Recently, a friend asked me, “Are we still required to pray
for the peace of Jerusalem?” (as Psalm 122:6 says). I stopped to think about
that question, and about Zionism in general. Here’s how my thinking went.
When the Old Covenant was in place, it was between one
family – the children of Jacob – aka Israel) and God. (In fact, they resisted
being called a “nation” until the 20th century.)
When the Old Covenant was in place, that family was the
vehicle by which God related to the rest of the world. We’ll overlook the fact
that Israel failed miserably in that task: it was their task. (Note that “The
Law” was the “terms & conditions” of that Covenant. Note also that Israel
failed so completely at that, that God was required by the terms of that
covenant [which the people proposed, it was not God’s proposal] that he was
required to judge them and punish them for failing to keep their covenant with
Him. See http://nwp.link/1Ggenc6.)
And because Israel was the one primary means by which God
related to humanity, they were the victim of many attacks, both political and
demonic.
In that context, praying for the peace of Jerusalem –
Jerusalem being in proxy for the nation/family of Israel – was praying for
peace in the conduit between God and man. If Israel was at war, then Israel
could not well represent God to the nations.
The Old Covenant is now over. It was “obsolete and growing
old [and] ready to disappear,” [Hebrews 8:13] two hundred decades ago. And it
was completely obliterated, totally eliminated when Jerusalem was destroyed in
AD70 (the mortal wound: the destruction of all genealogical records of who’s
qualified to be priest or Levite).
Fortunately, 40 years earlier, the Old Covenant was replaced
by a New Covenant. In contrast, the New Covenant is not between God and one
family, or between God and one nation, or between God and ANY nation. The New
Covenant is between God the Father, and God the Son, and we’re included in the
Covenant by being “in Christ,” in the Son.
In the New Covenant, there is only one commandment: John
15:12: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved
you.” That’s it.
Paul, expounding on our covenant, urged Timothy, “First of
all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be
made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we
may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” This is, in
his estimation, part of how we “love one another,” and he’s right.
So the question is: “Is Jerusalem part of “all men”? Are
there leaders who qualify as “all those who are in authority”? Do they need
prayer? In my perception, the answer is “Yes!” to all three.
So yes, we pray for Jerusalem, for the same reason, and in the
same way that we pray for Tehran, or New Orleans, or Milan or Pretoria.
We pray “on behalf of all men,” and we pray “for kings and
all those who are in authority.”
But really (and I suspect some people won’t like this),
Jerusalem is no more special than your hometown, and Israel is now no more
special than Iraq or Dubai. And simultaneously, no less special.
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