Zion

"Let those who hate Zion be put to shame and turned back neither let those who pass by them say, 'The blessing of YHVH be upon you; We bless you in the name of YHVH" (Psalm 129:5, 8).

"Thus says YHVH of Armies, 'I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal.'" (Zechariah 1:14b).

"Thus says YHVH: 'I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of YHVH of Armies, the Holy Mountain.'" (Zechariah 8:3).

"Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. The descendants of His servants will inherit it, and those who love His name will dwell in it" (Psalm 69:34-36 NAS).

We have commented in the past how in recent years anti-Semitism has increasingly begun to cloak itself in the protest that it is not "against Jews"-just Zionism. The Scriptures above (drawn from some 63 in the Hebrew Bible!) show how the God of Israel not only loves the word Zion, but the city He has called by that name and the people whom he has vowed to return to live in it forever.

Friday was Quds or Al-Quds Day (Al-Quds is an Arabic expression designating Jerusalem) - a day set aside for anti-Zionist rallies throughout the Muslim world. In 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini designated the last Friday of Ramadan to be a day for Muslims to express solidarity with the Palestinian people, and opposition to Zionism and the Israeli control of Jerusalem. Millions of Muslims in 80 countries across the world participated in the annual event. On Friday Hassan Rouhani, the Muslim cleric who on Sunday would take office as Iran's new president replacing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, spoke before an Al-Quds Day crowd, where he was quoted by Iran's semi-official student news agency ISNA as stating, "The Zionist regime is a wound that has sat on the body of the Muslim world for years and needs to be removed." Shortly thereafter, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem issued a condemnation, "Rouhani's true face has been revealed earlier than expected. Even if they will now rush to deny his remarks, this is what the man thinks and this is the plan of the Iranian regime. These remarks by President Rouhani must rouse the world from the illusion that part of it has been caught up in since the Iranian elections. The president there has changed, but the goal of the regime has not: to achieve nuclear weapons in order to threaten Israel, the Middle East and the peace and security of the entire world. A country that threatens the destruction of the State of Israel must not be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction" ("Rouhani: Nuclear row is West's pretext to confront Iran": The Jerusalem Post JPOST.com, 4 August 2013, 14:50 IST).
 
Officials in Iran did indeed rush to deny the words of its President-elect, objecting that Mr. Rouhani had been misquoted. The ISNA soon retracted its original quotation, saying the original words were that "Israeli occupation of Palestinian land had inflicted a 'wound' on the Muslim world"(i.e. with no calls for its 'removal.').

Whether or not Mr. Rouhani called for the Zionist regime's removal, his predecessor, Mr. Ahmadinejad had no qualms about doing so, addressing similar crowds on Friday, "I will inform you with God [Allah] as my witness, a devastating storm is on the way that will uproot the basis of Zionism" adding that Israel "has no place in the region." ("Iranian President-Elect Rouhani: Israel a 'wound' on Muslim world": The Jerusalem Post/JPOST.com 4 August 2013, 15:21 IST).

Meanwhile, in Lebanon Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah came out of hiding on Friday to deliver his own Al-Quds address (his first major speech since shortly after the 2006 war with Israel). In it he declared, "Israel poses a danger on all people of this region including Lebanon, and removing it is a Lebanese national interest. We want to say to every enemy and every friend we the Shi'ites of the world will not abandon Palestine, the Palestinian people or the sacred sites in Palestine"("Lebanese Christian leader assails Hezbollah for provoking Israel": The Jerusalem Post/JPOST.com, 4 August 2013, 13:51 IST).

PLEASE PRAY:

*The Scriptures at the head of this section over Jerusalem and Israel.

*That God will awaken voices in Iran and Lebanon to rise up in opposition to their leaders' voiced hatred for Zion and the Jews returning to live there.

*That Zion will wave as a banner reflecting God's grace and purposes on behalf of His people Israel and all humankind (The word "zion" bears the same root as tzi'un-a "signpost" cff: Jeremiah 31:21).

*That God will protect Zion and that as international conflict increases related to Israel's right to a presence in Judea, Samaria and "Eastern" Jerusalem her people will call out to their God, and come to know and love the name of His Son, in whose name He:

"will save Zion, build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. The seed of His servants will inherit it, and those who love His name will dwell in it"

(Psalm 69:34-36).