Jerusalem – City of Peace

After the Six-Day War from June 5 – 11, 1967, the city of Jerusalem was declared by Israel to be the capital of the State of Israel. The eastern part of the city had been occupied by Jordan for 19 years: 1948-1967. In that year 1967 Israel liberated East Jerusalem from Jordan’s occupation. This part of the city had suffered incredibly ever since the proclamation of the State of Israel in 1948. In those 19 years the city was turned into a complete mess. What happened since 1948 when de State of Israel was declared by then Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion?

“Jewish Jerusalem will never accept alien rule after thousands of its youngsters liberated their historic homeland for the third time”

David Ben-Gurion
In the fall of 1949, the United Nations General Assembly began debating how to implement the partition resolution’s call for the internationalization of Jerusalem under the auspices of the United Nations. On the eve of the debate, on December 5, 1949, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared that Jerusalem is an organic and inseparable part of the State of Israel. He added that Israel could not even conceive that the United Nations would attempt to tear Jerusalem from the State of Israel, especially considering what Jerusalem went through during the War of Independence.

Ignoring Israel’s position, the United Nations voted by a large majority to internationalize Jerusalem. Ben-Gurion responded on December 13, 1949, affirming that Israel “would not permit the forced disconnection of Jerusalem from Israel.” He called for the Knesset to conduct its sessions in Jerusalem, which it later did. In the following months most of the government offices were moved to the capital.

David Ben-Gurion said: “Twice in the history of our nation were we driven out of Jerusalem, only after being defeated in bitter wars by the larger, stronger forces of Babylon and Rome. Our links with Jerusalem today are no less deep than in the days of Nebuchadnezzar and Titus Flavius, and when Jerusalem was attacked after the fourteenth of May 1948, our valiant youngsters risked their lives for our sacred capital no less than our forefathers did in the time of the First and Second Temples.

A nation that, for two thousand and five hundred years, has faithfully adhered to the vow made by the first exiles by the waters of Babylon not to forget Jerusalem, will never agree to be separated from Jerusalem. Jewish Jerusalem will never accept alien rule after thousands of its youngsters liberated their historic homeland for the third time, redeeming Jerusalem from destruction and vandalism.”

“Historians and politicians have said that the Jews of the Old City were evacuated – the truth is that they were expelled”

All Synagogues Destroyed
Times of Israel, June 5, 2023 reported: “Armies of five Arab states, joined by local armed gangs, invaded Palestine in 1948. Arabs and Muslims could not accept that Jews would have sovereignty in any part of the Holy Land, at least in Jerusalem. The army of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan led by the British general Glubb – trained and armed by the British – was the most successful of the Arab armies. They were capturing what in ancient times was known as Samaria and Judea – now called “the West Bank” and the eastern part of Jerusalem including the Old City and the Temple Mount – by Muslims called Haram al Sharif.

Historians and politicians have said that the Jews of the Old City were evacuated – the truth is that they were expelled. At the same time, all the synagogues in the Old City – the Churva, the Tiferet Yisrael, and a complex of four minor Jewish places of worship – were deliberately demolished by the Arabs. The aim was clearly to prevent any future Jewish presence in the city.”

“The Jordanians breached their commitment (in the Armistice Agreement) to allow free access of Jews to the holy sites, mainly to the Western Wall and to the cemetery on the Mount of Olives. They also desecrated Jewish holy sites.”

No Free Access To Holy Sites
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel says about these 19 years of Jordanian occupation of East Jerusalem: “On November 30, 1948, following the cessation of the battle between the two armies in Jerusalem, two officers – Lt. Col. Moshe Dayan of the Israeli army and Lt. Col. Abdallah A-Tal of the Jordanian army – drew in thick wax pencils an inaccurate cease-fire line on a map of Jerusalem. This line, including the No Man’s Land between the two sides, was later included in the Israel-Jordan Armistice Agreement of 3 April 1949.

The City Line divided Jerusalem between Israel (in the western part) and Jordan (in the eastern part, including the Old City and the Temple Mount) for 19 years, until The Six Day War in June 1967 when Israel re-united the city. During these 19 years, the Jordanian army placed snipers on the City Line and initiated frequent shooting incidents at citizens and other targets on the Israeli side of the city, making life in the near-by Israeli neighborhoods almost unbearable. In addition, the Jordanians breached their commitment (in the Armistice Agreement) to allow free access of Jews to the holy sites, mainly to the Western Wall and to the cemetery on the Mount of Olives. They also desecrated Jewish holy sites.”

“On the 30th of July 1980 the Parliament of Israel accepted a new Jerusalem law. Art. 1 of this law confirms: “the united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.”

Jerusalem Was Never Divided
It was the only short period (1948 – 1967) during which Jerusalem has ever been a divided city in her more than 3,000 years of existence, so that every Palestinian claim on the eastern part of the city of Jerusalem has no historic basis what so ever. Israel has proclaimed Jerusalem the undivided city of the independent Jewish State.

