The Shuk in Jerusalem
Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is —
Greetings, brothers and sisters, in Yeshua’s (Jesus’) Name. May HE be glorified and blessed and made known, and may you be encouraged.
The name “Jerusalem” occurs 815 times in the Bible, 669 times in the Old Testament and 146 times in the New Testament; additional references to the city occur as synonyms.
The number of times will vary of course according to translation. That used to scare me, [ie: how can TRUTH vary?] but the more I understand Hebrew, and the more I learn how to trust The Lord and His Holy Spirit, the less it scares me that translation differences occur. His Truth IS and WILL BE and ALWAYS HAS BEEN and His Spirit can interpret it for our hearts.
It seems that perhaps the fullness of time concerning Jerusalem is here and we must know what He says about this and where we stand concerning the city and His Word. We must KNOW what God is saying about Jerusalem, for surely, though we may not fully understand why, it has a particular place in God’s heart and plans.
Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalyim) is here. It begins Saturday night and marks the 49th birthday of reunited Jerusalem, the beginning of the fiftieth (Jubilee) year. [Interestingly, the Muslim’s month of celebrating Ramadan begins at the same time this year.]
Early this morning as I walked the two short blocks to work from my bus stop, a cloud of holiness pressed me into worship, a bowing down worship. Multitudes of singing birds flew over my head and I began to count the flowering trees, bushes and plants along this very short route. Olive trees, pomegranates, passion fruit, grapes, lemons, oranges, shesek, almonds, apricot, the smell of the jasmine, mint, rosemary, hyssop, and nameless (to me) trees with blue flowers, purple flowers, red flowers and oh so much more. The combination of the colors, the sweet smells and the songs of the birds overwhelmed me and my heart nearly burst. This is Jerusalem!
“What is Jerusalem, Lord? How does she appear to You and what do You feel about her? Teach me please…”
I have NEVER loved a city. I ran from NYC where I was born, as soon as I was old enough, oppressed by the pressure of the too-many-people-and-too-much-noise all crammed together with its demands. I longed for the wind of the country finding its way over the hills and through the trees whispering its own song. And when we made aliyah some 22 years ago I didn’t think of coming to Jerusalem. But Derek Prince said it best: “You can not choose to live in Jerusalem, Jerusalem chooses whom she chooses.”
And I am still full of questions: “Who ARE you, Jerusalem?”
The sheer wonder of it all continued all through work today, and I HAVE to share with you.
“Where were you in 1967 at this time?” I asked in Hebrew nearly every patient that walked in to the clinic. The reaction was UNIVERSAL. All stopped and their eyes clouded over with wonder.
“b’mil’cha’ma?” (In the war?) each asked.
Then they would stand still and look at me.
Shlomo Alkali turned a shining face to me before he had to run off. “I was in kita dalet [fourth grade]. We are 8th generation Jerusalemites. We all fought. I remember it as if it were today.”
Another said, “Although I was only two years old I remember it as if it were happening now. There was a wonder so that our skin stood on edge. I heard the sounding of the shofar. The people that had been dying stopped dying and were dancing in the streets instead.”
Dr. Wexler’s story was the one that brought me to tears (although they almost all did) because he is a bit fearsome. He is now retired but a very famous doctor, artist, writer, highly regarded by one and all. I haven’t spoken to him much. But today, asking him this question transformed him. I wish that my Hebrew were good enough to share with you the entire story, but I must admit that, although I fully understood and entered into the emotion of it, I did not understand all of the details, which this scientist described as nothing less than miraculous and holy. As a matter of fact, the word “holy” was used by nearly everyone I spoke to today. When I asked him where he was, he turned his face to me and stared with a profound silence. His face seemed to melt. “I was a young doctor in the army, stationed in the Sinai,” he said. “Right on the border with Egypt. There I was when the war started. It was big. Very big! But the Bigger One fought for us and they miraculously surrendered to us the first day although we had nothing to defeat them. I was rushed up to the Syrian border in a helicopter, where the fighting raged for another day: more miracles! Then I was rushed to Jerusalem, to Latrun first. Each field hospital was full but we had to be rushed along the front where the fighting raged. Then I was at the Old City when the line with Jordon came down. You know, Jordon had all of this. It was a miracle. It is still a miracle.”
He spoke of being flown in helicopters held together with rubber bands and looking at Moti Gur and knowing he was a great man. “He will be a General someday, I said to myself. ” You could feel the special mantle of authority on him. This same Moti Gur became the General responsible for planning the famous Operation Entebbe to free the Israeli hostages held in Uganda in 1976.”
The stories went on.
“I was fighting for my home with my family,” one said.
Another said, “We lived near the wall and I followed the soldiers into the Old City!”
Each said that there was an electricity in the air that they never felt before or after. Their skin prickled with the wonder of the fact that they KNEW that they were part of a “holy event.”
I asked Bat El (her name means “daughter of God”) who is only in her 20s, if her mother, Ahovah (Beloved) told her about it. She was vague. “My Grandmother told us all about it once and I think my Mother spoke of it, but I didn’t pay that much attention.”
I’ve gotten close to her mother who is undergoing cancer treatment and has grown fond of me. I looked at Bat El and said, “You MUST ask her and ask her again until you feel as if you were there” I showed the younger ones photocopies that I have of the proclamations signed by the Chief Rabbis and Generals thanking God and promising Him that we would guard Jerusalem and be faithful. They HEARD and wanted to know more.
Here’s a link to more info on the 1967 Six Day War here.
And a great five minute video history of the war:
May we each be found IN HIM ALONE…With our eyes fixed upon Him…for His glory.
Lovingly,
your sister J
Larry Who 