I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.
2 Chronicles 6:6
In ancient times, maps displayed Jerusalem as the center of the Earth. It is the only city in the entire Bible that we are specifically commanded to pray for by name. Jerusalem is mentioned 881 times in the Scriptures! Psalm 122:6–9 declares:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
May peace be within your walls,
And prosperity within your palaces.”
For the sake of my brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.
While God has given each of us the priestly privilege of interceding for our respective cities and nations, no city but Jerusalem is mentioned as one that every God-fearing believer must pray for. Jerusalem is a city where east meets west; a city of great contrasts, great conflicts and a great destiny. It is considered holy by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike. It is indeed a unique city, both in the world and in the heart of God.
Do you also carry Jerusalem in your heart?
Next Year in Jerusalem!
For centuries the Jewish people have wandered, exiled from their homeland and exiled from their beloved Jerusalem, the city of David—the city of God! Rejected by nation after nation, the Jewish people were forced to become pilgrims, without a place to rest their heads.
If you listen closely enough you can hear the weeping of Israel’s children down through the centuries, as they dreamed of returning to the Promised Land. A river of tears flows through the pages of time as God’s people prayed for deliverance and cried out, “Next year in Jerusalem!”
The First Crusade successfully captured Jerusalem in the summer of 1099, but the crusaders spent their first week in the Holy City slaughtering the Jews and Muslims there. One historian says the men “heartily devoted the day to exterminating Jewish men, women, and children—killing more than 10,000.” Ownership of this Middle Eastern city has been contested more than that of any other city in the world. But yet the cry still arises, “Next year in Jerusalem!”
Jews in Muslim countries have been hanged in the public squares. Jews were marked for destruction in the gas chambers in Treblinka and in the ovens of Auschwitz. Still a desperate cry rang out from the heart of a wandering people. From the frozen tundra of Siberia to the hot sands of the Ethiopian desert, they cried out: “Next year in Jerusalem!”
Jerusalem: Her Many Names
The meaning of a name given to a person, family, city or nation often reveals a portion of its prophetic destiny. Glimpses into divine purpose peek through the veil when we correctly interpret and gain understanding of our names.
The inspired authors of Scripture have given this unique city many names over the centuries. Consider with me some of her names as recorded throughout biblical history, and together, we will peek into her prophetic destiny.
- City of David—2 Samuel 6:10; 1 Kings 11:27; 2 Chronicles 8:11
- City of God—Psalm 46:4; Psalm 87:3
- City of Judah—2 Chronicles 25:28
- City of Joy—Jeremiah 49:25
- City of Peace—Hebrews 7:2
- City of Praise—Jeremiah 49:25
- City of Righteousness—Isaiah 1:26
- City of the Great King—Psalm 48:2; Matthew 5:35
- City of the Lord—Isaiah 60:14
- City of Truth—Zechariah 8:3
- Faithful City—Isaiah 1:26
- Gate of My People—Obadiah 1:13; Micah 1:9
- Green Olive Tree—Jeremiah 11:16
- Holy City—Nehemiah 11:1, 18; Isaiah 48:2; 52:1; Matthew 4:5; 27:53; Revelation 11:2
- Holy Mountain—Isaiah 11:9; 56:7; 57:13; 65:25; 66:20; Ezekiel 20:40; Daniel 9:16, 20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zephaniah 3:11; Zechariah 8:3
- Throne of the Lord—Jeremiah 3:17
- Zion—1 Kings 8:1; Isaiah 60:14; Zechariah 9:13
Wow! Jerusalem is called everything from the City of God to the Holy City. It looks to me like there must still be a lot of His Story (history) yet to come to pass in the destiny of Jerusalem.
For a great description of this unique city, let’s gaze into the Psalms:
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The city of the great King. . . .
Walk about Zion and go around her;
Count her towers;
Consider her ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
That you may tell it to the next generation.
Psalm 48:2, 12–13
Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones
And feel pity for her dust.
Psalm 102:14
Yes, it is true; Jerusalem is a dusty city surrounded by worn mountains. She is a congested, compacted city full of large and small stones. These stones have been used to build architectural wonders, and they have been hurled as tools of destruction. But there is none like her.
