b. prayer - cornerstone bible baptist church - niagara falls,...

THE BATTLE FOR JERUSALEM

DATE: 9/12/10 am

TEXT: Psalm 122:1-9 (v.6)

INTRODUCTION:

When medieval mapmakers drew up their maps of the then known world,

They placed Jerusalem at the center

In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, there is an inscription that reads, “This is the center of the earth”

An ancient Jewish rabbi wrote: “As the navel is set in the center of the human body, so is the land of Israel the navel of the world…situated in the center of the world, and Jerusalem in the center of the land of Israel…” Both the medieval mapmakers and the Jewish writers were right when they said Israel and Jerusalem are the center of the world

The Bible says in Ezekiel 5:5 - “Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her”

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9

Not only is Israel and Jerusalem the center of the world,

But they have been the focus of the world’s attention for years

When you pick up your newspaper, the headlines have something to say about Israel and the Middle East

Each evening, they are on all the news networks

The question that I want to ask and try to answer is,

“What is going on in Israel?”

Over the years I have watched with interest, the efforts to bring peace to the Middle East

I have listened to the talk shows and what people are saying about the situation

I’m convinced that most of the so-called experts are missing what the real issue in the Middle East is

The issue is more than Political, It’s Theological

So, what is going on in Israel and the Middle East?

The answer to that question is simple and straightforward

There is “A Battle for Jerusalem!”

2


Because of these events that have been unfolding in Israel and the attention it is getting

I felt led to try and help folks understand a little better what is going on and what is behind it all

To start, let me say that the primary source for my information is the Bible

I believe that the only way you can truly understand what is happening, is to see what the Bible says about the situation

The Bible is the foremost authority on the past, present, and future of Israel and the city of Jerusalem

So, in order to really understand what is happening and what will happen, the Bible must serve as our guide It would be impossible for me to say, all that should be said, in just one sermon

However, I believe we can look at our text, Psalm 122:6 and form a basic understanding of what is going on

