells Mary that her son will sit on the throne of his Father, David – and that his kingdom will have no end.
2. 1000 BC King David buys threshing floor; builds the city of Jerusalem
*** this city is built on the precise location where God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son…. It's a foreshadowing of Calvary…(on the same Mt Moriah – as recorded in 2 Chron 3:1
3 Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah[a] the Jebusite, the place provided by David.
*** Now…God makes a covenant with David (1 Chron 17:11-14; “his throne will be established forever”)
11 When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. 14 I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”
3. 969BC Solomon builds the temple (969 BC) (2 Chron 3:1ff)
The glory of the Lord fills the temple 2 chron 7
The Dedication of the Temple
7 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.2 The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good: his love endures forever.”
4. 626-587 Jeremiah *prophecies* a future “new covenant”—Jere 31:31-34 (“I will make a new covenant with Israel…”)
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to[d] them,[e]”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
35 This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name:
36 “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord,
“will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.”
5. 586 BC one of the saddest days in Israel’s history…Solomon’s Temple destroyed (due to the nation’s sin)
*70 years of Exile in Babylon follow
But in this gloom and despair there’s another word from God… Isaiah 6:13 describes this period ….
“And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
***and also our text today from Isaiah 11 … the Stump prophecy… (Isa 11) “a shoot will rise up from the stump of jesse… from his roots a branch will bear fruit…”
After the 70 years were complete…
6. 539 BC Proclamation of King Cyrus (Persia) to rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:1-4)
5400 articles of gold and silver are inventoried for return to the Temple
Interruptions slowed the reconstruction
Zerubbabel, the governor, oversees the project.
515 BC Temple is completed. (but… the Holy of holies remains empty. There is no ark or cherubim)
For the next 400 years Israel enjoys a bit of freedom after their exile in Babylon, but then Alexander the Great conquers the world and they live under Greek rule. Then the Romans take over and the Jews become a small, backwater part of the Roman Empire.
7. 20 BC “Herod the Great” begins a major refurbishment of the temple – it becomes known as “Herod’s temple.”
when the New Testament begins …the Jews are small, insignificant players in the first century world;
they have a non-Jewish king and a heavy tax burden;
and that they are still waiting for the Messiah.
8. AD “0” Jesus of Nazareth is born. The angel Gabriel tells Mary her son is to be “King of the Jews”
**Angel speaks: This King, Jesus, will sit on David’s throne …(Luke 1:32-33)
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
9. AD 30 ***Jesus preaches in Jerusalem … **Jesus prophecies the destruction of the temple.
**(it's never been rebuilt in 2000 years since)
**Jesus prophecies the Trampling of Jerusalem by the Gentiles. (Luke 21:24) 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Jesus’ lament for Jerusalem: Matthew 23:37 (“O Jerusalem…”)
37 “O 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. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[c]”
10. AD 33 Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem & 3 days later rises from the dead.
Ascends to heaven from Jerusalem (Mt of Olives)
Before his ascension Jesus gives the “Great Commission” (Matt. 28)
In Acts 1 …*** two Angels affirm Jesus will return “in like manner” (Acts 1:11)
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
11. AD 33 ** 7 days later… the Holy Spirit is poured out in Jerusalem to empower the church (Pentecost)
Now, God’s people – the church – become the new Temple (Ephesians 2 and 1 Cor 3)
12. AD 70 the 2nd Temple destroyed by Rome. Jews are scattered.
Tragedy and theology*
Theology says ? the temple has shifted to the people of God. … but we also know that God has a covenant with Abraham and he intends to keep it.
13. AD 135 Jerusalem destroyed by Rome;
Jews are banned until 4th century ***Temple of Jupiter built by Rome on Temple site ***Temple of Venus built on Golgotha
14. AD 638 “Muslim period” (638-1099);
Dome of the Rock built on Temple site
15. AD 1099 Crusaders invade Jerusalem.
16. AD 1517 Ottoman-Turk Period (1517-1917)
17. 1917 “British Mandate” declared into law. (1917-1948)
It Mandates a "national home for the Jewish people" be established
18. 1939 Holocaust…
6,000,000 jews killed by Hitler.
19. the Nazi holocaust (so-called “final solution”) … motivates many surviving Jews to return to Israel after WW2.
19. 1948 Israel is recognized as a modern state. *** Israel is Immediately attacked by (5) Arab states.
Israel wins the war (with no real military) and expands its borders
A military miracle!
