Jerusalem & Bible
In the Western Christian Church today far too many teachers and leaders consider Jerusalem as a special, sacred, city of God and ignore what God's word actually says. Moreover, they infect the Church with the misconceptions (and even lies) they embrace, and refuse to repent (change) even when God's truth is clearly pointed out to them.
Jerusalem was destroyed twice, once prior to the Messiah, and again shortly after. In the Old Testament, in Jeremiah 6, it speaks of the coming first destruction. Jeremiah 6 is 30 verses long but here is some of what it says:
“Flee for safety, ....From the midst of Jerusalem! .............For thus says the Lord of hosts, ......
And cast up a siege against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, In whose midst there is only oppression..... Violence and destruction are heard in her; Sickness and wounds are ever before Me.
“Be warned, O Jerusalem,...........Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it....... For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord. For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,........... At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.........
“And I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ ......... “Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their plans,.... Because they have not listened to My words,...And as for My law, they have rejected it also...........
Therefore, thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. And they will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together; Neighbor and friend will perish.”
Thus says the Lord, “Behold, a people is coming from the north land, And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth. "They seize bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; ......... Because the Lord has rejected them."
Obviously, in Jeremiah 6, earthly, physical Jerusalem is not a city that God is considering sacred, or one to be revered.
Let us now look at two more places, in the Old Testament, where God's Word speaks about Jerusalem.
"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant."
One thing is clear, in this passage of scripture, Jerusalem is not spoken of, again by God, as a sacred place or one that should be revered.
"Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations and say, 'Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem, "Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite, your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. No eye looked with pity on you to do any of the things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born...."
There are obviously many verses in the Old Testament regarding physical Jerusalem, however, as this passage in Ezekiel shows, even in the Old Testament God used symbolism regarding the spiritual meaning of Jerusalem.
Now let's see what some of God's word says about Jerusalem in the New Testament (The New Covenant).
Galatians 4: 22-25 says:
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
Gal 4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.
Therefore, in Galatians, God's Word clearly states that earthly physical Jerusalem represents slavery, and spiritual Jerusalem is freedom and new life.
Now this is what Jesus said about Jerusalem as recorded in Luke.
Luke 13:34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!"
............ Luke 19:41-44
Luke 19:41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,
Luke 19:42 saying, if you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
Luke 19:43 "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,..."
Luke 19:44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
This prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70.
In Hebrews we again read about Heavenly (spiritual) Jerusalem.
Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels....
Here is more of what is recorded in the Gospels about Jerusalem:
.......... Mathew 23:37-38
Mat 23:37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling."
Mat 23:38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!"
........... Luke 21: 20-24
Luke 21:20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near."
Luke 21:21 "Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city;..."
Luke 21:22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.
Luke 21:23 "Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people;..."
Luke 21:22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.
Luke 21:23 "Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people;..."
Luke 21:24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Luke 23:28 But Jesus turning to them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children."
John 4:21 Jesus *said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father."
Now in Revelation:
Rev 11:8
As most Christians know Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, and in Revelation 11:8 it states “…….in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their lord was crucified.”
Therefore at least in this verse Jerusalem is called “Sodom and Egypt.”
The deeper meaning of this verse, as in most of Revelation, is probably more spiritual than physical, however in this verse Jerusalem is referred to as “Sodom and Egypt.” ............... Those are not endearing terms.
Rev 21:2, the second to the last chapter of the Bible, God says:
Rev 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
Therefore when Christians embrace earthly Jerusalem today as any kind of sacred city it goes directly against God's word.
Earthly Jerusalem represents slavery where spiritual Jerusalem represents new life. As Jesus prophesied, the Temple, which represented Judaism and Jerusalem, was utterly destroyed within one generation. This occurred in A.D. 70 and it fulfilled God's warning to the sons of Israel as recorded in Deuteronomy 6: 15.
God's warning in Deuteronomy was simple, the Israelites were to follow His commandments or He would wipe them off the face of the earth. The sons of Israel, from that time forward, repeatedly sinned and rejected God, with their final, and ultimate rebellion being the rejection and execution of the Messiah Jesus.
Therefore, beginning in A.D. 70 and culminating in A.D. 135, God did what he said he would do and wiped Biblical Israel off the face of the earth. In A.D. 70 the Temple was destroyed and then, in A.D.135, God eliminated (for the most part) the remnants in what is called the 2nd Jewish revolt. The Judaism of today is not even close to what was called Judaism at the time of Christ (see page 9).
That ended the Biblical Jewish era and anything regarding earthly Jerusalem. A modern Jew, and those Jews who inhabit present Jerusalem, have no more of a direct traceable connection to ancient Israel than an Eskimo or even an Aborigine. However, although a modern Jew has no traceable connection to Biblical Israel, neither do you, me or anyone else alive today.
Any of us, and possibly even most of us (only God knows who), may be descendants of Biblical Jews. However, none of us can trace our lineage, the way a lineage is traced in the Bible, to ancient Israel. God ended the traceable Israelite lineage in A.D. 70 and finalized it in A.D. 135, and no man or group has accurately kept a true Israelite genealogy since then. (See Page 7 & 8)
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