The Jerusalem to Come
(Message delivered by the Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo at True Life Church on March 2, 08)
There is a Jewish proverb which says, “Ten measures of beauty descended on the world; nine went to Jerusalem, and one to the rest of the world.” Jerusalem is the most beautiful city in the world, it is true. This is because unlike any other city, it is God’s chosen City of Peace, for that is what Jerusalem means, to bless the whole world with salvation peace that comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, and Him alone. So important and prominent is Jerusalem that it is mentioned 811 times in the Bible.
If you look at the world map, you will see that Jerusalem is at the centre of the world as ordained by God, “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” (Ezek 5:5). Jerusalem is thus the heart and health of the world. If Jerusalem is not well, the world is not well. When there is no peace in Jerusalem, there is no peace in the world. The Lord enjoins us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Ps 122:5).
Although there is no peace in Jerusalem today, we are sure peace will come one day as prophesied in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, but the question is when? The biblical answer is: Not now but soon.
Jerusalem Now
The Jews were a dispersed people longing for home. In AD 70, they were driven out of their homeland by the Romans to make a home for themselves in foreign lands. But they were never truly at home in foreign lands, and have always longed to return to Jerusalem. L’shana ha’ba-ah b’Yerushalayim. “Next year in Jerusalem” was how they greeted one another at Passover. They hoped they could keep the Passover in Jerusalem by the next year. That year finally came in 1948 in fulfilment of Isaiah 11:11-12, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
Although they had their land back, they did not have peace. The Arabs and Palestinians were against the Jews occupying Palestine and the modern state of Israel. 1948, the year of independence was a year of war. And since 1948, it has been war after war after war: War of Independence (1948), Sinai Campaign (1956), Six Day War (19687), Yom Kippur War (1971), Lebanese War (1982), Gulf War (1991), Hezbollah War (2006). News of an imminent war with Syria is now in the air. It is no wonder that Author Netanel Lorch called the wars of Israel “One Long War.” There have been many efforts to make peace in Jerusalem between Israel and her Arab neighbours, between the Jews and the Palestinians, but peace has been elusive.
There is no peace now, but peace will come eventually. The initial peace that Jerusalem will experience will be a false peace, a man- made peace, a peace forged by the Antichrist— a Hitler-like dictator—only ten times worse. We read of him in Daniel 9:24-27, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
The prophetic week is a week of years not days. One week equals seven years, so 70 weeks equal 490 years. From the command to rebuild Jerusalem down to the crucifixion of the Messiah are 7 plus 62 weeks which give us 483 years. These years are already over and ended when Christ, the Jewish Messiah, was crucified and resurrected in AD 30. The final week or the last 7 years is yet future, and looking at the signs of the times, we can expect it to arrive soon. This 70th week of Daniel will commence when the Antichrist signs a peace treaty with Israel. But in the midst of the week or the middle of the 7 years (i.e. at the 3½ -year point), the Antichrist will break the peace treaty, set himself up as God and persecute Israel. This period of persecution will last for 3½ years, and then at the end of the 7 years of great tribulation, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, will return to fight a war which will end all wars—Armageddon (Rev 19:11-21). The Antichrist and his armies will be defeated, and Christ will save Israel, reign over the whole earth from Jerusalem for a millennium (Rev 20:6).
Jerusalem Then
The disciples of Jesus Christ knew of Israel’s future greatness in light of God’s promises in the Old Testament. That was why before Jesus ascended to heaven, they asked Him, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). But the Lord answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). The good news of Jesus Christ must first be preached throughout the world. Judgement is coming, but God “is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt 24:14).
Israel for her sin in rejecting her Messiah is now blinded by God (Rom 11:1-31). But this blindness is only temporary for after Israel is chastened by God, she will be restored to greatness and Jerusalem will become the capital of the world. Did not the Prophet Isaiah say, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isa 2:2-3)? “Mountains” and “hills” symbolise political powers, big and small. Mount Zion or Jerusalem will one day be the political centre or headquarters of the world. The United Nations (UN) is now headquartered in New York City, but one day the true United Nations will be headquartered in Jerusalem under one Head—the Lord Jesus Christ, and all nations will meet in Jerusalem to seek His law and judgement, and they will submit to Him and obey Him without question. Only then, will there be true peace; no more weapons, no more wars, but peaceful and harmonious co-existence, working side by side cultivating the rich and fertile lands of the earth that God will give to them: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa 2:4).
Jerusalem Ever
This earthly Jerusalem under Christ will only last for a thousand years, and will give way to the heavenly Jerusalem—the New Jerusalem—which will last forever. The New Jerusalem which is eternal is described in Revelation 21:1-3, 10-27, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. …
“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; … and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Let us make sure our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that we have booked our place in the New Jerusalem to come, that there is a mansion waiting for us there prepared by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (John 14:1-6). As Christians, we do not see this sin-cursed world to be our home; we look forward to our heavenly home in the world to come. Our beloved pastor—Rev Dr Timothy Tow—has said it well in this hymn he wrote,
We’re a pilgrim band now headed for the glory land of light.
We are trav’ling thro’ the wilderness of night.
We’ve a home that’s far away beyond the heaven and the stars.
In the New Jerusalem!
