The City of Jerusalem
Posted on May 3, 2006 in Published Articles by John | 0 comments
Israel’s Messenger
Spring – 2006
The most important city in the world is not Washington, D.C. nor is it London, Paris or Brussels. It is not Berlin, Moscow, Baghdad (Babylon) or Beijing. It is a city that from a modern mind is insignificant and unimportant and has been so for centuries. But in this city God has placed His name and has made an eternal covenant with a group of people that have been hated and persecuted like no other people. The name of their ancient capital city and the future capital city of the world is Jerusalem.
The name Jerusalem means holy city or the city of peace. Its history raises a completely contradictory image of that name because Jerusalem (2,500 ft) has been anything but holy, except for the Temple. But even that, through much of its history, was not always very holy. And as for peace, the city of Jerusalem has had little in peace as it has experienced more than twenty sieges since the time of David’s conquest of Jerusalem,[1] as well as internal turmoil.
Jerusalem is located 36 miles east of the Mediterranean Sea and 16 miles west of the Dead Sea.[2] When the Jewish people speak of Jerusalem they say that you always go up to Jerusalem or down from Jerusalem. This is because of the topography of the area. The climate of Jerusalem involves two seasons: the rainy season from October to April, and the dry season from April to October. It generally has a prevailing wind from the west, but sometimes they get the hot winds off the Arabian Desert to the east.
Jerusalem has been called by the following names: The Jews call it Yerusalem and Arabic language called it El-Quds, which means “the holy city.” It also has been called the “City of David,” “Zion,” “Ariel,” “City of Peace,” and the Romans renamed to it as “Aelia Capitolina.”
Psalms 125:2 reflects the topography of Jerusalem referred to above when it says:
“As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people
from henceforth even for ever.”
These mountains literally do surround Jerusalem. The original city of David is at the lowest point above the valleys which also surround Jerusalem on three sides. Because of the topography of the land, Psalms 122:4 is literally true:
“Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give
thanks unto the name of the LORD.”
It literally does not matter from what direction you approach Jerusalem because you always go up to Jerusalem (Matt 20:17; Mark 10:32; Luke 2:42; 18:31; John 5:1; 11:55; Acts 11:2; 13:31; 21:4, 12, 15; 24:11; 25:1, 9; Gal 1:17-18, 2:1). And when you leave you go down from Jerusalem (Luke 10:30; Acts 8:26; 25:7).
It would be better if we had a an actual picture of the area. However, with your minds eye, try to imagine the topography of the area. There is a series of eight mountains and three major valleys that surround Jerusalem. Our starting point will be the original Jebusite city that David conquered and called Jerusalem, the City of David. To Jerusalem’s east you have the following mountains from north to south and then curving around to the west:
1. Nabi Samwil (2,942): Possibly “the high place of Gibeon” where the Tabernacle
stood – 1 Chron 16:39; 21:29.[3]
2. Mt Scopus (2,720): site of the city of Nob.
3. Mt Olivet (2,680): 240 ft above Jerusalem, place of the Olivet Discourse
4. Mt of Offense – or corruption or Scandal (2,450): site of the three pagan temples built
by Solomon for his pagan wives (1 Kgs 11:7-8) which was across the Kidron
from the pool of Siloam.[4]
5. Mt of Evil Counsel: Interestingly enough, it is the present site of the UN
Headquarters in the Middle East.
Then as we continue around Mt of Evil Counsel, you move north to one major mount which is also used as another name of Jerusalem. This is:
6. Mt Zion (2,510): called the Upper City in New Testament times.
Now between Mt. Zion and the Mount of Olives you have the City of David where we started. The original City of David was located on the lowest point and southern most point of a ridge of mountains (2,200). Immediately as you walk north you come to two additional mounts:
7. Mt Moriah is the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite that David purchased and
also where Solomon built the first Temple.
8. Then comes Mt Bezetha after you cross a ravine which was later filled by Herod when
he enlarged the Temple compound area.
Now between these mountains you have three major valleys that make these mountains distinct. These valleys are:
1. The Kidron Valley lays east of the city running north to south with the
mountains with Nabi Samwil, Mt Scopus and Mt Olivet on the opposite side.
2. The Hinnom Valley lays south of the City of David and on the north side of the Mt.
of Evil Counsel. This valley runs from the Kidron Valley west around Mt. Zion
and north.
3. The Tyrophean Valley is also called The Central Valley. This valley, which has
largely been filled in, ran from the Hinnom Valley up the west side of the City of
David and to the east side of Mt. Zion. This formed a narrow ridge of mountains
where the City of David and Mt. Moriah were located. Once when this valley
was parallel or on the north edge of Mt. Moriah it turned west and was known as
“the Cross Valley.”
This made the City of Jerusalem very defensible on three sides with its weakest side being the north. The only successful sieges of Jerusalem came from the north.
