The war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas, which has been raging since October 7, 2023, has awakened many in our circles as well, and has made the question extremely topical once again, the question, “Should we pray for the peace of Jerusalem?” From time to time, I come across publications that suggest that this is what we are called to do. Based on Psalm 122:6a: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem…” we Christians are expected to do so. Jerusalem is considered by many in the Christian world to be the epicenter of religiosity, much attention is paid to it, and Jerusalem is also said to be very important for our future prospects.
The question, however, is whether this is still required of us in the context of the New Covenant. For a proper analysis of this story, we need to go back to the text of Psalm 122 and apply pure exegesis. Let’s go back to the text first:
A Song of degrees of David.
1I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2Our feet shall stand
Within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3Jerusalem is builded
As a city that is compact together:
4Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD,
Unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
5For there are set thrones of judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
They shall prosper that love thee.
7Peace be within thy walls,
And prosperity within thy palaces.
8For my brethren and companions’ sakes,
I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9Because of the house of the LORD our God
I will seek thy good.
The text begins with a reference to “the House of the LORD. In this pilgrimage song, the focus is primarily on the Temple and not so much on Jerusalem. Jerusalem is important in this context only because the Temple is located there. So the reason we pray for peace for the city of Jerusalem is because of the presence of the Temple within its walls and the presence of God associated with it in the Old Covenant. Verse 1 calls us to go to the House of the LORD, and verse 9 indicates that it is because of the House of the LORD.
Looking at the present situation, the first thing to note is that there is no temple in present-day Jerusalem. The famous Western Wall could be a remnant of it, but even that is doubted by some as being a remnant of the Roman Fort Antonio, but that is a discussion I will not get into now.
Jesus makes some remarkable statements about the city and the Temple
and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2
And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
(Matthew 24:1b-2)
41And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
(Luke 19:41-44)
Jesus declares that not one stone of the city or the Temple will be left standing. The reason for this is that the majority of Judaism at that time did not understand who Jesus was and what He had to come about. In the year 70, both the city and the temple were destroyed. Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian who described the destruction of Jerusalem in his book, “The Wars of the Jews,” states that after the city was conquered by the Romans, it was destroyed to such an extent that it was hardly recognizable that there had ever been a city. Emperor Hadrian rebuilt the city only a century later, and the current walls were built by an Ottoman caliph around the year 1516. Thus, today’s Jerusalem, except for its location, bears little resemblance to the original Jerusalem of the time of David and the time of Jesus.
In addition to these facts, another serious question arises that we must face within the framework of the New Covenant. In the New Testament, Jesus is the Temple and the Church is the House of God. Just two verses:
9Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21But he spake of the temple of his body. 22When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
(John 2:19-22)
15But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
(1 Timothy 3:15)
There are other verses that indicate the state of affairs under the New Covenant, but it is clear that under the New Covenant there is no longer a physical temple, so we are no longer focusing on the present Jerusalem, which is physical, but on the heavenly Jerusalem, which is spiritual.
18For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20(for they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22but ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
(Hebrews 12:18-24)
In this city, the heavenly Jerusalem, there is lasting peace. Therefore, we should pray at this day and age that there will be peace within the walls of the Church, which is connected to this heavenly Jerusalem, and that we as the Church of Jesus Christ will be visible as a city on a mountain. This is what Jesus is saying in the Sermon on the Mount:
14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
(Matthew 5:14-16)
This is where our focus is meant to be, and this is where our prayer is supposed to be. Ancient Jerusalem has had its day, it served as the central place where the people of Israel could meet God, but within the New Covenant there are no more physical locations, we gather as Jesus told us:
23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth
(John 4:23-24)
And this is no longer tied to a fixed place on earth. The assembly of the Church of Jesus Christ is the temple of the living God. Both Jews and Gentiles must be there to meet God and to meet Jesus.
