If God chose Jerusalem as his special city, then why has he
allowed this area to be destroyed and occupied by other people? Did God forget
about the Holy City?
The reason for which God has allowed the temporary occupation
of Jerusalem is clearly expressed in the warning that the Lord gave Solomon right
when they were inaugurating the First Temple in Jerusalem:
(1 Kings 9:3-5) And
the LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you
have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by
putting my name there forever. My eyes
and my heart will be there for all time. (4) And as for you, if you
will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and
uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my
statutes and my rules, (5) then I will establish your royal throne over
Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a
man on the throne of Israel.’
Then the Lord warned him of what would happen if Israel
didn’t walk in God’s ways…
(1 Kings 9:6-9, NKJV) But if you or
your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My
statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship
them, (7) then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and
this house which I have consecrated for
My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword
among all peoples. (8) And as for this house,
which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will
hiss, and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ (9)
Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought
their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, and
worshiped them and served them; therefore the Lord has brought all this
calamity on them.’
Far be it from God’s heart to allow the enemies to destroy
Jerusalem, but more important than the buildings are the People. If Israel
needed discipline, God would discipline them even with sadness in his heart.
Unfortunately, God’s people forgot about this divine
warning. The kings of Israel and the people walked away from God’s ways and
profaned the Temple and the Holy City.
(2 Kings 21:4) And he built
altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.”
(2 Kings 21:7) And the carved
image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to
David and to Solomon his son, “In this
house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of
Israel, I will put my name forever.
The punishment was not immediate; first there was a call to
repentance. God’s mercy lasted a long time… but they didn’t change; so God
allowed the enemies to take over Jerusalem. If the Temple wasn’t saved, maybe
the Israelites souls would be saved, who would have the opportunity to learn
through tragedy.
(2 Kings 23:27) And the LORD
said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and
I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which
I said, My name shall be there.”
God knew that his people would fail him, but he also knew
that they could be restored. That is why the Lord revealed to Solomon the way
through which the people could return in case they went astray from the Good
Way…
(2 Chronicles 7:11-14) Thus Solomon
finished the house of the LORD and the king’s house. All that Solomon
had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he
successfully accomplished. (12) Then the LORD appeared to
Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a
house of sacrifice. (13) When I shut up the heavens so that there is no
rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my
people, (14) if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and
pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Repentance is the medicine that cures the negative effects
of disobedience. It is the door to restoration…
(Nehemiah 1:8-9) Remember the
word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I
will scatter you among the peoples, (9) but if you return to me and keep
my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of
heaven, from there I will gather them and bring
them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
If God rejected Israel and Jerusalem, it was only for a
period, because He has promised to bring restoration…
(Psalms 69:35-36) For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and
people shall dwell there and possess it; (36) the offspring of his
servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
On the next post, we will read about God’s promise to
rebuild Jerusalem, and how He will come back to live there…
More articles on the
Promised Land, on the page: Israel
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