Warm greetings to all in the wonderful name of Yeshua!
A little Biblical background on the great importance of Jerusalem (!), before we move on to some things of life in Israel for Israelis today, and things the media does not tell you.
As previously, Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the Bible including about 140 in the RCS (Renewed Covenant Scriptures; a much more accurate name based on Luke’s Greek rendering of Lk. 22:19-20, than “NT”!). Speaking of the good doctor, though Luke is typically presented as the ” Gospel to the Gentiles”, Luke refers to Jerusalem more than the other writers of the Good News! Further, Luke’s Gospel not only begins in Jerusalem, but also ends there!
Further still, one of the very last chapters of Scripture, Rev. 21, speaks very specifically about, in the original, the renewed/ new in quality heavenly Jerusalem.
In short for here, Heaven (in Hebrew Heaven is plural) is both very specifically and consistently referred to as the Jerusalem or the City Rev. 21. It is done so not only multiple times but also in Greek by more than one form of specificity! (Either as the subject, in an absolute sense, or very directly focused on/limited to; not though referred to “indirectly”).
This means then that the Greek Text allows – in no way (!) – allegorizing this away as something other than what it actually says. In short, Augustine, late 4th/ early 5th century in his book The City of God, said Revelation 21 was an ” allegory” for the Institutional Assembly on Earth – despite what the Greek Text says!
The impact of this? It shifts things away for Yeshua’s followers from Jerusalem to an Institution of Men. This is far more profound than many realize! It meant a fundamental and foundational shift away from Jerusalem, and the great importance thereof, to followers of Yeshua focusing on an Earthly Institution built on the Traditions of Men rather than an accurate and authentic presentation of Scripture’s focus on Jerusalem and the Kingdom (Kingdom, 111 times in the Gospel; 1 reference to the Universal Assembly).
Speaking the truth in love Eph. 4:15, this can lead to something many followers (in my experience & observation), are perhaps not fully aware of; that of being made “numb” to Jerusalem, due to hearing preaching/teaching that is focused instead on either the Universal or the local assembly.
The opposite of this is “Jerusalem” presented along the lines of a theological abstraction or a “fantasy” or perhaps “a place I’d like to visit one day if I have the chance” rather than the concrete reality of Jerusalem. Neither the LORD nor Yeshua see it in abstract terms (!), but rather in terms of it being concrete, i.e., real!
We should note Yeshua’s earthly father David’s (cf. Mt. 1:1, v.6, esp. Lk. 1:30-34; cf. Rom. 1:3, 2 Tim. 2:8; cf. Rev. 5:5, 22:16 etc.) tremendous love and concern for Jerusalem & Zion in a number of his Shine Forth, Songs of Praise (Hebrew meaning of “Psalms”)!
For King David, Jerusalem & Zion were always very very close to his heart! Even some of his Shine Forth Songs of Praise that are particularly personal (but not individualistic), end with his love and appeal to the LORD for Jerusalem and the Jewish People – as also the other composers of the Shine Forth Songs of Praise! Cf. Ps. 20:2-3 (Hebrew) Ps. 78-80, 122 (cf. again v.6), 137 et al.
Luke records in Lk. 19:41 that Yeshua was not teary-eyed – but rather, wept/wailed for Jerusalem. Again, please allow me to reiterate how extremely emotional people in the Middle East were and still very much are today!
Jerusalem is Israel’s poorest city materially but far and away the richest city spiritually in the world! Cf. Paul at the Temple Acts 24:17-18.
My wife & I regularly encountered Israelis both non-observant looking and Orthodox, men and women in Hebrew asking not for “charity” but righteousness. In short righteousness means in part that if God has blessed you, it is only right that you help others. We all know God works through people.
Over the years to varying degrees of success they have tried to limit how much the Israelis at the Western Wall impose on tourists. We regularly were stopped for “righteousness, righteousness”, particularly on the hilly pedestrian mall known as Ben Yehuda Street in downtown Jerusalem. At the bottom of Ben Yehuda Street right up against one of Jerusalem’s main streets, Jaffa Street, is Zion Square.
If you turn right on Jaffa Street heading south in a few minutes if that, on your left, set back, you see the new Jerusalem City Hall, and no more than five minutes or so later you cross Paratrooper Boulevard and there in front of you – the Jaffa Gate entrance into the Old City.