Let’s pray and look at what I’ve titled

“THE BATTLE FOR JERUSALEM”

~~~OPENING PRAYER~~~

3


First let’s look at -

I. THE “PRAYER ASKED FOR”

In most Bibles you will find a heading to Psalm 122 with this inscription: “A Song of degrees of David”

This indicates that David is the author of the Psalm

It was David that had established Jerusalem as the Holy City of the Hebrew people when he took the city from the Jebusites

In Psalm 122, he writes of the beloved city of the Jewish people, and asks that prayer be offered for it Let me point out a couple of things about the prayer for which David asks

First, it’s:

A. Prayer for a ‘Special Place’

God says things about Jerusalem that He does not say about any other city

For example:

In Psalm 48:2 God calls Jerusalem –

“the city of the great King” 4


In Isaiah 48:2 God calls Jerusalem –

“the holy city”

In Psalm 46:4 God distinguishes the city from all others and calls it –

“the city of God” The most important city in the world is not Washington, New York, London, Paris, or Moscow

It’s Jerusalem! WHY?

It is the city of the great King

It is the Holy City

It is the city of God

It’s these characteristics that make it the most important city in the world (past, present, and future) In Psalm 122 David spoke of the importance of the city to the Jewish people

First, he speaks of the ‘Spiritual’ Significance

He describes the city in v.4 as the place – “Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of THE

5


LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord”

Jerusalem was place where the House of the Lord was built

This was the place where they came yearly to worship and offer sacrifices to God

He also speaks of the ‘Political’ Significance

He says in v.5 - “For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David”

What Washington, D.C. means to the United States of America …

Jerusalem meant to the Jewish people

It was in Jerusalem that Israel’s king sat on the throne and justice was administered

When David asks for prayer for the city of Jerusalem,

He was asking for prayer for a place that was very special

To himself

To the Jewish people

6


And to God

The prayer that is asked is for a ‘Special Place’

Furthermore, I want to point out that he was asking for:

B. Prayer with a ‘Specific Purpose’

Effective prayer always has specifics in mind

David is doing more than just asking the people to pray

He is asking them specifically to pray for Jerusalem

The word “pray” that is used,

Describes the kind of prayer that is earnest and has a specific request in mind As the king and as the national leader, David sends forth the plea, “Pray for Jerusalem” (a plea that even reaches to us today)

He is asking specifically, that specific prayer be offered for the city of Jerusalem Yet, we see that his request for prayer was even more specific than just praying for Jerusalem

7


He asks that prayer be offered for “the peace of Jerusalem”

The name Jerusalem means, “city of shalom” or “city of peace”

He is asking that we pray for peace in the city of peace

THE “PRAYER ASKED FOR”

David’s request for the peace of Jerusalem leads us to a second thought

II. THE “PEACE ABSENT IN”

From a human perspective, if ever there was a city with an inappropriate name, it is the city of Jerusalem

As I said earlier, Jerusalem means city of peace

Throughout history, Jerusalem has been anything but a city of peace

Jerusalem may be a city that has had its share of Glory,

But it is also a city that has had its share of Grief

Instead of a city of Tranquility, its history has largely been one of Turmoil

8


It was David looking through the eyes of God and seeing the turbulent future of his beloved city,

That leads him to request, that prayer be offered for the peace of Jerusalem

Let’s think of:

A. Jerusalem’s ‘Past’ Turmoil

Jerusalem, the city of peace, has known more war, more bloodshed, more tears and terror than any other city

It has been conquered and re-conquered by the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, and Ottomans

Ill. Let me share with you a few examples of Jerusalem’s turmoil

In 587 B.C. the city was captured by the Babylonians and the Temple destroyed Many of the Jews were carried away into Babylonian captivity It would be 70 years before a remnant of Jews would return to the city In A.D. 70, the Romans under Titus, entered and ransacked the city, destroyed the second Temple, leaving only the Western Wall (oftentimes called the Wailing Wall) …

9

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9So many Jews were slaughtered, it is said that their blood flowed in the streets

In A.D. 313, Hadrian, a second century Roman emperor, barred Jews from the city Many Jews fled to Mediterranean ports only to be sold into slavery In 1099, the Crusaders stormed into the city under the sign of the cross. Once again the streets ran with blood as the crusaders slaughtered more than 40,000 people and set fire to mosques and synagogues. In one example of the Crusaders perverted religious crusade to claim the city for Christ, 969 Jewish men, women, and children were herded into a synagogue and burned alive.

For nearly 2,000 years there was no nation of Israel

And the Jews were scattered throughout the world

But then in 1948 Israel was once again established as nation

But no sooner was Israel reborn as a nation than five Arab armies attacked Israel with the intention of pushing “the Jews into the sea”

Situated in the middle of the whole affair was the city of Jerusalem From that day until the present, five wars have been fought in Israel

While the nation has greatly prospered,

10

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9It has been the scene of constant strife and turmoil

And in most cases, the City of Jerusalem has been at the center of that strife

Jerusalem’s ‘Past’ Turmoil B. Jerusalem’s ‘Presence’ Turmoil

At the present, things are as tense and as serious as they have ever been

When we pick up a newspaper and turn on TV we read reports of suicide bombers and see images of Israeli tanks and soldiers moving throughout Palestinian territories

The amount of news coverage is but one indication of how serious the strife and turmoil is What’s behind the lack of peace in Jerusalem and Israel at the present?

