Have you ever seen or been in a situation involving fracture or division (whether personally, in a relationship, at work (redundancy?), or on a larger scale - social, cultural, even cities or nations?). With the recent riots over the Temple Mount, let us consider Jerusalem.
The Division of Jerusalem
This present year 2017 is significant for its many anniversaries. Looking back, it is hard for us to imagine the pain caused by the division of the city of Jerusalem in 1948, torn apart for almost two decades after the life-threatening fight for the survival of the new-born nation of Israel. The city was fractured and the Jewish population separated from the Old City with its Temple Mount and the Western Wall. Under Jordanian rule, Jerusalem, the city of the great King, which God calls “the joy of the whole earth” (Ps 48:2), was cut in half.
Then came the Six Day War in 1967 and God's hand and timing to reunify Jerusalem. 2017 is the 50th anniversary of this restoration. But in 1967, General Dayan left the Temple Mount in the hands of the Jordanian Muslim Waqf to maintain religious sovereignty, and keep the peace, thinking it was a “prayer mosque” while for Jews it was just “a historical site”.1
Since King David captured the fortress of Zion from the Canaanite Jebusites (Gen 10:15-16; 2 Sam 5:7) Jerusalem has always been the capital of Israel, but many anti-Semitic peoples have desired possession or destruction of it, including the Chaldeans around 600 BC (Hab 1:6), the Edomites (Ezek 25:12), the Mamluks who ruled Jerusalem from the 13th Century and the Ottoman Turks who conquered them in 1517. 400 years of Turkish domination were ended in 1917 by the British under General Edmund Allenby (who as a child had prayed regularly for this release). But many nations and violent peoples in our day also seek to possess or destroy Israel (Ps 83:4, 12).
God's Timing to Restore Jerusalem
This year, 2017, is the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in which Britain “viewed with favour the establishment in [what was then called] Palestine, of a national home for the Jewish people”. The reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, and this present year are thus Jubilee years (the 50th year), which the Bible describes as time of release and freedom (Lev 25:10).
In our day, the God of Israel is bringing His people back to their land according to His promise (Ezek 36:24), and Psalm 102 (v13, 16) proclaims that at His appointed time (moed) He shall show special favour to Zion (as He has been doing these past 70 years since Israel became a modern nation) and appear in His glory.
These are significant dates on God's calendar. And v18 of Psalm 102 tells us that this is written for the end-time generation (Heb. l'dor acharon2). It is clear that the Lord is restoring His people Israel in preparation for the return of their Messiah. When He comes, Jerusalem's restoration will be completed, the fracture healed, and all personal, social, and cultural divisions brought to unity – in Him.
The Day Approaches
We are nearer to this wondrous time now than we were 50 or 100 years ago. Let us rejoice in God's plan and purpose in restoring His city. The Prophet Zechariah saw this: the LORD, the God of Israel, will be King over the whole earth, and all nations will go up to Jerusalem year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, for there will be One LORD, and His Name the only Name (Zech 14:9, 16).
Jerusalem will be one. But time is short, and trials are coming. Let us submit our lives afresh to the Lord Jesus. He alone is our safe place. Maybe for now God is keeping the Temple Mount off-limits for His people because He desires them also to enter into the New Covenant that He gave them in the Blood of their Messiah Yeshua. God desires this for you also, but are you ready?
Author: Greg Stevenson
References
1 Dayan, Avnei Derech, 165, 498. Shragai, Har Hamerivah, 22-27.
2 l'dor: for the generation (a cycle of time); acharon (from achar): late, last, following, future, hindermost, latter, rearward, the one coming behind, at the end, the one to come.