Genesis 22, Psalms 46-48, And Lamentations

Genesis 22, Psalms 46-48, and Lamentations 1:1-2:9 illustrate how Jerusalem differentiated as a religious space through the historical and religious stories that have been developed over centuries, the creation of religious architecture, and the destruction of traditional Jerusalem as well as the commencement of the Babylonian Empire.

The place mentioned in Genesis 22, Mount Moriah, is important to the depiction of Jerusalem as a religious space. The creation of altars and sacrifices began with the story of Abraham in which he intends to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah as an offering to God. Even though the son does not die, Abraham still offers a lamb as a “burnt offering” (verse 12, Genesis 22). The practices of creating altars for sacrifice

An example that demonstrates the practice Abraham began occurred during the initiation of David as King of Israel. King David’s era was hundreds of years after Abraham’s time, yet, sacrifices and altars were still practiced by religious people, including the King himself. In the second book of Samuel 6:12-17, 20-23, there is a description of the way King David announced his reign,“He sacrificed an ox and a fatling.” King David was known as a religious person that offered his God the sacrifice of two animals, similar to Abraham’s offering of a lamb to his God. Abraham’s story from Genesis 22 was practiced continually in the centuries following through many instances and under various Kings’ reign such as King Solomon’s. An example would be the temple King Solomon created for Yahweh which had an altar meant for sacrificial purposes before entering the temple. According to Thomas Tweed, Mount Moriah would be differentiated as a religious and sacred place due to the history and traditions that started there, hence, the prevalence in its practice over centuries including both King Solomon and King David’s reign. Tweed states, “Devotees enact the

The commencement of the Babylonian Empire conquering Jerusalem brought the city into harm. This tragic event was part of the reason why Jerusalem is differentiated as a religious place because it gave history and change to the city. The prophet Jeremiah failed in warning Jerusalem of their collapse, which in Lamentations 1,verse 20, he states, “I have been very rebellious.” Jeremiah has felt guilty on not succeeding on what God asked him to do. Thus, due to the “rebellious” actions, many people from Jerusalem believed God had abandoned them. At this time period people were losing hope and faith. It was the downhill of Jerusalem, similar to how the Israelites escaped from Egypt and were losing hope on God’s plan on finding sanctuary. This proves Thomas Tweed statement of the interrelated part of a religious place. Tweed explains, “ devotional spaces are both generated and generative” (Tweed, 117). The generated part was what the people living in Jerusalem do to lose hope, which was the “figurative imagination” (Tweed, 121) of God abandoning them when unfortunate events occur at Jerusalem. However, the generative part of Jerusalem is the natural events and issues that occur. For instance, the Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem due to a strong empire, but the inhabitants saw this as the abandonment of God.