2000-04-16 - Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

The Prayer Series, Part 5

Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love thee.

This is our last devotional on our series on prayer. We thought it would be fitting to end with this theme. Psalm 22:6 encourages us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. A careful study of the Word of God will reveal that the Lord is far from through with the nation of Israel. God has given us a great love for His people, the Jews. It breaks my heart to read in the Scriptures that they are facing a time of trouble, described by Jeremiah the prophet, in Chapter 30, as being so severe that there is none like it, and by the prophet Daniel in chapter 12, as being a time of trouble such as there never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. For clarity's sake, I am placing both these chapters at the end of this devotional. (I encourage you to read them to get the full message of this devotional.) Still, praise the Lord because we have the assurance of both these prophets that Israel will be saved out of it.

We read in Hosea 5:15, the solemn words God says through the Prophet : "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly." I pray that every Jew on the face of the earth would see and study these statements of their prophets, and believe them, and receive as their Messiah, Him who is so plainly described in the Scriptures as being the Lord and Savior. You may ask me why. My answer is simple: When there will be peace in Jerusalem then the earth will have peace. Jesus will have returned and a time of blessing will be the order of the day. Chaos, wickedness and iniquity will be abounding as grass grows in a field, and confusion compounded will be a thing of the past.

I have had the privilege to work with a small dedicated handful of believers who, like me, hold fast a desire to set before the Hebrew people the correct teaching of the Scriptures. A careful study of the Christian religion will reveal that it is not a religion that is foreign and antagonistic to the religion of the Old Testament, but that it is the outgrowth and development of the same. Again in Isaiah 62:1-7 we glimpse the Lord's will, which will come to pass for Israel. We know that day will come and we also are encouraged in verse 6 and 7 to pray for it.

Isaiah 6:1-7 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah; for Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that are Jehovah's remembrancers, take ye no rest, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Someday the Lord will bring to pass all He foretold to do through the Prophets for Israel. When He sums up these prophecies and gathers Israel into His salvation, there will be no more sorrow in the world as we know it today. Satan will no longer deceive the nations. Yet very few people pray for the peace of Jerusalem in the church today, and fewer still bring the truth to Israel to examine closely, but I am confident that the Truth shall rise and all the Lord said He would do will happen just as He foretold. We all look forward to the hope we have in Jesus of eternal life.

Will you please be among those who will earnestly pray for Israel's peace? Will you be among those who seek the Lord to bring to pass what He has decreed? We thank you.

In His Service,
Rick & Sandy

Liv4Yeshua@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org

Jeremiah Chapter 30: The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the words that Jehovah spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith Jehovah: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds; and strangers shall no more make him their bondman; but they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished. For thus saith Jehovah, Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound grievous. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased. Why criest thou for thy hurt? Thy pain is incurable: for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that despoil thee shall  be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Jehovah; because they have called thee an outcast, saying, it is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all that oppress them. And their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is he that hath had boldness to approach unto me? saith Jehovah. And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Behold, the tempest of Jehovah, even his wrath, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it. At that time, saith Jehovah, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

Daniel Chapter 12 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Then I, Daniel, looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on the brink of the river on this side, and the other on the brink of the river on that side. And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but they that are wise shall understand. And from the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand and two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and shalt stand in thy lot, at the end of the days.