“Why Jerusalem?”
2 Chronicles 6:6 & 7:16
To begin with, there are several points to examine from these verses:
· 2 Chronicles was written about 450 B.C., as the Jews were about to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Which was first built by Solomon about 950 B.C.
· With the leadership of Ezra, Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, the Jews were able to rekindle hope of peace in Jerusalem again.
· To motivate the Jews, the writer (Ezra by tradition) takes the reader back to the glory days of King David and his son Solomon to remind them just what the possibilities are.
· Notice in 6:6, that God Himself chooses Jerusalem. Fact: no other city in the history can claim such an honor.
· Notice in 7:17, that God says His eyes and heart are in Jerusalem perpetually. Eyes = sight Heart= love
Jeru/salem = city of peace
In Hebrew “shalom” has the root meaning of “wholeness”.
Some facts about this city of peace:
· Its current population is about 620,000.
· The city is only about 12 acres in size.
· Jerusalem and Zion are used over 800 times in the Bible.
· The earliest record reference of Jerusalem is found in Egyptian clay bowls.
· The city was first inhabited by Canaanites about the 12th century B.C.
I ask, what’s so special about this city?
Gershom Gorenberg states, “If Jerusalem wasn’t holy, it’s hard to understand why a city stood there. It’s on the edge of a desert, the soil is rock… and the trade routes cross to the north. You wouldn’t come here for gold, wheat or spices, but only to stand at the gate of heaven.”
Notice that:
1. Jesus Weeps For This City.
Luke 13:34
Why the tears for this one city? Because He knew the trouble that was in store for this sacred city! He knew the battles that would be fought over it. He knew the blood that would line the streets. He knew every stone that would be thrown on her behalf.
JERUSALEM
Beautiful heights, city of a great King,
From the western coast my desire burns towards thee.
Pity and tenderness burst in me, remembering
Thy former glories, thy temple now broken stones.
I wish I could fly to thee on the wings of an eagle
And mingle my tears with thy dust.I have sought thee, love, though the King is not thereAnd instead of Gilead’s balm, snakes and scorpions.Let me fall on thy broken stones and tenderly kiss themThe taste of thy dust will be sweeter than honey to me. -ROBERT MEZEY
The battle lines are currently being drawn right through the heart of Jerusalem. When Ariel Sharon was recently visiting Israel’s nuclear facility and he said, “Arabs have the oil, but we have the matches.”
Psalm 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem...”
Zechariah 8:3 “This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem.” NIV
It’s no coincidence what Matthew 1:1 says, “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Remember David was the first king over Jerusalem! How Jesus in His deity must have known it would be millenniums before He would rule as King in Jerusalem.
2. Satan Wants This City.
Isaiah 14:12-15
Notice that he wants to sit on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
3. Anti Christ Wishes For This City.
Matthew 24:15 “Therefore when you see the “abomination of desolations, spoken by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place…”
This first happened in:
· 168 B.C. when Antiochus Epiphany, king of Syria invaded Jerusalem and entered the Temple and sacrificed pigs on it’s alter. He is not the anti-Christ.
· Some suggest Jesus’ words to have been fulfilled in 70 A.D. when Titus invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. A 3rd Temple will be built during the Tribulation.
· But that event was not what Jesus predicts. Jesus was looking much further down the scope of prophecy!
2 Thessalonians 2:3,4 “Let no one deceive you by any means, for the Day of the Lord will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
Revelation 13:13,14
4. Arabs War Over This City.
Let’s be very clear on this point:
· The Quran never mentions the city of Jerusalem.
· There is no historical evidence that places Mohammad in this Jewish holy city.
· Islam had no mosque in Jerusalem until after Mohammad’s death.
· Mohammad never considered Jerusalem as a holy city of Islam.
· On February 12, 624, Mohammad forbid Muslims to face Jerusalem and pray.
Muslims, particularly Palestinians, would love to erase these facts from history!
When Yasser Arafat’s top negotiator Nabil Shoath talks about the Jewish historical link to Jerusalem he said, “I can recognize you have your beliefs, but I don’t have to share them and I don’t.”
As I proved in previous sermons – America has a special relationship with Israel for over 200 years now. As I speak, the Palestinians are in a fight to gain control over 2 sections of Jerusalem:
· The Old City, which is predominately Arab today.
· The Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock is and the mosque al-Aqsa, which is next to the Dome. Both these sights came after Mohammad died.
At this time, the United States Embassy is in Tel Aviv, about 70 miles away on the coast. There have been discussions with the Bush Administration that the embassy should be moved to Jerusalem. If this were to happen, I believe that this would be a serious blow to the Palestinian’s potential capital there because it would be a daring symbolic recognition of Israel!
In 2000 during the peace talks with former President Clinton, Yasser Arafat walked away from the table rejecting a broad agreement. Why did Arafat walk away from the most liberal land give away? One reason - Jerusalem!
