Why Jerusalem?

I think when we truly start to understand the story of the Bible we have moments like David, where we say, “Who am I, Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” (II Samuel 7:18).  It’s incomprehensible that the God of the universe should love us.  There is NOTHING in me that deserves such love.  And so I say, “Why me?”

But it’s not just at the individual level.  Why Israel?  Are they God’s chosen people because they deserved it?  Deuteronomy 7:7 states, “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.  But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” 

Let’s take it one step further – why Jerusalem? 

I never really thought about that question before yesterday.  I was reading in Psalms and came across Psalm 87, which I read and then looked up in my MacDonald’s Bible Commentary (1990).  And I read this there:

“The mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek, and his co-author express natural wonder at the surprising greatness of their 4,000 year old city:

Archaeologists and historians have long wondered why Jerusalem should have been established where it was, and why it should have become great.  It enjoys none of the physical features which have favored the advancement and prosperity of other important cities in the world.  It stands at the head of no great river.  It overlooks no great harbor.  It commands no great highway and no cross-roads.  It is not close to abundant sources of water, often the major reason for the establishment of a settlement, though one main natural spring offered a modest supply.  It possesses no mineral riches.  It was off the main trade routes.  It held no strategic key to the conquest of vast areas prized by the ancient warring empires.  Indeed it was blessed with neither special economic nor topographic virtues which might explain why it should have ever become more than a small, anonymous mountain village with a fate any different from that of most contemporary villages which have long since vanished.

The reason for its greatness, of course, is that it was chosen by God.” (p. 682)

Yet again – God chose a thing of little value in the eyes of the world to display His greatness. 

So I couldn’t help it…I had to go trace the history of Jerusalem, an “insignificant” place, through the pages of the Bible.  And what I found made me cry...because through a brief study on the city of Jerusalem, I could not help but see the unbelievable love and patience of our God.  Even places reveal the measure of His love.

If you have a few extra minutes, please join me on an admittedly incomplete (because I have much more to learn), but hopefully encouraging look at Jerusalem in the pages of Scripture. 

JERUSALEM in the Old Testament:

If you type the word “Jerusalem” into BibleGateway.com and search in the ESV, you will get 791 hits.  That’s a lot.  And that doesn’t even take into account when Jerusalem is referred to with other names, like the Valley of Vision or Zion (which I am told is a specific section of Jerusalem).  Or even back to Genesis with Melchizedek, King of Salem.  Some say that Salem is Jerusalem…

But let’s just look at the 791.  Here’s a brief (haha) overview of what I discovered:

·         Joshua 10:  At this time, Adoni-zedek was king of Jerusalem, an Amorite city.  He joined with 5 other kings to attack Joshua at Gibeon.  But the LORD threw His enemies into confusion (v.10), the LORD hurled large hailstones down from the sky (v.11), the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down for about a day (v.13)… “Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!” (v. 14)

·         Joshua 15 & 18:  Jerusalem was a boundary for the tribe of Judah, and was listed as one of the cities that were part of the tribe of Benjamin.  However, Jerusalem was full of Jebusites, and neither Judah nor Benjamin could drive them out.

·         Judges 1:  after defeating Adoni-bezek, the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem, captured it and set it on fire.  Even after that, the Jebusites still would not be dislodged. (v. 21)

·         Judges 19:10ff:   In the story of the Levite and his concubine, a telling of the depravity of Israel at this time, the man would not stop at Jerusalem (Jebus), because it was “alien”, and the people are not Israelites.  They stopped in an Israelite (Benjamite) city, Gibeah, which ended up being just like Sodom and Gomorrah.

·         II Samuel 5:5ff:  David reigned in Hebron 7 years and 6 months, but in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years.  He conquered the Jebusites and took Jerusalem through the water shaft. (also in I Chronicles 11)

·         II Samuel 6 & I Chronicles 13-16:  David wants to bring the ark to Jerusalem, Uzzah experienced the result of irreverence before the ark made it to Jerusalem in the proper manner.

·         II Samuel 7:   God promises blessings to David and his descendants (I Chronicles 17)

·         II Samuel 8:   David brings wealth from other nations to Jerusalem

·         I Chronicles 21 & 22 (II Samuel 24):  David sins by counting his fighting men, God sends a plague – 70,000 men die, God stops his drawn sword (and lets David see it) above the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.  David buys the threshing floor (600 shekels of gold), offers a sacrifice (burnt and fellowship offerings) “No, I insist on paying the full price.  I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.” (v. 24)…although the tabernacle was at Gibeon, David said the house of the LORD would be at that very threshing floor. (22:1)

Whew.  Let’s pause.  From the beginning of its mention, Jerusalem is an interesting place.  If Salem is really Jerusalem, and Melchizedek is from there, how neat to see God’s hand on it since the beginning (Genesis 14:18).  Even so, at our first sight of “Jerusalem,” when the Israelites conquer the king of Jerusalem in Joshua, they had supernatural help.  Then, although it’s part of the promised land, it takes YEARS for David to come along and conquer the Jebusites.  And after the ark of the covenant comes and David experiences sin and its consequences, David proclaims that the house of the Lord will be at the very threshing floor where he saw mercy.  (This threshing floor happens to be on Mount Moriah…the place where Abraham offered up Isaac in Genesis 22…and this is probably the same ridge where Jesus is crucified as well, though not the same exact spot).  Seems like important land. 

