Yom Yerushalayim יום ירושלים is Jerusalem Day, an Israeli national holiday that commemorates the event when during the 1967 war, Israeli forces regained possession over the Old City of Jerusalem and gained access to the Western Wall. Yom Yerushalayim will be celebrated this year starting the eve of May 28th, and ending the evening of May 29th, 2022.

This is what Israeli General Moshe Dayan is quoted as saying on the day of its capture: This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of our holy places, never to part from it again. To our Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour—and with added emphasis at this hour—our hand in peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the sake of other peoples’ holy places, and not to interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity.

Jerusalem is mentioned no less than 643 times in the Bible and there are no less than 14 names given it:

The City of David

The City of the Great King

The Holy City

Salem

The City of God

The City of the Lord of Hosts

The City of Righteousness

The City of Truth

The City of the Lord

The Perfection of Beauty

The Joy of the Whole Earth

The Lord our Righteousness

The Lord is There

Ariel, the Hearth of God

This city, the city of God, is the place the Lord chose to build His temple, and to dwell, and a place where He will eventually establish His eternal kingdom, the New Jerusalem. But in 2 Samuel 5, we read how David took the strong hold of Zion and in 2Samual 24 he officially bought the threshing floor from Araunah, the Jebusite.

It has been built and destroyed over 17 times, besieged over 45 times and today, after 3000 years, it has become one of the the most disputed pieces of real estate in the world. It will become the center of even greater turmoil as we are getting closer to the coming of Yeshua. This is where He will return. But amidst this history of opposition, we are secured through God’s promise to David that He will establish His kingdom and that a Davidic king will always sit on its throne.