Songs are written about you, Jerusalem. Writers are fond of your winding streets and the diverse personalities of your people. Prophets declare your future. Intercessors weep as Jesus did, that you would yet come under the wings of your Messiah.
Jerusalem is a place of destiny! God has already set countless divine appointments within this city, the heart of Israel. It was King David’s capital, the home to Levites and priests and the place where Israel’s holy feasts were observed. The Temple was built in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit was first poured out in Jerusalem—the place God’s people have always loved. Jerusalem is a place like no other, a city where future appointments on God’s calendar are yet to be fulfilled.
A Heavy Stone to Carry
Jerusalem is a prophetic city of great contrasts. The prophet Zechariah warned sternly:
Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
Zechariah 12:2–3
Nations and entire empires have risen and fallen depending on how they have treated this unusual city and its inhabitants. It somehow either releases a blessing or exudes a curse, and we can choose between the two. Ultimately a day will come, the great and terrible day of the Lord, when all nations of the Earth will be caught in a divine vortex as they are gathered against Jerusalem.
In the midst of this, my prayer and expectant hope is that a body of believers will arise and be Israel’s best friend in that hour. The shout, “Israel, you are not alone,” will be heard from interceding friends whose hearts have been broken with the things that break God’s heart. Though Jerusalem is a “heavy stone to carry,” God gives grace to carry the burden. He must! It is His Kingdom way!
As for me and my house, I see no other choice than to care for Jerusalem and the destiny of her inhabitants. I want more than anything to be close to the heart of God. I choose with honor, therefore, to pick up this stone and carry it with the love of Christ.
Pray for the Shalom of Jerusalem
If there is any area where we desperately need to have revelation, it is in the area of praying “for the peace of Jerusalem.” Let’s consider the word “peace.”
The Hebrew word for peace is shalom,and this word has a much deeper meaning than the mere absence of conflict or war. A cease-fire is never peace, not even if it becomes permanent. This form of peace is a purely human contrivance for keeping warring parties separated so that they do not get the opportunity to destroy one another. Such a peace is unknown to God!
Shalom has, in the Hebrew, several different facets to its meaning, but they all have the same intent. It can mean “to be completed” in regard to God’s purposes and plans. It can also mean “to be restored,” meaning to enter into the fullness of one’s calling. When we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we are actually asking the Lord to bring Jerusalem into her divine destiny and to let her be restored into the fullness of God’s calling.
No one in his or her right mind could ever think that “peace” will be achieved in the Middle East without a season of conflict, suffering and even war. If a sane person does believe that, he or she is simply not a student of either God’s Word or history! The current international peace process has little of God’s interests in mind. There will never be true, lasting peace without the Prince of Peace being in the middle of the process!
Shalom can also mean “healing,” because the Hebrew words for “restore” and “heal” come from the same root. In the meaning of “healing,” we can see something very interesting about the present peace process. Listen to God’s view on this matter: “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace” (Jeremiah 8:11).
A Relationship with God
So what are we to do? There is no such thing as true and lasting peace without a relationship with God. Peace is not just a feeling. Peace is not just a condition. True peace is a Person—the Son of God, the Messiah, King of the Jews! There is no peace for any person, family, neighborhood, city or nation without the Prince of Peace! So when I pray for the “peace of Jerusalem,” I am ultimately interceding that the blinders will fall off the eyes of all unbelievers and that they will behold and embrace the beautiful Messiah Jesus!
Peace has been made for us through the blood of the cross (see Colossians 1:20). You cannot bypass the cross of Yeshua on the path to peace! Yes, let’s do all we can to bring an end to conflict, war and terror. Let’s sit at the negotiation tables and work for reconciliation.
But to pray for the shalom of Jerusalem is to pray that the Jewish people will be reconciled to the God of Israel. The same is true for all the descendants of Abraham—Arab, Jew and all Gentile peoples alike! The shalom of Jerusalem means that she will be completed in God’s purposes and reach her divine destiny in the Messiah. That, and that alone, is true shalom.
In Anticipation and Prayer,
James W. Goll |
