Monday, June 18, 2012

Oh Jerusalem

Blogging A to Z: J




Oh, Jerusalem!  The whole world has its eyes upon you. 

But why?  Why should we Americans care anything about this city? Or anyone else in the world for that matter?  Furthermore, why is the whole world so heatedly divided about the nation of Israel, a slither of land about the size of New Jersey?  Hmmm Perhaps we'll discuss this when I get to the letter P.

Oh, Jerusalem!  Jesus wept over you. 
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Luke 19


Take a good look again at the image.


What you are looking at is, as the caption reads, a view of the old city from the Mount of Olives (remember the sermon on the mount?). What we also see here is the Eastern Gate.  Where?  It is sealed. Located in front of it is a Muslim cemetery. 

It was sealed in 1517, when the Turks conquered the city. Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the walls be rebuilt and, for some reason, the eastern gate sealed.  There are many legends as to why, the most popular being it was Suleiman's attempt to keep the Jewish Messiah from entering through the gate to take control. He also placed the Muslim cemetery in front of it, thinking no Jewish holy man would dare pass through it.

But you know what?  Take one more look at this view from the Mount of Olives.  If you are a child of God, you will one day see this site for yourself!

Behold, the day of the Lord is coming,
And your spoil will be divided in your midst.
For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
The city shall be taken,
The houses rifled,
And the women ravished.
Half of the city shall go into captivity,
But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Then the Lord will go forth
And fight against those nations,
As He fights in the day of battle.
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.

And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.
Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,
For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.
Yes, you shall flee
As you fled from the earthquake
In the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
Thus the Lord my God will come,
And all the saints with You.  Zechariah 14

What a glorious day that will be!  When the eastern gate is blown open and Christ will enter in and thus be crowned King of Kings.  Then, there will finally be peace in Israel and throughout all the world.  And we will be right there with Him!  Whenever I am tempted to feel anxious, depressed or sad at life's hardships, I think of these verses.  It is difficult, if not downright impossible, to wrap my mind around it, but this is the future of all the saints. Something we will actually experience (and so much more, of course!)!!  How can I be sure?  The Word of God is true.


For more information, check out Lamb and Lion.


5 comments:

  1. I am glad these give you strength and perseverance.

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  2. Wonderful lesson, love your blog!

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  3. Wonderful! I so want to go there someday, feel the history, remember Jesus...fantastic!

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