Jerusalem: The City of Creation, Conflict, and Controversy
Lesson Overview
Jerusalem: The City of Creation, Conflict, and Controversy with Dr. Jimmy DeYoung
This standalone message is given by Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, a journalist who lived in Jerusalem for many years. He argues that the opening chapters of Genesis lay the foundation not only for all doctrine but for all Bible prophecy, and that the city of Jerusalem stands at the center of God’s plan from creation to eternity. Use this overview to review the key points after watching the full video.
The Hebrew Language and a Revived Tongue
DeYoung opens by teaching a few Hebrew greetings and making a point of it: Hebrew was a dead language for roughly 2,000 years and is the only language in history to be revived as a living mother tongue, largely through the efforts of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda in the late 1800s. He connects this to the “pure language” promised in Zephaniah 3:9, and identifies Hebrew as the single language spoken at Babel. This framing (that Hebrew was the original and will be the language of heaven) is his own view and is not a settled matter.
Prophecy Through All Twelve Chapters of Genesis
The first half of the message builds on Ken Ham’s emphasis on Genesis 1 through 11 as foundational, with DeYoung adding chapter 12. He argues these chapters cover 2,000 years of history (Adam to Abraham) and set up eschatology chapter by chapter.
From chapter 1 he draws the pattern of the kingdom: God gave Adam and Eve dominion, a pattern he says will be fulfilled when Christ (the last Adam) and His bride, the church, reign together in the millennium. He uses this to lay out the sequence of future events: the rapture, a seven-year tribulation, the return of Christ (Revelation 19), the thousand-year kingdom (Revelation 20:1-6), the Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), and the eternal state with a new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem.
He moves through the chapters: chapter 2 and the Garden of Eden (which he will return to), chapter 3:15 as both the promise of Messiah and the doom of Satan, chapter 4 and the beginning of preaching (tied to the tribulation witnesses), chapter 5 and Enoch (whom he takes to be one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11, alongside Elijah), chapter 9 and the institution of human government and capital punishment, chapter 10 and the origin of the nations (several of which appear in the Ezekiel 38 coalition), chapter 11 and the Tower of Babel as the genesis of the false religious and economic “Babylon” of Revelation 17 and 18, and chapter 12 and the call of Abraham beginning the Jewish people.
Several of these are DeYoung’s particular interpretive positions rather than points all Bible-believing scholars share. His identification of Enoch as a specific one of the two witnesses, his reading of Genesis 6 as fallen angels producing the “aliens” of Revelation 9, and his claim that Abraham (not Ishmael) is the father of the Arab world through the sons of Ham are each debated among prophecy teachers, and the last is a genealogical claim other teachers would frame differently. Students should hold these as his views.
Jesus Loved Prophecy
DeYoung argues that Jesus Himself was devoted to prophecy, noting that the last months of His earthly ministry (from Caesarea Philippi through the post-resurrection teaching about the kingdom) centered on predicting His death, resurrection, and return, and that the Olivet Discourse is the most profound prophetic passage in Scripture. He cites Revelation 19:10, that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, and stresses that the kingdom is not yet operating, since Christ is currently seated at the Father’s right hand (Revelation 4 and 5).
The Times of the Gentiles
Turning to Luke 21:24, DeYoung explains “the times of the Gentiles,” which he defines as any period in history when Gentiles control the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. He traces it from Daniel 2 (Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue representing Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and a revived Rome, ended by the “stone,” Christ) and argues it did not end in 1967, since in his view Gentile powers still exercise control over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
He supports this with then-current examples from his own reporting, including U.S. pressure on Israeli building in Jerusalem and the roles of international figures. These are his characterizations of contested political events, offered from his strongly pro-Israel viewpoint, and other accounts of the same events differ.
