Much has gone on and much we do not know. Personally, I spent a lot of time in my educational background studying the political climate in the middle east and the history of what has happened there. I've also heard the plights of Palestinian friends and what they've had to go through and I have had the privilege to see the holy land for myself. Yet, I dare not say that I am an expert on the subject. Living there, being part of the every day life is a whole different thing.
Jerusalem has been the center of the main religions in the world and thus, it has also been the center of much of what is on the news. The city has a vast importance, and we cannot disregard this. Most people believe it is a city that no one has a claim too, that it is shared. Though, in Genesis 17:8, God speaks to Abraham and says, "The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
So we can see from the beginning, that the land of Israel was promised to the descendants of Abraham and that it shall be everlasting. If God lied, then this promise would be null and void. There is much more on this subject and what the Bible says regarding it is both vast and deep. One book could not cover it all and thus, one blog post limits what I can say. Though one thing that is of importance to mention is that God directed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on the mountain(Mount Moriah) in which the Holy Temple was later to be built. At the last minute, God provided Abraham with a ram to sacrifice and thus showed through this a future prophecy of what Jesus would do on the cross for us, by giving His life for our sin.
The city of Jerusalem was established as the capital of the Jewish nation back in 1000 B.C. by King David and has had significant meaning ever since. After the Jewish people were banished by the Babylonians, they were able to come back and rebuild the city and later the temple. The Jews kept their nation through the Roman conquest as it was added to the empire. This was also during time where Jesus of Nazareth was born. Around 72 A.D., Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans due to their rebellion against the empire. The nation of Israel did not exist again until 1948, even though there were still some Jews who lived there in peace with their Palestinian neighbors.
Here is my point with this brief history. If we look at the books of the prophets Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah among others, we see that there are still future prophecies that are going to happen. Ezekiel 36 speaks to that God will bring the Jews back to the holy land and cleanse them from their sin. Zechariah says that God will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land(Zech 13:2). So we see God promising that he will bringing the Jews back to the promised land and restore it.
Secondly, the end times will have a focus on Jerusalem. Zechariah 12:3, "On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. And 14:2 reads, "I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it." Joel, another prophet speaks by saying in 3:1-2, "In those days and at that time, when i restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land." Are we not seeing this starting to happen right now? How much anger is against the Jewish nation? I believe it will only get worse leading up to the fulfillment of these prophecies.
To sum it up, here are the three points that I want to make.
1) God has a plan for the Jews and this involves his holy land of Israel that He gave to them through Abraham.
2) God's plan was to bring the Jews back to Israel and to save them, give them a new heart, one not of stone.
3) The nations will rise against Israel for their anger against her and Jerusalem will be the focal point of all this.
Though, it is not for the sake of the Jews that God is doing this, it is for the sake of His holy name.
I will end by quoting Ezekiel 36:22-27,
"Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone.
I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
"‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
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