Why Jerusalem?

THE CENTRAL PLACE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF JERUSALEM

We have recently spoken on the Lord’s controversy with His chosen and elect people. It is a controversy that will culminate at the conclusion of “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 9:24).

After Israel’s final suffering at the hands of her enemies—a suffering allowed by God to break off her pride and unbelief—the Lord Jesus will save the elect remnant. The combination of her suffering and the act of God’s mercy to her through Jesus will cause “all Israel to be saved” (Romans 11:26-27). 

At this time God will also judge the nations that have attempted to annihilate the Jews/Israel

(Matthew 25:31-46).

Following the controversy of Zion and the conclusion of Jacob’s trouble will be the millennial reign of Jesus Christ—a world-wide reign from His headquarters in Jerusalem (Matthew 5:35; 23:37-39; Revelation 19:11-20:10).

Lets look now at the controversy of Zion with our focus being on the central place and significance of the city of Jerusalem.

1. In things pertaining to the Kingdom of God or the rule of God on the earth, all roads lead to the city of Jerusalem—the literal city of Jerusalem, Israel.

Psalm 122:6 says “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they will prosper that love you.”  This scripture can be seen as an Old Testament equivalent of “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).  I will show you why this is true as we go forward.

Isaiah 62:6-7 “I have set my watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day or night; you that make mention of the Lord, keep not silent, and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

These two scriptures make it clear that Jerusalem is central in God’s plans to rule and reign on the earth. Believers and intercessors need to lock in on this truth and ask the Lord for more revelation concerning it. What is important to God should be important to those who love Him.

2. Because of the importance of this city to God and to His plans, this city will become “a cup of stumbling to all people.” Let me explain.

Zechariah 12:3 “And in that day will I (God) make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for ALL people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered against it.”

Jerusalem will be the center of the coming storm. The dilemma of Jerusalem will become the complex problem of international politics that increasingly threatens world stability. And Jewish inflexibility over Jerusalem will be the trigger that ignites the prophetically anticipated resurgence of world-wide anti-Semitism.

Yet, it will be the issue of Jerusalem or the "unsolvable problem" of Zion that God will use to draw all nations into the final conflict that leads to Armageddon and the Day of The Lord.

The controversy of Zion is the age-old contention that has raged in both the heavens and on the earth concerning “the holy covenant.” The city of Jerusalem represents the place of God’s name and His divine rule on the earth.

In Matthew 5:35 Jesus referred to Jerusalem as the city of the great king. It is the city of God’s Messiah. Consequently, that is why “the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing”

(Psalm 2).  

3. The central issue on planet earth in the Last Days will be the final outworking of the quarrel that began in the tents of Abraham and will continue to escalate until the Second Return of the Prince of Peace from heaven—the Lord Jesus.!

It is the issue of the holy covenant that God made with Abraham and his descendants (the Jews) that leads to the question of divine election and sovereign rule. It is about God’s divine right as God to choose whom or what as He pleases!

It is precisely God’s choice that is causing the contention and controversy over Jerusalem, the Jews and the land. God’s choice and divine election of the Jews and the city of Jerusalem is really an issue about God’s authority and His right to rule (Kingdom of God).

It is this issue that God is using to offend humanistic reason (the natural man) as well as provoke “the powers of the air” (Satan and his cohorts).

This is about the wisdom of God revealed in the “rule of grace” that so completely opposes any notion that the right of promise and inheritance is in any way based on human qualification, virtue or merit.

The controversy of Zion, especially in the Last Days, is forcing the nations and the peoples of the world, as well as the church, to come to grips with the great questions of God.

What questions? God’s predestined purposes, His right to rule, His election of Israel, His covenant with the Jews concerning Jerusalem and the land.

Jerusalem will be the lightning rod that God is using in the Last Days to force the world to come to the place of decision concerning Him and His covenant with His chosen people Israel. And because Jerusalem will be the place of God’s rule/kingdom, it will also be the focal point of God confronting the spiritual and fallen powers of darkness. These powers that have deceived and manipulated governments, institutions and the nations will be broken through the judgments of God. And all of it will center on and around the battle for Jerusalem—“the controversy of Zion.”

That this one mountain (Zion) and this one city (Jerusalem) should be in such a spectacular spot-light and place of world-wide importance is truly miraculous!

At the end of the age, the city of Jerusalem and the Jews/Israel, because of nothing but the sovereign, electing grace of God, will be the ultimate offense to natural man and humanistic reasoning!

The world, because of its pride and unbelief, will “stumble” over what Jerusalem truly means in God’s divine purpose. And Jerusalem will also be the place of Satan’s greatest contention with God and with His purposes. For example. . .

Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem (Luke 13:33).

The Antichrist kills the two witnesses in Jerusalem (Revelation 11).

