Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the most important city on the planet to Jesus. There are many promises found in the foundation stones of this 48 square mile piece of ground. This is the city of my King's throne. No, we may not see a throne there right now, but it will be there soon.


In the most unimaginable way, I believe in years, not decades, from now, Jesus' physical throne is going to be in this earthly city and in the New Jerusalem, which will come out of the sky and hover over earthly Jerusalem for 1,000 years. At the end of the 1,000 years, the New Jerusalem will rest on the earth and God's plan to join heaven back to earth will be complete. Everyone who's name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life will have a residence in the New Jerusalem, which will be right where the current city of Jerusalem is right now. Your future home is hopefully going to be Jerusalem!


This should be the most important city to every inhabitant of earth. So much of what is happening in the earth is tied to the fate of this city:


The main point of the end-time night and day worship movement- Isaiah 62:6-7 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord , do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.


The city that Jesus is waiting to invite Him back as Messiah- Matthew 23:39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord !’ ”


The location of Jesus' throne forever - Jeremiah 3:17 “At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord , and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord , to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.


The city that Jesus loves - Matthew 23:37 “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!


The city of Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible about 800 times, far more than any city of the earth. Right now there is a great political battle raging over who will control Jerusalem. Make no mistake, ALL of the trouble we are seeing in the middle east, not to mention much of the trouble abroad, is primarily about who will control Jerusalem. A quick Google News search for the word "Jerusalem" will confirm this easily.


Satan has a plan to keep Jerusalem from inviting Jesus back to establish His throne there, and Jesus gave His word that He will not return until He is invited as the Messiah of Jerusalem. The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the dispersing of Israel to the nations, the attempts during the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Hitler's Germany, and Stalin's Russia to suppress and destroy the nation of Israel...these events were all about keeping Jews out of Jerusalem so they can not fulfill the prophecy given by Jesus to return to a Jewish city named Jerusalem that is inviting Him back as Messiah. Satan is not casual about Jerusalem, because Jesus is not casual about Jerusalem.


Right now in the news, the focus is squarely on Jerusalem and who will have her as their capital: Palestine or Israel. This is the most amazing fulfillment of prophecy unfolding before our eyes. The return of the nation of Israel to their land in 1948, the supernatural war in 1967 that gave Israel Jerusalem back, and now the tooth and nail struggle to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel was all foretold. Soon Jerusalem will experience 3.5 years of false peace, see the reconstruction of a temple, and then suddenly be under siege by the antichrist, with 1/3 of Israel fleeing into the wilderness, 1/3 dying in the siege, and 1/3 taken captive:


Zechariah 14:2 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.


Zechariah 13:8-9 And it shall come to pass in all the land,” Says the Lord , “ That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one –third shall be left in it: I will bring the one –third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”


Matthew 24:15-21 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea (Jerusalem) flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.


We are entering the most intense time ever for the City of Jerusalem. The fate of Jerusalem is our fate, as well. God blesses those who bless Israel:


Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”


In Isaiah 65 God promises to take a remnant in Jerusalem safely through the tribulation that is coming. Jesus WILL have a remnant of Jews that invite Him back as Messiah in Jerusalem. But in that same promise, God says the most sobering thing: He says that to not care about Jerusalem, and the fate of His beloved city, to be CASUAL about Jerusalem...to not pray and contend for Jerusalem in truth...is the same as worshiping the gods of "fate" and "luck."


Most people are more interested in what their weekend will look like than the fate of the most important city on earth. About Jerusalem, if we even think of it, many of is just rest on the thought that things will just "all work out." This is true, God is going to get what He desires. BUT the real question is "how will it work out for me?! How will things work out for you?!" This entirely depends on whether or not I agree with God about what HE is all about in this hour of human history.


To live in this hour...the third transitional generation...is THE greatest blessing in all of human history, but it is also THE greatest responsibility in all of human history. The importance of this hour to Jesus DEMANDS a wholehearted response on the part of anyone who claims to love Him. Praying for and contending for Jerusalem, and it being the throne of a Jewish King named Jesus...a praise in the nations...is Jesus 101. This is what is on His mind, and if I love Him, it is what should be on my mind, too! God, help me to see and feel what you see and feel about Jerusalem! Help me to pray for her like you do, Jesus.

Isaiah 65:11-16 “But it will be different for you that forsake me, who ignore Zion, my sacred hill, and worship Gad and Meni, the gods of luck and fate. It will be your fate to die a violent death, because you did not answer when I called you or listen when I spoke. You chose to disobey me and do evil. And so I tell you that those who worship and obey me will have plenty to eat and drink, but you will be hungry and thirsty. They will be happy, but you will be disgraced. They will sing for joy, but you will cry with a broken heart. My chosen people will use your name as a curse. I, the Sovereign Lord , will put you to death. But I will give a new name to those who obey me. Anyone in the land who asks for a blessing will ask to be blessed by the Faithful God. Whoever takes an oath will swear by the name of the Faithful God. The troubles of the past will be gone and forgotten.”