One of our members asked about Jerusalem:
"I noticed that Jerusalem is first mentioned in Joshua and Judges as a city already occupied. For some reason I always thought the Jews started the city. How should, or do we, think about Jerusalem today, given the pre-Jewish history, the Jewish NT history, and Islamic history, and current Judaism? Maybe it isn't a question, as much as an interesting history for that city. No wonder so many religious groups claim it as their own."
An old, old map famously portrayed the world as a flower with three pedals. To the northwest was a pedal labeled "Europe." To the east and northeast was a pedal labeled "Asia." To the southwest was a pedal labeled "Africa." And, finally, the center of the flower was labeled "Jerusalem."
Both geographically and historically, Jerusalem has indeed stood at the crossroads. And still to this day, we find that that ancient city represents the intersection of sometimes competing cultures, interests, and beliefs.
In terms of our through-the-year reading of the Bible, we are introduced to this most famous city briefly in Joshua and then more significantly in 2 Samuel. It began as a rather inconsequential place: a small Jebusite town that was practically overlooked in Joshua's day. It was not until early in David's reign as king that Jerusalem was captured for Israel. David quickly made that town into the political and spiritual capital of the nation -- and it remains such three-thousand years later.
As we read, we watch Jerusalem grow: not just in size, but in significance. It becomes the site of Solomon's Temple. It earns a legendary status in Israelite poetry and prophecy. It is understood as the dwelling place of God and the throne of God. Its alternate name, Zion, comes to have an eschatological meaning. And, in the New Testament, Jesus emphasizes the unique role and importance of Jerusalem, while the Book of Revelation reveals God's final plan and ultimate kingdom as the "New Jerusalem."
In terms of modern politics, it seems to me, we have just a large-scale and potentially devastating version of children in the back seat fighting over some toy or turf. Who had it first? Who had it last? Who had it longest? Whose method of gaining or keeping it was most legitimate? It's a high-stakes tug-of-war, to be sure, but it is all quite futile.
The Jebusites, the Israelites, the Jews, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Turks, the Crusaders, the Palestinians, the British, the Israelis -- a LOT of people have "had" Jerusalem over the centuries. But the testimony of Scripture is that this city ultimately and uniquely belongs to God. And for all of the bombs and barbed wire that we human beings are inclined to employ, no one will pry it from His hand.
In the end, the people who will be the residents of the New Jerusalem -- the Jerusalem that really matters; the one that is eternal -- are not going to possess it by force and by spilling the blood of their enemies. No, they will reside there by the grace of God and the blood of the Lamb.
"I noticed that Jerusalem is first mentioned in Joshua and Judges as a city already occupied. For some reason I always thought the Jews started the city. How should, or do we, think about Jerusalem today, given the pre-Jewish history, the Jewish NT history, and Islamic history, and current Judaism? Maybe it isn't a question, as much as an interesting history for that city. No wonder so many religious groups claim it as their own."
An old, old map famously portrayed the world as a flower with three pedals. To the northwest was a pedal labeled "Europe." To the east and northeast was a pedal labeled "Asia." To the southwest was a pedal labeled "Africa." And, finally, the center of the flower was labeled "Jerusalem."
Both geographically and historically, Jerusalem has indeed stood at the crossroads. And still to this day, we find that that ancient city represents the intersection of sometimes competing cultures, interests, and beliefs.
In terms of our through-the-year reading of the Bible, we are introduced to this most famous city briefly in Joshua and then more significantly in 2 Samuel. It began as a rather inconsequential place: a small Jebusite town that was practically overlooked in Joshua's day. It was not until early in David's reign as king that Jerusalem was captured for Israel. David quickly made that town into the political and spiritual capital of the nation -- and it remains such three-thousand years later.
As we read, we watch Jerusalem grow: not just in size, but in significance. It becomes the site of Solomon's Temple. It earns a legendary status in Israelite poetry and prophecy. It is understood as the dwelling place of God and the throne of God. Its alternate name, Zion, comes to have an eschatological meaning. And, in the New Testament, Jesus emphasizes the unique role and importance of Jerusalem, while the Book of Revelation reveals God's final plan and ultimate kingdom as the "New Jerusalem."
In terms of modern politics, it seems to me, we have just a large-scale and potentially devastating version of children in the back seat fighting over some toy or turf. Who had it first? Who had it last? Who had it longest? Whose method of gaining or keeping it was most legitimate? It's a high-stakes tug-of-war, to be sure, but it is all quite futile.
The Jebusites, the Israelites, the Jews, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Turks, the Crusaders, the Palestinians, the British, the Israelis -- a LOT of people have "had" Jerusalem over the centuries. But the testimony of Scripture is that this city ultimately and uniquely belongs to God. And for all of the bombs and barbed wire that we human beings are inclined to employ, no one will pry it from His hand.
In the end, the people who will be the residents of the New Jerusalem -- the Jerusalem that really matters; the one that is eternal -- are not going to possess it by force and by spilling the blood of their enemies. No, they will reside there by the grace of God and the blood of the Lamb.