On 7th December 2017, the United States of America recognised Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel.
Donald Trump announced the move the day before. The US president said: ‘I’ve judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.’
Moreover, he said he was directing the US state department to begin preparations to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The BBC points out the decision fulfils a promise made by Mr Trump in his presidential campaign.
Recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was, firstly, ‘nothing more or less than a recognition of reality’, said the president. He added, secondly: ‘It is also the right thing to do.’
Israel ‘profoundly grateful’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was profoundly grateful to Mr Trump, who had ‘bound himself forever with the history of the capital’.
He also said Israel was ‘in touch with other countries to follow suit’. He did not name any of these countries, although the Philippines and the Czech Republic have been mentioned in Israeli media.
Reaction from Muslim Arab countries has been less enthusiastic. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Mr Trump he was ‘throwing the region into a ring of fire.’ The BBC reports that Saudi Arabia, another armaments customer of the US, described the move as ‘unjustified and irresponsible’.
Eight of the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council called for a briefing on the US president’s decision. They included permanent council members France and the UK. The Arab League will meet in the coming days to decide its response.
‘Day of Rage’ over Jerusalem recognition
In the Holy Land itself, the Islamist Hamas terrorist group dominates the Gaza Strip. Its ruling Charter calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. Its leader, Ismail Haniya, called inevitably for a ‘day of rage’ the following Friday. He said it should ‘be the first day of the intifada against the occupier’, meaning Israel.
In the so-called ‘West Bank’, Fatah is the largest faction in the multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It is filing a complaint to the UN Security Council and pushing for a strong stance by the Arab League.
‘We are going to declare the United States disqualified as co-sponsor of any peace process or political process,’ said spokesman Dr Nasser Al-Kidwa. ‘In our mind, it has lost its ability to do or perform any efforts in this regard.’
Fatah have also cancelled a meeting with US Vice-President Mike Pence. Jibril Rajoub, a senior official in Mr Abbas’ Fatah party, said Mr Pence was ‘not welcome’ in the Palestinian territories. The meeting ‘would not take place’, he added.
Jerusalem ‘sacred’ to Muslims
The mainstream media describes Jerusalem as ‘holy’ to those of three faiths. These are Jews, Muslims and Christians. But Christians are not seeking Jerusalem as their capital. Jews do, obviously, and Muslims want East Jerusalem as the capital of a Muslim Palestinian state.
The city is sacred to Muslims because they believe Mohammed visited it. According to CBN News, ‘Muslim tradition says the prophet Mohammed traveled to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on his famous night journey’. It goes on: ‘that tradition is the basis for the Palestinians’ claim to Jerusalem.’
The Al-Aqsa Mosque was built in 705 AD over the Church of St Mary on the wall of the Temple Mount. It is not to be confused with the Dome of the Rock. Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan built the latter between AD 685 and 691. It was intended, not as a mosque for public worship but rather as a shrine for pilgrims.
Mohammed was never in Jerusalem
Muslims believe the miraculous steed, the Buraq, took Muhammad to visit ‘the Farthest Mosque’. Many Muslims believe that is Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. They believe he prayed there and was taken to the heavens. This all happened in a single night in the year 620 AD. This event is known as Al-Isra’ wal-Mi‘raj or ‘The Night-Journey and the Ascension’ in Islamic tradition.
Mohammed even wrote the alleged incident into the Quran, in Surah 17. ‘Isra, The Night Journey’: ‘1. Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things).’
From Mecca to Jerusalem is a distance of some 920 miles. It would take a month by camel. Mohammed claimed he went to a city with no mosque and visited its mosque. He claims he flew. Even his cousin Umm told him not to brag about the imagined event ‘for they will know you are lying and will mock you.’ His favourite wife Aisha did not believe the preposterous story either. See sources for all that here.
The result is Muslims claim Jerusalem as the Islamic city of Al-Quds on no evidence except the fraudulent witness of Mohammed and his Quran.
