Scott Moore: Welcome to the "Building Faith and Family" podcast with Steve Demme. I'm your host, Scott Moore. Thanks for joining us today. Good morning, Steve. How are you today?

Steve: Well, spring is in full tilt out here. I've cut the grass a couple times now. Six o'clock I was up with the sun, and my puppies and I had an early walk, and then I've been in the scriptures having a wonderful time. How are you?

Scott: Good. I've also cut the grass a couple times. I don't get up with the sun though. Steve: I was listening to Andrew Pudewa at a recent conference, and he was talking about how it does something to your circadian rhythms if you get up with the sun and go outside or get some sun on you and it helps set your body clock, and then you go to bed on the proper time.

Scott: Fake news.

Steve: (laughs)

Steve: All right. We're going to do part 2 on Jerusalem. There is so much in the Bible on Jerusalem. I'm just going to mention that I did some more homework today and Jerusalem is mentioned 643 times in the Hebrew.

I say Hebrew because there are 26 times, mostly in Ezra where it's mentioned, but with an Aramaic flavor. Ezra, Daniel, 26 more times. The word Zion, which oftentimes means Jerusalem, is 153 times. In the New Testament, and this is what I found very curious, two times in Matthew, about 11 times in all of Paul's writings. Even Revelation, it's only three times, but Luke, who it appears, wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts, of the 77 times its mentioned the New Testament, he uses it 64 times. Isn't that fascinating? 27 times in Luke and 37 times in Acts, the name Jerusalem is used.

This whole idea of Jerusalem goes all through the scriptures. The biggest thing that I felt like God put on my heart as I was contemplating this a couple days ago was we need to line up our thinking with what God likes and loves.

God loves His people. God also loves Jerusalem. It's clear in these passages we'll be reading here. I think that in most of Christendom, there has been something that has been like a magnet that draws people, who are believers, to Jerusalem. I never thought about it before I was a believer, but after you become a believer, there's a desire to go to Israel, and be in Jerusalem, to see this land. I think it's because it's a divine magnet. It's something that God has placed inside of us. It's like this is our home. This is where we belong. This is where we're going to end up.

This is where the culmination of this age is going to happen right there in that land and specifically in that city, which we'll see from scripture. Before we jump in and read through some passages and make some comments, let's pray.

Father, here we are, and we're not just here to fill up notebooks and to learn things. We're here to learn about You, and this is Your city. You love this place. You love that geographical location. I don't believe it's a spiritual Jerusalem.

I believe that that place where rocks and dirt and water and fields and trees, something about that place that is unique and special to God. I pray that You'll make it special to us as we listen. Give us open hearts. Teach us by Your word and by Your Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.

Scott: Amen.

Steve: One of the last verses we read was Isaiah 62:6‑7, which says, "O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls. They will pray day and night continually. You that are Jehovah's remembrancers, take no rest and give Him no rest till He establish, until He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." I would say right now Jerusalem is not a praise in the earth.

I would say that it is always on the front page of some newspaper somewhere because that in itself ought to make us realize how important this city is because it's been continually either under attack or things are happening or bombing or whatever. He wants us to pray and bring to remembrance all these promises that He has made until He establishes it and makes it a praise in the earth, a place that won't be bombed, won't have rock throwing going on, won't be the topic of political debates and dividing it up in pieces and giving it to nations. It will be a praise in the earth. As we're reading these today, let's work with God and mix with faith His words and His promises. The word Jerusalem is a combination of two words, Yarah or Yeru and Salem. Yarah means to throw, to point, to teach. It can be directional, but it can mean to teach. Hold that thought.

Salem, as we've studied before, means more than peace. It's fullness or completeness. It's a place of fullness or completeness that teaches, that points us in a certain direction. Now with that in context, let me read Micah 4:1‑3. "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it. And many nations shall come and say, 'Come. Let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.'

"For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning 2

hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."

This is a future event, but I thought it was interesting as I looked up what the word Jerusalem means. "Peoples are going to flow, nations are going to be pointed towards God in Jerusalem, and out of Jerusalem is going to go the truth."

