The Fire and Furnace of Jerusalem

     God has always protected Jerusalem - that city which seems to now be the "harlot Babylon" will become the New Jerusalem when Heaven comes down according to Scripture. Many look to Rome as the harlot; I don't. (See Goggle "Herrin Daily Thoughts" "Seven Hills" or click). Assyria (Ashur) had defeated Israel, and the prophet Jeremiah was foretelling the destruction of Assyria by the Babylonians when the following was written: "...the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem" (Isa 31:9).
     Assyria or Ashur who is credited with founding the cities of Assyria and was a son of Noah's son Shem. They were "Shemites" or those we call "Semites" today.  Let us review "the curse of Canaan":

And he (God) said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. (Gen 9:25-27)

     Canaanites are the accursed and are the antecedents of the occupants of Canaan before the Israelites came. (See the link above again if need be.) That also includes North Africans and especially Egypt. Egypt in Scripture is symbolic of sin. That's just part of the curse of Canaan.
     Shemites are the ancestors of the Jews, Iraqis, and much of the middle east. Only a few of the Jews remain racially pure as God warned them against marrying foreign wives. (As a side note, that is the only Scripture which condones and even dictates divorce. It seems that if the faith of wives is not the True God, that was grounds for divorce.)
     Israelites were descendants of  Arphaxad, the brother of Ashur. Unlike Abraham, Assyrians never worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God called Abraham from Ur (In Iraq) for that very reason. Assyrians and Jews had been at odds up until Jeremiah's time.
     The line of Japheth are most of those from around the Caucasus Mountains and the Indus River Valley just to the North and East of the Assyrians and Hebrews. The western civilization is somewhat descended from the line of Japheth. Why is that important? Look at God' dictate from Genesis above: Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem.
     The Hebrews were a nomadic tent people until they inherited Canaan's land - the Kingdom of David which was the Promise Land. The Jacobian Shemites (Israelites) worshiped God in their travels in tabernacles or tents. They carried the promise of God unto the nations through the seed of Abraham via Isaac and Jacob.
     As chosen people, God allowed the Hebrews to claim Jesus first. For the most part, the Shemites rejected Jesus, and now Gentiles, mostly Japhethites, dwell in the tabernacles or tents of God. I like those passages because God had my people and me in mind when he made that comment. Jesus was promised to be many times in patriarchal times, and that is when it was made quite clear. As Jews are God's chosen people, Caucasians are God's "peculiar people" (1 Pet 2:9). God made that declaration soon after the flood - about 3000 B.C.
     Africans (Hammites) were cursed by God. However, they are part of the Gentiles to whom Paul turned to preach Christianity. It seems that Hammites were redeemed by God after 3000 years, and included as "peculiar people". In modern times, it is mostly the descendants of Ashur who fight God. I am speaking of Islam.
     Of course, there are no pure races remaining. Jews have one of the most pure genealogies, and that is for a reason. They too someday shall return to the Abrahamic Covenant; after the peculiar people have been whisked into Heaven, leaving them alone in the world with the Assyrians. (I believe the government of the Apocalypse is Sharia Law.)  Thus, Jeremiah's destruction of Assyria is important, not only for the actual defeat by old Babylon, but also the later harlot Babylon which prepares the way for New Jerusalem to descend from Heaven.
     Now back to the verse of today: "...the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem" (Isa 31:9).  Zion is on the Hills of Jerusalem, specifically the Old City. "Fire" represents the Holy Spirit: "There appeared unto them cloven tongues (Jews in Jerusalem after Christ ascended and his Holy Ghost descended) like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost' (Acts 2:3-4). Jeremiah was surely speaking of the Holy Ghost coming to Jerusalem around 30 A.D. Not by coincidence, the great City of Babel in Assyria is where the common language of the world was encrypted, and the various languages assigned by God.
     That is important because the rest of Acts 4 is "and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." In Jerusalem, that old Babel encryption got decrypted! ( Google "Herrin Daily Thoughts" Encrypt Decrypt of click link). Jeremiah, I believe, was speaking of Jesus Holy Ghost returning after he "gave up the Ghost" at his death (John 19:30). Jeremiah was referring to the death, resurrection, and presence of Jesus! How about that?    The rest of today's verse is "his furnace in Jerusalem." Jeremiah was prophesying two alternatives: Jesus or eternal torment in Hell. Just as Jesus died, was resurrected, ascended, and descended at Jerusalem, and that is the future location of the City of God, Zion is also seems to be where access to Hell is! 
     The "foundation stone" is inside the Dome of the Rock (that old Assyrian artifact). The foundation is Ornan's Threshing floor, and "threshing" represents God's judgment. (See my book Killing God for more on that.) Beneath the foundation stone are two things: the Holy of Holies, and the abyss to Hell (according to Judaism,) I believe that.
     The Holy of Holies, if you remember, is where the Chief Priest had to be pure to enter because he was in the presence of God. If he was not pure, he would die. Well, the abyss was located at a convenient place right below so when God judged there would be quick access to the inferno! That may be the "furnace in Jerusalem." I believe Jeremiah was pointing out reward and punishment according to God's judgment.
     In summary, prophecy intrigues me and validates my faith. The continuity between the Old Testament and the New is the same as any ideology; it must be internally consistent and not contradict itself. The faith of Jeremiah is the same as my own faith. Indeed, Jeremiah is on the first layer of the Christian Church whose Datum is the Cornerstone Jesus Christ!

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. (Ephes 2:19-21)

    Jeremiah saw the Church. The Church is the threshing floor for either Jesus (God is salvation) or Hell. Unfortunately, the Assyrians will make wrong choices. Today's Scripture supports my hypothesis that Islam may be the end of time religion. My wish is that I am wrong!