The majority of the believers in Y’shua that I know, love to SHARE Scriptural verses with fellow believers that are meaningful to them. Now, when visiting the land of Israel, it is quite a refreshing thought to realize that many of the meaningful and shareable verses in Scriptures make a lot more sense when you literally share them from the city of Jerusalem. Allow me to share just a few verses with you, today, that are truly meaningful, quite simply, because we can literally SEE AND HEAR the features and feel the pulse of the city, while we are speaking. Ps 102:21 speaks about people who were released from prison, and even from death, who were granted the unspeakable privilege of declaring the Name of Yahweh and the praise of Yahweh IN JERUSALEM! When reading this, I feel like uttering a PRAYER: Father, we were also in prison before, because we were bound to chains and strongholds and traditions. We were like people on a death row, because we knew very little about your words of comfort and salvation. But today, quite literally, we find ourselves in a position where we may declare your Name, Yahweh, and your praise, right here in the city of Jerusalem – the eternal city, the city, in the coming age of the Messiah, from where your Word will be heard, before it is heard in another place, anywhere in the world.
Another verse that I would like to share, today, is Ps 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the House of Yahweh”. I am sure this verse is a verse that speaks to us all, every time we prepare to go to the ASSEMBLY OF BELIEVERS on Shabbat – in South Africa, or any other country of the world. It is the highlight of the week! We are going to a place that to us is the House of Yahweh, because the Word of Yahweh will be heard and the members of the household of Yahweh will be present! But this verse becomes really special when you find yourself in the city of Jerusalem. Because the very next verse (Ps 122:2) is saying: “Our feet have been standing WITHIN YOUR GATES, O Yerushalayim!” Nothing can compare with the gates and the streets and the walls of Yerushalayim. Nothing beats the place where one’s feet are standing! That is why, when I started preparing, last year, to come to this land in March and April 2023, the idea came to me to write a book about using one’s feet in the land of Israel – a book that was eventually brought out under the title, 100 FUN WALKS IN ISRAEL. So far, very few people have taken notice of the book. These days, people would rather pick up a book, entitled, 100 EXTREME WALKS IN ISRAEL, or 100 RUNNING TRAILS IN THE HIMALAYAS. But researching and writing the book has been a huge thrill to me. Because, as I have stated in the introduction to the book, I believe that the inherent attractiveness of this land can only be fully experienced with the maximum use of one’s senses, and more specifically, the use of one’s feet – this is how one will come to appreciate the things that add to the life-spice of this land. So, standing with one’s feet within the gates of Jerusalem, and letting your feet walk where the Messiah once walked, and where Avraham and David and Daniel once walked, goes far beyond anything that money can buy!
We all know the wonderful encouragement of Ps 125:2, “As the mountains surround Yerushalayim, so Yahweh surrounds His people – now and forever.” We are used to being SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS in the Fish Hoek area in South Africa – certainly much more than most other places in the world. But the concentration of mountains around Jerusalem is a phenomenon that is quite unique. I cannot think of one single place in the old city where one can stand and see them all simultaneously. There are at least SEVEN MOUNTAINS within a stone throw’s distance from the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, Mount of Olives, Mount Zion and Mount Scopus. And the Old City of Jerusalem is 13 times smaller than the town of Fish Hoek! But that is not all. If you drive by car or by bus to the outskirts of the bigger city of Jerusalem, in any direction, you will find many more mountains and valleys. And If you draw a circle around the center of Jerusalem with a 25 km radius, you will find close to a 100 mountain peaks or elevated hills. Jerusalem is not only surrounded by a couple of mountains here and there. It is literally defined by SEVERAL INTERTWINED LAYERS of continuous mountain ranges, reminding one of the steadfastness, protection and exaltedness of Yahweh, that is huge like a mountain, rock solid like the impressive Hermon in the North of this country and will endure forever!
