All Christians, at least once, dream about a journey to the holy land. Bethlehem where Jesus was born, Nazareth where He grew up, the Lake of Galilee where He met His disciples and preached the gospel . . . To feel the footsteps of Jesus, travelling back over a period of 2,000 years, would be the greatest delight in one’s life which cannot be compared with anything else. Sincere Christians leave on a journey to the holy land, being overwhelmed with joy, without hesitating to endure the long distance, the high costs and the inconvenience of waiting in line among so many pilgrims, just so that they can have a monumental and spiritual experience.
A holy land which they cannot exclude is Jerusalem. Including the Via Dolorosa which is the road where Jesus walked to the hill of Golgotha, carrying the cross, Jerusalem is the living scene of the gospel work where Jesus’ footsteps remain intact. This small city, which is surrounded by hills, is called the most holy land on the earth, and it has pilgrims lining up 365 days a year.
History of Jerusalem
People long to have peace in their minds, looking around the holy places in Jerusalem called the “city of peace.” However, if you look into the history of Jerusalem, it is far from the reality of peace. There has been more bloodshed in Jerusalem than any other place due to the endless religious disputes. Aldous Huxley, an English writer, even described the city as the “slaughterhouse of religions.”
Jerusalem is the holy land not only for Christians but also for Muslims. There is the Dome of the Rock, which is known to be a place where Muhammad ascended with riding a horse, according to legend. For Muslims, it is the third holiest land followed by Mecca and Medina. Jerusalem is more important than any other place for the Jews as well because God’s Temple was located there.
As three different religions and two different peoples [Israelis and Palestinians] insist on having the ownership of Jerusalem, it still remains as a representative city of dispute in international society. Nevertheless, the holy image of Jerusalem has not declined at all. Actually, it gets stronger as time passes by.
The history of Jerusalem began in the time of Abraham. Abraham’s descendants were chosen by heaven, and they settled down in Canaan [Israel]. As God had prophesied, they stayed in Egypt as “alien guests,” but came back to the promised land. As the temple and the fortress were built in the time of David and Solomon, Jerusalem enjoyed the most prosperity. However, not long after that, Israel was divided into two parts―North Israel and South Judah, and they were each destroyed by Assyria and Babylon.
However, as Persia conquered Babylon, they freed the Jews and sent them back to their homeland. The Jews, who came back to their homeland, were occupied again by the Greek Empire which had conquered Persia. They were controlled by the Roman Empire that conquered the world. This is when Jesus appeared and Christianity was born.
The Jews did not recognize the Messiah whom they had eagerly waited for. In the end, they handed Jesus over to be crucified on the charge of blasphemy, saying that He claimed to be God even though He was a mere man, and they cried without hesitation, “Let his blood be on us and on our children” (Mt 27:25). The wages for their sins was misery. As Jesus had prophesied that not one stone would be left on another and that everyone would be thrown down (Mk 13:2), Jerusalem was thoroughly destroyed by the Roman army in A.D. 70.
However, after the Roman Emperor Constantine officially recognized Christianity, the status of Jerusalem where Jesus had lived a life of the gospel was greatly enhanced. Many Christians regarded Jerusalem as the main place of their pilgrimage, but it didn’t last long; as the Muslim Empire conquered most regions of the Middle East with great military strength and advanced civilization, Jerusalem was taken over by the Muslims.
In the Middle Ages, Christian nations in Europe gathered together and waged the Crusades several times in order to take their holy land from the pagans. Although they claimed to fight in the name of God, the Crusades lasted about 200 years because of their worldly desires, and it ended, leaving Jerusalem stained with so much blood without a certain winner or loser.
Going through a period of a violent collisions between the two religions, influential Jews in Europe started Zionism1 from the late 19th century to the 20th century. After World War II ended, the Jews finally re-established Israel in 1948, nearly 1,900 years after Jerusalem was destroyed. Through its independence and the First Arab–Israeli War, Israel occupied West Jerusalem, and as they gained great victory in the Six-Day War in 1967, they occupied even the western coastal region of Jordan including East Jerusalem. Like that, they occupied Jerusalem which they had yearned for a long time.
