Jerusalem

A few days ago, President Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol, and announced his plan to move the United States’ embassy there. I don’t think that this was a particular surprise to anyone. The swift and negative reaction from the remainder of the world did not come as any surprise either.

The only surprises for me, were, first, that I expected more violence from the opposition than has yet occurred. I thought that there would be much more violence than there has been to date, but it is early yet. The second surprise was the broad scope of the negative reaction. I expected much more indifference, but nearly everyone, friend and foe of Israel alike, have spoken in opposition against it. Only the evangelical Christians, Jews, and a few of Mr. Trump’s other loyal followers have expressed their support of this action.

A great many have expressed that they felt that this was a bad move because it was politically inexpedient and would disenfranchise “allies” in the region, and would derail peace efforts in that part of the world. This is probably true. The extent to which it will be true remains to be seen.  Sometimes doing the right thing can be risky, and even downright dangerous!

Jerusalem is in fact the legitimate capitol of Israel. It has been so since King David made it so in about 1000 BC. In fact, it could legitimately be considered the “capitol of the world,” as we believe it will be just that during the millennial reign of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and shortly after that will be replaced by the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10-22:5). This is why this move by our government is so important to Christians.

Shortly after the 2016 election, I wrote in this blog about a book by Dr. Lance Wellinau, entitled God’s Chaos Candidate, Donald J. Trump and the American Unraveling (see my post, December 5, 2016), which compared Donald Trump to Cyrus, the king of ancient  Persia, who helped the Jews return to their homeland at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, and to rebuild their capitol city, Jerusalem, and their Temple there. This comparison is literally being fulfilled before our eyes! I don’t know if this is the only purpose for Mr. Trump’s presidency, I hope not, but it is remarkable to see this prophecy coming true in our time.

I am reading an interesting book at present by messianic Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, of Jewish Voice Ministries International called A Rabbi Looks at the Last Days, in which he makes a comment that is pertinent to this matter:

“I have no doubt that America’s support of Israel over the past 65 years has invoked the blessings of God. The promise to “bless those that bless Israel and curse those that curse Israel” in Genesis 12:3 is a divine decree that is just as true today as when it was written. History has borne out this fact.”

 (p. 133)

He further goes on to state:

“A two-state solution on the land that God gave as an eternal inheritance to the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not in keeping with God’s will, and He is [speaking] and will continue to speak up on this matter.”      (pp. 133-4)

I fully agree with that statement as well as another statement in this same book that follows:      

I encourage you to continue to pray regularly for God’s peace plan for Israel and Jerusalem—a peace plan that is rooted in both Jew and Arab coming to know Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah and Lord. Only then can true peace between both peoples exist.”     (P. 134)

And to this I can only add:

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

Thanks for sharing this moment with me today.

(P.S.       If you are looking for a worthy ministry through which you can “bless Israel” and contribute to Jewish evangelism, I recommend Jonathan Bernis’ Jewish Voice Ministries International, at www.jvmi.org.)