Jerusalem, My Home (Part 2 of 4)

This is part 2 of 4 in the teaching series, "Jerusalem, My Home" by Rebecca J. Brimmer, International President and CEO of Bridges for Peace. May you be blessed by reading this teaching letter.

Centrality of Jerusalem

Ezekiel speaks of Jerusalem as the center of the world (Ezek. 38:12, NASB). If you go into a poster shop in Israel, you can find copies of ancient maps, which show Jerusalem as the center of the world.

Jerusalem has a special importance to the Jewish people. Throughout nearly 2,000 years of dispersion, every year at Passover, their prayer has been, “Next Year in Jerusalem.” The Jewish people are the people God chose from all the families of the earth to represent Him and His character through the Holy Scriptures, and Jerusalem has been their most beloved city throughout history.

Teddy Kollek, one of Jerusalem’s beloved former mayors, said, “For three thousand years, Jerusalem has been the center of Jewish hope and longing. No other city has played such a dominant role in the history, culture, religion, and consciousness of a people as has Jerusalem in the life of Jewry and Judaism. Throughout centuries of exile, Jerusalem remained alive in the hearts of Jews everywhere as a focal point of Jewish history, the symbol of ancient glory, spiritual fulfillment, and modern renewal. This heart and soul of the Jewish people engenders the thought that if you want one simple word to symbolize all of Jewish history, that word would be Jerusalem.”

Jerusalem also has special meaning to God. He chose this city as His dwelling place. Several Scriptures reveal that God loves Jerusalem more than any other place on earth. “…Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there...” (1 Kings 14:21). Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel” (2 Chronicles 6:5–6).

Christians view Jerusalem as the Holy City because it is the location of many events that took place in the Bible and in the life of Yeshua. Jerusalem is the major destination on their pilgrimage to the Holy Land. My father brought groups to Israel 67 times. He always saved Jerusalem for last as the highlight of their Israel experience. I remember him leading the pilgrims in singing an old song: “We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion. We’re marching upwards to Zion, the beautiful city of God.” Many Christians, on their first visit to Jerusalem, feel an incredible love for this city and a feeling of being “at home.” 

Jerusalem is also important to modern-day Muslims, who view it as their third holiest city. They claim that Muhammad visited Jerusalem in a night vision. However, the city of that visitation is not named in the Koran and was not associated with Jerusalem until much later. Jerusalem has become a landing place for journalists. Did you ever wonder why Jerusalem and Israel are on the front pages of newspapers around the world on a regular basis? It has been said that there are more journalists in Israel than in most other places in the world. Certainly the eyes of the world are on Israel. I have talked with school children in the United States and asked them: “How big is Israel?” Invariably they think that it is a huge country, because they hear it talked about so much. Yet, it is only the size of the state of New Jersey in the United States, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Wales in the United Kingdom, Vancouver Island in Canada, the island of Shikoku in Japan, the region of Canterbury in New Zealand, and one-third the size of Tasmania in Australia.

I believe the eyes of the world are trained on Israel because of its importance to God and its centrality in the Scriptures. The city continues to be a focal point of spiritual and physical attack by those who seek to control her.

By Rebecca J. Brimmer

International President and CEO

Photos
www.israelimages.com/Dan Porges

 www.bibleplaces.www.israelimages.com/Hanan Isachar com/Todd Bolen

All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

© 2010
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