Jerusalem liberated 100 years ago
But it is the timing of President Trump’s announcement which is astonishing. One hundred years ago, on 8th December 1917, the Mohammedan army of the failing Ottoman Empire was leaving Jerusalem. The Holy City was surrounded by British and Empire forces under the command of General Allenby. The inspired General left the Turks a northern escape route. The word of God says:
Isaiah 31:5 As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.
But Isaiah’s prophecy was to have another fulfillment, The Ottoman army retreated to a nearby hill and prepared to shell the town. Again, Allenby called up British aircraft. They bombed the Turkish positions with accuracy, defending their newly-captured city. See more here.
General Allenby’s humility
The Jewish online newspaper Haaretz.com pictures ‘General Allenby entering Jerusalem on foot out of respect for the holiness of the city.’
That is not quite the whole story. Allenby had already showed his respect for the Holy City by refusing to fire a single shell into it while the Turks were still in control.
It was respect for God himself that motivated Edmund Allenby to dismount. In the Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume 3, edited by Jay Winter, we read the truth behind the ‘ostentatious humility’ of General Allenby:
‘Allenby walked into the Old City, in deliberate contrast to Kaiser Wilhelm who had ridden a white horse in triumph into the city before the war.’ Wilhelm rode his charger into Jerusalem in 1898, trying to forge closer ties with the Ottoman Empire against England, France and Russia.
Winter goes on: ‘Allenby let it be known that he would have been ashamed to ride a horse along the route that his Saviour had ridden on an ass. It is perfectly plausible that this was a genuine sentiment. It was also brilliant propaganda.’
Haggai’s prophecy
The date of the liberation of Jerusalem was 24th of Kislev. Kislev is the ninth month in the Jewish year. Centuries earlier the prophet Haggai promised a shaking of the nations and prosperity to Israel. The promise came as a reward for Zerubbabel’s faithfulness in rebuilding the Temple of the LORD:
Hag 2:18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider it. 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
Hag 2:20 And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, 21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; 22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
Hag 2:23 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.
By the grace of God, that reading was scheduled in the Christian Voice Lamplight Bible Reading plan for yesterday.
Zechariah’s Prophecy
In early December, the Christian Voice ‘Lamplight’ Bible Reading Plan set this word:
Zech 2:7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. 9 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.
Zech 2:10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. 11 And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
Zech 2:12 And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. 13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
The United States has led the world in following the Lord’s desire to ‘choose Jerusalem again’, within days of that reading. Above all, the US action was within days of the Liberation centenary. And is it not appropriate that Zechariah singled out ‘Judah’ for a portion in the holy land, rather than all Israel? The latter were scattered across Europe following their captivity by Assyria. Clearly only Judah with some of Benjamin and Levi returned from Babylon.
A strange Jewish mystic
But the American decision and its timing grows ever more strange. This ministry is not known for consulting prophecy charts and gazing heavenward. However, a twelfth-century rabbi made the most extraordinary prediction.
Yehuda Ben Samuel, known as Yehuda the Hassid (1150-1217) lived and worked in Germany. He was consulted by the Bishop of Salzburg and the Duke of Regensburg.
Ludwig Schneider of Israel Today magazine has translated some of his work into English. From these writings, we learn of a specific prophecy concerning the Holy Land.
WorldNet Daily writes: ‘Following the Christian crusades to the Holy Land, between 1096-1270, a regular correspondence developed between the Jews in the Holy Land and the Christian West. Thus, for example, the rabbis in Worms and Regensburg in Germany knew that Saladin’s Ayyubids had been ruling in the Holy Land since 1187.
‘At this time, Judah Ben Samuel published the results of his biblical calculations (Gematria) and astrological observations and summarized as follows: “When the Ottomans (Turks) – who were already a power to be reckoned with on the Bosporus in the time of Judah Ben Samuel – conquer Jerusalem they will rule over Jerusalem for eight jubilees. Afterwards Jerusalem will become no-man’s land for one jubilee, and then in the ninth jubilee it will once again come back into the possession of the Jewish nation – which would signify the beginning of the Messianic end time.”
