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lem he longingly s ig hed, "O J eru–
salem, Jerusalem, thou that killest
the prophets, and stonest them
which are sent unto thee, how often
would
I
have gathered thy chi ldren
together, even as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wings, and
ye would not! Behold, your house is
left unto you desolate" (Matt.
23:37-38).
In A.D. 70 the Roman armies
under General Titus marched into
J erusalem and once again that great
city was destroyed. The temple that
Herod had constructed was torn to
the foundations till
fi
nally, as J esus
had foretold, not one stone was left
upon anotber (Matt. 24:2). T he Jew–
ish people were scattered throughout
the known world and, until compara–
tively modern times, Jerusalem was
not a predominately J ewisb city.
J erusalem Since the Time of Christ
In the 300s A.D., the Roman
Emperor, Constantine, professed
himself a Christian and Christian–
ity became a dominant influence in
the Empire.
In the 600s A.D., the Moslem
Arabs gained control of Jerusalem.
A magnificent structure called the
Dome of the Rack built by Abd el
Malek i bn Marwan was con–
structed in the existing temple
mount. The temple mount to Mos–
lems is the sight from which their
prophet Mohammed traditionally
ascended to heaven.
By A. D. 1100 the European
Crusader-Christians had taken Je–
rusalem-but lost it once again to
the Moslems less than a century
later.
Early in the 1500s the Ottoman
T urks captured Jerusalem. Under
the administration of the Turks,
additional Jews, many of whom were
being persecuted in other nations,
were permitted to emigrate to Jeru–
salem once again. By the late 1800s
J ews formed the largest ethnic popu–
lation in Jerusalem- but it was still
under Turkish government.
Turkey chose to ally with Imper–
ial Germany during World War
l.
In that war British forces fought in
the Middle East. In 1917 under
General Edmund Allenby, the Brit–
ish took control of what was then
called Palestine. For a period of
time, the British ruled Palestine
under a mandate.
ln 1947 the United Nations
approved the establishment of a
J ewish state. The modern nation
Israel was born. Following the deci–
sion, war broke out between Arabs
and Jews and Jerusalem became a
divided city. Jordan controlled the
east portion- Old Jerusalem-and
the territories on the West Bank of
the Jordan River. The Israelis con–
trolled modern Jerusalem in addi–
tion to its original territory.
In 1967 war once again broke out
between Israelis and Arabs. During
this Six Day War the Israelis recap–
tured all of East J erusalem, the West
Bank territories, the Golan Heights,
the Gaza Strip and the Sinai. Jerusa–
lem was united and the entire city
thus became the capital of the state
of Israel.
Jerusalem- the Future
More important than the 4,000-
year history of Jerusalem is the
future of this great city in relation
to the world.
When the ancient nation of Judah
went astray from God, God said,
"1
will remove Judah also out of my
sight, as
1
have removed Israel, and
will cast off this city Jerusalem
which
1
have chosen, and the house
of which
I
have said,
M
y name shall
be there" ( II Kings 23:27).
Through the prophet Zechariah,
God has promised, "Cry yet, say–
ing, Thus saith the Lord of hosts;
My cities through prosperity shall
yet be spread abroad; and the Lord
shall yet comfort Zion, and
shalf
yet choose Jerusalem "
(Zech.
1: 17).
God did not cast off Jerusalem
forever. Jerusalem shall become
this time the world capital never to
EXCAVATED RUINS,
far left, from the
temple mount excavations that began in
1968. Now completed, the excavated
area is being made into a historical park.
Middle /eff, Ambassador Col/ege stu·
denfs, among others, in excavations at
the City of David. Archaeo/ogists have
found remains as far back as the Jebu·
site period before the time of David.
Boxes of broken poffery and other sma/1
finds, middle right, are the result of
painstaking hours of work. Analyzing
these finds enable archaeo/ogists to
date uncovered areas. Far right, the
tools of the archaeologist include pick,
shove/, whisk broom, buckets and a
water jug. Work can be tedious and slow
but very rewarding.