By Eliana Rudee, Breaking Israel News—
US Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to the Western Wall on Tuesday afternoon signified the Jewish people’s eternal connection with Jerusalem. While Pence used Biblical references in his address to the Knesset on Monday to attest to Jerusalem’s Jewish past, his visit to the Western Wall in the context of US President Donald Trump’s official recognition of the city as the Israeli capital affirms its future as a central location for the Jewish people.
More specifically, Pence’s visit can also be seen as a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy that Jerusalem will become a meeting place for the nations and an eretz chemda, which means ‘a desirable land.’
According to Jeremiah the Prophet, nations will assemble in Jerusalem and the land will be an eretz hemda.
Rabbi Tuly Weisz, publisher of Breaking Israel News, quoted the commentator Radak who held that Jeremiah uses this description of Jerusalem because it is in fact “desired by all the nations.”
“Hashem‘s holy presence is so palpable there, that everyone senses its holiness and wants it,” said Rabbi Weisz. “One needs to look no further than the morning newspapers or the nightly news to appreciate the accuracy of the Radak’s words. Despite its small size, Israel is a ‘desired land’ sought after by “all the nations.””
“I had resolved to adopt you as My child, and I gave you a desirable land—the fairest heritage of all the nations; and I thought you would surely call Me “Father,” and never cease to be loyal to Me.” (Jeremiah 3:19)
Thus, even the attempt to un-brand Jerusalem as a Jewish city by Arab Members of Knesset as a manifestation of Muslim yearning for Jerusalem can be seen as a fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. Nevertheless, Pence turned to the Bible to refute any claim denying the Jewish people’s connection to Jerusalem and referred to the Jewish exile, describing modern Israel as the reaffirmation of God’s eternal covenant.
Read more at Breaking Israel News