Why Remember Jerusalem

In the Spring of 2011 Leah and I began seeking the LORD about what to name our ministry and how to best summarize the passion that He put in our hearts. After much prayer and discussion the name came to me suddenly through a song taken from Psalm 137 (the LORD often speaks to me through song):  Psalm 137:5-6 “If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand wither away! May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I fail to count Jerusalem the greatest of all my joys.” 

Jerusalem is the most frequently mentioned place name in all of the Scriptures, occurring over 800 times! Zion is mentioned over 150 times. We don’t have to be Bible scholars to realize this means Jerusalem is extremely important to the LORD and should therefore also be at the forefront of our lives. Hundreds of years of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activity along with many replacement theologies led much of the Body of Messiah to ignore the importance of Jerusalem and the Promised Land of Israel and G-d’s chosen people. He chose to identify His great Name with this land and people and we serve a G-d who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Israel still matters! Even now the nations of the world are putting pressure on Israel to give the Biblical lands of Judea and Samaria (often referred to as the West Bank) to the Muslim Arabs. 

There is a faithful remnant of Messianic Jews similar to the early followers of Yeshua who live in the land of Israel and in the Diaspora who need the support of the Gentile Christian Church. We are asking the Gentile followers of Yeshua to support the Messianic Jewish people of whom we are grafted into according to Romans 11 and others passages of Scripture. We look forward to Zechariah 8:22-23, Yes, many peoples and strong nations [Gentiles] shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.  Thus says the LORD of hosts: "In those days ten men from every language of the nations [Gentiles] shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ "

The name Remember Jerusalem and the idea that “G-d’s heart for the nations is rooted in Israel” points to His faithfulness in the earth as manifested through the continued existence of His covenantal people. He will fulfill His promise to bring redemption to all of His creation and to return to rule and reign from Jerusalem.  He is a covenant-keeping King.