The Mystery of MELCHIZEDEK Solved!

The Mystery of MELCHIZEDEK Solved!
by Herbert W. Armstrong

Copyright © 1956, 1972 Ambassador College
All Rights Reserved Printed U.S.A.
FEW MYSTERIES of the Bible have attracted more interest than the mystery of the identity of Melchizedek. Who is he?

You will read in Hebrews 6:19-20 that Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, is High Priest "after the order of Melchizedek." The plainer English of the Moffatt translation words it: ". . with the rank of" that is, equal status with "Melchizedek."

Melchizedek Was God's Priest

First, notice from both Old and New Testaments that the man of mystery, Melchizedek, was a priest of the Most High God. Turn 'low to the account in Genesis 14. During the war between a number of ancient city-states in Canaan and Mesopotamia, Abraham's nephew Lot had been captured. He and his family and goods were carted off.

One of their number escaped and brought the news to Abraham, who armed 318 of his own servants and pursued the invaders to what was later named Dan and beyond. Abraham rescued Lot and his family and returned them safely to the Canaanite cities.

On Abraham's return a man of mystery bursts upon the scene. Abraham was ministered to by Melchizedek.

Here is the account:

"And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he [Melchizedek] blessed him [Abraham] and said, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!' And Abram gave him [Melchizedek] a tenth of everything" that is, a tithe of all, for a tithe means a tenth (Genesis 14:18-20, RSV).

Notice that Melchizedek was king of Salem. That is the city of Jerusalem. "Salem" comes from the Hebrew word meaning "peace." That would make Melchizedek the "King of Peace" (Heb. 7:2). The Hebrew name Melchizedek itself means "King of Righteousness" (Heb. 7:2). The same individual is mentioned in Psalm 110:4. Speaking prophetically of Christ, David stated: "The Eternal hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." This verse is quoted again in Hebrews 5:6, 10.

Before we turn to Hebrews for the identification of Melchizedek, re-member that this mystery figure is a mystery only to us. Abraham and the King of wicked Sodom knew exactly who he was. They must have seen him before. He could not have been a Canaanite, for they were steeped in pagan customs. And furthermore Canaan was a descendant of Ham, whereas God basically chose the descendants of Shem to accomplish His work.

Then who is the mystery man Melchizedek?

One other hint before we proceed. The land of Canaan from ancient time, before the days of Moses, was known among the Gentiles as "the divine land" the Holy land" the land of the place of worship!" Why? Was there someone in the Holy Land who was divine, holy, worthy of worship?

The Mystery Clears

Coming to Hebrews 7, we find Melchizedek identified:

"For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace" (Heb. 7:1-2).

Since God names individuals what they are, that, then is what this man is.. "King of Righteousness."

Think of it! King of Righteousness.

Jesus Himself said: "There is none good but one, that is, God" (Matt. 19:17). Human self-righteousness is, before God, as filthy rags. None can be righteous but God or one made righteous by God's power or Christ in a person! And certainly none but One of the Godhead the divine Kingdom of God could be King of Righteousness. Such an expression, applied to any but God, would be blasphemous. Why?

Righteousness is obedience to God's Law. Since God made all laws (James 4:12), He is Supreme Ruler or King. He determines what righteousness is. "All thy commandments are righteousness" (Psalm 119:172). When speaking of one of the points of that Law, Jesus placed Himself superior to it. He is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). No man is Lord or King over God's Law. Only God could be! All human beings have sinned and broken that Law of righteousness (Romans 3:23).

To continue with Hebrews 7. Note, too, that this man was King of peace. "Salem" from which Jerusalem was named means "peace." And remember, Jesus is called the Prince of peace! No human being could be King of Peace. Men know not the way of peace. Read Romans 3:10 and 17: "There is none righteous, no, not one.... And the way of peace have they not known."

Observe further: Melchizedek was "without mother, without father, without descent," or as the Phillips translation renders it: "He had no father or mother and no family tree." He was not born as human beings are. He was without father and mother. This does not mean that Melchizedek's records of birth were lost. Without such records human priests could not serve (Ezra 2:62). But here Melchizedek had no genealogy. He must not have been an ordinary mortal. He had no descent or pedigree from another, but was self-existent. Notice Paul's own inspired interpretation of this fact: "Having neither beginning of days, nor end of life" (Heb. 7:3). Therefore He has always existed from eternity! He was not even created, like angels. But He is now eternally self-existing. And that is true only of GOD deity, not humanity!

Not the Father Nor the Holy Spirit

Yet Melchizedek cannot be God the Father. He was the "priest of that Most High God." Scripture says no man has ever seen the Father (John 1:18, 5:37), but Abraham saw Melchizedek. He cannot be God the Father, but rather, "made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually" (Heb. 7:3).

And there it is! In the days of Abraham, He was not the Son of God, for He had not yet been born of the virgin Mary but He was made like unto the Son of God in His manifestation to the ancients.

Notice again: Melchizedek, this scripture reveals, abides that is, remains permanently, continually, a priest. God the Father is not the Priest of God, but Christ the Son is! Yet, in the days when the Apostle Paul lived and wrote, shortly after Jesus ascended to heaven as High Priest, the scripture states that even then Melchizedek "abideth "which means does now abide-"a priest continually." The Moffatt translation states it: "continues to be priest permanently" even while Jesus Christ is High Priest!

And notice that the order of Christ's Priesthood is named after Melchizedek. It is the High Priest's name that is placed upon an order just as Aaron's name was upon the Aaronic priesthood. Thus Melchizedek was then High Priest, in Paul's day, and even now, and He will rule forever! And at the same time Christ was, is today, and shall be forever High Priest!

Are there two High Priests'? No! Impossible! The conclusion is inescapable. Contrary to many cherished man-thought-out ideas, Melchizedek and Christ are one and the same! Some people have stumbled on the statement that Melchizedek has no "end of life." They contend that since Christ died, He had an end of life! If that be true then Christ is still dead! But Christ is not dead. He is alive. It was not possible for Christ to be held by death (Acts 2:24).

Melchizedek would never have fulfilled His office of High Priest if He had not died for the sins of the people and risen again. It is the function of the High Priest to lead the way to salvation.

Indeed, Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our salvation (Heb. 5:9; 12:2). He is "called of God an high priest after the order of Melchizedec" (Heb. 5:10).

And no wonder. Melchizedek and Christ are one and the same Person!
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The Mystery of MELCHIZEDEK Solved!

