City of Disobedience

Scripture: And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. Revelation 11:7-8

Observation: Jerusalem is symbolically - or spiritually - called "Sodom" and "Egypt", places of renown sin and disobedience. Likewise, in prior readings I have observed that the "new Jerusalem" cannot actually be the existing city, but new place (regardless of it's location). If these are both true - that Jerusalem is now a city known in heaven for its disobedience, and it will be completely replaced for the reign of Jesus - then that begs questions ...

What is the importance of Jerusalem today? Is it the holy city? Or is it the remnant of a once holy city that is now defiled and disobedient?

This is such a difficult and confusing matter. At once, Jerusalem is the former seat of God, the place where Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and a place dominated by Islamic sites and in the center of nearly continual conflict. Clearly, it is otherworldly important to be so central in the world while actually being a relatively small and out-of-the-way place. However, the question is, I believe, what is it's importance today?

Application: I believe Jerusalem is important as a place of action and events. It was the seat of David, the throne of God, the passion of Jesus. In the future, it is the site of the final battles, the hill for the final return. It was the place for the last stand of the Israel/Judah nation, and it will be the place for the last stand in the final days.

I do not understand the importance of Jerusalem and its selection as such a critical place. I acknowledge, however, that it must have been so selected given the disproportionate attention and centrality to human events that occur in a place that should be a water-starved hilltop village. We shouldn't have ever heard of the place, and instead every person on earth knows of it. Again, this can only be done by God.

Prayer: Lord, I do pray for Jerusalem and the people there. I pray for stability in that land, though I doubt that is possible or even your plan. I pray instead, then, for safety of individuals. Keep your hands upon the people, the children, and the defenseless. And may there be less division in your holy name, or Lord. While there may be anger and hate, it must never been in the name of the Lord. May that subside. Amen.