Battle for Jerusalem
By Dr. John Hagee August 2, 2002 - From WND.com
Jerusalem today is a detonating device with no fail-safe system. It's a loaded pistol at an international poker dispute with all players demanding control. It's a driverless coach careening toward a blind curve ? the collision of which will birth World War III.
Jerusalem is the very heart and soul of the Jewish state.
The Jewish passion for the Holy City is revealed in the writings of King David:
"If I forget you O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning.
If I do not remember you,
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy."
?Psalm 137:5-6
Think about this!
David was a musician as well as a warrior king. With his right hand, he skillfully played the harp and sang the songs of Israel with such power that the demons of King Saul were silenced.
David's passionate message about Jerusalem was very simple and eternally profound: If I forget Jerusalem, let my right hand lose its artistic ability to play and my tongue freeze to the roof of my mouth. For a master musician not to be able to sing or to play his instrument would be a life not worth living. If Jerusalem was not the source of his deepest joy, he felt there was no need to exist.
The Jewish passion for Jerusalem has not diminished in 3,000 years.
No city on the earth is like the Holy City. Other cities are known for their massive size, their climate and beauty, or their economic strength, but none compare to the majestic city of Jerusalem. Why?
Because the city of Jerusalem is the city of God!
"Yet I [God] have chosen Jerusalem, that my name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually ... In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever."
?2 Chronicles 6:6; 7:16; 33:7
Jerusalem means "city of peace," but it has known more war, more bloodshed, more tears, and more terror than any city on earth. It has been conquered and re-conquered 38 times by Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders and Ottomans, yet it stands today as a testimony to the faithfulness of God to preserve the sacred city.
Though other nations have gained political sovereignty over the area, none but the Jews have ever made Jerusalem their capital city. Jerusalem belongs to the Jews. It does not belong to the Palestinians. The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Alice in Wonderland. Before 1948, those who called themselves "Palestinians" lived in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, etc.
Jerusalem is a spiritual lighthouse to the entire world, sending its beacon of hope to a world staggering in despair. Jerusalem is the city that says by its very presence, There is a God of might and majesty, and as the mountains are about Jerusalem, so is the Lord God Almighty around His people. He is eternal, unmovable and unshakeable. As He is, so shall Jerusalem be.
Jerusalem was conquered 3,000 years ago by King David from the Jebusites. Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel, not since Camp David, but since King David.
In A.D.70, Titus sent his troops into Jerusalem and slaughtered the Jews until their blood literally streamed downed the streets. The Romans slaughtered the Jews of Jerusalem a second time in 135 A.D. under Hadrian.
In 1099, the Crusaders, marched under the sign of the cross, stormed into Jerusalem to claim the city for Christ. Again, the streets of the city ran with blood as the Crusaders killed more than 40,000 people and set fire to synagogues. In one synagogue, 969 Jewish men, women and children were herded into a synagogue and set ablaze by the Crusaders. As the people screamed for mercy, the Crusaders stood outside and sang, "Christ We Adore Thee."
Since 1948, five brutal wars have been fought in Israel. A river of blood has been shed over control of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), the Golan Heights, the Holy City, Jerusalem.
Now comes Yasser Arafat and his thugs who want to control the Holy City. The following news excerpts are the mirror of his soul:
"The jihad will continue ... You have to understand our main battle is Jerusalem ... It is not their capitol. It is our capitol."
?Arafat speech in Johannesburg, South Africa, May 1994
"By Allah, I swear ... that the Palestinian people are prepared to sacrifice the last boy and the last girl so that the Palestinian flag will be flown over the walls, the churches and the mosques of Jerusalem."
What do the Jewish people want? Total control over Jerusalem! What do the Palestinians want? Total control over Jerusalem and the utter destruction of the Jewish state.
As Christians, we are proud to join together in supporting the continued sovereignty of the state of Israel over the Holy City of Jerusalem. We support Israel's efforts to reach reconciliation with its Arab neighbors, but we strongly believe that neither Jerusalem nor any portion of if should be negotiable in any peace process. Jerusalem must remain undivided as the eternal capital of the Jewish people.
Dr. John Hagee is the pastor of the 17,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. He is a best-selling author whose radio and television ministry reaches 92 million homes in America and is seen around the world.