Jew hatred in the Church of God

Poor Bernard with his anti-Semitic canard that the Jews didn't accept Yahshua, when if Jews hadn't recognized Yahshua and gathered on Sivan 6 for the proper observance of Shavuot there wouldn't be any Sabbath-keeping Church of God today! This Jew hatred is found among jealous Gentiles and Gentilized Israelites who are in denial and disobedience to the King of the Jews who said the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat of authority - not the Bernards or Myras or others who trespass where they don't belong.

Poor Bernard is miffed because I exposed his fuzzy thinking about the sacred calendar, his willful confusion over the holy issue, when the Bible makes it clear they're part of the oracles of God that God has entrusted to the Jews until the return of the King of the Jews, Shiloh. He must not be used to biblical cross examination of his false ideas. This same Jew-hatred and jealousy he sadly exhibits, with its diversionary tactics and strawmen arguments, is all whitewashed rebellion against the Word and Will of God and led to the demise of the early Church of God's strong Jewish/biblical foundation, when such anti-Semites did all they could to distance themselves from the Jews/Bible and increasingly turned to their own idolatrous ideas and traditions (fuzzy one and all).

Fuzzy thinking Christians

New ideas opposing "law" sprang up as early as 160-320 A.D. Marcion, 2nd century, adopted Matthew 5:17 as key theme to ending God's law and taught that the grace of God superseded it, rejecting the Old Testament.
Several Church Councils from 341 A.D. to 626 A.D. prohibited Christians from celebrating the Sabbath, festivals, and even eating with the Jews. It seemed that the greatest concern with Judaism on the part of Christians leaders was the attraction that it held for Christians. . . . These rules do not come out of bad relations between Jews and Christians (what would now be called, erroneously, antisemitism), but rather were enacted because relations were good and the authorities wanted to separate the two peoples. God has always had a remnant who has followed the Torah.

John Chrysostom, 344-407 A.D., preached: "The Jews ... are worse than wild beasts ... lower than the vilest animals. Debauchery and drunkenness had brought them to the level of the lusty goat and the pig. They know only ... to satisfy their stomachs, to get drunk, to kill and beat each other up ... I hate the Jews ... I hate the Synagogue ... it is the duty of all Christians to hate the Jews.

Origen, 185-254 A.D., was most responsible for changing the way the Church interpreted prophecy, creating the atmosphere in which Christian anti-semitism took root and spread. He developed a new teaching on "legalism" setting the stage throughout history for the term "legalism" becoming synonymous with Judaism and both being condemned. (Legalism is not the following of the Old Testament Torah as is currently defined by some present-day teachings. Webster's Dictionary defines legalism as "the doctrine of salvation by good works."
Christian Hatred and Persecution of the Jews

Romans 3
1What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
3What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? 4Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."

Romans 11
25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."
28As far as the [spiritual] gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as [ethnic] election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.

It's sad to see Bernard (or is it Korah?) call God a liar, in essence, and hatefull spew against the Jews and reject the authority of Christ who publicly acknowledged the authority of the Pharisees.

Matthew 23
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.

Genesis 49:10
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Has the King of the Jews returned to Jerusalem yet? Has he gathered the twelve tribes of Israel to the Promised Land of Israel? No, but He will and note He liberates Jerusalem and Judah first. How that must gall some who have hang-ups about Judah, even though it is written:

God is with the Jews!
Zechariah 8:23"Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'In those days ten men [representatives of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel?] from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.""

Jews to Receive Jesus as Israel's King!


Bernard, it's horribly sad you've refused to notice that it's written in the Book what I testify about, the future of God's Church is in JERUSALEM. Don't you know that's where the Two Witnesses will be and Yahshua will return? Will you oppose His return to Jerusalem and the Jews first because of the hateful spirit that has moved you against our Jewish brethren? Hopefully not.

The Great Mideast Commission: Reaching the Cities of Judah

So there is a physical preparing, as well as a spiritual, in preparing the way for Messiah's Coming! Further, God says we are to SHOUT, with amplified power, to the CITIES OF JUDAH the glad message that the Messiah is soon coming" - Autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong, Volume II, pages 469-470

Israel and Judah Must Get House in Order Before King Messiah Arrives

For Zion's sake,
David Ben-Ariel

http://www.davidbenariel.org/---

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From: bernard b carman To: forwardfuture@yahoogroups.comSubject: [forwardfuture] Fuzzy "Jew" Worship ALERT!Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:50:25 -0400
FACTS:
• FUZZY thinking "Jews" still believe they are somehow superior to the gentiles in Christ -- boy are they wrong!
• the "Jews" have not been faithful to Christ Messiah -- they rejected Him and the veil was torn in two, therefore, Christ is our only intercessor to the Father.
• 1Jo 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
• the "Jews" have no authority whatsoever -- Christ Messiah YHWH has ALL authority!
• everyone in Christ has the authority to be ministers of Christ.
• God's people are to follow Christ, not any man or manmade religion.
• Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes.
WAKE UP -- Shiloh came in the flesh and Judah rejected Him!!!
———
note to owner/moderator of ForwardFuture:
what is the purpose of this group again? how is "Jew"/Judaism worship good for the future of the Church of Christ?
i thought this was a Christian group... is this no longer the case? it seems obvious that since David Ben-Airel arrived here, the group has gone into a very different direction, promoting the worship of a group of people and their manmade religion called "Judaism" who rejected Christ Messiah YHWH and is there for of the spirit of antichrist.
of course, we are all freed in Christ to have different personal understandings of scripture as we are babes growing in Christ, but this is getting a little ridiculous, no?
what posts from David Ben-Airel have contributed in the least toward the future of the Church of God? every time anyone posts something worthy of reading -- like my recent article, God's "Fuzzy" Clock, he comes back with a bunch of posts, twisting scriptures to advance his own agenda of "Jew"/Judaism worship.
if this is the new direction of the Forward Future forum, please confirm this so i can simply leave.
thank you...
8-)
bernard baruch carman

Stop Muslim incitement against Christians and Jews!

Chief Palestinian justice" Sheik Taysir Tamimi can foam at the mouth against the biblical and historical facts that Jerusalem was and is Jewish, hosted two temples of the God of Israel, and will soon be graced with the Third Temple upon the TEMPLE Mount, but reality remains...

Remove the mosques and sweep away Muslim lies!


http://www.davidbenariel.org/

Don't welcome pope to Jerusalem!

Beyond Babylon warns: Beware Roman wolves in sheep's clothing! Europe's New Crusade that has its evil eye on Mount Zion and is after the Temple Mount.