If you read the papers and listen to the newscasts you would think that the present escalation of events in the Middle East is to be blamed solely on Israel

I’ve listened to the arguments explaining what is happening, and time and time again I have heard someone refer to Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple

11

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9Mount on September 28, 2000 as the event that ignited the present escalation of violence in the Middle East Ill. Let me cite just one, a report by Physicians for Human Rights of Boston is quoted as saying:“The current crisis was ignited on September 28, when Israel’s Likud Party leader, Ariel Sharon, visited Haram al-Sharifa or the Temple Mount, a Jewish site sacred to both Jews and Muslims.”

Yet, I submit unto you that the turmoil in Israel is not due to Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount,

But goes back much farther than September 28, 2000

The real issue behind all the turmoil in the past and in the present goes back to two boys that resulted in two nations and two religions Look with me in Genesis 16

Let me set the background for these verses

Abraham and Sarah were childless

But then God appeared to Abraham and told him that he would have a son and that he would be the father of a great nation and that his seed would multiply as the sands of the sea and the stars in the heavens

12

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9The problem began when the years went by and Abraham and Sarah had no children

Instead of waiting on God and letting God fulfill His will in His own way and time,

Sarah came up with the idea of Abraham having a son by her servant Hagar (the handmaid from Egypt)

The result was a boy born that was named Ishmael

Abraham now had a son, but it was not the son that God had promised as the chosen seed Notice vs. 11, 12 and what God said to Hagar and what He said about her son, Ishmael

We read: “And the Angel of the Lord said unto her, ‘Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael (God that hears); because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.”

Now pay close attention to the next statements:

“And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren” God said that Ishmael would be a wild man

13

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9The words “wild man” literally mean, “wild ass or donkey”

God described how he would fight with everyone -

“against every man”

And every man would fight with him -

“every man’s hand would be against him”

In other words, Ishmael would be a troublemaker causing problems and picking fights with everyone Finally God said -

“and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren”

What God was saying is that he would live where his brethren lived,

But would be a constant source of hostility

One translated the statement; “He will have conflicts with his relatives”

Now notice with me Genesis 21

In time Abraham and Sarah would have a child; the son that God promised

14

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9We read in vs. 1-3 - “And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken” “For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him” “And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac”

Isaac was the son that God had promised in Genesis 15:4 and who would be his heir

So we have two brothers, Ishmael and Isaac

Yet, it was not long before the nature of Ishmael God had spoken of began to show itself

Notice Genesis 21:9 - “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking”

In other words, Sarah saw Ishmael laughing and picking on Isaac From the very beginning there was strife,

A strife that would be felt for centuries to come

What am I talking about?

From Isaac came the Jews, the people of Israel;

15

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9And from Ishmael came the Arabs; some of whom we now call the Palestinians

From the time of Ishmael, the Arabs have been living in conflict with the Jews If you want to know why there is turmoil in the Middle East, you have to come back to these two boys

This is where the problem started

The conflict in the Middle East is a powerful reminder to not take things in our own hands,

But let God do His work His way and in His own time and by His own methods That first strife between these boys was but the introduction to two major sources of division between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians that is at the heart of all the conflict in the Middle East

The first is geographical

Who owns the land that we call Palestine?

Both the Israeli’s and the Palestinians trace their lineage back to Abraham

Both Ishmael and Isaac were the sons of Abraham,

16

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9So who is the rightful heir? God promised Ishmael and Isaac that He would make great nations of them both,

But God made His covenant with Isaac, the child of promise (Romans 9)

In doing so, the title to the land of Palestine was passed from Abraham to Isaac, from Isaac to Jacob, and so on

In short, the land belongs to Israel

The second thing that is at the heart of all that is going on is theological

From these two boys came two religions

From Isaac came Judaism, the religion of the Jewish people

From Ishmael came Islam—the Islamic religion

In my opinion, this is the heart and soul of the turmoil in the Middle East (past and present)

It is the major reason for the conflict going on and at the heart of the battle for Jerusalem

We hear a lot about peace in the Middle East

17

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9I have several reasons for believing that there will never be peace in the Middle East until the Prince of Peace returns and reigns upon the earth

One of the reasons is the Islamic religion

No matter what the Arabs say about peace, their religion demands that they defeat both Jews and Christians

Islam’s theology insists that Islam triumph over everything else

That’s why, if you were to visit an Arabic city, the Islamic prayer tower is the highest point in the settlement

Muslims believe that it is the will of Allah to rule the world The Islamic religion looks upon everyone that is not a Muslim as an “infidel”

Do you remember Osama bin Laden referring to the United States as infidels?

