PRAYING FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM THE THEOLOGY OF ISRAEL PART 5

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Garey Jonathan Sanders
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1 I. INTRODUCTION A. Scripture commands us to Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and give Him no rest until God Himself makes it a praise in the earth. These commands are literal (For Israel and its capitol city Jerusalem). They are not symbolic pictures of the Church. Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. Isaiah 62:6,7 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, 7 And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. B. Everything God does this side of the Millennium is for the sake of bringing righteousness to Jerusalem, fulfilling His covenant promises towards Israel, releasing salvation in the Nations, and filling the earth with His own glory [Is. 62:1,2]. Ezekiel 36:22,23 Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 "And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. C. The primary reason that we do not rest in prayer is because God is not resting for Israel s sake. Even during the times of Israel s most terrible suffering we must acknowledge that God is not absent but is orchestrating all things together according to the council of His will [Eph. 1:11]. Isaiah 62:1 For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns. Psalm 121:4 Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep D. God is raising up an End Time Church of Watchmen who carry the heart of David primarily through the means of prophetic worship and prayer. King David vowed to not rest until the Lord was dwelling in the midst of His people, in Zion the city of Jerusalem. Psalm 132:2 4,13 14 [David] swore to the LORD, And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3 "Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, Or go up to the comfort of my bed; 4 I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, 5 Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob 13 For the LORD has chosen Zion [Jerusalem]; He has desired it for His dwelling place: 14 "This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. II. ISRAEL S DESPERATE NEED OF PRAYER A. The two questions we have to answer is Why does this tiny nation in the Middle East called Israel whose capitol city is Jerusalem matter to God? And What does this have to do with me as a Gentile believer? The answer to this question is far more significant than the average Christian realizes.

2 B. Jesus prophesied from Jerusalem that in the closing hours of human history God would raise up His Church to be a House of Prayer for all nations [Mark 11:17; Is. 56:7]. The biblical context reveals that these End Time Houses of Prayer are primarily manned by Gentile believers who agree with God s heart for the salvation of the Jewish people [Is. 56:3 8]. Isaiah 56:6 8 "Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant 7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." 8 The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, "Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him." C. Unbelieving Israel will be in a great crisis in the season when the Lord returns, and therefore will be in desperate need of prayer. Already there is a mounting battle in the Spirit (and in the natural) that is seeking to destroy the Jewish people from the earth and conquer the city of Jerusalem. D. Israel s spiritual condition near the coming of the Lord will not be in a great place. She is mostly secular and spoken of in the Book of Revelation in symbolic terms as being like Sodom and Egypt two cities that experienced serious judgment for resisting God [Rev. 11:8]. E. The season just prior to the Lord s return will be Israel s most troubling time ever in her history [Matt. 24:21 22]. Like her spiritual condition, Israel s natural circumstances will be in a grave place. According to Joel 3, the nations of the earth will gather together to finish the holocaust that Hitler and Haman planned and fell short of. Daniel 12:1 There shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time Jeremiah 30:5 7 For thus says the LORD: 'We have heard a voice of trembling, Of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale? 7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it. F. Though the unrighteous Nations are deceived into gathering together against Israel to annihilate her people and her Messiah [Rev. 17:14; 19:19]; they are actually being drawn by God Himself for the purpose of judgment and their utter destruction [Joel 3:1 3; Zech. 14:1 2, 12]. Joel 3:2 I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land. G. When reading about the End Times or events within the Book of Revelation many falsely assume that God has given the enemy free reign for the Great Tribulation and then finally shows up at the end and wins the battle for Jerusalem. They forget that every event, battle, calamity, and judgment has been planned according to God s sovereign timetable.

3 H. In the midst of Israel s End Time crisis, the Church for the first time will fully fulfill its role in standing with Israel and provoking the Jewish people. The Church worldwide will have a new attitude and new heart that fully loves and embraces the God s purpose for Israel redemption. a. The pressure of the End Times will produce the love and humility that is necessary to remove the great wall of offense as well as the great mountain of suspicion that currently exists between the Jews and Gentiles. I. Within the Church there will be complete agreement concerning God s heart for the destiny of the Jewish people. The destiny of the Church will forever be intertwined with the destiny of Jewish people. In that Day the Church who does not stand with Israel, will not be found standing. III. SATAN S FOCUS ON THE CITY OF JERUSALEM A. For all of history Jerusalem has been the great battleground throughout the earth. Satan s focus is not on Chicago, Mexico City, or Tokyo. His primary focus is on the City of Jerusalem. This seemingly insignificant place is at the very centerpiece of the End Time battle between God and Satan. B. Satan knows that when Jesus returns he will be removed from the earth and cast into prison [Rev. 20]. In order to keep this from happening Satan will focus his demonic forces on wiping out Israel and the city of Jerusalem so that they cannot welcome their true Messiah back. Matthew 23:37 39 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem how often I wanted to gather your children together but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" a. Jesus revealed in Matthew 23:37 39 that He will not forcibly take the kingship over Israel, but will wait until it is given to Him by the people in the land. He prophesied that He would not come back to Jerusalem until they asked Him to reign over them [Lk. 19:11 27]. He bound Himself by this prophecy to not return until this happens. b. After Jesus died and rose again He instructed His disciples to meet with Him in Galilee not Jerusalem. The disciples did not go to Jerusalem until after Jesus ascended into heaven. Matthew 28:6 10 "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you " 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me." c. Satan seeks to exploit this prophecy as a loophole in God s prophetic plan by controlling Jerusalem and seeing to it that no Jews are alive to invite Jesus back to be King in Jerusalem over Israel. Satan wants to demonstrate that Jesus prophetic word is false. If Jesus prophecy is shown forth as a lie, then Jesus could not judge Satan as a liar.

