Prophecy fulfilled: Is 2017 really the start of jubilee for Israel?

Originally published in Charisma News

The United Nations Security Council met on Monday in an attempt to reverse President Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. It’s the latest development in a long history involving the holy city.

President Trump’s declaration continues to reverberate throughout the Middle East and the world. Some see the decision as one more step towards Jerusalem fulfilling a prophecy.

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In 1980, Israel passed the Jerusalem law, designating the city as the united, eternal capital of the Jewish state and in protest, nations moved their embassies to Tel Aviv. Later that year, a group of Christians founded the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.

“They said we need to act and we need to establish an International Christian Embassy Jerusalem in order to show the whole world that no matter what our governments are doing there are Christians around the world that do believe in God’s covenants and faithful promises to the Jewish people,” ICEJ Executive Director Juergen Buehler told CBN News. “And that was our founding hour.”

In 1995, ICEJ Vice President David Parsons helped write the legislation known as the Jerusalem Embassy Act, destined for the US Congress.

“We said three things … recognise Jerusalem as the capital, move the ambassador there immediately and then worry about building a building,” he said. “But as the bill went through Congress, it got changed to build the building first, and now, after 22 years later and all these delays and waivers, it is back to our order.”

Jubilee cycle
Both men see Jerusalem as being on a 50-year cycle known in the Bible as Jubilee.

One hundred fifty years ago, British archaeologist Charles Warren discovered the original city of David. 50 years later in 1917, Gen Edmund Allenby captured the city ending 400 years of Ottoman rule. In 1967, Israel re-captured the old city and the Temple Mount for the first time in more than 2 000 years. Then came 2017.

“We believed God would do something significant this year in Jerusalem and lo and behold, at the end of the year your government, Donald Trump,” Buehler said. “The American government decided to recognise Jerusalem as the capital and also move the embassy here.”

“Something new and exciting is happening for Jerusalem itself that propels it, releases it further into its prophetic destiny,” Parsons added.

“Redemptive history is unfolding here in Israel. I do believe this has to do not only with, you know, embassies being relocated here, but you see, another level of God’s restoration processes, reaching another level,” he explained. “The greatest outstanding promise that the Bible gives us regarding this nation here is the spiritual restoration of Israel.”

“Every single prophet who prophesied that they would come to this land, they would be restored to the land, every single one of them said, ‘I bring them back but I also give them a new heart,'” Parsons continued. “I bring them back but I also make a new covenant with them. I bring them back but I’m going to fill them with my Spirit. Every single one of the prophets said that and we all know that this is still ahead of us.”

Hope more nations will move their embassies
Now, there’s the hope more nations will follow America’s lead and move their embassies.

“What the US and President Trump was doing was, he was in a way shooting the starting shot for the race and I believe there will be many other nations that will follow the United States,” Buehler said.

“We’re hearing word Guatemala may come back, Tanzania, the Philippines, you can start listing off some of these countries that we hope have the courage to follow the lead of the American administration now to return to Jerusalem,” Parsons asserted.

They feel it’s critical for Christians around the world to pray for Jerusalem.

“That the violence that’s been threatened, that God in a year of favour and in a year of Jubilee that He would take care of that, that maybe some dust up but by His sovereign hand that it would be completely and quickly over,” Parsons explained. “We’ve been praying here in Jerusalem that any fire, any anger would be doused.”

“But also I do believe we need to pray for the Arab world,” Buehler said. “You see all the unrest that from the Arab world. In a way, you see the sense of delusion and deception; you have to say in the Arab streets where they feel that this city has no connection to the Jewish people. I believe we need to pray that God is doing His work among the Arab peoples.”

“We need to keep praying this would be a unified city,” Parsons said.