Ps 128:5 is one of the most extraordinary verses in all of Scriptures. “Yahweh shall bless you out of Tsiyon, and let you see the good of Yerushalayim all the days of your life.” Why is it that Tsiyon, or Zion, or Jerusalem is SINGLED OUT as the place from where Yahweh will bestow his blessing? Is it not true that He can bestow a blessing upon his people from any location He like? And why does Ps 135:21 say that Yahweh, Himself, should be BLESSED because He dwells in Jerusalem? Isn’t it true that the heaven is his throne and the entire earth his footstool? Surely, the blessing of Yahweh is not concentrated in one place only? It isn’t, but in the same way as Yahweh has chosen ONE NATION to reveal his esteem and his works and his words to the peoples of the world, He has also chosen one city that is continuously singled out, and called upon by names like the city of Elohim (Ps 87:3); city of Yahweh (Isa 60:14); the sought after city (Isa 62:12); the valley of vision (Isa 22:1); city of truth (Zech 8:3); joyful city (Isa 22:2); city of righteousness (Isa 1:26); the habitation of justice (Jer 31:23); city of David (Isa 22:9); city of our appointments (Isa 33:20); city of praise (Jer 49:25); place where Yahweh has pitched his tent (Ezek 23:4); house of prayer (Isa 56:7); hill of frankincense (Song of Songs 4:6) and city of the great King (Ps 48:2). Just think about these attributes, together with the fact that Yahweh placed his Name in this city, sent HIS SON to die and be resurrected in this city, and the fact that Y’shua will return to this city and reign as appointed King from this city. There are so many blessings bound up in this city, that we know of, already – both of the past and the future – and it only makes sense that Yahweh Himself has revealed that He will bless his people FROM THE CITY OF JERUSALEM!
Don’t think Jerusalem is the MOST PERFECT PLACE in the world, to be in, right now. Three days ago we weren’t even sure if we would still be able to fly to Ben Gurion Airport, in Tel Aviv. On Monday, scores of flights to and from Israel were cancelled due to protests – among others, also a number of flights of Turkish Air, the Airline with whom we were booked. Jerusalem is very much a city sitting right in the crossfires of local and international political aspirations, and conflicting sentiments towards the Jewish people. If you think coming to Jerusalem and rubbing shoulders with a predominantly Jewish community, is going to INSPIRE you and DEEPEN the roots of your belief, you are probably going to leave here disappointed. There is plenty of RELIGION in the city, but just as the prophets spoke about Jerusalem and her idols (Isa 10:11) and the need for the men of Jerusalem to circumcise their hearts (Jer 4:4) and the call upon the people of Jerusalem to turn back from their evil ways (Jer 18:11), so one can sense today that Jerusalem, and the people living here, are a VERY FAR CRY from the picture of restoration, dedication, truth and unity, that was painted by the Biblical prophets. Somehow, walking through the streets of Jerusalem, sensing the veil that is still covering the hearts and the minds of many people in this city, one is sometimes overcome with a feeling of sadness, similar to that of Y’SHUA when He cried out in Luk 13:34 “Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her! How often I wished to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you would not!
But then, on the other hand, what an ENCOURAGEMENT AND JOY to be here, in this unique city. I can almost hear the promises that were made long ago by One who will never fail to fulfil every single word than came from his mouth. Let us focus, for a moment, on the three chapters of Isaiah 62, 65 and 66, and the promises we find there: “For Yerushalayim’s sake I do not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her deliverance as a lamp that burns” (Isa 62:1); “I have set watchmen on your walls, O Yerushalayim, all the day and all the night, continually, who are not silent. You who remember Yahweh, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Yerushalayim a praise in the earth (Isa 62:6-7); “Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for look, I create Yerushalayim a rejoicing, and her people a joy” (Isa 65:18); “I shall rejoice in Yerushalayim, and shall joy in My people, and let the voice of weeping no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying” (Isa 65:19); “Rejoice with Yerushalayim, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn for her; so that you feed, and shall be satisfied with the breast of her comforts, so that you drink deeply, and shall delight yourselves in her overflowing esteem” (Isa 66:10-11); “As one whom his mother comforts, so I comfort you. And in Yerushalayim you are comforted” (Isa 66:13).
WE REJOICE in each of these promises, o Yahweh, and pray, in Y’shua’s Name, that You will soon bring about this long awaited turn-around of this city, in a way that will leave no doubt, whatsoever, that the hand of Yahweh has done so!
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