TEXT: Psalm 122:6; Isaiah 62:7

SUBJECT: God’s Plan for Jerusalem, Part I

INTRODUCTION:

Why should a church in the small town of Warrior Alabama care about the small Middle Eastern city of Jerusalem Israel that is approximately 7000 miles away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? Why should anyone care about Jerusalem Israel—including you?

The short answer to that question is simple: We should care about Jerusalem Israel because our God and Savior cares about Jerusalem Israel. And whatever He cares about we should care about! Also, it will be as we grow in the revelation of how much God cares about Jerusalem and why, that we will be able to better enter into His unique passion and plan for this small city in Israel.

Beloved, there is life—real life—when you discover and grow in what is on and in the heart of the eternal God. And I can tell you that Jerusalem is most definitely on and in God’s heart!

Therefore I want to share with you in this message several reasons which will reveal how and why Jerusalem is special to the eternal God and to His Son Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, reveal to us your heart for the city of Jerusalem. In the strong name of Messiah Jesus we pray. Amen!

I. The first reason in which we see that Jerusalem is special to the heart of God is how much He talks about it in His Word.

The name Jerusalem is mentioned 669 times in the Old Testament and 154 times in the New Testament. That is a total of 823 times! Also, the name Zion—another name for Jerusalem—is referenced 154 times in the Old Testament and 7 times in the New Testament.

That means that Jerusalem is so important to the heart of God that the Holy Spirit spoke of it an amazing 984 times in the written and inspired revelation of God to man!

Beloved, you can tell what is on someone’s heart by how much they talk about it, and God talks about the city of Jerusalem a lot!

That means that if we are going to know what is on and in God’s heart, then we must know about the city that He is always talking about—the city of Jerusalem Israel. And that leads to reason number two.

II. The second reason in how we know that Jerusalem is special to the heart of God is by observing what He actually says about it.

(1). In Exodus 15:17-18, in the prophetic song of Moses, after bringing out the people of Israel in the exodus from Egypt and having come through the Red Sea on dry land, he said/sang, “You (Jehovah God) bring them (your people Israel) in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance—the place, O Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands established. The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

Approximately five hundred years before David conquered the Jebusites and made Jerusalem his city and the city where the Temple, God’s dwelling place would be built, the Holy Spirit spoke of Jerusalem as God’s inheritance and dwelling place! Think of it: Even before His people were in the Promised Land, God was prophetically singing His song about Jerusalem as His dwelling place! Church, Jerusalem has always been on God’s heart!

(2). Then in 2 Kings 21:7, the Lord said, “. . . In this temple and in Jerusalem, WHICH I HAVE CHOSEN of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name there FOREVER!”

Beloved, God Almighty said that He has put His Name in Jerusalem forever! Not just for a generation or for a lifetime, or even until the end of the age, but FOREVER!

God has put His Name in the literal, physical city of Jerusalem FOREVER—FOR ALL ETERNITY! That means that there will never be a time in this age or in the age to come when God’s Name is not in the city of Jerusalem!!

God does not say that about any other city. God has chosen to put His Name, which is a revelation of Who He is, in the city of Jerusalem Israel forever! 

So not only is our past tied to the city of Jerusalem, but our eternal future is also tied to the city of Jerusalem.

Understand this Beloved: God didn’t choose Jerusalem because it is special; rather Jerusalem is special because the eternal God chose it! And He chose it to put His Name there forever!

(3). In Matthew 5:34-35, Jesus Christ the God-man, the Word of God in human form, said this about the city of Jerusalem: “But I tell you, do not swear at all; either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by earth, for it is His footstool ; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.”

Jesus is referencing Psalm 48:1-2, “Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, His holy mountain. It is beautiful in its loftiness; the joy of the whole earth, like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion (Jerusalem) the city of the Great King.” 

I recently mentioned that when I was reading this familiar verse of scripture in Matthew 5:34-35, it almost jumped off the page at me! Jesus was telling us that the massive universe—seen and unseen—is God’s throne; the amazing earth which is now home to over 7 billion people is His footstool; and the one city on this earth that God chose to put His Name for all eternity is Jerusalem Israel—the city of the Great King! Jesus, the God-man, said Jerusalem is His city!

III. Beloved, that statement has so many implications for us—for you and me, and for the world! And this will be the third reason which reveals to us why and how Jerusalem is special to God.

1. First, since Jerusalem is the city of Jesus, then it is also my city! When I was in Israel back in November 2011, I remember when I saw Jerusalem for the first time:  I felt and said in my heart, “I am home!”

