Editors’ Journal

Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.—Zechariah 12:6

Jerusalem is celebrating its 3000th birthday this year. While chronologists disagree as to the exact year of the city of Jebus being taken by David’s small band (1 Chron. 11:1-6), the figure 3000 is certainly not far off from being correct. In any case, Jerusalem can likely hold claim to being the oldest capital city in the world.

Few cities have known more masters. The city, like its kingdom, has well fulfilled the prophecy of Ezekiel 21:27, " . . . I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, until he come whose right it is." Following its fall to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the area has been ruled successively by Medo-Persia, the Ptolemys, the Hasmoneans, Rome, Byzantium, Muslims, Crusaders, Saladin, the Franks, the Mamelukes, the Tartars, the Ottomans, and Great Britain.

The Jewish people have been the main occupants of the city for less than one-half of that time. Yet the city remains not only the political capital of the state of Israel, but the emotional and spiritual capital of Judaism as well.

The return of the Israeli to his ancient homeland is a miracle of the past 120 years. The city is standing at a crossroads of history with a checkered past behind it and a glorious future ahead of it. We join in saying, "Happy Birthday, Jerusalem!"

A People with a Past

This issue of THE HERALD is a salute to the people of Israel. They have become known as "the people of the Book." It is from this "Book," the Bible, that we will be drawing the lessons from the rich history of this nation. Our theme for this edition is "Israel in History."

The opening treatise, A New Nation is Born, as its title implies, explores the origin of the Jewish people, tracing their lineage from "father" Abraham through their exile in Egypt and the Exodus, which brought them back to the land of promise.

After conquering what was then called the Land of Canaan, the twelve tribes of Israel began subduing the land through agriculture and sheep-herding. Their governmental structure was a loose alliance of tribes, each semi-autonomous. Another Generation examines the period of the Judges when, as the Bible says, "there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Jud. 21:25).

Lessons from the Kings of Israel probes the next era of their history. Within the first three reigns—those of Saul, David, and Solomon—the nation arrived at the zenith of its glory. The territory of the country nearly fulfilled the biblical prediction that it would stretch "from the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Gen. 15:18).

The Bible is largely silent on the history of Israel for the five hundred years between their return from Babylon and the first advent. Yet the developments of that time were vital to setting the stage for their most important moment, the arrival of their Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. These silent years form the subject matter for Between the Testaments. This narrative is continued through the time of Jesus in the succeeding treatise, All Men in Expectation.

Although Jesus, as their Messiah, had come particularly to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15:24), he was rejected by his countrymen. In the closing week of his life as he wept over the city, he uttered a fearful sentence, "your house is left unto you desolate" (Matt. 23:38). The fulfillment of this prediction is chronicled in the treatise, The Ninth of Ab.

A People with a Present

The Bible has little to say about the specifics of the next nearly two thousand years, other than to predict a bleak Diaspora for the Hebrew people, wandering homeless from country to country. Fortunately, this was not to be a permanent situation. Their hopeful cry, "Next year in Jerusalem," has finally given way to This Year in Jerusalem, the title of the next article in this issue.

Following in the same vein, the monthly verse by verse Bible study, entitled Of Bones and Sticks, looks at two specific prophecies of their return.