Jerusalem, the Chosen City
DeYoung recounts how Jerusalem became Israel’s capital: David, king in Hebron, took the neutral Jebusite stronghold and made it the political capital (2 Samuel 5), then brought the Ark there to make it the spiritual capital (2 Samuel 6). Through the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7) God promised a son who would build the temple and a son who would reign forever. He cites Ezekiel 5:5 and Psalm 132:13-14 that God placed Jerusalem at the center of the earth and chose it to dwell among His people.
Jerusalem a “Cup of Trembling”
From Zechariah 12:1-3, DeYoung notes the passage opens by identifying God as Creator (linking creation and prophecy) and then calls Jerusalem “a cup of trembling.” Modeling the inductive Bible study method, he interprets the phrase by other Scripture, concluding it pictures an intoxicating cup, so that the nations become “drunk” and irrational over Jerusalem. He illustrates with an account from 1994, when he says President Clinton’s request to visit the Temple Mount was blocked by Yasser Arafat, using it to argue that even the most powerful leaders are made powerless over this city.
From Zechariah 1, he highlights the phrase “I am jealous for Jerusalem,” which he renders from the Hebrew as “aggressively possessive,” and God’s promise to return to Jerusalem and build His house there, which he takes as evidence that God still has a future plan for the Jewish people and a coming temple.
Along the way DeYoung includes personal opinions and asides not central to the lesson, including a strong stance against Christians drinking alcohol (which he defends with a contested argument about the wine at the Last Supper and Cana), and several humorous illustrations. These are his personal views and read as tangents to the main teaching.
Why Jerusalem? The Garden of Eden
DeYoung’s climactic claim is that the Temple Mount is the site of the Garden of Eden. He reports that Orthodox Jewish and Muslim authorities he interviewed both trace the foundation stone under the Dome of the Rock back to the creation of Adam. He builds a biblical case from Joel 2:3 (an army coming against a land like the Garden of Eden), Isaiah 51:3 and Ezekiel 36:35 (God restoring the land to be like Eden), and Genesis 2:10, arguing that one river flowed out of Eden and only later divided into the four named rivers, so the present Tigris and Euphrates need not mark Eden’s location, especially since the flood reshaped the earth’s topography. He points to the Gihon, the one spring in Jerusalem (1 Kings 1), as the Eden river that remains.
This identification of the Temple Mount as the Garden of Eden is DeYoung’s own view and is not widely held among scholars; students should weigh it as his interpretation.
The Closing Appeal
DeYoung closes by describing his ministry’s resources and his effort to recruit a “Prophetic Army of Senior Saints” to teach prophecy to the next generation. He ends as he often does, leading the audience to shout “Maranatha,” the early church’s parting cry meaning the Lord is coming.
Key Terms
Times of the Gentiles: any period when Gentiles control the Jewish people and Jerusalem, from Daniel 2 until Christ’s return.
Apocalyptic literature: the genre (in Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Revelation) that uses a literal symbol to convey a literal truth.
Cup of trembling: Zechariah’s image of Jerusalem as an intoxicating cup over which the nations lose their reason.
Davidic covenant: God’s promise that a son of David would build the temple and reign forever.
Two witnesses: the tribulation preachers of Revelation 11, whom DeYoung identifies as Elijah and Enoch.
Inductive Bible study: interpreting a passage by letting other Scripture explain it.
Verses to Know
Genesis 1:26-28, dominion given to Adam and Eve, the kingdom pattern. Genesis 3:15, the promise of Messiah and the defeat of Satan. Genesis 11:4, Babel as the origin of false religion and economics. Luke 21:24, Jerusalem trodden down until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Daniel 2, the statue of the Gentile world powers. 2 Samuel 7, the Davidic covenant. Zechariah 12:1-3, Jerusalem a cup of trembling. Ezekiel 5:5, Jerusalem at the center of the nations.
Takeaway
DeYoung argues that Genesis 1 through 12 is the foundation of Bible prophecy and that Jerusalem is the chosen city of God from creation to eternity, so that the world’s ongoing conflict over Jerusalem is exactly what Scripture foretold, and the believer’s response is to watch expectantly and say Maranatha.