As I have told you before, when I was standing on the Mount of Olives and looking at the old city—the wall, the Golden Gate and the Temple Mount—where once the Shekinah glory of God was manifested on the earth—I literally became transfixed!

I was thinking in my mind and heart, Lord, that is where Abraham offered up Isaac—Mount Moriah—Zion—the Temple Mount. And that is where Jesus died on the cross to purchase our eternal salvation.

As I was frozen there in time, the Lord spoke to me and said, Yes, I have done many things in this city and it is right to remember them. However, this is not only the city of your past; it is also the city of your eternal future! That is a moment I will never forget!

Beloved, Jerusalem is not only the place where Jesus died, rose again, and poured out the Holy Spirit on the Church, it is also the place where He will return, save the nation of Israel from the Antichrist and set up His throne to rule and reign over His Millennial Kingdom!

2. So Secondly then, Jerusalem will be the capital of Jesus’s Millennial Kingdom.  Listen to what is recorded in Revelation 20:1-2, “And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the abyss and holding a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”

As Jesus begins the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles from His capital city of Jerusalem, there will be no devil on the earth! Can I have a major league amen?

 Listen to what the Holy Spirit said through Isaiah about Jerusalem, the city of the Great King. Isaiah 2:1-4 “This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz saw concerning Judah (Israel) and Jerusalem: In the LAST DAYS the mountain of the Lord’s Temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills and ALL NATIONS will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, come lets go up to the mountain of the Lord, the house of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths. The law will go out from ZION, the Word of the Lord from JERUSALEM. He will judge between the nations and settle disputes for many peoples; they will beat their swords into plow shears and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation nor will they learn of war anymore.”

Beloved, Jesus as the Greater Solomon living in the city of Jerusalem will be sought out by the leaders and nations of the world. All nations will come to the literal, physical city of Jerusalem because God chose to put His Name there forever and because it is the city of Jesus the Great King.

Jerusalem will be the model city for all nations. From Jesus and the city of Jerusalem, the world will finally know peace.

Also, the economic plan of Jesus will eliminate debt, poverty and hunger worldwide. The leadership of Jesus from the city of Jerusalem will create the environment for the arts and sciences to explode to levels never dreamed of. Discoveries and creativity will reach a height never believed possible!

In short, Jesus Christ ruling from the chosen city of Jerusalem Israel will release God’s blessings and goodness to the whole world!

Beloved, are you beginning to see and feel why Jerusalem is so special and important to God? That is why the Lord said in Zechariah 8:2 “. . . I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”

Why? Because God’s eternal plan of redemption and restoration of the earth will flow from the city of Jerusalem Israel!

I have one final reason in this message as to why Jerusalem is so special to God and consequently why it should be special to you and me also.

IV. Jerusalem will be the epicenter of God’s plan of bringing heaven and earth together forever.

In Ephesians 1:9-10 we read these amazing words, “ And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect  when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one Head—even Christ (Messiah).”

After the Millennial Reign of Christ comes to its close, the devil will be set free for a short season to stir up the nations one more time. God will then defeat Satan and cast him into the lake of fire forever!  In this way, God will have purged both the heavens and the earth from sin for all eternity!  

Following this in Revelation 21&22 is the fulfillment of Ephesians 1:9-10. In and through Jesus, the natural and spiritual worlds are brought together. The veil between these two dimensions is completely removed in Jesus—the God-man. Faith will have become sight!

And this will happen in the place where God chose to put His Name forever. The earthly Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem will be brought together by the power and wisdom of God.

How will that happen pastor? I don’t know, just like I don’t know how that God created the   heavens and the earth. But I do know that one day the natural and spiritual world will be brought together forever, and Jerusalem will be the center of this new and ultimate level of life in God. It is quite a plan that God has for those who love Him!

Jerusalem will be the center of the universe forever and ever! Why? Because God Almighty chose Jerusalem to be the place of His eternal redemption.

Heaven is God’s throne; earth is His footstool and Jerusalem is His city forever!

CONCLUSION

So then, what is the answer to the question: why should a church in a small town in Warrior Alabama care about the city of Jerusalem? Why should anyone care? Why should you care?

1. Because God speaks about 984 times in His Word! It’s on His heart!

2. God put His Name in Jerusalem Israel forever!

3. It is the city of Jesus the Great King!

4. It will be the Millennial Capital of Jesus!

5. It will be the city where God brings heaven and earth together forever!

ALTAR

Let our response of faith to God’s Word be a time of prayer for the city He has chosen forever—the city of Jerusalem Israel!

Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 62:7 Give God no rest until the day that Jerusalem is the song that the whole earth sings!