Beyond Babylon warns: Don't be flattered by the pagan pope's proposals for peace! Don't be seduced by his Babylonian charm! Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem is at stake.

Beyond Babylon warns: The German-Jesuit jackboot will stomp Jerusalem!

Never Forget: Yitzhak Rabin was sacrificed by the Israeli oligarchy for their German-Jesuit masters intent on occupying Jerusalem and ripping the heart out of Israel. Watch for them to invoke UN Resolution 181.

Vatican Linked to the Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin?
Mount Zion Coveted by Rome
UN Resolution 181: Blueprint of the Beast?



http://www.davidbenariel.org/

The Two Witnesses and the Church of God

Will the Church of God Welcome the Two Witnesses?
Church of God minister Arlen Berkey, in "The Work of God in the Laodicean Era," makes a statement nobody in God's Church would disagree with: "The whole world will soon know about the two witnesses. They will not be welcome by this world."

The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11
The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11. Who are these two prophets? What do they have to say? Why are they called the two witnesses? How will their message be proclaimed? And is there any special significance to the fact that they're headquartered in Jerusalem?

Two Witnesses to Testify in Jerusalem Against Europe
Two controversial figures, referred to in the Book of Revelation as two witnesses, two olive trees, two candlesticks and two prophets, will boldly declare GOD'S JUDGMENTS and proclaim the LORD'S CONTROVERSY (Micah 3:8; 6:1-2), delivering a BLISTERING MESSAGE and a SCORCHING CONDEMNATION -- just before NUCLEAR FIRE AND BRIMSTONE RAINS DOWN upon those who've rejected GOD'S ULTIMATUM (Isaiah 41:27; 30:27).

www.davidbenariel.org

Herbert W. Armstrong on Jerusalem

Herbert W. Armstrong encouraged the Worldwide Church of God members to focus on Jerusalem. Why? Mr. Armstrong recognized Jerusalem's great importance to God and, by the ways things were going, he obviously felt God would have him fulfill the prophecy given in Isaiah 40:9.

Here is what God's apostle wrote in his "Personal" in the October-November 1980 Plain Truth: "The Arab world wants the Old City of Jerusalem back into Arab control. Some nations contend Jerusalem should be made an international city. But the State of Israel has control, having wrested it from Jordan in the war of 1967.

"What has been happening in Jerusalem since the Israeli takeover in that war?

"I have been somewhat personally involved in events there since that war.

"Immediately after the death of my wife of 50 years, April 15, 1967, I flew to Jerusalem. I had two urgent reasons. I had seriously wanted to buy time on Radio Jerusalem, then owned and operated by he State of Jordan. Also I wanted to get away from Pasadena immediately into a totally different environment to ease the grief of losing the companionship of my beloved wife and partner in God’s work.

"I wanted not only to go on Jerusalem Radio, I wanted to manipulate the increase of its power to 1 million watts to give coverage over the entire Middle East. At Amman, Jordan, and in Jerusalem, in conference with the Jordanian government and its radio management, I arranged for a price for a choice time on an extended contract whereby our monthly payments for that time would finance the Jordan government in the purchase of German Telefunken equipment to boost the station power to this maximum wattage. It was one of the largest contracts for purchase of radio time ever signed.

"On Sunday morning, June 4, 1967, I left my home on our campus in England for London airport to fly to Amman to broadcast in person that evening, the first broadcast on this new contract. En route to the airport we heard on the car radio the sensational news that the Six Day War had started early that morning. No planes were allowed to get through to Beirut or to Amman. My broadcast on Jerusalem Radio never got started. By the following Friday, June 9, the Old City of Jerusalem was in Israeli hands….

"A message (Isaiah 40:9-10) is yet to go by a servant of God to the cities of Judah. In whatever way God wills, it shall go." [Emphasis mine]

A Jewish Homeland

Israel Work History (Worldwide Church of God)

Miriam Weiss: Holocaust Survivor and Kibbutz Mother

Herbert W Armstrong and Worldwide Church of God Mentioned in Israeli Newspaper

Hanukkah on the Temple Mount

The Great Mideast Commission: Reaching the Cities of Judah

Christian Zionists, Jews, and Israel

When Caesar Plays God: When the State Oversteps its Bounds

Exposing the German-Vatican Plot to Occupy Jerusalem

Paint Israel Black: Jews to Lose Jerusalem!

Woe to Ariel! (Jerusalem to Suffer EU Occupation)

UN Resolution 181: Blueprint of the Beast?

Europe to Take Out Iran For Jerusalem

EU to Conquer Anglo-Saxons and Jews

Stephen Flurry's response to Judean Voice ad

Christians Reject "Palestine" for the Promised Land of Israel

EUROPE'S NEW CRUSADE: "PEACE" FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

Barry Chamish on youtube by Jewishrage

Barry Chamish Radio Interview 9/18/07

Barry Chamish Radio Interview 9/5/07

Barry Chamish part 1

Barry Chamish part 2

Barry Chamish part 3

Israel's Chief Rabbi Invites Foreign Occupation

Israel's Chief Rabbi Invites Foreign Occupation
By David Ben-Ariel

UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE!

Israel's Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yonah Metzger, has met with the Dalai Lama of Tibet (an alleged Buddhist god) and Metzger "suggested that representatives of the world's religions establish a United Nations in Jerusalem, representing religions instead of nations, like the UN currently based in New York.

"Instead of planning for nuclear war and buying tanks and fighter jets, it will invest in peace," Israel National News reports. Apparently a peace apart from the biblical blueprint, without proper repentance, and based upon misguided human efforts easily manipulated for political purposes.

Has the chief rabbi gone mad? Is Rabbi Metzger now a rabid meshuggah? Has God hardened his heart against Jerusalem and Israel to invite such disaster? Isn't the rabbi aware of the prophecies that warn about the world's evil eye upon Jerusalem, and how they covet the Temple Mount? What next, a rush visit by the Bavarian pope to vie for his attention seeking to gain a better position in the "New Jerusalem"?

Doesn't Yonah Metzger know he should be promoting the Third Temple, a biblical House of Prayer for All Nations interested in learning about the God of Jacob, learning Torah and repenting of idolatrous traditions - not for arriving to teach foreign ideas or bring strange ways to the Holy Land in the perverse spirit of Babylon.

