Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
Scripture Reading: Psalm 122
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
2 Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
4 Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the LORD,
To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5 For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God
I will seek your good.
The topic for this morning’s sermon has been in my head all week. Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem. With all that’s going on between Israel and Lebanon right now
it seems obvious why we would pray for peace there but I knew it was much deeper
than that. In the psalm we just read, the writer begins by saying he was glad when
they said let’s go to the house of the LORD. The house of the LORD is the temple
in Jerusalem which right now is in ruins with just one wall standing; the Western
Wall. We know from the gospels that Jesus told His disciples that the temple would
be destroyed and be rebuilt in three days. He wasn’t talking about the temple made
with stones but the temple that is His body. So for us the temple still stands.
Then he begins to talk about the city of Jerusalem. The first mention of the city in
the Bible is as Salem. Melchizedek was the king of Salem. Salem means peace so
he was the king of peace. Jesus is called a priest in the order of Melchizedek. He is
also called the prince of peace. Jerusalem means ‘possession of peace’,
‘foundation of peace’, or ‘city of peace’. You can see that right now it doesn’t seem
very much like a foundation of peace. In fact, if you trace back throughout history
you’ll see very few times when there has been peace in Jerusalem. Even during the
time of the kings David and Solomon, when there was a military peace, there was
still great conflict even within the very palaces of the kings. So why with this city
whose very name means peace does there seem to be so little peace?
Zechariah 2:8, tells us that whoever touches the Jews touches the apple of God’s
eye. The enemy truly believes that if he can foil the plans of God, he will somehow
triumph. He continually attempts to destroy God’s people, the Jews; and God’s city
of Jerusalem. In my study I found that Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt
more times by far than any other place on earth. Back in the sixth century Islam was
born from the troubled mind of Mohammed. He believed when he began having his
visions that he had been possessed by a demon, and I truly believe he was right.
After he accepted this demonic possession, he wrote what is now called the Koran
(Qu’ran). In the Koran, Moslems are told they must go out and conquer lands for
Allah. It is also said in the book that once a land is conquered for Islam, it will never
be lost.
In the seventh century, Islam conquered the area of Israel including Jerusalem.
However, in 1948 the Jews took back the land during the ‘War for Independence’,
making their declaration of independence on May 14, 1948. Since then Israel has
won five wars brought on by her Arab neighbors and against unbelievable odds. I’
ve heard it said that Israel is similar in size to the state of New Jersey, so it would be
like the other 49 American states, including the largest, Alaska, coming against New
Jersey because they need more land. It makes no sense, and makes even less
sense in the natural that Israel is still here. Very few would have given Israel any
chance of surviving 6 days, yet it has endured for six decades since. So, the very
existence of the nation of Israel is concrete proof that the Koran is not inspired by
God. Every time they see an Israeli it is a reminder to them of how impotent is the
god that they serve. Not only could he not keep the land that had been conquered,
but even with 100 times more manpower, much more money and the support of the
world behind them, he couldn’t get it back. This is why they freely admit that they
will only be satisfied when Israel is driven into the sea.
So, now we know why they hate Israel so much, but why is it important for us to pray
for her peace? We’ve read the prophecies so we know that there will be no real
peace in Jerusalem until the Lord comes again. There will be a fake peace through
antichrist but not real peace until the second coming. So what good are our prayers
for peace? First, as we learned from Zechariah 2:8, whoever touches the Jews
touches the apple of God’s eye. Also in Matthew 25:40 Jesus says that whatever
we did for the least of His brethren we did for Him. I know that it breaks God’s heart
to see how the city He loves has been defiled by centuries, even millennia of hate
and bloodshed, so it should also break our heart. We’ve been taking about how we
must strive to renew our mind to the mind of Christ. This definitely plays into that
mindset.
Second, He has commanded it and also rewards our obedience as psalm 122
teaches us. Verse six is not a request to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, it is a
command, and it also gives us the promise of reward by informing us that those who
love Jerusalem will prosper.
And third, when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we are praying in agreement
with God’s will and also praying for Messiah to return to set up His kingdom. It’s
good to be on the side of our God; the winning side! I remember this year when the
Heat won the NBA Finals. It was nice to be on the winning side. Looking back
though it was very difficult to watch each game. They lost the first two games very
badly and everyone thought it was over. Things looked really badly for them. Then
even when they’d won a game, things seemed to always look bad during the
games. They’d get behind and things would look really bad. My point is that it was
only difficult to watch because I didn’t know what was going to happen. If I had know
known for sure that the Heat were definitely going to win it would’ve been much
easier to watch during the rough times. When they were down 0-2 in games and
down by 10 points in game 3, I could’ve been confident. Why? Because of the
assurance I would have had in the final outcome. That’s the way we need to be
during the rough times. We know that we win! That should be more than enough to
get us through when things look bad.
Revelation 21:1-4
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed
away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud
voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with
them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God
will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Yeah! It’s pretty awesome to be on the side of the victors, and even better to know
about it in advance.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: July 30, 2006