The Pieces and the Peace of Jerusalem

Shas party chairman Eli Yishai has met with Ehud Olmert in Israel's capitol city in an effort to get straight answers about any potential negotiations wherein Jerusalem might be used as a peace bargaining chip. Shas has repeatedly threatened to depart the government if Israel and the Palestinians discuss the subject of Jerusalem as part of a peace deal. Any deal.

Israel's leadership is under tremendous pressure from the rest of the world over Jerusalem. The United Nations wants to internationalize it. The EU wants it split up between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The United States is pushing for something similar. The Arabs continue to want the entire city, and even the Vatican would like Jerusalem placed under its control.


What would America do if Islamic extremists demanded that Washington D.C. be given over to them? Honestly, the Muslims have no more historic right to Jerusalem than they do our capitol, so why does the rest of the world expect Israel to give it up?


The prophecy in Isaiah 11:11-12, wherein the Jews are regathered from the whole world to their homeland has been going on for a century. In the year 1900, there were only approximately 40,000 Jews in Palestine, (an historical name that finally settled on that region) and by the end of the second World War, that number had grown to 800,000. Today, there are in excess of 5.7 million Jews living in Israel. Twice, the prophet Jeremiah wrote that the Jewish people would look back on their worldwide regathering, and make the connection that it is a greater miracle of God that their liberation from Egypt.


As followers of Christ, we should be getting the picture before then. The study of prophetic passages, interpreted in light of other clear passages as we move through the Word should not be a distraction. If anything, prophecy should be a glowing reminder to us of the urgency to share the Gospel at every opportunity.