22/04/12

The Lord shall stand on the Mount of Olives

Zechariah 14:4
And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.


When I had started reading the Bible and came across this scripture I visualized a huge Jesus Christ putting His foot on this Mount of Olives and the splitting this place (like the Hindu gods are depicted). I also thought of an army of soldiers fighting alone with Jesus the Holy war for His people (like the Muslims do Jihad).

If we look at the belief of the Muslims of the end days they too believe in Jesus coming and waging a war against evil. The only difference in their belief is that the people whom Jesus fights are the Jews and the Christians. Jesus as they believe will kill all the Jews and Christians and offer their blood as a sacrifice to God and thus save all the Muslims, making a way for them to go to Heaven. This amuses any sensible person for a large part of their book they consider the Christians as Jesus' followers and the Jews a part of His family. Also they deny in most part of their belief that a sacrifice of any one can save another, especially a blood sacrifice. This is not surprising when we know that their Allah is different from our God and their Jesus is different from our Jesus.

Most Christians have the imagination which I carried before I received the wisdom to understand scriptures. They also believe that the fig tree symbolizes Israel which is wrong. In the Bible the only tree that is used to symbolize God's people is the olive tree. This tree is given a great importance. The oil used to anoint people in scriptures is clearly specified as being only olive oil. I am not telling that from tomorrow to use only olive oil for anointing, but if we understand why olive and its symbolism then true anointing will be done that too without any oil.

The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem is more of a Jewish graveyard which hold around 1,50,000 graves of people ranging from Prophets like Zechariah, Malachi and Haggai to graves of famous Rabbis, political figures and celebrities including Princess Alice of Battenberg. The olive trees on the mount are nearly thousand to two thousand years old but are not the ones during the time of Jesus since the Romans cut and destroyed all the trees in 70 AD when they attached Jerusalem no leaving one standing. One cannot tell the age of the olive tree since it does not have rings by which the age of a tree is depicted. The Garden of Gethsemane is at the bottom slopes of this mount.

One should understand there are two Jerusalems in the Bible text one having the Strong number 03389 and the other 03390. They are written as Y@ruwshalaim and Y@ruwshalem respectively. The second depicting the city Jerusalem and the first as a symbol as used here in this scripture.

This event of the splitting of the symbolic Jerusalem is not immediately before the second coming of Jesus but a period (in Hebrew the word day means 24hrs or even a period of time ranging from month, year or even years). This event is not a local event to the place Jerusalem but will be a global event.

One needs to understand the earthquake spoken in these scriptures which happened during the days of Uzziah king of Judah, was prophesized by Amos and happened after the priests were invaded. The King was also struck with leprosy during this period.

During the earthquake half part of the mountain towards the west was broken, and rolled half a mile towards the eastern part, and stood there; so that the way to the king's gardens were stopped.

Let us prepare ourselves for this spiritual earthquake by getting rooted to unshakable foundation which is the Rock - the Lord.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, You have always warned your people to prepare them before any disaster came their way. Those who listen to your voice were never shaken or affected by the disaster but breezed through them with easy. Lord, we pray your people hear your warning and prepare. Let your Spirit speak to them and guide them...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Zechariah 14:1-16
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.
11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles (the real birthday of birth of Jesus Christ).

Amos 1:1 - The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.


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