Jerusalem Existed (Advent 12, 2023)

I’m sure I’m not the only Christian bothered by the skyline of Jewish Jerusalem and seeing the Al-Aqsa Mosque and bright gold Dome of the Rock shrine dominating the land where the Temple of Solomon once stood.

According to Reuters, “The Al-Aqsa lies at the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City on a hill known to Jews as Har ha-Bayit, or Temple Mount, and to Muslims internationally as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary. Muslims regard the site as the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina.”

(As an aside, it was built approx. 680-690 AD during a civil war to give a rivaling Islamic faction, followers of prominent Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik, a religious focal point since he didn’t have possession of Mecca.)

“Al-Aqsa is the name given to the whole compound and is home to two Muslim holy places: the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque, which was built in the 8th century AD. The compound overlooks the Western Wall, a sacred place of prayer for Jews, for whom the Temple Mount is their most sacred site. Jews believe biblical King Solomon built the first temple there 3,000 years ago. A second temple was razed by the Romans in AD 70.”

The Romans laid complete siege to Jerusalem, took anything valuable or sacred, and some of the surviving Jews fled and became part of the Diaspora elsewhere in the Roman Empire. 

Time went on.  Wars were fought.  Including Christians.  (Islam didn’t exist then.  It originated in Mecca about 610 AD.)

“The twenty-five years of unprecedented conflict [Great Wars of Antiquity] greatly weakened both empires, leaving them vulnerable to attack. And when that attack finally came in the early 630s, the Romans and Persians could do little to stop the wave of Arab conquests. In the following decades, the Sasanian Empire and much of the Roman world were swallowed up by the Arabs. The emergence of Islamic faith led to a new world order and a decisive break from the classical past. The Byzantine Empire lost much of its territory to Arab conquests.”

This chapter of Jerusalem might be titled “Expedience is a Poor Negotiation Skill” or “What were you thinking?  Have you lost your mind?” There was a guy named Sophronius, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. As the Arabs were incoming, he collected up relics and sent them off to Constantinople, and then Sophronius surrendered and signed Jerusalem away to the caliph.

The precise date (637-638) of the surrender of Jerusalem is up for debate, but the result was far-reaching.  

Questions for further Thought:

What do you think about Sophronius taking all the “holy relics” offshore to go to Constantinople but surrendering the Holy City?

Land lost through involuntary acts when defeated by an enemy, is that the same in the eyes of God as signing it away?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, it is Your Jerusalem.  The place Your Father and our Father decreed for His temple to be built, a real place where You worshiped in Your lifetime.  By Your grace, let us not despise history nor worship manmade things or buildings which can never contain You.  You wept over Jerusalem.  You said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” He asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”” (Matthew 23:37-24:2).  Oh, Lord, I’m glad none of this takes You by surprise.  We long for the day when we cry “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord”!  Come, Lord Jesus.  Amen!

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Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.