When Jesus told His disciples and us about the future he built every word of it around one spot on earth. In theological circles, this message (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) is called the Olivet Discourse. Jesus framed His words about the rest of the history of this planet by the sight of Jerusalem in all its earthly glory spread in front of Him.
Look again at Christ’s very first words in Matthew 24:2. All that He says about His second coming is introduced by those words. He said to keep your eye on Jerusalem. I am ascending from the Mount of Olives (the center of Jerusalem then and now) and I am returning to the Mount of Olives.
As we turn to the subject again of Christ’s coming and those incredibly detailed snapshots He left us in Matthew 24, we are focusing on Jerusalem. According to the Lord, the end of the world centers around Jerusalem.
The most mentioned place in the Bible is a city called Jerusalem.
The center of the world and the prophetic universe are in the same city.
Jerusalem should be your favorite city. After all, it’s the city that God has chosen for Himself in 1 Kings 11:13 However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
Ancient maps put Jerusalem In the center of the world, and I think they were right.
Jerusalem is also God’s timepiece. The final events of world history will culminate there with the glorious return of Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives.
Mentioned over 800 times in God’s Word —Jerusalem is a very important place. It was in Jerusalem that God promised Christ’s coming as the Lamb of God to Abraham. It was here that David was promised a future son who would have an endless kingdom. It was here God has worked. In:
Jerusalem! Three thousand years of lifetimes! Abraham and Isaac upon the altar of Moriah, a stone’s throw from here! David, the shepherd-king, watching Bathsheba from a distance. Jeremiah, mourning for the exiles. Jesus, teaching in the Temple. Peter’s betrayal. Jesus, walking the Way of Sorrows! Dying with forgiveness on his lips. Peter, shouting the good news in the streets on Pentecost! He has risen! Call on His name and live forever with Him!
But today all that is left from Christ’s Jerusalem is called the Western Wall. If you go there one of the first things you notice are several large signs that have been affixed near the entrances to Jerusalem’s Western Wall plaza. In addition to the usual guidelines regarding modesty and respect for the sanctity of the holy site, the centrality of the Temple Mount to Judaism and the Jewish people is clearly expressed. The signs, ten feet tall, read:
“Jewish tradition teaches that the Temple Mount is the focal point of Creation. In the center of the mountain lies the ‘Foundation Stone’ of the world. Here Adam came into being. Here Abraham, Isaac and Jacob served G-d. The First and Second Temples were built upon this mountain. The Ark of the Covenant was set upon the Foundation Stone itself. Jerusalem was chosen by G-d as the dwelling place of the Divine Presence. David longed to build the Temple, and Solomon his son built the First Temple here about 3,000 years ago. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The Second Temple was rebuilt on its ruins 70 years later. It was razed by the Roman legions over 1,900 years ago. The present Western Wall before you is a remnant of the western Temple Mount retaining walls. Jews have prayed in its shadow for hundreds of years, an expression of their faith in the rebuilding of the Temple. The Sages said about it: ‘The Divine Presence never moves from the Western Wall.’ The Temple Mount continues to be the focus of prayers for Jews all over the world.”
JERUSALEM should be to each of us a LESSON IN GOD’S KINGSHIP.
COM-04, NR4-32, & WNS-19 – Watch Jerusalem (050417AM)
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