The Cup Of Trembling…Zechariah 12

The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.  Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.(Zechariah 12:1-3)

A stunning portent of the truth of Zechariah’s prophecy has emerged through the recent resolution passed by UNESCO, (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), denied the ancient connection between the Jewish people and the Temple Mount, the site of the First and second Temple and the holiest site in Judaism.

UNESCO had previously re-assigned the shrine at the tomb of the Patriarchs,Abraham,Isaac,Jacob and Sarah,Rebecca and Leah, as a Muslim historical site. The UN organization did the same to the tomb of Rachel,the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.

Thankfully there were six nations which voted against this latest outrage, the US, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Germany and Estonia.

Russia,China and Germany all voted in support of this abominable travesty, along with 21 other nations, mostly Muslim but including Mexico and Viet Nam.

The Bible warns that the issue of Jerusalem would become the center of world attention and a “literal cup of trembling” and “a Heavy stone” in the path of the so called “progressive” (Globalistic) vision of the world powers that be.

Consider the significance of Jerusalem itself; it is the only city on earth of which the Gd of the Bible has said “I will put my name there, forever”. It is “the city of the great King”, Mt zion on the sides of the North, and is the place that God dwelt among his people Israel, in the Temple.

Jerusalem is also the place where “our Lord was crucified”, in short, the place where Satan was dealt a fatal blow, and also it is the place where the Messiah is predicted to “put his feet on the Mt of Olives” when he returns.

Of course the city has long languished under conquerors, since the temple of Solomon and then the second temple were destroyed, and the nation was sent into a long, dark night, of exile, banishment and judgment.

Jerusalem is important to the “global community” as well; it is the only city cut into two distinct portions by the U.N., which deliberates about a sixth of its time over the “status of Jerusalem”, which  is considered an “international city”. It is the focal pint of the world’s three monotheistic religions. Israel proclaims Jerusalem as its indivisible capitol, but the UN declares that “East Jerusalem” is the capitol of the “Palestinian State”.

Recently a controversy over a passport application in the United States went all the way to the Supreme Court, merely because a US citizen claimed his birthplace as “Jerusalem,Israel”. The United States official position is that Jerusalem is not part of Israel, and thus no passport can be issued which declares that the place of birth is Jerusalem,Israel.

True to this prophecy, the nations of the world are in great turmoil about the so-called “status” of Jerusalem. Though Jerusalem is manifestly the capital of the State of Israel, virtually none of the nations of the world will put an Embassy there, including the USA. They fear inflaming the Moslem near neighbors of Israel.

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The idea of a cup of trembling is a judgment administered , which causes the neighboring nations, to reel, to go mad, to lose the capacity for sound judgment which leads to self-destruction.

In the hand of the LORD is a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices;
he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth
drink it down to its very dregs. Psalm 75:8

The Obama administration has attempted to make the appeasement of the Muslim world a centerpiece of its foreign policy. Therefore it has taken an unprecedented US stance toward Israel especially regarding Jerusalem and Judea. See Obama and Judea

Obama and his secretary of state have called for a strict “no natural growth” policy for Judea,(The West Bank), and they severely condemned Israel for approving the building of housing Units in East Jerusalem. see Administration Condemns Jerusalem Housing.

Islam has been claiming that Jerusalem has never been anything but a Muslim city, one of the “holiest’ sites of the Muslim faith. Yet the Koran doesn’t mention Jerusalem by name anywhere.

In its effort to erase any sign of Jewish history in Jerusalem, the Wafq, the Muslim custodianship of the temple mount, has been moving tons of rubble from beneath the surface of the site of the temple, dumping it in gravel pits outside of the city. Archeologists are finding priceless artifacts of the previous two temples in the rubble.

There is a reference in the Koran to “Al Aqsa”, literally, the “farthest place” from Mecca, where Mohammed supposedly rode a winged horse en route to a heavenly Muslim prayer meeting with Jesus and Moses.It is interesting that in Obama’s Cairo speech to the Muslim world, he referenced this obscure story, “the Isra” , the sole Muslim claim to Jerusalem, and that only by inference.

The Bible ,however has more than 800 direct references to Jerusalem. It is “the city of the great King”, the “Joy of the whole earth”, Mt Zion, the sight of the future capital of the world, the counterpart to “the heavenly Jerusalem”. God is “zealous for Jerusalem with a great fury” we are told earlier in Zechariah.

Jerusalem, we are told by our Lord Jesus, will be trodden under foot of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

“…Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled…”(Luke 21:24)

For the time being, Jerusalem lies in unbelief, it  is as “Sodom and Egypt”, (Revelation 11) ,but is destined to be the city where Righteousness dwells, and out of which the Law of the Lord shall stream forth to all of the world. No wonder there is such a storm around it.

The UN wants to make it an international city, the Vatican wants custodianship over it, Islam claims it as one of its holiest sites, The Gentiles insist on it being divided into two cities, One the capital of the “Palestinian” state,the other side the capital of the Jewish state. Islam doesn’t like the name Jerusalem, they call it “Al Quds”, and so did a senior Obama security advisor in a speech recently. There is a storm brewing exactly as the Prophet said it would, God is making Jerusalem a cup of trembling, making mad the nations of the world.