Jerusalem

Ezr 1:3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.


Too often people believe that Jerusalem means nothing today.


Do people really believe that God could make Jerusalem His city upon earth for such a long, long time and then take away that distinction entirely. Listen to David--


Psa 87:1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
Psa 87:2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Psa 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.


God's city. God's Holy city - Jerusalem.


Read this…

Ezr 4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;
Ezr 4:2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
Ezr 4:3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.
Ezr 4:4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
Ezr 4:5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

The children of God had disobey Him and Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews captive. Then later a Persian King made a decree that the captives be free to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple that had been destroyed. The children of God went back and began to rebuild the temple and then adversaries of God tried to stop them from completing their rebuilding.

They DIDN'T succeed.

God's holy city has been destroyed, the people of God taken captive more than once, and yet Jerusalem remains the city of God. Others have tried to claim the city as theirs but to no real avail. After that temple was rebuilt the children of God wanted God's blessings but they knew they'd transgressed against God and they'd joined themselves to those who did not follow God. The solution was to put away those wives the men had joined themselves to. Joining with the ungodly will forever will incur God's disfavor.


Jesus said these things about Jerusalem-


Mat 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.


Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death


Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!


Luk 18:31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.


Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.


Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.



Jerusalem has forever been in God's plan.


Forsaken, renewed, forsaken, renewed, trodden down, no longer trodden down- all in God's plan. Until the end it will be in God's plan.


A NEW Jerusalem will even descend from God out of heaven.


Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.


So if people believe they should NO LONGER look to Jerusalem as part of our Savior's plan, to watch and know the signs of the time, they are sadly mistaken. Even as it stands today with so many UNGODLY forces within the city, it is STILL a place to look for signs of the times.


Jerusalem.

We're going to study a bit more about Jerusalem in the coming days by the will of God.


In His amazing love!

Amen.