The Tenth Jubilee
‘One jubilee is 50 years (Leviticus 25). It is the 50th year after seven times seven years, the year in which each person should regain ownership of his or her land. Ben Samuel’s calculations were purely theoretical; there was absolutely no sign at that time of their being fulfilled. He himself was not able to experience their fulfillment, for it was only 300 years after his death that the first of his predictions were to come true.’
We know the Mamluks had been reigning in Jerusalem since 1250. It is certainly uncanny that firstly, the Ottoman Turks conquered them in 1517. That was exactly 500 years ago. Secondly, the Turks remained for eight jubilees (8 x 50 = 400 years). They occupied Jerusalem for 400 years precisely as Ben Samuel prophesied. Thirdly, as we saw above, General Allenby drove the Turks out of Jerusalem in 1917.
Thus commenced Ben Samuel’s ‘no-man’s land’, especially as the United Nations granted the British their ‘Mandate’ shortly after. When Israel re-captured Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967, exactly one jubilee (50 years) after 1917, Jerusalem reverted to Jewish-Israeli ownership once again.
After that, according to the prophecies of Yehuda Ben Samuel, the Messianic End Times began. We do not know what he meant by that. More than one commentator has suggested something dramatic would happen in 2017. Well, with the year drawing to a close, something most certainly has.
The Bible is our standard, and we stand amazed by God’s doings in the Holy Land. Nevertheless, it is worth acknowledging the man who in the Twelfth Century saw it all coming.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem
We continue to be as concerned for the Palestinian Christians as for the security of the state of Israel. They face hardship from Israeli sanctions and suspicion and worse from their Arab neighbours.
But we have little patience for Muslims whose claim to Jerusalem rests on a lie and who desire the complete destruction of the Jews and the Israeli state.
A ‘two-state solution’, the dream of an independent Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel, looks dead now. It would never occur along ‘pre-1967 boundaries’ as the received wisdom demands. But that must never stop us praying for our Christian brothers and sisters, for Israel and for Jerusalem. Hubert Parry set this Psalm for Her Majesty the Queen’s Coronation on 2nd June 1953:
Psa 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. 7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. 8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. 9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.
It is our prayer today.
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So that is nice for right-wing Americans, if they overlook the fact that the governments of most of their allies and of their potential enemies alike have come out strongly against it. The little town of Bethlehem is lying lively with teargas and worse in the run-up to Christmas as a result, and American diplomats probably don’t relish the thought of being located (home as well as office ) vulnerably in Jerusalem; but it’s impossible for this to actually happen until long after Trump has gone anyway, and by then the decision will have been reversed.
If there is a one-state solution, would the one state have a Muslim majority ? If so, would Israelis be allowed to travel to the USA ? They always sound as though most of them have travelled FROM the United States, actually, but of course that is jut the ones we hear.
God is working His purpose out. He made us for Himself, He is NOT here for us. He loves us & is our Saviour.
God raises rulers and casts them down & we are to respect those who have rule over us.
Jerusalem is the City of David ancestor of Jesus Christ our Saviour whose inscription over the cross outside the
City walls was ‘King of the Jews’.
Jesus is coming again and will rule the earth from Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, if not the capital of the earth.
Hi Stephen,
After over 60 years since God opened my eyes to the necessity of salvation and the beauty of Jesus I have experienced many changes in the attitude of Christians (i.e truly spiritually born Bible Believers) towards the relationship of Judaism with god. As you know there are several different camps and many preach the physical restoration of Israel, giving the Old Testament prophesies a literal interpretation. If you interpret various prophesies, as you have done in this article, as being physical promises to Israel, you are missing the value of the true application thereof.
Each human being is entitled to his/her own opinion and when considering true Bible Believing Christians, I have no authority to deny their personal experiences or understanding, provided such are not in clear conflict with the Word of God.
