“Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her’” (Ezekiel 5:5).
For several millennia Jerusalem has been the very focal point of the world in many ways: as a nation, as the homeland of the Jews, as the center of worship, as a political entity, as the country which connects 3 continents (Africa, Asia and Europe), as a major source of wealth (especially the minerals of the Dead Sea) and as the place that God has designated as His chosen location.
It is quite instructive that the Bible mentions Jerusalem no less than 814 times! This is the city of David, Christ’s progenitor, and the city over which Jesus lamented, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37). Even as the Lord Jesus Christ called the Jewish people to place their faith in Him as God, so He today calls Jews and Gentiles alike to believe in Him for forgiveness of sins and everlasting life with Him.
Jerusalem: Epicenter Of The World
“Yet I (the LORD God) have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel” (II Chronicles 6:6)
“For the LORD has chosen Zion (synonym for Jerusalem); He has desired it for His dwelling place: ‘This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it'” (Psalm 132:13, 14)
*”Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her'” (Ezekiel 5:5)
“Behold, I (the LORD) will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it” (Zechariah 12:2, 3)
“For I (the LORD) will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled (or plundered) and the women ravished (or violated) . …Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. …And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. …And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts…” (portions from Zechariah 14)
At the turn of the 20th century, the British hymn-writer Frederick Edward Weatherly penned the words of this much loved Christian song:
Last night I lay asleeping, there came a dream so fair; I stood in old Jerusalem beside the temple there. I heard the children singing, and ever as they sang, Me thought the voice of angels from heav’n in answer rang: Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Lift up your gates and sing, Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna to your King!
The Holy City words by Frederick E. Weatherly
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. (Psalm 122:6)
Someday soon, in the not-too-distant future, Jesus Christ will rule and reign in Jerusalem as King of the entire universe! Only those and all who have believed on Him will have the privilege or ruling and reigning with Him! Are you one of them?
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