·         I Chronicles 23:25-26 – “For David had said, ‘Since the LORD, the God of Israel, has granted rest to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever, the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.”

·         I Kings 2 – Solomon becomes king of Jerusalem

·         I Kings 3-8 – Solomon asks for wisdom, and builds his own house, God’s house, and the wall

o   II Chronicles 3:1 – builds the temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite

·         I Kings 8:1 – “Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.”  (one section of Jerusalem to another)  (II Chronicles 5:2)

·         II Chronicles 6 – 7

o   Solomon’s blessing:  “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David.  For he said, ‘Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built for my name to  be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be the leader over my people Israel.  But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.” (6:4-6)

o   Solomon’s prayer:  “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth – you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way…But will God really dwell on earth with men?  The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you.  How much less this temple I have built?” (6:14,18)

·         I Kings 9:1-9 & (II Chronicles 7:11-22):   the LORD appeared and said, “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever.  My eyes and my heart will always be there….but if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the and I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.” 

Pause again.  This is long, I know.  But I’m actually cutting a lot out! J 

Okay.  David wants to build the temple.  God says Solomon will.  Solomon does – and at the consecration of the temple, God says that He has chosen Jerusalem for His Name.  Whoa.  Let’s go back to Exodus 20:24  “Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle.  Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.”  Seems like Jerusalem is a place of blessing.  God’s eyes and heart will always be there…unless the people turn away.  But they wouldn’t do that, right?

·         I Kings 10 – 11 (II Chronicles 9):  Solomon, though wise enough for the Queen of Sheba to visit, was not wise enough to follow God’s decrees in Deuteronomy 17.  And so, Solomon gathered horses and chariots and gold and silver (v. 27, II Chronicles 1:15) and wives…whose hearts led his heart astray (11:7) and caused the kingdom to be divided during his son Rehoboam’s reign.

·         I Kings 11:32,36:  And God says:  “But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe…I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name.”

·         I Kings 12-14 – Rehoboam loses 10 tribes, keeps Judah & Benjamin (and Jerusalem)

·         I Kings 14:21 “Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was 41 years old when he became king, and he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name.”

God could have rejected Jerusalem at Solomon.  But he chose Jerusalem to bear his Name.  So, they experienced loss, but surely…the following kings would recognize they needed to follow God?

·         Kings of Judah (the southern kingdom) reigning in Jerusalem

(years reigned & whether they did good or evil in God’s eyes): 

o   Abijah (3 years - bad)

o   Asa (41 years - good)

o   Jehoshaphat (25 years – good)

o   Jehoram (8 years – bad)

§  ”Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah.  He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.” (II Kings 8:19)

o   Ahaziah (1 year – bad)

o   Joash (AKA:  Jehoash) (40 years – good)

o   Amaziah (29 years – good)

o   Azariah (AKA:  Uzziah) (52 years – good) 

o   Jotham (16 years – good)

o   Ahaz (16 years – bad)

o   Hezekiah (29 years – good)

§  A promise:  “For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.  The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” II Kings 19:31

o   Manasseh (55 years – really bad)

§  ”He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, ‘In Jerusalem I will put my Name’…He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and to his son Solomon, ‘In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever’…”  II Kings 21:4,7

§  Also described in II Chronicles 33:1-9 as evil, but at the end of his life he humbles himself before God.  However, the damage had been done.

o   Amon (2 years – bad)

o   Josiah (31 years – very good)

§  He read and renewed the covenant, destroyed the heathen gods/priests/high places

§  BUT…God was still angry over what Manasseh did:  “Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger.  So the LORD said, ‘I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘There shall my Name be.’” II Kings 23:26-27

o   Jehoahaz (3 months – bad)

o   Jehoiakim (11 years – bad)

o   Jehoiachin (3 months – bad)

o   Zedekiah (11 years – bad) 

§  “It was because of the LORD’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.” II Kings 24:20

§  “…So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.”  II Kings 25:21b

It wasn’t just Solomon.  Only 8 kings of Judah did what was right in God’s eyes.  But God stuck with them….until their sin was too great.  Then He thrust them from His presence…King Nebuchadnezzer of Bablyon seized Jerusalem, and the people went through famine.  The city walls were broken, ”every important building he burned down” (II Kings 25:9), and “they…destroyed everything of value there” (II Chronicles 36:19).

This is sad.  The city which bore His Name God allowed to be destroyed.  Yet, it’s not as if God didn’t try to reach them.  Through all these kings’ reigns, there were prophets that spoke to the people – warning them of coming destruction if they didn’t turn back to Him.  And although Isaiah and Jeremiah speak of horrible punishments, they also offer hope.  That AFTER the punishment, there will be restoration.