I would just draw attention to some relevant scripture: God only has one people. Until the Crucifixion that People was Israel under the Old Covenant. That Covenant was replaced by the New Covenant under which the Church of Jesus, starting with a large number of Jews and then expanding rapidly so that they became a very small minority whose ONLY relationship with God is through Jesus. Paul makes this absolutely clear (Galatians 3 v 27-29 Col 3 v 11. In my opinion, this can only mean that the Old Testament promises concerning the restoration of Israel can only refer to the true Christian Church and the Temple refers to the true Christian believer. (1 Cor 6 v 19/20). I do not know of anything in the New Testament which indicates the restoration of First Covenant relationships.
As Paul states, the only benefit of being an Israelite is the ability to read in their own language, the Word of God. (Rom 3 v 1)
I believe that the diversion of the energies of God’s People into many spiritually irrelevant areas is part of Satan’s attack on the Church and many of us, inadvertently, assist him.
You carry out a valuable pursuit in bringing many events to our notice, but I often feel you do digress in to spiritually unprofitable areas. I believe the main duty of Teachers is to remind true Christians of the necessity of adhering to and trusting in God’s Word in their personal lives and rely on the guidance through the Holy Spirit, who is within all true believers and whose presence is evidenced through the manifestation of the Fruit of the Spirit (not just the Gifts – which can be counterfeited).
God bless and guide you in your activities on this site.
Derek.
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Thanks Derek,
No, I am not going for such a radical discontinuity between Old and New Covenant. Nor am I limiting the Gospel to the merely personal. We have a prayerful and prophetic duty to the state as well. God deals with people through his social institutions of family, state and church. Seperate institutions but each responsible to the Almighty. Jeremiah was told quite clearly in Jer 31:35-36 that as long as the sun, moon and stars endure, Israel would remain a nation before the Lord. And I have always wondered, if the church inherits the restoration promises made to Israel and Judah, where we are all going to fit in the Promised Land? For me, the 24 elders in Revelation fit nicely with 12 for Israel and 12 for the Church. Every blessing to you!
The Lord only allows to happen things which are in His plan & purpose. We are nearing the close of the Church Age (Bride of Christ) which began at Pentecost & ends at the Rapture of the Church. After Revelation 3 there is no mention of the Bride until we return with Him on white horses, at His Second Coming in Revelation 19:11-16
Author
Personally, I believe Israel is the Bride of Christ and the Church the Body of Christ. But Shalom to you, Helen, and every blessing.
I’ve often wondered about Jerusalem. The paradox is that although Jerusalem is undoubtedly a holy city, it is also a city with many holes in it, most of which have come from guns. Why would a special place for peace-loving Christians attract so much violence?
Well it has taken me a long time to figure this out, but back in Britain we have a holy town. The town is Glastonbury and is known as possibly the very first place Christian communities evolved. It is the site of the oldest Christian place of worship in the country, and through the middle ages played a prominent role in the development of Christianity, especially to do with the rise of the monasteries. The coronation oath even comes from it, thanks to St Dunstan.
However, like Jerusalem, we don’t see today what one would naively expect. What we see is a complete takeover by pagans. Jerusalem differs in that it is being contested by Muslims, but to me this is all part of the Mystery Babylon. It’s fakery in other words, and as Christians we would recognise such idol worship as an act of evil. We would certainly recognise the violence as an act of evil, but there is this issue of why does it happen in what you’d have though of as an unlikely place.
Well I think it is the nature of evil. True evil gets pleasure out of exploiting the innocent. It is corrupting the purest of things and on purpose. This is indeed what Satanism is. There are real Satanists now practising in Glastonbury. You would be far less likely to find them in a normal typical British town, but they are there to destroy any good it represents. I think those Muslims are there to destroy Christianity as well.
Actually, I first found out about this site because Steven did a report of the witchcraft going on in Glastonbury. No one else has really questioned it in a critical way, but he’s absolutely on the ball with that one. Anyway, I think Trump has put a smile on the face of the prime minister there. It feels like a positive move over the sitting on the fence stance taken for so long. You can’t do a deal with evil. It means only to destroy you.
