Will the World Be Able to Solve the Problem of Jerusalem?

Jerusalem - A Cup of Trembling

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Understanding Bible Prophecy

God's Burdensome Stone

September 22, 2006

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"2 And I saw the Glory of the God of Israel coming from the East ..."
"4 The Glory of the LORD entered the Temple through the gate facing East"
(Isaiah 43:2,4 NIV)

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a Cup of Trembling ..." (God of Israel, Zechariah 12:2 KJV)

The Lord God: Jealous for Jerusalem - Zechariah Chapter 1:13-14 (KJV)

The Earthly City of Jerusalem has special significance to the God of Israel.  He is jealous for His City:

13 And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me, "Cry thou, saying, 'Thus saith the LORD of Hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.'"

A Cup of Trembling - Zechariah Chapter 12:1-3 (KJV)

The primary prophetical message of this passage details God's protection of Jerusalem against all nations that would come to battle against her.  This prophecy speaks of the siege of Jerusalem by the Antichrist's armies during the last half, or 3.5 years, of the Tribulation Period, also known as the Great Tribulation.  The attempted destruction of Jerusalem by the Antichrist and his armies will be suicidal according to verse 3.

The secondary prophetical message of this passage tells us that Jerusalem will be a subject of severe contention; an issue without peaceful resolution.   Christians and Jews both lay claim to the city (both are Biblically correct, but Christians should seek Heavenly Jerusalem) as does Islam (without Biblical mention).  It is impossible for the world's national leaders to create a diplomatic solution between Judaism and Islam on this issue.  The inevitable confrontation approaches:

1 The burden of the Word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the Earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a Cup of Trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a Burdensome Stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the Earth be gathered together against it.

Jerusalem Trodden Down - Luke Chapter 21:24 (KJV)

Jesus referred to the Church Age as the "TIMES OF THE GENTILES."  This passage from Luke reveals that the Jews will not have total control of Jerusalem until the Church Age is completed.  Many believe the Church Age, the Age of Grace, will end with the Rapture of the Church.  The Christian Church is currently the primary vehicle God uses to speak to the Earth.  Soon, Israel will be placed in the forefront, after the Church Age is fulfilled, and the world will be back under the Law of God.  This is further evidenced by the appearance of the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11, apparently representing the Law and the Prophets, preaching not only to Israel, but the world as well.

For this reason, Israel will build their Third Temple to God in Jerusalem, believing that only the daily sacrifice of animals can justify them before their God.  Of course, the New Testament Christian knows that the Jew should be under the Grace of God in Christ.  However since God has blinded National Israel to this fact (Romans 11:25-29), He will allow them to build this Third Temple.  When this Third Temple is constructed, the prophecies of Revelation 11, 13, 14 and 19 can, for the first time in history, be fulfilled.   When the Antichrist of Revelation 13 is revealed as the Deceiver that he is, setting up an idol in the Third Temple and violating Commandments 1 and 2, National Israel's eyes will be opened to the Grace of God in Christ for the first (and last) time.

21 ... and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the TIMES OF THE GENTILES be fulfilled.

The Day of the Lord - 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2:3-4 (KJV)

The Christian Church at Thessalonica had been deceived by a false prophet that they had missed the catching away of the Saints and were now in the Tribulation Period, also known as the Day of the Lord.  The Apostle Paul assures the Thessalonians that the Day of the Lord will not come until the Antichrist has arisen and defiled the Third Temple of God.  It is this abomination of the Third Temple that causes National Israel to realize Who the True Messiah of God is (PARENTHETICAL NOTATIONS MINE):

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that Day (DAY OF THE LORD) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin (ANTICHRIST) be revealed, the Son of Perdition (ANTICHRIST);
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God (PRETENDING TO BE ALMIGHTY GOD) sitteth in the (THIRD) Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (DECEIVING HIMSELF AND THE WORLD).

The Lord My God Will Come - Zechariah Chapter 14:1-11 (KJV)

Israel's rebellion against the Antichrist, at the middle of the 7-year Tribulation Period, causes him to unleash his wrath against the Jew.  He brings his armies to bear on the tiny Nation of Israel with the intent of wiping them off the face of the Earth forever.  For the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation Period, the Antichrist persecutes Israel and any who oppose him unmercifully.  The culmination of this attack is known as Armageddon, the Day of the Lord and the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, where Jesus Christ returns as depicted in Revelation 19, to defeat the Antichrist and his armies.  From that Day onward into Eternity, Jerusalem is perpetually secure:

1 Behold, a Day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.
2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the Holy Ones with Him!
6 In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle.
7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.
8 And in that day Living Waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.
9 And the LORD will be King over all the Earth; in that day the LORD will be the Only One, and His Name the Only One.
10 All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the King's Wine Presses.
11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.

The Lord God: Returned to Jerusalem - Zechariah Chapter 8:1-3 (KJV)

Though this is chapter 8 of Zechariah, here the Lord speaks of His return to the Earthly City of Jerusalem.  This occurs after the Battle of Armageddon in Zechariah 14.  From Jerusalem, God the Son, Jesus Christ will reign on Earth for 1000 years.

1 Again the Word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD of Hosts; 'I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.'
3 Thus saith the LORD; 'I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a City of Truth; and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts the Holy Mountain.'

The Third Temple to God will be built in Jerusalem.  The Antichrist will halt the daily sacrifice and oblation.

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