He's going to send forth the law. He's going to teach us His ways so that we can walk in His paths. Jerusalem is going to be exalted. In the last days, this is the place that will be lifted up. It will be the highest of the mountains, and people are going to flow to it, and teaching will flow from it.

The first time that I remembered Jerusalem appearing in the scripture is when Abraham had gone out after those nations had kidnapped Lot and his daughters, with the 318 men from his house. They successfully defeated these other nations, and they retrieved Lot and his family and brought them home. On the way back, they stopped at Salem, which I believe is Jerusalem. Genesis 14:18‑20. "Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine (he was priest of God most high) and he blessed him and said, 'Blessed be Abraham by God most high, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God most high, who has delivered your enemies into your hand,' and Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

Now, there's a topic for a future series of podcast. Who is Melchizedek? What does he mean? Etc. He's sprinkled throughout scripture, but mostly right here and then in Hebrews, but he was the king of Salem. You have the priest of God most high, where do you think he would dwell? He dwelt in God's city.

There was something about that territory, that particular geography, that was special. Psalm 76:1, "In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel. His abode has been established in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion."

Psalm 87:1-3, "On the Holy Mount stands the city He founded. Jehovah loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God."

The first time I went to Jerusalem, I remember that passage, and I made sure that I took photos of all the present day gates, which I'm sure were different then. There's St. Stephen's Gate where the martyr, Stephen was slain, it's also called the Lion Gate. It faces towards the Mount of Olives. You have the Damascus Gate. You have the New Gate. You have the Dung Gate.

There's lots of gates around the city of Jerusalem to this day. I remember that verse because if God loves these gates, I want to love these gates. I want to get pictures of these gates, but this is where I was starting to get my affections lined up with God's affections.

Psalm 48:1-2, "Great is Jehovah and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion in the Far North, the city of the great king."

Psalm 50:1, "The mighty one, God, Jehovah Has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God Has shined forth."

Now, you could just read these and say, "This is wonderful poetry, David may be just waxing poetic," but it's not just David. Some of these Psalms are written by Korah, some of them by Asaph. I think they got their love for Jerusalem from David. I think David was the one that loved that city because God loved that city, but then people caught that and it was spread abroad through all their hearts. Psalm 132, "Jehovah has chosen Zion. He has desired it for His habitation. 'This is My resting place forever. Here I will dwell for I have desired it.'"

Powerful passage. God chose this place. He desires to live in this place forever, and I'm taking it at His word. Not only did David have a passion for the city and for the temple, but Jesus did.

In John 2, "The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple, He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and oxen, and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

"And He told those who sold the pigeons, 'Take these things away. Do not make My father's house a house of trade.' His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for Your house will consume Me.'"

That's the house of God, but it's in Jerusalem, and that's where Jesus had His face set because He knew He was going to die there. By the way, they were quoting Psalm 69. Jeremiah 3:17‑18, "At that time, Jerusalem shall be called the throne of Jehovah, and

all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of Jehovah in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart.

"In those days, the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the North to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage." This is speaking of a future restoration. All Israel gathered together in the land that God started them off in the beginning. We're coming back. Jeremiah 33, "Behold, I will bring to it, Jerusalem, health and healing, and I will heal them, and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against Me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against Me.

"This city shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it."

God is going to bring back Judah, Israel, and make them one with the city, and the nations are going to watch this happen, and they are going to fear and tremble, and they are going to say, "Hey, God really is alive." It's going to be, not just for Judah and Jerusalem and for Israel, it's going to be for the whole world.

This is maybe my favorite prayer for Jerusalem spoken by Daniel. This to me is a template for how you pray for God to fulfill His word. Daniel 9. "O Lord, according to all Your righteous acts, let Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city, Jerusalem, Your holy hill.

"Because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and Your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now, therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for Your own sake, O Lord, make Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary, which is desolate. Oh my God, incline Your ear and hear.

"Open Your eyes and see our desolations in the city that is called by Your name. For we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. Oh, Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

This is when he was in Babylon. He was gone. He was part of the captivity that had left. Israel had been scattered among the nations, the 10 tribes. The two tribes had been led captive and Jerusalem was desolate. It was a mess.

