When Jesus was 3 days journey from Jerusalem, The Pharisees sought to trick him regarding King Herod. Jesus having referred to Herod as a ‘fox’, [Luke 13: 31-32.] continues...

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you were not willing!...”for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”  Matthew 23: 37 & 38

Jerusalem for thousands of years has had a special place in Gods heart. Jesus [Yeshua] expresses Himself, demonstrating a love and compassion He has for the people, dwelling on this piece of real estate.

The Media are having a field day with the latest initiative by the Trump administration, seeking to discredit a President that is actually trying to honour a promise. I am sure many are nervous about the style of Mr Trumps leadership let alone some of his policies, but we cannot get away from the fact, that what he is doing by recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel should have been done a very long time ago. No not back in 1995, when Congress passed the bill to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem, but when Israel was reborn in 1948.

The big argument that keeps coming up, is What about the Moslems? Is this right when it is going to fan the flames of hatred towards Israel and America?

There is no doubt that this kind of decision will provoke anger and may well put the peace process back months if not years.  I am also sure that it this has given a great amount of traction to the followers of Islam who see this as an attack on Islam.

Now this is the ironic thing. Many Christians may see Mr Trumps actions as not very Christian. Many Moslems will see Mr Trumps actions as a personal attack on Islam. The poor man cannot win. Here is a fact that many Christians do not know and I am sure many Moslems do not know, but in the Quran it actually says that Allah gave the land of Israel to the Jews and will restore them to it at the end days.

The Quran recognizes the land of Israel as the heritage of the Jews and it explains that, before the last judgment, Jews will return to dwell there. These writings Muhammad based them on his understanding of the Old and New Testament.

There is no reason that prohibits Moslems from recognizing Israel as a friendly state.

The hostility that is aimed at Jews and Christians in the Quran is not motivated by the fact they are trespassing and should not belong in the land of Israel. The Quran states quite clearly that the right of the Jews to the land of Israel does not depend on conquest and colonization. Muhammad understood it to be the will of Allah.

Before we continue to look how Muhammad viewed Israel, Allah, [the god of the Muhammad and the Moslem world] is NOT the same God as Yahweh, [the God of Jews and Christians]. 

Muhammad obviously had knowledge of the Old & New Testament hence that some Biblical Characters appear in the Quran. Tragically Muhammad replaces Yahweh with his ideology of God with Allah.  The major Character that is central in the Quran regarding the land of Israel is Moses. Muhammad acknowledges the significance of Moses to the Jewish people. This is seen in his discourse regarding Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt.  The context in the Quran it is not Yahweh that has done this but Allah.

Pharaoh sought to scare them [the Israelites] out of the land [Israel]: but we [Allah] drowned him [Pharaoh] together with all who were with him. Then We [Allah] said to the Israelites: Dwell in this land [the land of Israel]. When the promise of the hereafter [End of Days] comes to be fulfilled, We [Allah] shall assemble you [the Israelites] all together [in the land of Israel].                      Quran 17: 100-103

Both the Jewish and Islamic scriptures teach that God, through His chosen servant Moses, freed the offspring of Jacob from slavery in Egypt and constitute them as heirs of the Promised Land. Whoever claims that Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel is something new and rooted in human politics, actually denies divine revelation and prophecy as explicitly expressed in the Bible and the Quran.

Moslems, be it Palestinians living on the West Bank or in Gaza, ignore the point that the Quran explicitly refers to the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel before the last judgement- where it says:

And thereafter We [Allah] said to the children of Israel; dwell securely in the Promised Land. And when the last warning will come to pass, we will gather you together in a mingled crowd   Quran 17: 104 

What about Jerusalem?

Whatever claims that are being made by the Palestinians that Jerusalem is their Holy City, it is not supported by the Quran. The name Jerusalem does not appear in the Quran, though there is reference to the location. This is in the context where reference is made to Muhammad’s journey to the ‘farthest place’. Quran 17: 1

There is the mention of the Al-Aqsa mosque that now is built over the stone where Moslems claim that Muhammad was taken up to heaven. This is in relation to the nights journey of Muhammad to the place that is also referred to in the Hadith as Bait ul Muqadas meaning ‘Holy House’. This name actually derives from the Hebrew title  ‘Beit HaMikdash’.  Vol 5 Book 58 Hadith 228.

It is safe to presume that before the Al-Aqsa mosque was constructed in 691 AD Moslems acknowledged that the ruins of the second Temple was the site of the Ascension of Muhammad. If this is the case, then there can be no legitimate claims that Jerusalem cannot be the capital of Israel, as Muhammad himself acknowledged Israel’s right to the Promise Land through Moses.

There is no doubt that moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem is going to cause tension to say the very least. There is the view that waiting to establish a two state agreement with Fata and Hamas first would resolve this. The political reality is that once Fata and Hamas have sovereignty over their borders they would see any move of Embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as a threat, irrespective of it being agreed in a peace process. This may seem hard to believe, but the whole issue over Israel and Jerusalem is not political nor is it about religion, but it is a spirit that first manifested in the heart of a 14 year old boy called Ishmael. Genesis 21: 8-9. Cross reference Galatians 4: 29.   

We are required to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, this is something that has been a command since David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit sang it as a song of ascent nearly 3,000 year ago. Psalm 122.

So let us not spend time criticising the actions of Mr Trump due to the conflict it will bring, but pray asking the Holy Spirit to work in these key times not only in Jerusalem but throughout the Middle East.