Jerusalem Folly

I have visited the ancient and modern city of Jerusalem several times, although it has been more than twenty years since I was there last. It is a remarkable place where government and commerce help drive the economy of the nation of Israel. At the same time there are constant archeological discoveries from the distant past across a range of cultures. Each visit revealed new treasures. On my last visit we were able to walk up limestone steps to the temple mount which Jesus and his disciples had climbed 2,000 years before. On prior trips those steps were buried by centuries of rubble.

Jerusalem is a contentious city, a hotbed of strife, in part because of its importance to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There are constant squabbles over which religions and denominations have control of certain areas of spiritual significance. Control of Jerusalem is also the open wound of tensions between the Israeli government and Palestinians. There are many excellent books on the topic of the political significance of Jerusalem, but a very accessible approach can be found in Guy Delisle's thoughtful, first-person graphic novel entitled Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City.

Because of the political sensitivity virtually all nations have their embassies in Tel Aviv rather than Jerusalem, even though the Holy City is home to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. The United States has been among those countries until yesterday when the Blunderer in Chief, Donald Trump, announced a shift of the embassy to Jerusalem. He has flouted the diplomatic wisdom of decades, as well as the counsel of top advisors.

Why would he do this, sane people might wonder? His "base." For reasons God, or perhaps Satan only knows Trump has developed a diabolically loyal following amongst fundamentalist Christians. They have a bizarre conviction that establishing Jerusalem as the centre of power in a restored Israel is essential to the master plan of Christ's return. Some of them believe that there will be a final apocalyptic battle of global proportions before a "beam me up" rapture of the faithful.

While this may sound crazy, there are members of our families who are convinced that this is true, as are millions of American Christians. They are reveling in this announcement and they're convinced that Trump is God's agent in the fulfillment of scriptural promises. Of course serious biblical scholars insist that this is gross misinterpretation of scripture and point out that the word "rapture" can be found nowhere in the New Testament. We are learning though that this is a "don't confuse me with the facts" approach to faith, and Trump has fed into it.



As tensions and protests rise we must pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as Jesus asked us to do. Already there been violent confrontations in Bethlehem with tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers beneath the Christmas lights.

We can also pray that the United States will miraculously be given a real president.

Thoughts?