There is no city in the whole world which fills so important a place in the Word of God as Jerusalem. There are several others which are more prominent in the world’s politics, but in the great economy of God, as revealed in Sacred Scripture, Jerusalem stands out pre-eminent above them all. We Englishmen think of London, with its vast population and enormous wealth, as the leading city of the world; but except in so far as it is the capital of one of the isles of the sea, it has no place in prophecy. The French look upon Paris as the most beautiful city of Europe, and the centre of European influence; but, unless it is the predicted seat of the Beast, which some persons are disposed to consider it, it is literally nowhere in the Word of God. And Rome, which all regard with something of awe and veneration, as being associated with the most thrilling histories of the past, is described in the Prophetic Word as the seven-hilled city on which is seated the mystic Babylon, the great whore of the Apocalypse. But the whole of Sacred Scripture abounds in allusions to Jerusalem. History, poetry, and prophecy are all full of it. It is described as ‘beautiful for situation,’ and ‘the joy of the whole earth.’ The people of God are taught to pray for it, and the promise is given that those who love it shall prosper. The sacred feet of the Son of God trod the pavement of its Temple, and we are assured that it will never disappear from God’s great dealings with mankind, until the New Jerusalem shall descend from heaven from our God, and there shall be new heavens and a new earth at the coming of the Lord of Glory.
It was the sight of this beautiful city, with its magnificent Temple crowning the heights of Mount Moriah, that drew from our blessed Saviour the remarkable prophecy contained in the 24th of St. Matthew and the 21st of St. Luke. The disciples had pointed out to Him the buildings of the Temple; and afterwards, as they sat together on the Mount of Olives, on the opposite side of the valley, He taught them the vanity of all earthly strength. He told them that of the beautiful Temple not one stone should be left upon another. And He also taught them that there would be a lengthened period of desolation and humiliation; for that Jerusalem should be ‘trodden under foot of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled.’ Jerusalem was to be not merely beaten down, but kept down, until a certain predicted period should expire. But while the words distinctly predict a long period of desolation, they no less clearly imply the assurance of an ultimate restoration. They teach that Jerusalem is not to be trodden down for ever, but only till the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled; implying, as clearly as words can, that when those times are expired, the Holy City shall rise again in its beauty. The words predict a desolation for a limited period, and at the close of that period, restoration.