He prayed, It's because of us that it's the way it is. It's our sins and our iniquities that caused this to happen, but this city is named by Your name, and so we're asking because it's Your city and it's Your people, and I pray that You will pay attention and act because of Your great mercy," and God did.

They returned to Jerusalem, and they rebuilt it under the ministry of Ezra, Nehemiah, Joshua, and Zerubbabel, and the other minor prophets. They got it back on its feet. Today, it's the center of the earth, but it certainly wasn't before he started praying that prayer.

Zechariah 8. "Thus says Jehovah of hosts, 'I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.' Thus says Jehovah, 'I am returned unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, the holy mountain.'"

Joel 3. "This is the day of Jehovah. Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Decision, for the day of Jehovah is near in the Valley of Decision. The sun and the moon are 5

darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. Jehovah roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem and the heavens and the earth quake, but Jehovah is a refuge to His people, a stronghold to the people of Israel, 'So you shall know that I am Jehovah Your God who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain.

"And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it. And in that day, the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water, and a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah and water the Valley of Shittim.

"Egypt shall become a desolation, and Edom a desolate wilderness for the violence done to the people of Judah because they have shed innocent blood in their land, but Judah shall be inhabited forever and Jerusalem to all generations. I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for Jehovah dwells in Zion.'"

Then, here are two of the most prayed verses, I would say, for people that love Jerusalem. Zechariah 12:10 followed by Zechariah 13. I'm going to read these two back to back.

"I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn." Repentance. You know what's better than repentance? The answer.

"On that day, there shall be a fountain open for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness, and it shall come to pass in that day, declares Jehovah of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered. And I will cause the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness to pass out of the land."

OK. There you go, Scott. You've been bathed in Jerusalem scriptures. Scott: It's funny how many times I've read these verses, but I just gloss over them. I won't do that anymore because I can't help but connect some of the dots now. The verse I'm usually thinking of is in Revelation where it talks about the new Jerusalem coming.

Steve: That's a perfect response. Now that we've gone into this a little bit more depth, I hope as people read the Bible, they'll just start highlighting these verses when they see them. This is Jerusalem. This is Zion. This is Salem.

Then when you put them all together, boy, it's powerful. God likes that place. He really loves Jerusalem. This is His city. This is where His name is. There's more. We read about 20, but there was, if you remember, almost 700 passages in the Old Testament and 77 in the New Testament about this city.

Scott: It's almost like the land itself is baked into the identity of the people. 6

Steve: It is, and that's another component. In fact, maybe we could study that because it says in Deuteronomy, "The eyes of Jehovah are on the land from the beginning of the year till the end of year." It's a land that Jehovah cares for. There's something about the land. It's just more than what we think of. We think of dirt. We think of a place to grow crops, place to build a house, etc., but God looks at that land differently.

Scott: Certainly, the peoples of that area have been fighting over it as long as they've been there. I have wondered at times, "Why do they still care? Why not just have a homeland somewhere else?" Clearly, there's something special there. Steve: It is. We need the eyes of the Spirit to see and sense these things because it's not natural to think of a piece of real estate that way, but it's more than that. It's kind of a living entity.

Father, here we go. We have been, I don't know what the word is, feasting on these passages, which are sublime. They're almost beyond our understanding, and I don't want to cheapen them. Just by talking about them, I do want to see them fulfilled. I do want to see each of these pieces of scripture. You are watching over Your word to perform it, and now we are joining You, and we are watching over Your word to perform it. We're asking for Your will to be done on earth, just as You think about it in heaven. We want Jerusalem to be a praise in the earth.

We're hoping and believing and asking You to pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and supplication, so they'll repent. We also ask You to open up that fountain, which I believe is the blood of Jesus for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them.

I pray that You'll do this not for our sake, but for Your sake, because as Daniel prayed, I'm just going to read it right here, "Oh, God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city that is called by your name." We do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy. Oh Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not for Your own sake, oh my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.

Thank You for opening our eyes and helping us this morning. Thank You for all these precious scriptures that we have access to, and we not only read them, we believe them. Amen.

Scott: Amen. That's our show for this week, folks. Thanks for joining us for the Building Faith and Family podcast with Steve Demme. If you have a question for the show, email Steve at spdemme@Gmail.com. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week.