JERUSALEM....a Stumbling Block!!

JERUSALEM  -  a  Stumbling  Block

by  Carrie  Hart

For  "Jewish Voice"  -  a  Messianic Publication - July/August 2013

With America's encouragement, Israel and the Palestinians are considering a revised peace plan based on the Arab League Initiative. The plan calls for an Israeli withdrawal to pre 1967 borders with some minor land swaps. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that any agreement must include Israeli security arrangements along the Jordan River; Palestinian recognition of Israel as the State of the Jewish People; a solution for absorbing returning Palestinians into the state of "Palestine" (not into Israel); and an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

But, the elephant standing in the room of peace enthusiasts is the issue of Jerusalem. During Netanyahu's second term in office (2009-2013), Israeli interlocutors agreed to leave Jerusalem to Final Status talks. However, in the revised 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which Israel is being pressured to adopt, East Jerusalem becomes the capital of a Palestinian state.

This is not acceptable to a majority of Israelis, Diaspora Jews, and pro-Israel Christian supporters. Many have voiced opposition to a divided Jerusalem, and do not want Israel to share or relinquish control of its capital city....

Since the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Palestinians have laid claim to Jerusalem as the capital of their homeland. During U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Ramallah in March 2013, he stated that the Palestinians should have a contiguous Palestinian state. He was implying that Israeli settlement building in the controversial El land corridor, which is on the outskirts of Jerusalem, would somehow separate East Jerusalem from the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), damaging Palestinian prospects. The Israelis deny this. They note that the Palestinians have two separate entities that make it impossible for their proposed state to be contiguous anyway. The Palestinian territories in the West Bank are under the rule of the Fatah government. The Palestinian entity of the Gaza Strip is under the rule of the Hamas government. But, once the Palestinians achieve reconciliation under one Palestinian government, their focus will turn toward Jerusalem. They will fly their flag over the city and demand their right to rule there.

Abbas is already accusing Israel of Judaizing East Jerusalem, urging Islamic states to prevent Israel from occupyingjerusalem and seeking to change the character of the city. Often, Jerusalem Arabs are incited by any slight changes to the area. Even talk of repairing a tourist ramp near the Temple Mount caused quite a stir

this past winter.

Israeli former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been accused of negotiating the division of Jerusalem......

Diplomatically, the world wants to internationalize Jerusalem. Spiritually, Jerusalem is the Divine seat of God's governmental authority. 

According to the biblical Scriptures, the fight over Jerusalem will only intensify in the days to come. The nations, one day, will surround Jerusalem with their armies. 

The city is a political and religious hot button that if pushed, will ignite the masses and stir passions on the streets of the Middle East.

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against judah and Jerusalem. 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 he cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against lit" (Zechariah 12:2-3 NKJV).

Carrie   Hart   is   an   Israel-based   news correspondent for Jewish Voice, reporting on current issues affecting Israel and the nations.

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YES  ONE  DAY  THE  ARMIES  WILL  SURROUND  JERUSALEM. IT  IS  TO  HAPPEN;  SEE  LUKE  21.  BUT  IT  WILL  NOT  BE  AS  MANY  OF  THE  MESSIANIC  GROUPS  TEACH,  WHO  HAVE  BEEN  TAKEN  BY  THE  TEACHINGS  OF  THE  FUNDAMENTAL  PROTESTANT  PROPHETS.  THEY  TEACH  AN  ARMY  FROM  RUSSIA,  CHINA,  AND  SOME  ARAB  NATIONS  WILL  COME  AGAINST  JERUSALEM  AND  THE  JEWS  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND.  THEY  BASE  IT  ON  A  FALSE  INTERPRETATION  OF  DANIEL 9; EZEKIEL 38,39.

ALL  THE  FALSE  PROPHETIC  TEACHINGS  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  I  HAVE  EXPOSED  IN  DETAIL  ON  MY  WEBSITE  UNDER  "PROPHECY."

THE  KEY  IS  UNDERSTANDING  DANIEL  11:40-45  CORRECTLY,  AND  WHO  IS  THE  "KING  OF  THE  NORTH"  AND  THE  "KING  OF  THE  SOUTH."

DANIEL  11:40-45  AND  INTO  CHAPTER  12,  AND  THE  "ABOMINATION  OF  DESOLATION"  SPOKEN  ABOUT  BY  CHRIST  IN  MATT.24  AND  LUKE  21,  WITH  THE  CORRECT  UNDERSTANDING  OF  DANIEL  9,  IS  ALL  EXPLAINED  IN  DETAIL  ON  MY  WEBSITE.

MY  ANSWER  TO  THE  "SECRET  RAPTURE"  AND  THE  TWO  PHASES  OF  THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  THE  MESSIAH,  AS  TAUGHT  BY  THE  FUNDAMENTAL  PROTESTANTS,  IS  ALSO  FULLY  ANSWERED  ON  MY  WEBSITE.

THE  BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON  AND  ALL  THE  BOOK  OF  REVELATION  IS  EXPOUNDED  ON  MY  WEBSITE  UNDER  "THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  BIBLE  STORY."

Keith Hunt