Israel will celebrate JERUSALEM DAY, the Reunification of Jerusalem, on May 28 this year.
When Israeli soldiers recaptured the Old City on June 7th in the Six Days War of 1967, they could hardly wait to get to the Western Wall! The emotionally-charged scene is described by a soldier who years later would become the Prime Minister of Israel - “I felt truly shaken and stood there murmuring a prayer for peace. Motta Gur’s paratroopers were struggling to reach the Wall and touch it. We stood among a tangle of rugged, battle-weary men who were unable to believe their eyes or restrain their emotions. Their eyes were moist with tears, their speech incoherent. The overwhelming desire was to cling to the Wall, to hold on to that great moment as long as possible.”
–Chief of Staff Yitzchak Rabin
On this 47th Jerusalem Day, the theme Scripture is the same as it always has been, "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together" (Psalm 122:3). The city may be physically united, but it is not spiritually united, and that is why we should "Pray for the peace [salvation] of Jerusalem" (Psa. 122:6). The city and the people are one and the same thing, and we are called to intercede for them. "... The present Jerusalem ... is in bondage with her children" (Gal. 4:25). We are to "give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth" (Isa. 62:7).
Israeli pastor, Ofer Amitai, and some of his congregation visited a "stronghold" on the southern ridge overlooking the highway to Jerusalem. He said, "In May 1948, Jerusalem’s future lay in the balance. A siege threatened to bring the downfall of the city. Food, water, ammunition, and every other necessity were running dangerously low, and attempts to deliver supplies to the city were fiercely challenged. Ben Gurion, later the prime-minister of Israel, said, 'Jerusalem can exist without the state, but the state cannot exist without Jerusalem.' The battle at that time was being fought over the road to Jerusalem — its very lifeline.
"At one of the most critical moments, the battle was concentrated on the high hill tops that dominated and thus controlled the way to Jerusalem. Those bare hilltops, covered with rock and little more, became the focus of ferocious fighting. The young men who fought there basically hung on to bare rock, clinging tenaciously with every fiber of their being.
"We, too, are called to take our stand, and hang on to the ‘strongholds’ — the high ground of our faith — the Word of God. We hang on to Him, who is The Rock, to Him alone, and to what He has uttered. There is a ferocious battle on earth over God’s will being done, and we cannot let go. This is our high place; we must not, we will not let go of it. Israel SHALL be saved, Grace will be poured out. Mercy is coming! His Body in the land will be sanctified, purified, made holy, and filled with the knowledge of the Lord."
Amen, Pastor Ofer! Let us pray earnestly!
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