MidnightCall Magazine
In this issue:
- Before the Last Flood — By Norbert Lieth
- Gaza Flotilla: Aggression or Self-Defense? — By Arno Froese
- Far East AsiaTrendsToday – Part III:Geo-prophecy or Geopolitics? — By Wilfred Hahn
News From Israel MagazineIn this issue:
- The Myth of the Al-Aqsa Mosque: Part 1 — By Herbert Novitsky
- ON THE HORIZON:
- Obama Honors Jewish Heritage Month
- Building an Electronic Human Brain
- ‘Iran Critics Must Get Rid of Nukes,’ Says Turkish PM
- Israel Joins Prestigious OECD Club
- Israel Accepted after Unanimous Vote
- Spy Satellite Successfully Launched
Only 2% of ‘Christians’ in Jerusalem
In a diminishing demographic trend, Christians make up only 2 percent of the total population of Jerusalem, according to the annual city statistics.
Some 15,00 Christians live in Jerusalem, compared to 31,000 who live in the city before the establishment of the state in 1948, the figures issued by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies (JIIS) show.
“The main fear of the church leadership is that local Christians communities will disappear, and that the holy sites will be turned into museums with no supporting communities,” said Dr. Amnon Ramon, an expert on the Christian community with the JIIS.
He noted that the decline of the Christian community started a century ago and has continued ever since.
“Even if the Christian population holds steady, their population rate in relative terms will continue to drop, due to low natural growth rates,” he said.
The bitterly divided Christian community in Jerusalem includes 4,500 Catholics, 3,500 Greek Orthodox, 1,500 Americans and 850 Protestants, the figures show.
The Jerusalem Post, 1 June 2009, pg. 4
This seems to contradict some of the reports indicating a phenomenal growth of new believers in Christ in Jerusalem. However, to prove or disprove these statistics would be extremely difficult.
The statement, “holy sites [Christian] will be turned into museums” is significant. For Bible-believing Christians, there are no such things as “holy sites.” The true Church is in the world but not of the world—that includes Jerusalem.
The article reveals something even more disturbing in its last paragraph:
“About two-thirds of the city’s 760,000 residents are Jews, and a third are Arabs, with the Jewish growth rate 1.8 percent compared to 3% for the Arabs last year. Based on current trends, Jerusalem will lose its Jewish majority by 2035.”
This development, if correct, would turn the city of Jerusalem from being Jewish to Muslim. Here, we must consult Scripture about the future of Jerusalem, which clearly contradicts any and all earthly research and conclusions: “The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more” (Joel 3:16-17).