Islamic law also stipulates that to fulfill Muhammad’s task, every “infidel domain” must be considered a territory of war

18

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9It’s my opinion; America’s support of Israel and the teachings of Islam were behind September 11th Muslims believe that there can be no peace with Christians or Jews, or any other non-Islamic people,

And if that peace must be made, only a truce is permissible,

And that “for a maximum of ten years as an expedient to hone our swords, whet our blood, and strengthen our will” the Qur’an says (which by the way wasn’t written until the 7th & 8th c.)

Ill. I fully agree with Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director of the International Christian Zionist Center: “Because of the humanistic and mainly secular mindset of the West, also of the major part of Israel’s population, the following will be difficult to accept and digest, and that is: The chief reason for the Middle East conflict is not so much a secular political one, but a religious Islamic one!” Furthermore, at the center of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) are Jerusalem and specifically the control of the Temple Mount

The spot where Solomon’s and Herod’s Temple stood is both holy to Muslims and Jews

At the present the Temple Mount in under Muslim control and on it sits the Al Aksa Mosque where it is believed Muhammad ascended to heaven

19

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9One of the reasons Sharon’s visit to the holy site was so protested is the Muslims believed his presence there would defile the Islamic holy site What is happening in Israel at the present?

It is a battle for Jerusalem!

Ill. Do you remember in July of 2000, when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat came together at Camp David with President Clinton in an effort to reach a peace agreement? Before both men was a copy of a peace agreement that had been years in the makingThe Israeli’s had made remarkable concessions The measure of the concessions was probably one of the reasons Barak lost the next elections in Israel Israel would relinquish nearly all the West Bank occupied in the 1967 war, including the Jordan Valley They would set up joint patrols with Palestinian security forces and as well, recognize the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the “State of Palestine” and to accept a number of refugees into IsraelIn return, the Palestinians would “demilitarize” their land They would allow Israel to maintain three reinforced battalions and other forces on the West Bank within military compounds The Israeli’s would also operate three early-warning stations and three air-defense units on the West Bank until May 2007, or until peace agreements had been achieved between and other Arab foesThen President Clinton asked a question: What about Jerusalem? Barak was willing to make concessions never before considered by an Israeli prime minister

20

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9He did not want to divide the city, but he was willing to consider the idea of a neighborhood swap—exchanging Palestinian neighborhoods for Israeli onesWhen Clinton took the idea to Arafat, the Palestinian leader became enraged He and his delegation were further enraged over a casual suggestion Barak had made that in exchange for giving the Palestinians de facto control over the Temple Mount, the Israeli’s could build a small synagogue on the northeast corner of the holy siteArafat glared at Clinton and said, “These arguments are explosives and will set off massive fires in the region…Do you want me to throw the region into a new age of religious conflicts?”


THE “PEACE THAT IS ABSENT IN”

I repeat: What is going on in Israel is –

A BATTLE FOR JERUSALEM

In closing let me share with you one more thought that is found in our text and say just a brief word

Notice with me:

III. THE “PROSPERITY ASSOCIATED WITH”

Why should we pray for the peace of Jerusalem?

21

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9We read why, in Psalm 122:6b - “They shall prosper that love thee”

I believe that the one reason God has blessed America is because she has been a strong supporter of Israel …

And has stood at Israel’s defense since she became a nation in 1948 I believe the Bible and our text tells us that those who love Jerusalem will prosper

I don’t care what you hear others saying …

It will be a sad day in this country’s history when we turn our back on Israel

As Christians and American’s we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem

CONCLUSION: Now let me sum up all that I have said and make it all relevant to each of us here today

I have been talking about what is happening in the Middle East

More than anything else, more than what I have already explained,

22

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9What you see happening in the Middle East is the preparing of events for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ

Acts 1: 9-11 - “And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight” “And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;” “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven”

The growth of the Islamic religion and the flexing of their muscles in the past few years …

And the escalation of tension and war in the land …

Are but the setting of the stage for our Lord’s return This Bible tells me Jesus is coming soon

The newspapers and newscasts tell me He is soon to come

What is happening in the Middle East is a loud announcement that Jesus is soon to come

As Christians, we must be serious about living for the Lord

We must give ourselves to His will and do His work

23

The Battle for Jerusalem Psalm 122:1-9Time is running out for doing what we should do and must do

For those of you who are unsaved,

You need to realize that time is growing short and your opportunity to be saved is coming to an end

If you are not saved, be saved! Be saved today!

What is happening in the Middle East has all the indications that Jesus is coming soon

Psalm 122:6 – “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” INVITATION


THE “PEACE THAT IS ABSENT IN”

THE “PROSPERITY ASSOCIATED WITH”

THE BATTLE FOR JERUSALEM

24

b. prayer - cornerstone bible baptist church - niagara falls,...

Documents