There are also secular references to the City of Jerusalem. So it is not just a biblical reference to this city that is mentioned more than any other in the Scriptures. Below are four main secular references whose points are commonly recognized as referencing Jerusalem:
3500 BCE: First settlement on the Eastern Hill[5]
2500 BCE: Earliest mention comes from the Ebla Tablets[6]
1900 BCE: Mentioned in the Egyptian Execration Texts[7]
1400 BCE: Mentioned in the El Amarna Letters[8]
Biblical Origin:
In the Biblical account Jerusalem is first mentioned in connection with Abraham and his giving of tithes to Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God in Genesis 14:18-20. At this time Melchizedek, a Jebusite, was a king/priest of the city of Salem (Jerusalem). He was a Canaanite that worshiped the true God.
In Genesis 22:2 Elohim tells Abraham to take his yachid (only) son to the land of Moriah and offer him as a burnt-offering upon “one” of the mountains that I will show you. II Chron 3:1
identifies where the temple was being built which was the threshing floor that David purchased from Araunah, the Jebusite. This is also believed to be the same place where Abraham made the offering of his only son. In the writings of Josephus he identifies this threshing floor as the location where Abraham was prevented by the Angel of the LORD from offering his son on Mt. Moriah.[9]
After all of this, the next time you hear of Jerusalem is at the beginning of the conquest by Joshua (Josh 10:1-5). Joshua and the leaders are deceived by the Gibeonites and make a treaty with them (Joshua 9). When Adoni-zedek, King of Jerusalem, heard what Israel had done to Jericho and Ai, and had now made peace with the Gibeonites, he formed a league with the kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon to attack Gibeon. Because of this treaty, Israel defeated the armies of the five kings, including Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem. However, Jerusalem itself was not touched, and so it remained a Jebusite city.
When the border for the tribe of Judah was drawn, its northern border was the Valley of Hinnom, which was on the south side of the city of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8). According to Joshua 18:16 Jerusalem was the portion allotted to Benjamin. After the conquest was over each tribe was to drive out, from their areas, the remaining Canaanites. Even though Jerusalem is a city in Benjamin’s territory, Judah tries to conquer Jerusalem but is unsuccessful (Joshua 15:68). Later, after the death of Joshua, Judah and Simeon (Judges 1:1-3) unite and fight against Jerusalem and destroy it (Judges 1:8), but it remains uninhabited and is evidently reoccupied by the Jebusites as Benjamin was not able to drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem (Judges 1:21). During the time of the Judges the city only occupied about 8-9 acres.[10] The fact that it remained a Jebusite city is referred to as a city of foreigners in Judges 19:12.[11] The Levite and his concubine refused to stay there because it was a Jebusite or a foreign city as noted in Judges 19:10-13.
Without encroaching into the subject of the next issue concerning the City of David, one other item should be mentioned from the Torah. In the book of Deuteronomy Moses gives 20 references which state that there will be a time when He will place His Name in one location only.[12] Deut 12:5 states the following:
“But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put
his name there.”
That place turned out to be the Jebusite city called Jerusalem. This city would be and has been at the center of God’s program for the world, for this is where God chose to place His Name, and many Jewish people would say, haShem (the Name). During the time of Abraham there was only one Canaanite recorded who was a believer in the “most high God” who was also the God of Abraham as well. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that this is where God gave the greatest test in Abraham’s life, to offer his son on Mt Moriah where God would later put His name and dwell with His people, Jerusalem. It is also not without coincidence that David, who purchased the threshing floor, would also connect the Godly priest/king, Melchizedek, with the God/man, the Messiah, whom David referred to as his Lord in Psalm 110. As the end time approaches it is not surprising that God would once again lift up Jerusalem before the nations and make “Jerusalem a cup of trembling” (Zech 12:2). This city has always been the center of focus for the Jewish people in the Diaspora. This covenant people of God through whom He gave us as Gentiles the Scriptures and the Messiah, our Saviour and Lord will physical return and set up His throne in Jerusalem. Now with the end time approaching God is going to make it the focal point for the nations, for when the Messiah Yeshua returns, He will not make Washington, New York City, London, Paris, Brussels, Moscow or Beijing the capital of the world, but Jerusalem, because His Name is there.
It is imperative for believers around the world to pray for the salvation of Jewish People and witness personally to them. But one other area needs our attention, we must pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The great psalmist said in Psa 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” Are the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem part of our prayer life?
[1] Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 2:1001.
[2] Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 2:1001.
[3] Arnold Fruchtenbaum, A Study Guide of Israel: Historical & Geographical (Tustin, CA: Ariel Press, 1994), 111.
[4] Merrill C. Tenney, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 3:468-470.
[5] Arnold Fruchtenbaum, A Study Guide of Israel: Historical & Geographical (Tustin, CA: Ariel Press, 1994), 95.
[6] Arnold Fruchtenbaum, A Study Guide of Israel: Historical & Geographical (Tustin, CA: Ariel Press, 1994), 95.
[7] Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 2:999.
[8] Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 2:999.
[9] William Whiston, Josephus Complete Works (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1960), 167.
[10] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols. Nashville: Abingdon, 1962), 2:846.
[11] Merrill C. Tenney, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 3:464.
[12] Joshua Berman, The Temple: Its symbolism and Meaning Then and Now (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1995), 58-59.