Such nations must humble themselves to come up to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles) -- not to engage in some interfaith orgy! The unacceptable alternative of the proposed religious UN, a modern Tower of Babel, must be condemned and rejected as an entirely unclean idea, a diabolical grand design, that would pollute the Holy City with the arrival of their Grand Master, a sorcerer-magician, a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Has Metzger gone over to the other side, seduced by the Babylonian Catholic Church (with its treacherous agents like David Rosen) that aims on crowning their universal king on Mt. Zion? Isn't he opening up the floodgates of hell by summoning "The World Council of Religious Leaders" to take up wicked residence in Jerusalem, to make the City of the Great King their unholy headquarters, invoking UN Resolution 181? Are they making alliances with alien organizations like United Religions Initiative that appear like light-bringers but hide a spiritual darkness that Nimrod would revel in?

This nightmare in the making brings Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's prediction of January 16, 1962 to mind: "...With the exception of the USSR as a federated Eurasian state, all other continents will become united in a world alliance, at whose disposal will be an international police force. All armies will be abolished, and there will be no more wars. In Jerusalem, the United Nations (a truly United Nations) will build a Shrine of the Prophets to serve the federated union of all continents; this will be the seat of the Supreme Court of Mankind, to settle all controversies among the federated continents, as prophesied by Isaiah." (emphasis mine)

Isaiah didn't prophecy of any such godless scheme that is a dangerous counterfeit of the Temple of God -- not a "shrine of the prophets." How humanist, yet undoubtedly appealing as a pretty platitude and harmless plan to interfaith fools.

The prophet Daniel does expose the Third Temple will be polluted by Europe's wannabe divine emperor until King Messiah returns from Heaven (in full view of all mankind) and destroys such demonic activities, purifies Jerusalem and cleanses the Temple!

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.

Dalai Lama Nazi-trained?

Dalai Lama's Nazi friends

The Future of Jerusalem

Jerusalem, although holy to three major religions, is a city of seemingly endless strife with no equitable solutions. What does the future hold for this long-troubled city?

by Beyond Today host Gary Petty

Where is wise King Solomon when we need him? Where is the voice of reason, the voice of fairness, that can at last bring peace to the bloodstained streets of Jerusalem?

For Jews, Jerusalem is the City of David, the capital of a glorious past where Solomon's Temple stood as the great house built to honor the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For Christians it is the site of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, the Savior of humanity. It was here that Jesus was crucified by the Romans and rose from the dead three days and three nights later just as He had foretold. To Muslims it is the site of the holy Dome of the Rock.

When Abraham, the father of both the Jews and the Arabs, traveled the land of Canaan as a wandering nomad, this city was already well known. Caravans from the civilizations that sprung up along the Tigris, the Euphrates and the Nile wound their way to Jerusalem.

Abraham's descendants: key players in the story

The God of the Hebrew Scriptures promised Abraham and Sarah a son, but as the years wore on and the couple remained barren, it seemed that God would not fulfill His promise. Struggling with the seeming impossibility of having a child, they devised a plan to produce the promised heir through a surrogate mother.

Sarah gave to Abraham her servant girl Hagar, and from that union Ishmael, the father of many Arab nations, was born.

But God had other plans, and eventually Abraham and Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac. Ishmael was driven into the wilderness and the seeds of future strife between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael were sown.

Two generations later another family feud, this time between the two sons of Isaac—Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, and Esau—would create further bad blood in Abraham's family lineage.

The descendants of Jacob, the Israelites, ended up spending a long time in Egyptian slavery, only to be led back to Canaan by Moses. A few centuries later, around 1,000 B.C., Israel's renowned King David captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites. David's son Solomon, known for his great wisdom, reigned for 40 years during Israel's golden age.

Jerusalem's bloody history

After Solomon's death, Israel was torn by civil strife and divided into two competing nations, with Jerusalem serving as the capital of the southern kingdom known as Judah. In 586 B.C. the Babylonians destroyed the City of David, and it fell to a future generation of Jews to rebuild it under the direction of men like Ezra and Nehemiah. This was during the period of Persian dominion, which was followed by Greek rule.

Jewish independence again flourished temporarily under the Maccabees, and the splendid temple was later disassembled and reconstructed by Herod the Great. But Roman legions brought Roman domination, and endless conflict between the fiercely independent Jews and Romans eventually led to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in A.D. 70.

But the city never completely disappeared. Occupied by Arab Muslims, it was the focal point of the Crusades in the Middle Ages as Europeans tried to restore Christian control over the Holy Land. Though temporarily successful, Jerusalem fell back under Muslim control for the next seven centuries.

In the 20th century the United Nations attempted to mediate a peaceful solution to the city always at the crossroads of strife. In 1948, with the world trying to dig itself out of the rubble of World War II, the United Nations created a Jewish homeland for the tens of thousands of survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. Yet immediately open warfare broke out between Jew and Arab, with Jerusalem once more at the center of the conflict.

An Israeli victory brought a reprieve, but no real peace. War exploded again in 1956, 1967 and 1973 as the children of Abraham wreaked havoc on each other. The Israelis have maintained a tenuous hold on Jerusalem since 1967 in spite of attempts by many to make it an international city. But they have allowed Arab Muslims to remain in control of the Temple Mount.

Jerusalem's astounding future

Jerusalem plays a very important role in both biblical history and in the fulfillment of future biblical prophecy.

Jesus told His disciples that He would visibly return there. In a prophecy He gave while overlooking Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives on the city's east side, He explained that "immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:29-30).

To where exactly will Jesus return? The Old Testament prophet Zechariah was inspired to write: "Behold, the day of the Lord is coming . . . For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

"Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east" (Zechariah 14:1-4; compare Acts 1:9-12).

It's one of the great paradoxes of history that for the Prince of Peace to bring an end to violence and strife, He has to fight a war. Mankind will initially see Jesus Christ not as the Savior, but as an invader. And it's in the area around Jerusalem that this cataclysmic battle will take place.

Jerusalem will then become the capital city of one world government, not organized by the United Nations or similar organization, but established by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. GN

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Recommended Reading
Why have Jerusalem and the wider Middle East so long been a trouble spot? The roots of their ancient antagonisms go all the way back to Genesis. But the strife won't go on forever. Bible prophecy reveals a glorious future for Jerusalem. You need to know how events in the Middle East will affect you! Request or download your free copy of The Middle East in Bible Prophecy.

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Thank you, Good News magazine, for the article about "The Future of Jerusalem," as it is important to focus on Jerusalem.

