The aura around the city of Jerusalem has existed for millennia. Millions of people over the years have travelled there to experience its beauty and rich history. The Bible tells us that the queen of Sheba visited there during the days of King Solomon and commented “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard.” (1 Kings 10:6-7). This was in the mid-900’s BC. The splendor of Jerusalem had attracted visitors for centuries before finally being destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The city and temple were rebuilt during the reign of Cyrus the Great, and while the rebuilt city and temple did not measure up to the splendor it had during Solomon’s time, still it was quite something to behold as can be seen by the way disciples of Jesus drew the Lord’s attention to the beauty of the city, and in particular the temple, in Matthew 24:1. Jesus, however, does not seem to be the least bit impressed, and proceeds to prophesy “Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down”, and again in Luke 21:20, “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.” History confirms that this took place when the Roman army under Titus sacked Jerusalem and dismantled the temple stone by stone in order to get to the melted gold that had run down into the cracks and crevices. This event marked the end of historical, biblical Jerusalem.

The historian Josephus, who wrote in the 1st century AD, describes the utter destruction of Jerusalem in his book “Wars of the Jews”. It is said that travelers who passed that way afterward confessed that there was no evidence that a city had ever existed in that place. So if the location of ancient biblical Jerusalem on Mount Moriah was totally devoid of evidence that it had ever existed, how did the current city of Jerusalem come to be? Rebuilding began following the Roman emperor Hadrian’s visit to the ruins of Jerusalem in 130AD, who decided to rebuild it as a city, dedicating it to Jupiter, and calling it Aelia Capitolina. The majority of the city that exists today was built during the Ottoman empire under the reign of Suleiman 1 who lived from 1494-1566. Therefore despite popular opinion to the contrary, everything in the “Old City” of Jerusalem visible today , including the so-called “wailing wall” was actually built by either the Romans or the Turks. This is the tale of the physical city of Jerusalem.

But what about the second city in our tale? New (or spiritual) Jerusalem. In Hebrews chapter 11, it says that the great fathers of faith “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth”, and that rather than a fleshly city, they desired “a better country, that is, an heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city (in the spiritual realm).” Our goal and ultimate destination is not a physical land or country, but a spiritual one. A “heavenly city” — the NEW JERUSALEM! (Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 3:12, 21:2,10). So if the capital of the Kingdom of God is NEW JERUSALEM, then what does he think about the old, physical Jerusalem? Revelation 11:8, “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified (ie, Jerusalem).” Luke 13:34, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” Acts 22:18, “And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.”

Paul explains in Galatians 4:22-31 an allegory regarding the mothers of Abraham’s two sons (Ishmael/Hagar and Isaac/Sarah). Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, representing the old covenant, “answering to Jerusalem THAT NOW IS” (v. 25). That is, the physical Jerusalem of Paul’s day, and “her people”, the Jews, who are under the Law. They are “in bondage”. But the born-again Christians who have accepted Christ are Isaac, the “children of promise” (v. 28), not born “after the flesh” (ie, natural blood descendants of Abraham), but born “after the Spirit” and “according to the promise” (ie, supernaturally born again new creatures in Christ, 2 Cor. 5:17). (See also Romans 9:6-8)

So many people today are looking to the state of Israel and physical Jerusalem for “signs of the times“ and proof that we are living in the “time of the end”. But it’s critical for true Christians to understand the difference between the old covenant and old Jerusalem, both of which were destroyed in 70AD, and the new covenant and New Jerusalem, that are for all those who are born again, whether previously Jew or Gentile (Galatians 3:28-29). Jesus did not command us to keep our eyes on Jerusalem, He commanded us to keep our eyes on Him!