Some of my favorites:

·         Isaiah 30:19  “O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.  How gracious he will be to you when you cry for help!  As soon as he hears, he will answer you…”

·         Isaiah 40:1-2  “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

·         Jeremiah 29:10-14  “This is what the LORD says:  ‘When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.  I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back from captivity…”  (that’s for you, Summiteers J)

So, are you excited yet?  Our God – who is very serious about sin because of His holiness…who even said to his people in exile through the prophet Ezekiel, “I myself am against you, Jerusalem…” (5:5) promises hope.  And that hope is even seen at the end of II Chronicles.

·          “The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all of the time of its desolation it rested, until the 70 years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.” (II Chronicles 36:21)

·         THEN:  CYRUS, king of Persia – proclaimed:  “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.  Anyone of his people among you – may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.”  (II Chronicles 36:23)

The people of Judah struggled.  Look at the Psalms.  (Psalm 79, 137…).  But they are also filled with hope (Psalm 102, 126, etc).  And they should be.  Because not only do the prophets promise a return to Jerusalem…they promise a Savior.

Ezra and Nehemiah record the return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple, the people, and the walls.  But we are still left waiting for the Savior.

 

PAUSE.  Please go get a drink.  Or do some jumping jacks.  Do something to wake up because this next part is what made me cry.  And I think everyone else should cry as well. J

 

JERUSALEM in the New Testament

Here are some highlights:

·         Jesus went to Jerusalem….alot.

o   Jesus is presented as a baby at the temple in Jerusalem in Luke 2.

o   Every year, Jesus went with his parents to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. (Luke 2:41)

·         Jesus called Jerusalem “the city of the Great King” (Matthew 5:35)

Can you imagine being God and going to Jerusalem?  The very place where you said your Name would be forever…the place you promised incredible blessings for…only to see it not following you?  And if rejection in the Old Testament wasn’t enough, you were about to experience an even deeper rejection.  You were about to have YOUR chosen people look you in the eye and say, “We have no king but Caesar.”  And kill you. 

And so, these verses make more sense to me now:

·         Jesus was resolute:

o   Matthew 16:21  “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

o   Luke 9:51  “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”  (NIV)  (ESV states:  “his face was set for Jerusalem”).

·         Jesus mourned over Jerusalem:

o   Matthew 23:37  ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.  Look, your house is left to you desolate.  For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

o   Luke 19:41ff ““As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.  The days will come upon you when you enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.  They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within you walls.  They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

Can we truly grasp this?  The God of the Old Testament is in the form of man, weeping over Jerusalem, proclaiming how He longed to gather and protect them.  He longed to give them peace.  Is it terrible irony that Jerusalem, the city of peace, missed out on true peace?

But is Jerusalem done for?

No.  God keeps his promises, even if we fail on our end of the bargain.  Jesus says:

·         Luke 21:24 “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

·         Luke 24:46-47  “He told them, ‘This is what was written:  The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” 

Jesus has his followers start sharing His good news (the gospel) in Jerusalem.  In Acts, he tells his followers that they will be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea & Samaria, and the ends of the earth (1:8).  Jerusalem is the central point of the church, it’s where Paul keeps returning to in between his missionary journeys; it’s what epistle writers refer to as a picture of the future (Hebrews 12:22).  Gentiles get to be grafted in.  But the Jews still hold a special place in the heart of God…and He does NOT forget his promises.

So, although Jerusalem is not mentioned as frequently as God reaches out to the Gentile world…fear not.  You just have to read Revelation.

·         To the church in Sardis, Revelation 3:12 – “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.  Never again will he leave it.  I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.”

·         Revelation 21:1-5  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.   He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.  He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!”

·         Revelation 21:9-14, 22-27 “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.  It had a great, high wall with 12 gates, and with 12 angels at the gates.  On the gates were written the names of the 12 tribes of Israel.  There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.  The wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb…I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.  The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.  On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.  The glory and honor of the nations will be brought to it.  Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

·         Revelation 22:1-5  “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.  On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.  And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse.  The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  There will be no more night.  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  And they will reign forever and ever.”

 

I hope you read those in full.  When I read them, I couldn’t help but cry.  Can you imagine a more patient lover?  God proclaimed that His Name would be in Jerusalem.  That His eyes and heart would always be there.  But He watched His people reject him and turn from Him time and again.  He wooed his people, but they did not want Him.  He came to those who were His own, but they received Him not.  He conquered death for them; He held out life to them.  Some received it; and from there they left Jerusalem to spread that good news to the rest of the world. 

BUT.

SOME DAY.

His Bride….the New Jerusalem…will come to Him.  AT LAST, the dwelling of God will be with men.  And He will live with them…and wipe every tear from their eyes.  His bride will not only see His face…but also carry His Name.  His Name will not just be on the city.  It will be on His bride’s forehead.  Forever His bride will be His.  And where His name is, there is blessing.

Why Jerusalem?

Why Israel?

Why me?

I have no idea. 

But oh…am I thankful.