Coming: Gentile control of Jerusalem?
In the meantime, the issue of Jerusalem's status awaits a resolution. Will the Vatican offer its services to break through the Gordian knot that prevents a peace settlement?
In July 2000, while Israeli and Palestinian leaders met at Camp David with President Clinton, the pope urged that Jerusalem be governed under international protection. "... I want to ask all the parties not to neglect the importance of the spiritual dimension of the city of Jerusalem, with its sacred places and the community of three monotheistic religions that surround them," he said.
In September he reiterated his desire for international intervention in Jerusalem: "The history and present reality of interreligious relations in the Holy Land is such that no just and lasting peace is foreseeable without some form of support from the international community."
Since then spokesmen for the Palestinians and Israelis, as well as other national leaders, have called for intervention not only from the Vatican but from the European Union and United Nations. Growing numbers are calling for exactly the kind of solution prophesied in the Bible: the passing of Jerusalem to gentile or Vatican control-or both.
Of the climactic circumstances that will overwhelm Jerusalem at the time of the end, Jesus says: "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near" (Luke 21:2
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. At Christ's return He will rescue the then-downtrodden city. It will regain its status as a font of light, truth and glory. Ruling from Jerusalem, Jesus Christ will liberate mankind and bring peace to this war-torn world. GN