Remember Psalm 122:6? Let’s connect verse 7 with it…“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls; prosperity within your palaces.”
Jerusalem - notice what’s right in the middle of that spelling? USA!
America is supposed to be a Christian country and it’s on the front lines to divide Jerusalem into two capitals! This is dangerous ground to be on! That’s like us dividing Washington D.C. into two section and letting the British claim it as their capital also!
5. Christians Wait For This City.
Pope John Paul II said in 1964, “Jerusalem represents the earthy point where God came into contact with man and where eternity crossed history.”
This city is sacred because of Christ’s death on the cross and where God poured out His wrath on Messiah and at the same time God poured out His love on mankind.
For Christians this city doesn’t end at the cross. There are a whole host of prophetic events that will take place in this city! Some I’ve already touched on - but the biggest event is the return of Jesus Christ to earth after the 7-year tribulation. We call this event the millennial reign of Christ!
Facing the Mount of Olives on the eastern side of the Old City of Jerusalem is the Golden or Eastern Gate. The Bible indicates that Jesus passed through this gate many times while he was in Jerusalem.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ stood on this hillside overlooking the Eastern gate giving prophesies that would change the world.
Listen to some of the fascinating events that have taken place in the past and still prophetically:
· Jesus entered Jerusalem thru this gate in 30 A.D. as He came down from the Mount of Olives and entered the temple on a humble donkey in His triumphal entry, according to Luke 19:28-48. He would have entered through the original gate in the wall (which you see in the picture). It goes back to Salomon!
· Matthew 23:37-39 (Read) that He would not return to Jerusalem until they recognized Him for who He is!
He warns that when his death occurs in just days from speaking these words, the presence of God was going to be gone from the Temple.
· Jesus ascended up into Heaven from the Mount of Olives, which overlooks the Eastern Gate to the west. From that stony mountaintop, Jesus ascended as the chief cornerstone for the rebuilding of Mount Zion. This is where Jesus will return in the last days.
Acts 1:10-12 “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, you men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven…”
Zechariah 14:4 “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east…”
· Muslims teaching.
They call this gate The Mercy Gate (Babel Rahmeh) and according to the Koran, the just will pass through this gate on the Day of Judgment.
· Jewish tradition.
The Messiah will come through this Gate and bring about the resurrection of the dead in the cemetery on the Mount.
A Jewish legend says that the Shechinah glory used to appear through this gate and will appear again, and that in the meantime it must be left untouched.
During the time of the First Temple, the Eastern Gate was the main entrance into the Temple area. If one were to stand on the Mount of Olives he could look over this Eastern Gate into the huge area presently north of the Dome of the Rock and see all the gates (at different levels) in a perfect line: the East Gate --Outer Court Gate --Inner Court Gate --Temple Entrance.
The Talmud makes an interesting observation:
"All the walls which were there were high, except the wall in the east, so that the priest who burned the heifer, standing on the top of the Mount of Olives, and directing himself to look, saw through the gateway of the sanctuary, at the time when he sprinkled the blood." Mishnah, Middot 2:4.
· It’s the prophetic gate.
It’s interesting that this gate is the only one of the eight gates in Jerusalem that is currently sealed. Many of these gates are 3000 years old!
However, Ezekiel in 600 B.C. predicted that one day the Gate would be shut.
Chapter 40 starts a long vision where the Lord takes him to these places mentioned. In chapter 44 he’s taken to see the Eastern Gate.
Ezekiel 44:1-3 “Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looked toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the Lord to me; this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince!”
The Eastern Gate remains shut and is awaiting the coming Prince of Peace!
The Arabs believe that since the Jews expect Messiah will come through this gate, they would try to prevent any possibility of His return. So in 1530 A.D. the East Gate was walled up by the Muslim when they conqueror the city using great stones. Then they put a Muslim cemetery in front of it thinking that the Jewish Messiah could not set foot in a cemetery. So the O. T. prophecies would not fulfilled! God used Muslims to fulfill scripture.
Ironically the gates of Heaven are never shut.
Revelation 21:25 “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all...”
KEY: The shutting of the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem is symbolic of the fact that Israel shut the gate to God…
· By the folly of their pursuit of other gods. Their rejection of the Messiah stands as a historic monument symbolized in concrete by the shut gate in Old Jerusalem.
· The shut gate also symbolizes the reality of the supernatural battle that is now waged over the Temple Mount. But the Lord shall return and open the gate, and rebuild the Temple, and Israel shall know the Lord and give praise to the King of Kings and Lord of lords!
So as Christians, we wait for this city with great anticipation! Because we will be with Jesus in Jerusalem one day and we will see Him go through that Eastern Gate and no amount of cement and stones can keep Him out!
