Dear friends of Israel:

Zechariah, the penultimate prophet of the Old Testament, mentions two times that God will again choose Jerusalem. The first statement can be found in the first chapter of his book (verse 17), and the second one in chapter two, verse 16 where the prophet proclaims: “And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.” It is interesting that immediately after this verse the prophet describes Satan’s attempt to thwart this plan of the Lord. The same happened when Jerusalem was first chosen. In the first book of Chronicles, chapter 21, verse 1 we read: “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.” Besides the book of Job these two texts are the only biblical reports where Satan is mentioned by name and where he personally appears. We may conclude that Satan is alarmed whenever God’s plans with Jerusalem are involved.

In 1^st Chronicles 21 Satan was able to tempt David, but in doing so the divine election of Jerusalem was made apparent. By God’s merciful intervention the angel of death was stopped on Ornan’s threshing floor. This was the very place where David instructed his people to build the Temple of the Lord, although the people of Israel paid a heavy penalty for David’s sin. Seventy thousand people died of the plague (see verse 14).

Since the renewed election of Jerusalem that was made manifest to the whole world in 1948, we can observe how the powers of darkness have risen up in order to thwart God’s plan once more. When we read Zechariah 3:8-10 we can easily see that the prophet does not speak of events that were already fulfilled in the times of the high priest Joshua; he rather talks about some future event. In verse 8 he mentions the coming of God’s servant who is called the “branch” from the house of David and in verse 9 He is called the “stone”. Maybe the latter title is an allusion to the capstone, the stone of stumbling or the stone that will destroy all the kingdoms of this world. Other prophets have also used these metaphors. In this passage the prophet Zechariah further mentions seven eyes, making an obvious connection to the description of the Lamb of God in Revelation 5:6.

In looking back we understand that the divine election of Jerusalem must have been extremely provoking for the Devil. Today his anger must be even more terrible because he knows that world history is rapidly moving toward its final stage. In this context we have a better understanding of the universal hatred against Israel. The Word of God, however, gives us the assurance that the Evil One will not be successful with his threats and that God and His glorious promises will have the final say. The “branch” from the house of David will finally be victorious and fulfil His plans.

Sharing with you this wonderful assurance I am sending you a warm Shalom from Israel.

Fredi Winkler

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