Please note that Jerusalem is important to Muslims primarily because of the Al-Aksa mosque (allegedly "the farthest mosque" mentioned in the Koran) - not the Dome of the Rock - that presently occupies the Temple Mount (that prophecy promises will soon be restored as the Temple Mount).

Speaking of Mideast wars, the article claims "the children of Abraham wreaked havoc on each other." Isn't that a vain attempt at moral equivalency to avoid offending who? God? The Arabs? The Muslims? While alienating Jews and Israelis? Such a comment is as inaccurate as stating the Allies and Axis powers wreaked havoc on each other - fearful to place blame and responsibility where it primarily belongs.

There will be peace in the Middle East - peace through strength, not weakness - when both individuals and nations are forced, as necessary, to submit to the Word and Will of God that recognizes it's the Promised Land of Israel - not Ishmael - and that Christ (Yeshua) is first and foremost the King of the Jews, the King of Israel, and nations are prepared to learn about the God of Jacob (not Esau).

The Great Mideast Commission: Reaching the Cities of Judah

Warning the Jews

Jews Must Demand Rights to Temple Mount

UN Resolution 181: Blueprint of the Beast?

A House of Prayer for All Peoples?

Israel's Unjust Deportation of David Ben-Ariel

Why Edward Abington, Jr. Must be Investigated!

Blow Up the Mosques or An Expired Visa?

Dangerous Ideas?

From Toledo to Jerusalem

Yom Kippur at Sdot Yam

Yom Kippur at Sdot Yam

Mon., Oct. 9, '89/9:30 p.m.

Kibbutz Sdot Yam

Today was Yom Kippur, so I begin to write on a "clean slate," beginning with synagogue services (2 1/2 hrs.) last night to usher in this holiest of Jewish days.

I mainly went for the experience, as well as spiritual solidarity with my people (God's Church & the Jews) around the world. I read & sang only about a tithe of the service - amazed that I could keep up in Hebrew I'd never read before.

With me were other ulpanistim [Hebrew students] who elected to fast - mainly, I believe, for the experience or test or show-off of will-power. God alone knows. I scanned the faces of all those assembled in the make-shift synagogue with mixed emotions and an alien distance.

Tradition - even empty, hollow, shallow - has assisted Jewry to preserve this Day, however imperfectly; yet I also couldn't help but think of God & Kahane who might dismiss such "worship" as vain and such "devotions" as void. Liberal, Hellenist, humanists who have nothing to do with God and are ignorant of or deny His Word as a general rule, as hypocritical & unacceptable as professing Christianity on the pagan days of Christmas and Easter - temporarily becoming "religious" or sickly kind...Nevertheless, may we all ultimately worship the One True God and His Son, in spirit & in truth. G'mar hateemah tovah! [Be inscribed for good in the Book].

During this relatively easy fast today, I laid in bed & read & read The Good News magazine, meditated on life, my past, present and potential future. I prayed & asked for forgiveness and clarity of mind & purpose with patience to overcome sins and achieve success in this spiritual struggle, resolving to start again to abstain from alcohol and stop going to our kibbutz pub on erev Shabbat [Sabbath evening]. Today I really missed Church services and fellowship with the brethren, remembering our divine camaraderie.

My goals were to spend 3 wks. in Florida with Steve & Bob, also to change my name to David Ben-Ariel, 18 days in Europe with Mom & Lisa, make aliyah to Israel and join an ulpan (intensive Hebrew language course]. So far, so good. Now I must decide - God help me - to continue immediately the ulpan in ketah bet [class b - next level] somewhere, or temporarily suspend Hebrew to earn money on a moshav... Presently I'm reading Hannah Senesh - Her Life and Diaries. The first 50 pages I found so boring and forced myself to read what seemed like fabricated Jewish propaganda - the girl seemed too good to be true, nauseatingly a goody-two-shoes. Now I'm enjoying it more since she's mentioned historic events, like Hitler, etc.

I've wondered if perhaps the helplessness and hopelessness I've experienced in returning to God is part of His punishment to cause me to think twice before going astray again - not that He's ever forgotten or forsaken me, just letting me wallow for awhile in my own mire. Thank God I'm convinced of His Calling, Purpose & Interest in my life or I would have died ages ago. Mrs. Corpus once commented on how God had given me that gift of FAITH.

I must fulfill my personal destiny as a Son of Jerusalem, publish my poems, chart called PRIEST-KING - The Twin Pillars of Israel, & book THE GRAND DESIGN [since published as Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall]. I must, Lord-willing, RESTORE our Jewish-Christian presence in Jerusalem & Israel, significant since I'm of Bet David [House of David].

We received our first official rain the other day.

Hannah S. wrote: "When anyone in Hungary spoke of Zionism five or even 2 years ago, Jewish public opinion condemned him as a traitor of Hungary, laughed at him, considered him a mad visionary, and under no circumstances heard him out." Reminded me of how I too, subject to ridicule or suspicion, am a pioneer for God's Church here in the Mideast. Mr. Fiedler [one of my former ministers in the Worldwide Church of God] had said once about my "activist" activities (of writing to The Blade, my beliefs & actions) that I was so "unorthodox" - I countered so was Mr. Armstrong, and like him, would go it alone if necessary, convinced of the rightness of my convictions. Later, somewhat angry or frustrated, he said, "Why can't you just be like everyone else who goes to the Mideast for the Feast [of Tabernacles], is satisfied and returns? Why do you have to always make inroads?" I said what he called "inroads" I considered "open doors" that I never sought nor pushed open, but walked thru in faith, and that I simply believed what the Church taught, that I'm descended in part from Bet David & therefore choose to return to my ancient Homeland of the Jews - Israel. He said he was German but didn't feel he had to move to Germany. I said that was his prerogative.

Earlier, he & Mr. Gilbert [his associate pastor] gently cautioned me not to appear so Jewish that I'd give people a wrong impression of the Church - like saying Shabbat Shalom, etc. I thanked them for their concern, commented I was already aware of the need to be balanced, but also that God had used my understanding of the Mideast to become all things to Jews & Arabs, more so than others in the Congregation. Then when H.Q.'s forbade my Mideast Feast attendance indefinitely, fearing I might misrepresent the Church (as a homosexual) [due to one complaint about me during the Feast in Jordan that contradicted the biblical procedure of Matthew 18:15-17, as Mr. Gilbert noted], it further encouraged me to think a separation was due [like the US was driven to separate from England after a series of injustices], a different work to be accomplished [with a God-given focus on Jerusalem and the Jews].

