In a sweeping sermon on Jerusalem and end-time prophecy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Cahn drew a straight line from ancient Scripture to today’s news cycle, arguing that the city once dismissed as a relic of a dead religion is now the most consequential piece of real estate on the planet.
The City God Would Not Let Die
Jerusalem appears more than 800 times in Scripture—142 in the New Testament alone—and Cahn wastes no time establishing why. “The Lord has chosen Zion,” he quoted from Psalm 132. “This is My resting place forever. Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.”
From that foundation, he argued that Jerusalem is not merely a historical backdrop but the literal address of God’s purposes on earth.
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By all laws of history, Cahn noted, the city should have vanished centuries ago alongside Troy, Nineveh and Babylon. The fact that it has not—and that it now commands the attention of every major world power—is itself a fulfillment of prophecy.
“Jerusalem is the physical geographical key to end-time prophecy,” Cahn said.
Two Thousand Years Under Foreign Feet
Citing Luke 21:24, Cahn traced the long arc of what Jesus called “the times of the Gentiles”—the era when Jerusalem would be “trampled underfoot by the nations.”
From the Roman destruction of 70 AD through successive waves of Byzantine, Arab and Ottoman rule, the holy city spent nearly two millennia under foreign sovereignty. That season, Cahn argued, formally cracked on June 7, 1967, when Israeli paratroopers reached the Western Wall.
“Jerusalem will be trampled down until that time is over,” Cahn said—though he was quick to add that end-time prophecy indicates at least one more desolation is still to come, tied to the Antichrist and the final Tribulation.
Daniel’s Missing Week and the Coming Temple
Turning to Daniel 9, Cahn laid out the architecture of the Tribulation: a seven-year covenant, a desecrated temple and an Antichrist figure whose profile traces back to the Roman Empire.
“He will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease,” Cahn said of the prophesied Antichrist. “That means there will be a temple—and he will desecrate it.” The implication is sobering: a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem is not optional for end-time prophecy to run its course.
“You can’t have a temple unless you have Jewish people who are back in Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. So all of end-time prophecy is hanging on Jerusalem.”
The Nations Rage—Right on Schedule
Zechariah 12 describes Jerusalem becoming “an immovable stone” that injures every nation attempting to move it. “The Bible says those nations that try to move Jerusalem are going to injure themselves,” he said, noting the UN has issued more resolutions against Israel than against all other nations combined.
A Revival Born the Same Month as a War
Perhaps the sermon’s most striking observation: the modern Messianic Jewish movement was born not years or decades after Jerusalem’s restoration, but in the same month. The Jesus Movement that swept California in June 1967 produced Jews for Jesus in San Francisco—”the end of the earth” from Jerusalem, Cahn noted—directly fulfilling Paul’s words in Romans 11 that Israel’s hardening would lift as “the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.”
That convergence, Cahn said, was no coincidence. “As the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem, it set in motion the return of the Jewish people to Messiah.”
His Feet on the Mount of Olives
Cahn closed with Zechariah 14’s climactic scene: all nations converging on Jerusalem, the city partially taken—and then the Lord himself intervening. “His feet will stand on that day on the Mount of Olives,” Cahn read. He then traced the echo back to Acts 1, where angels promised the disciples that Jesus would return “the same way” He had left—from that very same hill overlooking the city.
The sermon’s final word was less a warning than an invitation: Jerusalem is not a political problem to be solved. It is a prophetic promise being kept. “Whatever happens to Jerusalem,” Cahn said, “goes out to the whole earth.”
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the upcoming book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
