How long will the nations trample on Jerusalem?
9 December 2021
Every year around this time, the UN General Assembly adopts a series of resolutions criticizing Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians.
One of these resolutions is often about Jerusalem, repeating the international community’s objection to Israel’s “reunification” of the city (bringing it under Israeli jurisdiction) in 1967. This resolution inevitably refers specifically to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem - perhaps the most controversial, contested site in the world, sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians.
The resolution adopted this year on Jerusalem refers to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, solely by its Muslim name, “Haram al-Sharif” – thus implying that this is an exclusively Islamic site. The omission of reference to the fact that the mount was the site of the second Temple was of course a deliberate attempt to erase Jewish history. This was described by the U.S. as “morally, historically and politically wrong.”
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 129 to 11, with 31 abstentions - marking an increase in the 14 countries that abstained when it was last voted on in 2018. This time, a number of European states changed their votes. Czech Republic and Hungary moved from previous support to voting against the resolution, joining “No” countries like Israel, the U.S., Canada and Australia.
This shows that the overwhelming majority of UN Member States still has no objection to this distortion of history. But it also shows there is an increasing number of States who realize that it is unacceptable to erase Jewish connection with the Temple Mount.
In Biblical terms, the UN represents, as it were, the Gentile world. These kinds of resolutions reflect the thinking and mindset of the Gentiles towards the Jewish people, and towards the land of Israel and Jerusalem in particular. Most Gentile nations object deeply to the Jewish people having sovereignty over Jerusalem. Some (a very small minority) accept Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, and some of these have expressed this by placing their embassies in Jerusalem.
We are reminded that Jesus predicted that “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24). For the last two thousand years, the Gentile world has “trampled on” Jerusalem: in 135AD the Romans destroyed the city and annihilated the Jews, scattering the remnant over the earth, and since then the nations have always tried to keep control of Jerusalem, and have prevented the Jews from having control of the city. Today, it is the United Nations that objects to Jewish (Israeli) sovereignty over the city, and the Islamic world that demands exclusive control of the Temple Mount.
The Bible predicts that Jerusalem (Zion) will be the centre of conflict in the days preceding the coming of Messiah. That will be a conflict between the “nations” and the Jewish people, who are restored to the land (see eg. Zechariah 12 and 14 and Joel 3). This may be the same time that the “times of the Gentiles” will be “fulfilled”, and the Gentiles will no longer “trample on” Jerusalem, but the city will come fully under the control of the King of Israel.
The growing tension around the city of Jerusalem (especially the Temple Mount) suggests we may be very close to that time.
The Editorial Team - Israel & Christians Today
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