O JERUSALEM!

The eternal counsel of the Almighty God concerning Israel His people continues to unfold steadily, the rage of men notwithstanding.  At the appointed time, apparently out of the blues, the eternal city of Jerusalem is being restored as the capital of the State of Israel.

Though Donald Trump truly promised the Jews during his campaign for the US presidency that he would recognize an undivided Jerusalem as their capital city, very few people expected he would actually fulfill the promise.  Indeed, the past three Presidents before him  (Clinton, Bush and  Obama) all promised during their own campaigns to so recognize Jerusalem;  but none was able to fulfill the promise.

The Jerusalem Embassy Act (JEA) unanimously approved by the US Congress on October 24 1995 had declared that it is only the right thing to do that the US recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital, and shift her embassy there.  Every 6 months since, the declaration had been repeatedly re-affirmed as the sitting President in failing to implement it applied for a waiver. The Presidents before Trump cited “security reasons” (a.k.a. the displeasure of the Arab world), and need to maintain the status quo in order to achieve the elusive Israel-Arab peace as justification for reneging on their promise and suspending the implementation of the JEA.  Barak Obama in particular did not hide his hatred for Israel, and it is on record that he prosecuted up to the Supreme Court in the US, his efforts to stop Americans born in Jerusalem from claiming Israel as their country of birth!  Hilary Clinton was expected to vigorously thread the same path had she become the President.

But the divine counsel can never be frustrated!  Quite unexpectedly, Donald Trump won his party’s nomination and went ahead to win also the US presidency.  And even more unexpectedly, he announced he would fulfil his campaign promise and end the foolish self-pretense game the world has been playing over the decades – denying the reality that Jerusalem is indeed the capital city of Israel.

On December 6, 2017 the Donald made the earth-shaking declaration.  A Jewish rabbi later pointed out that, on the Hebrew calendar, that was the exact same date, 48 years ago that Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, had “prophesied” that Jerusalem would eventually become the capital of the State of Israel re-born just a year earlier. Trump was apparently unaware of this divine timing!

Following this announcement, it is expected that the American embassy would move to Jerusalem within a year.  About ten other nations have also indicated they would be following the American example. The Israeli parliament (the Knesset), the residence of the Prime Minister, and other key government offices have always been in Jerusalem. 

King David, on capturing Jerusalem from the Jebusites some 3,000 years ago, had declared the city the capital of Israel.  When David Ben Gurion declared the new State of Israel in 1948, the old city of Jerusalem (containing the Temple Mount) was securely under the control of the Arabs and the desperate efforts of the Jews to re-possess it crumbled as the UN cease-fire caught up with them just as they were set to accomplish the historic deed via the Zion gate.

But when the divinely appointed time came (please refer for instance to the prophecy of the Jubilees by Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel (Vol 17 Qtr 4), the old city of Jerusalem unexpectedly fell into Jewish hand in a war provoked by the Arabs in 1967. However, Israel was later to return the administrative control of the Temple Mount area to the moslem world (through the Jordanian Waqf), though she maintained sovereignty over the entire city.  Now another Jubilee (50 years) after, there came along a “Cyrus figure” in Donald Trump authorizing that, without necessarily disturbing the administrative arrangements on the religious areas, Israel had the right to declare an undivided Jerusalem her capital city as she had longed to do since her modern rebirth.

To show Israel’s appreciation of the historic pronouncement by Trump, the final station on the soon-to-open high-speed Tel Aviv-Jerusalem rail line is to be named the Donald John Trump Train Station. The station to be situated right by the Western Wall might as well soon become one of the most traversed train stations in the world!

Meanwhile, as envisaged, the Arab-Moslem bloc came up with their threat of fire and brimstone concerning the declaration.  The UN, unable to stop the move at the Security Council level, called an emergency meeting of the General Council where nation after nation denounced the United States.  Sadly, Nigeria under her current Islamist regime, joined in the castigation of America for deciding on where to cite her own embassy.  The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has however issued a statement, dissociating Nigerian Christians from the decision of the Buhari government.  According to the CAN “the negative vote of Nigeria over Jerusalem is not the consensus of the citizens of this country and therefore, it should not be regarded as representing the choice of Nigeria. It is a sectional and unilateral imposition of the President Buhari Administration.”  Read the full statement by the CAN here.