Years before I was sent back home from Israel, strongly encouraged to do so, and was to await a minister resident in Israel to "supervise" my "activities." [Church elder Carl Fields commented to me, "Are they setting a precedent?"] I've waited 7 years, Grandpa has now died, I've received my inheritance, toured Europe and now, almost 30 (potentially significant), am living in Israel studying Hebrew! I have felt drawn to Israel, desire to become a part of this ancient but young nation's history, and fulfill, ultimately, my destiny in Jerusalem.

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.

The Atlantic Times attacks Israel

Israel's Only Way Out: Follow Kahane!
by David Ben-Ariel

Israel must make concessions, Israel must do this, Israel must do that, while the Arabs continue to get away with mass murder and terrorism (while promising peace and feigning ignorance), aided and abetted by the international community.

The Atlantic Times repeats the list of delusional demands upon the Jewish homeland in "The Only Way Out: A Stringent Policy of Peace" that completely ignores history and the facts on the ground: Israel has no peace partners; Israel has no peace but only an ongoing war of attrition; the entire lying "peace process" is all part of the phased destruction of Israel that the Israelis have insanely enabled to continue. This harsh reality will soon blow up in the faces of those who have chosen to remain in a state of denial, repeating the big lie of Palestine as the proffered solution.

"Israel must reach an understanding with Syria," drones the asinine article written by a German Jew in a self-imposed exile from the Promised Land of Israel (contrary to Judaism), and then exposes such an "understanding" amounts to total Israeli surrender of the biblical territories of the Golan Heights (inheritance of Manasseh, son of Joseph) for more worthless promises and toilet paper agreements.

"The Jewish state must completely pull out of the occupied territories, abandon the settlements there and recognize East Jerusalem as the future Palestinian capital."

If Rafael Seligmann, the suicidal author, wants to slit his own throat or offer his head to the Nazi-Muslims, so be it. However, such murderous slander against biblical Judea and Samaria (occupied by covetous Arabs), such hateful incitement against Jewish pioneering communities (let RS take an armed stroll through the destroyed Jewish towns near Gaza, victims of Judenrein policies), and such treacherous talk against Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, must not be tolerated! A self-respecting Jewish country would rebuke such nonsense (whether its from writers or world leaders) and unequivocally reject such an invitation for disaster.

Shame on Seligmann for his defeatist bile that spewed, "Now that the military option has been exhausted, Israel must safeguard its future through a brave policy of peace." What a schizophrenic statement! Israel has never truly utilized their military option but have always been restrained by world opinion and lucrative bribes.

If the Israelis won't properly defend themselves, they can never enjoy peace but will suffer open season against Israeli men, women, children and babies in strollers with further calls for appeasement and surrender. The German-Jesuit EU knows this full well, and wait in the wings to occupy Jerusalem as "peacekeepers." However, the EU is not a savior but a destroyer. The Vatican purposely exploits the Arab-Jewish conflict to breach Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem and will soon influence agents to invoke the accursed UN Resolution 181.

The aforementioned "Seligmann Column" of Jewish self-loathing, deliberate deceit and shameful collaboration with hostile elements, crumbles when examined in the brilliant light of history and the Bible: The Israelis were offered the only way out when Meir Kahane, rabbi and former Knesset Member, reminded them of the Law of Moses that teaches peace through strength, treating sworn enemies like sworn enemies and restoring the Temple Mount (Judaism's holiest site) as the Temple Mount without apology or hesitation (Malachi 4:4).

It's past time the Israelis come to their senses and acknowledge Kahane was right and succeed, following the direction of the Torah, or the Jews will continue to suffer escalating consequences for disobedience and Jerusalem will suffer defeat (Daniel 9:11).

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.