As I mentioned the last time just to the east of that is the Damascus Gate. You saw this on the news as Israeli police tried to break up rioting Palestinians. When there are normal circumstances, if you head down the steps through Damascus Gate, and into the Shuk, the Arab market. This is not a safe way for Israelis to enter or exit The Old City.
You also occasionally see Israelis in the downtown area walking the busy sidewalks carrying long guns. In the US people would freak out or run for cover but here it is very normal and no one notices. If they’re not in uniform, then it’s probably the much negatively publicized “Settlers”. Why do they carry long guns or a pistol on their hip? Is it because they are “militant settlers”?
No! It probably means they drove to Jerusalem from the so-called “Occupied Territory” and have to pass areas where the Palestinians stone their cars or sometimes shoot at them!
Heading south not very far out of Jerusalem we went to visit some Jewish brethren by bus. Israeli bus drivers carry a pistol and it’s a very well-respected job in Israel. The bus went along what’s called The Tunnel Road. Arabs were shooting at the buses so they built a tunnel.
In the very southern end of Jerusalem on a street shown some years ago by CNN, we drove to the exact spot where they reported on the cement wall that had been erected to protect an elementary school from shooting by Arabs from the valley down below. They had an artist paint on the inside of the barrier what the valley down below looked like that the children could no longer see.
We had lunch near Zion Square one afternoon with a couple who very nonchalantly said a bullet had come through their kitchen window. The Israeli government spent about a million dollars US installing bulletproof glass on the valley side of the houses on that street.
What did the Israeli government also do about this? They parked a tank halfway down the valley with its turret pointing at the Arab village below – the result? – no more shootings!
In a conversation once with a Lebanese Muslim in the US, he said to me “you know we respect one thing and one thing only. If you say to me, I have more guns than you and bigger guns and the will to use them”. I have seen this first-hand, as I observed that the highly wired Palestinians around the Old City and near the Western Wall area were noticeably quiet around Israeli civilians they saw armed!
Please do not think that Israel and Jerusalem are just places filled with violence. Israel is very very safe for tourists. What I wrote above are not places typical Christian tours go. Not to go to Israel could be like an Israeli who hears about all kinds of shootings in Chicago, New York, etc. and says they wouldn’t visit the US.
Israelis have a much more difficult daily life than the media reports. Israelis have to put up with things Americans never would. The Palestinians have poor and corrupt leadership in an Arab culture in which nothing gets done without “bakshesh” a bribe. A leadership that fans the flames of not just blaming and hating Israelis, but all Jews.
A youth soccer tournament in Jenin named each team for a homicide bomber. The name of the cup they played for? Named for the bomber who blew himself up on Passover Eve at the Park Hotel in Netanya, less than 10 miles west of Jenin…..
Jerusalem on the Sabbath is unlike any time or place on Earth! Sabbath means “cease” (not “rest”). Friday afternoon the normally busy City winds down. Stores clean up and close down. Crowded downtown sidewalks are empty as people are home getting ready for the Sabbath. You literally feel the deep shalom of the Sabbath descending on the City! Amazing!
For Israelis the weekend consists of Friday – Saturday. Sunday is Israel’s “Monday”. Men gather Friday evening to pray and sing songs of praise, many from the Psalms. I fondly remember some men on Betzalel Street near the Downtown who excitedly wanted to drag me into their small, homey synagogue with them one Sabbath evening as I headed back to the apartment my wife and I had rented. (God gave Betzalel the spirit of God to make the vessels for the, in deeper Hebrew, “Source Place of the Presence that dwells like a neighbor” “Tabernacle”. Cf. Ex. 25 on).
Some men arise and gather at 4 A.M. (not a typo!) to sing songs of joy & praise to the LORD for 3 hours – before starting worship for 3-4 hours at 7!
Jerusalem on the Sabbath – a time and place to “cease” for the week!
Please allow me to encourage you to forward this on and to ask others to also do so; Israel, the Jewish People, and your Jewish brethren – especially in Israel (!) – need all the support we can get! The LORD will bless you for it! Cf. Gen. 12:3, 26:4-5, 27:28-29, 28:12-15 etc. Cf. Mt. 25:31-46. Cf. Rom.15:27 etc.
Please also allow me to encourage you to study the Scriptures listed here! If you have any questions on any of them, please do not hesitate to email us at:
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Warmly and thank you!
Jacob
Assemblywithoutthewalls.org