On the 30th of July 1980 the Parliament of Israel accepted a new Jerusalem law. Art. 1 of this law confirms: “the united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.” Christians from all over the world established the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, as a testimony of their solidarity with the Jewish people and the State of Israel, stressing the Biblical rights the Jewish people have to the Promised Land and the city of Jerusalem.

Some say that therefore at that particular moment in 1967 the so-called ‘times of the Gentiles’ of which Jesus speaks in the Bible in Luke 21:24 were fulfilled. Because, at that moment Jerusalem was no longer trampled upon by the Gentiles and she became the capital of the Land and the Jewish State of Israel, so they say. But is that really the case? Are there no Gentiles trampling Jerusalem under their feet  anymore? Have the nations, the Gentiles no more say about Jerusalem?

What about the fact that Europe and the United Nations tell Israel what they must do with the Promised Land of Israel and the so-called “occupied” i.e. Biblical territories Judea and Samaria, Gaza and the Golan Heights, and with His own city of  Jerusalem? The final status of Jerusalem is still undecided, the United Nations say. That is something the world still has to decide upon, the Gentile nations declare over and over again.

“Israel exists by the grace of God, based on an everlasting Covenant that the LORD has made with Israel, Psalm 105:7-11. He swore a solemn oath that He will never brake. He cannot lie.”

Times Of The Gentiles
Scripture seems to point in another direction when speaking about the ‘times of the Gentiles’ that Jesus spoke about being fulfilled: only by the Coming of Messiah, Christ’s Coming in Glory as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Messiah of Israel, will the ‘times of the Gentiles’ be fulfilled. And we are on our way to that wonderful moment. Because Jerusalem has (the) future. It is the city of the Great King, says Lord Jesus in Matthew 5:35.

On the Mount of Olives to the east of Jerusalem His feet will (again) once stand, say Zechariah 14:3-4 and Acts 1:6-11. In our days these ‘times of the Gentiles’ are slowly but steadily coming to their end. The Jewish people are returning to the Promised Land already over more than a hundred years. The Jewish State of Israel has been established as an independent State in 1948. And the Lord willing Israel will celebrate its 80^th anniversary in 2048 – despite all ongoing protests in the Middle East and worldwide. Despite the recent wars with Hamas, Hezbollah and Elam = Persia = Iran.

Israel does not exist by the grace of the United Nations or the USA. Israel does not exist by the grace of Europe. Israel does not exist by the grace of Christianity or by the grace of Islam. Israel exists by the grace of God, based on an everlasting Covenant that the LORD has made with Israel, Psalm 105:7-11. He swore a solemn oath that He will never brake. He cannot lie.

During Church History the meaning of the earthly Jerusalem with regard to the future  has often been nullified in Christian theology. Many Churches were teaching – and many continue teaching this until this very day: reading in the Bible about the city of Jerusalem one must understand that this is only referring to a spiritual truth. Basically it is about the Heavenly Jerusalem, they say by pointing at Galatians 4 and Revelation 21. But  Jesus talks about the earthly Jerusalem and the future of this city of Jerusalem in for instance Luke 21:24 where He says: “…Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the ‘times of the Gentiles’ are fulfilled…”
UNTIL… and then no longer and no more.

Until the ‘times of the Gentiles’ are fulfilled, will Jerusalem be trampled upon by the non-Jews, the Gentiles…  And then come the times of perfect recovery for Jerusalem. Then the prophecies of Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-4 – amongst many other prophecies – will be fulfilled. Peace on earth. From Jerusalem, the City of Peace, lasting peace into the whole world.

“Christians should obey the Biblical injunction to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem”, and to that end stand against all expressions of anti-Zionism”

Bible Facts
Bible facts concerning Jerusalem by Derek White of CfI-UK:
Jerusalem occurs 811 times in 764 verses in whole Bible. The first occurrence is in Genesis14:18-20 and 22:2 and 14, referred to in 2 Chronicles 3:1. Jerusalem occurs 142 times in NT (Matthew 12 times; Mark 11 times; Luke 32 times; John 13 times; Acts 59 times; rest of NT 14 times). Jerusalem always means the literal, earthly  Jerusalem, except for 6 occurrences where it means the Heavenly Jerusalem (2 in Galatians; 1 in Hebrews and 3 in Revelation). It occurs in every OT book except Ruth, Job, Proverbs, Hosea, Jonah, Nahum and Haggai.

It is first referred to 20 times as “…the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name…” (19 times in Deuteronomy and once in Joshua 9:27). At Joshua 10:1 the designation of this place changes to Jerusalem. Zion occurs 161 times in the Bible. Seven times in the NT.

There is increasing world pressure on Israel to yield up her sovereignty over Jerusalem which is due in large measure to the militant claims of the Islamic world.  Christians should obey the Biblical injunction to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem”, and to that end stand against all expressions of anti-Zionism. God plans to bless all peoples, including and especially the Arabs, through Israel.