Jerusalem: A Trembling Cup

Posted October 12, 2007

A commentary by Amanda Stiver

Have you ever felt at home somewhere, but you aren't from there?

I have felt this having lived in many cities and towns in my life thus far. One particular city I can say, though I wasn't born there and I don't live there, yet I'm from there is Rapid City, South Dakota, where I spend a small portion of each year visiting relatives.

It's on the western side of the state in an area called the Black Hills or Paha Sapa in the Lakota language because of the way the dark green pine trees shade the hills black from a distance. Rapid City sits among these hills, where its landscape reminds me of another city of great renown in the world and especially in the Bible—the city of Jerusalem.

I also have that feeling for Jerusalem. My parents spent one summer of their college years working on the Temple Mount archaeological dig. Through the course of their stay, they got to know one another better, eventually leading to their marriage. So part of my family history stems from that city.

In the larger perspective of human history, many turning points past and present gravitate around Jerusalem. The name itself means peace, but the city has rarely seen sustained tranquility.

In the prophecy of Zechariah it is referred to as a "cup of trembling" (chapter 12:2, King James Version). Over the centuries it has trembled again and again with the rage of war. From ancient times, Jerusalem has been controlled by many masters. After King David of Israel captured it from the Jebusites, it was besieged by the Assyrians and destroyed by the Babylonians. In the crusades of the Middle Ages Catholic Christians and Muslims fought over religious domination in its region. Even in the 20th century it played a crucial part in both World Wars.

Despite overtures of peace in the Middle East that seem to flood the news, true peace is still far from Jerusalem. In the past few days a member of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's administration has suggested the possibility of returning large portions of the city—taken during a battle with a coalition of Arab nations during the Six Day War in 1967—to the Palestinian government. Partitioning Jerusalem has long been a bone of contention among Jews and Arabs. In spite of a variety of well-developed arguments for and against partitioning, the reality is that it will open the area to increasing instability with more violence rather than less.

In the Bible men like Zechariah and Daniel prophesied about the events at the end of the current age of human history. Jerusalem is in the midst of those events, and every step on that stage right now leads to a time of world-engulfing conflict, astounding miracles and religious posturing, placing the fate of this city and of the world on a narrow precipice of survival. Read "Jerusalem: Center of Conflict, Center of Peace" to learn even more of this incredible time and place.

Thankfully, this short period of crisis will be followed by the glorious restoration of Jerusalem, which will bring the reality of true, lasting peace and abundance on a mind-blowing scale. At that point I want to be able to say: I wasn't born there, but now I live there, and I'm definitely from there! VT