As all eyes are focused on Jerusalem once again because of President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. But to understand what is going on, you must start with why Jerusalem is so important, why this ancient city is so woven into the heart of the Jewish people.
Since the beginning of time, Jerusalem has been the meeting place of heaven and earth. Jewish tradition teaches that Creation began in Jerusalem and that Adam was created from the dust of the earth in Jerusalem. It was the place where Abraham took his son Isaac to be sacrificed. David later purchased that same site to build an altar to God. Eventually David’s land would later become the Temple Mount, and the Temple would officially serve as the connection between God and man fornearly 1,000 years.
The special status of Jerusalem was derived from the Holy Temple. There are many commandments that could only be fulfilled within the walls of God’s city. And yet, the holiness of Jerusalem existed before the construction of the Temple and remains after its destruction. This is why thousands of years after the destruction of the Temple, all Jews face Jerusalem when theypray.
The Patriarch Jacob expressed it best after he awoke from his famous dream of a ladder that spanned heaven and earth. Upon awakening, Jacob exclaimed: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17).
Some sages explain that Jacob had fallen asleep in the place where Jerusalem one day would be built, specifically, at the very location where the world began, and the Temple would stand, a permanent structure in a place that God would choose. The chosen place was revealed to King David as Mount Moriah in Jerusalem and the Temple was built by his son King Solomon.
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Source: Christian Post
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