The Antichrist puts his palace there for 42 months (Daniel 11:45).

Why does the Antichrist so desire the city of Jerusalem? What is really behind his lust to possess that city?

The answer to the above question is found in Isaiah 14:13. Here we find that what is behind the Antichrist’s obsession with Jerusalem is Satan’s original envy of the Messiah ruling from the chosen city.

          “For you (Satan) have said in your heart, ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne

           above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides

           of the north” (Isaiah 14:13).

“The sides of the north” is a reference to the city of Jerusalem as described in Psalm 48:2 “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” At Jerusalem, God will confront both the nations and Satan's rebellion!

4. Making it a personal.

The natural impulse is to reject God’s sovereign choice—concerning anything. For example, let’s take our own standing and relationship with God.

The Bible basis for salvation is to recognize and accept that grace is wholly apart from works, that it is a gift from God and has nothing to do with human merit or worth.

Although God’s choice anticipates or foresees the necessity of a new heart (whether individual or nation) that is never its basis.

God’s election is based in the eternal predetermination of God through the everlasting covenant that guarantees the imputation of another kind of righteousness that is God’s alone and is through faith alone imputed in order to exclude any natural claim or merit.

What am I saying? At the time of the end, “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26) as a result of God’s grace! Her national salvation will be the same as our personal salvation: the free gift of God based on His eternal purpose and by His grace totally apart from works or merit.

Israel’s national salvation at the end of the age will be a miraculous and visible demonstration that salvation is wholly of the Lord, conferred on the basis of grace alone, through faith alone, by Christ alone. And this grace is on the basis of divine election.

Why election? Paul answers in Romans 9:11, “ For the children not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to ELECTION might stand, not of works, but of Him that calls.”

The promise is according to election because only the sovereign act of God choosing fully defines the nature of grace and is the basis on which it is given or not given. It is to whom He wills.

Therefore, Ishmael’s age-old contempt for the child of promise (Israel) touches the issue for the very basis of promise as well as the basis for the nature of grace. Ishmael could be saved, but only if he is willing to accept God’s choice and grace and do it God’s way.

Ishmael’s contempt is more for what God has chosen. It is the presumption that raises itself to contend with the divine right to choose, revealing a lack of humility and understanding about the utter ruin of sin and its only solution or remedy.

So then, the dilemma of Jerusalem and subsequently the so-called  “Jewish problem” is designed to force the nations and the peoples to a consideration larger than Jerusalem itself: the question of the nature of righteousness as defined by election and grace as taught in the Word of God.

Therefore, in the divine genius and wisdom of the uncreated and transcendent God, the purpose of Jerusalem is to cause all nations and all people to consider the basis of righteousness as well as the truth of divine grace and election.

God has sovereignly chosen the city of Jerusalem to be “the city of the great King” (Matthew 5:35). It is the city where He will establish His Kingdom, and from this city the glory of His Kingdom will cover the entire earth. Further, He has elected to show His grace and mercy to the descendants of Abraham by giving them the land—including the city of Jerusalem to be ruled by a descendant of David—namely the Jewish Messiah.

It will be the contention of Satan as well as a rebellious world that will descend upon Jerusalem and the Jews in their protest of God’s election and sovereign choice of grace.

Also at the end of the age, those who call themselves Christians will find themselves choosing. To stand with Israel will be a choice to accept God’s right to rule; it will be a choice to put the Kingdom of God first, or not.

Choosing to love and support Israel, especially in the days ahead, will actually be a choice that will reflect where a person stands spiritually and in their relationship with God. The controversy of Zion is much bigger than most people think. The all-wise God is using it and will use it to divide the sheep from the goats, the pure from the impure, the unbelievers from the true believers.  God will use the controversy of Zion/Jerusalem in the last days to not only save the remnant of Israel but to also purify His Bride before His return to this planet. The controversy of Zion will absolutely cause people to make a choice either for God or against Him. I say it again, what is happening and will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in the Last Days is much, much bigger than we know.

That is why we absolutely must pray and seek God for revelation concerning this issue. I do not believe that it is simply an option where we can take it or leave it. And remember, the more we know about what God knows, the more we are in the center of His perfect will. This will not only make us more complete and cause us to have a greater peace, but it will also make us more effective in bearing witness to the truth. It will help us to work more effeciently in seeing God’s Kingdom established on the earth.

I would suggest that a good place to start in doing the above is to begin praying Psalm 122:6 and Isaiah 62:6-7. Hopefully after what you have learned tonight and what the Spirit will reveal to you in the days ahead, you will be more motivated to pray and intercede in this way. You will begin to see Jerusalem and its importance as God does. His vision will become your vision. And as it does you will be walking in greater agreement with God and His end-time purposes.

Shalom

*The above teaching is in large part due to an article from Reggie Kelly.