1. Zionism: a movement that the Jews, scattered in various parts of the world, carried out to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, the land of their ancestors
Jerusalem is currently divided into two parts―east and west, according to the residential status of the Arabs and the Jews. The Old City of Jerusalem, which is called the center of the holy land, is divided into four quarters―Jewish, Armenian, Christian, and Muslim. Each religion manager opens the doors at the regularly scheduled worship time. They worship their own god in their own language. The scene of this holy(?) city in the early morning speaks for the difficult history of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, the land of salvation
Jerusalem is not just a holy land. The Bible says that it is a place where we can take refuge when there is a disaster, where our salvation is completed, and where our souls can truly be comforted.
Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. Isa 4:3
. . . your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode . . . the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven. Isa 33:20–24
“Rejoice with Jerusalem . . . you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” . . . Isa 66:10–14
In 1999 when everybody talked about the millennium bug [Y2K], an incredible number of people crowded to Jerusalem. Hotels in Jerusalem were packed with people who chose Jerusalem as their refuge, believing it would be the safest place in case something should happen on the earth. Throughout the ages, those who long for salvation have always kept their eyes on Jerusalem. Paying attention to the main incidents occurring around Jerusalem, they believed that the kingdom of heaven was near and hurried to prepare themselves. A certain denomination, paying attention to the prophecies, heated up milk and put a saddle on a donkey every day to be ready to serve God no matter when He would come. A rich European count even built a mansion to accommodate the 144,000 saints mentioned in the book of Revelation.
People who were not given an opportunity to receive God while being alive hoped to be saved even after death. They regarded Jerusalem as a holy place, where God would take the souls to heaven first at His coming as the Last Judge. The inside and outside of the city of Jerusalem has gradually become a place where dead people wait for the resurrection. It is very easy to find tombs, which fill the base of mountains and residential areas as well. Herman Melville, an American novelist, gave a sarcastic remark on the city of Jerusalem which is full of graveyards. He described Jerusalem as the “city besieged by army of the dead,” alluding to the prophecy of Jesus who said, “Jerusalem will be surrounded by the armies.”
It is not only the tombs that make Jerusalem bleak and warlike. Since it cannot free itself from conflicts between nations and disputes among different religions, its streets are covered with soldiers holding guns, and it is often on the news because of riots and terrorist activities that happen there every day. Nevertheless, Jerusalem is still one of the courses for the journey to the holy land.
Amos Oz, an Israeli writer from Jerusalem, says, “Can one ever feel at home in Jerusalem, I wonder, even if one lives here for a century?” This question is worth being thrown at the pilgrims who crowd into Jerusalem from all around the world. Have their souls been truly comforted in this city, called the “city of peace,” where peace was taken away a long time ago?
Heavenly Jerusalem is our Mother
Jerusalem is a special and holy city. It is definitely true that this place is inseparable from our salvation. However, the Jerusalem which God’s people must seek and stay in is not the Jerusalem in Palestine, the center of disputes, where the atmosphere change depending on political situations. It is hardly possible that our God, who is just and righteous, chooses a certain region as a place of salvation and turns His face away from numerous people who cannot afford to go there even though they long to receive salvation.
Jerusalem that the prophet Isaiah saw in a vision is not a fixed land or city, but a heavenly being. The Bible describes Jerusalem as the wife of the Lamb, that is, the bride of God the Father.
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Rev 21:9–10
To dwell in Jerusalem, the abode of salvation, we must know the exact reality of Jerusalem. The Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, refers to the Mother of our spirits, who is God the Mother.
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. Gal 4:26
As prophesied, salvation in this age is completed through faith in the heavenly Jerusalem, God the Mother. Salvation can be achieved by knowing God the Mother and having complete faith in Her, and our souls can truly be comforted in Her.
“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her . . . As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” Isa 66:10–14
The people, who have confirmed the existence of Heavenly Jerusalem Mother through the prophecies of the Bible, dream to meet Her who dwells on this earth in the flesh, and they leave for a journey to the holy land. The new holy land is Korea where Heavenly Jerusalem Mother dwells.
To Jerusalem, Heavenly Jerusalem
In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Mic 4:1–2
Nobody can stop the prophecies of the Bible being fulfilled. Every year, more than 1,000 pilgrims visit Korea, the holy land, to learn the truth and receive the water of life that is flowing out from Jerusalem. After meeting Mother whom they have missed even in their dreams, they all share their overwhelmed emotions.
“When I went to the church for the first time, I heard the church members giving thanks to ‘Father and Mother,’ and I wondered, ‘Who is this Mother?’ I had no doubt about the truth of everything that I was being taught, so I was comfortable to wait for the explanation. Soon I was given the answer.
