May 16, 2007

Jerusalem Day 2007 marks the 40th anniversary of the reunification of the city of Jerusalem

The nation of Israel marked the reunification of the divided city of Jerusalem with parades, fireworks, and prayers at the Western Wall as the Jewish people stopped to remember the historic event 40 years ago as the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) captured the Temple Mount and reunited the city after almost 2,000 years.

Israelis remembered how Israeli paratroopers broke through the Lion's Gate on their way to the Temple Mount with some 18 year old soldiers that had never seen the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's old city leading the way. After 40 years under Israeli sovereignty, the Temple Mount still remains at the center of controversy as the Palestinians claim the Temple Mount as their sacred place and the Jews say that Jerusalem is the eternal, undivided capital city of the Jewish people.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

The undivided city of Jerusalem has a past, present, and prophetic significance.

As Israel marked the 40th anniversary of the reunification of the city of Jerusalem, it is rich with past history. According to Orthodox Jewish scholarship, for over 5,700 years the Jews have believed that Jerusalem is the place of Creation. The stone underneath the Dome of the Rock, the Foundation Stone, is the actual place where God created man in the Garden of Eden. As one observes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the continuing debate over the ownership of the Temple Mount, it is resolute that Jerusalem is the place of controversy.

In the prophetic passages of the Bible, it is evident that the Revelation is what will happen to Jerusalem which is the place for Christ. Psalm 132:13-14 states that the Lord has chosen an earthly Jerusalem to be the seat of power where Jesus will rule and reign forever. Ezekiel 37:26-28 both reveal that Jerusalem will be the site of a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount and it will be there forever.

There is indeed truth in the statement of Israel's first PM David Ben-Gurion who said that Jerusalem is the undivided, eternal capital of the Jewish people.