Preparing Jerusalem for Its King

Preparing Jerusalem for Its King

by Stephen Flurry May 2007

With hands-on help from Herbert W. Armstrong College students, 3,000 years of buried history is coming to life in Jerusalem. God is, even now, preparing the very spot from which Jesus Christ will rule the world during the Millennium. As part of its ongoing intifada against Israel, radical Islam is fighting fiercely on the intellectual battlefront as well—especially regarding Israel’s historical ties to Jerusalem. According to a new book by Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Yasser Arafat preposterously claimed to President Clinton at the 2000 Camp David summit that Solomon’s temple was not in Jerusalem (The Fight for Jerusalem). Two years later, in a newspaper interview, Arafat further advanced the myth, claiming that Solomon’s temple wasn’t even in Palestine. According to Gold, temple denial “quickly became a new Palestinian dogma that was even repeated, with the firmest conviction, by Western-educated Palestinian officials who are assiduously courted by the international media” (ibid., emphasis mine throughout). In an article titled “Reclaiming Biblical Jerusalem,” Rachel Ginsberg wrote about the territorial gains Palestinian propaganda has also made in the field of academia. “For a growing number of academics and intellectuals, King David and his united kingdom of Judah and Israel, which has served for 3,000 years as an integral symbol of the Jewish nation, is simply a piece of fiction. The biblical account of history has been dismissed as unreliable by a cadre of scholars, some of whom have an overtly political agenda, arguing that the traditional account was resurrected by the Zionists to justify dispossessing Palestinian Arabs” (Aish.com, Nov. 6, 2005). This revisionist history has even been accepted by certain Israeli scholars, Ginsberg noted: “Israel Finkelstein, chairman of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Archaeology, began championing a theory several years ago that the biblical accounts of Jerusalem as the seat of a powerful, unified monarchy under the rule of David and Solomon are essentially false. … He concluded that David and Solomon, if they existed at all, were merely ‘hill-country chieftains’ and Jerusalem a poor, small tribal village. He claims that the myth of King David was the creation of a cult of priests trying to create for themselves a glorious history.” This trend toward historical revisionism is what makes the most recent excavations of Dr. Eilat Mazar so controversial. Since 2005, she and her team of archeologists have been unearthing a massive stone structure from the original Jerusalem, called the City of David in the Bible (visit theTrumpet.com to read “King David’s Palace Found?” in our March 2006 issue). Mazar believes she has found King David’s place of residence—the royal palace. Because of her discovery, Gold wrote in his book, “The ‘minimalists’ had suffered yet another blow. Jerusalem, under the united monarchy of David and Solomon, could no longer be credibly characterized as a minor village” (op. cit.). Since October of last year, Herbert W. Armstrong College has had the honor of jointly participating with Dr. Mazar’s crew on the Jerusalem dig. Three of our volunteer students returned from the site in March. We plan to increase our involvement in Jerusalem over the summer. Here we will look at the City of David—past, present and future—and show you how Armstrong College, in a very practical, hands-on way, is helping to prepare Jerusalem for the return of Jesus Christ to this Earth! The City of David Before King David established Israel’s capital in Jerusalem, the city was a Jebusite stronghold (Joshua 15:8). When David became king in the 10th century b.c., he detested the thought of an enemy fortress retaining its location right in the middle of Israel’s territory. And so, after seven years of ruling from Hebron, David’s army attacked the Jebusite city. The Jebusites were so certain they could defend against David’s attack that they taunted the young king—saying even the blind and lame could defend the city (2 Samuel 5:6). David challenged his military generals, saying whoever captured the stronghold would be given command of the armies in the field. So Joab proceeded to lead a sneak attack by climbing up into the fortified city through a water conduit, resulting in its capture (verses 7-8). “So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him” (verses 9-10). And so the kingdom of Israel under David’s reign became a world-ruling empire, according to the Bible. But revisionist historians claim this account overstates the significance of David’s reign. For some, the biblical version is little more than a fable. The Bible says the king of Tyre built David a palace after he had conquered the Jebusite fortress and turned it into the City of David—or Jerusalem (verse 11). “But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the [strong]hold”—or, the fortress (verse 17). This verse had a profound impact on Eilat Mazar’s mind while she prepared for the dig. “The Bible says that David heard about it and ‘descended to the fortress,’” Ginsberg wrote in her article, “implying that he went down from his palace, which was higher up on the mountain than the citadel/city.” She then quoted Dr. Mazar: “I always asked myself: Down from where? It must have been from his palace on top of the hill, outside the original Jebusite city.” Many archeologists had assumed that David’s palace must have been located within the walled city. But why would the king of Israel build his royal palace inside the cramped city walls of the old Jebusite fortress, Mazar wondered? The old city was only about 9 square acres in size. Relying on the history recorded in 2 Samuel 5:17, however, it made sense. Once David heard about the Philistines’ approach, he left his palace at the peak of Mount Zion and “went down” to the stronghold—entered the walled city, in other words. So Mazar started digging immediately north of the City of David, right at the top of Mount Zion. And after just one season of digging, she discovered a massive wall, up to 10 feet wide in some places, and running 100 feet in length, east to west. This scenario makes sense even looking at Jerusalem today. Just north of Mount Zion is Mount Moriah, where Solomon, David’s son, built the first temple, located on what is called the Temple Mount today. So when David captured the Jebusite stronghold and made it Israel’s capital, he later expanded the city northward, building his own palace adjacent to the walled city, at the top of Mount Zion. Then, to the mount just north of there, Solomon constructed a magnificent house for God. And that’s about how Jerusalem remained for the next four centuries. During the first phase of the dig in 2005, Dr. Mazar found a bulla, or clay disc used to seal scrolls, with the inscription “Yehuchal” on it. This is the name of the Judean prince mentioned in Jeremiah 37:3 (Jehucal), indicating that Judean royalty ruled from the palace David built for more than four centuries—right up to Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 585 b.c. “For me, finding the bulla was tremendous,” Mazar explained. “Yehuchal was no longer just some name in a biblical account that I might not even have been sure was true. He was a real person. We now have his business card. The account is a real account. It is very rare to find such precise evidence for a narrative in the Bible. … Today the scholarly approach to Tanach [the Bible] is that it’s not true unless you can prove it true. Maybe we should do a little reverse. Why don’t we say it’s true unless we can prove otherwise?” How refreshing—a scholar who operates on the assumption that what the Bible says is actually true. Jerusalem in “Heaps” In ancient Israel, God had placed His name in Jerusalem (2 Kings 21:1-4). But after evil kings introduced all sorts of abominable practices within the temple, God promised to cast off this city and the temple (2 Kings 23:27). And, of course, that is exactly what happened. About 130 years after Israel’s captivity at the hands of the Assyrians, God caused the Jews also to be driven out of their land into captivity and slavery. God prophesied through His servant Jeremiah, “And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant” (Jeremiah 9:11). The Hebrew word for “heaps” in this verse means heap after heap of ruins—or waves of ruins. The Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem was so thorough that very little remained of the ancient city. (See also Jeremiah 26:18 and Micah 3:12.) Seventy years after Jerusalem was destroyed, about 50,000 Jews returned in order to rebuild the ruined city. This history is recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. This time, the city of Jerusalem and the second temple weren’t nearly as impressive as the first ones. Nevertheless, this rebuilt city remained intact for about 300 years—until the second century b.c. during the Maccabean Revolt. During that period, the Syrians had gained control of much of Judah—and the Jews, led by Simon of the Maccabean brothers, set out to remove the Syrians entirely from the region. According to Jewish historian Josephus, the last Syrian stronghold to fall during the Maccabean Wars was the citadel fortress on top of Mount Zion. Simon cut off supply lines into the city in order to starve its inhabitants into submission. “He [Simon] also took the citadel of Jerusalem by siege,” Josephus relates, “and cast it down to the ground, that it might not be any more a place of refuge to their enemies when they took it, to do them a mischief, as it had been