Evangelicals blast any J'lem division

[Christina]

Evangelicals blast any J'lem division--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Etgar Lefkovits , THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 28, 2007 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------The heads of three major evangelical Christian organizations based in Jerusalem on Tuesday criticized the proposed division of Jerusalem as part of a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians, saying such a move would severely restrict freedom of worship in the holy city. "We view any attempt to divide the city as a tragic wedge that is unacceptable," said Rev. Malcolm Hedding, the executive director of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem.The most prominent of several Jerusalem-based evangelical organizations, the group was founded in the city over a quarter-century ago in solidarity with Israel on the principle of an undivided Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the Jewish people. "The sanctity of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State is something very sacred which has both historical and religious associations for the Jewish people going back thousands of years," Hedding said. "We cannot deal so trivially with an issue so deep to the Jewish people." Prime Minster Ehud Olmert and Vice Premier Haim Ramon have suggested the transfer of Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority. Evangelicals oppose such ideas as contradictory to the biblical promise of the Holy Land to the Jewish people. Palestinians claim all of east Jerusalem, including the holy sites, as the capital of their future state, while a majority of Israelis opposes any division of Jerusalem, according to public opinion polls. Other evangelical leaders in the Holy Land expressed concern that freedom of worship would be curtailed and restricted if the Jerusalem holy sites in the Old City were to fall under Palestinian control. "This would be a real step backward and would make for rough days ahead," said Rebecca Brimmer, executive director of Bridges for Peace. She noted that when east Jerusalem was under Jordanian occupation when the city was divided between 1948 and 1967, Christians were forced to live in an estranged lifestyle of dhimmihood, in contrast to the freedom of worship under Israel."I fear that it would be a very difficult time for Christians," she said, citing the ongoing persecutions of the tiny Christian minority in the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip, where about 3,200 Christians, most of them Greek Orthodox, live among 1.4 million Muslims. "It would be a terrible mistake for Israel even to allow this issue to be brought up for discussion since the ramifications would be terrible for both Christians and Jews living in Israel," said Ray Sanders, executive director of the Jerusalem-based Christian Friends of Israel. Sanders said Muslim claims to Jewish holy sites including the Western Wall were preposterous, and he voiced dismay over the Israeli government's willingness to overlook these remarks. "What bothers me is that Israel does not take a strong stance against these allegations," he said.The rare criticism from some of the country's staunchest political supporters comes amid burgeoning relations between Israel and the predominantly pro-Israel evangelical Christian community around the world.

 

[crooner]

They have the same stuborness and blindness as they did 2000 yrs ago. They are not going to listen to the Christians are they?

 

[Wakka]

And if the Muslims do get the eastern part of Israel, then the Christians and Jews in the eastern part of Israel will be persecuted?

 

[jkdjr25]

God will not allow the division of Jerusalem and those nations who curse Israel and the Jewish people are doomed. Both history AND the Bible teach us this. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be fruitful and multiply receiving the lands of milk and honey as their inherritance. God would bless those who blessed them and curse those who cursed them.History tell us that every nation to ever try and exterminate the Jewish people was brought low. The Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Romans, the Nazis, the Soviet Union. All these nations cursed the Jewish people and all of them have fallen.

 

[Wakka]

(jkdjr25;24832)
God will not allow the division of Jerusalem and those nations who curse Israel and the Jewish people are doomed. Both history AND the Bible teach us this. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be fruitful and multiply receiving the lands of milk and honey as their inherritance. God would bless those who blessed them and curse those who cursed them.History tell us that every nation to ever try and exterminate the Jewish people was brought low. The Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Romans, the Nazis, the Soviet Union. All these nations cursed the Jewish people and all of them have fallen.
Twice Israel was destroyed. Once by the Babylonians and the other by the Romans.

 

[jkdjr25]

And in turn both were destroyed far, far worse. That Jersusalem rises again and again and again is testimony to the Mighty Promises of God. He does not forsake His people, though they may go into bondage for a time. That God allowed these things to happen is to His people is by no means an indication that He has forsaken them.It is a dangerous thing to say that God forsakes His promises. If He did it to His chosen people then how do we have hope? If God is a covenant breaker doesn't that mean that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was not only unnecessary but also unbelievablly cruel as He had no intention of honoring it? Think on these things and you'll see that either all of God's promises are true or none of them are true. There is no middle ground.

 

[Wakka]

I never said that God forsakes His children. I just stated that Israel was destroyed twice. And that was because God was punishing them for being disobedient.

 

[jkdjr25]

That may well be what you intended to say, but it didn't come across like that. The children of Israel have never stopped being God's chosen people, they are still the apple of His eye. This is a solid, foundational truth. If anyone claims otherwise then they are saying that God is a covenant breaker.

 

[crooner]

It seems as though prophasy for Isreal has always been conditional. The Jews still dont get it. So does that mean those promises for the Jews still exist?

 

[jkdjr25]

God's promises are always absolute.Think about it this way. If God can break His covenant with the Jewish people, why can't He do so with us? If He can do so with us then what hope do any of us really have?Since God is not a covenant breaker we can follow the course of logic to see that He will keep His covenant with the Jewish people.

 

[For Life]

I've been reading the Old Testament for about a year now. I am in the book of Nehemiah. It seems to me that God judges Israel by its ruler (king). If the king follows God's laws (does right in the sight of the Lord) then Israel is blessed. If not then Israel suffers. Look to Israels leader to find out if Jerusalem will fall or if it will not. I am not up on current events in Israel enough to say one way or the other. I honestly can't see how dividing Jerusalem could honor God, but that is just my opinion. Then again there is a verse that says love thy neighbor as thyself. This can all get very confusing.

 

[Christina]

You are right to a degree When Israel had a Good king the people tended to follow Jewish Law so she was blessed. Today things are very bad among the leaders of Israel and God warns against dividing the land nothing good will come from dividing Jerusalem Also if they divide it they will be giving the temple mount to the Arabs and God will not stand for the Jews giving away his holiest spot on earth to followers of a pagan religion. I know they have the dome of the Rock there but God allowed that for his own reasons he will not stand for man to give it away for his own reasons. It belongs to God