On 15 May 1948, following the Israeli Declaration of Independence the previous day. A combined invasion by Egypt, Jordan and Syria, together with expeditionary forces from Iraq, entered Palestine –immediately attacked Israeli forces and several Jewish settlements.[14][15][16]
10 months of fighting,
20. 1967 6-day war brings the city of Jerusalem under full Israeli control
*Khartoum Resolution* (8 arab nations)
became known as the "Three No's": "
no peace with Israel,
no recognition of Israel,
no negotiations with it..."[2]
(No Peace; No recognition; No Negotiations)
21. 1979 Israel signs a Peace treaty with Egypt & later Jordan (1994).
Fact *** USA aid to Egypt ($1.5 B) and Jordan - $1 Billion/year
22. 2017 Jerusalem is recognized by USA as capital of Israel.
*This occurs at the 70 year anniversary of modern Israel* (Coincidence?)
*Note: the 3-fold occurrence of 70 in Jerusalem’s history* (Coincidence?)
7o years of exile in babylon
Temple is destroyed in AD 70
Jerusalem recognized as Cap of Israel on 70th anniversary
**Arab states immediately protest
**USA aid to Israel - $3.8 Billion/year.
23. ____? ***Matthew 24***
Matthew 24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
“This gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (24:14)
Now… we await the second advent… “the king is coming”
Jesus will return…
Rev 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
“king of kings and lord of lords”.
(Revelation 21) …
*** New Jerusalem established.
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bridebeautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” …
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
At the second advent… the NEW Jerusalem becomes the capital of the world!!!!
Nations come to Jerusalem for healing
Jesus sits on Throne of David. (Revelation 21:3 and 22:5)
The prophecy is fulflled..
Advent – “the King is coming”
Revelation 22:12-17
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Implications … the first advent anticipates the 2nd -- the gospel story is incomplete without proclamation of the second advent.
a. We see now.. that God Is Sovereign Over History & Nations
i. Politics (Esp. Mid East) Can Only Be Properly Understood from Scripture
ii. God Has A Plan to Redeem And Fix World Politics (Rev. 21; Romans 8)
b. Perhaps 70 Is A Sign of the 2nd Advent…God’s Agenda moving Forward
i. 70 years of Exile
ii. AD 70 – Temple destroyed
iii. 70 year anniversary of modern Israel – Jerusalem is recognized as the capital of Israel.
iv. Coincidence or Firstfruits sign?
c. Christians, Do not forget Israel -- and do not worry about Israel:
i. We are children of Abraham by faith
ii. Romans 11: 18 “Do not think that you support the root – the root supports you.”
d. Always Be Ready For the 2nd Advent - His Return
i. It's more important to be ready for the second advent than it is to be ready for santa!
ii. Repent of our sins…
iii. Come to the cross for salvation***
iv. Living holy
v. Be Ready for Persecution. (Matt 24:9)
vi. Be Aware of Deception – Know Your Bible. (Matt 24:10)
vii. Remember … – “I am coming soon”
viii. 2 Peter 3: 4 (Scoffers will say, where is the promise of his coming?”)
**just as there will be a literal return of Christ, there will also be a literal new heaven and new earth over which Christ will reign; it is to that kingdom that this chapter is looking forward. Even the logic of creation calls for a time when God’s creatures (man and beast) will experience creation as it was meant to be.
e. *** Today, The Best Thing We Can Do for Israel -- and the 2nd advent -- Is Preach The Gospel. ***
i. Work for The Gt Commission…Build The Church
ii. Pray Lord Jesus, “May Your Kingdom Come”
iii. **Paul said it best…? “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1)
* Christ’s kingdom has come and …is yet to come. The kingdom has come into the hearts of God’s people…The Holy Spirit indwells every believer, and he changes our behavior to kingdom living.
the sinful nature in humanity has proven much more stubborn and intractable than we thought possible. But we continue to preach the gospel and overcome evil with good.
We can participate with Christ as he seeks to heal the broken-hearted and bring justice to the downtrodden…
Text: Isaiah 11:1-10
Subject; What Does The Story Of Jerusalem Teach Us About the 2 Advents?
Compl; Jerusalem Awaits It's King – And Then It Will Become The New Jerusalem!
*BIG IDEA ? JERUSALEM – AND THE WORLD – WILL BE MADE NEW AT THE 2ND ADVENT!
** WHAT BEGAN WITH THE FIRST ADVENT – arrival of the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN - WILL BE COMPLETED AT THE 2ND ADVENT.
Advent—the king is coming!!! Even so come Lord Jesus!!!
Big Idea: Prepare For And Work For The Second Advent!