till now. And when he had done this, he thought it their best way, and most for their advantage, to level the very mountain itself upon which the citadel happened to stand, that so the temple might be higher than it.” Simon convinced the Jews of the necessity of the project, and the people went to work. “[S]o they all set themselves to the work, and leveled the mountain, and in that work spent both day and night without intermission, which cost them three whole years before it was removed, and brought to an entire level with the plain of the rest of the city. After which the temple was the highest of all the buildings, now the citadel, as well as the mountain whereon it stood, were demolished” (Antiquities of the Jews, xiii, vi, 7). And so, to this day, there appears to be one mountain—where the Temple Mount is located (Mount Moriah)—and the topography slopes downward from there, heading south. This history covered by Josephus is important for a couple reasons. First, after Mount Zion was leveled off, it was essentially left desolate for generations to come as Jerusalem construction and expansion essentially pushed northward and westward. As Herbert W. Armstrong wrote, “It is significant that few buildings now stand on the multiple-acre area of the original Jerusalem, now being excavated”—referring to an excavation of the area his organization was part of in 1969 (Plain Truth, April 1969). Second, by removing the top of Mount Zion, Simon and the Jews essentially spent three whole years getting rid of the heaps that God had prophesied to send upon the ancient city. With that in mind, consider this comment from Ginsberg: “What most amazed Mazar was how close the building is to the surface—just 1 to 2 meters underground. ‘The cynics kept saying, there will be so many layers, so many remnants of other cultures, it’s not worth digging, it’s too far down. I was shocked at how easy it was to uncover it, and how well-preserved it was, as if it were just waiting 3,000 years for us to find it,’ Mazar said.” Dr. Mazar conveyed this same amazement to me when I spoke with her in Jerusalem last year. “We only dug down a couple meters,” she said, “and we went back 3,000 years in time!” Project Delays Ginsberg also wrote about the trouble Dr. Mazar had in getting this project up and running. “More than 10 years ago, Mazar proposed a solid thesis as to the location of the palace, and argued her position in a piece published in Biblical Archaeological Review. … Despite her sound hypothesis and impeccable credentials, she couldn’t find any financial backers, as if no one in the academic world really wanted to find David’s palace. It would just be too politically complicated. It’s no wonder, when even mainstream archaeologists are inclined to play down finds which might be considered too highly charged with biblical or historical accuracy. … “Despite the seeming indifference from the academic world, Mazar’s proposal finally found a sponsor in the Shalem Center, an academic center in Jerusalem that recently established an institute for archaeological studies, and was funded by Roger Hertog, an American Jewish investment banker who told the New York Times that he fronted the dig because he wants to encourage scientific support for the Bible as a reflection of Jewish history.” So Dr. Mazar was all ready to proceed with the project in 1995, but had to wait 10 years until she could find someone to fund the project. The ancient ruins from the Davidic Empire were waiting under just a couple meters of dirt. Perhaps God delayed the project just long enough for Armstrong College to become a partner. When I first met with Dr. Mazar last August to see if she would be interested in using our volunteers, she told us the plan was to begin phase two of the dig in September but said there had already been numerous delays. When I called her two days later, she was extremely excited. Apparently, plans to begin phase two were suddenly progressing rapidly. In January, while visiting our three volunteers on the job in Jerusalem, I met with Dr. Mazar again; this time she said that after phase two ended in March, a third phase would begin soon after, without delay. This summer schedule for the dig worked out perfectly for our expanded involvement, since class will be out of session at Armstrong College. This is an incredible opportunity for Armstrong College—but not merely because of the history that is being uncovered. The most important aspect of this archeological project has to do with the future of that city. God Shall Yet Choose Jerusalem We have already noted certain prophecies where God said He would pile “heaps” upon Jerusalem—which He did. But God has also prophesied to “choose Jerusalem again” (Zechariah 2:12; see also Zechariah 1:17). Notice what Mr. Armstrong wrote to co-workers in 1968, when he sent Ambassador College students to volunteer at the Temple Mount excavations in Jerusalem, under the direction of Benjamin Mazar, Eilat’s grandfather. He said God had commissioned His people to “clean up the filth and rubble in that area that was the original Jerusalem and City of David (actually several acres of ground—this is a major operation of excavation)” (Dec. 10, 1968). And why is this important? Mr. Armstrong asked. “Because Christ has said He will yet choose Jerusalem, and make it the capital city of the whole World Tomorrow! Jesus is coming in all the supernatural power and glory to rule the world. His throne will be there. Do you not suppose it will be in the very spot He chose for David’s throne? Jesus is to sit on David’s throne! Where was David’s throne? It was on this very spot where we are now cleaning up and hauling off the rubble of century after century of accumulation! And even David is to be resurrected! That is the spot we are cleaning up! So there is a physical preparing, as well as spiritual, in preparing the way for Messiah’s coming! Further, God says we are to shout, with amplified power, to the cities of Judah the glad message that the Messiah is soon coming. This is leading to the opportunity to do this (Isaiah 40:1-11).” Mr. Armstrong said they were cleaning up the “very spot” where David’s throne was located, but actually they weren’t—they were just a little ways north of that spot, on Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount). He did indicate a desire for the volunteers to work their way down toward the City of David, but they never made it that far. God left that for us to do. And as Mr. Armstrong indicated in that letter, this all leads into the wonderful World Tomorrow when Christ will rule this Earth (Jeremiah 3:16-17) from the throne of David: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32-33). Mr. Armstrong wrote, “How remarkable that this scriptural prediction says plainly that the messianic future world ruler—long, long looked for by many if not most Jews—is to reign on the throne of David!” (Plain Truth, op. cit.). City on a Hill This magazine has often referred to the very next prophesied event to occur in Jerusalem—the division of the city between Jews and Arabs, referred to in Zechariah 14:1-2, and how that event will lead directly to the return of Jesus Christ to this Earth. “Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south” (verses 3-4). The Mount of Olives is across the Valley of Jehoshaphat, directly east of the Temple Mount and Mount Zion. Verse 5 continues, “And ye shall flee to the valley [or through the valley] of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” TheJamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary says the mountains mentioned here could be referring to the two mounts—Mount Moriah and Mount Zion. Notice verse 10: “All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.” Here is how Lange’s Commentary explains this verse: “The whole land is to be leveled to a plain in order that Jerusalem may be elevated, and then the holy city is to be restored to its former grandeur. … In consequence of this depression of all the surrounding country, Jerusalem becomes high.” In other words, the Jerusalem excavations will continue right on into the Millennium. “The capital seated on her hills shines conspicuous as the only elevation in a very wide region,” says Lange. Jerusalem, in a very literal sense, will be a city that is set on a hill (Matthew 5:14). “And it shall come to pass in the last days,” the Prophet Isaiah wrote, “that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2). How wonderful are the prophecies of God! Yes, there is a great spiritual excavation going on in preparation for Christ’s return (see Amos 9:11-12). But as Mr. Armstrong brought out in his 1968 letter, there is also a physical preparing for the Messiah’s appearance. “If the spot of the original throne of David is, in fact, to be the coming seat of world government, then all that accumulated debris of century after century must be cleared off before that event can occur! Exciting?” Mr. Armstrong asked (Plain Truth, op. cit.). “Beyond words to describe, it is!” ******************* I'm very happy to see God's Church has again been restored to Jerusalem, to a degree, by participating in archaeological digs like we did under the direction of Herbert W. Armstrong. I've called upon the Church of God to do this for years, and taken our leaders to task, reminding them of Herbert W. Armstrong's words concerning this part of the Great Commission too many had forgotten or woefully neglected. It's a start - or rather a resumption of the Work in Israel! The Great Mideast Commission: Reaching the Cities of Judah Jews to Receive Jesus as Israel's King! Israel and Judah Must Get House in Order Before King Messiah Arrives