I want to share with you from time to time a series of sermons which I will call: “The Bible in the News.” Tonight, I want to share with you about Jerusalem. In this case, we will look at the future of Jerusalem in the near future.

At present, Israel is at the brink of war with Hamas which is based in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah which is Arabic for Party of Allah (which is funded by Iran) and is based in Lebanon.

Then there is Fatah, which used to be the Palestinian Liberation Organization. This group is based in the West Bank.

This would be like if your three main enemies were based in Exeter, Mount Vernon, and Gateway, Arkansas.

So I want to share with you what the Bible says about the future of Jerusalem. All is not lost. The Bible gives us a clear direction for the Middle East when it comes to Jerusalem.

The day is coming with Jesus will return to Jerusalem.

“A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence.” (Zechariah 14:1, HCSB)

Zechariah seems to have the very end times in view, when Jerusalem will be surrounded and attacked by some type of international force. When the Romans came against Jerusalem in 70 A.D. they came with a multinational army and brought terrible destruction on the city and its people. Yet there was none of the deliverance that Zechariah will describe in the following verses, so it is difficult to say that this was fulfilled in the Roman attack upon Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

God will compel an antichrist to lead the world and turn against Israel.

“I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.” (Zechariah 14:2, HCSB)

Jesus described this experience.

““So when you see the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand ), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains! A man on the housetop must not come down to get things out of his house. And a man in the field must not go back to get his clothes. Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days! Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For at that time there will be great tribulation, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again! Unless those days were limited, no one would survive. But those days will be limited because of the elect.” (Matthew 24:15–22, HCSB)

The nations will come to fight Jesus when He returns.

“Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle.” (Zechariah 14:3, HCSB)

When Jesus returns He will fight against the nations.

But in the following verses, we see more specific details when Jesus returns.

First, when Jesus returns, He will return to the same place where He left.

“On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south.”

(Zechariah 14:4, HCSB)

“They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.” Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away.”

(Acts 1:11–12, HCSB)

Second, His return will split the mountain.

When Jesus comes back, there’s going to be a cataclysmic event, for, as He sets His scarred feet upon the Mount of Olives, it will split in two.

Years ago, when Sheraton Hotel Corporation was looking at the Mount of Olives as a potential site, an environmental impact study showed that, due to a major fault running right through the Mount of Olives, they could not continue construction. In other words geologists “discovered” what Scripture had known for 2,500 years.

Third, when Jesus returns, it will cause many people to flee the area. He will come with His holy ones.

“You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him.” (Zechariah 14:5, HCSB)

When the Mount of Olives splits, it will actually provide a way of escape for the people of Jerusalem. In earlier times, the Lord parted the Red Sea in order that His people could escape to safety. In the last days, He’ll part not a sea but a mountain for His people to escape from the armies surrounding them.

Who are the holy ones who are coming with Him?

“You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him.” (Zechariah 14:5, HCSB)

Fourth, when Jesus returns, the earthquake will form two rivers: one to the Dead Sea and another to the Mediterranean Sea.

“On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike.” (Zechariah 14:8, HCSB)

Fifth, God will rule the entire world from Jerusalem in security and peace.

“On that day Yahweh will become King over all the earth —Yahweh alone, and His name alone.” (Zechariah 14:9, HCSB)

“All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be changed into a plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain on its site from the Benjamin Gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.” (Zechariah 14:10, HCSB)

“People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of complete destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security.” (Zechariah 14:11, HCSB)

Photo by Mauricio Artieda on Unsplash