Author
Thanks, Andrew. With you 100% on Glaston. We were shocked to see a full-blown witchcraft shop together with all the other New Age wickedness in Glastonbury and I did report on it in my article on witchcraft.
As to the bullet holes in Jerusalem, not one of them came from Allenby’s men. He specifically directed not a shot was to be fired into the city. Present US and UK military leaders engaging in war games in the Middle East might learn a lesson from him. But then again, Jerusalem is rather special, as you say.
Hey Stephen
Many thanks for this article – when I heard on the news that the POTUS had had the courage to recognise Jerusalem as the Capital I was ecstatic, like a kid with a new toy on Christmas morning!
Clearly, events are moving towards the Lord’s return.
Regards
Bob Hutton
Trump has merely put into practice the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 – neither Bush, Clinton nor Obama followed this through.
Mohammed was never in Jerusalem
Muslims believe the miraculous steed, the Buraq, took Muhammad to visit ‘the Farthest Mosque’. Many Muslims believe that is Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. They believe he prayed there and was taken to the heavens. This all happened in a single night in the year 620 CE. This event is known as Al-Isra’ wal-Mi‘raj or ‘The Night-Journey and the Ascension’ in Islamic tradition
not the year 620 CE. but 620 A.D.
Author
Thank you James. I think you will find all that in our article already. (Not any ‘CE’ nonsense, though.)
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Gotcha. Changed. Thanks.
Many things (and much more beside) were spoken to me around the year 2000. This is what was written on Boxing Day 2000 concerning Jerusalem (abode, or place of peace and completeness) – Much of the spirit of it may be read and is taken from the prophet Zechariah:
“Speak a lament concerning Jerusalem and her inhabitants. Do you think your cities and your children will be spared? Make ready for war and not peace!” says the LORD your God. “Half your children shall be taken and your women will not be spared,” says the LORD. “Weep for them you men from the Islands and the distant shores. Shall Jerusalem be spared?
Nevertheless I shall go forward as in the ‘Day of Battle.’ I shall pursue her enemies and catch them as I did for Lot and my servant Abraham before his enemies. The spoil was returned to his own in the valley of Shaveh after the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him. My servant king went forth from Salem and there was offered a tenth of all. Therefore all the nations shall know that I AM the LORD, beside me there is no other, and my government shall be in that place.
I have spared Jerusalem and her inhabitants. Though I make a full end of all nations, I will not make a full end of you, my people. There will be rejoicing in the streets, in the towns and in the green valleys. I will cause the land to blossom and the trees to yield their leaves as a healing to the nations. All shall come and worship me there of the residue of the people. Jerusalem shall be a joy and a place of rejoicing for I will establish my throne and the King of Righteousness shall reign there for evermore,” declares the LORD.
‘And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.’ ~ The Prophet Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10.
“This is what I, the LORD, declare to you my people. As day follows night, as the tides wash against the distant shores and as my promises that will remain forever are sure and steadfast, I will surely do this thing. Go and speak this to my people who are drawn from the North, from the South, from the East and West, to the land I appointed.”
To such words there is no answer except to call God (or the one who proclaimed it) a liar if it doesn’t come true – strong words indeed! As in all prophecy – time will tell.
My old World Atlas names Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I’m guessing it was published in the 1970s, but I can’t find a publication date on it. It must be later than 1972 (when Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka) and earlier than the fall of the Soviet Union.
UNESCO on the other hand doesn’t credit Jerusalem with belonging to a country! The Old City is on their list of Endangered World Heritage Sites but no country name is given. It’s endangered because of uncontrolled urban development, too much tourism & too little maintenance.
You may well find a general health warning in your World Atlas, that it only shows de facto situations, not necessarily as agreed by international treaty. The forward of The Times Atlas goes into particular detail on this, including “The Times aims to show the territorial situation obtaining at the time of publication, without regard to the de jure situation in contentious areas or the rival claims of contending parties.”