Upon learning that there is the family system in heaven just like on the earth, all of my emotions welled up. My heart felt so full, and I began to giggle like a toddler, uncontrollably. I felt such a feeling of joy inside. Even in the happiest times of my childhood, there was nothing to match the feeling, so exhilarating that I felt as if I could fly.
From that moment, I had no doubt that our Heavenly Mother exists and that it was She who was touching my heart. As I learned more about Her boundless love and came to realize the enormity of the sacrifice that She has made for us, I was so deeply moved as to find myself in tears.
Millions of Christians have wished, in the abstract, that they could have walked with Christ when He came to earth 2,000 years ago. To learn that Jerusalem Mother, Almighty God, is here on earth with us now left me stunned and amazed. To my great joy, only six months later I was in Korea, meeting Heavenly Mother―our female image of God who has come to earth in the flesh. A year later, even to this day, I know that I do not fully realize or understand how astonishing it was to walk with God the Mother and receive a shower of blessings from Her.” August Kruesi from Washington D.C., USA
“After studying thoroughly about the words of the Bible, I realized that Christ has come again. I was in awe when I learned that Christ came a second time and revealed that we have Heavenly Parents.
I was so happy to learn about Mother. I thought, ‘How sensational it is!’ We not only have God the Father, but we have God the Mother. It is beyond incredible. The greatest mystery of all mysteries in the Bible has been revealed.
‘The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life’ (Rev 22:17).
The Spirit is God the Father, and the Bride is God the Mother! How fantastically awesome!
Heavenly Mother is the only way to go to heaven. A mother’s love is beyond words or comprehension. I love my two children and would do anything for them. I would go to great lengths, risking my own life if need be, to assure their well-being and safety. All the love I have in my heart for my children is this much, then how much more love would our Heavenly Mother have for us? The love She has for Her children is unfathomable.” Karen Ann Gubbins from Meriden, CT, USA
“I first learned about Father’s coming again. Through Father’s teachings, the Bible became alive for me. What had earlier seemed unimportant, with little relevance, became alive.
When I then learned about Heavenly Mother, my understanding of the Bible seemed to take a leap forward. So many aspects of the teachings in the Bible that I did not understand before became clear and vivid. All the truths about Mother seem, in hindsight, to be so obvious when we look around us at the world our God has created for us.” Michael King from Manchester, UK
“I was so happy to hear that God the Mother has come to this earth to save me and my lost brothers and sisters. By visiting Korea for the first time, I was able to feel Heavenly Mother’s great love that knows no bounds. Before Mother rescued my soul, I found it hard to believe that such a wonderful place as heaven could exist. But having been to Korea to meet God the Mother twice, I can now say that I have experienced heaven twice. I know that She is God because when I’m with Her there is only joy and love. Mother has washed away all my imperfections and refined my personality. She has given my life meaning. Without Mother’s great love, I would still be wasting my life and would not know true love.” Aileen Donnelly from Toronto, Canada
“I didn’t understand love. I spent most of my life seeking love, but I didn’t find it because the love in this world has a limit. But after meeting Mother, I was able to understand that what I had always sought was God the Mother’s infinite and true love.
The one I have sought was Heavenly Mother, because God the Mother is love. Although we don’t even deserve to look at Her feet, She has come to this earth with Her infinite love to meet us, and She sacrifices Herself and embraces our hearts of stone to fill them with love. Although I cannot see it, I can feel it. I can feel the love I have been seeking for so long. Mother’s love is always with me, holds my hands and patiently guides me every day.” Alma Islas Motolinia from Atlixco, Mexico
“I’ve been in the media field for ten years, and I’ve done a lot of TV series, documentaries, TV movies, etc. But when I came to know about God the Mother, I was shocked. I was very excited to know more about Her through the Bible. I came to know that the words of the Bible are more important than any of my movie scripts. Heavenly Mother has a bigger and greater work than any of the movies we’ve produced in this world. I was lost and wandering about in this world which has no truth in it. I was weeping in my sorrow throughout my life. However, Jerusalem Mother has given me everlasting life. She is my life.” Selvamary M. Krishna Muthy from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Retracing Heavenly Mother’s footsteps of the gospel in the holy land, these pilgrims have been immersed in abundant love and spiritual joy, which they cannot get anywhere in the world. Pilgrims will keep coming until all the children of God, scattered over the world, find true comfort and receive the salvation of their souls.
- Reference
- Simon Sebag Montefior, Jerusalem: The Biography