4 d. Satan s main agenda and rage is in destroying Jerusalem to keep Jesus from coming. He is seeking to blow up Jerusalem, (not popular ministries), through terrorism. He is not threatened by people growing successful mega church ministries that are disconnected from this End Time battle for Jerusalem. C. Satan will not be cast into prison until the battle for Jerusalem is won and Jerusalem is under Jesus leadership. When that happens, Jesus will sentence Satan to prison for the Millennial Kingdom. Revelation 20:2,3 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more D. Satan wants to exterminate the Jewish people so that a believing remnant cannot invite Jesus to rule Israel as her Messiah. Though Satan will seek to totally destroy Israel God will supernaturally protect her from total annihilation [Rev. 12:13 17; Zech. 13:8,9]. Revelation 12:13 17 When the dragon [Satan] saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman [remnant of Israel Gen. 37:9] who gave birth to the male Child [Jesus]. 14 But the woman [escaped] into the wilderness for a time and times and half a time [the Great Tribulation], from the presence of the serpent [Satan]. 15 So the serpent spewed water like a flood after the woman [Israel], that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood [of persecution] 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring [the Church] who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. E. Throughout history Satan raised up demonic leaders, not to wipe out Canadians or Roman Catholics, but to wipe out Jews. Adolf Hitler was demonically inspired to kill every Jew that was on the face of the earth in order to set up the Third Reich s thousand year reign. IV. THE FINAL WAR FOR JERUSALEM A. The final war for Jerusalem is all part of God s plan to bring forth their mourning unto salvation [Matt. 24:30]. At the same time that God is pouring out His Judgments upon all of the Nations that have come against Jerusalem, He will pour out The Spirit of Mourning upon the remnant of Israel. Zechariah 12:9 10 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced [Yeshua]. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. Revelation 1:7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him [Israel]. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

5 B. Joel 2 declares that right before the Second Coming of Jesus there will be a mighty revival (outpouring of the Spirit) in Jerusalem just as it was on the Day of Pentecost. However Zechariah reveals that it is a revival of mourning and repentance through the Spirit of grace and supplication. C. Jesus teaching on the End times in Matthew 24 quotes Joel 2, which says that God will pour out His spirit on all flesh resulting in deliverance and salvation in Jerusalem. This outpouring will continue into the age to come. Joel 2:28 32 And it shall come to pass That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; 30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance [salvation], as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls. a. In Matthew 24:29 Jesus taught that His Second Coming would be characterized by the sun and stars being darkened and the powers of the heavens being shaken. Jesus was quoting from the prophet Joel that connected His coming with the salvation and deliverance of Israel. D. In light of this End Time outpouring and in response to the worldwide prayers of all the saints, Jesus will return from heaven to reclaim the City of Jerusalem. Jesus considers an attack upon Jerusalem as an attack upon Himself and therefore He will go forth and fight against Israel s enemies with vengeance. Zechariah 12:3 9 "And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it 8 "In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. 9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Zechariah 14:2 4, 12 I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two 12 And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. E. The unfolding drama that surrounds Jerusalem is dynamically affected by the global prayers of the saints. The Watchman s call of Isaiah 62 does not make sense apart from the reality of Isaiah 63 and the second coming of Jesus. Our prayer for Israel will be the prayer of Isaiah: Oh that You would rend the heavens and come down! Return for Israel s sake! Redeem the tribes of Your inheritance! Isaiah 63:17,18 O LORD, why have You made us stray from Your ways, And hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants' sake, The tribes of Your inheritance. 18 Your holy people have possessed it but a little while; Our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary

6 Isaiah 64:1 12 Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence 2 As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! 9 Do not be furious, O LORD, Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look we all are Your people! 10 Your holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 12 Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O LORD? Will You hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?

ISRAEL MANDATE CONFERENCE The Battle for Jerusalem

ISRAEL MANDATE CONFERENCE The Battle for Jerusalem ISRAEL MANDATE CONFERENCE 2011- The Battle for Jerusalem I. THE ROLE OF ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM AT THE END OF THE AGE A. God s Word insists that the Church stand with His purposes for Israel and engage with